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1.11.16

This week has been a little crazy, but staying busy has been super

nice. The first day I got here we had a really cool experience with

and potential investigator named Joe. The apartment complex told them

that he was going to be kicked out of his apartment in 3 days. He had

no money, no support from his family and no place to go and stay at.

On top of that he is out of medicine for a kidney disease he has and

he is achey all the time. We tried to comfort him,  but it was super

hard, because neither of us had even been close to his situation. We

left him with a prayer and told him we would keep in touch. That night

as we were planning we got a text from him, pretty much saying that he

was ready to give up. He was super depressed and was literally at the

breaking point. We told him we would come over right away. He also had

not eaten for a couple of days, so we brought him so food some members

had given us. When we got there he was super sad and even started to

cry a little. We gave him a hug and then gave him the food. He was

super grateful. We then sat down and just listened to him. On top of

all the things that I mentioned above, he told us his friend had just

died from an over dose. Joe used to be a drug user and dealer, but had

decided to change his life. He expresses to us that he didn't

understand why this was happening to him when he was doing his best to

turn his life around. He said that he could reach out to his old

friend group, get a place to stay and a job sealing drugs. He said

even though he could have money and a place to stay, he wouldn't want

to go back to that lifestyle. I was amazed at his determination and

will. He literally had nothing, and he was still willing to stay away

from his old life. We had a really good discussion about the purpose

of life and the importance of using our agency to choose the right. We

also talked to him about how time is short on earth and every moment

is a gift from God and should not be wasted. We also told him about

the power of turning to God in prayer and the power of Christ's grace.

The spirit was very strong the whole time, and I know that he was

guiding our words. When we left his whole disposition had changed. I'm

so grateful that God allowed us to help lift this man, and help him

find hope again. It was a really neat experience.

      Also this week we had a zone council. I was pretty nervous for

it, because Hurst is a lot bigger then the Arlington zone and I get a

little nervous when I have to give trainings in front of big groups.

It ended up going really well and e missionaries in this zone are

really cool. They are all super nice and supportive. I'm pretty

excited to get to know all of them better:) It really is amazing how

Heavenly Father really does know us and what we need to grow and be

happy. I truly do have a testimony of his love for his children.

   This week we also got to work at this animal shelter. Elder Thomas

and I got to clean out this larger dog kennels. He would bring the

dogs out of the cages and then we would spray them down with a power

washer. It was super fun to use. At first the smell of  dogs and there

waste was almost unbearable, but after we started spraying this bleach

stuff on it, it wasn't as bad. It was pretty sad to see all of the

dogs in these little cages. They were wining and barking like crazy.

Hopefully they will have a nice family to live with some day!  After

cleaning the cages we were able to play with these kittens, they were

pretty cute. We will be going there every week.

I love you guys and hope you have a good week!

Elder Griffin