I can't believe it... ahh!!! August 3, 2020

 Oh my goodness!! Hello to my family and friends for the last time, which is literally crazy and I still can't really believe it's here.. I still want to share all of the amazing experiences I had this last week so buckle up because there were sooooo many good ones!!

Monday we were able to eat dinner with Ms B and say goodbye to her and she is just one of the sweetest people I have ever met! She treats us so well and is so kind, I'm going to miss her! She fed us pizza and we brought salad and it was super fun! She always gave us good life advice and helped us grow into better women and it was super fun to know her!
We got a blizzard on the way home - yay!!!
That evening was another event that I will literally never forget, and something that made everything I've gone through worth it! We got a call from President Tveten around 6 pm that night and he asked us if we had anyone that could join the mission call and share their experience (kind of like Amanda did a while back) and we said Phillip would! So we asked him and he said of course and wow. just wow. seriously so amazing. President Tveten and Phillip had kind of just a conversation back and forth for 15 minutes about his religious background and how he met us the first time and when he kind of like changed his mind and it was just so cool and a few missionaries sent us messages and we even had a companionship call us that night asking how we teach because they wanted to try haha it's not like we even do anything special which is just crazy. literally craziness. Such a cool experience and one I'll never forget.

Tuesday was HERMANA BROOKS' BIRTHDAY and it was sooooooo fun!!! She is the only companion that I got to celebrate her birthday with, and we went allllll out hahah I made a video of all of the things we did that day so if you haven't seen it, check out my FB!! We were able to have an awesome virtual Temple Square tour and even better is that it was from Sister Persia!! So fun!! We did so many things like got DQ and also ate at steakhouses and I made her her favorite Mac and Cheese and we danced in the rain and just partied and it was sooooo much fun.
Sister Tveten texted me that day too and asked if I'd give a training at our "going home" trainings... and I bet none of ya could guess on what topic... HAHAH Dating and Marriage and I have absolutely no idea what to do. I hope that made y'all laugh cause it didn't for me hahha.

Wednesday was so stinkin' cool too!!! We got to go to Bracketville and do Food Bank service and help them put the food in the cars which is always stressful but it was fun haha, we also got super duper burnt so that wasn't too fun either. We also got pulled over (I wasn't driving soooo) on the way there and it was soooo funny because we got there and BOTH of the other two cars of Elders that came from Eagle Pass got pulled over too hahahh it was so funny, they were all out for us.
After service, one of the guys at service told us there was an old war fort (Fort Clark) across the street and said we should check it out so we did and we even got to have a special tour of the museum just for us! It was so sweet and crazy cool to see all of the original buildings and how people are still livin in them today! We stopped in Eagle Pass on the way home and got Chick Fil A and that was delicious :) We also got a blizzard on Wed too hahahh we made a goal that we'd go every day... #yikes haha
Wednesday is the day we started my goodbyes with everyone, and we went over to the Johnsons house and they are so sweet and gave us some bathroom and hygeine supplies and we were able to chat with them for a bit and they are still working on reading their scriptures and becoming more active (at least how they can at this point in time) and Sam still has a desire to serve a mission in the future so we hope and pray that happens because that would be so cool!! Saying goodbye / see ya later to them was sad though, as were all of the rest :(

Thursday we got to have another awesome mission devotional from Elder and Sister Curtis in SLC, and Elder Curtis is the current Church Historian so he went over some of the translation of the Book of Mormon and some other history of the church and it was just so amazing! He was also over the Book of Mormon videos, and so he talked to us a little bit about those as well and the process behind them and that was incredible and the Spirit was so strong!! I am not a huge history person but when it comes to Church History, I absolutely love it and learning all about it!!
We got DQ (obviously) haha and we also said some more goodbyes that evening! We went to the Bustamantes and the Guerrero families and also stopped by Rick, who is someone we are teaching! We took social distancing pictures haha but it is so hard I can't hug / shake their hands goodbye but also a lot easier for me because then I don't cry as much haha.

Friday I got to have my last MLC and it was super awesome and quite fun!!
After MLC we ate at Tinas Tacos and it's super funny because we have heard about this place all the time and see it all over Facebook so we thought we'd try it out, but it didn't really impress us at all... haah but that's ok.
We got to talk to our families and that was fun too haha I've always loved being able to call them so much and share all of my experiences with them, it was amazing but super weird that it was my last Friday call home haha.
We ran and said goodbye to Kathy and Chito and that was sad, Kathy cried again and I'm sure going to miss those two!
We also had another video lesson with Phillip and went over tithing and fast offerings and he totally latched onto the idea of fast offerings and loves it, so that was cool!! He is so solid and I'm excited for the ways he will help this group grow!!
We had our FB live on Abraham the prophet and those are always fun too except I don't always enjoy FB lives so I'm not gonna lie by saying I'll miss them.... hahah

Saturday we decided to wear our matching dresses which was so much fun!!
I had my last district council and that was sad haha but they asked me to share things I have learned on my mission that I thought would be beneficial for everyone to know and that was cool to be able to look back at all of the things I've learned and see what I thought could help others!
We were able to get the nursing home calendars and do those for some more service so that was fun too! She brought us pizza as a thank you and that was so kind of her! We also ate at Sonic that evening with the Bustamantes and that was fun!

Sunday we had virtual church and even though we didn't have any nonmembers join us, it was so cool to be able to see so many of our members on there, and members that I have specifically worked with!
We then stopped by all of the rest of the families that I wanted to say goodbye to and wow, that was rough! We stopped by Phillip, and then the Chavez family, and the Sanchez family, and lastly the Morales family. It was honestly the most heartwarming thing talking to Veronica and her sharing that she knows that it was all God's planning for me to stay here for so long and to help her so she could help her family. She said so many sweet things that I wish I could have recorded them.
I got home last night and we had a call with one of Sister Brooks' recent converts in Gonzales, and that was awesome! After that we sat on my bed while she showed me a video that a ton of sisters put together for me going home.. and wow I bawled. There were so many sisters in that video and I absolutely love each and every one of them and have been so blessed to have met them on my mission. To say that I have gained forever best friends would be correct and they mean  so stinkin' much to me!!!

Wow. I still haven't come to terms that it's coming to an end. I want to share with you all my testimony of Jesus Christ and of His restored gospel. I have come to learn so much throughout my mission, and all of which I am eternally grateful for. I know that the same church that Jesus Christ established has been restored and that we have a modern day prophet, and I know that we are so blessed to have someone who leads and guides us through these troubling times. I know that through Jesus Christ we can live with our families forever and that Heavenly Father has an absolute perfect plan for each and everyone of us. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true gospel and that through faith, all things are possible and that daily repentance is key in our spiritual progression. I know that baptism is an essential step in our journey and I am so humbled to have been able to help so many people take that step. I know that the Holy Ghost is such a blessing and something that I will always strive to have with me. I know that Jesus Christ is our older brother, our best friend, and our savior. I know that through His Atonement, we can be forgiven of our sins and we can overcome any trials or addictions we might have. I know that this gospel is true and it has blessed my life more than I could even describe. I am so grateful for this time I have had to serve as a representative of Jesus Chrirst and His restored church and so grateful for all of the wonderful people I have met throughout my mission. I can honestly say that I have felt the power of the Atonement in my life, and I am coming home a completely different person than I was before I left.

I want to thank each and every one of you for the love and support you've given me throughout my mission. I know I couldn't have done it without you all. I love you all, and I'll see you so super duper soon!!

con mas amor que tengo en mi corazon,
Hermana Griffin
TSAM Feb '19 - Aug '20

Best Friends!

Ms. B's Dinner

Sister Brooks Birthday!

Service!!!

That's Mexico right behind us!

The Johnsons!

Guerrero Family!

Rick!

Blizzards!

Brother Blake!

Chito and Kathy!

Service!

District Council!

Misty Freeze!

We are twins, haha!

Bustamantes and sonic!

Phillip!

Chavez Family!

Sanchez Family!

Morales Family!

Chuy's today!

Cutie!

Ice cream yah!

Jose's baptism // Lots of Treats!! July 27, 2020

Hello everybody! Wow what a week this past one has been! I feel like I blink and it's preparation day again and I'm writing these novels, haha! I hope you have all had a wonderful week and you're seeing miracles in your own lives as well! We had lots of ups this past week, and also a few downs.

Monday was a great day, but we did experience one of our major downs that day! We have been teaching Jimmy for a while, and he was the one that lived on an Air Force Base, but was going to come back to our area for a couple weeks and wanted to get baptized while he was here, which would have happened tomorrow. BUT I noticed on Monday that he had left our group chat super randomly, and so we made another one and asked why and he said his girlfriend had gone through his phone and got super upset he was talking with us (about God?.. weird haha) and so he said he couldn't meet with us anymore. We asked the Elder missionaries where he lived to try and reach out, but Jimmy asked them to stop messaging him as well which was the most sad thing ever :( He was planning on being baptized tomorrow (which is also my companions birthday) so that was a bummer when we had to cancel that. But that was the biggest bummer we experienced.
We started talking with Ricardo and were able to meet him at the church and give him a Book of Mormon! He has been pretty cool to talk with and interested in learning more!
My comp also made cookies so that was super delicious but that started this whole week of baking, which was a bad decision sometimes haha.

Tuesday was quite the day as well! We started with our Mission - wide Sisters Call, and that was fun but super crazy! There are eight Sisters going home this transfer, so all eight of us shared one thing that has helped us feel joy during our mission and that was super sweet to hear from all of those other sisters as well!!
We had to drive to Eagle Pass and have some vehicle inspections, so that was good! The whole zone was there so I was able to see the only other sisters in our zone, Hermana Anderson and Hermana Groll and that was fun! Then we got Dairy Queen and so did the Elders in our district and that has kind of become our tradition as a district haha.
That night we had our Sister Training Leader Call, and were able to council together about how we can continue to help the sisters in our stewardships, and one of the sweetest moments in my mission happened during that call! We were discussing about how we can help the sisters, even through virtual exchanges, and Sister Flores is now a Sister Training Leader and she shared about how she has "had one exchange that she absolutely loved and that completely changed her life" and that was with me, and then she went on to explain how I truly cared for her and loved her, and that was just the sweetest thing I have ever heard. That was one of my goals was to be able to touch someones life, and knowing that I helped Sister Flores made me so happy and gave me so much joy. She truly changed my life and changed my outlook on things. I love her.

Wednesday we spent all morning doing service at the Food Bank Distribution in Carrizo, and we were outside in the heat from 8 to 12, and it was fun and good to be able to talk to people face to face, and we were also able to chat with one of the other workers there named Myranda and I talked to her all about what we do as missionaries and why in the world we would volunteer to come and do the things she gets paid for, hahah and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ a little bit and it was just all super awesome!
We went home after service and put away all of the food they gave us (which was a ton) and we were feeling absolutely exhausted from being in the sun for 4 straight hours, so we texted our mission nurse and got permission to take a nap, but we first had a video call lesson with Dro, and it went good but neither of us were feeling good which was a bummer because it could've been such a better lesson if we were on our A game haha.
My companion made truffles as her treat for that day and wow they were super duper delicious! We had a fun night of taking pictures and laughing as well which is always so needed! I can't say it enough how thankful I am for all of my companions I have had, but especially this one because I really wanted to end my mission on a high note, and she is definitely helping me do that!

Thursday we went and did some paper work for Ms B, and that is always fun! Ms B is super cute and wants to feed us before I leave haha she is super sweet to us!
Hermana Brooks made me a tres leches cake because that is my favorite kind of cake, and it was her first time making the cake, and it was sooooo good!! I am still excited to have Costa Vida Tres Leches, but her cake was pretty good too :)
That night we had to make a video about a talent we have, so we did a kickboxing video and it is soooo funny haha I will try and attach it as well, but we had a very good time making the video.

Friday we were able to have a training as a mission on how to conduct device audits (because there are a lot of missionaries that came from foreign missions that didn't have phones before) and that was good!
We made a chocolate cake for Jose's baptism and my comp is professional at baking hah it ended up so good and tasted good too!!
We had our Live FB study on the prophet Noah and talked about three main principles that we learned from him which is Preparation, Obedience, and Covenants and that was fun!

Saturday we had District council and that was awesome! Our district leader talked about Charity, and how there are like 3 main principles of Charity : Love for Christ, Love from Christ, and Love like Christ, and I loved that!
Afterwards we made a district run to Dairy Queen, and then the elders still don't have much food or anything in their apartment since they are the first ones living there, so we gave them some of the food that we got from the service on Wednesday and also gave them some flour and sugar and baking essentials so they could bake some cookies haha.
I got to have another exchange with Sister Obray and it was super awesome! She is super cute and such a dedicated missionary and I have learned a lot from her through our exchanges!

Sunday was such an amazing day!! We got to have virtual church and Dee and a few other people we are teaching were able to join!
We also had Jose's baptism!! It was seriously so awesome and he had his family members there to support him! It was a little awkward for me because some of his family members are the members we used to do service with on their ranch, and for those of you who have been with me on my mission journey for a while might remember what happened, but that same member is Jose's half brother, so he was at the baptism and it was just a little awkward haha. But Jose's baptism was super special and Phillip was able to baptize him which was also so special to witness! It was a little stressful too because right when we pulled up to the church it was raining soooo hard, and we had to get papers inside the church as well as the cake, so we had to book it from the truck to the church and just those 50 ft got us absolutely soaked so that wasn't super fun haha. Jose was baptized and confirmed and received the Holy Ghost and also received the Aaronic Priesthood which is seriously so special! He is already asking about starting family history work and preparing for the temple, and it is so amazing to see and witness!
Last night we had a meeting with members and missionaries here in the border district, and we talked about our efforts of having missionary work and service and family history work all come together in the work of salvation and just working together to make it all easier.

This morning I woke up to the cutest FB post ever! I'll attach the screenshot I took, but Veronica posted on Facebook and it's moments like these that are seriously the cutest and my most favorite moments ever. I am eternally grateful for this time I have had as a missionary and to be able to meet the people I have, but IT AINT OVER YET!!

This week we have a killer week planned! We are keeping super busy and doing all that we can every single day! Tomorrow we get to have a SUPER FANTASTIC day cause it's my comps birthday and my mom sent her some gifts and her mom sent decorations so I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night and decorate!!! Then we will be having a tour of Temple Square from Sister Persia (we are so stoked) and celebrating her birthday by eating cheesecake!!!
We have MLC on Friday and it will be super weird to have that be my last one haha.
We are hoping and praying that Jason gets baptized on Friday so if everybody could pray for that, that'd be sooo appreciated!!

Y'all already know how much I love you and how appreciative I am of you and how much I can't wait to see y'all!!
Have a wonderful week!!
Hermana Griffin :)

She's my Favorite!

Yummy Blizzards!

District Tradition!

Exchange with Sis Obray!

Matchy Matchy...

These were delicious!

Cleaning the church is so fun!

We found a little friend!

Jose's baptism!

Veronica's post!

Our fun talent video!

Zone Conference and videos! July 20, 2020

Hey y'all! It's me again! This week was another super awesome week packed full of miracles and fun times! It's funny because there are some days that feel like we didn't accomplish much but then when you get to the end of the day or week and look back at it, there are always sooo many crazy and great things happening when you're involved in the work of the Lord! Also Happy Birthday to my grandma Sue on the 17th! I forgot to include that last week but I hope she had a wonderful birthday!!

Monday we had such a fun time cooking and baking things! We found a recipe for the Creamy Jalepeno sauce that they have at Chuy's here in Texas, and wow it is soooo good. I made that on Monday while my companion made some bread pudding, and it was all so good! We didn't eat all of the bread pudding though haha we gave the majority of it to Elders so that was good!
That morning we also started making our Walk With Christ videos and that was super fun! Walk With Christ is a program that ComeUntoChrist put out and essentially it is 10 days of things that we can do to walk like the Savior did, and do things that will help us grow closer to Him. We made videos to go along with every day and they are starting to be posted today actually, so check out our FB page every day at 1 pm and the video for that day will be up :)
We also had a whole hour conversation with our friend named Guadalupe who kind of came to us through an ad we have been running on our FB page, and she is super nice but it wasn't able to go very far. We had a wonderful conversation with her on Monday and set up another lesson for Friday, but when we messaged to confirm on Friday she said she wasn't interested anymore haha so that was super sad...

Tuesday morning we drove to Eagle Pass and we did service there again at the South Texas Food Bank distribution and it was super fun! We got super sunburnt on our foreheads (because we were wearing masks the whole time) but it was fun! We forgot to take pictures which was sad haha but it was a good time! We filmed some more videos for Walk With Christ and then we went and stopped by Phillip's house and gave him his rememberance book from his baptism and a tie that one of the elders gave to us to give to him, so it was fun! We also finally heard back from Ray again who is someone that told us a few weeks ago he wants to be baptized but then since then has been very bad at responding haha.

Wednesday was one of those days that at the end you think back "what did we even do today" and it's because we took like all day and filmed the rest of the videos and edited them. We did like all of our studies and stuff and contacted the people we needed to but we didn't have any lessons set up through video call, so we had a few over messenger messages but we took most the day and filmed and edited haha and our computer at the church isn't the greatest so I edited them all and put them together with an app on my phone and that takes a while as well haha. So filming and editing videos all day makes it feel like a slow day haha. The videos are sooo funny to watch and I'm super pumped for y'all to see them!!

Thursday we had zone conference and that was seriously so amazing! We had some amazing trainings and it was a super spectacular one to end my mission with!
That night we had our first video call with Jason, who is someone we have been teaching for a while and he is working towards baptism which is awesome! We had taught him the main three lessons over messenger so in our first video call we reviewed it all, and he totally understands and like agrees and believes it all! He is preparing to be baptized on the 31st, which is next Friday and we are honestly thrilled!!
That evening we also drove to Asherton and were able to drop off two BOM's and that was awesome!

Friday we had such an amazing day! We had district council with the Cotulla elders for the first time in person and it was so fun! They are awesome elders and will do amazing things in Cotulla! While the elders were there in person, I asked one of them to give me a priesthood blessing so I can have some extra help and motivation to do the most I can these last couple of weeks and that experience was so amazing. I sat there and as soon as those Elders put their hands on my head I felt the Spirit so strong. I loved it and it was a blessing I definitely needed! I am so grateful for the priesthood and Elders who are worthy of it!
We had interviews with President Tveten that afternoon and it was a super awesome interview as well! He is always so nice and complimentary and I didn't realize it before my mission but I've come to know that Words of Affirmation is one of my love languages haha. President Tveten told me some really nice things and then also encouraged me regarding a few things with going home and they were super helpful! I am very grateful for President Tveten and his family and all they've helped us with on my mission!
We were at home when we got a call that night from Brother Sanchez and he said they were locked out of the church and were wondering if we could come unlock it, so we said yes not even knowing why, but when we got there he told us that they were going to ordain Phillip to the Melchizedek Priesthood and that was the best news ever to hear!! We were able to join and watch that happen, and Brother Sanchez had received that Priesthood the week before and he was able to give that Priesthood to Phillip which was seriously the best sight to see ever!! There are so many amazing things happening here in the area of Carrizo and I am always so humbled and grateful when I think of the opportunity I have had to be a part of it all.
That evening we had our classic FB Live video and we talked about the prophet Enoch which was a little awkward at times because there isn't much in the Bible about him, most of the knowledge we have is in the Pearl of Great Price, but a lot of people in our FB community won't know what the book of Moses is so it's all a little tricky haha. It was good though.

Saturday morning we went and did service for Ms B in her yard, and she had us move some bricks and set them up on the side of her car port so when it rains, all the mud won't come in and it was fun but it killed my back hahha but it was also in perfect timing because that evening there was a huge rain storm!
Hermana Brooks made us Banana Bread that afternoon with some glaze and WOW. it tasted like my moms banana bread and was soooo good. We ate it all hahahhah oops.
I got to have another virtual exchange and that was fun! It was with Hermana Harston and she came out with me so she also goes home with me in two weeks, and so that dominated a lot of our conversation haha but she is doing really good and continuing to push forward to the end as well!
We had an awesome night of lessons! We had a lesson with Jose and reviewed the baptism interview questions and he is totally prepared! We had another lesson with Phillip and went over some commandments and then had another lesson with Jason and also went over some commandments and it all went well! With Jason we went over the "bigger commandments" such as the law of chastity and the word of wisdom, and he like totally agreed with them both and committed to following them both! He was like "I always wonder how you all always have so much energy but now I know how" haha he is super awesome and super solid!

Sunday we got to have online church and that was fun again! We got to have Jason get on as well as Jesse and that was super awesome to have them join us in church! They both liked it, so that was sweet!
We also went to the church and scheduled our posts for this week and they are sweet! Don't forget to watch them everyday and tag us in your daily walks :)
While we were at the church scheduling our posts, we got a call from President Tveten and Jose (they were having his baptism interview) and President told us that he thinks Jose is ready and prepared to be baptized, so that was awesome news!! He is planning on being baptized this Sunday, and we are honestly thrilled! So many good things happening in the Lord's kingdom!
We had another lesson with Phillip and went over some other commandments and it was really funny because he looked at Hna Brooks and I and was like " real question : do you think you two will actually stay friends after your missions?" and we were both like "yes, duh" and it was funny haha Phillip always asks us the best questions.
We had another lesson with Kathy as well, and she is still reading and praying which has been awesome!

This week we have some exciting things happening and will just continue to work hard as long as I can!
I love you all and I'm thankful for you all and the examples and influence you have been to me!
I hope you all have the best week ever!

con amor,
hermana griffin :)

Videoing Time!

Service at Eagle Pass!

Ms. B's house!

Sisters call.

Exchange with Sister Harston.

Carrizo Springs = GROUP July 13,2020

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous week and are surviving in the crazy world today! This week was awesome as always and we are continuing to see miracles! The Elders finally were able to move into Cotulla, so now we are the Cotulla Group and the Carrizo Springs Group! It's an interesting transition and we are still working it all out haha. I also received pictures from my mom this past week and was able to update one of the frames in the Russo home. I think it's cute haha

Monday we were able to get in contact with Felisha again and set up a time to go and drop off a Book of Mormon at her house, so that was exciting!
I made a new meal plan that I followed this past week and it was really simple : Oatmeal for breakfast, plain salad for lunch, and chicken & asparagus for dinner. It was good and easy the first few days but as you can tell in the picture I attached, we had a splurge moment and made a blizzard run. It was a fun week with food haha. We were able to have our mission call that night as well and it's always nice and uplifting to hear from our President and his wife!

Tuesday we went to Ms B's house and sat outside and did some more of paperwork for service so that was fun, and it was luckily nice weather and not 115 degrees like most other days haha.
That night we had a Sister Training Leader call with President and Sister Tveten and that was something we haven't done before so it was nice to have them hear out our thoughts too! It's crazy because since our mission split, there were very few Sister Training Leaders and it's a weird transition haha.

Wednesday felt like a longer day or more lazy even though we still got a ton done haha. My companion was super sick all day because her stomach was hurting, but we still got to have a video call with all of the sisters in my stewardship and that was fun! We told them of the topics we discussed in Mission Leadership Council a couple weeks ago, and that was good! Our sisters are seriously so amazing and I've been blessed to be able to know them and work with them!
That night we had a lesson with Phillip and it was so amazing! We are doing his after-baptism lessons of reviewing everything and he is seriously just so solid and is going to help this area grow a ton!
We also had another lesson with Jose and he is also pushing forward and working with his family to be baptized! I'm not sure if I have talked about Jose much, but he is married to a less active member of ours, and her whole family are members so his inlaws are members but they haven't been super supportive of him and his decision so he is continually talking with them about it so we hope to see a miracle happen soon with that family!

Thursday I received an amazing message from Xiomara and she told me that her and her family (they are my recent converts from my first area of Balcones Branch) are recovering from the virus and are doing better and that made me so happy to hear!! They're so sweet and I've been praying so much for them. God hears your prayers!!!
That afternoon I was able to make some quotes/notes for the sisters in our stewardship! There was a quote we shared in our sisters call and they all loved it so I made notes with their favorite colors and sent them to them! It helps me feel better about being in touch with the sisters when I am able to serve them in any way :)
We found a couple people through Facebook and have also tried contacing Eric and Jason but they haven't been too responsive this past week so that has been a bummer.

Friday we went to Ms B's again and finished the other paperwork she needed done.
We were also able to have Jimmy reply and we set up a lesson which actually ended up happening!! He is always super busy with work or sleeping and has also been moving out of his apartment the past couple weeks so communication has been difficult haha.
We had a lesson with Kathy that night and got to review how she is doing with her reading and that was good!
We had our Facebook Live study on Adam and why he is so important! If you missed it, you should go check it out!
We got to have another video call with Phillip and he didn't remember much of the Plan of Salvation so that lesson took a little longer haha. I always love lessons with Phillip though because with most people I've met on my mission, they usually understand or at least don't ask too many personal questions, but with Phillip, he always gets deep down in our testimonies and always starts his questions with "ok but do you truly believe..." or "how do you..." and it definitely makes us think and dig down in our own beliefs too haha. It's always a good thing though!

Saturday we had our first district council as the Cotulla district and we just had it over video call, but it was good! We got to know the elders a little bit better, Elder Caldwell and Elder Waite! They were both previously zone leaders and now are opening up a new area, so it's something new to them both but they are getting the hang of it haha.
I got to have an exchange with Sister Wicks and she is super sweet! It was fun getting to know her!
We also got to go to the church and schedule our FB posts which went well! We got to see some of the brothers that were at the church, and why were they there??? WELL LET ME TELL YA!!! Brother Sanchez was receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood! Amazing huh?!
That night we wrote our weekly progress report of our people we are teaching and then the Cotulla elders called us and asked us to send them the people in area book that is in their area, and so that took a while but we finally finished it!

Sunday was Makells birthday!! Yay!!
We also got to have online church which went well! We then went and stood outside the Sanchez home as he gave us the sacrament! We love that family and I can't wait for the day that I hear that they are getting sealed as a family! What a glorious day that will be.
Last night we had lots of lessons, but we got to have another video call with Jimmy and he is super solid! We talked about all of the commandments and when we brought up the Word of Wisdom he was like "oh I'm already living all of them. I was always the odd one out in highschool because I never did any of that stuff" so that was crazy but we are pumped! He is coming into town next weekend and then will be getting baptized on the 28th and we were even able to set a time and talk about how his service will go a little bit! We are super excited for him! It is a little sad though because since he is on the airforce base, he won't be able to stay so we will have to send his records to where he lives haha but just like I did when Amanda moved out of the branch, I have to remind myself that I'm helping to build the kingdom everywhere, not just here in Carrizo haha.

This week we will be having a great time! Tomorrow we are headed to Eagle Pass to help at the food bank again, and Friday we have zone conference which will be awesome!

TIME IS MOVING WAY TOO FAST!!!

I love you all and hope you have the most amazing week ever!!
con amor,
hermana griffin :) 

4th of July!! July 6,2020

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week and ate a ton of food because we sure did hahah. This week was stacked full of craziness and miracles as well, so I'll jump straight in and try to keep it somewhat short but you know me hahah ALSO: my comp got proposed to which was SOOOO funny haha I'll attach a screenshot below

Monday we had a fun pday and were able to make some brownies! We made my companions favorite brownies and combined them with my favorite frosting which we make on my moms side of the family, and they tasted really good! We were feeling patriotic too so we made the frosting into red white and blue colors and made a Texas flag and an Amerinca flag! If you saw my profile pic on FB, that is what they looked like and they were delicious haha we gave one to the Elders in Eagle Pass and they enjoyed it!

This whole week was a rollercoaster with feeling sick hahah one morning I woke up and felt like I was going to throw up and the next morning it was my companion, and that happened all week long! So Tuesday morning I felt sick pretty much all day, but we will managed to get quite a few things done! I was able to write letters to all of the sisters in my stewardship during lunch and dinner times, and we also had a video call with Kathy and Chito! We stopped teaching them a while ago because they weren't willing to get married, and they still aren't, but Kathy is already a member so we are going to focus on her for a bit and strengthen her! She has actually been praying and reading a little bit which is a miracle! Our video lesson was good :)

Wednesday my comp woke up sick (she actually threw up in the middle of the night) so I got up and did a little exercise haha it's less fun on your own though.. It's a good thing I'm gonna have a trainer to push me or I would never get any workouts done haha.
Our mission split on that day as well! Our mission president sent a little "happy birthday to the mission" video to us all and shared some cool stats! The Texas San Antonio Mission was started in 1960 (we think we remember right) and since then has now had the Mcallen mission and Austin mission split off from it! So cool! We are now just the San Antonio mission and cover San Antonio and the border of Mexico!
Wednesday we had a super sad moment, because we hadn't heard from Janie and her kids since last Friday which is when we had our first video call with her, but Wednesday she replied and said she started doing Bible studies with her aunt (the same  one who forced her to get baptized a few years ago) and feels more comfortable with her :( so that was like super sad and we had to take them off of baptism date and stop teaching them which was a little depressing BUT they all have their own copies of the Book of Mormon so we will pray for a miracle that one day their hearts change :)
We were able to put Jose on date that day as well, so that made it better! Jose just recently had a baby and got married with one of our less active members, and he said he wanted to marry her through the church but he wasn't baptized so they got married civilly, but we were able to invite him to be baptized on July 26th (the day Janie and her kids were supposed to be baptized) and he said yes! He has to try to get that day off from work, so please pray that will happen!
We got a call that day from some of the Elders in our mission and they told us they want us to start running ads on our Facebook page! So we had a little call to learn more information about that and we are super pumped!

Thursday we had our first video call with Jimmy and he is super solid! He is in the military right now in Abilene Texas and will be coming back closer to the end of the month and he is the one on date for the 28th! He is super nice and we are super pumped for him as well! It was the first time having a video call with him because he works night shifts and sleeps all day, but he is solid and ready to progress in the gospel!
That night we started teaching a couple people who actually accepted Books of Mormon as well, and so we made a drive out to Dilley (2 hour round trip) as well as to Crystal to drop off those BOM's and didn't get back until like 9:30 haha but it was fun! We got some blizzards (bad idea) for the drive and it was sweet! It was nice to kind of sit back and enjoy not having to drive since I usually am always the one driving, on the mission or not on the mission haha.

Friday morning we had MLC which was awesome as usual! It was different too because usually it's more of like "training for mission leaders" but this one our mission president specifically made it so it was more of a council, so we got to talk about "our new mission" and the direction we want it to go and how we can best help the missionaries in our stewardships and it was just so amazing! It was a little weird because of how small it was and there was not a lot of missionaries there haha and like a ton of them are new missonaries so it is super exciting to see the potential of this mission be reached!
That afternoon I got to call home and my family was actually up at Bear Lake with my whole moms side (everyone from Texas was even there) and I was the only one not there haha but I got to quickly see a lot of them so that was fun! My dad and sister were mean and showed me that THEY FOUND THE DIET DR PEPPER CREAM SODA and literally opened it and drank it in front of me.... so mean. (if you read my weekly last week, you will understand haha)
That night we had our Bible study on how Jesus Christ was a great teacher, the Master Teacher, and we have gone over a lot of attributes in the past but in the future we will be reviewing prophets, so that will be fun!

Saturday was the 4th of July! yay I love this holiday! We didn't have many people answer our messages (not surprised haha) so we had more of a business day! We scheduled our posts on FB for this next week and I also got to have an exchange with my "little sister" Hermana Groll! It was crazy because the last time I saw her was like maybe 6 months ago when I went  to her area (my first area) and got to see my recent converts! But our exchange was super fun and it's always so fun to visit with the sisters :)
That afternoon we drove to Crystal and stopped by Amandas house to say our farewells :( She moved to Uvalde with Joel so she is no longer in our branch, but will always be in our hearts!!
We went to a food place called Dairy Kreme that has the best burgers ever, and we literally stuffed ourselves for our "freedom" day because "we can" haha that is what we kept telling ourselves, and then we regretted it because we could barely move and were in a food coma all night haha... I will attach a picture of the food we ordered, because it was A LOT...
That night we pulled up a live firework show on FB that was happening in Fort Worth and watched it, so that was fun :)

Sunday I hit 17 months which I still can't believe. Hermana Brooks and I didn't even talk about it because we don't like it hahah.
We also got to have our first virtual church service which was sweet! We got to see some of our members on there and we got to hear more information about our branch splitting into groups which is awesome! We went to the Sanchez home to partake of the sacrament as well, so that was always nice! Brother Sanchez is getting the Melchizedek priesthood soon, which we are thrilled about :)
We were messaging with someone we are teaching named Ray, and we asked if we could have a video call sometime this week and he said he actually wanted to talk with us because he is wanting to get married soon and do it through a church but he hasn't been baptized yet! We literally screamed hahah. We asked if he had a desire to get baptized and he said he really wants to do it and we asked when and he said as soon as possible, and we shared the word of wisdom and law of chastity with him because sometimes that makes the process a little longer than a week, and he said he is literally willing to do whatever he needs to to be baptized! It was amazing. His girlfriend lives in San Antonio and wants to do this with him, so we are working on finding out her address and will soon be sending some of our dear missionary friends a SUPER. SOLID. REFERRAL. ahh missionary work is soooo exciting!!!

I want to give the biggest shoutout ever to my little sister Makell!! It is her birthday on Sunday the 12th and so I hope you have the best birthday ever and get spoiled like you usually do ;)

Thanks again to everyone who continues to love and support me on this journey! I love you all!
Have a fantabulous week!
con amor,
Hermana Griffin :)

My comp is proposed to!

Exchanges with Hermana Groll!

Everyone says we look alike!

Saying Goodbye to Amanda!

Studies!

FOOD!!!!