Grant, Mason

Hi friends! In two days I go home. It's been a wild ride getting here. I've learned so much these past two years, and I'm excited to keep growing and learning throughout my life. Yesterday I went to the mission offices to be with Elder Muñoz for a third and final time and went out to visit some old friends from my time in Las Brisas. It was pretty being able to see them again and to hear the stories of their conversion and the role we had in helping them come to the gospel. Albaluz (Elder Muñoz's convert) and Celenia (my convert) still go to church every week and support each other. Mario and Maria finally got baptized and were very happy to see us. When we passed by the mural we painted over a year ago to see it one more time we stopped at the chapel and found its doors open. When we entered we found the whole ward there participating in a baptismal service. They were so happy to see us and when the baptism ended we took a photo with the whole ward. (see pic) These peo...

Hi friends! Funnily enough, the people here believe San Marcos has a curse. The curse is that it rains everywhere but here. I kinda believe it though because every day this past week it said it was going to rain and it never did. It wasn't until about an hour ago when I finished getting my last haircut of the mission that it suddenly started raining. But it didn't just start raining, it started  pouring . We weren't expecting it. In the mission there are always fun surprises! This week we went out visiting a ton with the members and collaborated with them a lot! We've also done a lot of contacting to find people to put on date for baptism. It's hard but it's satisfying work. I enjoyed a lot this last week, and I'm excited for this final full week of missionary service! We have a bunch of activities planned and we're ending it off with the branch conference on Sunday which I'm very excited for! I'm now starting to plan all I'll have to do to b...

Hi friends! Yesterday we visited an active member family that lives very far from San Marcos. We ate lunch with them, gave the father a priesthood blessing and shared a small lesson on Charity. Afterwards the daughter told us that she was talking to her mother about visiting a friend and wanted to see if we would join her for a visit. We accompanied her and her son (who will soon start his mission in Bolivia) to this friend who had lost her son and her husband just two weeks prior. We found her asleep in a hammock, but when she woke up and saw her friend she let us inside. We got to meet Dorila and hear her story for a bit and share a message. We sang some hymns with her and she eagerly read the scriptures we shared. I felt prompted to give her one of our last copies of the Book of Mormon (we're running out here in San Marcos) and she gratefully received the book. This week I finished reading the Book of Mormon and I know that it testifies of Christ. I've learned more about my ...

Hi friends! This week I went to "the land of the gringos" - Santa Bárbara and had a fun time climbing up and down hills. I didn't know that Santa Barbara was so hilly! It reminded me a lot of my first area (El Mochito). But yeah, this week we did divisions and I served in Santa Barbara for a day with Elder MacDonald. Meanwhile, in my area, Elder Lopez lead the area by himself for the first time and did an amazing job! While he was here he invited Diana to be baptized and she (more-or-less) accepted! Even better, she came to church on Sunday and enjoyed the meetings! The baptismal date my companion put is for the 8th of June, so please keep her in your prayers so she can feel the holy ghost and receive a testimony of the gospel. We also had a busy friday in the branch where members got their temple recommends, sent names to the temple, where we had mission coordination and seminary was held. During mission coordination Glenda and her daughter Esmeralda (who just got baptiz...

You just need faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust! Hi friends! This week I met Tinkerbell! She's now one week old!  But more on that later. First of all: Esmeralda and Diuman got baptized this week! They also got confirmed on Sunday and we had exceptional church and baptism attendance this week! It's so cool to see the process of conversion in someone, and the smile on their face when they get baptized! I will definitely miss this feeling after the mission. Before the mission I never really cared about the doctrine about baptism, but now I know that it is one of the most important doctrines to know! This week we met with a member who knows a lot about the scriptures and the church and it's teachings, yet I couldn't help but feel like he was paying too much attention to the little details that sure are interesting but not necessary to know. If you want to know what to study. Study the Atonement. In my opinion the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important c...

Hi friends! This week I finished 3 Nephi and 4 Nephi in my Book of Mormon scripture study, and now I am reading Mormon. I love reading the Book of Mormon and learning the gospel. Sometimes I just wish that everyone would always read the Book of Mormon. The world would be a much better place, and like what Jacob 7 teaches, we wouldn't be so easily fooled by the distractions of our day. The title of this email is one such scripture that I enjoyed reading. It's such a shame though that not even 10 verses pass after this one (4 Nephi 1:16) before all that peace and love had ended (and about 100 years too) and the story resumes with the story of the destruction of the Nephites. I'm always a little sad to reach the end of the Book of Mormon because it ends in a pretty sad way, but one detail that I noticed this week is that God kept working to convert the Nephites through Mormon until they started to swear by the heavens and the throne of God for vengeance. Once they started to s...