5.4.15
This week has flown by! Lots of new faces, new responsibilities
and a new area! It has been quite the adventure getting used to everything, but
I have a good feeling about Woodland Springs:)
The area is pretty small, which means we do a lot
of walking. One of the great things about walking is that you get a better
chance to talk to everyone. On a bike it can be kind of awkward to talk to
people:) This area is going to be perfect for me, because it is in what we call
"finding mode" Which means that there are not very many investigators
and so a lot of contacting needs to happen. This will help me get better at
talking to everyone I see, It will be hard at times, but I am excited to meet
lots of amazing people. My new companion is named elder Mohrmann. He has been
out 3 months. He has a great desire to be obedient and hard working missionary.
He also loves to joke around and have fun. He is also good at voice impressions
and can do a spot on Kronk impression from the movie "Emperors New
Grove":) I also like that he is bold in his teachings and is not afraid to
give a commitment. My new ward is also awesome! I have only meet a few members,
but they are all extremely nice and humble people. The ward is also smaller,
which will make it easier to get to know everyone:) I haven't meet the bishop
yet, but from what I heard he is a pretty cool guy.
My first dinner in Woodland Springs was
awesome! We went over to a members house called the Pease. They are younger and
have two cute little kids under the age of 7. The ward had just had a talent
show, and the Pease had sang the Frozen song called "Love is an open
door". Well they found out that I am a huge Frozen fan and so they sang
the song for me right in their living room! It was so cool! They were literally
spot on, it sounded exactly like the movie. I couldn't stop smiling the whole
night:) Elder Morhmann also shared a really good lesson on the power of the
Priesthood and showed a really powerful video called "Sanctify
yourselves".
This last week we also did a lot of street contacting. We did
are best to talk to everyone we saw. One of my favorite contacts was with a
really cool guy named Chris. He was out handing out flyers for a lawn care
business and had stopped to take a break in the park. We went up and started
talking to him. He told us all about the business and how his day had been. As
he was talking about the business I was thinking to myself "this sounds
pretty good, why aren't more people interested?" and then I started
thinking about what we do as missionaries and I could ask my self the same
question. If people would just listen to what we have to offer, they would see
how incredible our message really is. They would see that we aren't trying to
make a quota, or convert people to our church, but rather share with them real
truth, that will bring them to a new understanding of who Christ is and what He
really has done for them. We shared a Book of Mormon with Chris and he seemed
pretty open to the idea of reading it. He has a really good heart, and some day
when missionaries knock on his door in Fort Worth (that is where he lives) I
hope that he will let them in and allow them to start preparing him to become
part of the kingdom of God here on the earth. We also had a really nice
lesson/visit with one of our investigators named Bob Frost. He is the nicest,
most sincere man I have ever meet. He made me feel very welcome and you can't
help but smile when your around him. He has been meeting with missionaries for
two years now. He only has one thing holding him back from getting baptized and
that is his fear of water. As a child he was harshly abused by his step-father,
and one of the ways he abused him had to do with water. The stories he told us
were horrible and made my heart go out to this man. He told us that he is
haunted pretty regularly by his childhood memories and has struggled with it
for 60 years! Since he has been taught all of the lessons, we have been reading
with him from the Book of Mormon, because he has a hard time doing it one his
own. While we read, he brings up questions and concerns that lead to good
gospel conversation. I have a strong feeling that if he truly understands the
Atonement of Jesus Christ that he will be able to over come his fear of water
and will be able to lift this burden that has been with him for way to long. He
really want him to understand that Jesus Christ has felt the exact pain and
hurt that he has felt. I know that if he can come to this understanding that he
will be baptized. We are going to focus more on the Atonement the next time we
visit him.
This week will be a wonderful week and it will be fun to
see what other amazing people/ members I will meet. I love you all and hope you
are enjoying the beautiful spring weather:)
Love,
Elder Griffin
P.S.
This is a picture of two of my favorite families in Southlake. The first one is
Sister Harris and her son Jason. Sister Harris reminds me so much of you mom
and Jason could seriously be one of my best friends! The second family is the
Sheehans. They are so cool and are always making me laugh. There son came home
from his mission on medical release and we grew to love him instantly.
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