It's a great time to be a missionary!

 

Elder Grigor getting a ride to church.

 

Elder Grigor and his zone moving the Zone Leaders.

Elder Grigor packed into a "trufi" He sent this picture again this week.

I thought it was a typo for truck. But a trufi is a taxi that looks like a small bus.

 

The pictures are of us riding in the back of a truck, we were walking and some members gave us a ride to the church, then again riding in the back of a truck moving the apartment of the zone leaders, then all of us packed in the trufi. It’s always like that. One time we fit 22 people into one of those trufis, it’s awesome that there are no rules down here. Well maybe there are but they are never enforced, it’s crazy how many people run red lights and everything. 

 

So this week was pretty good, we played soccer against another zone last Monday and now I understand why we are not supposed to keep score or be competitive. There was some yelling and harsh words used by some people, it was really funny for me and I just smiled and laughed and kept playing. Tuesday we spent all day moving the apartment of the zone leaders, because their house got broken into a while ago. And of course the new apartment they picked was 5 stories high and they had the top floor. And I was lucky enough to carry all the heavy stuff up the stairs, because “oh Elder Grigor is big and tall so he can carry everything while we watch" that’s pretty much how it went but I didn’t mind. Oh and good news about Jesus and Anabel the family that found us the other week. We were talking about marriage and how important it is and if they had any desire to get married. Anabel said that there were some complications and that it could be about 8 months to a year. Then Jesus said: "nah we could probably do it in about 2 weeks". We were so happy and are still so happy for this family. They are so awesome. We had a talent show in our ward for the kids his week and they brought their kids and they even took part in the talent show, they all love the church and it’s awesome!!! We are going to be in the talent show this week. My companion and I and the zone leaders, which should be interesting. We had a great week with new investigators and references from the ward. Our ward is really improving with helping in the work and we finally have a mission leader so it will be interesting to see if there will be a change or not. The conference last night was awesome and it made me so excited to be a missionary and to be preaching the gospel. Did you guys notice Elder Lyons when they were talking about Tampa?? At least I think it was Elder Lyons, I couldn’t really see his name very well but I recognised his face, I was like buddy on elf, " I know him!!!" I thought that was pretty cool. It will be interesting to see how the technology changes the mission and the work is moving forward faster and faster every day. It’s a great time to be a missionary. Hope you guys have a great week, love you guys talk to you soon!!

Elder Grigor 

  

 

 

This is a Trufi- a taxi in Bolivia. This was the accident that

 happened in May when the taxi Elder Grigor was riding in

was t-boned in the intersection. Just minor damage was

 done to the bumper. Thank goodness no one was hurt!

 

 

 

I asked Elder Grigor what kinds of foods that he has eaten in Bolivia.

 He sent us some pictures of a meal he had this week.

 

 

"This was one meal we ate this week. Look up Pique and Charque. 

I think that's how you spell them.

Those are some traditional meals I've eaten.

 But its usually meat rice and potatoes. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a time and a place for everyone.

Dear Family,

So this week marks my first transfer in the field, the announcement was last night and luckily my companion is staying. I thought for sure he was going to leave because he has been in this area for 6 months already but he is going to stay for one more transfer. Then I am going to start training. Hopefully my Spanish improves a lot in these next 6 weeks. It’s getting better and better everyday and I am really learning a lot. So I am going to respond to moms questions. No not all the roads are dirt, we have a big area, about 2-3 Km more or less. So there are some paved roads but a lot of the shortcuts we take are back paths are all dirt. The food we eat is a lot of rice and potatoes, soup, all kinds of meat, sometimes mystery meat. I will take some pictures this week of my food and send it to you guys next week. Yes it is still hot, about 25-30 in the afternoon and at about 5 it drops to about 10 degrees, it’s freezing in the night and in the morning. My Spanish is coming along, I haven’t really noticed but lots of our investigators and members have said that it has improved a ton and that I have a good accent so I guess it’s coming along. This week was actually really great as well. We went teaching with the President on Tuesday to the parents of a recent convert and they are going to be baptized on the 13th (I hope). A lot of dates fall through but as of now they are good to go. It was really nerve wracking teaching with the President but he said I did a good job so I’m happy with that. The awesome story I want to tell you is about a family that found us. Usually we find families but they came to us for some reason (that reason being the spirit, it wasn’t random). We didn’t go to an appointment and started walking the other direction because we thought we should go visit a different investigator. As we were walking turned a corner and two people yelled: “AMIGOS”, so we went over and talked to them. They said that they wanted us to teach them and their two little kids. Mauricio 7, Diego 2. Their names are Jesus and Anabel. We said: “of course that’s our job”. We taught them the first lesson and they are so excited and want to be baptized. We thought that everything was great and that they were perfect. We went to pick them up Sunday and turns out they couldn’t make it because they had unexpected family come over and we were really disappointed and discouraged. So then we were sitting in church and with 20 minutes left in Sacrament meeting they walked in and stayed the rest of the meetings and they loved it. They also accepted baptism; the only thing is that they aren’t married yet so we have to work on that.  But other than that everything is good. The amazing thing about them is that they took the lessons 4 years ago but just weren’t ready and now they are and want to be baptized. The thing I learned is that there is a time and a place for everyone and we shouldn’t get discouraged when people don’t accept the gospel right away, we just have to be patient. The others elders that taught them were probably discouraged. If only they knew now that their work lead the way to their baptism. We have tons of investigators that don’t accept right away and don’t keep commitments but we shouldn’t get discouraged because the Lord has people prepared and there are many that just aren’t prepared yet. That was a great lesson for me and I am so glad to have met them and had that experience. It really was a great week and I’m loving it hear. The weeks are just flying by it seems like.

 

Love you guys so much and I will talk to you next week!!

Love Elder Grigor

 

The Things That Matter Most

This is from the March 2013 Ensign.

It is from a talk that Elder Grigor really liked.

Our family picture on his missionary Handbook.

The things that matter most.....

 

Elder Grigor's "crafting" as he calls it.

The packed truck full of missionaries

from his Zone going to play soccer.

Elder Grigor is way at the back.

 

P-day with his Zone. Out playing Soccer in Bolivia.

 

 

I always want to have that feeling.

Hola!! 

 

So this week was much better, although I didn’t get any mail this week. That was the most disappointing part, every Tuesday night so far I have come back and seen mail, but this week there wasn’t anything :(   I don’t expect stuff every week and I really appreciate all the letters and packages that you guys send to me it’s amazing. I have kept every one and read them over and over again. They mean so much to me. Other than that this week was great, much better than the last week and a lot easier too. So we had a zone conference this Thursday which was awesome, I love being together with all the missionaries and seeing my buddies from the MTC. We learned a lot. Each Zone leader has to give a report and talk about one companionship that has been working really well together and from our zone that was me and Elder Valda. I really like him. He is a great companion and we’re getting used to each other. Another thing we learned was to never be afraid to invite someone to be baptized. Sometimes I’m shy and have fear that people will reject me. Anyways we learned from that and yesterday we committed 2 people to baptism just in their doorway after about 15 minutes of talking, now the hard part is trying to get them to keep their commitment, a lot of people fall through but that’s part of the mission. We learned so much stuff and one of my favorite parts was that the President said we have an hour and a half to write home which is so nice and I might have time to actually write everyone now. Also we had a baptism this Saturday of Edwin. He is 17 and ready to serve a mission. Such as great guy. So he had been coming to church for months but was always kind of afraid to be baptized and he didn’t show up for about a month. He started coming again just 2 weeks after I got to Bolivia. He said that when he wasn’t coming to church he felt bad and just had a different feeling when he came to church, so in that moment Elder Valda said: so do you want to get baptized next week? He said yes and we taught him all the lessons and now he’s a member. The President even came to the baptism which is very rare, that was awesome but made it very nervous for me conducting. This week was awesome and I felt the spirit so strong during his baptism and confirmation, it was amazing! I always want to have that feeling. Over all great week and I hope this week will be the same.

 

Love you 

ElderGrigor

 

 

2nd baptism

P-day BBQ

Our goofy Elder Grigor.

That is his companions hair in the background

It's not a strange hairy growth!

Elder Grigor's Mission Scrapbooks

Elder Valda, Edwin, and Elder Grigor

2nd baptism in the mission

Edwin's baptism

 Love ALBERTA!!!!

Some really nasty moldy food!

Sometimes I just have to push through and work a little harder

Dear Mom, Dad and Justin,

So honestly this week was really hard, Tuesday morning was the hardest I’ve had all of my mission. I did not want to get up and work out or do anything. I was listening to music while working out and heard the song “Give it all to Him” from the EFY 2012 CD. I almost started crying actually, it was such a powerful song and I really felt the spirit so strongly. You will have to listen to it to get the full effect. One part says: “I can’t count the blessings that are waiting in the end so I forget myself and give it all to him.” That really changed my mood for the entire week actually and when I was having sad thoughts or missing home or having a tough day I would sing those words in my head and it would become a lot easier. I got sick this week, not a great week actually. So they put me on a white diet. I could only eat rice, potatoes and plain chicken, it actually wasn’t that bad since I like those foods, but I stayed in the apartment all day Friday. But right now I am fine and doing better. I don’t know why I had such a tough week, nothing really went right and it was just so frustrating, of course there were good moments as well but it just seemed like there were so many worse ones. But something I am good at is persevering, I always quote 2 Nephi 31:20 in my mind. I know that I am going to have bad days and I know I am going to have good days, sometimes I just have to push through and work a little harder and be a little better with a smile on my face and let my light shine. I’m glad I have your letters to read every week and give me a little boost for the next week. I love you guys so much and thanks you for everything. And one thing I forgot is that I am so grateful for the letters and packages, I don’t think I said thank you, but they really meant a lot and that was so amazing.

Love, 

Elder Grigor


Here is a link to listen to the song Elder Grigor mentioned in his email. A little warning to any missionary moms that listen to it- grab a bunch of Kleenex!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VTybbmO6S4

Elder Grigor in front of the Cochabamba Temple

Elder Grigor outside the Cochabamba Temple

Washing Day. This is where Elder Grigor

washes his clothes. I am sure he is missing

the laundry facilities at the MTC now.