"Did we just get hit?!?" May 25, 2020

Hello friends and family!! I love y'all so much and am so thankful for the support that I've received from you all this week! It has been a crazy week and will be getting even crazier haha
We made a meal and exercise plan this past week and I am stoooooked for some results hahah

Monday we had a super crazy day and it was packed so I apologize for all of you who received short responses, but for preparation day we went to a state park called Lost Maples State Park and went on a FIVE MILE HIKE and it was killer haha but so super fun!
We had such a solid lesson with Kino again and shared the gospel of jesus christ and he literally asked "how can I become a member?" so it was super duper awesome.
We had another amazing lesson with Amanda and we also had the Russo's join us and they were able to help us explain family history to Amanda and now she has been starting to do it and she is super amazing!
Amanda also told us that her boyfriend Joel is going to be baptized on June 13th! It's absolutely amazing that the Lord's work is still progressing here and it's so fun to see!

Tuesday we had a super sweet day! We started with service with Ms B and then we came home and had lunch with the Russo's and the Davidsons, and President Davidson is the district president (like stake president) and it was sweet because we were able to get all of our questions answered about what is going to be happening with our small branch, and I can't share much right now BUT hopefully soon I will be able to share all that is happening here! BIG THINGS!
We also had interviews with our mission president and it was super awesome! I love interviews and I'm sad it couldn't be in person again but it's ok! He told me I am "a remarkably great missionary" and that is something I have waited my whole mission to hear haha it felt great for sure.

Wednesday we got a call from the moving elders and they informed us that they were going to come by our place, and give me a NEW BED! It was funny because at transfers, we were chatting with them and they mentioned they received a shipment of a ton of memory foam beds... and I told them I need one haha but I didn't actually think I would get one... well they brought it to me! I didn't realize how bad my bed was  until Sister Russo sat on it and was like "oh my goodness" and then Elder Dimond sat on it too when he brought the new bed and he also said it was bad... haah I had no idea how bad it was, I just thought all mission beds were bad.. BUT now I have a memory foam and I have been sleeping like a baby ever since!! It pays off to be friends with the moving elders haha.
We took a random trip to Cotulla because the mission office called us and asked us to go check out apartment complex's.... We don't know for sure yet and nothing is confirmed yet, BUT we think they are going to be putting missionaries in Cotulla next week!!! SO EXCITING!!
We stopped by the Jimenez family because they said they had stuff for us and they gave us sooo much cleaning stuff and it was the sweetest thing ever!!

Thursday we had district council and it was weird to have more than 4 people in it again haha but now it is us and two companionships of Elders again in Eagle Pass!
We were finally able to get in contact with Phillip again and we caught up with him AND he told us he might be moving soon.. that was a heart breaker haha we hope he doesn't leave before his baptism date on June 16th though!
We had an awesome lesson with Rick through video chat, and we shared the Restoration with him and he absolutely loved it! He said "that is amazing!" and we are super hopeful to invite him to be baptized soon!

Friday the elders from Del Rio came down because they recently got a nice camera, and so we were able to do a photoshoot and update our FB page with some good looking pictures! If you haven't checked out Church of Jesus Christ in Carrizo Springs yet, DO IT! You won't regret it haha.
We also had a bible study that night on Virtue and that was new for me haha it was something Sister Brooks was doing in her last area and she brought it here with her! It was fun!
Ashley called us back which was nice because we hadn't been able to contact her for a while, and we were able to catch up with her and she is still super interested which is awesome! It is surprising how busy people still are at this time hahah but oh well
We have daily lessons with David and he is still doing good! This last week we were able to help him make an action plan to quit the word of wisdom habits he has, and he is doing pretty good so far! He has poison ivy so that is all he wants to talk about when we call hahha

Saturday we went to Crystal and wanted to go bike riding but 1) both my tires were flat and 2) someone told us the park was closed hahah so that was a fail. Then we parked on some random road and did one of my comps kickboxing classes and that was fun too! We then helped Ms B set up their garage sale and cleaned some more of her jewelry!
My companion had a craving for pizza that night, and so I drove her to Little Ceasars (that was the hardest thing ever to smell it but not eat it haha) but we were literally just sitting in the drive through, and someone HIT US!! We were so shocked and confused haha but the guy behind us was obviously not paying attention and softly hit us, but his car went kind of underneath the truck... but luckily there was no damage hahah it was kind of funny..
We had an awesome lesson with Vicente and shared the  Plan of Salvation and he really liked it! He said it made sense and we used examples from the Bible which he was familiar with and it was super awesome!
We also got a call that night from the Assistants and they asked us to give a training at zone conference.... hahah so that is fun I guess! It is going to be regarding teaching online and how to bring the Spirit, so if anyone has any recommendations, that would be awesome! We have an idea of what we are going to do hah but maybe some ideas on a role play we could include with that would be great!!

Sunday we were able to have 10 solid lessons with potential members, and also find 4 new people! As a mission this past week we had a goal of finding 200 new people to teach, and ended up finding 244! That was awesome :)
We had a solid video lesson with Phillip and he is literally so prepared and ready to receive the gospel, haha he is kind of using the excuse of him wanting to go to church first before he is baptized so he doesn't have to dive all in right now, but I felt the Spirit tell me during the lesson that even if he doesn't become a member when we want him to, it will eventually happen and that gave me a lot of comfort! I know he is a great guy and would be the most solid member and I just want him to receive all of the blessings possible!
Last night we made breakfast for dinner, and there was also a huge storm which was scary hahha but we are safe no worries :)

This week is going to be super duper loca! We have zone conference and we also have Charlies baptism on Sunday! Charlie is one of Veronicas (our recent convert) kids and is turning 8 this week and her big brother Luke (also our recent convert) will be baptizing her and it is literally going to be one of the most special moments ever! I am so excited!

Thanks again to everyone for all of your love and support! I miss and love you but don't want these 2 months to end hahah

con mucho amor,
hermana griffin

Transfers // 3 trios in a week! May 18, 2020

Hello everyone!!! I hope you have all had a fabuloso week!! This week was absolutely insane and EVEN MORE INSANE is that my BEST FRIEND HERMANA SPENCER goes home from Florida this week... that is so weird to me hahah so everything is getting more and more crazy every single week!! This past week while staying in an apartment with other sisters reminded me how much I miss living with other sisters!! haha I also said "see ya later" to sis persia and that was super duper sad :(

I know I am terrible and have said this for the past month hahah but this Monday we are also super busy so I don't know how much time I will have to reply to everyone but I would still LOVE to hear from you and I will try my best to give a good reply!!! We are headed to go on a hike today and the Russos are taking us before they head back to Utah on Wednesday, so it will be fun :)

Last Monday was a super fun preparation day! We met the 10th ward sisters and we walked around the Riverwalk and we wore masks the whole time which was weird hahah and even weirder was it was literally like a ghost town on the Riverwalk! There was nobody there and it was weird haha but it was fun to hangout with Hermana Ibarra and Hermana Thayne! We spent the day in San Antonio and went to Cheesy Jane's for dinner (Phillip recommended it) and it was good! Then we got some good fudge and a cute new San Antonio running shirt! It was a great day :)

Tuesday I was put into the first trio of the week and it was with the Sonterra sisters, Sister Broman and Sister Jacobs! It was quite the crazy day between setting up the church and sitting in on their lessons and driving around San Antonio to go to the mission office and drop off a Book of Mormon... I never had any idea how involved those sisters are with everything in the mission and how much stress they are put under constantly hah and that day I gained a LOT more respect for them than I had before that! They're amazing sisters and it was a super fun and crazy day haha and that night was even more fun!! We got back to the apartment and the departing sisters, or the sisters that were going home, came and stayed at the apartment with us! It was crazy because they didn't arrive from their meetings until 11 pm and then they had to leave by 5 am... hahah I got 5 hours of sleep that night..

Wednesday I was in a different trio and I stayed with Sister Page and Sister Dickson in Monte Vista, and we had an awesome day as well! They needed to drop off some stuff at peoples houses and they wanted to ride in the truck so we took the truck around the city haha it was fun! They are in a spanish area so I got to do some lessons in spanish again and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!
That morning my dear Argentine companion left and that was such a heartbreaker to see her leave :( all week she wouldn't look at me because she would start crying and then Wednesday she ended up leaving and heading back to Temple Square! It was super sad and I miss her every day but I know Sis Persia will do crazy amazing things at Temple Square!!
That night we got the brand new missionaries and awe they are just so stinkin cute!! They were all so excited and two of them went to school with my dear trainer Allison Schellenberg!! It was fun to be in that apartment and that night, Hermana Sauan sang to them and that sister is literally one of my favorite people in the whole world!

Thursday was transfers and we got to the church by 7 am (I only got 6 hours of sleep that night haha) and Sister Dickson and I drove there in the truck and then I was temporary companions with Hermana Page and Hermana Sauan and then I was thrown around between them and Hermana Chamberlain and Sister Jacobs hahaha and at one point it was Hermana Page, Hermana Chamberlain and I so we took a picture as the third trio I was in that week, it was a fun and crazy week!
My cute companion, Hermana Brooks, arrived at the church and we got all her stuff and headed out! We went to Chic fil a for lunch (because we don't have anything like that in Carrizo haha) and then made the long trip home! We got back and unpacked and hungout with the Russo's for a bit!
Hermana Brooks is from Saint George Utah and cool fact is she actually went to Dixie the same time I did! She loves to bake (that won't be good for me haha) and she plays musical instruments!

Friday we did a kickboxing class in the morning (Hermana Brooks has a bunch of cool workout videos and she is really good at kickboxing!) and that was a dang good workout haha. We went to Ms B's office and helped her with more paperwork and then we went to her house and picked up a 'fit stepper' that she is letting us borrow for a bit and I hope it helps me in my road to getting back into shape :)
That afternoon we called with Yissel and she is from the Dominican, and speaks super fast spanish and I was super nervous haha but it actually went super duper good and I understood her and she understood me! We explained that Hna Persia will still be teaching her with her companion at Temple Square and we will still be here as her local missionaries if she needs anything! We decided to do that because Yissel and Hna Persia understood each other really well so we figured it would be the best option!
That night we had awesome lessons with Vicente in which we taught the Restoration and he totally understood it! He had a little different version of who he believed God was so that is something we will continue to chat about haha. We also had a great lesson with Rey and talked a lot about Christ's Atonement and he is doing good too! Jackie texted us and told us the candy we bought like 3 months ago was finally in haha and we went over and it was kind of awkward because we couldn't say much haha but it was good to see Jackie again.

Saturday we had some photo shoots for our FB page to update it haha and then took some videos to introduce our new missionary in the area and it was pretty fun!
We finally received a message back from Kino, who is someone we messaged over a month ago and he said he has been looking for a church since he moved from Houston! We were able to set up a lesson with him for Sunday and it was awesome!
We were chatting with Amanda, and she informed us that her ex-fiance Joel actually wants to get baptized!!! We are super excited for him and continue to pray that everything goes well for him!
That night we also had some fun and had a kareoke night with the Russos! We sang so many christian songs, like The Gospel, Nobody, Jesus Take the Wheel, and many more haha.

Sunday we got to have the sacrament at home with the Russos! It was super special, and something I will always remember! We partook of the sacrament and then had a little testimony meeting and it was so sweet :)
We had our lesson with Kino and we shared the Restoration with him and he totally understood it and agreed with it and when we asked when we can call again he was like "call me again tomorrow!" so we have another lesson with him today!
We got a self referral named Ashley and we called her and introduced ourselves and she was like "wow, y'all called quickly!" and it was cool haha we dropped off a bible and book of mormon at her place and are starting to teach her too :)
Last night we had a devotional as the Eagle Pass district, and it was from the President and matron of the San Antonio Temple and it was awesome! The San Antonio Temple is going to open to Phase 1 on June 1st! It hasn't had an ordinance done since March 24th! Super crazy..

Soo... I heard a rumor last night, and we have yet to figure out if it is true or not, BUT we were talking with the elders in Eagle Pass and they told us their branch mission leader said that our branch, Carrizo Springs Branch, might be splitting into a few different groups.. They said it would probably split into the Cotulla group, the Carrizo Springs group, and Crystal City group... that is SO COOL!! It seriously made me so happy to know that this area has grown enough that they are even thinking of splitting it up even more, and it is such a testimony builder to me that the Lord's work does NOT stop!! Whether or not I'll be here when it splits into groups I have no idea, because I don't know when it will happen, but I hope it does soon! That would mean we would get more missionaries to cover those other groups as well, how awesome is that!! yay!!

I forgot to wish my awesome friends and family a happy birthday last week!! Happy birthday to Hilary (12th) and Emmee (13th) and my uncle Bick (13th) and Drue (14th) I hope you all had the most amazing birthdays ever!!

I love every one of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart if you actually made it this far hahah

Have the best week ever!!
con mucho amor,
hermana griffin :)

Philip // 75 lessons!!! May 11, 2020

Hello everyone!!! This week we have continued seeing soooo many miracles!!! Also happy mothers day yesterday to all of the wonderful amazing women in my life who have been like another mother to me!! I hope you all had the most amazing mothers day ever!
Personal life : This last week I was able to talk with my soccer coach at Dixie State, and we have decided it is best for me to take this fall season off and personally prepare :) It would've been difficult for me to come straight back because I get home August 5th, and season starts August 3rd, and it's quite difficult for me to get in soccer shape on the mission with only 30 minutes to workout every day, so I've prayed about it and I've decided that I will be staying home this fall, and doing a CNA course at Bridgerland and doing some training with an amazing personal trainer and also helping to coach the Sky View girls soccer team! I'm super excited for this fall and even though I'm very sad I won't be able to go straight back into the game I love, I'm happy and relieved I will be able to have some time to spend with my family and friends :)  so I'll have all fall to hangout so hit me up :) my mom also got my flight plans this last week and WOW it's coming wayyyy toooooo soooooon!!!
This week was SPECTACULAR though!!

Monday we met our miracle for the week!! We got a text from Amanda, and long story short her ex (her son's father) was putting grass in their yard and needed help so we ran over there (we were in the middle of talking with our families but felt it was a good opportunity) so we got there and helped them put grass in and layed it all out (i got absolutely fried cause it was at 2 in the afternoon and i forgot it was 100 degrees outside hahah) but it was SWEET. So amanda's ex is a member, but his best friend Phillip was there helping him and Phillip is not a member! Well we got to talking while we were laying out the grass and he was asking soooo many questions but they were such good and sincere questions! He asked us why we feel he should change or anyone should and we both got to share our testimonies and it really made him think and the spirit was so strong and it was so weird to be teaching in person again hahh but we were also doing service so it was nice! He took a book of mormon and pamphlets and it was just so stinkin sweet!
EVEN BETTER was that Monday evening we had a video lesson with Amanda and President Tveten and he talked to her about what he wanted her to talk about in the mission call and it was so sweet to have President Tveten call into a lesson! Then we had the mission call and Amanda told her story on how we met her and how she decided to convert and it was just so special! We had so many missionaries tell us that was super uplifting and inspiring to see a witness that the work is still going on even inside the house!

Tuesday I hit 15 months and WHEW it's going so fast and I truly never thought this time would come hahah. That morning we went back over to Thomas's house and helped them put more grass in their backyard. Then we sat and talked for THREE hours... hahah we literally taught Phillip and Thomas (even tho he's a member, it was a good reminder for him of everything we believe) and we taught them EVERY PRINCIPLE that we teach as missionaries except for what happens after death hahah it was sooo sweet and just like the conversations flowed, it wasn't that we were shooting all this info at him but he was truly soaking it all in!! He even told us he knows how he feels the spirit and he felt it while we were all talking! He also said he had a moment that he just sat back and was listening to us missionaries and Thomas talking about the gospel and Phillip said it felt like everything in the world was revolving around this moment, "like it was all coming together" and he related it to shooting a gun and how you wait for the perfect moment and you take that last breathe and then shoot and he said it felt like everything in his life was leading up to this lesson, it was so amazing and was so sweet to teach in person hahah
I had a sweet exchange with sister pieper and it was super fun to visit with her again!
That evening we went to the Morales house and did service with them and it was sweet to see them again! Sister Persia had to say goodbye and it was sad :(

Wednesday I went on a Facebook frenzy and added everyone I could and that was a huuuuge mistake hahah.
We finished the Living Christ video that we did as a zone and it was awesome!
We had district council and set suuuuuper high goals as a district and one of them was for us to reach 100 lessons as a district.. with TWO companionships.. insane!!

Thursday we filmed my companions "hear him" video and edited it and it has been fun improving my editing skills! Then the elders drove down to Carrizo and brought us some masks and said goodbye to my companion and it was sad!
That evening was CRAZY!! We got home that night and our neighbor told us that there had been a shooting about a mile and a half from our house and the guy was on the loose in a blue shirt with a tattooed face and had a shotgun... we were scared. We locked ourselves inside and an hour later our neighbors dogs started going insane and it absolutely frightened us.. we are still alive though so we are all good hahha.

Friday was SO FUN!! We had zone council that morning and talked about our goals as a zone, and we also went and did service with Ms B and helped her with paperwork!
We had a mission call and were reminded of the safeguards we need to have while being online so much and how many crazy people there are out there!
Amanda's family REALLY begged to feed us since we helped with their yard, so Friday evening we had a bbq and it was sooo sweet. We had Kathy and Chito come and Kathy was able to share with Phillip (they are classmates) why she converted and we believe it was just enough to help Phillip on his journey :)

Saturday we were messaging back and forth with Phillip and we put him on date for baptism!! He is now on date for June 16th and we are literally so pumped for him. He could be baptized this next week literally because he knows everything but he said he wants to come to know it and learn it for himself and so he wants to take time which we understand and we are still excited for him! It is super sweet because Amanda was talking to him and told him he should learn about the church and it was just so sweet to see her work continue!!
I had an exchange with Sister Anderson in Del Rio and it was awesome as well!

Sunday was mothers day and we got to talk with our families and it was so sweet!! The Russos also came back and SCARED us soooo bad!! We were sitting in our room and they walked into the house and we were super scared because of the shooter a couple days ago hahah my comp even broke the door trying to close it with a pull up bar on it... hahahah sooo funny!!
Phillip is so super sweet and he brought us over BBQ that his family had cooked and they had extra! He got to see the Russos and chat for a bit and it was just super sweet! He's gonna be one of the best members ever!!
We had 75, yes SEVENTY FIVE lessons last week here in Carrizo... hahah there were moments where my fingers couldn't move fast enough hahah it was insane. It was such an amazing week though and a great way to send of Sister Persia :)

Today we are headed to San Antonio so I can show Sister Persia around the city before she heads back to Utah on Wednesday, so if I don't get to respond to your emails, please forgive me as today will be a crazy day!!

We got transfer news last night and I am staying in Carrizo again (YAYYY) and I will be receiving Sister Brooks (my niece in the mission)!! I'm still a Sister Training Leader and I'm just super excited for this transfer and all of the amazing things to happen!!

Thanks again to all of you for your love and prayers. You've all changed my life and I love you incredibly much!!

Have the best week ever!!
love hermana griffin :)

Saying Goodbye to the Morales Family!

Service with the Morales Family!

District Counsel!

Service with Mrs. B.

Face Masks!

Barbecue with the crew!

Morning runs!

Morning Runs!

Exchanges with Sis Pieper!

Dinner with the Bustamantes!

My sweet comp, Sister Augustina Persia Gomez

nNew comp assignment!  May 10, 2020   Sister Sydney Brooks, my niece!  lol!

Elder Villarreal /// 15 months!!! May 4, 2020

Hey hey hey!!! I seriously love you all and am so thankful for every one of you in my life!! I can't help but thank my Heavenly Father every single day for the blessing that every. single. one of you has been to me!
Enough with the gushyness hahah my week was FANTASTIC!! We just have SO much going on in the mission and in Carrizo Springs that honestly there have been so many days that we haven't had enough time to do everything we need to! A few weeks ago we used to have 30 min in the middle of the day to go out and play basketball or soccer but lately we haven't even had time to do that hahah.
For those of you who were able to watch the womens conference, one of the sisters (I don't remember her name.. oops) was talking about a meme she saw about how we should start wearing masks in our own homes.. not to prevent us from getting sick, but to prevent us from excessive snacking hahah I loved that and I feel like I definitely need to do that!!

Monday we had a crazy day! I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life after I come home (which isn't something I WANT to think about but i have to haha) and I've been talking with the new Dixie coach, so any and all prayers would be super appreciated that things will work out well and I can still have a chance to play the game I love again!
It was super weird to go from triple digits to double digits in days I have left.. I'm definitely not counting down but it's still weird to think about haha

Tuesday we had a sister call with all of the sisters in the mission and it was sweet!!
Then I got to have another virtual exchange with Sister Obray and she is so cute!! It has been weird to not be able to have regular exchanges BUT the blessings that we have to have technology is super helpful!

Wednesday we had district council over technology with our wonderful elders hahah and then after that we got to have a mission conference with Elder and Sister Villarreal! Elder Villarreal is a member of the 6th quorum of the 70, and is in our area presidency and he also lives in Balcones, my first area! I didn't realize how big of a calling he had when I was serving in Balcones, but when he explained a 70, it's amazing!! I'm blessed to have been able to know him and eat in his house hehe
He gave us SO MUCH amazing information and I took notes the whole time that I could probably narrate what he was saying hahah. Some of you may have seen a story I put on FB about "The Unmovable Rock" and if you haven't read it, do it!! It is super inspiring and truly helped remind me that I have been called to share the gospel with other people. The Lord hasn't asked me to bring to pass miracles or to force people to accept the gospel, but merely to share the gospel with others and see the miracles come from that! It was an amazing conference and I learned and was reminded of a lot!
That afternoon we were able to call into another district council (the assistants to the president called us two days in advance and asked us to share with their district how we've been able to find so many people through FB) and it was so fun! I've loved being able to share success with other missionaries and it's been even more fun to see the joy they receive when they have success in finding that way as well!
That evening I went on a friending spree hahahah and I think I sent friend requests to like 50 people... that evening we ended up teaching 6 of them so that was good haha a lot of them accepted but didn't reply to our message.. Something funny that our mission president told us a few weeks ago was how weird a mission can be.. haha because all growing up, our parents always told us to not talk to strangers, right? Well, on a mission  you're supposed to talk to EVERY SINGLE PERSON you can which is weird haha but then our parents also told us to be careful about who our friends are on FB and now a days, we are pretty much friends with everyone and their dogs on FB hahahh so being a missionary is quite different, but its awesome!!!!

Thursday morning we had service with Ms B in her office and we cleaned out her room with all of her cans and helped her organize her office more and it was fun! She always has music playing and this time we asked her to play Christian music and we put on Nobody by Casting Crowns and had a concert hahah it was fun
We were able to drop off a Book of Mormon to Jesse who is someone we have been teaching and sharing messages with and that was fun!
While we were driving around trying to meet Jesse, there was a guy named Rusty that asked us to stop because his car was stuck halfway in the road and he asked if we could help jump his car so we did, and he asked who we were and it was weird to introduce ourselves again in person hahah but he then went on to tell us how he just moved from TOOELE and we asked if he had a Book of Mormon then and he said he actually needed another one because he gave his to one of his friends... it was super sweet!! He didn't end up needing us to jump him anyways because he realized it was his starter that wasn't working, but there is no doubt that was all put together by Heavenly Father!
We had an awesome phone lesson with the Jimenez family and were able to set up FHE this evening with the whole family!
We did service for the nursing home that night and we did the calendars again, and we found Christian music on FB and were listening to that and it was so fun haha we found my companions new favorite song...
I had a moment that night that I got homesick and then wow, I realized how much time I DON'T HAVE left on my mission and it made me quite sad haha but I'm trying not to focus on the time I have left but rather just work as hard as I can!!

Friday morning we had Mission Leadership Council through technology, and I loved it! It was awesome to be able to talk about how we can continue to become better! We also started the meeting off with our President reading through Jacob 5 with us and it was the coolest companionship study with our President ever!! We found out that our mission will be receiving FIFTEEN missionaries TODAY that have been reassigned here, so that is cool!!
That evening we were able to go to Sister Bustamantes and help pull weeds in her garden, and for the first time in my life I have enjoyed pulling weeds hahah but it was awesome to be able to see them again because it has been so long!

Saturday we did service again with Ms B, this time at her house and we were able to pick up piles of leaves and help her move bricks from her moms house over to her house for another project she is doing, and it was nice to get some more physical activity than the 30 minutes we get each morning haha.
I was able to have another awesome virtual exchange with Sister Smith, and she goes home next week... so we were able to talk a lot about how she is feeling and she has always been a missionary I have looked up to on my whole mission and it was awesome to talk about how she has been such an amazing missionary and always stay so focused and it was just a wonderful exchange! I will forever be grateful for the friends I've made on my mission and for the sisters i've been able to get to know and help while being a sister training leader :)

That day we chatted with Amanda she told us she broke up with her fiance.... crazy! She said she just felt that he wasn't the one she wanted to be with forever and that he wasn't helping her grow closer to God, and we were able to share our personal experiences and tell her how it was led by the Holy Ghost that she now has since she was baptized, and she loved that both of us had gone through similar experiences and could relate to her!! She really wants to marry someone in the church and we shared that we know that Heavenly Father has a perfect plan and has someone specifically picked out for her and her son Mason, and she is seriously amazing and said she isn't even really that distraught because she knows it is the right thing to do.
My companion and I were talking more about that experience, and just how humbling it was for us. We have this gospel, and we know the blessings that come from following promptings and following Christ the best we can, but sometimes it can still be hard to let go of things, yet we have this perfect example of Amanda in front of us who is willing to let go of anything she needs to in order to come closer to God. It was very, very humbling and a very special experience for all of us.
She is also a referral maniac! Haha that night she sent us a referral for a young lady who lives in Uvalde, so we sent her to the elders serving there, but it was amazing to see a bit of Amandas conversation with Haily because Amanda is literally a missionary!! She sent Haily a message that said "i've noticed you've been sharing stuff about God lately" and just went straight into sharing the restored gospel with her!! Haily replied and said she actually ordered a Book of Mormon and wanted to learn more and grow closer to God and it was just so cool!! Amanda is a literal miracle.

Sunday morning we were able to have a few great phone lessons and share messages about Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and then we drove to the Chavez's house and were able to partake of the sacrament! It is such a blessing to still be able to do that in this crazy time.
Something crazy was that the Morales family was able to partake of it as well! It is crazy because Saturday we were able to call Veronica and she said she has been wanting the sacrament lately but Luke isn't sure how to do it, so we scheduled a time on Sunday that a brother could go over and help them. Saturday evening we had a zone call and we always end by praying for people who we feel needs extra prayers, and we prayed specifically that the Morales family could take the time to partake of the sacrament. Well Sunday came around and we received a text from Veronica that they need to cancel because they had to leave their house and go somewhere else and she wasn't sure what time they'd be back. She was super sad because she hasn't had it for a while but she said she went because she didn't want to fight with her husband haha. We asked the brother to go an hour later than planned, and Veronica texted us and said she felt bad to change the time again and we just told her that Brother Guerrero is willing to help and do what he can, and he is available whenever they are ready and that this was Satan trying to get them to not partake of the sacrament, and she agreed and said shed be home by 2 so Brother Guerrero went over and helped them. Then Veronica posted on FACEBOOK about it (which is crazy because lately her FB posts have been quite opposite than gospel related haha) but we've really been encouraging her to stick with it and share her testimony online so she shared about partaking of the sacrament and it was the best thing I think I've ever seen. She texted us after and was so cute and appreciative about how insistent we were on getting them to partake of the sacrament hahah sometimes you have to be insistent ya know?? Then Brother Guerrero sent us the cutest text as well and ah my heart is just so full. I am so incredibly thankful to my Heavenly Father for this opportunity I have had to serve a mission and meet all of these people who have truly changed my life for the better.
Last night we got a call from President Tveten and he asked us if we could ask Amanda to call into our mission call tonight, and wow, that is another amazing miracle!! So tonight Amanda gets to join all 200ish of us missionaries and talk about her story and her testimony, and it's gonna be the most tender experience for us, i'm already tearing up thinking about it :')

Well, this week will be crazy like always! We've got more virtual exchanges planned, and TOMORROW I hit 15 months... and CINCO DE MAYO entonces vamos a tener una fiesta jajajaj (so we are going to have a party hahahah)
Sunday we receive transfer news and tbh I'm not super nervous, I have felt like I will end my mission here in Carrizo which I would LOVE, but two nights ago I had a NIGHTMARE that President Tveten is going to move me (and my companion leaves next week back to Temple Square) soooo I don't want to be doubled out of Carrizo and I also don't want to leave so if everyone could pray that I don't leave that would be greatly appreciated hahha I've been here since October and I want to be here until August :)

Happy Mothers Day on Sunday to all of the wonderful mothers!! I am so incredibly grateful for my  mom, my mission mom, and all of the other wonderful women in my life that I look to as more mothers (because we all know I need all the help I can get hahah)

I love you all incredibly much and can't ever express my gratitude for you all!!
I hope you have the best week ever!!
con mucho amor,
hermana griffin :)

Exchange with Sister Obray!

Sweet message from Bro. Guerrero!

A cool quote we made. :)

Exchange with Sister Smith!

Amanda sharing the gospel like a champ!

Veronica sharing about taking the sacrament!