Changes!

Well the mission had changes this week, but don`t worry niether I nor my companion had changes this time around! So that means that officially I will be my companions last companion! This week was a good week! We have 3 baptisms coming up on sunday so we are in full swing preparation for those! 

I have spent some time thinking about the mission and all that happens here and why so many missionaries come home chaged. Everyone always says "Wow you are so different." or "that guy shure changed a lot!" So why is it that they change? I think that there are lots of factors to this change, but I want to share one that came to my mind as I thought about it this week! 

To start off I want to share a short experience! When I was on the plane from Utah to Georgia on my way to the mission. I sat next to a man from India. There I shared a message about families. It seemed SO easy to me. He was very receptive and I came into the mission thinking that this was going to be a breeze sharing this message. Then when I arrived in Chile I remember trying to communicate with the people at the desks and realizing that I was in a new world! It seemed so big compared to my little bountiful and So daunting what I was about to face. Then In the MTC it was just as hard trying to figure out this spanish thing! Then when I got to the field and saw the mission I could not believe how many dogs there were and how fast the people talked and how far we walked and how small our house was! I realized early on that this was not going to be easy! In certain ways it wasn`t as hard as I thought but in other ways It was much harder than I could have imagined! But Now I understand why missionaries go home different than before! Because they are asked to do something hard! But it isn`t just something hard! It is a time that the Lord has told us that we should give to him! We are doing something hard for our Savior! I believe that these missionaries come home different because they are brought to their knees and pray in a way that they have never done before, Because they feel a fraction of the same joy and sadness that Christ felt, And because they understand that with Sacrifice blessings will ALWAYS follow! 

I am so grateful for my time here! Where I have come to know and love my Father in Heaven and My savior Jesus Christ! I Truly LOVE this work and being a missionary! 

Love Elder Groen!!