I can't even begin to tell you how much time I've spent stopped at green lights this week. I don't even say anything anymore because I want to see how much attention my comp. is paying. You know? How seriously does this guy take my life when he's driving? Apparently, not much. He was speeding up to a red light on the way to church yesterday and I didn't say anything until the last second (like, seriously still accelerating up to the light, not even just cruising). He lucked out that the light turned green just as I opened my mouth. Not that he could have done anything anyway, we were poised to run that light.
Yeah, so we have this guitar now and I try not to play it since we're not really supposed to have one (I'm really trying to be obedient...ish). But maybe on a P-Day I can work something out. But we have a Zone Activity today that I'm super excited about because all of the other missionaries in this zone are bosses. I don't know what happened... :/ But the greatest news was that we went back to the members' home for dinner again this week (who originally gave us the guitar) and they gave me a full-size BANJO complete with case and accessories! If we keep this up, I'll be shipping home a baby-grand piano by the time I leave this area... JK. But yeah, now I have this banjo with a beginner's guide book and everythang. Not really supposed to have that either so president will probs notice when we have transfers so I don't think I'll keep it around for long. Maybe Doug would like to take care of it for me until I get home? We'll
see...
Well, Sherie didn't meet with us this week cause she was "super busy." It's like everyone who isn't a missionary has this thing called 'real life' to deal with and doesn't want to make time for us to wrangle them in to Jesus or whatever. Also, we didn't see her at church. So I was real bumskeed about that.
So we went tracting yesterday. In the rain. Everyone is like "Well, thanks for coming by, but we're real solid in our faith, you stay warm though!" and I'm like "Stay warm? It's single digits and the sky is shedding tears of blood, LET US IN YOUR HOUSE SO WE CAN BE WARM!!!"
Chris lets us in and we lay down the first lesson: "THE RESTORATION." I left him with our number on a pass-along card, but also I gave it to him and he texted us so we would have his and we could meet again. We didn't get the text. I gave him the wrong number. But it's right on the pass-along card! So hopefully when he reads 3 Nephi 11 he sees it (cause I put it in as his bookmark) and he says "those goofs, I better call them and tell 'em how stupid they are."
Fast forward to the next house. My comp was like, okay we're going to knock until that brown house over there (cause he is seriously in love with brown houses. No joke, he told me that) and then go to our dinner appointment. We get to the brown house with no previous luck, when the door is answered and the man says "Come in!" So we do. He explains that his friend is downstairs and is super depressed and we need to cheer him up. Okay, but the the man that let us in is SHWASTED OUT OF HIS MIND. Like, I could hold a lighter up to his mouth and you'd think he was a dragon... just saying. So we go console this man who works himself to death and is not appreciated by his girlfriend that he lives 'in sin' (<--- his words, not mine [recognition is the first step to repentance so I was like "that's a plus!"]) with. Then.... halfway through our discussion... Leslie, who I think is Kimmy's, the shwasted man's, wife, comes home and she looks livid. But she asks who we are and after we explain she totally breaks down into sobbing tears and tells us we were an answer to her prayer this morning. At this point, my demeanor is nothing short of solemn and humble, but my mind is like "WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE I WALKED INTO TODAY!?" So we leave Wes, the depressed guy, The Plan of Salvation pamphlet to comfort him and let him know his purpose here in life and left our phone number and the address to the church for them all. It was well-received. If they don't call us soon, we're totes going back soon.
But we were then late for our dinner appointment with a really great member family. Their oldest son skateboards and their daughter does gymnastics and their youngest just has a TON of energy. I realized that I could relate to all of them and was grateful for the immense amount of talents the Lord has blessed me with. Seriously, I'm just now realizing that I have a lot. At Zone Conference last week, we all had to prepare a 2-minute talk on a Christlike attribute and be ready to give it, cause they would call on random missionaries just before it was time to get up to the pulpit. Not only do I get called, but I get called to go first and our district leader (my comp.) didn't give me the fulness of the assignment until that morning, so I literally prepared in like five minutes before we left for the conference. Anyway, I go... and afterward, my friend, Elder LeSueur (who is in my zone, thank goodness), is like, "FREAKING GRABINGER!!! YOU'RE GOOD AT EVERYTHING!" when we see each other in the hall. So yeah, people hate me cause I'm so blessed. I'm grateful for that.
But we're at the members' home for dinner and we start talking about missions because the wife served and the topic of trainers come up and she's all "I had a great trainer, but I know you either LOVE your trainer or you HATE your trainer". My comp. agrees. I say nothing. Which is exactly what I should have said... (thank you to Mr. Mike Birbiglia right there). Later, I give the spiritual thought. It was good. The family starts telling us some jokes, and my comp. joins in and it wasn't anything bad, but we sit through like every blond joke ever and the classic rabbi, priest, pastor ones. Sometimes, in my head, I'm just like "why do I even try to bring the Spirit?" But whatever. My comp. is a fine missionary.
One man came to the door this week like FIVE MINUTES after we knocked and we turned around half way down his driveway and he was like, "No Thanks! Hebrews 1:1-3" and I was like why would I listen to you if you don't even invite me to come listen to you? Also I would like an explanation... I don't understand what you mean by that scripture.
Mike, or Richard as I like to call him, is going to be out of town for a week at least for the birth of his and his wife's first grandchild. Yippee... We'll probably never see them again.... But we've gotten phone numbers and whatnot from plenty of people so I'm sure once we get in contact this week, we'll have some solid investigators. We
have a baptism on Saturday, but the sister missionaries took point on that investigator since she was more comfortable with them. But still. It's OUR baptism. :)
You know, I was really excited to leave the van after that last trip to Utah with you all, but now, I think I would love to just be back there with you crazies. At least I had a variety. Now it's just me... and hopefully I can find someone to talk with us because... yeah. You know why. I'm glad to hear people are enjoying my blog! If only they would tell me themselves... NBD. But I'm totally jealous that you all got to visit Vance and Ludean. They're the coolest!!! And also I love nachos....
I'm glad to hear about Grandma's funeral though and that everyone was together. As far as that expert makeup work: pics or it didn't happen. (<--- I would just like to see for myself, is what I'm saying right there.)
Wow, I had no idea I had chosen such an appropriate mentor! I also love to watch Despcable Me. Well tell Jenna I said "hi" also. Okay, tell Maddie also. I'm hoping to get on a member's computer today so I can send my pics. You can definitely send me an SD memory card if you'd like, but e-mail works just fine as well.
There's just been a bunch of funny/crazy stuff this week that I haven't written down and I can't remember now so you won't get to hear about it. I'll make notes throughout this week so you guys get it all next week. My comp. is always talking about making squirrel gravy because, well.... I don't know why. But he and the sister missionaries have purchased these blow dart guns and seriously dream of like small-scale wildlife murdering sprees every P-Day. It won't be long I'm sure until I end up with a possum boiling on my stove top.
I'll keep you posted about that.
In all seriousness, I'm doing fine and having plenty of fun and really trying to fulfill my purpose. But hopefully my whole mission won't be like it has been the past few weeks...
I love you all! See you soon... maybe ; )
Totally joking.
about the loving you all part.
No just kidding, about the seeing you soon part.
I love you all.
-Elder Grabinger
P.S. J. Golden Kimball is a BOSS
Oh and don't worry. I did get a Valentine's Day package from someone. Thanks a bunch (you know who you are ;} ). As for the rest of you slackers: If I don't start seeing the postman come to my door twice daily because of all the mail I will be receiving soon, well then I will just dedicate some time and effort into really thinking about how I could actually punish you all and make you feel bad. Real bad. That's no threat... IT'S A PROMISE!
P.S.S. All of your valentines should be in the mail soon. I found a real gem at Goodwill this week.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Week 3 in T-KNOX
I love to hear that I'm right (or at least I really think I am) about
the tea. I was soooo confused cause we asked the bishop and he gave
the okay and I was like, um....... I'll ask my mish prez. real quick
though for the final verdict.
I'm not getting enough mail, so go ahead and repost the mission office
address on my facebook page and fabricate a lengthy yet concise and
heartfelt appeal to those sinners that view my facebook page. I don't
have time to do it myself, but I have faith in you.
As far as driving this week, I was able to stop my comp. from running
a red light with my classic monotone "Um, that's the reddest light
I've ever seen..." as he was speeding towards it. Unfortunately, he
caught me off guard later in the week and we definitely ran through a
crimson stop light that had been so for at least 10 seconds. Needless
to say, I'm getting real good at remembering to buckle my seatbelt,
and pray with a sincere heart.
As far as a program from Grandma's funeral, just save me one or put it
in my box at home. No need to ship it to me.
The final verdict is in. No guitars! I know, bummer, but I didn't
find out until after a member GAVE me this cute little half size one
to play. So, I probably won't get rid of it, but I'm not going to
play it..................often. Just kidding, the good news is, we
can have KEYBOARDS!!! And I've been wanting to learn piano, so that's
on the gift list. Go ahead and keep an eye out for a good keyboard
that I can learn on. I'd appreciate it.
I'm sorry to hear that Doug had pneumonia. I hate it when I get
rashes there too...
In all seriousness though, I wouldn't mind doing without the rest hymn, ever.
So kudos to that.And let's be real, are you really in a rush to get to Sunday
School?Really? Be honest? In our meeting yesterday, the first speaker only
went for like five minutes so the last speaker had like half an hour.
I was getting my scriptures out to prepare something cause the bishop
was like "I'll be calling on a few members of the congregation if we
have any time at the end" and "a few members of the congregation" is
the abbreviated way of saying "the missionaries." Luckily, the
speaker was a real jabberjaw and rose to the occasion. Hooray!
So this week, we tracted into this baptist guy who was nice enough to
let us in. We talked about the bible and whatnot (my comp. said it
was a light bible bashing, but I thought it was very civil). Anyway,
we got around to the Book of Mormon and he was like "The Bible is the
whole word of God. Why do we need another book." Which kinda caught
me off guard cause I was like, well, we don't really need another
book, that's not really the issue about it. But anyway, I was said
"Why is the Bible the only word of God? Does it say that in the
Bible?" He said yes and I decided not to pressure it further because
it doesn't actually say that in the Bible. But he was like "If the
BofM was the word of God, it would say something about it in the
Bible," and I was like "It does! Isaiah 29 is a prophecy all about
the BofM!" But he wouldn't have it because the words "Book of Mormon"
weren't in the text. We left and I felt bad at first cause I though
maybe I hadn't done enough, but then I thought, you know, his heart
wasn't even open to it because he wouldn't even consider the evidence
we had given. Nothing I or the Spirit can do if a person won't
listen. So that was my first real encounter with a 'born again.'
We also tracted into this guy Mike who has been receptive so far and
really nice, but we're not totally convinced of his motives. I think
he's just trying to be educated about what we believe. The funny
thing is, the first time we knocked on his door, his wife and him
answered and said to come back wheneva. I wrote their names down
right after walking away and when we went back, I thought I'd impress
them with remembering they're names. You can imaging my surprise and
shock when I called him Richard and he was like, "It's Mike." I SWEAR
TO YOU that when we first met him, he said Richard. I SWEAR he gave
us a fake name or something... But he still let us in, so NBD.
Okay, so the first day I was here, I was like "we're going tracting"
and my comp was like "where?" I was like "I dunno" and my comp said
"college kids, middle-class, or boonies?" You know I picked
middle-class. We ran into this couple, Mike and Kim and they had been
searching for us. PERFECT!! Right? Well we had the first discussion
with them and then couldn't get a hold of them for like 10 days and
were about to give up when we got through on Sat. Mike was like "not
only are we meeting tonight and going to church tomorrow, but my
sister and her family are too!" and I was like "Rock on, you go
girl." So he doesn't answer his phone the rest of the day. typical.
but we go over to his sister's place because that's where we were
meeting. She was a super die hard Bible studier and super faithful
and whatnot. Me and my comp invited her to church... AND SHE CAME!
AT 9 O'CLOCK! Mike and Kim didn't... whatever. But it was such a
great experience. We taught her last night and it's really intense
but I'm about to run out of time so I can't get into all the details
that I want to right now. Maybe later... Just kidding, it added ten
more minutes to my time, here we go...
So this sister, Sherie, went to church and was like, I was looking for
a contradiction to what I know from the Bible and the revelation God
has already given me, but I didn't find one, I definitely have some
questions about the BofM, but yeah.... Also, she was like, you know,
I've been to every denomination out there, and everyone was like, you
need to where this cross necklace and put the cross in your car and
get this bumper sticker and blah blah blah, and she was like, no. I
don't need that, it's a symbol of death. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE
SPEAKER TALKED ABOUT IN CHURCH YESTERDAY!? Why we don't utilize the
symbol of the cross. and she was like, Oh yeah, that's right.
Coincidence you say? How often do we really talk about why we don't
use the cross in sacrament? Really? Yeah, so the other thing is she
was like, at other churches, there are mean people and blah blah blah,
and she just had bad experiences since she was a single mother and
whatnot, and hadn't been to church in three years cause she was like
"God is love, and if these are you're people God, then I will just
stay home and worship you myself". Anyway, she was like, everyone was
soooo sincere and friendly and I felt like they genuinely listened to
me and cared about me. At another church, she said, people were
always just like "will we see you next week?" She got a dinner invite
at our church.
Sidenote: Make a point to introduce yourself to investigators. It
works wonders. Seriously it's the best tool we have in making people
feel welcome and comfortable.
Okay this is the last thing I'll say. She told us that on Saturday,
she prayed and was like "God, I know I need to get back to church, so
If you send me someone, whether I like it or not, I will go to
church." We knocked on her door that night. That's what it's all
about though, God answers prayers ESPECIALLY when we pray with real
intent. That was a great example to me because she was like, God,
answer my prayer, and if you do, I will act on it. She committed to
going to go to church whether she wanted to or not if God would answer
her prayer. So He did.
Anyway, time's almost up, I wish I could share more. I need to start
writing a concrete letter so I can get everything down. But I love
you all. I like it here, but I can't wait to come home either. 23
months left! NBD! I'd love to hear from you though. send me a
letter.
Love
-Elder Grabinger
the tea. I was soooo confused cause we asked the bishop and he gave
the okay and I was like, um....... I'll ask my mish prez. real quick
though for the final verdict.
I'm not getting enough mail, so go ahead and repost the mission office
address on my facebook page and fabricate a lengthy yet concise and
heartfelt appeal to those sinners that view my facebook page. I don't
have time to do it myself, but I have faith in you.
As far as driving this week, I was able to stop my comp. from running
a red light with my classic monotone "Um, that's the reddest light
I've ever seen..." as he was speeding towards it. Unfortunately, he
caught me off guard later in the week and we definitely ran through a
crimson stop light that had been so for at least 10 seconds. Needless
to say, I'm getting real good at remembering to buckle my seatbelt,
and pray with a sincere heart.
As far as a program from Grandma's funeral, just save me one or put it
in my box at home. No need to ship it to me.
The final verdict is in. No guitars! I know, bummer, but I didn't
find out until after a member GAVE me this cute little half size one
to play. So, I probably won't get rid of it, but I'm not going to
play it..................often. Just kidding, the good news is, we
can have KEYBOARDS!!! And I've been wanting to learn piano, so that's
on the gift list. Go ahead and keep an eye out for a good keyboard
that I can learn on. I'd appreciate it.
I'm sorry to hear that Doug had pneumonia. I hate it when I get
rashes there too...
In all seriousness though, I wouldn't mind doing without the rest hymn, ever.
So kudos to that.And let's be real, are you really in a rush to get to Sunday
School?Really? Be honest? In our meeting yesterday, the first speaker only
went for like five minutes so the last speaker had like half an hour.
I was getting my scriptures out to prepare something cause the bishop
was like "I'll be calling on a few members of the congregation if we
have any time at the end" and "a few members of the congregation" is
the abbreviated way of saying "the missionaries." Luckily, the
speaker was a real jabberjaw and rose to the occasion. Hooray!
So this week, we tracted into this baptist guy who was nice enough to
let us in. We talked about the bible and whatnot (my comp. said it
was a light bible bashing, but I thought it was very civil). Anyway,
we got around to the Book of Mormon and he was like "The Bible is the
whole word of God. Why do we need another book." Which kinda caught
me off guard cause I was like, well, we don't really need another
book, that's not really the issue about it. But anyway, I was said
"Why is the Bible the only word of God? Does it say that in the
Bible?" He said yes and I decided not to pressure it further because
it doesn't actually say that in the Bible. But he was like "If the
BofM was the word of God, it would say something about it in the
Bible," and I was like "It does! Isaiah 29 is a prophecy all about
the BofM!" But he wouldn't have it because the words "Book of Mormon"
weren't in the text. We left and I felt bad at first cause I though
maybe I hadn't done enough, but then I thought, you know, his heart
wasn't even open to it because he wouldn't even consider the evidence
we had given. Nothing I or the Spirit can do if a person won't
listen. So that was my first real encounter with a 'born again.'
We also tracted into this guy Mike who has been receptive so far and
really nice, but we're not totally convinced of his motives. I think
he's just trying to be educated about what we believe. The funny
thing is, the first time we knocked on his door, his wife and him
answered and said to come back wheneva. I wrote their names down
right after walking away and when we went back, I thought I'd impress
them with remembering they're names. You can imaging my surprise and
shock when I called him Richard and he was like, "It's Mike." I SWEAR
TO YOU that when we first met him, he said Richard. I SWEAR he gave
us a fake name or something... But he still let us in, so NBD.
Okay, so the first day I was here, I was like "we're going tracting"
and my comp was like "where?" I was like "I dunno" and my comp said
"college kids, middle-class, or boonies?" You know I picked
middle-class. We ran into this couple, Mike and Kim and they had been
searching for us. PERFECT!! Right? Well we had the first discussion
with them and then couldn't get a hold of them for like 10 days and
were about to give up when we got through on Sat. Mike was like "not
only are we meeting tonight and going to church tomorrow, but my
sister and her family are too!" and I was like "Rock on, you go
girl." So he doesn't answer his phone the rest of the day. typical.
but we go over to his sister's place because that's where we were
meeting. She was a super die hard Bible studier and super faithful
and whatnot. Me and my comp invited her to church... AND SHE CAME!
AT 9 O'CLOCK! Mike and Kim didn't... whatever. But it was such a
great experience. We taught her last night and it's really intense
but I'm about to run out of time so I can't get into all the details
that I want to right now. Maybe later... Just kidding, it added ten
more minutes to my time, here we go...
So this sister, Sherie, went to church and was like, I was looking for
a contradiction to what I know from the Bible and the revelation God
has already given me, but I didn't find one, I definitely have some
questions about the BofM, but yeah.... Also, she was like, you know,
I've been to every denomination out there, and everyone was like, you
need to where this cross necklace and put the cross in your car and
get this bumper sticker and blah blah blah, and she was like, no. I
don't need that, it's a symbol of death. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE
SPEAKER TALKED ABOUT IN CHURCH YESTERDAY!? Why we don't utilize the
symbol of the cross. and she was like, Oh yeah, that's right.
Coincidence you say? How often do we really talk about why we don't
use the cross in sacrament? Really? Yeah, so the other thing is she
was like, at other churches, there are mean people and blah blah blah,
and she just had bad experiences since she was a single mother and
whatnot, and hadn't been to church in three years cause she was like
"God is love, and if these are you're people God, then I will just
stay home and worship you myself". Anyway, she was like, everyone was
soooo sincere and friendly and I felt like they genuinely listened to
me and cared about me. At another church, she said, people were
always just like "will we see you next week?" She got a dinner invite
at our church.
Sidenote: Make a point to introduce yourself to investigators. It
works wonders. Seriously it's the best tool we have in making people
feel welcome and comfortable.
Okay this is the last thing I'll say. She told us that on Saturday,
she prayed and was like "God, I know I need to get back to church, so
If you send me someone, whether I like it or not, I will go to
church." We knocked on her door that night. That's what it's all
about though, God answers prayers ESPECIALLY when we pray with real
intent. That was a great example to me because she was like, God,
answer my prayer, and if you do, I will act on it. She committed to
going to go to church whether she wanted to or not if God would answer
her prayer. So He did.
Anyway, time's almost up, I wish I could share more. I need to start
writing a concrete letter so I can get everything down. But I love
you all. I like it here, but I can't wait to come home either. 23
months left! NBD! I'd love to hear from you though. send me a
letter.
Love
-Elder Grabinger
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Week 2 in T-KNOX
Yeah, Johnson city is cool. The members here are the bees knees.
They feed us all day err'day and then even send us home with food. We
need to get more investigators though so I can get them involved on
the fellowshipping front. I wish I had more hilarious stories for you
guys, but my comp. is pretty goofy and we don't share that same mature
level of dry humor. Seriously though, we're at these new members home
and I'm trying to teach them the word of wisdom (cause they were all
up in it with that green tea) and trying to get spiritual while my
comp. finds this paper towel roll and starts making chewbacca noises
to scare their dogs. Real quick though, can one of you do a reality
check for me on the google machine and find out about green tea? I'm
totes positive it's against the word of wisdom, but my comp was like
"nope, only black tea. Herbal tea is okay too though." (and I was
like, duh). Anyway, we asked bishop and he was like "yeah, I think
green tea is okay, it's an herb" and I'm like, No, it's a tea leaf.
Anyway, I remain unconvinced. Personally, I would just as soon say no
tea. Not even herbal. Let's just not even worry about it. Just
don't even bother with tea at all. It's not worth your time.
Seriously, do you really need it? Hmm? Microwave some juice and
sprinkle some oregano in it. Done. Have a nice day.
Anyway, so my comp is a little bit of a downer. When we have to go
tract, I end up knocking on at least half of the doors and doing all
of the talking now. It's sooo great for me. But I can't carry this
work. I've got to figure out how to get him on the same page... I
have my faults too, but I try to have a positive attitude now and
really get to work.
But we end up seeing the sister missionaries a lot since the areas are
divided like right through the middle of this city. And their pretty
funny and good workers.
Oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!! That's all I've got for you. We have
these JPMorgan cards that are good for nothing. I can't even get
cashback and the first day I went to walmart, it wouldn't work.
WALMART!!! If I can't buy stuff there, where can I? Turns out, I
didn't have enough money on my card at the time and you absolutely
cannot overdraft on these accounts. The takeaway message from this
paragraph is that you are not getting a gift from me in the mail,
Josh. But I hope you're taking full advantage of those guitars I left
for you. I can't have them... bummer.
As for Matthew's license, well, he's definitely on par with my comp's
driving so if the Lord says my comp can drive, Matthew can drive. We
were pulling a U-turn to go help a damsel in distress (here car hood
was up and she was tinkering with the innards in a church parking lot)
and my comp got distracted with... not the road and well... ended up
not on the road but slamming into the curb. We popped a tire. So we
spent hours getting that taken care of a few days ago. Seriously, I
have spent more time stopped at green lights and slowing down to
intersections with no stop signs than ever before with Matthew. He's
ready.
Speaking of Matthew, how's that Eagle Project coming? First, remind
him he's a Boy Scout. That's get him in the proper mindset cause if
you just spring that on him, you'll catch him off guard and he'll be
like "Where's mom!?". "She's been in Tucson ALL DAY. Is this really
happening Matthew?". Haha, family inside jokes.... But yeah, get that
done.
The super bowl. We were going to tract last night but my comp was
like, everyone's going to be mad at us for interrupting the super bowl
and I was like whatever. But it was fast Sunday and I didn't want to
push it because if anyone opened the door and I smelled pizza... oh
man, fuggedaboudit. But we went and visited some less actives. You
know, build up the strength of the ward and stuff. I did practically
all the teaching though and shared the spiritual message at our dinner
appointment. It was cool.
I don't really mean to get down on my comp, He's really not that bad,
and it's kinda my fault cause I don't really encourage him ever (I'm
afraid he'll think I'm encouraging him to continue chasing dogs at
people's houses), but I just really don't have anything super positive
to say about him either. Not yet at least... I'll find it. Or it's
going to be a long 3 months.... Longer than comp. study already
seems....
Alyssa gets a car!? What'd she do? Is that cash for clunkers thing
happening again? Dang. Lucky her. Are they going to let Jacob drive
it up and give it to her as an extra special gift? Hahaha, JK. I
miss the crew though. All of you are number one. Top notch. A plus.
Okay, so we visited these members for dinner last night and they used
to work for a company called Melaluca or something like that based in
Idaho? Anyway, they had some hilarious stories about shady business
models and crappy products. Research it, and get back to me. A quick
copy paste of the wikipedia page should suffice. All I know is that
Melaluca oil can cure EVERYTHING. It's seriously magical I guess.
But it's estimated also that 1/4 of the population is allergic to it.
Oh well... 1/3 of the hosts of heaven were cast out so in comparison,
they're not doing too bad.
Here I've gone and squandered my time without sharing a spiritual
message. Um... I read 2 Nephi 29 today. It's an excellent chapter
which justifies the existence of the Book of Mormon and really beats
down any argument against it. Oh, it's mostly God speaking so, I
mean, who could really argue anyway. But yeah, give it some thought.
Chanda asked about some killer material on "Preaching the Gospel."
I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again. Jeez, 60
minutes is not enough... And this library sucks cause I can't upload
pics from my camera. Someday, you'll get them... someday....
Okay here's that killer material for Chanda:
Don't be afraid to share with your friends your beliefs. Plant that
seed. And LOOK for opportunities. Don't just hope that one pops up.
Cause even if it does, you'll miss it if you're not looking.
Crap, I can't share more, this computer is about to kick me off.
SORRY!!!! FORGIVE ME!!!
I miss you all (seriously, all of you. If you think I'm not thinking
of you, I am. I already did. Just now. Yes for reals. I care about
you. Jeez, cut it out. I really did. Okay, later).
Love,
Elder Grabinger
P.S. We aren't allowed to have guitars. Harumph. But we go to the
music shop on P day and play there. So it's cool
They feed us all day err'day and then even send us home with food. We
need to get more investigators though so I can get them involved on
the fellowshipping front. I wish I had more hilarious stories for you
guys, but my comp. is pretty goofy and we don't share that same mature
level of dry humor. Seriously though, we're at these new members home
and I'm trying to teach them the word of wisdom (cause they were all
up in it with that green tea) and trying to get spiritual while my
comp. finds this paper towel roll and starts making chewbacca noises
to scare their dogs. Real quick though, can one of you do a reality
check for me on the google machine and find out about green tea? I'm
totes positive it's against the word of wisdom, but my comp was like
"nope, only black tea. Herbal tea is okay too though." (and I was
like, duh). Anyway, we asked bishop and he was like "yeah, I think
green tea is okay, it's an herb" and I'm like, No, it's a tea leaf.
Anyway, I remain unconvinced. Personally, I would just as soon say no
tea. Not even herbal. Let's just not even worry about it. Just
don't even bother with tea at all. It's not worth your time.
Seriously, do you really need it? Hmm? Microwave some juice and
sprinkle some oregano in it. Done. Have a nice day.
Anyway, so my comp is a little bit of a downer. When we have to go
tract, I end up knocking on at least half of the doors and doing all
of the talking now. It's sooo great for me. But I can't carry this
work. I've got to figure out how to get him on the same page... I
have my faults too, but I try to have a positive attitude now and
really get to work.
But we end up seeing the sister missionaries a lot since the areas are
divided like right through the middle of this city. And their pretty
funny and good workers.
Oh yeah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!! That's all I've got for you. We have
these JPMorgan cards that are good for nothing. I can't even get
cashback and the first day I went to walmart, it wouldn't work.
WALMART!!! If I can't buy stuff there, where can I? Turns out, I
didn't have enough money on my card at the time and you absolutely
cannot overdraft on these accounts. The takeaway message from this
paragraph is that you are not getting a gift from me in the mail,
Josh. But I hope you're taking full advantage of those guitars I left
for you. I can't have them... bummer.
As for Matthew's license, well, he's definitely on par with my comp's
driving so if the Lord says my comp can drive, Matthew can drive. We
were pulling a U-turn to go help a damsel in distress (here car hood
was up and she was tinkering with the innards in a church parking lot)
and my comp got distracted with... not the road and well... ended up
not on the road but slamming into the curb. We popped a tire. So we
spent hours getting that taken care of a few days ago. Seriously, I
have spent more time stopped at green lights and slowing down to
intersections with no stop signs than ever before with Matthew. He's
ready.
Speaking of Matthew, how's that Eagle Project coming? First, remind
him he's a Boy Scout. That's get him in the proper mindset cause if
you just spring that on him, you'll catch him off guard and he'll be
like "Where's mom!?". "She's been in Tucson ALL DAY. Is this really
happening Matthew?". Haha, family inside jokes.... But yeah, get that
done.
The super bowl. We were going to tract last night but my comp was
like, everyone's going to be mad at us for interrupting the super bowl
and I was like whatever. But it was fast Sunday and I didn't want to
push it because if anyone opened the door and I smelled pizza... oh
man, fuggedaboudit. But we went and visited some less actives. You
know, build up the strength of the ward and stuff. I did practically
all the teaching though and shared the spiritual message at our dinner
appointment. It was cool.
I don't really mean to get down on my comp, He's really not that bad,
and it's kinda my fault cause I don't really encourage him ever (I'm
afraid he'll think I'm encouraging him to continue chasing dogs at
people's houses), but I just really don't have anything super positive
to say about him either. Not yet at least... I'll find it. Or it's
going to be a long 3 months.... Longer than comp. study already
seems....
Alyssa gets a car!? What'd she do? Is that cash for clunkers thing
happening again? Dang. Lucky her. Are they going to let Jacob drive
it up and give it to her as an extra special gift? Hahaha, JK. I
miss the crew though. All of you are number one. Top notch. A plus.
Okay, so we visited these members for dinner last night and they used
to work for a company called Melaluca or something like that based in
Idaho? Anyway, they had some hilarious stories about shady business
models and crappy products. Research it, and get back to me. A quick
copy paste of the wikipedia page should suffice. All I know is that
Melaluca oil can cure EVERYTHING. It's seriously magical I guess.
But it's estimated also that 1/4 of the population is allergic to it.
Oh well... 1/3 of the hosts of heaven were cast out so in comparison,
they're not doing too bad.
Here I've gone and squandered my time without sharing a spiritual
message. Um... I read 2 Nephi 29 today. It's an excellent chapter
which justifies the existence of the Book of Mormon and really beats
down any argument against it. Oh, it's mostly God speaking so, I
mean, who could really argue anyway. But yeah, give it some thought.
Chanda asked about some killer material on "Preaching the Gospel."
I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again. Jeez, 60
minutes is not enough... And this library sucks cause I can't upload
pics from my camera. Someday, you'll get them... someday....
Okay here's that killer material for Chanda:
Don't be afraid to share with your friends your beliefs. Plant that
seed. And LOOK for opportunities. Don't just hope that one pops up.
Cause even if it does, you'll miss it if you're not looking.
Crap, I can't share more, this computer is about to kick me off.
SORRY!!!! FORGIVE ME!!!
I miss you all (seriously, all of you. If you think I'm not thinking
of you, I am. I already did. Just now. Yes for reals. I care about
you. Jeez, cut it out. I really did. Okay, later).
Love,
Elder Grabinger
P.S. We aren't allowed to have guitars. Harumph. But we go to the
music shop on P day and play there. So it's cool
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)