We started our week off with an amazing lesson with Esmeralda! We started talking about the Plan of Salvation and she really liked what we started with, and then she took us on a little tangent about how we can still be good people without going to church every week, and we know now that was an excuse she was trying to use, but towards the end of the lesson, we were talking about how we want her to find out for herself if what we have been teaching her is true, and we told her she has to do it with a sincere desire to know the truth, and that is when she said, "I'm nervous to pray for real, because what if it is true? Then I will have to become like you two." and then she giggled and was like, "Not in a bad way, you two are super kind and the way you treat people and are always out doing service (we stopped by two days earlier and offered to help her with what she was doing outside) and I don't like change." But she committed to praying with a sincere desire to know, and then she told us of the few time she has had spiritual experiences and feeling the spirit and then she asked us how we feel the spirit, so that was really cool! We are super excited to go visit her tonight and find out if she actually prayed or not!
We did some more service this past week and one of them was helping one of our members with the house he is building, and we were putting the tile down in his house! He started asking where our names come from (he only speaks spanish) and then he told us something quite funny about what "griffin" means where he is from. He said that where he is from, when they say someone on drugs, they would call them griffin haha so that was fun to learn!
That evening we did some more service for another member and we helped her and her daughter put up their christmas tree! It was fun but it did make me a little nostalgic that I won't be spending the holidays with my family, it'll be super weird but I'm also excited to spend it with people who need more of Christ in their lives :)
I had an embarrassing moment this last week in which we were trying to contact someone, and her husband answered and she wasn't home which is exactly what has happened the past two or three times, and this last time we explained what our purpose is to him because she hadn't told him what we do as missionaries and it was probably weird that we stopped by that many times to try and see his wife haha, anyways I was telling him what we do and then I went on to say, "We will stop by next week again to try and see her, but we just wanted to explain why we keep coming by because we don't want to annoy or molest you at all." ............ super awkward. hahah we got in the car and just busted up laughing. In spanish, molestar = to bother, and so I meant to say that we didn't want to annoy or bother them, but instead I told him we don't want to molest him, it was super awkward and my companion hasn't let me live it down yet haha.
We went to have a couple lessons with Chito this past week, but every time he told us he would be home, he wasn't haha so we had a good conversation with Kathy one of the nights though, and she hasn't been doing too well. She is a recent convert of about a year and a half, and she was definitely not converted, just baptized and she hasn't come back to church since her baptism... So we were talking to her and she told us some stuff about her past and it was an amazing lesson about the Atonement, and we testified how powerful the Atonement of Jesus Christ is, and how wonderful the gift of repentance is. At the end of the lesson she promised to come to church, but she still didn't come so that was sad :(
We visited with Jackie and Rita this past week, and it was so awesome! We offered her service and it was dark and we were in dresses so she told us she won't make us get on our knees and clean haha but we kept insisting on serving her, and so we did her dishes for her! She was cooking and so we helped her by cleaning the dishes and she was sooo appreciative and it was the cutest thing ever! Jackie is going to teach her how to pray, and then she is going to pray about whether or not to let Jackie be baptized, so we are really praying hard that her heart is softened! She also invited us to have Thanksgiving lunch with her family, so that is a HUGE step with her!! AND they are coming to our Thanksgiving dinner that we are having this Wednesday as a branch! It is a perfect way to get them into the church building and then it won't be hard for them to come on a regular church day! We are super thankful for the prayers and fasting that everyone has been doing because we are seeing the results with Rita, she really loves us now so we hope she can see that a huge part of why we are the way we are is because of the gospel we have!
We traveled to Cotulla on Saturday, and when we got there, we realized that it is a waste to drive an hour and to just visit the same people every time, so we decided we would go tracking the whole entire night! We had taken our bikes, so we went up and down three streets and had some funny experiences haha. The first person we saw outside was Sarah, and she was sitting outside of a house watching her husband and son fix it up, and my first thought was that they were busy so we should just keep going, but as soon as that thought came to my mind I knew it was Satan and then the Holy Ghost kept telling me to stop and go talk to her, so we did! It is the weirdest thing to just stop on your bike ride and start talking to a stranger, but we did it! We stopped and just started small talk, and then told her we were missionaries and explained more about what we do! She accepted a Book of Mormon, and she even took an invitation to church and to the Thanksgiving dinner we will be having this week! THEN she asked for an extra invitation to give to her daughter! She seems really promising and we are excited for her potential!
We tracted another house and out walked this guy who was SUPER upbeat and friendly, and he talked our ears off for about 30 minutes about how thankful he is that there are people out there like us bringing Jesus to people, and how he doesn't know why his church doesn't do stuff like that because "Jehovah Witness and the Mormons do it" haha he was suuuuuuuper under the influence we came to find out. After we shared a scripture and asked if he had any interest to learn about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, he said he doesn't live at that house and he doesn't have time, and we gave him our number and said if he changes his mind to call us and we can get him in contact with the missionaries in his area! As we were leaving, he kept asking if he could "donate" to us and give us money for what we do haha and we told him that we don't accept money and that we are already extremely blessed for what we are doing, and so then he just pulls us both into this big group hug and proceeds to kiss the sides of both of our heads! Then he stepped back and said "sorry for my beer breath" so that made everything make a lot more sense haha we won't ever forget that experience!
We got home that night and I was feeling a little beat up / not on a spiritual high like I have been for such a long time, and this is pretty personal but I want to share it with you all because I hope it can help someone like it helped me. My companion was in the shower, and for the whole past week I have kept receiving this prompting that I need to say a real, sincere prayer. and not that mine aren't sincere, but a lot of the time I find my prayers being on repeat, and so Saturday night I finally realized that it is something I need to do, so I did it. It was the most sincere prayer I've ever said, and wow, it was life changing. There have been some things going on in the "personal life" of Sister Griffin, and I just needed some answers. I completely humbled myself and just let everything out to Heavenly Father, and I felt the most overwhelming and loving feeling of warmth that I have ever felt. I know that Heavenly Father sent angels to help me and lift me back up, and I know that one of them was my recent convert Lori. I could just feel her by my side, telling me to continue doing the Lord's work that she wasn't able to do for so long, but that she is currently doing on the other side of the veil. I am so eternally grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the opportunities that we have to repent and become better people each and every day. I am doing a lot better and I know that the power of prayer and fasting is so real and brings so many blessings!
We spent the day in Asherton yesterday, and we found two more people to teach! Their names are Janelle and Ashley, and we are really excited for them! Asherton is like the gold mine haha we keep finding awesome people there, we just have to continue opening our mouths! It was awesome how we found them though haha we were going up to a different house to have a lesson with someone, and they didn't answer and Janelle was outside with her kids as well as Ashley was outside, and I said to my companion, "lets go talk to them" and so we walked straight over and the little boys were holding little basketballs, so I put my hand up to tell them to throw it to me and that is how we got in! I started playing catch with the boys as we explained what we do as missionaries, and it was perfect! #thankssports ;) haha
we also had an amazing lesson with Olga and her four daughters! It was the cutest thing because as we pulled up in our car, the little girls yelled at their mom, "Mom, the church girls are here!!" and ran outside and hugged us! ahh those girls have such a tender spot in my heart! We taught the Restoration, and wow it is a challenge to keep a 6 year old entertained, but Olga asked a really good question as to why there are so many churches on the earth today, and they had a few other really good questions and it was a really awesome lesson :) They committed to praying as a family about the truth of our message! They also said they would be coming to the Thanksgiving dinner this Wednesday if we can find someone to give them a ride, and we are super excited! We love that family so much :)
This last week I was studying the talk, "Good, Better, Best" by Dallin H Oaks, and it was such a good talk for me to read at this time in my life! I know it is so important for us to be making the best decisions for ourselves all of the time, and I know that I need to make some better decisions than the good ones I have been making so I have a lot of things to change in my life, but as does everyone because we are continually trying to become like our Savior Jesus Christ!
Also, happiest of birthdays to two of the most amazing people I have ever known! My awesome older cousin Haley has her birthday TODAY, and I hope it is absolutely amazing and that you are enjoying your new little baby boy August, he is so adorable and I am so excited for the day I get to meet him!
One of my bestest friends ever, Jamie, also has a birthday this week on the 21st and I hope that everyone spoils you as much as I would if I were there!!
Thanks again to everyone for all you do for me, I can't express enough how much I feel the love and prayers and how they help me each and every day! I am so thankful to be a missionary and a representative of Jesus Christ, it is the best thing in the world!
I hope you all have a wonderful week and are getting excited for Thanksgiving! It is the perfect time of year to let people know how thankful you are for them, so please do that!! I am so very thankful for all of you :)
With much love,
Hermana Griffin :)
p.s. Please send me your favorite scripture in your email to me! I'd love to know!
We held a Lizard!
Non-members always treating us well!
I'm nice to her, I promise!
Putting in tile!
She's the mean one!
Bike riding all the time! haha!
Cute little girls "hitting the woah"
Service at the ranch. We cleaned out the whole shack by where I'm standing. I am excited to show you all what it looks like after we are done!
We forgot our shoes after doing service at the ranch... improvise.
Our favorite song!
We were dumb and got cold drinks on a cold day!
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