Thursday, March 24, 2016

All in White!


3.21.16
This Saturday Ralph, Junior and Emily all got baptized! It was as
beautiful service and everything went great. We were a little worried
at first that not very many people would show up, but as it got closer
to starting tones of members from the ward came. I was so thankful for
their support. Elder Thomas baptized Junior, an awesome member named
Sam Cripe baptized Ralph and I got to baptized Emily. It was a
wonderful experience! I am so grateful that everything turned out
well, our prayers were answered.
  This week we were also able to have an awesome exchange with the
assistants. I was able to go to their area with elder Brown. We came
out together, so it was fun to catch up. We were able to have some
great lessons. My favorite one was with this guy named Sam. He has
been investigating the church for almost a year now, and has even had
several baptismal dates. The spirit lead our lesson with him and we
were able to find out his concern. He told us that he has doubts about
the Book of Mormon. We went over the importance of the Book of Mormon
and how to gain a witness of it. There was also a member at the lesson
who shared a powerful testimony about the power of the Book of Mormon.
He said that he suffers from major depression and takes medication to
help him overcome it. He said that there are some days where even the
medicine is not enough to make him feel better, and that the only
thing that helps him fell peace is when he reads the Book of Mormon.
It was awesome! Elder Brown also asked him if he would get baptized on
April 9th if he got a witness that the Book of Mormon is true. Jim
said that he would be baptized the next day if he got that witness. He
is such a good guy, and I have a good feeling about him getting a
witness. During the first part of the lesson the member asked Jim what
his purpose was here on earth. Jim said that it was to love and serve
those around him. He would be such a good member and God could use his
desires and talents to bless so many of his children. I was grateful
for the opportunity I had to be a part of his life.
  We had another cool experience last night. We had two lessons
planned that night, one at 7 and one at 8. We had decided to try and
stop by a less active lady we have been helping get back to church
before we went to our lesson at 7. We had our member pick us up at the
church at 6:15, we then headed to her house. We knocked on the door
and someone let us in. When we got inside a lot of her family was
there. We learned that today was the less active ladies son's birthday
who had passed away in a car accident years ago. The whole family had
just got done with a family prayer together. We were able to sit down
with her and talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and testify
about the reality of the resurrection. We also showed her the new
Easter video. Our member also made some great comments and shared a
story about a general authority that had lost a son. We were also able
to giver her a blessing. It was a pretty neat experience, and I hope
she continues to see the joy and peace the gospel can bring to her.
        Well I think that's about it, but I hope you all have a great week. I
want Duncan to know that I love him and am praying for him. Your
amazing buddy! Keep being brave, everything is going to be ok!


Love, Elder Griffin

Got to go to the temple!

3.14.16
This week all three of our investigators with baptismal dates have
been interview and found ready to enter the waters of baptism!:) They
will be getting baptized this Saturday at 11. It has been quite the
journey with all three of them, but I can testify that God has been
there the whole time. We have seen little miracles the whole time we
have been teaching them.
 This week we had our zone council. The begging was a little rough,
because no one was making comments, and we were really wanting it to
turn into a discussion. The second half of the council went a lot
better. I was able to lead a training/discussion on the Atonement. It
helped get everyone a little more energetic and there were a lot of
beautiful testimonies and comments made. That's what I love about the
topic of Jesus Christ and his atonement, it's the fastest way to bring
the spirit into any setting. During the council we talked about how
everything we teach is centered around the Atonement.  Prophets, the
scriptures, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Restoration and the Plan
of Salvation would lose it's purpose if it were not for Jesus Christ.
There is a quote by Joseph Smith that I love it says " No doctrine in
the gospel is more important than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If
the gospel were compared to a wheel, the Atonement would be the hub
and all other doctrines would be the spokes emanating from the hub. As
the Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “The fundamental principles of our
religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning
Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day,
and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our
religion are only appendages to it”. We also talked then tied the
Atonement training into the churches new Easter initiative. It's very
similar to the Christmas one they did last Easter. The new video is
pretty good, it shows a lot of adults sharing their testimonies of
Jesus Christ and his resurrection. If you haven't seen it go watch it
at Followhim.mormon.org! Then go post it on your social media:) We are
excited to use it to find more people to teach.
   This Friday I had the opportunity to go to the temple with elder
Thomas. We went to go see a man that elder Thomas baptized a year and
a half ago get sealed to his wife. Elder Thomas's trainer, who has
been home for over a year, picked us up and took us to the temple.
While we were waiting we got to take part in a couple of sealings for
the dead. We got to act as sons. It was great! Then we went through an
endowment session and then watched the sealing. I love the temple and
the spirt that dwells there! There is nothing like it in the whole
world. Brother Wright, a member form Woodland Springs that I loved,
was also at the sealing. It was really fun to see him!
   I love you all and will be praying for each one of you. Have a great week!

Love,


Elder Griffin

Wonderful Meetings


3.7.16
This week was full of wonderful meetings! The first one we were able
to attend was zone conference. The focus of our zone conference was
becoming more persuasive teachers and how we can help our
investigators keep their commitments. One of the coolest parts of the
conference was when President Ames taught us all five of the
missionary lessons in 10 minutes and connected all of them together.
It was neat to be able to take a step back and see the whole picture.
It really strengthened my testimony of truthfulness of this gospel.
What an amazing message we have to share!
 The next meeting was the missionary leadership council on Friday. Our
focus in that meeting was the Atonement and the new Easter initiative
the church is going to be starting on March 13th. During the meeting
President showed a series of bible videos that included the triumphal
entry into Jerusalem, the suffering in Gethsemane, the different
trials, the crucifixion and the resurrection. He also bore his
testimony and shared his personal thoughts about the Atonement. The
spirt was so strong the whole time, and my love for the Savior grew a
lot. We then talked about how we can use the new Easter initiative to
share the Restoration and find new investigators. We talked about how
a lot of times we focus on the first vision when we talk about the
Restoration, but we have to also remember to always connect everything
we teach back to the Atonement. The Restoration fully activated the
Atonement of Jesus Christ, because of the Restoration we now know that
we need to have faith in Jesus Chrsit, repent, get baptized by someone
holding the very same authority that Jesus Christ, and then receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost that allows us to be cleansed and purified.
We then endure to the end, by continuing to keep the commandments and
the covenants we make. It was a great meeting!
  The Binklies are still doing great, and we are making good progress
with them. The ward has been great, and we have been able to bring
tones of different members over to fellowship. Ralph has had a pretty
rough week. His health is not doing so great, so please keep him in
your prayers! We were also able to see Charles. Last week he sent us
an email that had a lot of questions concerning some of our doctrine.
We looked over it and elder Thomas had the idea to share Alma 32 and
talk about having the faith to trust what we are teaching him and open
up a place in his heart where the spirit will be able to testify to
him concern the truths we are teaching him. We also shared the
articles of faith with him. It was good to help him simply state what
are major beliefs are. We also invited him to church, he wasn't able
to come this week, but he said he would love to come another week! He
is such a great man, and we always enjoy the visits with him.
        I wish you all a happy week!


Love, Elder Griffin

Charles

2.29.16
This morning we decided to start our P-day by going on a trail run. We
went to the same place we hiked around at a couple of weeks ago. It
was so much fun!! It is such a blessing to have a companion who enjoys
physical fitness and the beauty of nature.
        All three of our baptismal dates are still good to go for the 19th of
March! We were able to have two good lessons with the Binklies this
week, as well as two good lessons with Ralph. The ward has been super
supportive and we have been able to bring a lot of awesome members to
the lessons with the BInklies, who have really been able to add to our
lessons and provide great fellowship. The ward also continues to be a
huge help to Ralph. They are creating a list of all of the things that
need to be done in his house, and will be helping get his house up and
running. They are hoping to make it into a service project.
  We were also able to have a great lesson with Charles! He had
emailed us a couple days before our lesson and told us a couple of
concerns he had with the Book of Mormon and other doctrinal things he
didn't agree with. We text him and told him that we would be able to
try are best to answer his questions. We went over to his house this
Saturday and he told us what his concerns were. After he was done
telling us about his concerns, I felt like we should teach him the
Apostasy. The lesson went really well, and he totally agreed that the
world had fallen into an apostasy. We also watched Joseph Smith's
first vision with him. He told us that he is going to have to do a lot
of studying and praying. He is also really big on going to God and
seeking truth from him. We told him that was exactly what we wanted
him to do! Charles also told us about his conversion to Christ and how
much his life has changed because of it, it was a very inspiring
story. Charles is a very sincere man, and I can see the light of
Christ in his eyes. We are continuing to prayer that he will receive a
witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. He is already close
to finishing 2 Nephi:)
  We were also able to meet with one of our investigators named Ray.
We had a lesson with him about the baptismal covenant as well as the
importance of taking the sacrament. We also extended a baptismal
invitation for the 23rd of April. He told us that his desire is to be
baptized, but that he would have to pray about the 23rd. He bore a
beautiful testimony of the reality of God and told us how grateful he
was for God's hand in his life.
  We have been so blessed in this area! God is providing many people
for us to teach, and I am so grateful for the opportunities he is
giving. He truly is aware of our needs and wants each one of his
children to have joy. I love you all and hope you have a safe week!
Elder Griffin