Email 34 - "I don´t think I´ve ever been happier to be a missionary!"

"A proud moment of Hermana Palomino´s as I cut zuccini the way she taught me."

"Raw pig leg.  Mmmm.  They prepare it by cutting if off the pig, covering it in salt, and sticking it in the ground for a couple of years.  It smells horendous, but tastes delicious.  Haha.  iVive España!"

Elder Malan´s birthday, haha. His new convert makes amazing cakes, and they agreed to smash it in his face. Good stuff. (He´s the one that was in the MTC with J-Bob (Editor:  J-Bob is Elder Jace Robert Ellsworth, Chrissy's cousin, currently serving in the Spain, Malaga Mission). They´ve also had the same girlfriend, haha.)

"This is a sign in one of the Metro stops."

"Fat kid moment," as Hermana Hansen calls it, with some ice cream on the couch.

"A new weakness...dulce de leche pastries. Mmmm."

"My first smoothie in 7 months at the new frozen yogurt place! (doesn´t even compare with Jamba, but hey, it´s something :)"

"Medio día together for Elder Peña´s birthday :)"

Hiya family!

Thanks for the emails!! Looks like there´s lots of good stuff happenin´ over in the States. 

This was a GREAT week. Lots of very, very good things happening here in Madrid. As you know, we had a lot of tough stuff going on earlier in the transfer, but we´re starting to see the miracles that always come after the trial of faith :D

Honestly, nothing monumental happened, but this was the first week we´ve had together where, in almost every moment possible, we had a lesson. We worked really hard, and I don´t think I´ve ever been happier to be a missionary!

And it´s been SUNNY! The weather has been so, so nice. And it hasn´t been absurdly windy like it was before, haha. As someone that has to wear a skirt all day everyday, that´s definitely been a tender mercy, haha. I´m told, however, by everyone and their grandmother, that the summer heat here is diabolic- so I´m not really looking forward to that.

Anhyoo, F------o didn´t drink all week! In fact, he is doing stupendously. We called him on Saturday night to see how he was doing, and he told us that he´d gone out with his friends, but as soon as they started offering him drinks, he left, went home, and started getting ready for church the next day. Awh yeah.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, as we later found out, he was sitting in his house super bored when a bunch of his friends (beers in hand) arrived at his house. He left to try to get away from it, and then his cousin called to invite him to watch fútbol and drink. He told him he needed to make a call first.

That´s when he slipped into a locotorio and called us to come find him. He spent the rest of the day walking around with us and we had a lot of fun bringing him to appointments, haha :) He still doesn´t have a baptismal date, and I´m worried that he´s going to get comfortable where he is- always saying that someday when he´s stronger, he´ll be baptized.  Workin´ on that!

And our African buddy, S---y, has a baptismal date!! The 29th :) He´s so humble and wants so badly to follow the Savior and be able to go to the Celestial Kingdom (he was a big fan of the Plan of Salvation lesson). When he gets baptized, you betcha it´s for the right reasons!

A----a´s still doing super great. She came with us to teach a single-dad who´s really skeptical and doesn´t seem to think the great stuff the Gospel promises could possibly be real. She bore the sweetest testimony ever about how the church is changing everything about her for the better and about how much happier she is as she´s becoming active again.

We also FINALLY got in touch with a bunch of the less-actives from  the list that the bishop gave us a million years ago, and they all want us to meet more often. (If you haven´t noticed yet, I really really loved being a missionary this week, haha).

And the highlight was definitely getting to finally go into the temple on Wednesday. I got to feel that peace and complete tranquility that comes from the absolute separation from the world inside the Lord´s house. I hope to never take for granted the opportunity to go into the temple when I get home from the mission!

One thing I had pointed out to me over and over this week, even in the temple, was that I really need to forget about myself completely while I´m here on the mission (like what we heard last week about being consecrated missionaries). I´ve been looking forward to going into the temple for months, and the moment we walked in, a small Brazilian woman asked me, in English, if I could please help her because she didn´t speak any Spanish and was super nervous. It was very humbling to see how much comfort she took in basically nothing more than my willingness to help- I didn´t do much of anything else. I think it was Heavenly Father´s way of reminding me that going to the temple isn´t just for recharging my spiritual batteries and giving me more help and guidance from above, but to serve others- the living and the dead.

I kept learning that lesson over and over this week. Once again in the zone training, as one of the zone leaders pointed out that even though it´s neat and powerful and important to study profound doctrine, it´s going to do much more for our investigators and our overall purpose as missionaries if we spend more time studying Preach My Gospel, and less time studying things like Jesus the Christ.

So Hermana Palomino and I have started focusing our studies on improving our lessons. I love teaching with her!

I was studying about how to help people accept the Book of Mormon, and I had a lot of fun reading the testimonies of the inspired men who wrote that awesome book.

The more I read the Book of Mormon as a missionary, the more I feel like these people are sitting in front of me with little black name tags, trying to help me understand the Gospel, haha.

And these guys sure don´t beat around the bush when they testify. They know that what they´re teaching is true. No doubt about it!

Check out what Moroni says: (Sometimes I want to say something like this to people we teach....)

27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

28 I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and his word shall hiss forth from generation to generation.

29 And God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true. 

34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

And then what Nephi says in his testimony: 

10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good. 

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness. 

12 And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day.

13 And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come.

14 And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day.

15 For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen.

iSuper fuerte!

I wish I could testify like these spiritual giants, but I´m so grateful for the inspiration they all had to able to write the life-altering things they wrote. And in less than a month, we get to hear from our modern-day spiritual giants in General Conference! Woohoo!

Also, on Saturday, Hermana Palomino´s ward from Elche is coming up to the temple and she gets to see her best friend! AND the branch from Gijón is coming!!!! Pretty sure my my heart´ll explode if I get to see Elvyn and Frank in front of the temple.

Anyway, I´m a happy camper. I´m reeeally tired, but it´s the kind of tired I want to be. We´re working hard :)

Thanks for the prayers as always! You guys are the best :)

Love you more than I can tell you!!

-Hermana Grover

PS- I did better this week with snapping pictures, haha. And here´s a little recording.

Oh, looks like we´re going to finish up later today. More pics to come! Maybe one that´s a bit more flattering than me trying to eat raw pork, haha. ;)

Be back soon!