THIS WEEK WAS SO AWESOME I CANT EVEN STAND IT!!!

Buenos Días,

Ok, so now that I´ve gotten that out of the way, I´ll say it again.... THIS WEEK WAS SO AWESOME!!!! Christmas miracles in Santa Cruz. After Christmas, but close enough that it still counts.

So I´ve had it in my mind to send you all stuff for Christmas for a long time now...... Since October..... but it hasn´t happened yet..... Sorry about that...... But I´ll send something for the 4 months of birthdays here..... sometime soon.

So I forgot to mention last week, but our ward here is awesome and we helped them reach their goal of 150 people in sacrament meeting! In the beginning of 2013, P** set the goal to have 120 people in sacrament meeting before the beginning of 2014. So when they reached that in the end of September, the Bishop received some revelation and said that they´d be able to accomplish even more by reaching 150 by the end of the year.... (You have to understand that 120 was already a miracle.) And so the second to last week of the year, we made it up to 151 people in sacrament meeting!!! Awesome! (We didn´t even know that this was their goal until everyone was so happy the last week of the year haha.)

And so then this week.... Yes, the family of 12. Well actually it was 11 because one person left, but then this morning it turned into 13. Who even knows how many people are in this family now. But yes, it´s the parents (who aren´t married, but are about to be very soon) and their 6 kids and 5 nieces and nephews that are basically their own children. They are awesome. Basically they all did everything they could to change their schedules to meet with us and then come to church....

.......THERE WERE 9 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH YESTERDAY!!! 8 were from this family, and there was one other from another family that is also going to get baptized in February too. All 11 (that we knew of before today) of the big family have accepted baptismal dates for February 15th! Noche blanca! [White night!] There´s another family that we´re teaching too that should be ready for their baptisms in February too. Really really really excited to see what happens. We´re praying a lot.

And so going back in time to Saturday. Saturday night we had an appointment with a reference from the Sister missionaries in the ward. They had been talking with the owner of the house that they rent and he said that he wanted us to stop by to teach his daughter, and it just so happens that he lives in our area. So I called him up on Friday night and we went over to his house on Saturday. Another family. Their story is very interesting in all aspects. And even more, the grandma died somewhat unexpectedly on Dec 27th. The Spirit was very strong during the lesson and there were some really powerful testimonies. They have definitely been prepared for the gospel right now, and the dad knows it, and one of his daughters has lots of questions, and his wife was crying, and the grandma was a member and it´s another family that we are so blessed to have found.

And right in the middle of the lesson that we had with that family someone called me 5 times! Why don´t they just give up already if I´m not answering!!! Then they called up Elder L** and completely interrupted the lesson, but we never answered. So then after being a little annoyed by their 5 calls, I called them back after we had left the lesson with the new family. And lo and behold the missionaries that are in M** were trying to get ahold of me........ LA FAMILIA G** GOT MARRIED AND WERE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!! This is the family that looked like everything was impossible. The family that had so many debts that the owner of their house stormed in several times to take their personal items until they paid her. The family that when everything started to finally get a little better, el Hermano went over to Brazil for 20 days...... then didn´t return for a month. Then when he returned, both he and his wife went over to Brazil.... Then returned and immediately made plans for their wedding and baptism!!!

And the missionaries there said that the entire time they only wanted to talk to me to tell me how happy they were. So I got permission to talk with them yesterday on the phone for several minutes. I didn´t even know what to say. But they are so happy. I asked el Hermano how he felt during his baptism, and he didn´t know what else to say other than that he felt exactly the same the first time that we contacted him and taught him on the side of the river. I will never forget that lesson. It´s one of the few times that I´ve ever felt the Spirit so strong in my entire life. When I talked to his WIFE I told her that I was really happy for them and she was just telling me how when I left she still didn´t believe that her husband was going to get back from Brazil because he had been gone for so long but he returned. She just said that so many times how I kept telling her how he was going to come back and that I knew that without a doubt and she was so grateful for that when he actually did get back. She told me that they´re going to go to the temple in a year to be sealed. And they asked me several times when I would be going back to see them again. I don´t know if I´ll be able to before my mission ends, but I will be going back someday to see this family. They taught me what faith really is. I learned what it´s like to follow the Spirit straight into the unknown and feeling completely dependent on something that most people don´t understand. Wow. This family made it through the darkness, and now the light is their´s to share with their 2 little kids. I love the gospel. The 5 annoying phone calls made my day. I´ll be putting their baptismal records in the church records right after I´m finished up here.

And yup.

And the oldest daughter of the big family just called me to ask how to explain where the church is. She told me that she has a friend that wants to accompany her. Yes. They´re already sharing the gospel with their friends.

And the moral of the huge book is: it´s been a good week and I don´t care what anyone tells me, but I´ve seen miracles. This church really is la iglesia de Jesucristo [the church of Jesus Christ].

Have an awesome week.

Feliz Cumpleaños to Mom and Parker!

Amor,

Elder Groneman

And the blessing that you gave to Betty. I felt the same thing when I gave her a blessing a year and a half ago! There is definitely something important in that. With faith (which includes giving our all on our part) it´s possible and meant to happen.

Amor a todos. [Love to all]

Otra vez, [once again]

Elder Groneman