The big 365!

- September 10, 2018

Well this week I hit the big 365 mark! It was a good day and it feels super weird knowing Ive got less than 11 months left here. It will fly by so fast, so I'm just looking to take advantage of this time while I have it! Probably was the fastest year of my life....

So this week was also transfers! Elder Hequer is leaving to go train and I'll stay here and receive my new comp tomorrow who will start his first transfer as Zone Leader with me. I'm super pumped to show him the area and set good, smart goals with him for this transfer.

This week we found an awesome couple that came down from the land of my boy Elder Opfar in Bahia to São Paulo. The girl always looked down at the floor in our lessons and I thought she wasnt paying attention at all, but she started to ask some amazing questions that we were amazed by. It was an awesome experience to teach them this week and to see their excitedness about the Gospel. The guy told us one night that even though he hasn't been going to church every week, he will never be dragged down into the life of drugs and parties. It was super refreshing to hear, especially in this area of São Paulo where the smell of weed doesn't really ever leave.

I thought this week that I could write a little bit about my experience preparing for a mission as it marks 1 year now. I cant lie and say that deciding to serve and leave on my mission wasn't a really hard thing for me. Until my freshman year in college, I never truly put the Gospel to the test and put in effort to grow my testimony. Then when I started to gain that testimony, all the sudden, everything started going right in my life. A couple weeks before my mission, I seemed to hit a peak in happiness. Everything was looking up for me in that moment: friends, family, work, school, etc. A couple weeks before my mission it really hit me how hard it would be to leave everything behind in my life to serve a mission. Since then, after lots of trials and difficulties, I feel like I´ve found a new happiness here, one that I never had before. I've seen people change their lives due to this message and live happier. And in turn, that has made me happy. I've learned what it means to serve the Lord's "sheep" and what sacrifice really is. I have learned to put myself behind others. I have learned so much more about my Savior and His Gospel. I have grown in ways I didnt even imagine. And I'm so happy to be here even though it was a big jump of faith that I chose to serve a mission here in Brazil. I know Its the best use of these 2 years in my life, and I can't wait to see what this 2nd part has in store. I plan on coming home a changed Grayson and being my own best convert!

Also, last thing. Can I just say that I am eating soooo freaking good here. The food is seriously incredible. The highlight of this week was a chocolate cake stuffed with a maracujá mousse.