Well this week was a really great week! Wednesday I went to San Jose on divisions with Elder Jones who only has been out 10 weeks in the mission and it was a lot of fun to be there with him. It shows me how much I have changed and progressed. It is also the area where I lived and ate lunch when I was in Carolingia, Milagro about a year ago.
Friday I lead my area with Elder Grier who only has been out 4 weeks in the mission and that was also a lot of fun. I like being with greenies and being able to teach them a lot and seeing how far I have come. Wednesday we gave service helping clean out a water storage tank (or a modern day well). We had to empty it, then scrub it down and clean it out. We had a lot of fun doing it. It is how the family gets water to bathe, wash the dishes and clothes, etc. and so they were thankful that we cleaned it out for them, so they can keep having "clean" water. It had gotten some dirt in it and the water was a little dirty. On Friday we had mission council where all the zone leaders, sister training leaders, assistants, and the Caffaros get together to talk about the mission and about ideas to make it better and discuss the problems that are going on in the mission. We also put goals as a zone and some missionaries and then Sister and President Caffaro gave some presentations on how to feel the spirit more and become better missionaries. It was a lot of fun but the best part was the food! Sister Caffaro brought a nice large breakfast with bagels, nutella, cream cheese, fruit, juice, yogurt, etc. and for lunch a nice meal that they ordered in. Sunday we had stake conference which is always boring here in the mission but after stake conference we had the baptism of Pablo. It is always really cool to see how much the people have changed since the moment we found them to the moment of their baptism. Probably the best part of the mission. Overall it was a really busy week but it went so fast. It was the best week of my life! -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber
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This week on Tuesday we had house inspections and as always all went well. We also got some "Raid" as we had a roach problem under and in our sink and as we sprayed it roaches started falling from all over dead. There were a couple hundred roaches at the end that we had to sweep up. There are a lot less now but every now and then we find a couple.
Wednesday we had divisions in Santa Fe (by the airport) with the assistants and it was good to work with them there; nothing too special. Thursday we had interviews with President Caffaro and that went well too. As Zone leaders we had to organize the interviews, create the schedule, and give president a run down of the missionaries in our zone. Saturday for lunch a member made us lasagna and it was SOOO good! We had a full pan for each one of us. It also rained and looked like Seattle all day on Saturday. Well, that was my week. Nothing too new or interesting. We have an investigator named Pablo who has gone to church and is doing well but just needs to live the word of wisdom. I am doing great and loving every moment. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber This week was a really great week! On Wednesday we went to the temple as a zone and had a really great spiritual experience. I love the temple and it is always hard to leave. On Thursday we had a multi mission conference. All of our mission and mission central went to Montufar for a conference with Bishop Davies, Elder Christensen of the seventy, Elder Ochoa and Elder Alonso from the area presidency, and Elder Rasband with their wives. It was a really great experience and the spirit was really strong. I received a lot of personal revelation and a lot of answers to questions I had.
We also gave 5 priesthood blessings to a family in the ward who had a family member pass away and that was super cool too. The whole room filled with the spirit and was very strong. I am so greatful to have the priesthood and to be able to use it to bless the lives of others. I also had divisions with Elder Noak who is in my zone (my ex companion from Carolingia) and that was good; he has not changed much. I also got sick this week with a cold; fever, migraine, sore throat, cough, etc. I am all better now but it made for a couple of rough days. My feet are a lot better too as I got new insoles for my shoes. All is doing well and I am doing great! -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Well this week was a good week. A busy week but a good week. This week I felt like I was back in my training in my first week in the mission field. Being a zone leader is good but it has a lot of responsibility and sometimes I feel like I do not know enough or am good enough to be a zone leader. I know that the Lord qualifies those he calls and as time goes on I know I will get used to it and feel more comfortable. It should be a lot fun!
My new area here in "La Brigada" is like a labyrinth and I have been lost almost all week. Saturday and Sunday I finally started to know were I was. I feel like I have a good idea of the area and I am slowly getting the hang of it. The zone is good and my companion is also good. We have gotten along well this last week and it should be a good change. He has some strange ideas that I do not always agree with but that is ok. He also walks really fast and my feet are killing me. I have blisters on the bottom of my feet and the balls of my feet are bruised. I think I just need to buy some nice new insoles. It hurts to walk and my feet have been sooo sore. It feels like i am on a 50 miler with blisters and there is nothing a I can do but endure it. Hopefully today I can find some insoles that will help. Other than that all is well and it should be a great change! -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Well this week was a really good week. On Monday for P-day we played kickball and Tuesday I had divisions with Elder Baum again and we made some great breakfast burritos for dinner. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were just normal days with nothing too special. Saturday morning we went to Nueva Vida to bless/dedicate the house of the sisters there. We then cleaned and filled the baptismal font and had the baptism of Jennifer. All went really great.
Last night we got the calls for changes and I will be going to La Brigada in Zone Florida as Zone leader. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. My new comp will be Elder Belmar from Chile. other than that all is well. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber This week was a great week. On Wednesday we had the worldwide missionary broadcast but nothing changed for us. I did a baptismal interview Friday and Saturday morning we had an attack of the area in mixco.
On Saturday we had a baptism that went well and while we were waiting for the baptismal font to fill up I taught two kids about 7 years old how to play baseball. Mutual was going on and for some reason someone had brought a baseball bat, a baseball glove, and a baseball. I pitched and taught them how to bat. That was actually a lot of fun. After the baptism I taught a small English class to the bishop and some other church members. We are preparing another baptism for this Saturday for our investigator Jennifer who will have her baptismal interview this Wednesday morning. Changes are this Sunday so we will see what happens. Well that is about it for this week, not much else happend. All is doing well and O am having the best day of my life! -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber LOVE YOU ALL! Nothing too interesting has happened. It just feels like the same daily routine. This last week we had interviews with President Caffaro and Sister Caffaro which always means milk and brownies.
As we were contacting one day a dog came running around the corner barking at me showing its teeth. It kept running towards me so I took my bag off to put something in between me and the sharp teeth. The dog started to attack my bag by biting it and tried getting around it to get at me. An old man then comes running around the corner yelling at this dog, picks up a large rock and throws it at the dog. It hit the dogs leg and I think it actually broke the leg and it limped away. The old man started yelling at me saying I needed to carry a stick with me because my bag will not protect me from dogs. It was a very interesting experience. We then left that street and found a mom and her daughter struggling to paint their house so Elder Lascarez offered to help and we painted their house for them. On Saturday morning we had an attack of the area in Lo De Coy (the area of the Zone Leaders) where the whole zone went to their area to help them find new investigators and for lunch a member cooked lasagna and made a salad for us as a zone. We are also preparing a baptism for this 28th of January if all goes well. Other than that nothing is new. Just doing great and having the time of my life! -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Well this week was a fairly normal week. We found a lot of news and saw a lot of success. We are preparing a lot of people to be baptized here in these months. We made some cool zone jersey and I will send photos next week of them.
Every day this week we gave service and it ranged from painting houses, to helping someone move, to just washing dishes and sweeping. My Brithday went well and had a great day. It is tradition here to throw eggs on the head of the person whos birthday it is and we showed up to a members house and they gave us a towel and said they were going to break eggs on our heads. It turns out it was just egg shells filled with confetti. They then gave me a cake and sang me happy birthday. It is also tradition to take a bite of the cake before they cut it and usually always someone slams your face in it. (see the videos). I then went over to an inactive family and had a FHE with them, at the end they gave me cake too, but with relighting candels. I bought myself a pizza for dinner and found some caffeine free coke to drink. Today Elder Baum and Elder Mora showed up to our house and invited me out to breakfast. Overall it was a good week but not much new. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Well this week was just a fairly normal week. On Tuesday I got my new comp, Elder Lascarez, who is from Costa Rica. We get along really well and have seen a lot of success in the area already.
Elder Baum also is back in my zone as my zone leader and that is really awesome! We had divisions on Friday and it was legendary. A couple of members asked if we knew each other before the mission because we got along so well and we convinced a recent convert that we were brothers. New Years was boring. We had to be home at 9, stayed up till midnight, watched the fireworks from the roof and then went to sleep. We had to get back up at 6:30 the next day. Sunday was a rough day for me. Church started at 11 and after the sacrament I fell asleep. I woke up at the intermediate hymn started singing the first line and fell asleep while singing. I woke up again as they were singing the last hymn. I was out cold for all of church. Worst thing is that when we went to go eat lunch with the Relief society president her husband had taken a video of me sleeping in church that was 5 minutes long. It was so bad. We then went home to study and I only made it through one chapter of the book of Mormon and fell asleep again. It was a long day and really rough. I also had a crazy lesson this last week. Elder Baum and I were contacting and one family let us in. In the family there was a 20 year old women named Josselyn. As we walked in the house under her breath she said "I am single." We just ignored it and introduced ourselves. We asked the mom who she wanted to say the prayer and she asked me to do it and Josselyn under her breath again said "yes, the super handsome one." Again we just ignored the remark and I said the prayer. After the prayer Josselyn asked if we wanted to sit down and pointed to her lap and we just ignored her again and kept talking to the mom and her husband and the rest of the family. The mom even got mad at Josselyn and said that because we were missionaries we could not fall in love until after the mission, so she could not fall in love with us either but Josselyn responded, "how is that possible, if just by looking at him I fell in love with him." At another random point in the lesson Josselyn looked at me and said, "how pretty are your eyes, can I have them?" Just out of no where but again we just ignored it. We invited them to church and Josselyn asked if we would be there. We said yes and then she said, "then I will go too" (she did not end up going to church). After the lesson they asked where we were from and I said Germany just jokingly and counted to 5 in German and Josselyn said, "I knew I loved Germans." I told them I was kidding and that I was from the U.S. and Josselyn said, "oh and Americans too." It was such an awkward visit. At the end when we were saying good bye and shaking their hands Josselyn would not let go of my hand and when I tried pulling it away she grabbed it tighter and just stared at me. I ripped my hand away and Elder Baum and I left. Well that was my week. Nothing else new or interesting happened. times up so I got to go. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Well, I do not have much to write this week as I skyped yesterday. Last Monday we played soccer as a zone and I really enjoy playing soccer now. Tuesday and Wednesday were just normal days full of success as everyone let us in and we had about 9 lessons each day and a member left with us for the whole afternoon. Thursday we had a ward Christmas party and my comp was thrown into be Santa.
On Friday we had our choir presentation in front of the "government" building here and that went really well. Saturday we went from house to house of the members visiting and eating in every house. We helped one family make Ponche, a fruit drink they make here for Christmas, and ate a lot of tamales. We were also given 10 tamales that are now just sitting in our fridge (tamales are kinda of gross. I do not really like them). We also had two dinner appointments and by the end of the night I thought I was going to explode. At midnight we watched all the fireworks that lasted for 30 minutes and at about 12:30 my life flashed before my eyes as I almost fell through the roof. On Sunday we only had sacrament meeting but we had a good turnout of people show up. We ate with the bishop and his family and then skyped in the night. Around 11 we found out the changes and I will stay here in my area but my comp is leaving. My new comp will be Elder Lazcares from Costa Rica. It should be interesting. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!! -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber |