Kronk, Frozen and Why aren't they more interested?

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. 

Leaving Southlake and Becoming a DL

4.27.15

This Wednesday is transfers, and I will be leaving good old Southlake and heading up to the Alliance stake in a ward called Woodland Springs. I am becoming a district leader and will be follow up training a missionary. I am pretty nervous, but know that God will be with me every step of the way. It will also be a time of great growth and a chance to be of service to the missionaries in my district. It will be so hard to leave all of the amazing people I have meet, especially the people I got to teach, but I know that I will meet amazing people in my new area as well. 

    This week we were sadly not able to teach Pablo, due to a trip they are taking to Hawaii, but they did take us out to dinner at this amazing BBQ place! It was fun to be with them, and I have complete faith that elder Phipps and elder Thomas (the new Southlake elder) will continue to help him towards the waters of baptism. It was such a blessing to teach Pablo, and I have never felt the spirit more strong then when in his home. I will miss him, and hope that someday I can bump into him again:) We were also able to teach Denisse again this week. We taught her at an older couples home named the Baileys. They are the sweetest couple and treat us like there children. Denisse's lesson was on tithing and fast offering. The lesson went great, and brother and sister Bailey both gave great insights. Denisse is now excited to pay fast offerings:) This week we were also able to teach 3 youth lessons. A youth lesson is where we teach youth, 14 and older, the missionary lessons. They are really cool, and our whole purpose in doing them is to strengthen their personal testimonies. This one young man we are teaching, named Michael, has a lot of struggles with the church and gaining a testimony. This last Friday we had a good lesson with him on strengthening his relationship with God through consistent prayer and scripture study. Towards the end of the lesson we committed him to read and pray daily and promised that he would find power and strength in both. He was very excited to start developing these good habits. It was fun to see him get excited about the commitment:) This Saturday we also had a good discussion with a man named Trenton. He is the coolest guy and knows a tone about the scriptures! During our discussion he was bringing up all of these beliefs he has, which he found by reading the bible:), that go perfectly along with what we believe. He also loves the Book of Mormon, and is already developing a testimony of the truthfulness of it. He is also a very spiritual man and is very in tune with God.  He also told us this amazing story of how he came to believe in Jesus Christ. He said it all happen at a Omish-like community down in Costa Rica! The story involved him getting a ride with a Mennonite preacher in a rickety old van up a mountain pass called the "mountain of Death" It was the most amazing story! The only problem Trenton has, is that he doesn't believe in organized religion. Elder Phipps is going to help him fix that concern next Saturday. 

   We also found out some exciting news this week. A man named Walter Gamen is getting baptized!!!! His wife and 2 of his children joined the church about 3 years ago, but he didn't join with them. For almost three years he has been coming to church and even helps teach primary with his wife. He had stopped talking the lessons, but would allow spiritual lessons and visits. Finally after a lot of prayers, and a lot of missionaries/missionary lessons he has decided to get baptized!President Ames was a huge help in getting him baptized. He will be baptized on May 7th. Also President Ames said that I can come to his baptism, even though I am getting transferred! It will be awesome:) 

   I love you all, and again am so grateful for all of your love and support. This is the true church, and the blessings of heaven will be poured upon us as we keep the commandments and follow our Savior Jesus Christ.

Love, Elder Griffin

P.S. here is a picture of Pablo and his sweet wife Dana:) The other picture is of Trenton, the guy with the cool stories.  

Rain, Mud & Service with a Cherry on top!

4.20.15

This week Texas had so much rain! Texas storms are really cool, the rain comes down in thick waves and the lightning is so cool! The people here are really happy, because the lakes in Texas really need the water.

   This week I had a really good exchange with elder Cherry. Going into our exchanges we always make a goal, and my goal was to get better at contacting. The first thing we did, after we had lunch, was go to Grapevine main street. There are lots of people her, so it was a perfect place to talk to people. We started talking to people and we meet this really cool lady named Tara. We taught her the Restoration and talked a lot about Joseph Smith. She had lots of questions and really liked what she heard. She even accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. At the end of our discussion we asked her if we could say a prayer and she asked us if she could say a prayer for us. She put her hands on both of our shoulder and said a really beautiful and sweet prayer. It was funny, because during the prayer she looked at our tags to see what our names were and when she got to elder Cherry's name she said "bless elder Cherry, cherry on top God" It was really funny:) Also during the exchange we had dinner with this really nice family, the Backer family. They had all of this cute little kids that were all over the place during dinner:) Reminded me a lot of our big family gatherings back home. We shared a really powerful Book of Mormon video by elder Holland and committed the family to give a Book of Mormon to one of their friends. We also went trackting in this apartment complex. We talked to a lot of cool people, and even set a return appointment with a really nice man who was walking his dog. We also talked to this recently married lady about temples and eternal marriage. She was really nice, and accepted a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was a really fun exchange, and it really helped me be better at talking to people. 

   This week we were also able to teach Pablo again. The lesson was on following the prophets. Towards the end of the lesson we got into a really good discussion about gaining a personal testimony the gospel. It was awesome, and during it we were able to help resolve some of his concerns. We also committed Pablo to personally read and pray about the Book of Mormon daily. He has been reading with his wife, but for some reason hasn't been reading on his own. It was cool, because when we asked him why he wanted to go through with this commitment he said "because I want to know it's true" This simple answer made my spirit leap for joy. He is such a good man, and I can see the spirit changing his life. Also this Sunday in elders quorum we had a really good lesson on Joseph Smith. There were some really cool stories shared as well as testimonies. The spirit was strong, which Pablo really needed,  because last week he didn't have a very good experience in elder's quorum. They are taking us out to eat tomorrow, so we are super excited:)

  Yohanna is also doing great. She is still reading her scriptures, praying and coming to church. The Wade family has also been such a blessing for her. Yohanna calls them multiple times a week to ask questions, have gospel discussions and get comfort. We have also been talking about getting in touch with the ward in Germany near her home town. That way when she goes back to Germany, she can still have contact with the church and continue to learn and grow her testimony. She is such a good example to me of what pure faith looks like.

This Sunday we were also privileged to have elder Robbins of the presidency of the seventy speak at our sacrament meeting. He gave a really good talk on love, and how it is a commandment from God. It was really good, he even talked briefly about the importance of loving your companion and how it is preparing you for marriage:) His talk was just what I needed. He also talked about how the mission field is the Lord's university for life. It was awesome, and really made me realize that all of the things I am learning are preparing me for the rest of eternity. It was a great experience, and I am glad we have such righteous and strong leaders like elder Robbins in the church.

   I wish you all the best, and hope your week is full of happiness and laughter!:)

Love,

Elder Griffin

P.S. Here is a picture of a service project we did for a kind lady, it was so muddy!

Cooper Miracle and Sidewalk Salvation!

4.6.15

This was a wonderful Easter/General conference week. How blessed are we to be able to celebrate the glorious message of Jesus Christ rising from the dead, as well as to be able to hear from our prophet and apostles.

    This has been a wonderful week full of blessings from a loving Heavenly Father. I started the week out by going on exchange with Elder Partridge. It was a great exchange, and I was able to get lots of good advice and encouragement. On our exchange we had a meeting with a lady who has been a member for about 8 months. She was telling us about all of the hard things she has gone through, and it was super sad! She then went on to talk about how she really wants to be a visiting teacher so she can start helping those in need. She said that helping others, helps her forget how hard she has it. What a true principle. If ever we feel like our troubles and trials our to much to bare, just look up and find someone to serve. It works every time:) Also this week elder Phipps and I had another great lesson at Pablo's. The lesson was on obedience and prayer and I think it really helped him to get a step closer to over coming his addiction to tea and coffee. Pablo also came over to the Williams this Saturday morning to watch a session of general conference. After it was over we were talking to sister Williams and she said that Pablo had a really good experience. He loved how lots of the talks were focused on families. Also when Pablo was at priesthood session, he talked about maybe moving his baptismal date earlier! He is so close, it is so exciting:) This week we also had another good lesson with Denisse. During the lesson we talked a lot about repentance and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Denisse told us a couple of instances in her life where she has seen the Holy Ghost bless her life. She also shared times before her baptism where she had been influence by the Holy Ghost and how it had saved her from harm spiritually and psychically. She is so awesome, and is truly on the path back to her Heavenly Father. This week we were also able to meet with Dan. Before the meeting with him, we couldn't decided what to teach him. We did get some thoughts and feelings, but nothing that stuck. Well we started teaching him and it wasn't going very well. Then we really started listening and teaching based off of his needs and the lesson went a lot better! We got into a good discussion about the Book of Mormon. It was cool, because during the discussion Dan said "This is amazing!" It was so cool to see a testimony of the Book of Mormon start to develop in him. We also talked about temples and eternal families, which sparked his interest and really got him thinking. When we left he told us to give him a couple of weeks to read, and then we would meet again. If Dan takes the time to actually read it, he will be baptized, I can feel it. We also got to meet his sweet 7 year old daughter, she is a really sweet girl.:) 

      Elder Phipps and I also had a pretty cool experience this week with following the promptings of the spirit. So it was Thursday night and we had been trackting, and it was getting dark. We were standing at a street corner and deciding what we should do, because trackting after dark is not recommended. Well elder Phipps decided we should say a prayer, so we prayed and asked God what we should do. Before the prayer I had gotten a feeling to go knock on this door across the street.  After the prayer elder Phipps said we should keep going and I again knew we needed to knock on this door across the street. Well we knock on the door and start talking to this nice couple. As we continued to talk we learned that they knew a family in our ward named the Tietjens. We also learned that there son was Cooper!!!! Cooper was the very first person I taught when I got to Southlake. He was the one that had a baptismal date and then started hanging out with bad friends and stopped meeting with us. It was so crazy that we had trackted into Cooper's parents! We told them we knew Cooper and they became even friendlier. They told us we could come back. I have a good feeling about this family, and I think this may just be the way to get Cooper back on track:) It was an awesome experience, God truly is a god of miracles! Also this Sunday morning we had an Easter program at our stake center. It was full of beautiful music and talks. We also had a pretty good turn out of non-members. The last speaker was Glen Beck! He talked all about Jesus Christ's life how we need to have faith in God's promises to us. He was so animated, and at one point he was even pounding the pulpit:)     

     Well I love you all and hope you enjoyed Easter and Conference. President Monson truly is the prophet of God and through the direction of Jesus Christ leads His church on the earth today. How lucky are we to live in a world where the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in it's fullness!.

Love,

Elder Griffin

P.S. Here is a picture of the plan of salvation in chalk on the sidewalk!