Thursday, February 26, 2015

Snow and Miracles

2.25.15
It snowed this week in the good old state of Texas! It was funny to see all of the Texas people freaking out and not knowing what to do with themselves. School was even shut down for tow days! There wasn't even that much snow:) All of the snow did make me really miss skiing! The snow/ice that came in is why I am emailing today instead of on Monday.

This last week was a good week, and was full of hard work and good memories. The week started with a small miracle. This Monday night we were going to see a family and they had just got back from some event and were to tired to meet. We then tried to see some more potential investigators but had no luck. By this time it was around 8, and we were running out of ideas. We had not passed out any Book of Mormons that day, and I really wanted to pass one out before we went in for the night. I decided to say a prayer and ask God if he would provide a family for us to hand out a Book of Mormon to. We then started knocking on doors. We trackted a whole street and were about to call it a night, when I felt like we should try a few more houses down this side court. We decided to knock on this very well lit home that was an old English design. Well we knocked on the home. A really nice lady and man answered the door, and guess what? They accepted the Book of Mormon! It was a really cool experience and my faith was strengthened so much! The whole bike ride home I could not stop smiling:) I was very grateful that Heavenly Father had answered my prayer. This week I was also able to go on two awesome exchanges. The first exchange was with the zone leaders. I got to go to the zone leaders area with elder Partridge, my trainer! It was so fun to catch up and talk about the good old time in River Trials. We had a good exchange and elder Partridge and I had a good talk about how to have unity in a companionship. The second exchange was with elder Ostlund, who was my first zone leader in River Trials. He is a really good elder and it was fun to see him again. The night of the exchange we decided to to down to Southlake Town Square and contact people. It was on a Friday night, so there were lots of people! While we were there were able to teach two lessons and give out 3 Book of Mormons! It was awesome, and really helped me over come my fear of contacting. 
   This Sunday was also a good day. Our ward mission leader (brother Wade) decided that for our missionary coordination meeting that he was going to invite a member from all of the auxiliaries. The meeting went really well, and we were able to find a lot of help and new ideas for our investigators. Brother Wade is an awesome ward mission leader, and I am so grateful for the way he fulfills his calling. He has helped this area grow so much. Getting the ward involved in your missionary work is so much more successful then doing it by your self:) 
Well I am running very short on time, but I want you all to know that this church is the true church! This gospel really is the only way to be truly happy here on earth, and I am so happy that I get the opportunity to share it with everyone I can in this great sate of Texas! Stay safe and remember that you have a Heavenly Father who loves you and will answer your prayers.

Love, 


Elder Griffin

Monday, February 16, 2015

Pray for Walter & Pablo

Feb. 16, 2015
This week was a good week, that contained a lot of wonderful experiences.
The first good experience was this Tuesday. We had our personal interviews with our president. It was a great interview and my mission president always knows what to say to build me up and keep me going. Also that same day, president Ames came up to me and told me he wanted to go visit a man in our ward named Walter Gamen. Let me tell you a little about Walter:) He has been coming to church for a long time, but has not yet been baptized. His wife and a couple of his children are very strong members of the church. He has a couple of hurdles that he has not been able to over come for some time now. One of them is the Book of Mormon, another one is that he thinks that if he joins the church he will be abandoning his non-member children. He is the nicest man, and you would never be able to tell that he is not LDS unless you asked him:) So anyway, this Tuesday President Ames came up to me and told me that Walter Gamen has been on his mind a lot this wee and he got the feeling that Walter is very close to getting baptized. I got in touch with the Gamen family and they said we could come over, sister Gamen was also sick and asked for a blessing from President. The whole time before the exchange with President I was very nervous, because President said that he felt that we needed to invite him to be baptized. I prayed like crazy, asking Heavenly Father to make this meeting go well and for us to be able to get Walter finally baptized. Well the time came and President and I went over to see Walter. We started out by giving Sister Gamen a blessing. When President asked who she wanted to give the blessing, she didn't have a preference. Then President Ames asked me if I would give the blessing. It was a very sweet experience and could feel Heavenly Father's love flowing through me into sister Gamen. Following the blessing President was very straight forward with Walter and asked him right of the back to get baptized, he unfortunately declined, but he did open up to us. He said that when he has been teaching primary with his wife the scriptures they have been reading are really touching his heart. He also said that he wants to go to lunch with President this next Monday and tell him his last concern:) After this I believe he will finally enter the waters of baptism! I was also able to share a scripture I know that Heavenly Father needed him to hear. It was an awesome experience. I am so grateful for a inspired and worthy mission President. This same night elder Phipps went with a member of our bishopric and saw this less-active family and had a really good visit. This family has been really hard to meet with, and the husband was even there! They said that they are going to try harder to come to church. Tuesday night truly was a night of miracles!
      Another good thing that happened this week was that we had another great visit with Pablo. We went over Thursday night with the bishop and his wife. We started out the meeting by having dinner with them, they had both just gotten home from work and had not had the chance to eat yet:) After dinner we didn't have to much time, but we were able to talk to them about the spirit world. One of Pablo's concerns was eternal families, because he thinks that by joining the church and getting married that he would be abandoning his two children who are living with his first wife. While talking about the spirit world we really focused on how everyone one on earth will get a perfect opportunity to accept the gospel or not. We also talked about the parable of the laborers and how each one, even the ones that only worked for an hour got the same reward. It was such a wonderful lesson, and the spirit filled the room. Pablo is such a special guy, and I know that someday, whether it is today or in the future, he will be baptized.
    Also a quick update on Denisse, she was the one that got baptized last Saturday. She is doing very well. She said that every day she is seeing the power of the Holy Ghost in her life. She even broke up with her boy friend, which is a very good thing:) It is so amazing to be able to see her already being blessed from being baptized and becoming part of Christ's church! I am very excited to start the new member lessons with her. 
   This week we also had a wonderful stake conference. We had a member of the 70 named elder Stoddard come and speak to us. He was quite the character, and had everyone laughing during the adult session Saturday night. Sunday he reined in his humor and gave a powerful talk on the Atonement and the importance of forgiving. He said that forgiveness is what completes the healing power of the Atonement a lot of the time. It was a awesome talk! We are also doing this awesome Book of Mormon challenge in our mission. Starting last Thursday we as a mission are going to be reading the Book of Mormon in 65 days. This is how long it took Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Mormon. We are also as a mission handing out 10,000 Book of Mormons in the same time period. It it an amazing challenge, and I know that it will bring miracles to this mission. The Book of Mormon is one of the most powerful conversion tools we have, and if anyone will choose to pick it up and sincerely read it they will not be able to deny its power. 
  Well I love you all and hope you had a great Valentines Day!

Love, 


Elder Griffin  

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

6 months baby!


Feb 9, 2015

I can not believe that I have already been on a mission for 6 months! I have learned and grown so much in these past few months, I know this mission was and is the best thing I could have ever possibly done:) I have learned to rely on the Lord, and put my trust in Him more then I ever have in my entire life! He really is in control, this is His work and if we put our trust in Him, He will show us how we can be instruments in His hands. What a blessing this gospel truly is, it is the only way to be happy in this life and the next!
   This week has been a good, but challenging week. It started off with transfers and lots of packing on elder Brown's part:) It was really sad to see elder Brown leave! We became really good friends and had lots of good memories together, I truly do miss him. My new companion is elder Phipps. He has been out for 15 months. He has a very interesting personality, and there is never a dull moment with him:) He is a very obedient missionary and a hard worker. He also has a very good heart and a desire to do what is right. We defiantly have things we don't agree with, but I know that if I rely on the Lord's help everything will work out. Also this week we had to give our car away to elders who needed it more then we did. It was sad to see Lily go ( this is the name we gave our car) but it will be good to be back on the bikes! Hopefully it will keep the pounds off, I think I am starting to get a little chubby:) 
    This week we were able to have an amazing lesson with Pablo. He is a very kind loving man, and always does all of the commitments we leave with him. This lesson we started out by explaining more about the background of the Book of Mormon, because he thought the Book of Mormon was another twist on the Bible. Our Bishop drew out this time line, and compared the history of the Bible and the Book of Mormon, it was perfect! I think it made Pablo feel a little more at peace, but I know that as he continues to read from the Book of Mormon and develops a testimony that all of his questions will be answered. For the other half of the lesson we taught the first part of the Plan of Salvation. It went really well, and Pablo agreed with almost everything we said. I hope and pray that his heart will continue to be softened! This next lesson with him will be kind of tricky, because he doesn't like the idea of eternal families and the 3 kingdoms, so we will really have to seek revelation as to what he needs to hear. Also this Saturday was Denisse's baptism!! It took a lot of preparation, but it was totally worth it. There were so many people at the her baptism, and you could just the love in the room. Brother Seibach and Tietjen have wonderful talks and really made them personal for Denisse. The young women also sang this beautiful version of I am a Child of God, it brought the spirit very strongly! Another cool thing was that Denisse's brother (Jason) came down from BYU I to baptize her:) The only sad thing was that it took 3 times for her to be baptized! She was started to get pretty cold in the water, but now she won't ever forget her baptism:) It was cool, because Jason said that after the Baptism he looked at Denisse and said that he said she had a special glow about her. Denisse also gave a sweet testimony, she was so happy and couldn't stop smiling! Her parents who are not members, gave the opening and closing prayer. They both gave beautiful prayers, it was very special. Denisse is a very special and pure young women, and will do many great things in her life. It was a very wonderful experience.
    I hope you all have a good Valentines Day! I know this Church is true, and I know that God loves us and is always very aware of what we need. Keep being the amazing people you all are!

Love,

Elder Griffin


P.S. Here is a picture of elder Brown and I with the Williams, as well a a picture of Denise at her baptism:)  

Monday, February 2, 2015

Keep Shining the Light!

Feb 2, 2015
This last week the weather has been amazing! It has been perfect for trackting. It even got up to 80 degrees one day:)  Today I don't have very much time, because we have to be some where in 25 minutes, so I will have to make it brief.
One of the highlights this week was on Tuesday night. We got to teach a 17 year old girl Denise the last missionary lesson. The lesson went really well and she is so excited to be baptized, she told us that she can't wait to relieve the holy ghost:) She is the girl whose parents didn't want her to get baptized, but now their hearts have been softened! She is getting baptized this Saturday, so we are very happy for her. Her parents are also taking the missionary lessons from the Spanish elders, which is also very exciting! Another wonderful thing that happened this week was our appointment with Pablo. We went over Friday night and decided to teach him the Restoration. The lesson went great! Pablo's wife served a mission, and we also had the bishop and his wife at the lesson. They all bore powerful testimonies and really helped Pablo feel like this is the truth. The best part of the lesson was after we shared Joseph Smith's first vision, we asked him what he thought about Joseph Smith's experience and he said he believed it was true!! We also found out from a member that Pablo's wife said that he also believes the Book of Mormon is true! This is really awesome, because the Book of Mormon was one of his set backs:) I really think that Pablo is going to be baptized soon! Please keep him in your prayers.This week I also had a cool experience on exchange with elder Douglas. We were walking in the rain to go see this potential, but when we got to her house she wasn't home. Then elder Douglas had an impression to go see a man that had meet while trackting. When we knocked on the door we found out that the old man's wife had just passed away, and that he was really having a hard time. We were able to teach him some of the Plan of Salvation and leave him with a Book of Mormon. I really hope he reads the book and finds the comfort and relief only the Savior can bring.
     Well I am out of time, but I love you and hope everyone is warm and safe! Have a good week and keep shining the light the gospel brings you.

Love,

Elder Griffin

P.S. I get a new companion this week, his name is elder Phits:)




Best Day of My Mission!

Jan 26, 2015
This week has been full of wonderful blessings and miracles. God truly know us, and is always watching and sending us help and guidance.
     We started out this week with a wonderful visit with Ann and Russ. They are just the nicest people I have ever meet. The first thing they did when we came inside was give us water and some super delicious soup:) Following that we decided to watch some bible videos with them, sense they don't really want the missionary lessons at the moment. They loved the bible videos and the spirit was defiantly present. It also allowed for a gospel conversation to start up. Russ brought up the subject of the second coming and asked us if we believed he was coming again. We told him of course he is coming again! We were also able to bare strong testimony to them about our Savior, and how he will come again and how glorious it will be! I am excited to teach them more about the second coming, I think they will really like it. Hopefully this week or the next we will have them over to a members house ( the Siebachs) to have dinner and a lesson.
   This Wednesday morning we got a text from the ward young women leader saying that a 17 year old girl named Denise is ready to get baptized! This is truly a miracle, because the father of Denise was very stubborn and would not let her get baptized until she was 18. Now his heart has been softened and she will hopefully get baptized this Saturday or the next:) She has been taught all but one lesson, which we will be teaching to her on Tuesday. Also the Father of Denise has been coming to church and even called the Spanish missionaries and told them he wanted the missionary lessons! The ward is very excited:) Bri is also doing very well. She had another lesson with the sister missionaries this Saturday, and they said it went great. Also one of the Laurels from the ward was in the lesson, which I think really helped Bri feel comfortable. The only thing that is holding her back at the moment, is that she really wants to make sure that she knows all of the things they are teaching her are true, so please keep her in your prayers.
  This Friday I had one of the best days I have had on my mission! I was on exchange with one of our zone leaders elder Cherry. He is an amazing missionary and I learned so much from him. We started out the exchange by going trackting. While trackting we got 3 return appointments, which never happens! Also while we were trackting we knocked on this one door and this nice old man answered. His name was Charles. The first thing he said was if we were here to rack his leaves, we said we would love to rack his leaves:) He went and got us bags, gloves and racks and we got to work:) We worked until dinner and then told him we would come back and finish his yard the next day, before we left he handed us a 100 dollar bill! We tried to decline it but he would not take no for an answer. He was the nicest man, and told us that his wife was not feeling very well and he was having to do everything in this house such as dishes and laundry for a month! He was very excited and I think he really appreciated the service. Following a delicious dinner with the Johnston family we had a lesson with a part member family, the Martinez family. The wife is a member and served a mission. Her husband is not, but has been taught by lots of missionaries in the past. His name is Pablo.  For a while he wasn't meeting with the missionaries, because they were being to pushy with him. Just last week he decided that we could finally come over! Going into this lesson I was very nervous, because his wife had told us that there were certain subjects that he doesn't like talking about, such as eternal families and the Book of Mormon. She also told us that she would like us to prepare a lesson on the Holy Ghost and how we can recognize the spirit. Also attending this lesson was the Bishop and his wife, they are good friends with the Martinez.  We started off the lesson by watching the Mormon message called "Hope of God's Light" It was a good starting point, and it brought the spirit right away. We then went on to share a couple scriptures and then we went around the room and had everyone share how they feel the spirit. It was amazing and everyone bore powerful and pure testimonies about the spirit. The bishops wife also shared some amazing personal experiences. We even got Pablo to share some ways he has felt the spirit guiding him, it was awesome. We left him with the commitment to pray this week with his wife. When the lesson was done he said we could come back this Friday! I was so grateful that Heavenly Father answered my prayers, and that he filled my mind with the words that Pablo needed to hear. Following the lesson with Pablo, elder Cherry and I decided to go to Southlake town square and do some contacting. While there were able to teach two groups of youth lessons, as well as hand out a couple Book of Mormons and lesson pamphlets:) It was the most amazing day and I will never forget it! The following morning we went back to one of the people who told us to come back while we were trackting. When we entered their house we found out that they were Hindu, they even had this temple/shrine place where some of the family was praying in. It was very beautiful. We were able to teach one of the brother-in-laws in the house. He also taught us some of his beliefs. It was crazy how similar our two religions are! It was a wonderful visit and I have a great respect for the Hindu religion now, they are very humble and kind people. After the lesson we went and finished racking Charles's leaves. It was a lot of hard work, but we finally got it done. Elder Brown and Cathgaurt came and helped us finish. It was fun to see his yard clean from leaves, and the huge pile of bags full of leaves by the side of the road:)
       It truly has been an amazing week, and I can't wait to see all of the other miracles that will happen this week. I know God lives, I know Jesus Christ Atoned for our sins and i know that if we pray sincerely that our prayers will be answered!

Love,

Elder Griffin 


P.S. Here is a picture of all the leaves we raked:)