Good Week!

So this week we got talking to the aunt of joel and she told us that they were struggling. They were fighting alot! and that they weren't getting along very well. i guess a pregnant lady and a man quitting drugs isn't that good of a combination... but any way i had a good idea to get them a copy of the family proclamation and we framed it for them!! we talked to them about everything. and we taught them about we we as missionaries do. chapter 8 preach my gospel weekly planning point 13. companionship inventory! we also told them that every time they want to fight they need to kneel down and say a prayer together! they argued quite a bit while we were there... we dedicated the home with them and left on a note of some more arguing... i was very worried for them... we saw them the next day and it was like 180 turn! they were awesome!! we ate dinner with them and we got to talk to antonela about how she is feeling about all of this!! she is awesome!! she told us how she has recieved her answer that this is the ture church!! she is so ready to be baptised!! they get married on friday and i am so so so so so so so so so excited for them!!

today i was cleaning the floors and learned a very good lesson!! i was mopping and the floors were looking great!! then as i went back someone had tracked some mud in and gotten them a little dirty again and i got a little mad. i didnt say anything but it was inside. i then proceeded to clean that again and turned around and lo and behold the floor was dirty right behind me... it was me all along that got the floor dirty. i felt a little silly and proceeded to clean! i got to thinking about it and it reminded me of the talk elder utchdorf gave called "Is It I" i think. in spanish its "Soy Yo". we should never be too fast to blame others when the fault is ours. it reminded me of the book of mormon when jesus is teaching the nephites and he says "...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged.

 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye—and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye..." 

Love, Elder Groen

Family and Friends!!!

So this week was kind of unuseually different. We had to go to the mission offices 4 days in a row!monday was p day then we went to the offices tuesday thru friday so we didnt have much time to work... but that is ok were going to make up for it this week!!

The work here in buenos aires is moving along and we are now going to have the mission buenos aires east so that means our mission is getting split! we are loosing 2 zones and two zones worth of missionaries. so on monday we got to go to the temple and see every one before we get split! after the temple we went to the offices and had a family night with the family robertson! it was super good and my favorite part was when president talked to us about the people of ammon. how the burried their wepons very deep. so that they wouldnt break the covanant they made with the lord!! he applied it to us and said we need to burry our weppons (disobediences) and deep as we can. or in other words we need to if were "sleeping in too late put the alarm farther away so we have to get up to turn it off!" or "delet music that isint mission approved" things like that!! it was so good!! 

yesterday we go to go to the temple again!! it was so awsome!! we took joel and antonela!! we had an awesome lesson there with them and we could all feel the spirit so strongly!! we commited them to getting sealed 1 year from the baptisim of antonela which would be the 11th of july 2016!!!!!!!! im so excited for them!!

we got robbed the other day. a guy came up from behind us and said to us give me everything you have or ill shoot you. so i turned around and he showed us the gun and then hid it in his coat. i was very calm. i pulled out the phone and handed it to him. the he said give me your watch (7 dollars). So i started to take it off and before i could he tried to pull it off and so i said to him "calm down!!" haha. Then he looked at my comp and said give me your watch. and my comp and hid his watch in his shirt (something i taugh him!!) and luckly because he had his 120 dollar nixon watch from the states with him. and when the guy said that my comp thought he saw it in his shirt so he started to take it out and i noticed and said to the rober y si el no tiene nada. ( he doesnt have anything!) and the the rober said ok then give me your wallet and then i said i just told you he doesnt have anything. then the guy listened and left with the cell phone and my watch... were ok and it will be a good story for the kids!! haha :)

i love you all, 

Elder Groen

(Mom comment - the Elders live very close to the Romero home and are invited there frequently.   I have become friends with Hermana Romero on Facebook and she sends me many pictures of the Elders!  There are all from her.)

Week!

So this week was a good week!! 

Its was a pretty normal week. the other ward that meets in my church building had a baptisim on saturday and so we got to go to that and our investigator antonela came and loved it!! it was a little weird because no priesthood men came... just us four missionaries. so i directed it. i think that was the elders fault tho... they planed it at 6:00 and argentina was playing in the south american cup at6:30... but thats ok!! 

This week we had a cool experience with the priesthood!! Joel, the less active and future husband of antonela,  did drugs for 7 years. Every single day. and he tried everything there is to try. he would get up at 9 pm and go out in the street druged all night and come home and go to bed and do it again. EVERY DAY... he quit cold turcky. he has now been without drugs for like 20 days. he had been strugling during the night time with withdrawls... he said to antonela that he heard voices saying that he didnt need to be with her, he goes crazy and one night put a knife to his kneck saying he was going to kill himself, and other things... the were kind of scared and didnt know what to do and so we taught them about priesthood blessings and we gave the both of them a blessing. they told us the next day that the night went awesome and that it worked!! they have since told us that he has not had a problem since!! the lord is blessing them so so much!! he got a job!!! she was worried about telling her mom that they were going to get married but she did and her mom was very happy for her!! and as you may have heard it is kind of hard to get a marriage date here. they wanted to do it the 3rd but they couldnt because that day was full... so they got it for the tenth. and they were very worried to i might not be there because of transfers. but today they went to the place and for some reason the got the 3rd!!!!! im so excited for them!!!!!

Here Come The Blessings!!

What a good week!! like i said here come the blessings! this week was honestly amazing to be able to see all that the lord had just waiting for us. just waiting for the right time!! Im going to tell a few stories.

Simon y Senovia

simon and senovia are an older couple. we were walking to an apointment that we had and a guy yelled at us to stop and told us that he was looking for the truth and let us in right then and we tought him the truth!! at the end we told him we were going to leave him swith a chapter to read in the book of mormon and he told us that we didnt have to because he is just going to read all of it!! he was a little crazy but we can work with crazy. he told me as we were leaving that i was going to have a dream that i was walking in between two mountains and there would be bad people on both sides but they wouldnt hurt me. i didnt have the dream...

Sandra Y Familia

Sandra is a woman that has a husband and 10 kids!! 4 over the age of 8!!! we were able to find the by looking through the old investigators sheets!!! 

Manuel

A guy we talked to a while ago and he let us in and told us that he wants to change his life! he does drugs and drinks. but he really has desires to change!

Joel Y Antonela!!!

Joel and antonela are a reference we recieved from the member we live with!! the best working one!!! joel is a less active for like 9 years. he started felling like he needed to change his life and was to embaresed to come back to our church. so he went to the universal church. and there he went for two months and he finnaly got up the guts to tell his aut. (the member we live with) that he wanted to change and that he was going to that church. before she got baptised she went to that church and would have none of it. so she called us right over and so we went and taught him and his girlfriend antonela! they are awesome!! in the second lesseon we set a date for them to get married july 3rd!!!!!!!!! and then on the 5th we plan for him to get the sacerdocio and the next saturday for her to get baptised!!! after church on sunday she told us that she wants to get baptised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Many More!!

Love, Elder Groen