First Week in Phoenix

Greetings from cold, rainy Phoenix!

I can't believe I'm almost done with my first week. That's really weird. There's so much to share about my new life here.

First, I got two new companions, Elder Chipman and Elder Johnston. Elder Chipman is my trainer. He's from Cache Valley and likes to play lacrosse. He's been out for a little over a year now. He's really dedicated, so much so that he doesn't eat! He realized I was dying my second day because I hadn't had dinner, and so now we're being a little better about that. (I explain more about my dinner frustrations below.) Elder Johnston is from Indiana, but he grew up in England (no accent). He went to Southern Utah before his mission where he played on their rugby team. He's super serious and kinda grumpy at times, but he keeps it to himself which is good. It's just that he's not much fun to be around. Overall they're both pretty neutral companions. We're not going to be best friends, but we don't seem to have a lot of points of conflict either.

My area is called Encanto. If you guys want to look at it on Google Maps, our apartments are on the corner of 43rd Ave and Van Buren, and they're a gated apartment complex called Indigo Pointe. I like the gated part. We're fairly ghetto down here. Almost everyone speaks Spanish. Our area is between Van Buren and McDowell, if you want to go exploring on Google Maps through all the trailer parks and weird shops. I think it'll take some getting used to living down here. It's not a very inviting place, especially at night. We're on bikes only, so we have to ride our bikes even at night when all the Latinos are asleep and there's just gross bums on the streets. I don't like that part.

These first few days have been kinda rough. I stopped thinking as positively, so that really set me back. That, and the weather was terrible and cold and rainy. There's also a lot to adjust to in terms of the new lifestyle, and so I'm mostly just waiting for that to improve as I get used to it. Elder Chipman has helped, since he says that you just have to adjust to the mission lifestyle and then you learn to love it. It's also rough because my diet is horrible. We can only be fed by the members if there's someone who's not a member or less active present, which essentially means that we never get fed. We had dinner last night, and that was the first meal I've had so far outside of our apartment. We're going shopping after this, which I'm happy about, because the only thing they have in the fridge here is eggs and ham. Apparently they just really like eggs. Personally, eggs for every meal is really gross.

My first lesson was with a JW, or a testigo, as we like to call them. That was a big waste of time. I'm normally very nice about other people's religions, but the JWs are quite demonic in their mannerisms. It's all about trying to trap you with obscure scriptures quoted out of context. It reminds me a lot of how Satan tried to tempt Christ. There was a very evil spirit when we finished our lesson with him. The terrible thing is that they're everywhere down here too. There are so many people who fall into their traps and don't have the knowlegde to see how false and silly their views of the Bible are.

Still, Encanto's a good area. It's the highest baptizing area in the mission. There are a lot of very humble, receptive people here. Latinos are all very open to messages about Christ, and a lot of them are looking for a way to come closer to Him. Right now we have 5 people we're teaching with baptismal dates. The one thing I worry about is activity after they're baptized. That's really tough for a lot of these poor people who don't have cars and often have to work on Sundays.

Christmas in the MTC was great. We got to listen to Elder Nelson. He's super smart. He knew every Greek and Hebrew root and meaning in the story of Christ's birth. He also focused a lot on the MTC President's grandchildren who were there, which I thought was what an Apostle of the Lord should do. We also got to watch an MTC talent show. My favorite was when all the Elders from Russia and the Ukraine sang a version of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" with the lyrics changed to "You Missionary Now."

Anyways, that's about all I have time for. If you want to send me letters or packages now, send them to the Mission office here in Phoenix. They'll find their way to me really quickly.

Love you and may the Lord bless you,

Elder Grasley