Serving in San Antonio Texas: Week 2 in Texas... April 1, 2019

Hello everybody!! Wow, first of all I want to thank everybody for all of the love and support I continue to receive!! I know I say it every week, but it truly does mean a lot and makes me so happy and the motivation I need to get through every week! But, it also isn't hard to get through every week, haha this past week flew by!! We had a ton happen, and the days went by slow but the week went by so fast! One more thing, EVERYBODY WATCH CONFERENCE. Not only is it an amazing opportunity to listen to the words from our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ about what we need in today's world, but there is supposedly going to be a big change in mission work, so pay attention and think about me when they announce it! I'll be watching it with you all!

Last preparation day was amazing! We did a lot of moving like I said before, and then that night we went out and had some lessons and found some more people to teach! The people here in Texas are so nice and so open to everything! Even if they aren't interested in our message, they are always so kind and hospitable and offering us whatever we want!

Tuesday, my mom (mission mom) is honestly the best! So Tuesday was a long and weird day! We decided to ride bikes because we have been getting close on miles (we get a certain amount every month) so we rode bikes and that was an experience! My mom is the best because everybody at home, you all know how much I love BWW right?? Well, my mom took me there and we got that for dinner because we didn't have a dinner appointment!! We also moved all of our stuff out of the apartment into the other apartment that day, so I would say we deserved it! We also did service that day, which we went to an old folks home for people with memory loss, and we helped feed them lunch and then did their laundry (there is a bin for "soiled laundry" which almost made me throw up) but it was all good, I love doing service!!!

Wednesday, we did some more service for an older lady in our English ward! It was also my first experience with a horder! We walked into her house, and there was pretty much just a pathway for us to walk... So we were there for about two hours and cleaned off two tables, it was great haha. We are also doing this thing called "English class" for people in our Spanish ward who want to learn English, but we are more doing it so that nonmembers who want to learn English can come and have a spiritual experience at the church! We had quite a few nonmembers show up, so it was amazing! That night was a little rough after I went to bed, because I woke up in the middle of the night at 1:30 and just ran to the bathroom and threw up everything I had eaten that day... I am not sure what happened because it only happened once, but it was super weird!

Thursday, my first experience of someone bashing us to our faces! We had a lesson, and pretty much he wasn't wanting to meet with us for the right reasons and it was just annoying that he was wasting our time and the time of the elders, so we told them we probably wouldn't be coming back because we would try and answer questions they had by the next time we would go back, and when we would give them our answers they would always switch the words and pretty much attack us, so that was fun! Then we had an amazing lesson with one of our growing people with interest about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was in Spanish! My Spanish is getting a lot better with every day! I can pretty much understand everything, my difficulty is speaking and conjugating, but I will get there!

Friday, we had a really cool experience with the general authority or member of the 70 that is over our mission area! We were in personal study that morning when Elder Villarreal called us, and told us about his friend that we have been teaching and that he has been reading the Book of Mormon with! He sent us the text that his friend sent him, and it pretty much said that his friend has noticed the happiness he has felt and the peace of mind he has while reading the book! It's so amazing to see the Lord changing people and it's so awesome to do missionary work with a member of the 70!

Saturday, we had quite a few awesome lessons this day! Our first one was with a cute young girl name Rosalyn, and we found her tracting last week, and we didn't think much of her until that morning we were doing daily planning, and I just had a thought that we should stop by her and talk to her again, so we did! We had an awesome first lesson with her and she accepted the Book of Mormon and actually said she needed a new book to read so this was perfect! It's amazing how the Lord is preparing people for us to come teach and help them come closer to Christ! Then that night we had an amazing over the phone call with our friend named Caitlin! She shared that she had read the pamphlet we had given her about the plan of salvation, and she told us that she feels what she read was true! She also had some interesting questions but she is honestly just absorbing everything and we are hoping so much that she continues to grow!

Sunday, we invited a family to be baptized! It was so amazing to see the Holy Ghost talking to them and converting them in front of our eyes! We taught this family the Restoration, and it was sad because we had to have a pass off lesson (give them to the elders because they aren't in our area boundaries) but it was such a great lesson and they both said if they come to find out our message is true, they would be baptized! I love this work and I love what we are doing and experiencing!

We are busy every hour of every day and sometimes I am just tired and want to sleep, but other times I am so full of energy when I normally wouldn't be and it's amazing! I love the work here and am doing so good and am seriously happier than ever! I love you all at home and am so incredibly thankful for all of you! I am sorry this is so long, but this week has been crazy!

I am sorry I didn't do a spiritual thought last week, I totally spaced it with everything going on! I don't have much time left, so I won't really have one this week either but I just want to remind everybody to watch general conference, and send me your favorite talks after it's over!! I am so excited and we are counting down the days!

For letters or packages, my address for the next 2 1/2 months is:
Sister Griffin
6455 De Zavala Rd
apt 10216
San Antonio Texas 78249

Thank you all for everything! I love you all!
Love Hermana Griffin

By the way, Happy Birthday to my awesome cousins this week! Tyson, Mandee and Drake!