Christmas in Fountain

>
> Well to start off, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a fantastic New Years. This week was kind of weird, mainly because I got to talk to my family, but it was still a good week!
>
> Ok story first... so we went and had dinner at the Stowe's on Wednesday(they're the family we bought the ball for a couple weeks ago). They always make some super fantastic food and this time it was grilled chicken! It was sooooo delicious. Anyways I had totally not prepared an After-Dinner lesson, and she asked if I had a lesson for them! Well I kinda stalled a little then I came up with this super awesomesause idea. I told them, "this lesson is a little non-traditional but, we're going to go around the room and say Who Jesus is to us!" They liked the idea because it wasn't just us trying to talk over their kids but now their kids would have to interact in the group lesson! We went around and basically bore our testimonies and I got not only the Mom and Grandma to cry, but I got the Dad as well! He's a Blackhawk piolet so I guess I did pretty good. It was super spiritual and I loved every second of the on-the-spot lesson.
>
> Alright so now, Christmas! We spent all day at the Burlingame's. We played games and had a nerf war and all that jazz! I really loved calling home to see everyone, but it was a little weird. I felt like I was just there but in reality that was almost 6 months ago! It's crazy how fast time flies on a mission! It has defiantly changed my life for the better in this short time and I know, as I grow older in the mission, it will impact my life more than I could ever imagine.
>
> These 2 years that I have dedicated to the Lord will be the best 2 years for and of my life. I know they will be. Missions change people, I know this for a fact. And I'm so glad I chose to go on one and got called to the BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD! There's no other place I'd rather be. Sure college would be cool but this is where I need to be. Even though I haven't seen necessarily the impact I have on investigators lives(mainly cause we have like 2 that aren't progressing) I know that one day because of me they will get on the covenant path, and that's really why we're out here. We may not always see the results we expected or even wanted to see but in the end because of our actions we change people's lives for the better.
>
> Well there's not much more that I can think of! I hope y'all have a fantastic New Years. Don't stay up to late though HAHAHAHA:) and I hope y'all have a fantastic week.
>
> Love and peace,
> Elder Grandon

Christmas Eve

>
> This week was packed. This week we had transfers and I said goodbye to my dad Elder Peel!:(
>
> Welcome Elder Morrill and Westwood to Fountain. We've been tracting a ton because our investigators decided to leave for Christmas. So yeah tracting is fun! Other than that not a lot happened this week!
>
> The special sacrament meeting was awesome. I felt the spirit so strongly. I truly love Christmas hymns and this gospel
>
> Well that's all from me this week! I hope y'all have a great Christmas and a happy new year! Love y'all
>
> -Elder Grandon
> 1.) A sidewalk masterpiece
> 2.) Us tracting

Ending transfer 3

>
> This week was good! We had our Christmas Zone Conference and a lot of success in tracting.
>
> First off, this week we have transfers. Elder Peel has been called to be a zone leader in the North stake. He's kinda nervous because him and another Elder are flushing the area and neither of them have been zone leaders before, but I know for a fact they'll do great! Also I got my wish! Christmas in Fountain! As Elder Peel transfers out I'm the senior companion and get to lead the area for probably one more transfer. I am getting 2 new companions. Elder Morril I know very well. He was in Mesa Ridge and got transferred within the district. Literally he got transferred to an area 5 minutes away from his last one. My other companion is Elder Westwood. I've been told he's a super chill guy, very easygoing, and is a great missionary. I can't wait to meet him tomorrow at transfers.
>
> This week Elder Peel and I were getting pretty tired of tracting, so we did a creative finding activity in a local park. We made a boatload of hot chocolate and handed it out in the park, all they had to do is tell us what Christmas meant to them, then we'd bare our testimony and hand them a Book of Mormon and their cup of hot chocolate. We couldn't go about this by ourselves so we called up Mesa Ridge and Security and got a bunch of people who said they'd come to the special sacrament meeting on the 23rd. While some Elders were doing that an Elder from Security and I challenged some guys to a game. If they one we'd walk away, if we won they'd come on the 23rd. We of course won because "every mormon is good at basketball!" as one of them said once he figured out we were members of the church of Jesus Christ. I know what you're thinking, "they'll never come just cause they got beat in basketball." well they actually gave us their phone numbers and addresses and told us to come by before then(the 23rd) and remind them. Hopefully this means they've been prepared for the gospel. One can only hope!
>
> On Thursday we had our Christmas Zone Conference. We talked about Joseph Smith for the most part. My admiration for President Stevenson grew so much while he was teaching us. He is a fantastic man and a future 70(I'm calling it) there's no way a man that spiritual isn't gonna become a 70 of higher. He's truly a man of God, and I love that he's my president. Anyways, after we were taught we had a party. The food, like always, was super good! After lunch we had an ugly sweater contest. Our district did things a little differently. Elder Peel was Santa(cause he was the district leader). I was Rudolf, the other Elders were other reindeer, and the sisters were elves. We went to Walmart and got these ridiculous onesies but it was worth it. We won so I can't really complain! All-in-all it was probably the best day this week!
>
> That's really all for this week. I hope y'all had a fantastic week and have a wonderful Holiday season. Just remember, without Christ none of this would be possible. I thank him everyday for his sacrifice and for his love for me.
> -Elder Grandon
> 1.) The Squad
> 2.) Because of Z.C. we had to wash our car
> 3&5.) The Elders
> 4.) Our awards
> 6.) The outfit before we found the right one:)

Makin' Spirits Bright

>
> This week has flown by. I don't know why I act so surprised, every week goes this quick. Anyways, this week was awesome. We had a great week!
>
> Firstly some bad news. Our golden investigator, Juan, is going to other churches now:( We met with him on Tuesday and he told us that he wanted to try other churches to see if the feeling he got while attending our church is universal. Sometimes I wish I could just pick him up and shake the heck out of him while telling him "it's not universal. You feel good cause God has prepared you for this church!" Unfortunately I can't do that, and I think that would push him farther away from entering into a covenant with God. We're still meeting with him and teaching him but he's just trying other churches, for now. He will be baptized I know that for a fact! It will just probably not be while I'm here in Fountain. You never know tho. God works in mysterious ways.
>
> This week was full of many hours of tracting, and not a lot of success. In total we probably tracted for about 20-25hrs. Thursday was defiantly the longest day of this week, tracting wise. That's what happens when you have like no appointments. But I know that by us showing the Lord that we are willing to do that much work then he will bless us with people.
>
> On Thursday we had dinner with a family that's pretty cool. After that we stayed for like an hour playing basketball with their kids and friends. While we were playing their ball popped on a nail so we had to use ours for the rest of the game. The next day I felt like we should go buy them a new ball so they could keep playing. So we did so and left it on their porch with a bow. Then on Sunday, one by one, the boys came up to us and asked if we had bought them a new ball. Elder Peel and I had agreed that when they ask that we would act shocked and say no. It was really funny to see their expressions when we said that. I'm fairly confident no one in that family knows we did that. But we could see the joy on their faces as we drove by on the weekend and say them playing basketball!
>
> Saturday was the ward Christmas party. I've never felt so homesick before! The whole thing just screamed home to me. We, of course, were the judges for like everything. Best dish, best dessert, best gingerbread house, ugliest sweater, and so on. It was a very fun night! I should've bought an ugly sweater on Monday but I will today for Zone Conference this Thursday.
>
> Before I close I want to shout out my little sister, Hannah. She turned the big 16 yesterday! HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! Don't wreck my car to quickly! HAHAHAHAHA nah I'm just kidding I know you'll be a great driver. Just don't girl-out my car too quickly:) Love you little sis!
>
> Also thank the ward and the seminary classes that sent me the packages this week. Defiantly warmed my heart and gave me a taste of home!
>
> That's really all for this week. I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Love y'all!
>
> Elder Grandon
>
> 1.) The stocking recieved from the seminary class
> 2.) The box from the ward
> 3.) The ward Christmas Party gym
> 4.) The dessert table
> 5.) The best looking, but not really tasting, cake

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

> What a week! A lot of spiritual mumbo jumbo stuff happened! It was pretty cool.
>
> Firstly, we met with Juan on Tuesday and he wanted to push his baptism back so he could grow his faith. We're still meeting with him and sending him some scriptures and conference talks about the importance of baptism and stuff like that. He still has that fire in his eyes and in his soul but I think he's scared of the future.
>
> Skipping forward to Saturday. We were invited to help the Blethen's pick up trash near their apartment. We were picking up trash from like 9-12, then they treated us to Dickey's Barbeque. It was soooooooooo good! I missed Dickeys. I may or may not have made like 2 root beer floats in that giant cup! I was so full.
>
> Later that night we had the first of our 2 Stake Confernces. The visiting General authority was Brent K. Taylor. If you remember him, he gave a talk entitled "Am I a child of God?" He came and the talk he gave was so good! Then on Sunday we reorganized the Stake Presidency and Bro. Hinton got called to be the second counciler. The best part about that is we were at his house about 3 weeks before this meeting and said he'd be called to the Stake Presidency and his exact words were
> "Nah brother, don't put that on me!" After the meeting we went up and he lit up with this big smile. He'll do great I know he will!
>
> Well that's all for this week! I hope y'all will participate in Light the World I know it'll change the world. I have a strong testimony in this program. It really does influence people.
>
> Hope y'all have a fantastic week! Love from Fountain.
> Elder Grandon
>
> 1.) Dickey's food
> 2&3.) Root beer floats
>

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree

>
> I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was full of family fun and volleyball. I think this year is the first time in my life where I wasn't able to go play football on Thanksgiving, it was defiantly weird, to say the least.
>
> This week we noticed a lot more Christmas stuff going up. Not that that's a bad thing but it wasn't even Thanksgiving and people were already setting up for Christmas. It was a bit weird to see all the stuff but then say "Happy Thanksgiving" At the door.
>
> Not a lot happened this week. We went on exchanges twice and then had thanksgiving so that's really what took up this week.
>
> The only thing that is kinda noteworthy is that we had a lesson with Juan. We taught the commandments and he seemed to gather all the information we were giving him about stuff like the Word of Wisdom, Chastity, Tithing, Fasting, and stuff like that. Then he hit us with a super hard question that really showed how excited he was for December 1st. He asked what it felt like to be baptized and what it felt like to always have the Holy Ghost with you! I think that was the first time I couldn't produce an answer for him. Words truly are a disability when you try to explain spiritual experiences. That's all I could really say.
>
> I just figured out that transfers are literally 6 days before Christmas. I know it's kinda far away but the way these last 5 months have gone by this one will surly go by even quicker. I hope and pray I stay here. There's just something about Fountain that I feel will make it hard to try and say goodbye, so why even try. I'm hoping for my first 6 months out I'll spend them all in Fountain
>
> Well that's really it for this week. I hope y'all have a fantastic week. And as always, stay fresh!🤙
> Till next week,
> Elder Grandon
>
> 1.) Thanksgiving at the Burlingame's (just sparkling water with apple juice, NOT WINE)
> 2.) A nativity set we found while tracting

Happy Thanksgiving

     First off I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving! It's come so fast and I fear my mission will go by even faster. But, Happy Thanksgiving!

     This week flew by for sure! I can't believe that I'm coming up on 5 months either. It's just crazy to see how fast it goes by. Hopefully it slows down sometime soon HA HA HA! I feel like this email won't be too long but we'll see.

     So a couple things happened this week. Firstly on Tuesday we had a Special Training from President on his experiences and learnings from his trip to Nauvoo. He wanted to implement this "Yes list" to help us get more referrals so we could meet our baptismal goal for the rest of the year. We have tried some of these ideas and believe it or not, they actually work! We've added a couple more less active families to our teaching pool! 

     The other really huge thing that happened this week is we got Juan on date for December 1st! For those of you who don't know, we recieved Juan from the APs. He was being taught by them but then moved into our area. We have been teaching him for a couple weeks. We met with him last Thursday and I had the prompting to invite him to be baptized. It was like he was waiting for that question because he didn't even hesitate to answer me! To him it clicked(as he explained to us)! I can't wait to see him baptized or baptize him. 

     I'm fairly convinced that Fountain has no regard for Thanksgiving. We're seeing more and more Christmas trees and lights up every week and it's kind of weird to not see like turkeys or something along those lines instead of going straight to Christmas. But it's whateves, Christmas it lit!

     That's really all for this week! I hope y'all are doing fantastic and are feeling the spirit mucho! Have a great week! Love y'all!

Elder Grandon

1.) City Hall all decked out for Christmas 

2.) A pole covered in lights 

3.) The Annualm Christmas lighting(in the middle of November)

T'was a good week

> Howdy!
>
> This week felt super short. But then again at some points it felt super long. Not a lot happened this week, but I do see on Facebook that Ivan is really happy to be out! It defiantly is a once in a lifetime experience that I'm glad I could take part in. I know it'll change my life for the better!
>
> As I've been out for 2ish transfers(which I know isn't that long) but I've really grown a deeper respect and love for my parents. I kinda knew how much they did but know I realize how much they actually for me. Defiantly should've shown my love way early to them!
>
> Like I said earlier not a lot happened this week. One of the biggest things is the miracle of our investigator Nicole. You may remember me mentioning her before. She was this really open-minded mother of 6 kids. About 2 months ago she had sent us a text and basically told us she was still interested but just needed some time, for some reason. So we had kinda forgotten about her. Then this week on Tuesday I had the prompting to go see her, we had a bunch of appointments that day so we agreed that we'd try to get to her but if we couldn't we would wait till Wednesday. The urge kept coming back to me so I turned the car around and went to go see Nicole. We would be late to one of our appointments but when you get the same prompting like 3 or 4 times it's kind of hard to ignore it. We knocked on her door and figured out she had been having a pretty hard time due to the choices of some people. She then listened to a portion of President Eyring's "Mountains to climb" talk given back in 2012 I think. It hit her hard. She started crying a little and Elder Peel and I both say that and about started because 1.) Eyring is super good at forcing the spirit onto you and 2.) The spirit was so powerful at that moment! We both bore testimonies on that talk and she agreed to meet with us tomorrow because, in her words, "If this is what you guys teach then I want to learn the heck(She did say something else, but it's ok. Well tell her about it tomorrow) out of it!" I can see the joy she wants in her life and the gospel can defiantly do that!
>
> The other thing that happened this week was we finally got an investigator to church! Which hasn't happened in Fountain in like 3 years! His name is Juan. I wish I had a cool story to tell of how we had found him but the APs found him a while back but he just moved into our area like last month. We hadn't seen him at church yet so we called him on Saturday evening and asked if we could help get him to church. He said he had planned on coming this week but needed a ride. Phhhhhh A RIDE, we can get you 20 rides to church! We called some people and like 2 minutes later Juan had received the news that he'd be getting picked up at 8:30 for church. When he walked in Elder Peel and I were sooooooooo ecstatic. It was kind of embarrassing. 2 grown men acting like little primary children, but we didn't care! Juan was at church and that was all that mattered! That day we piloted the new 2 hour church cause a huge winter storm had hit and Bishop wanted us to be safe and warm at home so it was kinda weird for us and Juan but he said he was coming next week so he'll experience what we do for 3 hours. Anyways, we asked him after church today how he liked it and he was super joyful and said he'd never felt something so different but so right before. Umm yeah we're different but it's definitely a good different.
>
> Well that's really all from Fountain. I hope y'all have a great week and feel the spirit mucho! It really is a gift from our loving Heavenly Father
> Stay fresh till next week,
> Elder Grandon
> 1.) Our train tracks in the snow
> 2.) A dope person who said forget thanksgiving and decorated for Christmas
> 3.) Me being me😅 (Go OU)

Fwd: Transfer 2! 16 more to go

Howdy everyone! 

     This week not a lot happened so it my letter won't be too long. This week is transfers, and Elder Peel and I are both staying in Fountain! Long live the Ginger Comps! We are, however, getting 2 new elders into this district! One is going and taking Elder Butterfield's place in Mesa Ridge and the other is taking Elder Tyre's place in Security! So welcome to the new Elders! 

     This week, like I said, not a lot happened and I'll tell you why later! But the only thing that really happened, happened on Tuesday when we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I was up in Sand Creek with Elder Fenn. While we were tracting after a really early dinner we stumbled upon a member who served his mission in Springfield, MO! It was super cool to meet someone who actually knew where I grew up and also happened to serve there! The first name he told me was, of course, Shanklin! That's just a testament of how fun He really was! After that he said he served in what use to be the 3rd ward for like 6 mounths and I was just so giddy cause that was my ward before they shifted the boundaries and renamed everyone! He studied my badge for a long time trying to figure out if he could remember my family. I finally showed him a picture of my Father and as soon as he saw that a huge smile came over his face! He remembers 2 things about the Grandon's, 1.) We were his favorite family and always had them over for dinner and 2.) Our homemade pizza! He went on for like 10mins about how that was by far his favorite meal of all time on his mission! So Mom, Dad I know it was a long time ago but do you guys remember an Elder Bolander who served way back in 2004 in Springfield? If you do that's awesome! 

     That was really the only thing this week! When we were driving from Sand Creek back to Fountain that night we got a text saying that Elder Peel had eaten something bad or something like that and was super sick. We tried going tracting on Saturday but he had made like little to no improvement and his face was as white as snow so this week has been super boring. He at least has color back in his face today so we're going to try basketball and everything else we usually do on P day!

     Well that's really all from Fountain! I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Thanks for all the prayers! 

   --Elder Grandon 

Mudding and Trunk-or treat

This week was something special! A lot happened.
>
> Let's just start on Tuesday. We had to go trade in our car to get it repaired from the hail. So we did that then decided to go all the way out to see this one family that was less active. We found their house but there was a huge mud pit in the way. So I turned on all wheel drive and floored it! we only slowed down like twice but other than that the Rouge made it no problem. We got up to their property and figured out they had moved last month. So not to say that was a waste of miles but it was a waste of miles. While leaving the property we hit a different part of the mud pit and got stuck. So as the driver I was the one who had to get out and get help. the mud pit was up to the bottom of the door, so Elder Peel had the "wonderful" idea to crawl out the window instead of getting the interior all muddy. I crawled out the window and in the end fell into the mud. Thankfully I landed on my feet so only my pants got dirty. but I went back to the neighbors property and asked him to pull us out. He did after about 20ish minutes of being stuck. That was a fun experience. Our car got like super dirty and it looks like it was painted brown! HA HA HA!!!!
>
> Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Security Elders. I was with Elder Kim in Security. It was like misting and cold all day. We still went trackting and it was probably one of the most successful day for Security.
>
> Nothing really happened on Thursday. So yeahhhhhhhhhhhh!
>
> Friday we had district council and blitzed Fountain. We found like 2 or 3 new people for us to teach. The rest of the day we were back at the church setting up for our trunk-or-treat. We were also the chili cook-off judges, which was super hard because there were so many great chilis. It was hard to choose, but eventually chose a chili with Elk in it. It was sooooooooo good! The people who won also cut our hair so were we a little biased, maybe, especially sense we got our haircuts this week. They have a barber shop inside their house so that's pretty cool.
>
> Well that's all that happened this week! I hope y'all have a great week!
> Elder Grandon

I'm Dreaming of a White Halloween

This week has been a really cold one, especially sense I didn't have a winter coat till Wednesday! Well it started snowing this week and didn't really stop till this morning. Fountain does a really good job salting the roads so they aren't too bad. We went tracting like everyday and it was kind of fun. I didn't think it would be but snow just made it fun
>
> This week was good. We found some really solid potential gators! One of them let us into her house and we ended up staying there way longer than we wanted to. She wanted to know a lot of what we believe and we stayed there till she was all out of questions. We spent like 2 hours there. It was really nice to kinda teach a lesson through answering her questions. She wants us to come over this week and talk some more. She could't think of a day and time so we gave her our number and we're staying in contact with her all this week. Just hoping she continues down this path and gets baptized.
>
> So we met with John, a guy we've been teaching, like twice this week. He really enjoys when we come over. We were over there on Saturday and he said he wanted to come to church. We didn't ask him or anything, he just came out and the first thing he said was "Can I come to your church?". His question kinda through us off so we gave him the address of the church and the time. That man was there before we were, and we always get there like 45mins before the meeting starts. I think he really enjoyed himself.
>
> Yesterday we had dinner at the Lewis's. They're a senior couple that works at the bishops warehouse. They have a Chocolate Lab named Jake. He reminds me so much of my dog, Hercules, when he was 1 year old. He's full of energy and always wants to play. I couldn't help myself so I played with him for just about the whole time we were there. He's so adorable and it's hard to say "no" to him.
>
> Well sorry it's so short this week. I hope all is going well with y'all!

> Elder Grandon

General Conference

> This week was full of changes. Firstly, apparently my man Richard moved. So that was fun knocking on his door and no one ever answering. I know what you're thinking, "Didn't you guys see a sign in the yard?" and no we didn't. There wasn't one. We ended up texting him and figured out where he lives now, and he offered to feed us this week so yeahhhhhhhhhhh!
>
> Conference was just absolutely mind blowing! Elder Peel's dad emailed him like 3 weeks ago and guessed that they would be reducing the 3 hour block at church. I don't know how he knew but he did. As that was being announced I just turned to Elder Peel and was super shocked that his dad was literally 100% right! I think my favorite talk was Elder Holland's. He always gives super good talks and he continued that this year. We watched it with the Burlingame's. They are recent converts and have a super cool story on how they found the church. We have been over there a lot because sister Burlingame is having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon. So we've just been over there reading and explaining what we read to her. That family is cool!
>
> This week we didn't really do a whole lot of tracting, mainly because we have to wait a couple weeks cause we've done like everywhere in our area, so we really just drove around and reminded like everyone about General Conference. We did finally get to teach this one family we found a couple weeks ago. They had lots of questions. The really interesting thing is that all of their relatives are of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints(almost said "Mormon"). I just wanna like shake them and ask them if they think their relatives know something they don't, but you can't really do that as a missionary.
>
> Sorry for the short email today but that's like all I can remember doing this week!
>
> Till next week
> Elder Grandon
>
>

Fwd: Pour out blessings, Fountain

>
> This week I was probably one of the best weeks I've ever had on my mission. I saw so many miracles this week.
>
> Firstly, my faith in praying was really strengthened on Sunday. We were on out way to see a referral named John. We typed in his address and started to follow it. We were low on gas but according to the "miles left" thing on the dashboard we had 20 left. His house was only 8 miles away. If you do some quick math you know that round trip we had... more than enough to get there and back. There was only one problem, the address we got led us to a tree next to the highway. So obviously that wasn't right. Instead of turning back we decided to drive farther because his house must be around there somewhere. It wasn't! So there we were, 15 miles away from the closest gas station. We were in the middle of nowhere with about 10 miles left. We decided to pull over and say a prayer. After the "amens" were said we started driving back. About halfway back I look over at the dash and the miles estimator is "--" We were literally driving with nothing in the tank, but somehow about 5mins later we rolled into a gas station. The most used saying in this area since then is "the Lord provides a way". So true!
>
> Well My man Richard got a truck this week! Ever since we'd been meeting with him, he's told us he would be getting a truck. He got his truck for $750! I know what you're thinking... this truck must be ready to fall apart any second, it's actually in super good condition for being like 20 years old. It is in better condition than some trucks from a couple years ago, and it's pretty cool too.
>
> We found 3 new families to teach this week! Which is incredible for Fountain. The McBeth family, The Peeta family, and the Allen family! The Mcbeth family had been Southern Baptist like their whole life but for the past like 5 or 6 years they had been bouncing from one religion to the other and none of them seemed to fit them. While we were talking to them they agreed with like everything we had said. They said that Mormonism might be the one!!!!!! Just talking about them makes my heart race. If we baptize that family that's like 7 new people to our ward. A lot of dunking. HA HA HA! The Peeta and Allen families were in a very similar situation to each other. Both of them were Christians but couldn't find the right church for them. We invited them to come to our church AND THEY ACTUALLY CAME! It was our primary program this week and they both seemed to really enjoy that. so hopefully that hooked them. We'll talk to them this week and see if it did.
>
> Well that's it for this week. This week Elder Peel challenged me to keep track of how much I've changed, and compared to my first week, I can see that I've changed spiritually SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much! I hope everything for you is going great!
>
> Till Next Week,
> Elder Grandon

Sep Pictures

One Month Out

>
> In 3 days it marks my one month being out in the field! Man how time flies! It feels like just yesterday I was at the mission home wondering who my companion will be and where I'll be going. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun!
>
> This past week has been just like last week. ZOOM and it's P day already! I do remember quite a few more events then last week though.
>
> This past week the biggest thing that happened was Richard! Oh boy is he a ball of laughs! He's like an older Kevin Hart. Sooooooooooo funny! We visited him twice this week. The first time we visited him it was because we got a notification that he requested a Book of Mormon but had never gotten it. That was way WRONG! In fact he had gotten one, read it several times, met with 4 or 5 different companionships of missionaries, and been to church a handful of times. He told us that he knows the church is the true church but is afraid to tell his wife cause she hates Mormonism for some reason. They don't go to the same church already and she's ok with him going to any church BUT ours. So we talked to ward council about him and they told us to "befriend him first, Then get his wife to trust us, then start converting them." so that's what we're doing. the next time we "accidentally" bumped into him we were going on a "run" and saw him working on a bench in the front yard. We stopped and talked for a solid hour and a half and the funny thing was, we had no intention of bringing up the gospel, but he did! I think we're cracking through his shell. As we were leaving he promised to come to church soon. Elder Peel and I stopped, turned around and pointed at him and said "That's a promise, so we'll see you at church!" He started dying laughing because we had the same reaction. He's a good dude and needs to be baptized. He told us that he's a happy dude but when he sees us he gets a little sad because he feels/knows he's missing something. We're baptizing him within this transfer. I'm calling it right now!
>
> I tell you what... Fridays are continuing to be my favorite day. Every week we get invited to come watch the local high school's football game. It makes me miss Friday night lights but it also keeps the fire burning for college game days in two years. I can't wait. After the game we always go to the park cause every Friday there's a roping competition. If you don't know what that is, it's when a bunch of people with horses get together and rope cows. That probably doesn't make any sense, but just know it's a fun event to watch and participate in. A member saw us there and offered dinner and a horse back ride this upcoming week. So let's just hope he doesn't cancel!
>
> Recently we were invited to join in and pray for people that are effected by suicide or are struggling with suicidal behavior and mental illness. I invite all to participate in this! It has humbled me every time I pray for these people. It has effected my friends back home and even some people in my ward. I invite everyone again to join me in these prayers.
>
> I hope everything back home is going well! I pray for you guys and all missionaries around the world every night!
>
> Humbly yours,
> Elder Grandon
>
>

Week 4

> Huge HOWDY from Fountain!
>
> This week was another blur week. I felt like the weeks are getting faster and faster! I sure hope that they slow down cause I want more out of my mission than a big blur.
>
> Well, it didn't take long for me to have a boring P day. Last Monday all we did was stay at our building and just sit in the Relief Society room. No one had the key for the basketball hoops so we were kinda just sitting there doing nothing. Monday was by far the longest day of the week! But it's whatever, it's just a P day.
>
> Tuesday was a so fun (sarcasm). we went from one service opportunity to another, which I guess is ok but our mission is to invite others to come unto Christ, and we can't really do that unless we make time for it by going around and teaching. We can only get so far with some people because where we were the people were only there for a couple minutes, then they left.
>
> Wednesday was Zone conference! So yeah that was pretty boring just sitting at the stake center from 9-4:30ish. Major flashback to the MTC!
>
> I know it sounds horrible but I don't really remember Thursday... I think we just went tracting all day.
>
> Friday was so fun. We went tracting, like normal, but the fun was later that night. So we were planning on going on exchanges, but because we were all invited to a part-member family birthday party we decided to call the zone leaders and see if all the Elders could have a sleepover at the Mesa Ridge apartment because it was the closest apartment to the house. What a night! we stayed up playing Texas hold em' and it was a ball. I had fun!
>
> Saturday was mostly taken up by the birthday party. We were there from 12-3 and then we finally went on exchanges! I was with Elder Butterfield from Mesa Ridge and we went to Fountain. Which, if you're keeping score, that's twice a greeny led Fountain! Which is pretty awesome. We went to a neighborhood that was like all catholic. But we still got a new (investa)gator! We taught her the plan of salvation on her doorstep and then afterwards she seemed very grateful because her Mom had just recently died and she was worried she would be "lost". We had no idea her Mom had just died but we weren't really the teacher. We were just the mouthpiece for the spirit. That event really strengthens my testimony of the marvelous gospel Heavenly Father gave to us. Elder Peel and I have a return appointment next week.
>
> Sunday was Sunday. We napped and did some stop bys. No one seemed to be home so go them!
>
> I HAVE A NEW SISTER!! Welcome to the wild Grandon Family Tirsa! I'm so happy to see that you two got married! I defiantly wish I could've been there, especially sense it was 10 minutes out of my mission, but I've seen the joy they bring each other and I know they'll have a long eternity together. Also I do wish you luck Tirsa. I've known my brother for a long time and I don't know how you're gonna whip him into shape but I know the Lord always provides a way! HA HA HA HA:)
>
> Well it's been real everyone, Till next week!
> Thy humble Servant,
> Elder Grandon

Week 3

> A huge HOWDY from Fountain!
>
> This week has flown by. One second it was was my first P day and then just like that a week goes by. It's crazy!
>
> Where to even start... So on Tuesday we went out finding and found this guy who is an ex-military coronal. He has a bunch of cool stories. The one that I think was the coolest was that he was part of the Berlin air lift they talk about in "Meet the Mormons". He told us he was one of the first ones to help out, which is pretty dope. The interesting thing is that his wife lives in Germany. She called right in the middle of our lesson and it was like he flicked a switch. All of the sudden he was all German. It was pretty cool.
>
> On Wednesday we went out tracting again cause why not! We got lost for a fat minute but somehow a member found us and led us to his neighborhood. We stumbled upon this single mother named Jackie. She has a 4 year old son named Able. This little guy is so cute. She expressed that she tries to take him to all the churches because she wants him to pick the church and religion he wants. She has no intention of forcing a religion onto him. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and really stressed families can be together forever. She was really excited to hear that. When we said that she lit up with this huge smile and seemed very happy to be learning this new information. She accepted our invitation to come to church. She sat by us yesterday and was happy like the whole time. She said we could defiantly come back another time to teach more. The gospel was made for her, I know it!
>
> Thursday was a fun day. For like the whole day we were at God's Pantry helping move all the stuff into a semi-truck for AFRICA! I was extra surprised when she said she was having all that stuff shipped to Africa. The owner, Carey, has a super kind heart. I just learned the other day that she gave her building to the city to become a historical landmark. So I don't know what that means for us because we stay in the apartments that are above God's Pantry. Let's just hope we aren't forced to move. That would suck.
>
> On Friday, like we usually do, we had a district meeting. After that we went on a blitz in the Mesa Ridge area. That was a really cool experience because I got to go with on of the Security Elders. He has a totally different style than Elder Peel does. So i was a little lost at first but then caught up after like 2 houses. We didn't really find anyone which was sad but is also normal.
>
> Saturday was awesome. We went on exchanges and I was with Elder Tyre (pronounced tire). It was the first time in the whole mission that 2 greenie were over an area. We had fun. I went to take him to see Flip Chuck! HA HA HA HA! For those of you who don't know who Flip Chuck is, he is a self proclaimed prophet. He knows the bible inside and out, forward and backwards. He is also convinced that the government is shooting his with rays that is cooking him. In all reality he is just really hot because his house is like 100 degrees and he's wearing a military grade winter coat that "blocks radiation waves". Elder Tyre could only take about 10 minutes of him but good ol' Flip Chuck went on for like an hour. It was awesome to see Elder Tyre's face.
>
> Sundays are days of rest. So not much happened this day. We went to church, went back to the apartments and studied for like the whole day. So yeah. That was that!
>
> All in all I love being on a mission. It's a really good experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love my area and although I know it won't happen but I wish I could stay in this area my whole mission.
>
> With gratitude, and love,
> Elder Grandon
>

2 week review

A huge howdy from Fountain, Colorado!
>
> Sorry about last week, I didn't really have a P day because I was on my way to Colorado Springs. Well I'm here now and doing awesome. The Fountain area is a really good place to start your mission due to the amount of rejection and acceptance there is in this area.
>
> But firstly lets address my last couple of days in the MTC. Where to start? Lets start on Saturday. So my district(which was by far the best district in the MTC) decided to attempt the tower challenge. This is where you eat an entire tower of cereal. Easy enough right?! WRONG!!! There we were coasting through the tower, with like 2 bowls left the person in charge of the cafeteria comes over and stops us, precedes to write our names down and then, with fire about to come out of her mouth, KICKS US OUT! Yep that's right, we got kicked out of the cafeteria. Makes you real proud huh, Mom?! :) On the bright side, our branch president didn't reprimand us but instead bloated that his district did it in 10mins and didn't get kicked out. So yeah that is defiantly gonna stick with me for a long time.
>
> Okay, now lets fast forward to my first day in my area, cause nothing else happened in the MTC. The first day we(Elder Peel and I) got there it was really hard to figure out anything. We flushed this area and the other companionship didn't leave any notes or list of investigators or anything. So we're kind of shooting blind here in Fountain.
>
> The Other day we went tracting and we came across this one guy whos name was, I kid you not, Flip Chuck! Holy Henna was he crazy. He served in Vietnam and was convinced he was a prophet called by God himself. He told us things like how the government was being taken over by Russia and that it was legal to behead people in Georgia and stuff along those lines. The thing I'm about to tell you about what he said creeped me out the most. He told us that he received revelation and because he was doing that the government was shooting his groin area with radiation. So much that he has to get his like lower body amputated. Wow I know you guys like to made a jokes about losing brain cells but I defiantly feel like I lost some talking to him.
>
> Being a missionary is not as hard as people made it out to be. The hardest part is going up to people and talking to them. But thats just because of my personality. Besides that It's really fun. We went over to a recent converts house for dinner on Friday and just by getting to know them and hearing what their lives were like without the gospel I consider myself very lucky to have been raised the way I was. But at the same time I dont know any other way. I think hearing the stories that they told me and how much their lives have changed is almost foreign to me because for my whole life I've lived with this LDS lens over my eyes to where I barely saw how rough it was for "normal folk" or people without the gospel. Their testimonies have easily surpassed my own because they know what it's like on both sides of the coin. They know the world and they know the gospel.
>
> Today marks my 19th birthday! Man it feels like just yesterday I was 18. HAHAHA! I Hope all is well back home. As for the concerns told to me, Tell Hannah to breathe. Struggling on the first day of school is normal. It happens to everyone including yours truly. I just know how to hide it very well. I strongly recommend reading Mosiah 24:12-17ish. I think this should help her.
>
> O holy night! Nathan's wedding is coming up! They are defiantly teasing me by having it in Denver(which is about 5mins outside my area) but I wish him all the luck in the world. Likewise to Tirsa! I spent practically 18 years with that guy. I don't know how shes gonna make it all eternity. But I hope their wedding is a good one.
>
> Well thats all for now. I hope everything works out for you guys this week. Till next week.
> God, and mans, humble servant
> Elder Grandon
> #wwjdwasp
> Below is a picture of my district, my zone, and pre-lockout tower challenge

First Companion

First Area

Mailing address: 107 E. Ohio Ave. #3, Fountain, CO 80817

Package address: 4090 Center Park Dr. Ste 4, Colorado Springs, CO 80916

Letters and emails are always appreciated!

Arrived in Colorado Today

This is Elder Grandon. I made it safe into the best mission in the world. Love you guys

MTC week 2

          This week has been a whirlwind of emotions! So I'll start with last week, I don't remember if I told you but we had TRCs and they're kind of tough! Last week we had lessons 3 and 4 and oh boy was lesson 3 really bad! We read the review on the lesson and our investigator or person being taught left with more questions then she came in with. My companion and I spent the next day just in a state of somewhat disappointment. We literally prepared nothing for our final lesson (which is a terrible idea, so never do it) and went in there and all of the sudden we knew exactly what to talk about! And the best part was that we could see that what we were saying was clicking in her mind. It was so cool and it still gives me an adrenaline rush. I can't wait till I get to like baptize someone, or teach my first lesson, or really anything!

          So i officially leave the MTC in a week and I can't be anymore excited to leave. It's not that it's a terrible place, its just that I'm tired of having every second of my day taken up by classes. I'm just ready to get out and teach actual people!

           We started a new TRC yesterday. His name is Daniel and he studies political science at BYU. He's super funny to talk to and has a ton of questions that are answerable so that's a plus. I wrote in my journal "... we answered so many questions just by saying a prayer and explaining why we say amen and why we fold our arms and bow our heads. We teach him again tomorrow and I think we're going to teach a little about the spirit world cause his mom unfortunately died recently and he feels like there is something else after death but he doesn't exactly know what that is! So that should be fun.

            So if I remember correctly Ivan leave today. I think he'll enjoy the MTC! There's a lot of stuff to do on P day but you really don't have time for anything else. But I think he'll have a fun time! 

             Tonight we have an authority coming to our devotional, I don't know which one but I am betting it's Elder Bednar so yeah! 

              I love all of you and so does Heavenly Father! I'm glad to hear all is well at home. This week will be a good one I can feel it!

              Yours truly in Christ,

                    Elder Grandon

Loving the MTC

Hello,
This is my first email from the MTC so I don't know how long or spiritual it'll be but it's whatever! These past 6 days have felt like 6 weeks because we go to class for like 12 out of the 16 hours that we're up and going! Anyways... the spirit here is like nothing I've ever felt. The amount of change happening to my testimony is dramatic. I've read stuff hundreds of times but now that I'm here my thoughts are different and scriptures mean way different than they ever have! It's a really neat and sometimes entertaining place.
I absolutely love my companion. He unfortunately is going to the Atlanta mission. We are like the exact same person except for the fact that he's from Utah and plays water polo. His name is Elder Stead, you pronounce it like homestead, he's a really great Elder and brings a dynamic to a place, that's designed to just about stress you out, that most Elders or Sisters would show after like a year. He loves the gospel as much, if not more, than I do and I'm really glad I got him as a companion. From left to right: Elder Richman, Elder Lemon, Me, Elder Stead

       So once the day is all said and done with there's not a whole lot to do here so I finally decided to use the rubber bands around my garments and crumpled up some paper and now we have a ball. So we have a paper ball with rubber bands holding it together, we take the teach bag out of the can and play "LDS" which is like "PIG" but gospel related. Yeah I know we're lame! But when you get bored, you go stuff that seems fun to you. 

        I do have a question for dad or any scripture master... I've been reading in Mark 3 verse 25 and 26, it says "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end." And so I guess my question is how can Satan rise up again himself? And does that mean Satan is in a way like Darth Vader or something and is just waiting for a reason to switch from bad to Good? This has been running through my mind ever since Thursday when I read it. 

         I'm not really homesick but I'm kind of MTC sick. I learned on Sunday that,I leave to my mission field on the 13th of August so Yeah! I'm not gonna lie I think I miss Hercules more than anything right now. 

         On Monday Elder Stead and I started our TRC lessons. This is where anyone, members, non-members, new converts, literally anyone with or without ties to our church comes in and hers taught by the MTC missionarys. Our persons name is Amsley. I'm suppose to keep most things confidential so there's not much I can tell you except: she seems pretty cool! Like she's spent like her whole like overseas. The lesson went well. We didnt really prepare much except for like a 10 minute speel about prayer and Gods love for us! We kinda just did small talk for the majority of the disscussion just to create a sense of friendship and trust. She had a few questions anf we couldnt answer all of them so we told her to pray with that question in her mind. After that we let the spirit teach through us. the speel we prepared was more like topics we'd love to get to but today wasn't really about that. It's more important to make someone feel like they can talk to you as a familiar face rather than a complete stranger. I think the hardest part for me is letting the spirit work through me instead of me planning a fantastic lesson and doing everything I planned. 

       We found a cat and now we have claimed that cat as district 36 F's cat. His name is cinnamon toast. I hope all is well back in Missouri. The Elder that helped me with my luggage on Wednesday is actually going to the Arkansas, Bentonville mission. I wish I could remember his name but if you get a new missionary ask him if he helped a kid from his mission. I wish I could've been there to see the the Kenning kids but I'm sure they had fun at wonders of wildlife. Your hand written notes are taking their time to get to me! I got your note that talked about my first full day here on Monday so Yeah! I'm sorry but I don't know what else to write. 

         Till next Tuesday, with all my love,

                           Elder Grandon

Arrived in Utah!

Ben arrived safely in Utah after and adventure in Atlanta. (He forgot he was on Eastern time)

His uncles took him out to see the sights, pioneer day parades, a trip to the temple, and all you can eat wings on the way to the Missionary Training Center. Nathan dropped him off on Wednesday where he was walked by Elder Cox into the center.