Monday, March 16, 2015

Pablo, Brian & Yohanna


3.16.15                        

It is finally warming up here in Texas! The snow was fun, but I am glad to finally see some sunshine. This week we were able to meet with Pablo, and had a wonderful lesson on Judgement/ the 3 kingdoms of glory. Every time we have lessons at Pablo's house the spirit is so strong, and I know that Heavenly Father is really working on his heart. It has been so fun to see the change that is occurring in him over a 2 month period. He is over coming all of his concerns and I believe he is very close to being baptized. Also this Sunday he came to all 3 hours of church!! This is huge, because he always goes home after Sacrament meeting. I really hope he continues to have a good experience at church. So far, the members have been great! Also this week we had a very interesting discussion with a man named Brian. Brian is really big into reading and figuring out the signs of the times. He studies stars and looks at these crazy things called bible codes. After our meeting with him I had a pretty big headache:) I showed us some pretty crazy stuff! According to him after March 20th the end of the world is supposed to start:) We were able to set up a time to come by and actually teach him our message. I really hope that he will see the truth and happiness in our message. He is all about being prepared, so if we show him that   This week we also had a chance to teach a German exchange student that is living with one of the members in our ward. Her name is Yohanna. One of the young men gave her a Book of Mormon and in a matter of days she read half way through Mosiah! Well we taught her the Restoration, which was pretty hard due to the fact that she didn't feel comfortable answering any of the questions we asked her and there was a slight language barrier. I am not sure how much of the message she understood, but I know the spirit was present and I hope she was able to feel it's peace and power. We will be teaching her the Plan of Salvation next, which I think will be a little bit easier to understand. Also the member she is staying with have her a German book of Mormon, which should be a big help:)  
Well I have to go, but I love you all and hope you have a wonderful St Patrick's day!!

Love,

Elder Griffin
 Here is a picture of me holding an Arabic Book of Mormon:)


Thursday, March 12, 2015

Snow in Texas!

3.2.15
 Since I emailed Thursday and I am very short on time, I will have to be brief today, but I did want to share a cool experience we had this Sunday. About a month ago elder Brown and I were trackting in this neighborhood and he got a prompting to go down this side street. We went down it and it lead to this other street. We started knocking doors on that street. The second door we knocked this man answered that was really nice, but said he was busy at the moment. After we got of his porch elder Brown said that was the house the spirit wanted us to knock on. Well I decided that we were going to go back to that house yesterday. When we started walking up to the house a younger lady opened it and told us to come and get dry under her porch, her name was Alyssa. We started talking to her and we found out that she was a less-active member and that she loved missionaries! She didn't have her records transferred to our stake, so we didn't even know she existed. She told us that her parents lived in Louisville and that they were very active. She was extremely nice and said that we were welcome to come back anytime. It was a small, but amazing miracle. I hope that we can help her get back on the straight and narrow and allow her to see how happy the gospel can make you! 
   We also had one more cool experience that happened Sunday. On the same street that Alyssa lives on, elder Phipps got this distinct impression that said "elder, go knock on that door". The crazy thing was that he said it sounded like it was me telling him that, but I didn't say a word. Well we unfortunately kept riding, but after a while we decided that the impression was too strong  to ignore and we went back. Elder Phipps said it was one of two houses, so we knocked on the first one and no one answered. We knocked on the second one and this nice lady named Lisa answered the door. As we started a conversation with her, she told us that she had grown up going to the LDS church with her Step grandmother, and that at one point she had even stood up for Joseph Smith when he was getting bashed at a church she attended! We asked her if we could come back and share a message and she agreed:) Elder Phipps and I have a really good feeling about her. I am very excited to share the Restoration with her. I truly learned the importance of following the promptings of the spirit. Every day God is placing people in our lives that are ready to receive the gospel, and all we have to do is be ready to head the promptings of the spirit the moment they come. 
     Well I have to run, but I love you all so much and pray you are all keeping safe and warm this winter season! God is real, he answers prayers and he is always watching over us and protecting is.

Love,

Elder Griffin

this is a picture of me in the crazy Texas snow storm!:)      


I love sharing the message of the Restoration

We started off the week with a really awesome lesson with a guy named Dan. Dan is a really cool guy that elder Phipps and elder Cherry found on exchange. He is super nice and is what I call an honest seeker of truth. When they first contacted Dan they left him with a Book of Mormon and set a return appointment. Well this Tuesday we went to his house and were able to share lesson 1 with him. Before the lesson he talked about how for 7 years he had been in contact with multiple LDS people, which lead him to wanting to really know what we believe. The power of being a good example is so real! The lesson was a really solid lesson and Dan was asking tones of questions! I love when investigators ask questions, it means that they really have a desire to know what is right. I absolutely love sharing the message of the Restoration. It is an incredible message that is so pure and true. I never get tired of telling the story of Joseph Smith and explaining how much happiness the Book of Mormon can bring. Also at the begging of the lesson Dan shared how Jesus Christ had helped keep him and his wife together. It was really neat to hear his experience. At the end of the lesson he told us that he will read and pray about the Book of Mormon! We also scheduled another appointment a week from this Tuesday. I think he is really going to like the Plan of Salvation.
    Also this Saturday elder Phipps and I had a really cool experience with a couple named Russ and Ann. They have been taught by a lot of missionaries, but have never been baptized. Well for for about 3 months now we have been meeting with them, but progression was really not being made. Last week we called them to set up another appointment, and during the phone call Ann told us that she felt bad that we were coming over, because she said she doesn't want to be a Mormon. Well I told her that we at least wanted to come over one more time. At first I was kind of anxious and a tad bit nervous, but on the bike ride there I felt a calming peace come over me. The meeting with them went much better then I could have ever imagined. It was really cool, because right off the back Ann just opened up and told us what was holding her back from getting baptized. Her big concern was that she didn't think Joseph Smith was a prophet. I told her off my experience of getting a testimony of Joseph Smith. The spirit was so strong, and I knew that both Russ and Ann could feel it. We were both also able to testify of the truthfulness of the gospel and promised her that if she sincerely asked God if Joseph Smith was a prophet that he would answer her. In closing we told them that we loved them very much and if they ever had anymore questions or wanted to learn more we would always be there for them. I left feeling very good about the meeting, and knew that the meeting had been guided by the spirit. As we got to the end of the street, elder Phipps stopped and said he needed to take a minute to think about how the lesson went. He then went on to tell me that he had been prompted to share a scripture with them, but had been to afraid to share it. He started to get a feeling that he needed to go back. He really didn't want to go back,because they were getting ready for bed and he felt like it would be super awkward. He said a prayer, and he continued to get the same feeling. He asked me what I felt and I said I felt good about going home. He then asked me to pray and ask Heavenly Father the same question. I felt confident in my answer, but I decided to do it any way. As I finished my prayer, I started to get a unsettling feeling. I stood there for a while and thought about what we should do. I finally decided I would support whatever elder Phipps decided. Well he decided to go back. As we got closer to the house, we saw that most of the lights were now off. Elder Phipps decided to still knock on the door. They answered and were actually very nice about it. They invited us in and elder Phipps shared the scripture where Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus says that knowledge came to him from God. (through the Holy Ghost) It was the perfect scripture to share and it was exactly what they needed to hear! Ann committed a second time to pray and ask God her questions, but this time when she said it she had more conviction in her voice. It was an amazing experience I will never forget and I learned the power of following the promptings of the spirit.
   Well I am off to play some basketball, but I know this is the true Church and that if we have faith in Jesus Christ we can over come and stand strong through anything.

Love,


Elder Griffin