Week!

So this week was pretty good!

Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to do divisions with some of the elders in my district!! 

on wednesday we had special training with president and the assistants!! they taught us how to better use the book of mormon!! and how to teach the restoration more focused on baptisim!! then president then opened it up to questions for everyone!! it was super good! 

My favorite part of the week!! While with president i asked him if i could go to the area next to mine and visit a family that i baptised to get them excited about going to the temple!!! and he said yes!! so on saturday i went and visited them and that was so awesome!! the werent 100% acitve like they should be but we comitted them to do it!! i am so very excited for them and i will keep you all updated on when they go to the temple!! 

i love you all and hope you all have a great week!!!

Love, Elder Groen

Week in the rain!!!

Flooding after a week of rain

so i would like to take this opertunity to brag about my companion a little!! Elder Abel is an elder that is very spiritual! he is very good and only has desires to get better!! he is very humble and that is always so good!! i will hopefully learn how to be more humble!! 

Dinner for a starving missionary

I learned a very cool lesson this week!! 

Not Celestial Missionarys!

Personal Knolege is the Power

Nothing is the Price

Self Rocognition is the Motive 

Personal Teaching Abilities are the Key

Fear is the Reason

Guilt,Regret, and disanimo are the rewards

Celestial Missionarys!

Faith is the Power

Obedience is the Price

Love is the Motive 

The Spirit is the Key

Christ is the Reason

Joy, and Success is the Reward

As we strive to be a celestial missionary we need to see the way in which we do things! we need to be doing them in the way that god wants us to do them!! and not in our own way!! i have recently checked myself and fixed some things that i needed to and i chalange you to do so as well! missionary or not! i know that the lord has a way and that as we follow the will of god he will bless us and the lives of others!! gods way is the only way! i have a new slogan!! "25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 16

Elder Groen 

The Traveling Assistant's truck 

A wet agenda = drying

What a week!!!

Monday: Comp Probs

Tuesday: The Travling Asistants came and talked with us elder hansen took my comp to the offices to talk to president. i stayed and worked with the other one elder collins. he came to my district meeting and gave me some great comments!! we then worked together that whole day!! we found 13 new investigators!!!!!!! what a day!! that night we slept in our apartment with me, elder ramiers elder hansen and elder collins.

Wednesday: We talked in the morning with the asistants and set some goals. then they left and me and elder ramirez stayed together!! we worked the whole day together and he was doing some things that were dirictly against what president had told him so i called the asistants. he kind of had a panic attack and went kind of crazy. we called the nurse and she had me calm him down! then i got a call from president who was worried about me for some stuff that my comp was saying and he said that he was going to send the other two assistants to come and get us. the got to our place at 1:00 a.m.and told elder ramirez that he had to pack his stuff up. we got to their apartment at 2:30 A.M. and stayed with them!

Thursday: I worked with elder vargas (assistant) for a little and then went back to my area and worked with the travling assistants! 

Friday: i was put into a temporary trio for two days

Saturday: at 6:00 P.M. i got my new comp!! 

Elder Abel and Elder Groen 

Elder Ramirez and Elder Groen and the Traveling Assistants 

Busy Week

Dalton had a busy week this past week.  He was able to tell us he’s well,  dealing with some challenges with being a trainer but Dalton is such a kind person and has learned to ask for and expect help from Heavenly Father when he is on His errand.  

Andi

Whooo!!

So Im in Marcos Paz again but this time the other ward Marcos Paz 2! its like 1 hour and a half from my last area! its like 6 blocks from my apartment in marcos paz 1!! 

my comp`is from paraguay and is a convert of two years. he is 24 years old. His name is Elder Remirez. He Is a Good Elder still learning alot about the gosple. it is going to take a lot of patientence but it will be very very good for me!! for example yesterday night we got home and he said hey elder lets go get some sugar. and i tried to explain it to him but he still didnt under stand... i eventually got him to realize that its not something we do on sundays. but its just things like that!!

When i got to the area i kind of had a rough first day. i missed my old area and got a lot of stuff piled on me at once!! Elder ramirez, i was called to be district leader and my comp didnt know the area very well at all. i knew i wasnt going to be able to do it alone so i prayed! and prayed again! I decided that if i was going to recieve the miricles that i needed i was going to need to act! so i decided to just be straight out animo!! and i did!! and the ward loved it they said a lot of good comments and they are very excited to have me in their ward! and i forgot about my problems!!! ether twelve twelve!! i love the lord!!!

Elder Groen Over and Out!!

Week!!

well hello!!!

So the baptisim happened!!! I

t was so good and very stressfull! she had her interview scheduled on Wednesday but she couldn't do it that day because she was sick... so it got moved to Thursday i called her to see if everything was good ready and she told me that she didn't want to get baptised any more... i talked to her on the phone about when she had said to me earlier. how she has received her answer and knows this is where she needs to be. when i got off the phone i was pretty devastated. but i decided to trust in the lord! i got on my knees and started praying!! i called her back later to see how she was doing and she had calmed down and then we talked and she said she was back on for the baptisim. so we then scheduled an interview for friday and she passed with flying colors!! in the baptisim a sister in the ward shard a really cool story!! she told us about  how a couple years ago she would go buy bread every day from the same bread store!! she said that she got to know the lady that worked there pretty well by just talking to her for 5 minutes every day! she said that one day she went home and talked to her husband and told him that she felt that she need to be a member. so the next day she was going to bring her a book of mormon!! but she went back the next day and she wasn't there... she asked the worker where she was and the worker said she quit and that she didn't know where she lived...Sunday she again saw that lady changing to be baptised in the bathroom in the church!! i know god has a plan for every single one of us and i know that if someone needs to here the gosple they will hear it!! i loved my time here in rafael castillo 1 and am ready for the new adventure that is about to come! i had a very cool feeling that joel and antonela were the reason that im here! The gosple is amazing!!

Love, Elder Groen 

Dalton & Elder Vance chilin' with cheetos

We were hoping he'd stick with the guitar.

They Got Married!!

Joel and Antonela are now married and antonela is scheduled to be baptised on Saturday!! the wedding was good! they asked me to be a witness for it and i was very happy to do that for them!!

Something sad happened tho... joel was a less active member who never got the priesthood. so we were so excited for him to receive it yesterday in church so that he could baptise antonela on Saturday! but antonela being pregnant and it being their first kid got sick and was throwing up... they got kind of scared and took her to the hospital! so they weren't able to come to church... so joel sadly wasnt able to get the priesthood. but  we were able to talk to them and with out my comp knowing i asked her if she would be willing to let my comp to baptise her, being his first baptism and all! and they loved the idea so she asked him very sincerely if he would be willing to baptise her! i just wish you could have seen how my comps face lit up! we have been together for the last two transfers and i have been training him. our first transfer was very hard as we knocked doors for almost all of it with what looked in our eyes to be no success. at the begining of the second transfer we started to have success and we found joel and antonela. with alot of little miracles including the change of the marriage date we are going to have a baptism at the very end of his training! i have learned very many valuable lessons one of which being sacrifice. i would have loved to get in the water and baptise her my self. but i decided to let elder vance do it and just to see the look on his face when she asked was payback enough! i cannot wait for Saturday!! As we unselfishly serve our brothers and sisters in life we see that we will get back more then we could ever even give! i am so very grateful for these two years that i have to serve!! there is only one left and i am going to give it all to him!!

Love Elder Groen

Actual marriage ceremony

Officially married

Still pretty strong and fit!

Celebration at the ward

One year mark!  Celebratory burning of the shirt!  Seems to be quite enjoying it.