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

New week

Hello,

This week was good!! On wednesday we had special training in ramos mejia! It was super good!! president talked about how if god created the sun and all about the power of the sun and a lot about the light of christ. and also how we need to have faith that the person who created the sun can change the heart of someone!! it was super powerful and an awesome faith booster!!

so i have found out alot about member missionaries this week!!! frist off that it is so important that the members help the missionaries. the missionaries CANNOT do it alone... and second off that the ones here dont want to be member missionaries... we have been passing by the house of every active member this week and having a family night with them. so who did we start with? the most logical in my mind! The ward mission leader!! we had a good lesson with him and his wife and his three boys and at the end he says this is great for every one but me. (being completly serious.) and i said no you are theLEADER misional. you need to be the example!! and then he said "ok then ill just asked to be realsed..." only half way joking... as we have been passing by the families to follow up on their goals. it turns out that every one has made up some excuse of why they couldnt do it... the goal isnt even hard... it is to get them to have one person to say no to an invitation to church or to listen to the missonaries. that way they dont get dicouraged when someone says no. because yes someone is going to say no. and eventually someone will say yes!! its a win win!!! we'll see if they start pulling through!!

Elder Groen!

p.s. look what the cat dragged in!!

Elder Groen and Elder Vance - Tracting 

Leona interrupting a good card game

so what a week!!

to start off the dedication of the cordoba temple was awesome!!
president uchtdorf and elder christofferson came! and the area
presidency!! it was very good all the messages give were up lifting
and made me want to go to the temple!!

after the dedication we had an excellent day planed with 5 scheduled
lessons every hour! they all canceled... so we were left in the street
knocking for a while last night with out very much success. i know
that the lord always blesses us if we are patient so we will just keep
doing what we need to do and keep praying and hoping! tenemos la fe!!

Elder Groen singing out!!

Dear Readers,
Have a great week!!
Love,Elder Groen

10 months!!!

wow can you beleive that i have been gone for ten months already!!! how crazy!!!

anyway my companion is doing great!! he got a little frusterated with the language this week but we talked about it and i think he is doing good now!!! im am giving him time to teach and he is doing alot better!! improving every day!! this week he invited someone to be baptised!! it was awesome!!!

so we had a really cool experience this week!! so as i have said after this last transfer we were kind of left with very little investigators... so lately we have been doing alot of door knocking!!! onFriday we went to alot of the exsisting investigators that we have and i got way down because it kind of fell apart... but i turnes out that god was just testing our faith!! on saturday we went to a ladys house who told us to come back. she wasnt there... so we started kknocking on doors. we knocked on a door i felt we should and the guy alejandro came out and let us right in! how awesome is that he lives with his mom who is 91 years old!! wow!! they didnt have much time so we taught about how god loves us and profets and jesus christ and they loved it!! we have and apointment on wednesday with them!!! then to lunch and then to a lady we talked to the other day. she and her husband were there and also let us right in!!! we taught them about the restoration!!! it was awesome! they said they would pray and ask if it was true!!! we have an apointment today!!! after that we went to visit some investigators that elder udall and talked to once like 4 weeks ago and they accepted us very well and at then end of the lesson we invited them to be baptised on the 30th of may and they accepted. cristian and yamila are their names!! they are a young couple!!! they came to church and the ward got to know them and it was awesome!!! 

god is good!!!

Love, Elder Groen