Training a greenie!

7.20.15

Today I learned that I will be training a new missionary:) I am super excited, but nervous at the same time. It will be super fun to be able to teach someone how to be a missionary. We are going to have a blast, I can't wait to meet him. We are going to make Woodland Springs 2nd, the best area in the mission!

   This week was a good week, we were able to see some good things happen in both our areas. Probably my favorite thing that happened this week was being able to teach Jeff again. We went over to his house with this really cool member in our ward named brother Goodrich. We sat down with Jeff and taught him the restoration. The lesson was a home run, he loved everything we taught him and he said that he believes it all. During the lesson we were really bold with him, and we talked a lot about baptism. He told us that he has really liked our visits, but that he will have to really study it out before he makes a commitment to join this church. We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he said he was really excited to read it. He is so sincere, I love it. It has been such a blessing to be able to get to know him and share with him something that can change his life for the better. This week we also talked to this really cool guy named Deon. He is a cop, and has the biggest biceps I have every seen. We got talking to him on his porch and found out that he doesn't believe/have a faith in Jesus Christ. He gave us some of the reasons for not believing. We told him that we would love to come over and help him gain that faith. He accepted. We were able to bare our testimonies on the Savior. I am very excited to help someone come to know Jesus Christ. He is going to feel so much more love, and peace in his life. Please pray that his heart will be softened and open when we teach him. This week I was also able to go to this new trainer meeting, where President Ames and the AP's gave us instruction. It was the most inspiring meeting and I came away excited to be a representative of Jesus Christ. During the meeting we talked a lot about the culture of our mission, and it was amazing to see how awesome this mission really is. President Ames has such a clear vision of what he wants us to become, and where he know that this mission can go. I will forever be grateful for him and how he is helping me become the missionary, and future husband I know I can be. 

  I hope everyone has a good week! Resist the temptations of the devil, get power from the scriptures, feel the peace of the temple and invite the spirit to be with you in every moment of your day.

Love,

Elder Griffin       

Teaching and Preaching

7.13.15

So this week I was put in another trio! Originally elder Fullmer and I were in a trio with the trophy club elder, but driving back and forth between the two areas was pretty hard, so president decided that elder Fullmer would stay with elder Ray in Trophy Club and I would be in a trio with the Woodland Springs 1st elders. It has been pretty crazy, but we are making the most of it and have a good old time.

   This week one of the elders that I am in a trio with (elder Jacobson) had to get surgery on his pinky, because he broke it wrestling his companion:) He was video tapped and it was super funny to watch him while he was still feeling the affects of the drugs, he said some pretty random funny things. He is quite the trooper, because he can only use one hand to do everything. He will be ok though, he is a tough cookie.

   This week we were able to meet some pretty cool people while tracting. The first one was a guy named Royce. We started talking religion with him, and found out that he interacts with quite a few Mormons in his work field. He was a super open guy and accepted a Book of Mormon. He also said he would be willing to learn more. We also meet this really nice couple. They just barley moved in to our area. They really respected us and what we do. They allowed us to share the Restoration with them. After we told Joseph Smith's story, the wife said that the story of the first vision was definitely something she could believe in. What I really liked about our interaction with them was that I could feel that they really could tell that we were being sincere about our message. They both agreed to read the Book of Mormon. I also liked that they said they would really need to study what we believe before they joined Christ's church. This shows that they are honest seekers of truth, and that this decision they might be making is very serious. They were so cool! We also taught this senior in high school named Branden. We had a good conversation about how religion shapes our life, and how it truly keeps us safe and happy. He told us that his mom's side isn't very churchy and they are pretty wild. On the other hand he said his dad goes to church every week and has his head on straight and has a purpose. We shared the restoration with him. He really felt the spirit while we were sharing the first vision. We asked him how he felt. He got a smile on his face and told us he felt happy and good inside. Seeing peoples eyes light up when they hear the truth is a wonderful experience, and I am grateful that he was able to feel the spirit. This week we were also able to teach a youth lesson to a girl in our ward named Sarah. She is so awesome! She shared with us how she gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It was a powerful testimony and it brought the spirit strong into the room. Our youth our so awesome! Even though the world is evil and full of sin, it is so refreshing to see teenagers who know who they are and where they are going. It is such a blessing in my life to be able to interact and teach these youth.

   Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Griffin 

We won the cleanest car award!

Terrific Trio

7.6.15

This week has been very busy and a little stressful. On Monday we got a call from the zone leaders and we were informed that an elder in our district had gone home due to health reasons. His companion did not have a companion, and so president put him with us, so for a week now we have been trying to cover our area and his area. It has been a lot of work and planning, but we have had a lot of fun together. 

   This week we had the chance to go and teach a less active lady named Vicky. She has not been to church in a long time, because she struggles with believing in God. We went over with bishop and had a super good discussion with her about God. She shared with us an experience she had were she believed that God had used her to help this lady who was stuck at a gas station. She said that she knows that there was defiantly a higher power involved. We told her that whenever doubt comes that she needs to remember back to the times that she did know God was real and let that over come the doubt. We also committed her to pray and ask if God is real and if He loved her and we promised that she would receive an answer. Also while we were there bishop committed all of her kids to come to church. It was awesome! Her kids are really sweet, and have gone to church in the past and really liked it. One of the little kids said that she has prayed every night since the missionaries told her to. She was so sweet, and I love how pure and innocent children are. 

   This week we also worked in Trophy club for a couple of days (this is the other area we are covering for a little while) While we were their we were able to teach one of their investigators named Gayle. She is such a sweet lady. We taught her the Restoration and she loved it. She was a little confused about what made our church so different then any other church, so we had a really good conversation about the restoration of the priesthood. Once we were able to explain it she understood and said that if she came to know it's true that she would be baptized, she even said that her husband would probably be interested as well! I see good things in the future for Gayle, once she gets into that Book of Mormon the spirit will do the rest. What a blessing it is to be able to have the Book of Mormon. We also were able to see this really nice lady named Rosy. She was also a sweet lady. She told us how much she loves the missionaries, and how she really likes the spirit they bring into her house. As she was telling her religious background and all of the experiences she has had it was so cool to see how close to God she really is. She had this little box of scriptures/quotes that she would read every day. She told us that she has even came to general conference before, and that

 she really liked all of the messages that were given. We invited her to church and told her that we wanted to start meeting with her more often. I guess in the past she has had a hard time keeping commitments, but this time around it is going to be different. We are going to show her that these commitments like living the word of wisdom and coming to church will only make her happy and allow her to feel the spirit more in her life. 

  This Sunday we had quite the adventure. Due to us covering two areas, we had to go to both wards meetings. In our ward we had to teach gospel doctrines, primary and priest quorum. It was a little crazy and we were all pretty tired after, but I am glad that the ward trusts us. Having the trust of the ward is so critical to missionary work! After that we went to the Trophy club ward. Their testimony meeting was awesome! All of the testimonies were focused around not giving up on the gospel and holding on to the spiritual experiences when doubt comes. It was awesome! It is always good to hear solid gospel principle centered testimonies that are born from the heart. We also had a good lesson in elders quorum. For the first part of it we talked a lot about Elder Packer. What a wonderful man he was, he did so much to help build God's kingdom here on the earth. I know he will be a powerful addition to help share the gospel to all those in the spirit world.

    Well I love you and am glad everyone had a good 4th of July weekend! Remember that the family is ordained of God and that nothing the world can do can destroy that. I am very grateful for a prophet on this earth, that will lead all who will listen to him safely back to our loving Heavenly Father.    

Love,Elder Griffin

 Picture of the terrific trio!