The Order of the Phoenix

Hello again!

Well, it hasn't been very long since my last email so there probably won't be quite as much to add in this one. Everything's pretty much the same around here. We did have two baptisms this week, which was awesome. It was a mother and her son that have family who are members already. It's pretty amazing that I haven't even finished my first transfer here and I've already got 5 baptisms. Still, my companions get most of the credit because these people already had baptismal dates when I got here. I can't wait to have some baptisms when I was there every step of the way.

I realized that I haven't ever written about the other missionaries we live with in the apartment. We share the apartment with the two Zone Leaders for the Phoenix Zone, Elder Miles and Elder Ray. Elder Miles is the Senior Zone Leader and is from Sandy, Utah. I got to go out on splits with him this past week and he's really good at involving investigators and showing that he cares about them. It inspired me to work on those areas myself. Personality-wise, he's fairly quiet and chill, but still funny and enjoyable to be around. Elder Ray is from Tennessee. He's a really funny guy and so he's always great to have around the apartment. I like how he's a very dedicated missionary but still lets his own unique personality shine through. Overall, they're both really great missionaries and I'm glad I have the chance to learn from them and have them so close in the apartment.

Time seems to be going by pretty fast. I've heard that it normally goes very slow for greenies, but that's mostly because it's really long and boring if you can't speak Spanish. I have really been blessed by the Lord to be able to speak so fluently so early in my mission. I've even improved a lot since I've got here, especially with understanding native speakers. I can understand most everyone I talk to, although women are much easier to understand than men. Women just speak more clearly. But that's okay because we normally have more female investigators than male. I think that's because women just tend to care more about religion than men. Still, the only person we have with a baptismal date right now is a man, so it's not always the case.

Speaking of which, that guy is really awesome. He's had an interesting past and has a ton of tatoos on his face, but he really likes Elder Johnston and so that's really helped him along. It's cool to see someone make the changes necessary in their life to live the way Christ wants them to.

That's about all I have for this week, since I just barely sent a letter out on Thursday.

Love,

Elder Grasley

P.S. I've eaten a few times now at investigators or less-active members' houses. Mexican food is pretty delicious. Normally it's just homemade tortillas with rice and beans (rice and beans are pretty much served with every meal) and some kind of meat (usually not beef, that seems to be an American addition). On Friday we had a stew where you add lots of cabbage and pork rinds to it. That was interesting. Pork rinds are kind of gross and soggy pork rinds are slightly more gross. But it still didn't taste terrible. It just wasn't fantastic.