Crazy Weeks!

Hi friends!

I apologize for not writing last week, it's been a crazy time. Seeing office missionaries before becoming one, I kinda thought that they were a little lazy and didn't do too many things. Now that I am one, I'm discovering that there are many things to do! The offices are fun because they are filled with extremes. 

 - Either there is nothing to do and you have to use that time catching up with tasks (0), or there are too many things to do and you fall behind (10)

 - Either it's super calm and everyone works super well (0), or something happens and there are laughs and shouts and it's hard to focus (10)

 - Either there is no one to visit and you're stuck with nowhere to go (0), or there are a ton of people to visit that all have baptismal dates (10)

 - Either no one needs you and you can work well (0), or a bunch of people is asking for your assistance all at once: calling, sending messages, and ringing the office's doorbell (10)

In short, the office is filled with extreme circumstances and it's stretching to figure it out, but it's fun learning these new abilities and serving the mission in this way. I wish the best for this mission and the people who live here in Honduras, and I'm determined to do what I can to help God's work keep going in this part of the world.

For a summary of what's gone on this past week:

We had transfers last week! First, we had to help the old missionaries leave, and they would not sleep. I know that they were excited to go back home, but I just wanted to sleep. Luckily, I did manage to sleep a few hours every night, but there were a few nights when I did not sleep well.

Second, after saying goodbye to all of the departing missionaries, we had to manage transfers of the companionships in the mission. I was in charge of transferring the SIM cards from one phone to another, and I spent a few hours tracking down people to receive and give their SIM cards, but I was surprised by a few people who brought cards when they shouldn't have, or forgot to bring their cards, and I had to plan how to get cards to the right places. There were also a few people who forgot to grab their cards, and I had to chase them or another missionary down to get the cards to them. Luckily, I've got it all worked out (I think), and all the missionaries are good now (I hope).

Third, after handling the old missionaries and the current missionaries, we had to receive the 20 new missionaries and get them ready for the next companions. I had a bunch of extra administrative tasks to do as well, and I spent the rest of the day working on that. It was amazing to meet the new missionaries and see their enthusiasm for sharing the gospel. The spirit can be felt so strongly with them, and I'm excited to see all the good they'll do!

I'm now transitioning to all of the Technology Secretary activities, and I've been trying to wrap my head around how English Connect works. English Connect is an English class for Latino missionaries, but it works differently than most English classes. I've been praying for guidance on how to guide it and God's been helping me with it a ton!  This past week, I've had to become a lot more involved with the program because several of the teachers have to be swapped out because of personal difficulties. They've called on me to help sub for their class or help their substitutes teach too. It's been challenging because I don't know how this works, but it's fun to figure it out, and I hope that more missionaries will participate in the program and develop their English abilities.

Some other interesting notes...

I've been cooking breakfast every day. It's fun and I feel like a chef now!

We've been cooking several nights at the office and it's a crazy experience.

Gracy, Genesis, and Li-at got baptized and they are amazing! They share their testimony of the gospel every time we have a lesson with them.  They are also helping us out because we are teaching several of their family members.

Justin is also just as amazing, and is helping us teach his sister! Justin passed the sacrament last week, so that was super cool!

Today is going to be a fun week because we're going to have several ward activities tonight, one of them being a movie night, and next week we'll be celebrating Pres. Nelson's 100th b-day and the San Pedro Sula Temple open house! I'm super excited for this week, to be honest.

That's about it for me this week! I gotta talk with my family now and get ready for this next week of work. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have a great week too! 

Elder Grant