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