[Last Post!] There and Back

Tuesday morning I will board a plane to London that will bring me back to Utah. At the end of these 2 years I can look back and see all the changes that have happened back home, in the mission, with my self, and so forth. Many things have become very clear to me, but one thing being the most clear- happiness comes through following the Savior.

Henry Thoreau once said, ''Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after''. Leading up to my mission there were many reasons for which I wanted to serve. Ive spent every minute the past 2 years trying to serve all those around me to the best of my capacities, and I can honestly say I have received 10 fold more than I have given. Though I may not have seen hundreds of people become followers of the Savior I was blessed enough to see some of my best friends be baptized and find peace. The biggest convert that I had was that of myself. I did not know before hand that the reason for which I was going fishing for 2 years was to be converted to the gospel. Through the Savior, my mission has changed me in every way imaginable. I know i've said this all before but I really am grateful for having been here. I am so grateful to have been able to serve under President and Sister Roney (as well as their sons kelson and london!), they have done so much for me and are the best people you'll ever meet. I love them dearly. I am grateful to have been able to serve in the France Lyon mission and meet so many quality people.

Today the 4th Lyon ward was created. I know the work of the Lord is advancing and that we can all participate and help. I know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are real, and love us. I will see you all this tuesday, until then, I love you.

Elder Gruber

 

Hyrum

Hello again! I cant remember what I talked about last week and I have no Idea what happened this week. It was crazy though, I remember that much. Today at church Isabelle got confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. It was a fantastic experience.

 

Next week we are going to be from one extremity of the mission to the other. Also we have some fun RDV's fixed with some really cool families in our ward.

 

For awhile the stake presidency has been discussing the creation of the 4th ward here in Lyon. The boundaries have been drawn for awhile but it hadn't been announced until today. The Ecully ward is going to be split in half in order to accommodate the establishment of the new addition to the stake. It was a really emotional day. I wish I could properly transmit to you how special the Church is here in France. I love it. The wards and branches are truly familes of warriors. The Saints are incredible here. The division will be fully demonstrated and effectuated my last sunday april 13th. It will be a pretty special moment for all the Saints here in Lyon. Its great having been able to serve half my mission here in Lyon and get to see the growth that has occurred. I'll surely speak more about that in a couple weeks.

 

I love you all. I love my Savior. I love the Roney's. I love my mission. I love France. It makes me honestly sad to think that not everyone gets to experience La Mission Francaise de Lyon. I really am grateful to have the opportunity to be here under these circumstances.

 

Big hugs,

Elder Gruber

 

 

Birthday week

This week felt extremely long because it was just that! We didnt get to sleep a whole lot so it feels like we did an entire transfer in one week. Great news, Isabelle got baptised today and it all went very well. She has made tons of progress and we're all very happy for her decision. We got to go over to the Roneys and have lunch and play boules in their backyard. couldnt be more fun if it tried. Im excited to bring that french past time back to the promise land.

The new missionaries came in this week. Theyre good and full of faith. Its crazy to look at them and see how many crazy adventures they have waiting before them. It seems so long ago that I was in their position. You learn and grow a lot during 2 years.

I love you all. Thank you so much for the birthday cards and wishes, I really appreciate the time you took for me.

Love,

Elder Gruber

Photos are of the baptism of Isabelle, an FHE chez mario, and me with a random french family we met and sparked at the airport waiting for the new missionaries to arrive! We are going to have them over at the Roneys for dinner soon. Great people!

 

 

 

Transfer 16

We have had a pretty crazy week with transfers. The big news was the third party audit from the french government. Our office has been dropping the ball for a long time and havent really done their job as they should have, so this was a big problem. We had to gather together all the legal, financial, and travel information from all 265 missionaries and have it all stored and organized, ready for the audit. Luckily, Elder Clark and Sister Clark are the most alpha people in the world and did the work of about 12 people. All went well and we got a great grade. In france the LDS Church is now on the same level as the catholic church. So we dont have any new taxes, which means the temple will be tax free from what I understand.

Isabelle is all ready for her baptism this sunday, it will be great. This week is going to be absolutely insane with all the conferences and tasks we have to do with the office on top of our normal week one stuff. We left our apartment yesterday afternoon, and we wont be back til really late friday. We'll get lots of important things done though so I'm really excited. Today is the debut of the last transfer of my mission, it doesnt seem real! I remember when my father E.Wilcox was where im at 2 years ago. Anyways, I love you all! have a great week.

Elder Gruber

Mar 2

Elder Gruber sent us some great photos this week!

 

Hello everyone. So this past week we went on exchange to Corsica.. turned into quiet the adventure. Normally we fly down there which takes about one hour, though the office forgot to buy our tickets so the flights were all sold out. So we ended up having to take the boat to the island. Since Ive never done a cruise I dont know what its like, but I imagine the farrie is a really bad version of what it must be like. We had this cute little cabin with beds connected to the wall for our 8 hour voyage. The whole thing was run by italiens who didnt speak french or english very well so it was all a bit odd. Once in Corsica we had some fantastic exchanges. I got to go on exchange with my old MTC companion E. Call. I have nothing but love for that man.

Ill send pictures one of these weeks from the exchanges.

The baptismal date for Isabelle got pushed back to the 9th of march due to opposition of her family, but she is staying really strong and is set on having her self baptised on that day. This week we're working on the transfer changes, which is always really fun. It is a dashing experience, and a blast just getting to be around the Roney's. This past week we went with the office staff to the Roney's house and played some good ol fashion bball. President Roney is money. He was making it rain from outside and had quiet the swag on the court.

Well, I love you! I hope you have a great week. Thank you so much for sending the photos. Everyone looks so great. My favorite is the George Cloony 'salt n pepper' look dad has got going these days. So much class.

Elder Gruber

Getting back

The tour is over after two weeks and we're back in Lyon. This week we were in Lausanne, Geneva, Yverdon, then we did 2 more conferences here. We had a miraculous rdv with Isabelle. We really used everything we learned from zone conference and had an incredible rdv yesterday after check. She really felt the spirit and we were able to set a baptismal date for 2 march. Im really excited as I've seen such tremendous changes and growth these past 3 months with here. Pray that all goes well and that she will courageously follow the Savior. This week we will be heading down to Corsica for some exchanges. I love you all and Im doing great.

Elder Gruber