We can do hard things!

This week has been a roller coaster! last tuesday after i emailed we got to go to the temple and it is super pretty it is very small compared to the bountiful temple but it is just as pretty! I love that the gospel is the same around the world. 

        I am learning that sometimes i can let myself get annoyed very easily. and some of the elders are kind of unique but this week has been all about learning that none of what i am doing is about Ethan. So when i find myself annoyed or bugged i try to do service of somekind. Our investagators are really hard to teach sometimes especially for me because i have so much to say but my spanish holds me back and i can't communicate... but then today one of our teachers told me she was so grateful that i didn't let spanish hold me back. She said that it was so cool that sometimes i couldn't think of a word but i did my best to communicate the word with the investagator, but more important she could see the spirit in my eyes and my love for the investagator! that meant so much and showed me that the spirit is the most important not how well i can speak spanish!!! 

          you will all be interested to know that yes we did have an earthquake and it was awesome! but it was small and only lasted 6 seconds... none the less it was still super awesome and we freaked out! 

          I have to tell you about an elder named Elder Walker. he is probably the most unique person i have ever met. he has no intention of being friends with anyone else at all. One day this week he was saying why nobody likes him usually.(he seemed to be ok with that but i think really that was really hard for him.) then i said why what do you like to do. he said i like to run, play video games, sing, and play with my dog. Then i said look i like to do all of those things too. then i asked what kind of music he liked and he said he loves josh groban and i  yelled ME TOO!!!! then something cool happened he started to open up to me and our district and now he will laugh and talk with us! i am so glad that i could help him realize that he is loved because no one should ever feel like they are not loved. 

         I love all of you so much and i know that the lord will bless you all for your time and effort devoted to service! please always do the small things and everything else will take care of its self and also always remember that Jesus Christ Loves you and died for YOU!!! 

Yo se que el Jesucristo es nuestro salvador y obra missional es marvilloso! 

                                                 LOVE, Elder Groen the Elder

p.s. sorry if my spanish spelling was wrong or a little off im still getting there!

It is such a crazy ride!

first of all i flew with 32 other missionaries and i think 45 others to Chile! It was such a blessing to have so many others do that for the first time also! the plane ride to Atlanta was awesome i bore my testimony to a man named Hashi after he asked me a ton of questions about our church and our missions! I told him that My family is where some of my most happy times come from and that i love this gospel because it brings me so much joy and happiness! it was pretty cool to share my testimony before i even got to my mission! The whole plane ride was a fun experience the shrimp tacos in atlanta were so good! And even though it was long it was a good flight but the best part was when we were flying over the ocean and it was really cloudy. We were above the clouds and could see the sun coming up over the HUGE Andes Mountains and it was one of the prettiest things ive ever seen. 

           Getting to chile was pretty cool kind of crazy but we got to our new home on Alcantra street which is like 10 minutes from the MTC. There are 65 missionaries total and 32 of us live at the old mission home! Its super cool because that is where the Zwick family lived when they were mission presidents in Chile! So i am living in there home!!! anyway we got there and i found out my companion was Elder Curtis from California I like him so thats really good! The first day was really nice it was just to calm us down and make us feel like we were at home! I really do love the mission home its so cool! i sent a picture that one of the elders drew of the front of it! its super pretty! 

            Um Every day we wake up at around 7 we go down to the study room and we study for an hour then go to breakfast and work out. After our morning routine we drive to the CCM (MTC)! then we have classes to learn spanish and how to teach all day every day! our time in classrooms is split into three parts we have three teachers and they all help with spanish and learning how to teach. they are all really young like 23-27ish so it's pretty fun getting to know them really well!! And each teacher does a thing called progressive investigator where we pretend to teach a real investagator. the teachers pretend to be the investigator but their back story is a real story of a real person somewhere so when we pray for them we are really praying for someone that is looking into the gospel! but we have to teach in all spanish and it is SOO HARD! but i am learning that my spanish is not the most important thing it is listening to the spirit and knowing when to bear my testimony! 

          Sunday really is a day of rest i got to talk and learn in english all day! which was so nice for a change. Heavenly father really knew what he was doing when he made the sabboth! 

       Some days are harder than others but the times when i say something or understand someone in spanish are the best i just get super pumped up because it is just super awesome!! Yesterday was a really good day i felt like i learned a lot! And today has been good so far too i finally had some american food i ate a Big Mac for lunch haha! 

       there is another Elder in my district that i Love he is so funny and we act the same we are just kindred spirits! his name is Elder Prince he is from Hurricane and knows lincoln! but i really like him he always keeps us smiling! 

         my companion loves basketball and volley ball which is really fun! during work out time in the morning we play a lot of volley ball. Im trying to get more soccer in there! but he is nice he went to BYU for a year before his mission. he loves to be really prepared which is good but we are learning to let the spirit into our lessons more. because sometimes we just follow the plan and don't even listen to the spirit! 

     The food is pretty good. breakfast is kind of wierd its always yogurt with ceral which i don't really like... but its ok im learning to like it more and more! they cook a lot of chicken for dinner and lunch and a lot of rice too! the deserts are wierd i like american pudding much better! its just different enough to be kind of wierd but nothing has been just aboslutely crazy yet. 

ok if you have any questions ask away and i will answer them either now or next week!  

Love Elder Groen the first!!! haha

Ethan's first district

Back Street Missionaries

Elder Curtis & Elder Groen (1st companions)

First day and lots of flying!

I am here in one peace! It is still like a dream i cant believe that it is happening! I dont have very long to type so i have lots of stories and things to tell you next time i get on a computer! But one thing i am in the old mission home that is rooming some of the missionaries now and it is the home that Elder Zwick lived in with his family when they lived here!!!  I hope dalton is safe and in provo by now! Love you all so much! 

                                                                                       Love Elder Groen the first of the two twins

p.s. having a missionary tag is just about the coolest thing EVER!!!!!!!