Jinglebell Rock

We got transfer news this morning. Everything's staying the same. Only one person is getting transfered in our entire zone.

 

My feelings are kind of mixed about that. I love my apartment. We all get along and have a good time. My ward's great and I'm really getting to know the members well. But 12 months in a 4 square mile box takes its toll. A change would be nice. We all think that I'm probably out of here next transfer.

 

This week was good. We got to experience Mexican Thanksgiving. It's pretty similar to the American one. More chile. I'd never had my turkey with salsa instead of gravy. Thanksgiving morning we got a call to help somebody move. So we spent the morning moving a part member family out of their three story apartment. I had prayed for service opportunities the day before and I had assumed that that prayer wasn't going to be answered right away. I was wrong.

 

They had this huge table thing that apparently the wife used in her curtain-making business. It was huge and made completely out of wood so it was pretty heavy. We had to take it down from the third floor. Eventually we wound up lowering it from the stairs on the second floor. Elder Catlett and I jumped up on the corrugated metal carport to help lower it down. I cut my hand a bit on the metal. We were a little scared that something bad was going to happen with a heavy wood table being lowered down to us while we were standing on this flimsy carport. Fortunately we made it out all right, but it definitely got our adrenaline pumping.

 

We found a really awesome lady this week. Her name is Alma. She learned from missionaries 30 years ago in Mexico. She loves the Church. She even found a signed picture of President Hinckley and bought it at a garage sale a couple of years back. She moved to the US before she could get baptized in Mexico and never found the missionaries here. She's been going to the Pentecostal Church all this time.

 

We taught her the first lesson. Her big question at the start was "Is my baptism in the pentecostal church valid?" We weren't sure where she got such an awesome question, but we explained the Joseph Smith story and asked her what she needed to do. She committed to be baptized on the 24th if her husband is okay with it. That's the other awesome thing. The husband found a Book of Mormon in an abandoned house he was working at and has been reading it. He wasn't there for the lesson but will hopefully be there next time. We got out of the lesson with Alma and one of the sisters from our ward was driving by with her ice cream van. She said hi to our investigator and invited her to Church and gave us free ice cream. It was pretty awesome. So awesome that it's made me worried that something could go wrong. It's one of those situations that makes you worried by how nice it is.

 

I'm excited to spend Christmas with my friends here in the apartment. Everyone here in the apartment are good friends now. Elder Cheadle and I have really compatible personalities and think very similarly on most everything. Elder Catlett is hilarious. Elder Zeledon has no problem talking for hours with me about zombie invasions and Lord of the Rings. It's gonna be a good transfer.

 

Love,

Elder Grasley

P.S. Maybe you could add this story to my weekly email for the blog too

We had a really good week this week.

 

The woman you gave the gift card to says thank you. She didn't have money to buy things like deodorant or other hygiene supplies and her kids didn't have coats for the winter. So they got new coats and the supplies they needed.

 

We went by her this week with a brother from our ward who is returning to activity. He's excited about working towards getting the Melchizedek Priesthood. We were going to take him with us to one of our investigators but the appointment fell through. We decided to visit the other sister instead. We got there and she'd just gotten back from the hospital. She has kidney problems and was feeling dizzy from the medicine so she couldn't go to the store to get food for her kids. The less active brother immediately offered to go to the store and buy her what she needed, even though he's very poor himself. We went to the store with him and helped buy what she needed.

 

On Sunday in Gospel Principles she told the story in class and said that twenty minutes before we showed up she was praying for help so that she could take care of her kids. I was touched that we could answer her prayers. I was also touched by the service of the less active brother. There he was, a very poor man, wife getting ready to have another baby, not super active in the Church, and he didn't hesitate in offering to help. I think sometimes we limit less active members' progress because we don't give them opportunities to serve and grow. We don't feel confident in them so we don't give them exactly what they need most.

 

Everything's going well. We're helping a lot of families prepare to go to the temple. It's nice to see their progress.

 

I can't wait for Christmas. We're going to a session in the Mesa Temple the 16th. It's gonna be really fun, especially going there with my friends here in the apartment.

 

Love you,

Alex