A Birthday Gift to Us

Hello all.

This week has been really crazy. One of my companions went home this week in a crazy turn of events.  It would take more time than I have now to explain the whole story.  But he served an honorable mission and returned home honorably and we will miss Elder Casper.  Now it's just myself and Elder Mills running the show.  We we're the wild ones in our tri-panionship so things are really going to get out of control now I'm sure.

We had a very sacred experience last week.  Elder Mills and I administered to a young daughter of a couple who has not been active in the church for a while.  We were later told that shortly after we left, the girl's condition improved drastically and rapidly and the doctor attending to her case said it was the only  one he'd seen recover in six cases over the last 24 years.  What a miracle.  Truly, the "'tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." (1 Ne. 1:20)

Now, for something extremely hilarious.

Elder Mills and I were in the elevator lobby of a hospital waiting in some chairs.  As we sat patiently, I rubbed my eyes and Elder Mills caught attention of a small eyelash that had fallen to rest on my cheek.  He leaned in and said "let me get that elder."  With his index finger on my cheek and his face scarcely two inches from mine, the elevator doors opened without warning and two women walked off.  It wasn't what it looked like, but it was still very bad and Elder Mills and I immediately popped up and started walking opposite ways down the hall.  So embarrassing...

Next, we're eating dinner at this Japanese buffet and the member that took us and Elder Mills are just GOING TO TOWN on some crab legs.  One problem, there were no crab leg crackers available!!!  Crab juice was flying everywhere and silverware was getting bent and teeth were munching through these legs!  By the time it was over, the member's beard was completely saturated in crab guts and Elder Mills decided it was time to have dessert.  Not one minute after leaving to get some ice cream, he returns with two crab leg smashers that he found with a look of utter disdain on his face.  He proceeded to try and eat his ice cream with one out of spite...

Here's a spiritual thought (I know!  I'm going all out in this email!  It's been a while... consider it my birthday gift to everyone!)

“We must share the gospel with others. That is our responsibility—every member a missionary. That is the call of prophets of God. …

“… Member-missionary work is one of the great keys to the individual growth of our members. It is my conviction that member-missionary work will raise the spirituality in any ward where applied” (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 208–9).

If you're looking for immense spiritual growth (and I hope you all are) study from Preach My Gospel regularly (it's not just for missionaries) and figure out how to get involved more in missionary work!!!  It's the very essence of living the gospel!  I'm inviting you now to especially study chapter 5 out of Preach My Gospel and ponder this week about how you can better use the Book of Mormon in your life.  I hope there is no question about the necessity of the Book of Mormon.  It is THE tool of the Restoration (3 Ne. 21:6).  I know it will draw anyone who reads it with a sincere heart closer to God and Jesus Christ.

Have a great week!  Love y'all!  Miss ya!

Love
Elder Grabinger

Only 4 Months Left

Dear Family and Friends,

I just don't really even know what to say anymore... The mission is just a magical experience.  I'm so grateful for all of the opportunities I've had to serve others, overcome adversity, teach the gospel, etc.  This has been the best experience of my life so far and I have 4 months left!

Things are going alright.  We drive all over the kingdom to represent the mission president at baptismal services and training meetings for the missionaries.  It's a lot of fun.  I'm using my organizational skills to get our own area in order as far as paperwork goes.  I've got some killer companions so it's really easy to work hard and have fun too.

The CES Devotional by Elder Nelson was wonderful last night.  He asked some very pointed questions and made some even more pointed statements.  It was inspiring.  I love that he, as far as I can remember, always mentions the Abrahamic Covenant and the Gathering of Israel.  That is such a penetrating doctrine and the Book of Mormon has a TON to say on the subject (3 Nephi 21:6 is a good start).  It means a lot to me.

I miss that giant buffalo...

Love
Elder Grabinger

A New Call

Dear Friends,

Yes.  The rumors are true.  I have been called to serve as an AP (Assistant to the [Mission] President) and that is why I haven't gotten to write my family like I would like to the past couple of weeks.  Sorry.

Things are going well.  We just run around all day like chickens with our heads cut off doing whatever President needs done and teaching people the gospel.  We had a couple of great lessons recently actually.  We met with a man named Kyle whose father was recently baptized.  He didn't know much about the church and had some doubts/concerns about religion in general.  He was just really skeptical, not so much unbelieving.  Elder Mills and I taught him about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how the fullness of the gospel is contained therein and that we didn't have to be in darkness and confusion if we would read and pray.  Then we did something bold; we asked him to tell us one of his concerns and we promised that the Book of Mormon would have his answer.  It did.

The Book of Mormon really is THE tool of the Restoration.  The Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit is our best resource for conversion.

Other than that we're really busy planning and preparing for zone meetings and zone conferences and exchanges and Spanish conference and holy cow we just have so much to do............  It's exhausting.

I've reflected a lot lately on the role of missionary work in the gospel.  Think about what we do in the church... it's ALL MISSIONARY WORK!!!  If you are not actively engaged in missionary work you are not going to receive the spiritual sustenance that you need to grow.  Now, if you don't see that, I will challenge you to expand your view of what missionary work is (it's not simply teaching and baptizing people that are not members of the church).  My hope is that all of you have a copy of Preach My Gospel and study it regularly along with the scriptures.  It is the best guide to keeping the Spirit and we need that in all areas of the church.  It will help you in any capacity you serve in the church.  Guaranteed.

Or your money back...

I love you all!!!!  Have a great week.

Elder Grabinger

Neat Stuff

Dear Family and Friends,

I was at a really frustratingly slow computer earlier this morning in Downtown Chattanooga.  We left and just went to the aquarium... PICS LATER!!!

This week, I want to take the opportunity to unveil my recently updated mormon.org profile where I answer some of today's hottest doctrinal questions rather extensively.  Check it out here:
http://mormon.org/me/84S8

Okay, some I've come across some neat stuff this week.  One thing that has often been confusing on the mission is the claim from members of varied faiths and backgrounds to receive manifestations of the Holy Spirit in their regular worship.  I've felt somewhat apprehensive about saying "No. That's not the Spirit, bro." But I was studying D&C 50 recently and was reminded that so many of the early church members came from differing Christian denominations and (like the Jewish and Greek proselytes to ancient Christianity) kept a hold of some of their previous traditions and beliefs.  Seeking revelation on the matter (because a lot of these manifestations were getting out of control [seriously, like posessions and babblings and real crazy stuff were going down]), Joseph Smith recorded section 50.

Then I found the following quotes from Joseph Smith:

“One great evil is, that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits; their power, laws, government, intelligence, etc., and imagine that when there is anything like power, revelation, or vision manifested, that it must be of God. …"

and...

“Others frequently possess a spirit that will cause them to lie down, and during its operation, animation is frequently entirely suspended; they consider it to be the power of God, and a glorious manifestation from God—a manifestation of what? Is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of heaven withdrawn, or the purposes of God developed? Have they seen and conversed with an angel—or have the glories of futurity burst upon their view? No! but their body has been inanimate, the operation of their spirit suspended, and all the intelligence that can be obtained from them when they arise, is a shout of ‘glory,’ or ‘hallelujah,’ or some incoherent expression; but they have had ‘the power.’

“The Shaker will whirl around on his heel, impelled by a supernatural agency or spirit, and think that he is governed by the Spirit of God; and the Jumper will jump and enter into all kinds of extravagances. A Primitive Methodist will shout under the influence of that spirit, until he will rend the heavens with his cries; while the Quakers (or Friends) moved as they think, by the Spirit of God, will sit still and say nothing. Is God the author of all this? If not of all of it, which does He recognize? Surely, such a heterogeneous mass of confusion never can enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Teachings, pp. 203–4.)

Problem resolved.  Pretty insightful, huh?  Now, I think it would be foolish to say that the Holy Spirit is never manifest outside of the Church (and I could be wrong), but I'm certain it's much more rare than we might think...

Okay, well have a great week!!!

Love
Elder Grabinger

The Work Progresses

Dear Compadres,

Sorry you didn't get an email last week.  I wrote one and sent it but there seems to be a failure in the interwebz time-space thingy.

Douglas' project sounds SWEET!

That's how we need to do missionary work!  Just set up a bouncy castle on the church lawn and "Let them come".  Genius.

Okay, crazy stuffs is going down this week.  I'm getting transferred and there is a new zone being created and I will still be a zone leader.  I won't find out exactly what's going to happen and where I go until Wednesday morning so you'll have to find out next week.

Exciting.  I know...

That's about the extent of the excitement that's gone on this week.

Jacob and Stephanie are doing really well.  I will miss them so much.  They're great.  In our lesson last Sunday, Jacob made it known that he was looking for a job and stuff and that they were struggling.  I had just happened to visit the LDS Employment Services office 3 months ago that happens to be in our building and happened to take with me some business cards of the senior couple that staffs that program here.  Needless to say, I hooked him up and he got a job within the week through that service.  I am just so grateful for the opportunity to really help people in any way that I can and I love being a part of this Church that has so many INSPIRED programs to take care of God's children; all of them.  It was such a blessing for me to see that miracle happen in our investigators' lives.

The other exciting thing was that Jacob survived his first anti-mormon experiences!!!  I mean, you can't not go around telling people "I'm studying mormonism" and not face opposition.  But he was able to stay strong and be like "That's not what the Elders are teaching me at all, they don't believe that."  I'm proud of him.  It was a witness to me though of the real need to find and teach families where family members can love and support and strengthen one another in the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Stephanie is just a trooper also.

That is all.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Families are Forever

I WROTE THIS LAST WEEK BUT I GUESS IT DIDN'T GET DELIVERED


Dear FawnRae,

I miss you bunches.

This week was aight.  We had a Zone Conference and a Mission Leadership Council that Elder Davis and I had to train at, so we were busy.  It's been raining all week.  I feel as though I'm in the Pacific Northwest.  It was drizzling Thursday evening, but the fireworks went on so we caught some of those and I enjoyed a delicious caramel shake from Sonic.  Yum.

Jacob and Stephanie are still progressing and learning and their testimonies are growing and it's just really wonderful to be a part of it.  I love them.

Other than that, not much has been going on.

Okay, except that we went to contact this family this week and there are four children there ages 3, 5, 7, and 10.  Well, when we got there the 7 year-old answered the door and he was the only one not feeling well, kinda strange... but he invites us in and then runs back into his room where the matriarch is trying to take care of all the children when we hear on of the kids shout "Kayden just threw up!" and then everyone followed with that "OHhhhHHhhh" sound.  Elder Davis and I were just cracking up in the foyer.  It was hilarious.

Anyway, the matriarch told us that she loves the church and wants to get baptized, but things kept popping up that day so we didn't get a chance to really sit down and talk with her.  The patriarch is a member already.  They have a lovely family.

We will make them a forever family.  :}

Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

An Unprofitable Servant

Dear Friends and Family,

Bo is doing well.  I have not eaten roadkill.

We are still teaching Jacob and Stephanie.  They are awesome.  We went to see them yesterday and I was kinda nervous because they didn't come to church.  Stephanie told us that they had gone to a baptist church because they were going to be like 30 minutes late to ours.  I was like, "NOOO!!!  You can come if you're late.  We love you and everyone was asking about you!"  They'll be there next week.  It's really cool to see their excitement for the gospel and the testimony that is growing inside them.  They are studying from the gospel principles manual and reading the Book of Mormon and they loved the Family Proclamation thingy and the gospel is just really being a benefit to them and I don't get to see that often enough in peoples' lives.  I'm very happy and excited for them.  We love them.

I was listening to m'boy Robert L. Millet throw down some doctrine like he always does a while ago and he referenced Mosiah 2:21 which I've read and treasured many a time before, but this time my understanding was expanded and my mind enlightened.  The final portion of the verse reads:

I say, if ye should serve him with all your ewhole souls yet ye would be funprofitable servants.

And I thought, "What does it mean to be an unprofitable servant?"  So I imagined that I owned this business and I needed to hire employees to accomplish my goals.  Well, if I hired 'unprofitable servants' that means that I would be hiring people and paying them more than they're producing for me.  And that's when it hit me, I'm here serving in Knoxville Tennessee, and we can pretend that I've learned to serve him with my whole soul, and I'm basically running His business into the ground but he's paying me the most outrageous salary with unbelievable benefits and plans to make me a joint-heir in the business with His son someday.  That was very humbling and made me feel even more gratitude for my Father in Heaven and even my parents here on Earth for all they do for me.  I hope all of us realize that we're getting paid way more than we're worth and that we resolve to give our best always.

I'm kinda scared about those announcements to use social media more as full-time missionaries.  I was like "I don't know how to talk to people online anymore!  All I have are face-to-face interpersonal skills now and those are still shotty at best."  So it's good to hear that there's classes on how to share the gospel using social media.  I only have six months left though, so by the time they introduce that junk here I probably will be leaving soon or will have left.

I will teach you some simple rules to sharing the gospel effectively though.  NEVER argue doctrine (also known as bible-bashing) and ALWAYS stress the importance of sincerely reading the Book of Mormon.  You can apply those principles to any question asked about our faith.

Good luck to y'all!  Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

Roadkill and Thoughts on Missionary Work

Alright, if you must know, we've just been up to baptizing our investigator Bo this week.  Yeah, she was baptized on Saturday and then confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday.  Her name is actually Amornrat Cheewasopit, but she's from Thailand and everyone here calls her Bo.  Her English is very limited, but it's much much better than my Thai.  We had been teaching here several months ago, but her visa was up and she had to return to Thailand.  But she came back a month or so ago and we picked up where we left off and she was baptized!  It was super exciting.  Pics included...

Also, I had my first experience with roadkill this week.  It's all over the place here in Tennessee, but still, I had never before in my life ran over a small animal in the road, but this squirrel saw me coming a mile away and didn't move!!!  I felt very sorrowful and my companion just laughed as he looked behind and saw the furry creature flying around in the air.  I humbly ask for your forgiveness.

What a broadcast last night, huh?  I enjoyed the soccer analogy that was given.  It's true, we do missionary work out here (and I would guess most everywhere) like a 5 year-old soccer game where everyone just converges on the ball.  We will be much more efficient if we each take the time to understand our own role, and then the other players roles on the field so we can make a point without everyone running all over the field.  Well said...

Crazy experience.  We got a referral this week for a couple of investigators who went to sacrament meeting last week in the Farragut Ward.  It turns out that they live in our area and were just ecstatic when they found that there's a meetinghouse just a couple of miles from there home here in West Knoxville.  They came to church yesterday and we had a wonderful lesson in gospel principles about The Church of Jesus Christ in former times.  She is in love with the church and practically espouses all of the beliefs and her sister is a member over in the Maryville ward.  He is her fiance I believe (or at least boyfriend) and he is super interested as well and the more they learn the more the hunger for truth.  It's marvelous.

We did indeed get half price shakes on Thursday.  It was glorious.

I will leave you 1 Pet 2:9 to ponder on.  It's a scripture that has spoken to my heart recently and I really appreciate it.  I miss you bunches.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Funky Week

Hola Amigos,

Hahahaha, your experience with programming that mannequin is just hilarious!!!  Now you know I feel when I have to help out the family with computer troubles...

"Okay, so you press this big button with the power symbol on it.  Good.  Yes that turns it on."
"Now we double click this 'Internet Explorer' icon.  Yes, that turns on the internet google machine thingy.  No, no, the clicks have to be faster...  No like this... UGH I'LL JUST DO IT FOR YOU!!!"

Classic.

Actually, just now after writing these last two paragraphs I had to help a lady here in the library with some basic computer functions.  The joke's on me.  What else is new...?

Nothing at all exciting happened last week.  Or at least nothing that I can think of.  I was kind of in a funky, lethargic sort of mood much of last week anyway.  That's probably the culprit.  But we've made a lot of great contacts and taught some good lessons so we will see what comes of it all.

Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Grabinger

Towed Car and Baptisms

Dear Associates,

This week has been... whatever.  My companion and I will both be transferred this Wednesday, but we're just moving to West Knoxville.  So it's just back across the river for me.  After this coming transfer, I will have been in Knoxville proper for a year.  Pretty crazy, huh?

One funny story this week was that the assistants to the president stayed over at our apartment one night last week.  Our apartment complex requires your car to be registered and have a parking sticker though, so their van was towed in the middle of the night.  We woke up that morning and one of the assistants was like "Dude, where's my car?"  It was pretty funny.  So we just had to go search for the towing company and get that back.

Okay, one other crazy thing is that we went to Sevierville to conduct some baptismal interviews for a family that was going to be baptized there.  Well, the person that I was assigned to interview was not really planning to be baptized so our interview took like an hour and 20 minutes and I shouldn't have even done it but it was just a really crazy day... Anyway, on Saturday, we went to the baptismal service for her mother and sister and it was a just a really spiritual meeting (Myself and Elder Davis were asked to present the message of the Restoration and we did so while focusing on the importance of the family and the mother bore a really powerful testimony after the ordinance).  Afterward, the girl that I had interviewed that was unsure about being baptized asked for another interview and the rest of the family ended up getting baptized the next day.  So the whole family was baptized this weekend!  Pretty cool stuff.

Things work out.  Just do your best and trust that the Lord will fix everything that you mess up.  That's the spiritual thought/moral of that story for this week.

It's just going to be a really busy week.  We have to prepare for a Stake Correlation Meeting, plan a District Leader Training Meeting and a Zone Training meeting, and give talks in sacrament meeting.  Pray that I don't just blow it all off.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Dogs and a Prayer

Dear Fawn,

They weather had been pretty tame, just regular weekly showers and whatnot... until yesterday.  At the start of priesthood this hailstorm begins and just drowns out everyone's voices.  The look on everyone's eyes was just sheer terror as a few brethren ran outside to witness the monstrous hail damage as quarter size ice balls pulverized the parking lot.  One sister ran into the building with a destroyed umbrella.

There's a member of the YSA branch who works as an insurance claim adjuster or something like that and he said "it sounds like money falling from the sky!"  Hahaha, that was funny.

But know, there wasn't actually very much, if any, damage done to vehicles so things worked out fine.

Now, I spoke too soon with that dog story last week, because certain events transpired this past Friday that just put that one to shame.

When Elder LeSueur was here he visited this part member family in the ward, but he only did so on exchange so I had never been to their home or met them before.  However, he did tell me about this killer German Shepherd with one red eye and one black eye that the family owns and they keep it chained up because it truly is a vicious dog that has respect only for the husband and it poses a danger to the wife and rest of the family.  Why you would keep such an animal around is beyond me...

Anyway, I decide to try and meet this family on Friday and they live at the top of this hill with an awful driveway so we parked at the bottom of the hill and walked to the top.  Well, we get to the top and I see about four dogs shading themselves under this tree and I stop.  I turn to my companion and tell him I don't really have a good feeling about this and that maybe we should go (because I'm a little more wary of dogs now than I have been earlier in my mission).  But one of the dogs notices us and gives a gruff alert to the other dogs and before I know it, their all on their feet with ears pointed up.  To my sheer terror, one of them is a German Freaking Shepherd and I'm not about to find out whether these dogs are friendly or not.  I turn again to my companion and say "We have to go, now!" and we just bolt down the hill.  I'm running with a stiff ankle because it's still kinda weak in super thin slip-ons and praying for my life and my comp. looks behind him and sees them about an inch away from him.  Luckily, they stop about 2/3 of the way down but that doesn't keep us from reaching the car.

We soon find the husband coming after us and we chat with him a while and the dogs are all friendly except for the killer German Shepherd which was chained up and we only encountered the nicer one.

As the spiritual thought this week, pray works.  "Even as faith without works is dead, praying without running (or vice versa) makes you dead as well."  The Lord truly takes care of us when we remember Him.

Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

P.S.  Give Matthew my congrats!  And then leave him at graduation and go get a table at Applebee's.

P.P.S.  I'm SOOOOOO SORRY about that joke if that's still a sore spot for you.  Just ignore it if so.  So sorry once again...

Harry Potter and Buckbeak

Okay, I already talked to my family so it's going to be a short letter this week.  I'll just share one funny story:

So Elder Davis and I are knocking a few doors on this lady's street that we tried to visit...  We come up to a home surrounded by a 4 foot high fence I suppose and a sign that reads "No Trespassing" and another "Beware of Dog" sign.  No big deal, that's our specialty.  So Elder Davis just waltzes into the yard through the gate with this old mangy dog throwing up the warning cry.  Well, Elder Davis immediately befriends him, but that doesn't keep the dog from barking at me.  So I cautiously enter the yard with the mindset "this thing is all talk.  Elder Davis just disarmed him no problem like Harry did with Buckbeak.  That's what I'll do!!! Note to self: begin work on an LDS Doctrinal commentary on the Harry Potter series in personal study tomorrow...."

I slowly begin to approach this dog when he just bares his teeth and begins to charge.  IT JUST GOT REAL!!!  So I turn around to jump over the fence and as a begin to bend my knees I remember "My bum ankle isn't going to make it over!" so I kinda half jump onto the fence with the intent to like donkey kick this mutt in the face.  But he backed off before he got to me because he could sense the Holy Ghost surrounding me when he entered my personal bubble and realized that I was an emissary of the Lord Jesus Christ and came bearing a solemn message of peace unto all (I mean, it's not like he was overcome with the Spirit and granted the gift of tongues to speak that thought to me, but you could just tell from his facial expression and the way he was wagging his tail.  I guess you just had to be there.  Ya know?  On of those things...).  Also, the impending face-breaking that was about to occur probably persuaded him to err on the side of caution.

I peacefully observed Elder Davis from the other side of the fence as he knocked on the door to offer the saving ordinances of our Lord and Savior's restored gospel.

No one was home.

Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

How I Became Semi-Famous

Oh yeah, here is a short story about how I became semi-famous in the knoxville stake this week...

Several weeks ago I was on a team-up with our bishop's step-son.  On this team up, I told my Elder LeSueur and him a ridiculous joke about a train conductor and some chihuahuas (you see where this is going already, don't you?)  We'll the premise of the joke is that you pay attention intently to the details that I share, but then I end with this HORRID punchline and the real joke is that I just wasted 15 minutes of your life.

They loved it.

So our team-up goes home and tells it to his parents and we get a text from the bishop a few minutes later saying "Sterling is not allowed to team up with you anymore." Haha.  Well, their two youngest children are IN LOVE with the joke and want me to tell it every time we come over (joke's on me now, because I waste 15 minutes of my life whenever I have to tell the joke)

Anyway, fast forward to this Saturday night where the bishop's wife is speaking in the adult session of our stake conference.  Last week, I told her that if she needed to stall for time, she should tell the joke.  So she ended up giving me a little shout-out and referenced the joke in the adult session. (didn't tell it, but mentioned it).

And that's how I became semi-famous in the knoxville stake this last week.

Ask me about the joke when I get home....

Oh What a Week!

Dear Everyone,

We had to prepare a district leader training meeting and a zone meeting last week so it was super hectic.  Everything went superbly though with the help of Elder Davis and the Spirit.  I'm glad it's all over though.

Well, I may or may not have broken my ankle playing basketball last week (see attached photos) so I've been limping around for several days now.  The worst part was when we got called to go give a blessing to someone in the hospital here and so I was dragging my leg around in the hospital like a lame dog.  It was ironic.

We had a wonderful area wide stake conference for the eastern states that was broadcast from Salt Lake.  It was super cool.  The focus was on the family and the need to reach out to others and be proactive in our efforts to save our loved ones along with ourselves.  Also, Dieter F. Uchtdorf said something to the effect of "Tithing has nothing to do with money and everything to do with faith."  So well said.  He also held up a copy of Preach My Gospel and challenged each family to obtain a copy and study it regularly, especially chapter 3.  That was uber exciting for us missionaries.

Something cool that happened this week was that we were at WalMart and this less-active lady that we had been trying to visit for a little while saw us and came right up to us and gave us her phone number and stuff so we could meet with her.  The Lord's got everything on lock down.  You just have to work hard and try to work smart and He'll make things happen.  Way cool.

Also, it appears that Sonic is doing their half-price shakes after 8p.m. again this year which I'm really excited for.  I love milkshakes.

That's about all that's going on though.  Can't wait for Mother's Day this Sunday!!!  Have a great week.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Your Weekly Dose of Awesomeness

Friends,

The APs and Mission President basically choose the focus of the Zone Conference and then everyone kinda teaches along those lines.  I've always been one to live my own life though so whatever.

The thing that I hate about the Book of Moses though is that it just stops really abruptly.  Like, cliffhanger status.  Not a fan.  Plus, I'm just really enamored with Abraham's dry sense of humor in verse 1 of chapter 1.  "I saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence."  I should say so Abraham!  You're dad is a false priest of Elkenah who delivered you up to be sacrificed!  Lol.

What a comedian...

Anyway, one sooper dooper cool thing happened this past weekend.  Vicki was baptized in Johnson City on Saturday!!!  For those of you that don't remember, Vicki was an investigator that Elder Richardson and I found over a year ago when I was serving in Johnson City.  It sounds like the missionaries stopped visiting her shortly after I left, and then some of the more recent missionaries called her after finding her teaching record in the meticulously kept (you're welcome) area book!  Then they finished teaching her and she entered into the covenant of baptism and thus unlocked the gate opening to the path of eternal salvation in her life no big deal.

So that was way exciting.

I will definitely have to keep the "disappearing companion" prank in mind.  It's been since Harrison Bay since I did that one and Elder Craig was seconds away from calling the mission president after failing to get a hold of our district leader three times.  I really got him good that time.  It's been like a year now since that happened though.  CRAZY!

Attached is a picture of myself and Elder Henriquez at transfer meeting (yes, I'm looking very sharp.  I know). He went home last week, so I'll miss him. Also, Elder LeSueur and I took a photo as well just before being separated at transfer meeting.  He's now in Harrison Bay and my new companion is Elder Davis who you'll be interested to know came out in the MTC with Elder LeSueur and I.  So this is just going to be another wonderful transfer.  I just feel to mention that Harrison Bay and Pleasant Ridge are two of my past areas that are now zone areas and while I try to avoid being really prideful sometimes, President Thomas S. Monson says "There are no coincidences."

Do what you will with that...

Um, that's probably enough 'awesome' for us both this week.  Take care!  Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Grabinger

Thoughts on a Gem of Extremely Large Value

Dear Friends,

Well, in order to prepare a truly fantastic zone conference as a good zone leader, you would probably spend a lot of time pondering and praying about what topics your zone members could really use to lift their spirits and help them be successful rather than recycling an old training that you gave several months ago.  Then, you meticulously set up the room in the stake center that the conference will be held in and you don't forget to pass out hymnbooks before the start of the first hymn.  These are just some very general guidelines.

Ours was FANTASTIC!!!

I've been studying in the Pearl of Great Price lately (well, I actually just read it and the institute manual that goes along with it) and holy cow!  That is one of the most doctrinally intense 61 pages of scripture ever!  If someone asked me, I would compare it to some kind of gem of extremely large value.

Who knew!?

One thing that I'd like to share is Moses 6:59.  The symbolism is just incredible.  Just as we are born into a world of sin, so also must every man be born again into the kingdom of heaven (like Jesus says in John chapter 3)!  And what elements are involved in that process?  The very same three!  Water because of embryonic fluid and baptism.  Blood because of our bodies of flesh and blood (which was not so before the fall) and the redeeming blood of Christ through is atonement.  And the spirit which is united with the body before birth and the Holy Spirit which is united with us when we are confirmed.  It just seems to me like there must have been a grand council in heaven before the world was formed in which all of this was planned out...  Cool, huh?

To be real with you, nothing very exciting happened last week that you would be interested.  I play pranks on Elder LeSueur all the time to keep things interesting.  The latest one was that switched his box spring on top of his mattress and put his sheets on it, but he noticed before he laid down, so that wasn't as fun as it could have been.

I'll do better this week so y'all can have fun stories!

Love
Elder Grabinger

P.S. Give Libby my sincerest congratulations!!!

Ca-ra-zay Week

Dear Everyone,

Last week was crazy.  We had to prepare for Zone Conference and get that done.  It went well but I'm just relieved that it's over.  For the Zone Conference, I prepared and played "He Sent His Son" on guitar and it was really good.  A couple of sisters in our zone also did a special musical number and it was INCREDIBLE!!!  That's my favorite part of any meeting that includes one, the special musical numbers.

We had the opportunity to assist in a neighborhood cleanup last Saturday and there's a creek that goes through the neighborhood.  AW YEAH!!! I donned a pair of waders and we got in that filthy nasty water and pulled up bicycles, rugs, tires, a desk lamp, a toilet, a (nonhuman) bone (we think), and some shopping carts.  It was a blast!

I got some great news that the Elders in Johnson City (my first area) were going through the area book and contacted one of my old investigators and started teaching her again and she's going to get baptized and I'm UBER excited about that!  Success!

Spiritual thought for the week:  Anyone who truly listened to general conference, and attends church regularly, can see that Satan is not just out in the world, but is even among the Saints.  I ran across this scripture in Mosiah 4:10.  It was super powerful to me when King Benjamin says "if you believe all these things see that ye DO them."  We all know that belief is not enough.  But we can't forget Moroni's counsel in Alma 60:23 as well.  We have to first cleanse the inner vessel.  It does no good to recognize these things in others if we can't recognize Satan creeping into our own lives.  The little things are sooooo important;  reverence in meetings, avoiding inappropriate media, and crude language are some great examples.  Even if you do the other things like read the scriptures and pray regularly and attend church, Satan has begun to gain a hold of your life if he can make you believe that music with poor lyrics doesn't really have any effect on you, that you're better than that.  The prophets and apostles are right to exhort us to live the basic standards of the church in this last conference.  Just as we can fill our lives with good and the bad will be cleared out, if we allow evil to creep in, it will be able to overcome the good in our lives as well (Jacob 5:65-66).

Well, I'm done preaching now.  Things are going well.  I love and miss you all.  Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Elder Grabinger

Another Day at the Office

RMOs are Rocky Mountain Oysters.

I dunno what was in the spicy spaghetti, but I haven't asked how it went when they went back to see him.  It wasn't in my area.

Bueno, en realidad, no creo que tengo much para compartir esta semana.

Oh, except that each person that we are teaching who is not a member is now committed for baptism.  We'll see how that goes though...  Yesterday, Elder LeSueur and I were teaching one investigator who me met through this less-active member at his home and the member was just interrupting sooooo often and the lesson was not going smoothly because of that.  So at the end we just cut the crap and shared the BoM and had them read 2 Nephi 31:13 and then the Spirit helped them accept a baptismal invitation.  I walked out of there with Elder LeSueur and I had the "NBD, just another day at the office" attitude on.

I'm such a bad boy missionary.

Well, hoped y'all enjoyed General Conference.  To me, it seemed like everyone was emphasizing the importance of family including the law of chastity and virtue.  It's very apparent that the standards of the world are in total dissonance with the standards of the gospel.  We will have to keep the commandments much more consistently in order to ensure that we are standing for truth and are not affected by these false notions.  It's really incredible how easily and quickly you can fall away from gospel truth and I've seen it a lot in others and a little in myself at times.  Stay close to the scriptures and the words of the prophets and apostles.

Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

Happy Easter!

Dear Family and Friends,

Nope, just the RMOs.  But, I had this INCREDIBLE experience in Sevierville the other day.  I was on exchange so Elder Pierce and I were tracting for two hours in the rain in this trailer park with many hispanics and we were having some mild success when this MIRACLE happens.  We walk up to a guy who is on his porch grilling some carne asada and he just sits us down and makes us plates and we have the most delicious mexican food since leaving Yuma.  Well, except for hispanics here tend to mix random foods together.  Like, tortillas and carne asada were served along with spicy spaghetti.  Kinda strange, but I didn't complain.  And I ate the entire grilled green chile, seeds and all.  My tummy had a category 5 hurricane brewing for about an hour afterward.

I FELT SO ALIVE!

It was a good time.  Oh yeah, and their going to go back and teach him the gospel this Wednesday or something too.  So that's good.

Okay, I think I forgot to tell this experience last week, but Elder LeSueur and I had to go to the UT hospital to administer a blessing to a member that was flown there from Sevierville.  So we go to the emergency room and she has some family there that were with her, but this lady was clearly not all there at the time and she was covered up by a blanket except for her face and she was fiddling around under the blanket with her hands.  Well, she locks eyes with Elder LeSueur and he goes over and reaches out his hand to take whatever it is that she is now offering him with her outstretched hand.

It's her IV needle.

So she's bleeding a little bit now and Elder LeSueur just flushes and he's getting super light-headed.  So he just anoints her super quick and sits down with his head between his knees and I'm kinda peeved, like "You're really gonna sit this one out, bro?"  So I give the blessing and then everyone just turns their attention to Elder LeSueur and basically forgets that we're in the emergency room for their family member.  After a couple minutes Elder LeSueur asks, did you give the blessing yet?  He seriously didn't remember it at all.  He's beginning to rethink his career choice in the medical field I think.  I had to drive home and now Elder LeSueur is famous among the Sevierville ward members because he got super woozy at the sight of blood.

Another time, we go to visit this less-active member who we've never met before with another member and we knock on his door and we get the warmest welcome I've had in a while and he lets us in.  Well, this guy was part of this program or something where he has a live-in caretaker and he's not allowed to answer the door or anything as part of the rules for this program.  So his caretaker comes in and this has just set the spark to a mess that had been building for weeks.  So we just get caught in this verbal argument between the guy and his caretaker and we just sit there for like 10 minutes because none of us know what to do.  After multiple threats to send the man to the nursing home (and what I think was a fake phone call to a nursing home to come pick him up) we politely excused ourselves and got outta there.  It was so strange.

Well, for Easter we ate dinner at the bishop's home.  They made me tell this chihuahua joke I have that's like 15 minutes long and really the biggest waste of time.  But I had told it to their priest age son on a team-up once and he just went to town with it.  He told it at his lunch table and to his parents (who immediately texted us afterward to let us know that it was the worst joke ever).  Anyway, it's pretty hilarious.  Remind me to tell it to you when I get home.  Anyway their son is into videography and they showed us this video he did called "mission man" which is a parody of the pokemon theme song.  Search for it on YouTube.  It's hilarious.

I hope everyone had a happy Easter.  Ours was busy since the missionaries got asked to teach the 3rd hour lesson and then I substituted in the Gospel Principles class.  It was fun though.  I'm just so grateful for Jesus Christ and his Atonement.  Knowing that he made that kind of a sacrifice for me and did something for me that I could never do for myself is just so humbling.  I know that He lives today and that we will all live again after this life because of Him.  The sting of death is swallowed up in His matchless love.

Love,
Elder Grabinger

What a Week!

Dear Family and Friends,

OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A WEEK!  Very first I just have to tell you about the Rocky Mountain Oysters we had for dinner at a member's home this week.  They don't taste bad at all... but they're not really that delectable either.  The texture is exactly what you would expect, like a meatball.  Next time, we'll have to try them in a spaghetti sauce...

Moving on.

So we've spent much of the week just trying to find new investigators.  Like, interested investigators.  Not just people that have nothing to do all day say they'll let us come by and talk to them, but people who are really looking for something.  It's tough.  You've really got to talk to EVERYONE.  I like it.  Nothing too crazy to report, but we did have this experience where we had tracted and tried to talk to everyone we saw like all day without really finding anyone, but then we went to our appointment that evening with a less-active returning member and he had a friend over and was like "I told her that the missionaries were coming over and that she should stay and sit in on our lesson and she's fine with it."  So we ended up talking with her of course and she just really opened up and wants to change her life and learn about the restoration and everything.  It was way cool.

Something interesting I've been thinking about lately, of course, is faith.

I was reading the lectures on faith and it was communicated to me that faith is the power of words.  Basically, this is the power by which God has and will operate eternally, the power of his word.  He speaks it, and it is done.  Jesus taught us that if we had faith as a mustard seed, we should SAY to the mountain, be though removed (or whatever) and it should be done.  Joseph Smith taught that we have got to learn to be gods ourselves.  I think this is why verbal oaths meant so much back in the day and why our word really should be our bond in modern times as well.  We need to treat our word as something that will be done; that when it is spoken, it is as good as completed.  Am I articulating my point correctly?  Sometimes I'm not so good at communicating my thoughts...  Summary:  We have to learn to be like God.  He speaks it and it is done.  When we speak, we should see that it is done.

I hope all is going well, I will keep you in my prayers.  Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

Work in Tennessee

Hey Guys,

Sorry, this takes me a lot longer and I have to be a lot more brief now because I have to write so many more people... IT'S GREAT!

Some highlights from this last week are that we moved apartments so we no longer live in the ghetto.  It will be tough to leave 'my people' but it's just to risky to be worried about getting knifed or shot all the time.  My companion woke up with his hair in corn rows one morning!

That last part isn't true.

Also, I got a shamrock shake last week.  I liked it just about as much as I thought I would (I don't really like mint, so it was kinda whatever).  But now it's done and over with.  What a relief.  Now I can focus on baptizing people again.

Speaking of baptizing people!  Still no... but Elder LeSueur and I are stepping up our game.  We're going 3 Nephi 7:18 status this transfer and just getting it done.  Two souls WILL be brought into the kingdom of God on earth in the next six weeks whether they like it or not!

Incidentally, we taught two of our investigators this past week and they committed for baptism on April 13th.  They will need a lot of help though...

I've been reading the Book of Mormon for the I-dunno-how-many-th time now (not to brag, but I really just don't know how many this will make) and I've just been getting really impressed with Nephi again.  He's such an outstanding individual.  I really think that I'm more of a Laman or Lemual when I see Nephi's example.  His faith is just incredible.  Anyway, I've been thinking about how they went to get the brass plates.  Even though it was a commandment of God, He didn't make it happen for them the first time.  Or the second.  It was only after the third attempt that he was successful, and then only after killing a guy to make it happen.  I just think of how often we are faced with challenges from the Lord and we know what he wants us to do, but then we begin to question and doubt when He doesn't make things happen on our first attempt to accomplish it.  It reminds me of a talk that Elder Bednar gave missionaries once where he asked "Do you have the faith to follow Preach My Gospel to a T... and then fail?"  To develop really strong faith in the Lord, we have to continue to trust in Him even when he doesn't make things happen on the first or second or more attempts.

We might even have to break a few commandments along the way to make it happen...

Totally joking on that last part.

Follow the spirit.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Another Week in the Mission

Dear Family and Friends,

Well uh, Gary wasn't baptized this past weekend.  Elder Rich texted me and told me that some things happened and it didn't work out. That's the way it goes as a missionary though...

Foiled again.

I was on exchange the only time that we had a lesson with those awesome investigators this week.  Elder LeSueur says it was a fantastic lesson!  I didn't see them at church though.

So this last week, one of the priests in the ward told us about the latest craze known as "gallon smashing."  It's INCREDIBLE!!!  I love it.  So hilarious...

Also, there's a member over here who allegedly beat "Snoop Lion" (the artist formerly known as "Snoop Dog") in a rap battle in his youth.  Oh Knoxville Tennessee...

I'm super excited about the 2013 edition of the LDS scriptures being released.  It's going to be INCREDIBLE!!!  I hope they have a midnight release party like they used to do for Harry Potter and stuff like that.  If you haven't heard the news, check it out on lds.org!

We went to a couple of baptismal services this past Saturday.  It was pretty difficult to keep a straight face at some of them because it was just really wild.  Things are just different here in the south.  There was applause after one of the ordinances and a lot of things were said that just shouldn't have been said.  One of them was the most casual baptismal services I had ever seen.  I couldn't stop laughing in the car.

I'm a terrible person.  I know.  Sorry.

So I've kind of been thinking a lot about faith recently and more focusing on the belief aspect of faith.  In the church, we really emphasize works when we talk about faith and I've been guilty of discrediting the importance of belief along with that.  In the scriptures, we learn "Faith without works is dead" and I'd go so far as to say the converse that "Works without faith (or 'belief') are dead" is true as well.  I've been trying not to write off the importance of belief lately.  You might be living the gospel standards, but if you don't believe in the blessings that come by faith in Jesus Christ, you aren't going to feel the Spirit as much as you ought; you may wonder why you don't have success in your trials when you live the principles without belief.

I probably did a really bad job at communicating what I wanted to with that thought, so do what you will with that.

Okay time to go, love you b'bye.

Love
Elder Grabinger

P.S.  Dang, the only thing I could think of that would be worse than a mac would be some computer brand whose product starts acting silly so you can't back it up and reboot it so you have to order a new one.  Oh wait...

P.P.S.  Haha, jk.  You know I just love to fuel the 'windows v mac' fire.

Amazing Week with a Special Visit

Dear Family and Friends,

Yeah, within the past month we've gotten a newly called bishop and elders quorum president.  Elder LeSueur was telling me that they've gotten a lot of people more excited about missionary work than they were when he first got here.  I can't imagine it was ever bad though, everyone is so nice and so willing to help.  This ward is awesome!

It's looking like Gary will be baptized this Saturday!  I'm so excited!

I've heard it's been snowing all over Arizona lately.  Is that true?

Okay, things have been going amazingly this past week.  We had decided to kind of back off of a couple of investigators that weren't showing much progress or commitment two weeks ago.  But a week ago, they called us to set up an appointment and when we went by on Tuesday, it was just incredible.  One of them told us, "We've been discussing some things, and we poured out all of the alcohol.  I want that Holy Ghost to be with me always and I know the only way is to be baptized."  So incredible.  Then we've been focusing on teaching his son who moved in with him from Florida and has a lot of questions on spiritual matters that have never really been answered for him.  He's so excited to learn with us.

Next, we visited a part-member family and talked with them about having an eternal family.  The father is sooo on board (he's the only member) and it's obvious that the most important thing to him is his family so he really wants his family to have these blessings.  They're all excited to meet with us now and learn more about being sealed.  It's so wonderful.

To top it all off, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES (maybe you've heard of them...?) visited the Knoxville stake this weekend and then also addressed us missionaries in a conference afterward.  It was just so amazing.  I shook his hand.  TWICE!  For me, his messages weren't particularly enlightening, but there is no one on earth that can inspire and uplift and motivate and drive you to resolve to do better as well as a member of the Twelve or First Presidency.  That's what I gained.  I loved it.

The blessings of the Lord are becoming so apparent.  The Spirit is taking over the world!  Awesome.

I finally understand why most of you don't write me.  There is no way that your life is as exciting as mine right now!

Enjoy.

Go ahead and try this week though, mmmk?  Love you all!

Love,
Elder Grabinger

Good News

Dear Family and Friends,

I feel like I'm finally getting on top of things here in the new area.  We're really needing to find new people to teach, but it sounds like there's been a transformation in the ward attitude toward missionary work since Elder LeSueur first got here, so we're pretty hopeful.  Really, I can't tell you much about our investigators at the moment, because we don't really have any.  It's not the first time this has happened in my mission though, I'm sure the Lord will bless us as we work hard and we'll have plenty going on very soon.

Some good news though, I've heard back in Pleasant Ridge that Gary is still doing well and will be baptized on the 2nd of March, so I'm super excited about that...

I've attached this song that was given to me by a member from a CD they obtained on their mission and the musicality is just stupendous.  This is my favorite track from the CD and I'm sure you'll love it.  Turns out, the CD was put together by Elder William Joseph Schwartz III in 1999 in the Australia Perth Mission.  He is the same artist that performs as William Joseph today.  Cool stuff...

Um, so yeah, we're just trucking along right now, working with a lot of less-actives and trying to bring them back and all their friends with them into activity.  No big deal.

Valentine's Day was great!  I received some very special packages.  :)   Thanks everybody!

Okay, I've been to McDonald's recently and they're advertising the Shamrock Shake again, but every time I've asked, they don't have it!!!  It's looking like this will be year three that I miss the elusive shamrock shake.  I swear, it's tougher to get a hold of one of those than it is a real live leprechaun.

Well, yesterday was President's Day so all the libraries were closed.  That's why I'm emailing today, but I'm out of time.  We've got to get back to work.  There's soooo much to do...  I love you though.  Have a great week!

Love
Elder Grabinger

P.S.  The iPod is sweeeeeet.

Busy, busy, busy

Dear Fawn,

Oh my... zone leading is very different.  I'm in a new area now and we had SOOO much to do right after transfers last week that I don't really know too much about who we are teaching and stuff like that.  It's been crazy.  But Elder LeSueur and I are excited to get back to work this week!

No, I haven't really heard anything about the weather over here.  The craziest thing I've heard lately is something about the Pope retiring or something.  That's a win for the Mormons I guess.

I got your Valentines Day package and I loved it.  Thanks so much.  Elder LeSueur quickly devoured those Sour Patch Kids.  He says "thank you" and he is really appreciative.

How exciting for Diego.  That sounds great!  One question: what is the 'BLM'?

I'm just excited to be in a new area and meeting new people and teaching people the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  The ward here is great.  Everyone is super friendly and really hilarious too.  They share my sense of humor so I think we'll really get along.

Elder LeSueur and I had to prepare the zone meeting last week and it was just crazy because we had this other meeting that we had to prepare for last week so we had minimal time to prepare our training for the other missionaries and whatnot.  Anyway, we were just exhausted but it ended up being a really spiritual and uplifting meeting and it was totally led by the Spirit because so many times while preparing we were just like "Oh yeah, we forgot to plan for that too."  Lots of work.

I read D&C 84:85 this morning and then thought back to Ammon's experience with beginning to teach King Lamoni.  I no longer think that it was a coincidence that they stood silent for the space of an hour... (Alma 18:14).  Also, it turns out that we learn in Alma 8:21,22 that Alma was a vegetarian.  Neat, huh?

Okay, well that's about it for this week.  I don't know how Gary is doing anymore, I'll find out next time I see Elder Rich.  We're in different zones now though.  There are four zones in the mission and this zone (the Knoxville zone) is the only one I've not served in before, so everything is really new to me.  Hopefully I'll have more for y'all next week.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Storms, Lost Keys, and Zone Leader

Dear All,

OMGoodness the weather is just out of control.  On Saturday morning I woke up to what I thought was clear skies and cold temperatures.  Next thing I know, I look out the window and everything is white.  We just got dumped on out of nowhere!  We had a couple of tornado warnings, but nothing happened.  Where at in Georgia was that tornado?  Part of the mission goes into Georgia:  Dalton and Ringgold.

I have not been transferred yet, but I will be on Wednesday.  I'll let you know where I'm at next week.  The crazy thing is, Elder 'Goofball' Henriquez has been called to be a zone leader.  I told him when we were together that I would make him zone leader material.

Prophecy fulfilled.

Once again I was off on exchange for a couple days this week.  One exciting story that happened was on my exchange with Elder Becker.  So Elder Becker and I were biking around to contact people in freezing temperatures.  Well, they weren't home so we decided to knock on the doors of nearby neighbors and preach the gospel.  After we had baptized zero persons, we returned to our bicycles which were locked up to a street sign.  Elder Becker reaches into his pocket, fumbles his keys and drops them.  I hear a tinkling and think nothing of it, but Elder Becker sighs "Oh no..."  That's when, before even looking, I knew that the keys had fallen down a storm drain.

Classic.

So as illustrated in the attached photos, we had to remove the (I'm sure it was close to) 200 lb. grate and Elder Becker climbed down to retrieve the keys.  The grate was very difficult to move.  Go to your nearest roadway and try it.  Good luck.

Okay, the greatest news is our investigator Gary is progressing so well toward baptism.  We taught him the WoW this week and it went superb.  He's going to quit smoking this week!  Also, we taught the Law of Chastity and that went very well as well.  I think that's actually the first time I've taught the Law of Chastity to a real live investigator on my mission.  Crazy.  It's not as awkward as you might think.

Fine, because I'm out of things to talk about, I'll just let you know that I'm being transferred this Wednesday to serve with Elder LeSueur!!! In South Knoxville (So really I'm just moving across the river).  Elder LeSueur and I will be zone leaders though so I'm really excited and humbled at the same time.  It's a dream come true though, Elder LeSueur and I dreamed about this day in the MTC.  I told him in the MTC that if we ever served together, we would either do nothing or we would be the greatest companionship EVER!

Pray for the latter.

AGH!  I'm out of time.  Sorry, no deep spiritual thought.  Next week though...

Love,
Elder Grabinger

The Joke that Never Ends

Dear Friends,

Well, we had some crazy weather this past Thursday night/Friday morning also.  It got very very icy, so we couldn't drive the cars.  Anyway, I was on exchange and so we couldn't get back with our usual companions until Saturday morning.  Fine with me.

It just wasn't fun to work in that kind of weather because we figured if cars are no good, then probably bikes will be no good either (especially if one of you is rocking a road bike with super thin tires) so we were just hoofin' it.  It's always an adventurous trek with us though... slip sliding all over the sidewalk.

Needless to say, I was out of my area for a couple of days, so I don't really know what's going on with our investigators right now.  I will tell you that we met with our investigator Elijah on Saturday and it just didn't go well.  We had decided to drop him and he didn't take it very well, but he wasn't letting us teach him, so there was really no point for us to go back.  It was just really tough cause I love and care about him, but he just didn't care about what we had to say anymore.

So you can imagine the enormity of my surprise when he strolls into church on Sunday!  Well, everyone was very nice and welcoming as always (it may have helped that we didn't actually tell anyone that we had decided to stop meeting with him) and he was as well, so I was going to reconsider based on our experience that day.  Well, by the end of Gospel Principles he had been somewhat disruptive and afterward derailed the Elders Quorum lesson.  He wanted to meet with our bishop.  I talked to Bishop later about how it went and he confirmed that we should probably just stop seeing him because their meeting was also not a pleasant experience.

And that was our crazy weekend.  It was real tough for me though because Elijah just has so much faith and obviously loves the Lord, but somehow grew antagonistic towards our message.  You gotta do what you gotta do I suppose.

I share that because it's probably been my toughest experience yet with an investigator on my mission.  It's kinda emotionally stressful, but I'll make it through.  He supports me just as promised in Alma 36:3.

OMGoodness.  I had another TERRIFYING experience at sacrament meeting yesterday.  So about half an hour before the meeting I had set my bag down on a pew in the chapel and then went to greet people and wait for investigators.  Well, at 1 o'clock p.m. I walk into the chapel just before the meeting begins and who is sitting in my pew but the Eddy family.  Normally, not a problem but their daughter was on the outside next to my bag!!!  HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sis. Eddy would chop my head off if I sat down, so I had to nonchalantly grab my bag and sit behind them.  Well they noticed and rearranged so I could sit where I'd originally planned.  They just love me so much.  But not enough for me to be allowed to sit next to their daughter...  which is totally fine.  Elder Henriquez has put me in an extremely awkward position with them with that "Elder Grabinger LOVES daughters" comment...  It's real weird.

And now this whole letter is real awkward...

Well, transfers is next week and Sis. Eddy has said that she put in a word to President Irion that I need to leave the area for obvious reasons.  So.... fingers crossed!  (She hasn't really though, this is just a joke that has grown way too much and so my relationship with that family kinda revolves around it now.  Elder Henriquez...........)

Okay, well I watched the new mormon.org video this week for Lindsey Sterling and she seems INCREDIBLE at what she does.  That was pretty cool.

Last thing,  One thing I've learned this week is the importance of understanding and charity in this work.  D&C 12:8 is so true.  We met Bishop at an appointment with one of our investigators this week and she was just telling him how helpful we were because we actually sat and listened to her and tried to help her with the problems and challenges that she faces rather than just preach to her.  That was a real eye-opener because it is so easy to share what you know and just deliver a sermon, but real missionary work is about helping people with the real struggles they face in life and helping them increase their faith in Jesus Christ to do it.

I've learned so much on my mission and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity it has been.  There's no other experience like it.

I hope you all have a great week.  God bless you!

Love
Elder Grabinger


P.S.  If you had your package shipped to the mission office and it's not being shipped by USPS, I probably won't get it until transfers next week because they may not be able to forward it.

Crazy snowstorm, Awesome teaching moments and the difference between Bert and Elder Grabinger

Dear Friends,

Last week was crazy!  We had a this snowstorm on Thursday that brought like 5 inches in 5 hours (which is history in the making for Knoxville, TN).  Pics included.  It was really dangerous to drive around in the snow.  My companion was on exchange in another area and they have to travel on bicycles in that area so we were getting this sob story about how they had gotten drenched and frozen that day.  Well we were in a one ton vehicle slip-sliding all over the road at 5 mph while a huge pick-up comes careening around a bend at the life-threatening speed of 20 mph!  He was sliding right at us and I was certain that I was about to die!  What that pick-up truck didn't count on was the fact that Elder Norbert Andrew Grabinger had petitioned the Lord Almighty for safety on our perilous journey home just minutes before and the elements set that truck straight on its path for the time being in order to pass by us unharmed.

In other news, we probably bought the only two ice cream cones that Sonic sold that day...  They were delicious.

But seriously, we had to get home and just park the car for awhile because people were sliding off into ditches left and right.

I don't even remember who Bob and Bob2 are anymore, but one of our investigators is now committed to preparing for baptism on the 16 of February!!!  I'm so excited.  He's doing really well and has been studying and learning a lot and he just loves it.  So that's cool.

We went to teach our other awesome investigator yesterday and that was just cool.  She had stumbled upon an obviously anti-mormon website over the weekend and yesterday, before we could start, she was like "I have some questions I have to ask you."  So she starts telling us some stuff she read and she was like "1/3 of that I was like, well that's taught in the bible so that's not that weird and another 1/3 was just too crazy and totally opposite of what y'all had told me so I knew that wasn't true, but this other stuff..." and she starts asking us about things I can't even remember because they were just so wrong.  So we answered her questions and she looked at me and said "when I was saying that stuff, your face looked genuinely shocked, so I believe you."  She's just so awesome.

Okay, update on our investigator and his encounter with Bro. Howard.  Basically, Bro. Howard told him of such doctrines of a heavenly mother and other non-scriptural (yet true) things.  Not where I would've gone with the conversation... but cool.  I can work with that.  So that's where we are with that.

Yesterday, one investigator told me that I would make a great psychologist or doctor.  Like my coworkers at the bookstore, she says that I have to much of a personality to be involved in mathematics and computer science.  She says I have a way of making people feel good and useful.  That has me rethinking a career in medicine... on the other hand, I have to question whether that is Elder Grabinger or Bert Grabinger...  Because Elder Grabinger is kind and caring and thoughtful and showers you with love and compliments and encourages your growth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ whereas Bert Grabinger is sarcastic and critical and 'moreholierthanthou' and loves to correct your awful spelling on social media sites...  We'll see how things go over the next year.

I'm joking.

And that's why Josh tells me I should be a comedian.

Alright, I will share something spiritual now.

Mosiah 28:3 and Alma 37:32 have had special significance to me.  I try to envision myself as the sons of Mosiah, trembling at the very thought that anyone should endure everlasting torment and Alma exhorting Helaman to teach the people to have an "everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity."  I think if we could begin to experience that, then we might have an inkling of obtaining a truly deep and abiding and everlasting love for our Lord and our God.  I think those two would be equivalent.  If we could truly hate sin, then we might really be on the path to loving God.

No offense intended.

Okay, well, that's all I have to offer this week. I hope this is as entertaining to read as it was to write it.  Find out how to introduce your friends to the gospel, and then do it.  Mmmmk?  Thanks.

Love
Elder Grabinger

P.S.  I haven't gotten any post in weeks!!!

Progress in Tennessee

Dear Friends,

We were burning the shirt at a dinner appointment with some members.  It was on their driveway.  You're right, I don't know why people don't stop their cars to see what's going on when there's a fire outside after dark in a shady part of town.  Don't they care?

On New Year's Day, we went over to the Eddy family's home and had the most delicious pork and saurkraut ever.  Sister Eddy is a saint and is always making sure that we missionaries are taken care of.  She has this incredible sausage and potato dish that is just my favorite.  They just don't have us over for dinner enough.  When Elder Henriquez was here though, he was joking ALL THE TIME that I loved daughters...  needless to say that the relationship with that family is extremely awkward now.  But they're one of my favorite families here just the same and I love 'em to death... except for the daughter.

Anyways, this past week was pretty uneventful.  Most of the week I was just preoccupied with preparing for zone conference on Friday.  We had to make sure our apartments were clean and our assigned mission vehicles were spotless and there's usually a prize for the winner.  Of course, it was no challenge for someone of my cleanliness standards and my companion and I won in both cases.

In other news, our investigator, Bob (name changed for anonymity), came to church for the first time yesterday and he really enjoyed it.  His interest level is just skyrocketing and he is getting really excited to learn.

Also there was a lesson this week in which we took the 2nd Counselor in the bishopric (Bro. Howard) to visit with one of our investigators, Bob2 (name changed for anonymity; I'm not very creative) and it was CRAZY!!!!!!!!!  We started to read D&C 138 to talk more about the spirit world and about halfway through the lesson just DERAILED and Bro. Howard and Bob2 spent about and hour and a half arguing until we had to go do a baptismal interview.

The interview went splendidly and there was a baptism for them on Saturday in our district and it was just wonderful.  We were asked to fill the font, so Elder Rich and I went about an hour and a half early and started the water.  About 30 minutes later, no one else was at the building and nothing else was set up.  I assumed that they had in fact intended for us to actually prepare the cultural hall for the baptism and it was a good thing because no one else had arrived by a half hour before the service was scheduled.  But, I raided the Relief Society room and let me just tell you that that was probable the most well decorated baptismal service put on by a set of Elder missionaries that has ever been seen (the centerpiece looked like it belonged in the Celestial Room if I may say so myself).

Back to the lesson with Bro. Howard.... We had left for the baptismal interview and we got a call after the baptismal interview at about 830 that he had just left Bob2's home (which shocked me because I thought he had left right behind us).  So he was there for a total of 4 hours that day and it seems to have been a really good experience because now the Bob2 is studying harder than ever and wants to visit with us again tomorrow!

I was reading in Preach My Gospel this week and I found this quote by Harold B. Lee:

"May you stay with the context of the scripture and reduce it to understandable terms"

"Now you as teachers are not being sent out to teach new doctrine.  You're to teach the old doctrines, not so plain that they can just understand, but you must teach the doctrines of the Church so plainly that no one can misunderstand."

It may not apply to you all very much, but it really hit me and illustrated the fact that we are not living a new Gospel, but we are living the principles that have been taught and required of men since the days of Adam.  The circumstances and conditions of the world today, though different, are yet overcome by the simple truths of the Gospel.  And that is the very meaning of truth itself.  Elder Uchtdorf's CES fireside was very enlightening.

Well, gotta go.  Love you all!  God Bless!  Have a great week.

Love
Elder Grabinger

Oh, and some more info about that baptism... The family that was baptized were the ones that I had contacted on exchange with Elder Glazner about three months ago.  If you remember the story, it was the guy that we introduced the Book of Mormon to and he said "I am going to read every word of this book."  So that was cool.  Another interesting tidbit, the only reason we got into contact with them was because the wife (who was a less-active member) accidentally dialed a wrong number and it was the missionary's phone number that she had called.  How crazy is that!?

First Letter of the New Year!!

Dearest All,

First off, Happy New Year!!!

Second off, Happy Anniversary to Mitch & Ashley Hayashi (if they're still married.  I wouldn't know because... well you know why)!!!

This has been a crazy week, but also a really good week.

Our awesome investigator had a revelation in the middle of a lesson on Saturday.  He was like, "DUDE!!!  What you're saying is that there is a man that talks to Jesus Christ himself and he tells him what to do!?"  I said, "yes."  He replied, "MAN!!!  That means this book (he holds up the Bible) is IRRELEVANT, we've got the source?"  I told him, "In a manner of speaking, yes.  The scriptures are important, but dead prophets cannot compare with a living prophet."  He told me that "y'all should be writing a new Bible then!  Why don't they do that!?"

Fast forward to church yesterday.
He was there.
We went to Elders Quorum and they handed out the new manual for the year from Lorenzo Snow.
I told him, "enjoy."

lol

He's moving right along.  It's definitely going to take the Spirit to reveal to his heart that this is right and true though.  We shall see!  I'm excited!

We were tracting this week in the cold rain because I like to torture my companion who is new and also be diligent in serving the Lord.  Well, he forgot his umbrella.  Strike one.  Then we were walking down some steps and he just slipped and ate it on his back, it was so classic!  I wanted to laugh really bad, but I feel like he's really fragile right now and also I'm a minister of truth so I don't have a sense of humor when I'm out and about for the day.  I felt really bad for him that day.  Sometime's that refiner's fire we always hear about is actually 40 degree rain.  Who'd have thought!?

Seriously, this weekly email is my biggest comedic relief of the week.  I make things sound a lot more casual than they actually are.  Sorry.

Funny story, I was making this 'roast' last week out of various ingredients that we had on hand.  Well, I only had ground beef.  So I put a solid block of ground beef in the crock pot.  It wasn't until 5 hours later that I realized, that was really really dumb, you should brown the beef first and make a stew.  Well, I extracted the now cooked brains from the crock pot and put it in a frying pan and fixed it the best I could.  In the end, it wasn't done even in time for bed, so I just left it on all night.  Well, I had put an entire lemon in there, rind and all.  The next day's lunch was just a very lemony tasting stew.  I now know the secrets of crock pot cooking though, so it was a success in that sense.

Elder Eckery was a member in my district last transfer.  Anyway, we would leave voicemails when we had to call each other in different characters.  The best one was when we had to pick up he and his companion and he was calling us.  He left a voicemail pretending to be a crazy obsessive and over possessive girlfriend.  The voicemail said "GOOGLEMAPS SAYS THAT IT TAKES 7 MINUTES TO GET FROM YOUR APARTMENT TO MINE! IT'S BEEN 8 MINUTES! WHO IS SHE!?  I HATE HER!!!  but... I... I love you..."  I laughed a lot.

Every week I remember more things that I should tell you all and I try to write them down but I don't always remember, so forgive me for the enjoyment you could have, but I neglect to communicate to you.

This is the video of me burning a shirt for my year mark (I was on an exchange with Zone Leader Taggart and he's the one taking the video):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s7114f6mx2wq9n9/DSCN0700.AVI

Okay, I'll share some spiritual thought/insight now:

One of my favorite parables is in Luke 18:10-13.  It has touched me many a time and reminds to always look within and concern myself with cleansing the inner vessel and not to judge others.  As a missionary, I feel like I've been on a pride roller coaster over the past year and in the past it's been easy to think that I've been more choice than someone else because of my deeds.  Not so.  Each of us needs to worry about ourselves first and remember that no matter what we do, we cannot measure up to the stature of Christ on our own.  Thus, we are saved by grace and not works "lest any man should boast."  We have no room to boast, because nothing done in and of ourselves will exalt us in the Celestial Kingdom.  If we always remember our reliance on the Savior, Jesus Christ, we will be disposed to be humble and loving and not compare others to ourselves or vice versa.

The attached photos are a gift that my companion received for Christmas.  They're missionary action figures.  HILARIOUS!!!

Love,
Elder Grabinger

New Years Greetings from Tennessee

Dear Friends,

 

Christmas was GREAT! I got a bunch of SWEET ties and a Christmas album by Michael Buble and a Rubik's cube. Life is good.

 

This week we visited with that golden investigator I was telling you about last week. Well, turns out there's still a bumpy road ahead. He believe's the Bible is infallible and see's the BoM and Bible as clashing, but at the same time says that he can feel the Spirit stirring within him and feels Joseph Smith was definitely inspired by God, so it's just CRAZY! There's no doubt that he's sincerely seeking understanding though because he came to church with us yesterday and he's read just about the entire BoM in the less than two weeks that we've known him. I don't know what else to do besides just teaching true doctrine and giving him time.

Another of our investigators is progressing right along too. She loves when we come by and teach her and can feel the change that it's making in her life. These are seriously the two best investigators I've ever had which is why this has been the most frustrating/exciting/frightening/happy week of the mission. I just want for them to get baptized so bad and continue on in the straight and narrow path.

Fingers crossed.

I've felt kinda sick the past few days. I just have a head cold that consists of a mild cough that becomes exacerbated between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. Precisely when I'm trying to sleep!

Hooray!

But, in the infinite foresight of my parents, I've received a shipment of halls cough drops that consist of a delightful mixture of lemon, honey, and menthol! They taste great and soothe my throat, but didn't do anything for my cough and I still couldn't sleep until 11:30 last night. Such is life.

Well, I love and miss you all. Thanks to everyone that sent me Christmas greetings. I much appreciated them.

Happy New Year!

Love,

Elder Grabinger