Baptism

hola familia, well another week has come and gone and i feel like this week has been pretty crazy. We had a lot of activities going on this week so there were a lot of great experiencies, but with lots of activities there was less time to work, so this week will be back to normal. So Tuesday we got to go to the temple!!!! so yeah you could say i was pretty happy. Like ive always said i absolutely love the temple and i love the overwhelming spirit that i feel right when you enter. Especially here because the streets here are so loud and it is so nice to be in a place with silence for a little. I felt like the temple trip was so quick and its sad i´ll have to wait to go again for probably another like 6 months. We went with our zone so that was good. And I saw hermana peterson in the temple but not presidente peterson. After the session a few of the missionaries wanted to see the sealing room. It was neat to walk in there and think of the Familia Orellana and the special experience when they were sealed. That really was an experience that strengthened my testimony and something i wont forget. Anyways then on wednesday we had a multizona so that was great! I love multizonas! I always learn so so much during the mutlizonas. We were with 2 other zones. I was able to see Hermana Estevez (she was asking how is the fam and all) and also some of the hermanas who were in my district before in my mission. There was one moment espeically that i loved, President Cordon was talking about us being set apart as missionaries and he talked about when he was a stake presidente and had the opportunity to set apart missionaries. It made me remember a little of when I was set apart.....but what really hit me was when he also talked about when the missionaries are released and when he shared the words that they use to release a missionary the whole room was completely silent....that really hit me. How weird will that feel to be released as a missionary and it made me really think a lot about how i dont want that moment to come. I only have 9 months now and the time is going to fly. Anyways the multizona was really great. Then on thursday we had intercambios with the sister training leaders. Hermana Flores stayed here in the area and I went to the other area in chalchuapa. SUPER different that area. It is all residenciales so all of the houses are the same and there are streets and everything....its a lot different. I guess thats a lot of what santa ana is like too....maybe one day ill be more in the city but maybe not. Anyways, intercambios are always great, its great to learn from the hermana leaders and i love talking with the investigators of other missionaries. Its great to see that people really are searching for the truth . And this was probably the most memorable intercambio because it POURED rain. sheets of rain. We are now in the rain season. I didnt have my rain jacket with me but i had a capa (poncho) that i had bought with me. But i let the member who was with us borrow it because she didnt have anything. So yeah we got soaked!. I dont really mind getting soaked...but the rain is just a hassle because of our scriptures and books in our backpacks always have to be in bags and protected and stuff. But yeah the rain in the streets this day was literally up to our knees! we were walking in a river! there was a motortaxi that we tried to take but it could only go like 1 block and then it couldnt move so we had to get out and push it in the rain haha. And best of all.......i fell in the rain. TWICE. I havent falled once in the mission up to this moment and then in this day i fell twice. But your not really a missionary if you havent fallen once in your mission ... so yeah it was great haha. But the truth is i like the rain because its better then the heat. Anyways then friday was a normal day and then on saturday we had the baptism of jasmin. She was a little nervous but really excited too. I love seeing the people all in white before their baptism. The member who always brings her to church baptized her so it was a great experience. Her mom ( who is less active) also came, and i hope that we can start to work more with her to help her come back to church, but we´ll see what happens. Other than that we didnt have any investigators in church this week, we had quite a few who were committed to come....but we´ll just have to keep working. I love the mission. It is so incredible the way that I am growing every day. Sometimes i feel so uncapable but in some way i am able to do it. I only hope that i can help more people. The people here really have so many problems in their lives, but i know that it is the gospel that will help them. I hope you guys have an amazing week and i guess its almost the start of summer so i hope all is well! Until next week! Love you, Hermana Groneman

9 months

Welp family....this is it...this week ill officially have 9 months in the mission. I really cant believe that half of my mission has already gone by. I still feel like im a new missionary a lot of the time. I already feel like the time is flying. Well i feel like it was forever that i talked to you all but really it was like last week. I dont really have much time to write this week because i spent a lot of time writing president and reading emails but ill try my best and ill write more next week. Ill tell you a little about our investigators. We have this woman named Xiomara and she is super positve. She really likes the church and her two kids love the church too. At first she wasnt really quite sure if she had received an answer about anything but now this week she has told us that she has more desire to read the book of mormon and keep attending church and shes been asking more about baptism and she really likes that her kids like the church. She says this is the only church that her kids have actually enjoyed going and there were a lot of activities about families this whole week at the church and she went every day and really enjoyed it. BUT there is always something.....she isnt married and she is living with the father of her kids. AND he is married to someone else. They actually want to get married and she knows she is living in sin....but he doesnt have the money to get divorced with his other wife....so yeah we have a huge problem before she can progress. i really dont know what we are going to do right now because Carlos (the father) doesnt really want much to do with the church...he isnt super against it but its just not for him....so yeah i dont know what is going to happen but ill keep you updated because she is great and her kids too. Also we are going to have the baptism of Jasmin this saturday. She is 12 years old and she is absolutely great. Her parents are inactive but we are hoping with this that we can start reactivating them. There are some member who live close to jasmin who are great to bring her to church every week and are a great support for her. Also i wanted to share an experience that i had with one of our investigators. I think i told you about Manuel last week...but he is a little difficult. Has a lot of questions and isnt really sure if he wants to change his life. We had a lesson with him last week and we were sharing with him that really he needs to pray and ask if its true, and i was telling him that sometime we are scared to pray and ask if its true because we know if its true we have to change. Anyways a lot of times i feel like maybe we should stop teaching him because he isnt doing a lot to change, but when we are teaching him i feel the spirit so strongly and i feel a great hope and faith that he can actually change. I dont know how much longer we are going to teach him...we are going to see how he progresses. But anyways all this week at night i was just praying with all my heart that he could pray and ask to know if its true and that he could receive something, an answer that he could recognize, to know that its true. Yesterday in our lesson with him we asked if he had prayed and he said he had (so that right off was a little bit of progress) and i was honestly a little suprised that he actually did it...but he said he felt like he lacked faith when he was praying....so we need to help him with that....but then later in the lesson he told us that he had some dream that he doesnt remember but he had a dream about the gospel or something....but he says maybe it was just coincidence. So i dont know if he is going to progress or not because i dont know if he is willing to change or willing to recognize that that was part of his answer. But to me it was an answer to my prayers that he actually prayed and received something that was an answer. I dont have much more time, But im really so grateful that im not alone here in the mission and I know that God his helping me in every step. Im so grateful for the spirit that is always helping us in the work. At the beginning of my mission i struggled a little to feel like i could feel the spirit testifying in the lessons through me, but now i feel completely different. I really feel the spirit every time i bear my testimony in the lessons and I know that god is answer my prayers. Also i love the time i have to study the scriptures every morning. I know that the spirit really can reveal truth and the mysteries of God to us when we study the scriptures. Anyways i dont have any more time. Yes i got your package and thank you so much!! i loved everything and it was everything i needed. Dad yes there are animals...little gechos and birds and lots of insects and butterflies AND FIREFLIES haha and fruit...yeah there are lots of mangos in this time of year. Anyways until next week!! this week we have a multizone and im pretty sure we are actually going to the temple this week so im pretty excited! Thanks to everyone who writes me it really makes my day and im so grateful for the love of family and friends! Love you all! Hermana Groneman

After Mother's Day

Well its been what..less than 24 hours since i last talked to you all? so i dont really have much to say, but it was really good to talk to you all and see you all on skype, im sorry the connection wasnt that great. It definitely was a lot easier to say goodbye yesterday than it was at christmas time.

So yep im just hear and im just going to keep working. Like i told you I am still learning the area and all of the members and such so we will see what happens.

We have found a few postive new investigators this week so im excited to see if we can help them progress. We have one investigador named Manuel and he is like 24 and i love our lessons with him. He has a lot of great questions and i feel like he wants to know if it is true, the only thing is he needs to have a changes in his life...and we arent sure if he is really willing to change. We are trying to focus a lot on the atonement with him, but i have a lot of faith and hope with him, It might be a slower process to help him change but i feel something different when we teach him. We also have Jasmin Vasquez who is going to be baptized this month. She is 12 years old and she loves going to church, really we are just waiting for her to have the number of asistencias at church. She is always reading her scriptures and we are helping her to work in her personal progress. Hna Daisy is really great to help bring her to church and everything. We also have other investigators but a lot of them are new so we will see how they progress. When i came to the area they didnt have a lot of investigators that they were working with so we are working on increasing our teaching pool.

Well to answer just a few of your questions that you wrote, Dad we do involve the youth and they leave with us to visit people, but as far as activities im still learning what kind of activities they do here so we will see. I dont know really what to tell you more about the members here. They seem like they are trying to help in the missionary work. We are really trying to help him to read Preach my Gospel (So you guys too dont forget to study it). And they seem pretty good to give us references from what i can see, but still i only have two weeks here so i dont have a ton to say about them still.

I really know that the Lord is helping us in every single moment as missionaries. I feel his strength every single day. I feel like really it is a miracle each day how we can just keep going and keep walking and we have the strength to do it all. Maybe i havent a lot of baptisms, but i love the feeling i have every day knowing that i am a representative of Jesus Christ and that i have the power to help people come closer unto him. There are so many people in the world who are so lost and confused and who need His help and Im so glad that i have always has this gospel in my life to lean on. It brings such peace into my life to know that I know the truth.

We will see what more I have to tell you all next week. Thanks for support, confidence, and prayers for me. I have the best family in the world and you all mean the world to me.

Love you with all my heart

Hermana Groneman

Moved to Atiquizaya

Hola familia, Welp i had cambios...and after 7 months ive left El Espino Ahuachapán. I can´t belive it. To be completely honest i cant even describe how much i miss El Espino. I knew it would be hard to leave, but i didnt know it would be that hard. We received the call tuesday morning and it wasnt that big of a suprise but wow....really leaving el espino. I didnt really know how to feel, because i really wanted to leave but at the same time no. Anyways so tuesday was pretty crazy, running around all day trying to make it to our appointments that we had while at the same time trying to say goodbye to a bunch of people. Its safe to say that i basically spent all of tuesday crying. I can´t even explain how much i love those people, especially the members. Especially familia trejo and familia Orellana. They literally are my family. They will always be in my heart and i cant explain the special moments i have had with both of their families. I will forever be grateful for the love of those two families. They were the last people we talked to on Tuesday night. I left familia Orellana a promise written on the back of one of their picture frames that i will return to visit them...en December of 2015...so yah ill have to start saving money when i get home. But yeah really the best way i can explain it is i feel like my first two weeks in the mission when i felt a little homesick. I literally am homesick for the people in El Espino. I wake up in the mornings thinking about them, its really crazy how much i love those people...but i know that it is part of the mission. Also i talked with hermana Mayorga and apparently they are going to have like 4 baptisms in this month in El Espino. There are two jóvenes who were waiting for permiso all of my time in el espino and finally they are going to be baptized, and also sonya has a date for baptism, and then this other reference from one of the members who we were teaching. So yeah im sad i wont be there, but im really happy for those people and im happy that i left espino better than i found it. BUT anyways no worries because im in a great área and i have an amazing companion! I am now in El Angel 2 in Atiquizaya. Atiquizaya is actually really close to ahuachapan so im not too far. But my área is super grande! ahh i dont know how im every going to learn it. El Espino wasnt too small, but definitely smaller than this área. Also el espino was a little more organized with directions...had more of a grid system in some of the áreas....but this área is a lot more campo. I have a little bit of área in the city but its a lot more in the field. So that will be crazy and fun. Ive already noticed that the people are more receptive in this área. In espino we got rejected A LOT, but here that people seem to be a little more receptive so thats great. Also their are six missionaries in total in this Ward/área. Me and my comp, another pair of sisters, and a pair of elders. So that is different too, because before it was just me and my comp in the Ward. But the Ward seems to be more organized. We have a really nice chapel and i feel like i like the Ward. ALSO i played the piano in church on sunday. i guess no one in the Ward plays so i played...but it was horrible hahaha. i havent really played hardly at all in 9 months....so it will be good so i can practice more. We dont have a ton of investigators...so we are going to have to work to find some more people...but we will have a baptism at the end of the month of a 12 year old girl, and also Manuel who is super interested. I feel like for sure we can help him be baptized but im really excited to work with him. He is a reference of some recent converts here in this Ward. My comp is super super awesome. Im super excited to be with her. Her name is Hermana Flores and she is from Guatemala. She only has 3 months in the mission and she just finished her training but she is a super excelent missionary! She Works super hard and she is super funny and friendly. One of the missionaries that came with me was her trainer and she taught her really well. So yeah im really excited to be with her. She has been a member all her life and she has 9 siblings! haha. She is 21 years old too. Also something interesting is we live in a house with 2 other sisters so its really fun and im really excited for that! We live with hermana moris (from california) and Hermana cisnero (panamá). OUr house is super big and ill send you pics of the área and the house and more with my comp and everything next week. Oh also Elder thorpe from springville is in my zone so i see him during the week. Also there are a few missionaries who came at the same time as me in my zone so thats fun. Anyways i dont have a lot more to say. Sorry if there arent a lot of details, but we can talk lots on sunday! Im excited to skype....i cant belive its already time to talk again, i felt like yesterday was christmas! Let me know if you have any specific questions. I love you all so so so so much and im so grateful for your support and your prayers. I love the mission and im so glad to be here in El Salvador.. ....oh yeah i forgot to say...that HERE COMES THE RAIN.....oficially has started raining so im ready to use the rain jacket you sent. I like the rain a lot more than the heat. AND I SAW FIREFLIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK..... so that was pretty cool anyways love you all! Congrats ryan for graduating! Hermana Groneman

May Day

Wow family...its practically May. I can´t believe it.

Welp we still dont know for sure what is going to happen for cambios until tomorrow morning, but it is pretty sure that i´m going to be leaving...I feel like im definitely going to go...and to be honest im ready. But also im going to be so so sad to leave the people here. Its starting to hit me that this is the last time im going to see a lot of these people for awhile. (I hope you know that im planning on returning to visit and ive promised the members im going to return...so yeah ill have to start saving my money, i said most likely im going to come back to visit with you Dad...i dont know if you´d want to mom because you dont know spanish...but thats something we´ll talk about later). But anyways its going to be really crazy to leave because i feel like my mission is all in this area haha but im excited to meet new people and a new area.

I really don´t have much to say this week, not too much happened that i can remember haha. Yesterday we had 6 investigators in church, so that was good. Sonya went so that was really exciting, but we dont know if she felt comfortable in the ward so we are hoping that we can help her keep asisting in this ward. We have two young mothers who are neighbors that we are teaching and they are super funny. Something crazy always happens with them. But they came to church too so that was exciting. The only thing is both of them arent married but live with their companions. Their boyfriends both are policemen and assist a different church so thats going to be a problem...but we are going to try to meet their husbands this week.

I was really glad to hear that Grandma mimis birthday party went well! You should have sent me pictures of it or something. The Trejo family sends birthday wishes to you grandma! Also i can´t believe everything that is happening in the fam. Colby and Janelle have two years being married....Ryan is going to be graduating....Mom is going to be finishing another year of school....Dad..is well dad is dad still golfing and yeah haha. Adelyn is crawling around crazy! ahh i cant wait to talk to you all. When i go to my new area ill figure out for sure where i can use skype. Ill probably be skyping colby and janelle seperate is what im guessing, but no worries ill be able to talk to you all :)

Anyways sorry i dont feel like i have much to say. Im so grateful for all of you and im so glad that you are all doing well. Im doing great here eating lots of avocados and mangos. Also mom im starting to like tomatos a little bit more hahahaha. The rain is going to start here probably in this week or the next week so ill be ready to use my big ugly rain shoes mom haha.

Im so grateful for the gospel in my life. And Im so grateful for you mom and dad that you always taught me to live righteously, it made/makes life so much easier. Im so grateful for my savior and that i never have to feel alone. Remember that nothing is more important than the gospel en our lives.

Until next week,

Hermana Groneman