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