Another Week in the Mission

Hola Amigos,

Of course I want an iPad.  Why not?  Of course I'm not allowed to have an iPad.  But it's like Jesus says "lay not up in store treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through and steal, but lay up in store for yourselves treasures in heaven."  And since everyone knows that missions are a mini metaphor for life, that means home is heaven.  So I would just send the iPad home until I come back.

Brazeiro's was INCREDIBLE.  Everything was just top notch and... well I'm certain that I broke the word of wisdom with all the meat I ate, but it's a steakhouse so whatever.

P90X is real tough, but it's not that bad.  The difference is that I'm sore all the time.  But it feels so good.

Well, um yeah.  It's kinda difficult to make waffles on the griddle. I'm not going to try it.  But, we did try to make McGriddles this week... It's tough.  And still not good for you, even if it is homemade.

Well, Eva is off in the hands of the English elders now.  They'll take good care of her.  I'm sure she'll come around, it'll just take time though.  She's felt the Spirit so many times with us there.  It'll happen.

By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY FAWN!!!  I know it's a day late.  Deal with it.  It's not like I have an iPad...

Dang, I'm sorry I missed your talks.  One thing I've learned as a missionary is don't be afraid not to talk.  Just have like a moment of silence and let the Spirit sink in.  I haven't tried it myself in a talk yet, but I'm always down to try revolutionary ideas.  In fact, I actually haven't given a talk at all yet on my mission, which is pretty unusual I hear.  Don't tell anyone that though... I'm soooo good at flying under the radar.

Hahahaha, I know right?  All kinds of people have a cow now when you call it a 'farewell'.  It's funny.

I would have been right there with you on that hamburger.  I like my meat well grounded.  (that was a pun in two ways: first, terrestrial quadripeds provide the most delicious meat, and also, hamburger is usual served grounded a la 'ground beef'.)

Well, we just had a really great lesson with our investigator, Victor, this week.  After reading 3 Nephi 11 with him, he was like "Now I know that I need to be baptized again." (but he used these Spanish words instead)  It's always so cool when you see people just 'get it.' Ya know?  So we'll probably be working extra hard on him this week.

Things are just really great right now.  The Lord is always blessing us so much.  We've been finding a few new people to teach and Victor is really learning and stuff.  Shouldn't be long now...

This week, I ran into Mosiah 23:21 which was absolutely appropriate for me.  I feel like I've been working hard and trying to be better all the time for most of my mission and just was wondering why don't I ever get any baptisms.  Well, it's because 'Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.'  Don't ever be discouraged if you're doing the best you can and you still feel like things aren't going your way.  We both know that we could use a little more patience and a lot more faith.  Hang in there, you're doing great.

That's all I got for now.  Sorry.  But I love you all and I miss you and I appreciate all the mail you've sent me.  It's always good to hear from you.

Love
Elder Grabinger