Amanda's Baptism! April 27, 2020

Hello everyone!! I apologize for this coming out a little bit later than usual hahah my dear companion broke our area phone last night, so this morning I've been trying to get everything on to the SIM card and putting it into my phone, so it's been a crazy morning and start to our week for sure hahah. BUT we had such an amazing week!! We had Amanda's baptism and it was also the first time we met her in person and she is just the cutest person ever, as is her little boy!! This week has a lot in it, so I'll try to share it all while keeping it somewhat short haha.
CRAZY FACT: I only have 100 days left.... and idk how i feel about it hahahh ahhhhh

Monday we received a sad text from Jackie and she  said she isn't coming to our church anymore and she wouldn't tell us why because she doesn't want us to talk with her about how it's not the right decision so we actually don't know what made her decide this but we have a good idea haha. She also mentioned how she doesn't want to feel like she is going to go to Hell if she doesn't read her scriptures sooo... we lost Jackie this last week and that was sad :( but we hope she realizes how much better her life is with the gospel in it, than without it.
We also got messages from Donovan saying that HE forgives US.. we still aren't sure what we did hahah but it's been an interesting week with him.

Tuesday was Rey's birthday so we called him and sang happy birthday to him and that was fun! We also made our little videos for "The Living Christ" or "El Cristo Viviente" that we are doing as a zone so that was fun!
We called and chatted with Veronica and she has been having a bit of a harder time lately (if any of you have seen her FB you'll know what I mean haha) but she had a hard thing happen between her and her best friend so we have been trying to encourage her to stay strong and be the bigger person, but extra prayers for her would be awesome!
We had an awesome lesson with Christopher and his family and talked a lot about faith in Jesus Christ and how important it is to act on our faith, and we set up weekly lessons with them so that is awesome!

Wednesday we had district council and then after that the elders drove down to Carrizo to bring us back the baptism suits they borrowed, and while they were down here we shot some hoops and then my companion tackled me in front of them... hahahah crazy times..
Wednesday night my comp and I practically went swimming.. but not really hahah we finished calling people that night and I sprayed her with the rest of the water in my water bottle, so she stood up, went and got a pitcher and filled it with water and threw it at me and then i did the same to her... we cleaned it all up though, don't worry president russo ;) my comp did soak the baptism record of Amanda though so that wasn't good... hahah but all worked out well in the end.

Thursday we went to Ms B's and helped her with some more service at her office! She sent us home with SO MUCH candy and lots of 5 hour energys.... hahah a convenience store gave them all to her but she can't give 5 hours to her clients so she gave us a ton.. well my comp has never had them, so after she tried one, i think she has almost drank them all since then hahah it's not good... she gets super hyper and even crazier than normal but it's kind of fun to see haha.
That evening we had a video chat with Amanda and just went over any last questions she had (which she didn't have any haha) but she was so excited and so ready! She has been reading a ton in the Book of Mormon and she even posts on FB all the time some quotes from leaders of our church or about the Book of Mormon and she is just the best missionary already!!!!
That night right before bed I was stalking my parents FB to see if they had a pic from when I was baptized, and I came across some videos from soccer my senior year and other videos and wow, I think that was the first moment I've felt the "homesickness" that I hear everybody else talk about and it SUCKED! But I fell asleep and it was better the next day haha

Friday we had a zone call that morning and talked about ways we have found success in our different areas and we gave ANOTHER training on finding through FB marketplaces and it is so fun hahha I feel like I could explain it to everyone in the world now hahah but it's awesome and it's been amazing for us to see the miracle in Amanda through it!
Amanda had her baptism interview and obviously passed with flying colors!! She messaged us after and was just so cute and said how everyone in the church is so nice and she is going to love this church and she is just the sweetest person with the most tender soul!
That night we had a phone lesson with David and he has been going through a ton lately and wants to change his life so we brought up baptism and how that is the best way he could change his life right now, by following Christ and beginning a new life and we set him on date for June 7th! We are excited for him :)
We also had a mini photo shoot that night because I wanted a new profile pic so enjoy all the photos from that!

Saturday morning we did more service for Ms B and we washed her moms car! hahah her mom lives right next to her, and is an older lady and she came outside while we were washing it and then called Ms B and got mad that she was having us wash her car haha it was so cute and then she sent us home with home made soup and tamales! They are the kindest family! Some day we hope Ms B and her family becomes members, they would be the best!
We had our first virtual exchange that day with Adams Hill so I video chatted with Hermana Harston for an hour and talked about their area and how they're doing and did a devide audit and it was awesome to still be able to have a mini exchange even in this time of missionary work!!

Sunday was AMANDAS BAPTISM!!! This was the FIRST time we met her in person and awe it was the best thing ever!! She walked right up to us and hugged us and guess what!! she is taller than me!! hahah i have never felt so short than i have while being on my mission!! But then she got changed and then her son Mason showed up and he is 6 and he is seriously the cutest thing ever!! She had her mother, father, son, fiance and another family member come, NONE of them were members... ISN'T THAT AMAZING?! Her baptism was so special. When she came up out of the water she looked at us and said "did we do it right?" and we were like "yeah it was perfect!" and she started crying as she walked out and said "I feel different already!" and it was just the sweetest thing ever.. she is truly a miracle and has been such a blessing for us and will be a blessing for this cute Carrizo branch!
After her baptism we were chatting with the Guerrero family which is who baptized her, and they mentioned how they hadn't partaken of the sacrament yet and so we had a cute little service and partook of the sacrament and it was just so special. Even though it's a crazy time, they are times I truly never want to forget!

Last night there was a devotional for the Eagle Pass District and Elder and Sister Villarreal (he is in the area presidency) were speaking and it was so special! I love that couple. When I first entered my mission, and was being trained in the Balcones Branch, I got to see them and talk with them and I actually ate dinner with them one evening as well! He is in the area 70, and so it was so cool to see them again through technology and hear some inspiring words from them! I love my mission.

I read this quote this last week while studying the institute manual of the Book of Mormon and wow. It changed my mindset on so many things going on in my life right now. I feel impressed to share it with you all :)
"The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you."

Thank you all for everything! I love you and I hope you have the best week!
con amor,
hermana griffin

Amanda's Baptism.

Zoom calls...

Photo shoots!

Treats from Ms. B

Zone conference and Amanda!!! April 20,2020

Heyyy y'all! I love and miss you all! It's been a crazy week but super amazing like always! I've been re teaching myself how to play the piano and I can now play Called To Serve which is fun :) The Lord's work sure has not stopped down here in our little area of Carrizo Springs!!! I am so excited to tell you about it! Today will be a little interesting because only one person from each household can go into the store, so I'm going to have to go into HEB without my companion (i think it'll be nice for aminute but then after that I'm gonna go crazy cause it'll be weird haha)

Tuesday we started off our week with our zone conference and it was done all through technology so that was super different!! It was our zone (Border zone) and then the south and west zones in San Antonio, so it was kind of a smaller zone conference but it was still super fun! We had some amazing trainings about how to continue doing the work that we need to while being in our houses! We talked about finding through Facebook and we were able to share our story about Amanda and the miracle she has been for us, and it was so amazing that our mission president had us call in to every other zone conference that week and share it with them as well! It was super awesome :)
After zone conference we got changed and headed over to Ms. B's and were able to move the rest of the stones to her fireplace and it looks so awesome (sorry we forgot to take a pic of it finished but I attached one of it halfway done haha) but it's super fun to be able to serve other people :)

Wednesday we were able to call into one of the Austin zone conferences and share about Amanda again, it was sweet! We had district council and took that funny pic. We had a lesson that evening with Amanda as well, and it was super awesome! She is so super excited to become a member, she has dropped everything and changed so much and is reading every single day and watching many videos online and everything :)

Thursday we called in again to zone conf! We also went on a drive out to the countryside (like a mile from our house haha) and took a video about some of our basic beliefs, and it was pretty fun trying to take it haha my cute Argentine companion kept saying "families can be forever together" instead of "together forever" and that technically isn't "wrong" but it wasn't what she wanted to say haha so it took us a few tries and we also had to set up the camera on the top of the truck and people would drive by and look at us super weird hahah but it was fun and nice to get out of the house!
We started doing something that a lot of our mission has been doing which is called a Flock list, and essentially is just putting all of the information that we have in area book, onto a doc that can be printed out and that members and future missionaries can have. It takes SO. MUCH. TIME. haha but we got probably like 5% done on Thursday so that was fun.
We had another lesson with Amanda and we were talking to her about tithing and we were a little worried about this lesson because she is a single mom and we know sometimes it is harder to understand why tithing is so important, but she told us she had actually read about tithing a few days earlier and that she totally understood why it was important and was willing to do it! She said she would bring her tithing to her baptism, and we were seriously just shocked. She continues to amaze us at her faith and diligence in doing the right things, but it is so true when we say that Heavenly Father is preparing people, and He truly is! She has been prepared and we literally don't have to do much, she is already converted and we love it. We are SO excited for her baptism THIS SUNDAY!!! I can't believe it has come this quickly, but I know that Amanda has been such a blessing for us as well because it has given us something wonderful to look forward to during this crazy time in the world.

Friday we called in to our last zone conference that we were asked to, and it was funny because on the first one on Tuesday, President Tveten had asked us how excited she was about the gospel and how she is sharing it with everyone and that she had given us two referrals that week, and by the last one on Friday she had given us SIX referrals! She is literally going to be the best member missionary ever!!
It was also my parents anniversary on Friday and I got to call and talk with them for a little bit so that was fun!!
I finished my Preach My Gospel Book of Mormon that I have been working on while being in isolation, and now I want to go teach in person even more so that I can use that Book of Mormon! It is super sweet, and so colorful and I love it!
We went to Ms. B's again and we did some of her paperwork and then went over to her house and did some more of her yard work and we painted her chairs that she has been sanding for a while and holy cow, she has so many stinkin projects that she has been doing and she is a single woman and told us she would have done all of this all by herself and I honestly have no idea how because it took us a long time and made us sore so idk how she would have done it haha. She fed us some good Chipotle salads before she left! She's honestly the best.
On the way home, my comp, Hna Persia received an email that she might have to return to Temple Square in Utah earlier than we were expecting, which was May 13th, so we have no idea what is happening as of now haha we are living on a limb, and at any moment we could receive an email that we have to drive up to San Antonio and then idk what I'm gonna do or who my next companion will be, so that will be weird haha so yeah, next week I might have a different comp or I might have the same one, we have no idea!
I also accidentally broke our kitchen light that night... hahah apparently I have just gotten sostrong.... hahahah jk, there is a cord that we pull down to turn on the light, but Ipulled it too hard so now we don't have light in our kitchen and it's hard to cook haha

Saturday morning we woke up and our Carbon Monoxide alarm was going off and that was the fastest I have ever seen my companion get out of bed hahahah but it ended up just being a low battery.
That morning we got to video chat with the Russo's and talk with them and it was so good to see them!! We hope this COVID thing gets over so they can come back down to Texas and visit with us!! Haha it was funny because during the call they were like "you've been there for a while now, haven't you Griffin?" and I was like, yep... hahah but I LOVE CARRIZO SPRINGS. This little branch will forever have my heart.
That afternoon we sent Donovan a message just checking in on him and how he is doing, he has been going through waves of having no food or place to stay and then finding a place, and so we messaged him, but he was pretty stressed out and kind of took it out on us.. we asked how his friends were and he asked why we were worried about them, and then told us it wasn't our business and then we just said that as disciples of Jesus Christ we are worried for everyone and then told us he refused to answer our questions and then left our group chat and unfriended us on FB. so that was sad :( We will wait a few months (i'll probably still be here haha) and then will reach out again and see where he's at.

Sunday morning we chatted with Amanda, and she said she was planning on bringing 5 nonmembers to her baptism!!! She is amazing. That will be exactly at 10 people haha but it'll be awesome because there will be more nonmembers than members, so we are quite pumped.
We went to the Chavez's house, and we parked our truck right outside their door, rolled down our window and they opened their window, and then blessed the sacrament and brought it out to us, it was another experience I will never forget.
We also made cooking videos, because this last week as a zone we have been making a cooking video and nominating people, so I will attach mine haha it's quite funny.
We were able to have 7 lessons with nonmembers yesterday so that was awesome!
We had a lesson with Rey, who is someone we found a couple months ago, and we lost contact with him recently but he was going through something difficult, and we chatted with him yesterday and told him about Amanda getting baptized and he said he would love to see it, so we might end up streaming it so that would be cool! We talked more with Rey about why baptism is important and we set a "goal" with him, aka we put him on date for baptism and we are super excited for him!! He didn't have a choice when he was baptized as a kid, and we shared 2 Nephi 31:12 with him and he loved it and we set him on date for July 4th! We chose that date because he told us that that day has always been one of his least favorites and it scares him, but he wants it to be a good day for once, so we are excited for him! He is amazing, and it has been so fun helping people continue to come to Christ during this crazy time in the world.

This week looks pretty much the same other than Amanda's baptism!! We hope that Hna Persia can stay, but she might have to leave which would make this week even crazier!!

I would love if y'all could help us share our gospel messages that we post on FB, our page is Church of Jesus Christ in Carrizo Springs, please like it and share it with your friends!! Thank you all!!

I love you all and I am incredibly thankful for everyone!!

con amor,
hermana griffin :)

Successful Easter Week! April 13, 2020

Hey everyone!! I hope you're all doing great! I've been praying for you all and I fasted for you all as well during the worldwide fast! I hope you all joined in on that and felt as good as we did! There is so much power behind fasting, especially when the whole world comes together to do it! This last week has been insanely awesome and super successful!!

Tuesday we started by getting out of the house finally and we went to help Ms B with some of her yard work! We called her last Monday to just check up on her and she said she was going to be painting her fence this week and we begged her to let us help her so we can get out of the house hahah so we went and Tuesday morning we painted her whole fence!! It looks SO GOOD! Then she fed us lunch and we even got to talk a little bit about the gospel which was awesome! She lives in Crystal which is where Amanda also lives so we drove by Amanda's and dropped off two BOM's and a BOM coloring book for her son :)

Wednesday we had district council just through technology and it was awesome! We set some SUPER HIGH goals (at least that's what we thought when we set them) and then as the week went on.. we crushed them hahah I am so excited about all that happened this past week!

Thursday we had some awesome lessons! One was with Yissel, we talked about things she enjoyed from General Conference and she is just the cutest person ever!! We need church to start back up again so she can come! She told us a few weeks ago that after she comes to church and feels it's right, she wants to be baptized! So we are excited for her!
We had another awesome lesson with Amanda ( if you dont recognize that name you should definitely go read about her from my weekly last week, shes such a miracle!!! Or read my blog sisterkyleegriffin.blogspot.com :) ) and we talked all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we had our branch president in this lesson as well and he shared how having the Holy Ghost has helped him in his life, and it was super awesome! Amanda is so prepared and so ready, she didn't have any questions during that lesson, mainly because she asked us what to read before it, so we invited her to read 2 Nephi 31 and she read it the night before our lesson, so she already knew everything we would talk about and it was awesome! She is just seriously amazing and we are going to be BFF's forever :)

Friday was a stellar day! We had the worldwide fast (which I have absolutely LOVED that group that was made on Facebook) and I think this was one of the only times I can remember that I have gone the full 24 hours without almost dying! I felt super good all day, and I know that was such a blessing! Heavenly Father is so good!
The elders from Eagle Pass had to come down and pick up some baptism suits they could use for their baptism, so we got to see the elders and that was awesome! It was so nice to be able to talk to acual people and not just to the wall haha
We also had our interviews with our president that day, and it was weird having it over the phone haha but it was still good to see him and talk to him! He asked how our area was doing and I shared one of our district goals we had made, that as a district we wanted to find 20 people that week, and as of Friday we had already found our part which was 10 and he was super impressed! Before our interview ended he told me I was an awesome missionary and that he is so happy I am down in Carrizo at this time and having this success and it meant so much to hear it, especially because I have just tried so hard lately to do all I can and it was just so reassuring to hear that! I love our mission president!

Saturday we had a crazy experience hahah but we started the day by going over to Ms B's again and she asked for us to move some pieces of wood from her back yard to front yard but she had a little trailer on her lawnmower and so I got to drive her lawnmower from the back to the front and it was fun haha then we helped her start to set up her fire place and it looks so good :) Then she fed us taco salad and then her and her sister invited us to go on a walk with them so we went for a 30 min walk, and those two are 62 and 55 and they were walking sooo fast hahah my comp and I were sore after that sooo that's not good hahah
While we were in Crystal we went to the HEB there because my comps fam had sent her money and that HEB was the only place that had her bank.. well.. we get there and put our masks on but the police officer told us that only one person per vehicle was allowed inside at a time.. well that was one of the weirdest I have felt on my mission hahahah he asked me to sit in my vehicle while she was in the store, so I was sitting ALL ALONE in the truck while she was in the store and I know it sounds so weird to feel weird being alone for 5 min but when you've had someone stuck to you for 14 months and all of a sudden there is no one stuck to you for a few min, it's super weird hahah so that was crazy
That afternoon the elders had their baptism and they live streamed it on FB so we got to watch their baptism which was cool! That is definitely something I will remember too because normally that isn't allowed, so that was a cool experience! They showed a little bit of the room and every chair was 6 ft apart and everyone had masks on... so crazy hahah
We had an awesome lesson with Erik, someone we found through a FB group and we just got to know him and his religious background, but as we went to end the lesson he told us he played the guitar and he actually was holding it the whole time, so he asked if we wanted him to play for us and of course we said yes! He played a little bit of a new song him and his friends wrote and it was awesome, I videod it so I hope y'all enjoy!!

Yesterday was Easter and it was such a special time to remember Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us! On our Facebook page this last week, we were  focusing all of our posts on Christ and His atonement and the last moments of His life, and it was a blessing for us to rememeber Him even more than normal this week as well!
We were luckily able to partake of the sacrament as well! We met the Chavez family at the church, set the chairs 6 ft apart, had our masks on, and Brother Chavez blessed and gave us the sacrament so that was a blessing to have that as well! Then yesterday we taught SO. MANY. LESSONS!! Ok so this week we worked so hard and we definitely could've worked harder because there is always room for improvement BUT our numbers (even though it's not about numbers) were crazy this week!! Ready?! This week we found 22 NEW PEOPLE to start teaching and sharing messages with, we had 20 people "attend sacrament" which for our mission, if they partake of the sacrament, or if they have a spiritual lesson on a Sunday it counts as church during this COVID time, so imagine what we did... hahah we had SO MANY lessons yesterday! I just counted and we had 19 lessons! It was really nice because with all of our people this past week we asked if we could have a lesson on Sunday, and we used Easter kind of as an excuse but we said we wanted to share a special message on Easter and so that's what we did! We went through every single person we could and shared a message with them, so it was a crazy busy day yesterday we didn't even have time for dinner haha we ate broccoli and peas in between each lesson!! I attached a screenshot of our day yesterday, so the yellow is a lesson and green is just a contact attempt, so yeah, our day was crazy hahah but it was the best Easter to be able to share the message that Christ lives :) With all of those lessons yesterday and all week, we ended up teaching FIFTY lessons this past week, which is insane!! I'm not exactly sure how we did it, but I know Heavenly Father played the biggest part in that and in helping the people make the time to meet with us :) I honestly don't mind this whole self isolation thing.... HAHAH JUST KIDDING, I miss hugs and my favorite families! I sure am excited to see the miracles that come, especially from that worldwide fast!

Here is the scripture we shared with everyone for Easter, Alma 11:42 -"Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death."
I know that Christ lives! I am so thankful for Him, and that because of Him, we will all be resurrected as well and I am forever grateful for that!

I love you all more than you could know! I hope you have the best week and that you all stay safe!

p.s. happy anniversary to my amazing parents this Friday!! I love you both so much, thank you for all you do for me!!!

Con amor, su favorita misionera,
Hermana Griffin :)

Our actual schedule for Easter Sunday!

Erik singing for us!

Our awesome Elders!

Masks are annoying!

Your favorite missionary!

I love the Book of Mormon so much!

14 months, General Conference, April 6, 2020

Hey everyone! I hope y'all had the best week! We had a week full of miracles down here in Carrizo, even while being stuck inside! It has been a huge testimony builder week for both my companion and I, especially that the Lords work can and WILL press on even through technology!! We also got to watch general conference and had a sweet set up haha but even more important than our set up was general conference itself and WOW. I was speechless the whole time! So many of my personal questions were answered, and I absolutely love the new church symbol and the Restoration Proclamation! This week was super awesome too so I'll get straight to it!

Tuesday we started our week with a mission call and some elders helped us all learn how we can be more effective through our Facebook efforts! It was super awesome and we have been working a lot through Facebook which I never thought would be our prime finding tool on my mission but at this point, it is!
Through Facebook, we friended Corina who is super cute and has loved us sharin messages with her throughout the week, and we also friended Pedro who we started sharing the gospel with as well! We friend (a lot) more people but the ones that actually accept us, read our message and reply (and are interested) are very few compared to the amount of people we friend haha but it's just like knocking doors! The amount of interested people we find compared to the amount of doors we knocked was very few as well haha.
Tuesday we also got to do our favorite thing ever hahahah Dora from the nursing home drove over here and brought us the stuff to do the huge calendars that we do for the nursing home every month! It's like their activity calendar haha and it takes at least 2 hours to finish them, so that his how we spent our Tuesday evening (she was supposed to bring them in the afternoon so we could have the evening to call people but she brought them in the evening and needed them done the next morning so we didn't have much of a choice haha) We listened to the Joseph Smith Papers Podcasts while we did the calendars and that was so awesome! Those podcasts were super cool to listen to right before conference!
(I also made fudge that night and mmmhmmm it was gooooooood)

Wednesday was April Fools and the only thing we could really do was a joke on other missionaries so we called Adams Hill (Hermana Chamberlain (my STL companion) and Hermana Harston) and told them my comp, Hermana Persia, was being sent back to her home country in Argentina... but then my comp told them the truth haha it was my comps idea, not mine... but yeah we got the Hermanas good haha. Also, I can't believe it's already April?! What in the world?!
I received my favorite package ever on Wednesday which was an 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon! Ever since studying more about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, I have been so fond of the way the old book of mormons were and so I got one and it came and it is the coolest thing I'll ever own haha
We called the Sanchez family that night and they were doing work in their lawn and as of right now, the only service we can do is outside service so we asked if they needed help and they said sure so we ran (literally ran, but it's only like a few blocks haha) to their place and helped them in their yard for a bit!

Thursday we got up and first thing is we made the video that we posted on Facebook last week! I was studying in my study journal about the restoration and I really wanted to share it with everyone and invite everyone to General Conference and that idea came to my mind to do the video, so we did it! It took us about an hour to make that two minute video (because of how many times I messed up haha) and I still messed up in the one I posted , but I didn't even realize I messed up until I got to the church to post it... so if you've noticed my mistake, just know it was an accident and I promise I do know the basic doctrine of the church hahah
That evening we had a movie night as a mission! Obviously we can't get together as a mission but right at 8 pm we all pressed play on our phones and watched the Restoration movie and it was awesome! We had a messenger chat open with comments and insights coming during the movie and it was super awesome! I love that movie so much and it was amazing to see it right before all of the general conference talks about the Restoration!

Friday was super awesome! We called Veronica and talked with her about how they are all doing and talked about her kids (her two oldest daughters are not members and haven't been taught in a while) so we decided we would reach out to them and apparently neither of them liked that hahah we didn't get a response from either of them, but Veronica texted us saying they were upset so that was sad :( We will still keep praying for them that their hearts will be softened and they can all become a forever family sooner than later! While we were talking with Veronica, we brought up her next child that will be 8 in May (Charlie) and she turns 8 on May 28th, and we were able to put her on date for May 31st! It is so sweet and while we had one of our last lessons in person with them a few weeks ago, before Luke and Bernadine were baptized, we mentioned how Luke could baptize his little sister Charlie and the whole family was in tears it was so cute!
That night we friended Amanda, and oh. my. goodness. she is AMAZING and a pure miracle. We are still having a hard time believing she is real hahah. I will tell y'all more about her!

Saturday we watched General Conference all day and that was definitely one of my most favorite conferences and one of my most favorite days on my mission! I (just like everyone else) found it so cool that two youth spoke in it! I also love love love the new symbol! One of my favorite things I heard that day was when we were reminded how "the Lord loves effort!" and I just loved that. It goes directly into what we are doing with our lives at this point and especially as missionaries! Yes, we are stuck inside our apartments and yes, it is different missionary work than we ever thought we would be doing, but whether we are putting in effort walking 10 miles a day, or putting in effort by calling and texting people all day to share the gospel, it is still effort!! I loved that and it really helped us know that as long as we are doing all we can, given the circumstances, then the Lord is proud of us, and we have seen that as well through Amanda!

Sunday I hit 14 months in my mission and I still can hardly believe I have been a missionary for 14 months of my life!!
We heard President Nelson share with us the Restoration Proclamation and I. LOVE. IT!!! I want to memorize it which I know is a lot but it's one of my many goals I have set hahah

OK. AMANDA!!! (this is long so if you want to read about a miracle, read it but if not you can skip it)
She is a literal miracle. So we have been doing finding through Facebook, and we went into an online garage sale group for a town we cover, and we click on profiles and see where they live and if they are in our area, then we friend them. So we friended Amanda, and after she accepted our request we sent her a message saying something like "Thank you for accepting our request! We are missionaries for our church, would you mind if we asked you a question?" and then we've been asking people one of the questions of the soul : what do you think the purpose of this life is, so we asked her that and I am going to share some of the conversations we have had with her over the weekend! When she answered the purpose of this life she basically said to live it to the fullest and treat others how we want to be treated and we said we agreed and said generally we also believe it is a time to prepare to meet God and asked if she agreed and she said yes that is true. We later asked what she would classify her religion as and she said Christian, she grew up catholic but didn't like it but likes us and another church haha then she goes to tell us she want's to be a "mormon" but her fiance doesn't want to. She kept telling us she would try to persuade and convince him hahah we told her he didn't have to be a member for her to become one and she was super surprised and excited! She told us he told her she would have to go on missions, but asked how that would work because she has a son at home, so we explained how missions are optional haha. This was Friday, so we asked if she had heard of General Conference and she said she hadn't and then asked how she could go about watching it so we shared it with her, and SHE. WATCHED. ALL. OF. IT.
Yesterday we messaged her and she said she "really loved how President Nelson talked about Moses and effort and how God loves effort. I also love how they clarified what to repent means, to ask for forgiveness and change your ways. I also love the emphasis on family time in the little break commercials :) " isn't she amazing?! Ok then she messaged us and said she needed advice because her fiance keeps disagreeing with it and she really wants to become a part of this religion and she shared how she wants "a mormon husband" (we need to fix that, we know haha) then she told us she follows the word of wisdom and has been praying that he will make this decision with her! Then she was like "he can't understand that this church is the most loving, Jesus-like, good role modeling, kindest, church there is. and family oriented" haha we were dying while receiving her messages, like how is this possible?!? She was definitely touched by the spirit this weekend and listened INTENTLY to general conference. I am still in awe! More of our conversation last night had to do with how her fiance doesn't believe in Joseph Smith and also doesn't like how we can't play full court basketball (I laughed at that one because I hadn't heard it before) but then we talked more about what stood out to her from conference and she said "i did also hear when they said we need to prepare ourselves to enter Heaven, which is what u stated when u first reached out to me, and it definitely makes sense. we need to be good people, i'm sure god does not want bad people in heaven. it's common sense i never saw before i thought we could sin our whole lives and god will still accept us. that is not true. we need to be truly good for a higher chance of him accepting us" she could be a missionary!!! After that we asked her about her thoughts of preparing for baptism and she said "I'm in!!!" then shared in about a year or so she will be ready. we shared how Satan will make sure it doesn't happen if she waits that long, then she said maybe a few months and then she shared how she is afraid her fiance will leave her because she will need to follow the law of chastity to be a member and they won't get married for 4 more years because she is a single parent and is using that to her advantage so they wouldn't be getting married anytime soon.. we were thinking of how to respond to that, and she sends another message saying "I asked him if he would leave me if i became a member and he said he doesn't know. i do not care if he leaves me. i feel this is right an dif he leaves me for doing the right thing, then so be it. I love God and Jesus before him" i dropped my phone. AMAZING.  To end the conversation, we put her on date for APRIL 26th and are so pumped for her.

Happy late birthdays to my cousins Tyson (1st) and Mandee (2nd) and Drake (5th) and happy birthday this week to my aunts Tonya (9th) and Lisa (11th) I hope you had / have the best birthdays ever!!

Thanks again to all of you for your love and support and kind messages and all you do for me! These past 14 months wouldn't have been the same without you all!

Love Hermana Griffin

P.s. we got the news last night that we have to wear masks when we go grocery shopping so its gettin real here in Texas.

Our view for General Conference.

My new Book of Mormons.

Our setup for General Conference.