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