Happy Birthday to me!

Another week....another year! wow can´t believe im 21! well today is pday so it should be a good day but actually our pday is going to be short today because tomorrow we are going to the temple!!! Im so excited! Its funny because i remember last year i was a little bit down on my birthday just cause i wasnt home with all of you guys...but this year...its like who cares...its just another day haha. I got your package....but i opened it early. oops haha. i just couldnt wait. but thanks for all of the treats and the clothes!! Also i bought myself a hammock :) its the best thing we can have in our house haha So this week has been good. Im enjoying getting to know Metapan. It is still so huge so I still have a lot of the area to learn but I love it here. Im really enjoying working with my companion. She´s adorable. Sometimes its hard to be someone´s second companion because they havent learned yet how to adjust to other companions other then their trainers...but it is all great. I love it because she is so obedient and shes pretty funny too. But we work hard. Im sorry im probably not going to write a lot today...i had a lot of emails for my birthday haha so i dont have a ton of time to actually write. But this week we didnt have anyone come to church because it was stake conference in santa ana...so we had to go in bus to church early in the morning...so yeah no one came. But we are working on finding new investigators. When i came here to this area there is a family torres who had baptismal dates for this next sunday...but i think we are going to push it back a week. We just want to make sure that they are really committed to actually live the commandments and all. I think all will be well with them...but we just want to make sure they are ready and that they arent going to go inactive right after. Sorry i didnt write much. Im doing great and Im super happy. Ill write more next week! love you all! hermana Groneman

Adios Atiquizaya

Hola! Well we just found out and yep i have cambios. It was pretty obvious cause presidente already basically told me. I just cannot believe im leaving the area though. All be honest its gonna be hard to leave here. I already had some tears yesterday. Its so hard to say goodbye to people who have changed your life. Especially in this area it is going to say goodbye to the converts. Gosh i dont even know. Especially people like Rosa. Im gonna be so sad to say goodbye to rosa. in sunday school yesterday we had some investigators and the teacher asked rosa to say the opening prayer and so she went up to the front but then gave a special welcome to our investigators and also after church she told them she hoped they would come back. She is just so adorable. Im gonna miss her squinty eyed smile SO much. Ahh i dont even want to think about it. Her daughter Hermana sophie was telling me goodbye yesterday because they actually live in another area but come to our ward so i wont be able to say goodbye to her, but she was telling me how thankful she was for me for teaching her mom the gospel. It was a touching moment. Also people like Carlos Chafoya and Julio just everyone. And yesterday we had our correlacion meeting with the bishop and im gonna miss this ward. We had some really great leaders in this ward. But we are leaving behind a lot of great work. Im really sad that Im gonna be leaving hermana alvarado and hermana lucero. Its been so fun to be with them and these 3 weeks have gone by SO quickly. this change really went by way quickly. Hermana lucero and hermana alvarado are gonna be training and they are both staying in this area. So there will be 4 hermanas in the area again. But its gonna be hard for them because they have to split investigators. But im excited for them to both train because they are both great missionaries. But the good thing is we have a great pool of investigators who we are teaching right now. Im sad that i wont be around to see them progress. I dont know if i told you about Iliana the other week. But she really was prepared to receive this gospel and she already has a baptismal date for the 26th. She is so prepared for this gospel it is incredible. Everything makes sense to her and she says its all logical (FINALLY someone who understands)...but this week we went back to teach her and we were asking her if she had prayed to know if joseph smith was a prophet and she was like "well i always pray ....but i already feel like i know its true" and after we asked her how she had come to know that it was true and she just told us that every time we come she feels a great peace and there isnt any reason for her to doubt it. She is so great. We also have lots of others...i really dont have time to tell you about all of them...but i think the next cambio here the hermanas who are here are gonna have some success with these investigators. Each investigator is different and i just love meeting all these people. Its gonna be sad to say goodbye to a lot of them.. Everyone says im going to santa ana...and truth is no one knows...but i dont know what to think. I want to go to santa because i want to see that part of the mission but at the same time i dont because here there are a lot of people in ahuachapan and atiquizaya who know each other. the two pueblos are close so i feel like i know this whole area and it will be hard to go somewhere completely different. But im really excited to see what the lord has in store for me. Its crazy to think that this will probably be my last area from what presidente told me...but we´ll see. Changes are sometimes difficult to adjust but i like changes because it gives you the opportunity to change and put new goals and such. Anyways im glad all is well at home. Thanks for the pictures and thanks for your support always. I love you all so so so much. Hermana Groneman

Metapan

CAMBIOS!!! well I know you are all waiting to here what happened with cambios so i guess ill let you know. Ive been assigned to work in the are of Metapan with my companion Hermana Bustos. She is 20 and she is from Nicaragua. She just finished her training so she has like 3 months. She is super great and im really excited to be with her. She is a great teacher and a super hard worker. I think ill probably only be with her from 6 weeks if i end up finishing my mission training...but Im really excited to be with her. Metapan is HUGE. and SO BEAUTIFUL. and also its probably the hottest area in our mission...so theres that. There are 6 missionaries here in the area and its just one ward. The capilla is super small. It doesnt have benches or anything and it doesnt have a piano (i know sad right?) and the attendance is about 100 apparently. The thing is Metapan is SUPER FAR AWAY from everything. We have to go in a bus for 1 1/2 hours just to get to our zone meetings on thursday and also to write on mondays. so yeah. But Metapan has everything. Its like provo. Its a big city...but maybe not THE big city. Our area is the whole city and all of the outskirt city things....so yeah ill never get to the limits of our city. But i love it. There is a really pretty city park and everything. The only thing is the members live really seperated so we do A LOT of walking. But yeah. Also it is a lot more calm and a lot less dangerous than atiquizaya...so thats good. Anyways i´ll be able to tell you more next week cause ya ive only had a few days here. Honestly its been crazy having cambios. Cambios are hard to be honest. It is hard to come to a new area and not know anything or anyone and you want to help your companion but you dont know anyone to visit or the investigators or members. But im excited. It was SO hard to leave Atiquizaya. I remember when I got to atiquizaya and i didnt think it would be that hard to leave...but i definitely learned to love the people. It was SO hard to leave especially Rosa and Julio. Im going to miss my converts so much and the members. Ive got a few videos of julio saying his last words to me so you´ll be able to watch them when I get home. When i said goodbye to Rosa she just stood their crying. it was a touching moment I will never forget. This week i was reading in Jacob 5 and I was thinking a lot about missionary work. I love in Jacob 5 when it talks about how the Lord will send his servants for the last time to work with all their heart in the vineyard. I know that that is talking about these last days...but this time when I was reading it I was thinking about this being my last area. Im almost sure its going to be my last area...and honestly its been kind of hard to think about. I know this is my last time to work with all my heart and make a difference. This area has a lot of potencial. The time is going by so fast and it makes me sad. Well I feel like i had a million things i wanted to tell you guys but i dont know. I was going to say that We live in a house of 4 so thats fun. Our house isnt super great buts its not bad at all. we only have water in the mornings though so the 4 of us have to shower in the morning. also hermana garbett is my sister training leader so im SUPER excited because when we do intercambios with the leaders ill get to be with her!!! thats the closest we´ll ever get to being comps. Also it was crazy because so many of my good friends in the mission went home this cambio. it was so sad to see all of them leave! but its part of the mission. Also about the earthquake hahaha. The earthquake happened i think it was monday night. I was still in atiquizaya with Hermana Alvarado and hermana lucero. hermana lucero was showering and me and hermana alvarado were just sitting at the table talking and the earthquake started....and it wasnt super strong and first and we just kind of sat there looking at each other...and then it kept going and we were like "uhh...should we do something?"....and then it kept going so we went to the doorway...and eventually it stopped...it was super super strong that anything fell down or anything but it was really long and it was weird to think what if it didnt stop. But yeah it was cool to be in an earthquake. Also we are going to the temple on the 28th!!! YAY!!!! Anyways the mission is basically the best thing ever. I am SO tired every day but i absolutely love it. Im so blessed to be here. Its amazing the feeling i have every day waking up and being a representative of Christ. In the mission we have been working about talking with EVERYONE and especially in buses. You guys have no idea how the buses are here...but they are like yellow school buses and they are beyond PACKED with people....and its incredible the feeling to get to stand up in the bus and talk to everyone that is there. Most of the people just stare at us...and especially me ...thinking who is this gringa talking to us...but even though the majority of the time no one is interested...I feel amazing to know that I am preaching this gospel to everyone i can. Thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your support. I LOVE YOU ALL. Im so grateful for this gospel. Until next week! Hermana Groneman

Conference Week

Hola familia, Im hoping you all enjoyed conference as much as I did. Really conference weekend is literally the best. It was so nice to have two days filled of inspiration and the spirit....well every day here in the mission is filled with the spirit...but wow i just love conference. This week wasnt really all that super great....but we had enough good things and small miracles that happened that it didnt seem to rough haha. This week we found a woman named Iliana. One morning we were out in the blazing sun knocking doors because we didnt have any set plans....and door after door no one had time for us. One woman opened her door but she was washing her dog so she said we could come back in the afternoon. I didnt really think much of it...but we put it in our agenda. That afternoon we came back and she opened the door and received us. I know that God led us to her. We only visited her for maybe 20 minutes...just getting to know her and everything but she is someone prepared by the hand of the Lord. She told us that she has felt something missing in her life lately and she feels like we came right and the right moment. She isnt attending any church. She has only just been going to a church with a friend...but she doesnt actually like it there...she says she just goes because its better than nothing. In the first 10 minutes we were able to commit her to go to conference and also we invited her to be baptized and she said she would like that...and we havent even taught her anything. Sunday morning when we were getting ready to pass for our investigators we were going to do splits because we had a lot of investigators to pass for....but the member who was going to leave with me wasnt home....we were worried because we had no idea what we were going to do because we didnt have time to pass for everyone...and right at that moment Hermana Deysi passed by. THat was a small miracle with perfect timing. So i went with hermana deysi to pick up illiana. When we got to her house she was all ready to go and as we walked out she told me she had read the pamphlet we left with her and that she really liked it. THen during confernece she sat with hermana deysi and after hermana deysi said that they exchanged numbers and that she is going to go to the relief soceity activity on friday and church next sunday and that during the conference some of her doubts or questions she had were answered. SHE IS SO GREAT: also hermana deysi is awesome. Her and her husband want to serve a mission if her husbands health gets better and they would be so great....also hermana deysi told me this week that she want to call president spjut to tell him to leave me in this area until after my birthday hahaha she is so funny. Also I just wanted to tell you guys a little update on Julio. Remember how worried i was about him getting baptized cause i didnt know if he was ready? haha yeah he is so great. He came to 3 of the sessions of conference. And atleast twice a week when we are contacting people around town someone will mention him and how he goes to our church and the miracle that they have seen in him. It is pretty amazing to here that people who arent church members have noticed the miracle of Julio. Also during this week....there were some moments i was struggling....not because of the hardness of the mission or discouragement or anything. But because of the poverty and situations of the people. Even though i have over a year in this country there are still some days when it just kills me. To see little kids who walk around without clothes who dont have food to eat. to see people who have to take turns which days they can shower. Sometimes it discourages me. This week we were visiting a little girl maria elena. She is a recent convert. her mom died when she was little and she lives with her older sister but her older sister doesnt even take care of her and maria elena spends most of the time in the street and she never goes to school and sometimes she wears the same clothes all week. Last time we visited her this week the three of us were almost in tears as we helped her with her homework learning how to write the letters. But that is what brings me to conference....I had so many questions answered in conference....and one of the first questions was answered in Elder Hollands talk about the poor. Elder Hollands talk touched my heart when so many days here i just spend my time thinking that i dont know why the people have to live in these circumstances. But it was a comforting talk. There were so many talks that I loved i wont even be alble to share a lot....but it was great. Also I got to watch conference in english with other gringos!!!! that was amazing. Its not that the spanish would be hard to understand.....but its just so great to hear the voices of the prophet and apostles. Also wasnt it SO cool to have the other languages at confernece??? (we did watch the ones in the spanish in spanish though) Here were the talks that stood out to me: Elder D Todd Christoffersons talk was perfect for the people here in El Salvador. Seriouslly i just want to print off the talk and send it to this whole country haha. He talked about a lot of problems that the people have here in their lives that a lot of time people here dont understand that they have the responsibility to choose their actions and God doesnt control their lives... They always say "if God wants me to i will go to church this sunday"...well obviously yes. anyways it was really great. Uchtdorfs talk was really great for our investigators. I loved how he talked about the personal revalation. Its important that everyone can gain and strengthen their personal testimony through personal revalation. During Tad r Callisters talk I was just thinking about you Mom and Dad. THANK YOU for being such great parents and for being the prime example of my life. I can tell you enough how different i would be if it wasnt for your example. Then Jeffrey R Holland. I already told you how much i loved his talk and how it touched me heart. President Monson obviously i loved. It was really simple but I loved how he talked about our simple purpose. I loved how he talked about the different paths that Christ walked and how we can all relate and we are going to pass through those different paths. Richard G Scotts talked I LOVED. Those 4 tools of family prayer, scripture study, FHE, and the temple are such simple tools. But i loved how he talked about how satan will tell us we dont have time fo those things. But I think now more than ever those things are vital for our families in this world. Those four things are no longer advice but necessary. And last of all I loved Bednars talk. I was so glad i had investigators there. When he said he was talking directly to the investigators we were all like YES! It was a perfect message. I love the way Elder Bednar teaches in his talk. Anyways im so so sad that conference is over...but yeah i learned a ton! We had 9 investigators who came and several less actives so that was really great. I dont have a ton of more time to tell you about our other investigators but maybe next week. Cambios are not this wednesday but the next! But thanks so much for your emails! I love you all! Hermana Groneman

Tres Leches

Hola Familia, Its been quite a different week. Lots has changed...but a lot hasnt changed at the same time. Well you are all wondering what happened with my companion so I`ll start by updating you on that. Monday we went to the office and Hermana Castro talked with President and made the decision to go home. I basically knew she wasnt going to change her mind. After I was able to talk with President Spjut a little bit. He really is so amazing. He was assuring me that it wasnt my fault and that I am a good missionary. It was comforting just to be able to talk to him and express how I felt about the whole situation. He also gave me a blessing that I felt really helped. He told me he wants me to train again...but asked how i felt about that and we both agreed that maybe this next change wouldnt be the best...and so most likely he basically told me what he thinks he has planned for me (obviously things can change) but the plan is that this change ill leave this area to go learn a new area from another missionary and then I will end my last two changes training. I think that all sounds pretty good. Its so crazy to think i only have 3 changes left basically. Time really is flying. So anyways hermana castro was with me until wednesday and then wednesday presidente spjut and hermana spjut were here working with the other missionaries in our area and when the left to head back to the office they took hermana castro and i stayed with the other hermanas in our area. So now im in a trio! normally i didnt really like the idea of a trio...but im with 2 other gringas....so for the first time in the mission i have gringa comps. I love hermana alvarado (from utah and has 11 months in the mission) and hermana lucero (from colorado and has 1 year in the mission). Its been a blast these last few days. It is so nice to be working normal again. Working with people who love the people and want to work. They are great and its been so fun. We call ourselves the "Tres leches". Also its been good because I have a lot more time in this area then them so Ive been able to help them know where are some of the members and inactives and such. We are trying to visit both of our investigators....but we are going to end up dropping a lot of the investigators that I had...we mostly work with their investigators...but thats okay. In church I had a special moment when I was up on the stand playing piano and after I just looked out and it was so great to see all of the lives I have helped here in this ward. This really is my area of miracles. To look out and see the members ive strengthened...all of my converts...Like rosa and her daughter who is less active who now comes a lot...also Carlos chafoya who brought his wife again this week....and of course Julio who is famous here in this area and all the people who have seen him change....and people like Manuel Mejia (who still hasnt been baptized but we are working with him to get married so he can be baptized) but i know ive done my part with him. Its just a great feeling. I love these people. Im excited to work hard with the hermanas this week...and especially because of general conference!!!! I AM SO EXCITED. i really love conference and its something that really helps our investigators. Also saturday night we were able to view the womens conference. It was really great. Mom I also loved how much they talked about the temple and I cant wait to be able to go more when i get home. Also i loved when they showed the video from the little kids in asia who were singing. Anyways things are really great here. I love the mission even though there are always difficulties and such. I love all of you and im so grateful for all of you. THanks for all the pictures that you guys send because I love getting the pictures! Love ya! Hermana Groneman