Week 47 | what even was this week?

This week was really fun. 

I don't even know where to start about this week. I feel like so much happened. But it just feels like I don't even know how to write an email right now.. So I am truly sorry if this email makes 0 sense. 

So this week felt like it was packed full of lessons which is pretty much the best. So we were going around from lesson to lesson and we realized that we had not been doing very much finding. So we made a point to talk to every homeless person we saw when we were on our bikes and it was actually awesome. We are going to start keeping Gatorade in our bikes with a pass along card to give them. I always felt so bad when I had nothing to give them. But hey, it was really cool. We found this guy Chris and we gave him a Book of Mormon on our way to a lesson and on our way back he was totally reading it which was kinda fun to see. 

We also met this other fun guy... We started talking to him and immediately realized that something was off. But he was nice, so we continue talking to him. We gave him a picture of Christ and he took off his sunglasses.. oh my. This guy was higher than a kite. He told us how grateful he was and that he just got out of prison. umm.. congrats? So we were like, so then are you looking to come closer to Jesus Christ? Because we have this book that will bring you closer to him than any other book. He was even more happy. He takes the Book of Mormon and says, I really need this in my life. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.... I AM ACTUALLY GOING BACK TO PRISON. So I was like, you should totally bring it with you. 

I thought it was super funny. But also that is actually really sad, and I just didn't really know how to respond. I also haven't seen that guy since.

We also had exchanges which was fun. Sister Church is my STL now so she got to come with me for the day. It was funny to be back on bikes together again. I mean it is totally different here it doesn't even feel the same at all. But we had fun. I think all the cars really freaked her out haha. But we got to go to trot which was fun. I don't know if I have talked about it before, but we go and do service at a horse ranch and it is super fun. I mean I always get a headache from being outside for so long in the beating sun doing yard work. But we go with all the other missionaries and it's a good time. Then we always have ice cream and snacks after. 

We got to go with Dennis to the temple on Saturday! It was amazing. Dennis is my favorite person ever. He is our recent convert, so we have been working with him to get names to take. And it was one of the coolest experiences. He was baptized for his brother and his grandfather and I had the privilege of being baptized for his grandmother as well as some of my own family names. It was so much fun. Sister Cooper got to come too! And it was crazy because we also got to see president Browning there, he was taking his son through for the first time. There were actually so many miracles like that. I was getting ready to walk out of the dressing room and as I was, I ran into some of my favorite people from Thatcher! They just happened to be visiting some friends for the weekend and decided to go to the temple! I was so happy to see them! It was such a tender mercy. So I made sure to get pictures with them before we left. I also saw some people who were working at the temple that were in my first ward that I was in and it was good to see them too! I just felt like everyone was there hahaha. And then because Dennis is the best, he took us all out to brunch after. It was sooooo good! 

This week was just a really good week. Lots of hard work. Every night this week I felt like I slept like a rock. So many fun lessons. Like with Sarah. She is the best, I love her so much! And Cecil always joins us for our lessons. They both live with some members in our ward. Cecil was baptized about a year ago and Sarah is planning on getting baptized in July. 

We also met with our good friend Jay. Always fun to see him.

Last highlight was going out to dinner with Dennis. I'm not kidding, he is absolutely the best 😍 he is so sweet. He took us to this little cowboy town called Trail Dust Town. It is sooooo cute! He took us out for steak at this restaurant there called Pinnacle Peak. It was so good. Then we just walked around for a bit to see the little town. Got to shoot some little guns and sit in the old jail and pan for gold. It was so fun! And Dennis loves taking the sister's to go do fun things like that. He is the cutest 💜

Well, I think that's about it. Hope y'all have a good week! Tell me all of your fun summer adventures! I don't know if any of you actually read this but that's fine! Love you anyways 😙

Sister Grant 

Week 46 | new EVERYTHING!!

I think this has been the most chaotic transfer I've ever had! And I didn't even go anywhere... Lol the other half of the ward got white washed which makes things a little difficult. But it'll be really good for the ward and they are really chill and easy to work with which makes it easier. But I am the only one out of the four of us who knows the are which is crazy because I have only been here a transfer and it feels like I am covering 2 areas. But it's okay, life goes on and the work will be done.

My new companion is Sister Hewlett. She is awesome and super funny, we get along great! Love her to death but this week was almost the death of me lol! It was good but it was soooooooo long. No joke, I was in bed last night and was thinking how happy I was that the next day was p day and I said, man can you believe we are already half way through the transfer!? And sister Hewlett was just like.... Ummm it's only been a week.

This week we set a baptismal date with our sweet investigator Michelle. She is so excited and was so happy to go to church. But it was a little rough because we actually volunteered to clean her house. I was happy to do it for her but oh my word. I don't know if my nose will ever work again. But I am happy that she is at least in liveable conditions now. We had to throw away a lot of her dishes because there was no way we could save them. We found these pots with what I think was pasta at one point, but that was probably from last year. It was filled with mold and maggots and I really really don't wanna think about what else. We also had to spray ourselves down with rubbing alcohol multiple times because of the bed bugs. But thank the heavens we are going strong, STILL BED BUG FREE BABY! It's been a problem here and a lot of the missionaries have been getting them.

I've been studying this talk all week called The 4th Missionary. It's really changed my perspective on what a good missionary looks like. And it's been a hard lesson to learn but I've come to realize that there is no "example missionary". I think that we like to create these images in our head of what perfect is in hopes that it'll be easier to become. But that's not how it works. This is a lesson I have been trying to learn for a long time, and one I know I will continue to learn throughout my life. The best missionary I can be is me. This is the Lord's work. No one else's. So the only way I can be "a good missionary" is if I do the work he sent ME to do. Not my companions, not my president, but me. And there is no example missionary, because we have been called to the same work, but he has not called us to do the same things. And I think that applies to life in general. Why do we compare ourselves when our roles and responsibilities and missions in life are all different. There is a quote from that talk that I have been thinking about all week, he said "your world is in our head. Get your head on right, and your heart will follow. You'll be right" I also have been thinking about something my dear friend Billy always tells me, "no brain, no pain". Billy, I couldn't say it better myself. Thanks for keeping me straight. I have a tendency to overthink, but I know I am not the only one who has this tendency. No brain, no pain. I've been trying harder to just roll with the punches and do the work the Lord needs ME to do, and accept the fact that it is going to look different than everyone else. Because none of us should look the same, that's why he gives us different talents and abilities. I think we really become successful when we learn to trust in the Lord and use the talents and tools he gave US, not the person next to us. But that's a lot easier said than done, which is why we have a lifetime to figure it out. And I hope I can get close somewhere in that time. 

I hope you all have a fan-freankin-tastic week! And I'll catch ya next week ✌️

Sister Grant 

Week 45 | another transfer

I can't even believe that another transfer has come and gone. I feel like this transfer just started! I am so sad... Cooper is leaving me 😭 No joke, we actually cried. She won't be very far, but we won't be in the same zone so it will feel like we are forever away. It has been a pretty crazy weekend. No one knew what was going on for transfers and everything was super last minute. Out of all 4 missionaries in my ward, I am the only one staying. The other half of the ward is getting white washed (they are putting elders in). So it's going to be way different. But I am excited. We will see how well I know the area... I'll probably be so lost for days. 

This week was really fun! We partied hard for our last week. We did morning sports with our zone pretty much everyday this week. So I am actually really sad because our zone got pretty close this week and now everyone is leaving. 

Got to go on exchanges with sister Williamson on Tuesday. We had a crazy day. Our lessons were pretty interesting. We met with someone that we actually just recently dropped and he was trying to bible bash Williamson really hard. I actually felt pretty bad because he has no filter and no boundaries. There is a reason we dropped him. We also got dropped by a few other people that day. But honestly the worst part was being on a bike. I don't know how I am going to survive a summer here. It got up to like 109 this week. This is too hot for my life. 

We also helped Dennis do Family History this week.That was awesome! We helped him get his brothers name ready to take to the temple. I am so excited, we are getting ready to go on Saturday. 

Another highlight from this week was going to to dinner with the other sisters. Their recent convert took us all out to dinner. He is SOOOO funny. He wanted to fly us to Scottsdale for dinner and then fly back. Not sure how he thought that was a good idea. But he settled for a pizza place downtown. 

Not sure of any other exciting things from this week. Pretty much all we did this weekend was go around our area so that sister Cooper could say goodbye to everyone. 

I am excited for this transfer, I just can't believe how fast this transfer went. 

I hope you are all doing well! It's so good to hear from you guys. 

Stay cool. But really, drink lots of water. I know I will lol

Sister Grant    

Week 44 (My week in Hell)

Okay, so I guess this whole week wasn't bad. But I will say that it looked pretty bad. 

Highlight from Tuesday, we had a bible bash with this guy and when he realized that we would wreck him if he got into it with us he just gave up and started yelling, "WHAT ARE YOU... 10? AND HEY YOU, YOU MUST BE 12" 😂 It was so funny, we could not stop laughing. And to be clear, I was the 12 yr old. I think that was the first time ever that someone thought I was the older one 😂

It is getting soooooooo hot. Today we played tennis and it was 107. And that has been all week it has been low 100s. On Wednesday Sis Cooper and I were at this apartment complex looking for a bible referral. So we are sitting on this bench in the shade and our bikes are next to us in the gravel and all of a sudden my tire just EXPLODES. And in like 5 seconds it was dead. It was literally so hot that it just popped. Yes, the tire was a bit worn, but still... That is TOO HOT

Then Thursday came and it was so horrible. I woke up in the middle of the night with the biggest stomach ache. I could not sleep at all. And then finally at like 5 I puked my guts out. And that was the next 3 days. I am feeling much better today. But I have to say, I don't think I have ever been so sick. Luckily they didn't take me to the hospital. But I was stuck in bed like all week. But honestly, it is sooooooooo hot that all the sisters in the area just kinda used it as an excuse to chill in the AC for a bit. Everyone and their dog came to "check in on me" and ended up staying for so long. But not that it made a difference to me. I don't remember much. I did feel bad though because Sister Johnson came down from the Gila Valley to stay with us before some meetings they had and I was so sick. But it was really nice because sister Gadd came over on Friday. She was like the only person I wanted to talk to or see. It was a little miracle. It actually took me a minute to realize that I wasn't dreaming. I woke up and she was just sitting on the edge of my bed, I have no idea what I said to her but it was probably pretty weird, it was the fever talking lol.

Then on Saturday I just took the day to recover. My whole body was in so much pain from being so sick. I mean, it was like stinkin hot and I spent most of the week in a sweatshirt... But the elders came over and gave me a blessing and it really was exactly what I needed. So even though I was still sick, Saturday was better, I wasn't on my deathbed. Sister Cooper's sweet grandma sent a package to us and it had this little game with these jumpy frogs and that was most of Saturday. Sister Carter actually came over and spent the day with me, and sister Williamson took sister Cooper out. 

Sunday was amazing though. After that blessing, I was feeling the spirit so strong! I taught the gospel principles class and we talked about repentance and I feel like I learned so much! My new favorite scripture is D&C 19: 16-17. I had the class read it as it was and talk about it, and then read it again and instead or reading repent we read forgive. The spirit was so strong. 

I have also had lots of time to reflect on my mission so far and catch up on my journal writing. I can hardly keep up with all my journals. I go through them so fast. 

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR CUTE JOURNALS. 

I am in need of some new journals, so if any of you find one that you like, don't be shy. Feel free to send them my way. It will be used, and VERY much appreciated. 

LOVE YOU ALL!! Don't be strangers, I love hearing from everyone. How is life going? Any crazy stories? If not, tell me your boring stories. I like those too hahaha 

Sister Grant