Janie = complete miracle // Amanda and Joel = MARRIED! June 29, 2020

Well hello again family and friends! It feels as if these Mondays come wayyyy too fast hahah BUT I know I always say this "last week was crazy" but this last week literally was crazy and we saw SO MANY MIRACLES!!! I had a sad moment during our lesson with our miracle family this last week that there will come a day when I won't see miracles (like these) every day and that made me super sad haha BUT I'm still great and happy and pushing forward until the very last second that I can!!

Last Monday was insane if you all couldn't tell by the time that my weekly email came out haha. I was super duper nervous all of last week for transfers and then it turns out that the database was down, and they were expecting it to come back up by Monday evening but it DIDN'T, so we had a mission zoom call and President Tveten READ out all of the transfer news, and I'M STAYING IN CARRIZO!!!!!! I'm soooo happy that I get to stay here again and be able to continue to help this area grow :) I am still a Sister Training Leader so that is a wonderful blessing that will help me to stay focused on my purpose!!
We also found out that we had been in second hand contact with someone who tested positive for the virus, so that wasn't fun haha we had to call our President and talk about it all but we ended up to be fine and the family we had direct contact with all tested negative so we don't have to be tested thankfully :)

Tuesday we got to go help with the South Texas Food Bank here in Carrizo Springs and helped with the drive through there, so that was fun! It was funny because there are some people that we haven't met and haven't even had like video calls with, they've just been messenger calls, and so we were able to actually meet a few of the people in person through that service so that was funny haha.
That afternoon we were able to have another mission devotional and we got to hear from Elder and Sister McKay, and it was super duper awesome!
That evening I ended up finishing My Plan, and for all of you who know what My Plan is, yes I finished early  but I just wanted to get it over with so I did and it's a great feeling haha.

Wednesday we went to Eagle Pass and we had district council and then that is the day we got the call and actually got put into quarantine until the results for the family came back so that was crazy haha. When we got the phone call telling us we had to go into isolation again, President Tveten said one of the nicest things which was "Way to work hard to grow the area enough so that it needs more missionaries." So that was super freaking awesome to hear haha. Then we had an interesting lesson with Vicente and he has some crazy beliefs haha and we aren't quite sure how we can help him but we will keep trying haha

Thursday was our MIRACLE DAY!!!!! We found some super duper prepared people!! We found this lady named Janie through Facebook! We actually messaged her about 2 weeks ago with our whole routine thing we usually do, and she replied a little bit but didn't seem too interested. My comp saw on FB that she had posted something about anxiety, so she felt prompted to message her again and ask if we could share a scripture with her! She said yes, and we shared Helaman 5 : 12 (classic ;) ) and she LOVED it! She said it helped a ton. We actually were able to keep the conversation going this time and were able to talk about her past relationship with God and where she wants to go and she shared a story of her being kind of forced to be baptized, but how she actually wants to come closer to god and be baptized again and we asked if we could help her and her family with that and she accepted! She is the mother of SEVEN children (all under the age of 12) and so on Thursday we were able to put her and her two oldest kids, Celeste and Jordan, on date for July 26th :) It was SOOOOO COOL!!
We had an emergency mission call that night and talked more about the COVID19 virus because of how crazy it's getting. Our mission president actually has to be quarantined away from his family because he came in contact with one of our missionaries who tested positive so that's sad :(
Transfer day was also on Thursday and that is the day we were supposed to be getting the elders in Cotulla, BUT one of them is the one that tested positive so they won't be coming down until next week when he gets out of quarantine so we still have a week of covering Cotulla :)

Friday we had our first video lesson with Janie, Celeste and Jordan and it was sooooo awesome! Right before our lesson is when Amanda was able to drop off  the Books of Mormon for them, so they had them in the call and it was awesome! It was super sweet to have Amanda help us and deliver those for us because we still couldn't leave the house at that point haha. The lesson was super duper sweet and we shared the Restoration with them and they understood and wow, Celeste and Jordan are sooo awesome!! During our closing prayer is when I had the emotions hit me of how there will come a day when I won't see miracles as big as these every day and that was super duper sad.
We also received one of the best packages I have received on my mission, and President and Sister Russo sent us MATE SUPPLIES. For any of you who don't know what mate is, it's like an herbal tea that people from Argentina are obsessed with hahah Hna Persia also drank it (from Argentina so it makes sense) and since I've lived in the Russo home for what, 9 months now? and had an Argentine companion, I have also become obsessed with Mate haha and we were running out!! So we asked President where our parents could go to send us some, and he just sent us some herbs PLUS come cups and straws for both of us to have. They're the best people EVER :) I use mine every day, but Sister Brooks on the other hand... I try to get her to drink it with me like once a week hahah
That evening we had our famous bible study haha and it was on patience, which is quite funny because I never knew how much patience I DIDN'T have until I came on my mission.. But I'm grateful for the experiences I've gone through which have helped me to gain more patience :)

Saturday we were able to finally leave our house again!!!! We got the news that day that the family came back negative so we called our mission nurse and double checked that we could leave, and man did we spoil ourselves.... We have been hearing about the Dr. Pepper with cream soda and haven't been able to find it ANYWHERE and have been super sad hahha BUT we called everywhere here in little Carrizo, and one of the gas stations had it!! But they didn't have diet, so there went 250 calories wasted... hahah if anybody is feeling super nice today and wants to send some sister missionaries DIET DR PEPPER W CREAM SODA, it would be more appreciated than you know ;) we don't even know if it's on amazon or if anywhere has it (we have also been told it's out of stock because of the virus) soooo idk if we will ever be able to find it hahah. my wonderful comp craved pizza once again, and then also wanted a blizzard and since she is now driving (oh yeah, that's a weird change too hahah because our last transfer in our mission, we aren't allowed to drive, so this past week I wasn't able to drive anymore and it's the first time I haven't drove in over a year... super weird haha) so since she is driving I can't really control where we go anymore haha.

Sunday was super duper special as well. TWO BIG THINGS HAPPENED. idk which one to share first hahah but Phillip came over to our house, and while all of us stood outside, he acted on the Aaronic Priesthood for the FIRST TIME and blessed the sacrament for us. That. was. so. special!!!!
Later that day, AMANDA and JOEL GOT MARRIED!!!!! YAYYYYY!!!!!! We weren't able to go because of the virus BUT we saw the cutest pictures!! They got married by the bishop in Uvalde, which is where Joel is now a member, and sadly, Amanda is moving there with Mason in like 2 weeks :( So that is super sad, but something I have come to learn is that it doesn't matter where the gathering of Israel is taking place as long as we continue working towards it. At first I was a little sad she would be moving because we were excited for her to be able to help us grow Carrizo more, BUT it's the Lords church everywhere, and we are more than thrilled that her and Joel are able to grow together in the gospel and just so excited for the day they are able to get sealed :)
We found out our Sister Training Leader stewardships, and I get to go on an "exchange" with my "little sister" in the mission, Hermana Groll!!! We still aren't allowed to do exchanges in person which is really sad because I was hoping that would change by my last transfer, but we will just continue to do what we need to to stay safe :)

This week our mission officially splits into the Texas San Antonio Mission, and the Texas Austin Mission which is super crazy to think about!!!
It is also the 4th of July and so I hope you all have the best Independence Day ever :)

Happiest of birthdays this week to my little cousin Rosie, and my awesome aunt Aliza! I think they will be in Bear Lake this week so I hope you all enjoy that hahha (my mom told me the family is celebrating Makell, Kooper and Junie's bdays this week, so Happy Birthday to all of you!)

I love each and everyone of you who reads this (and even those who don't haha) so much!! Thanks again for your love and prayers, we are seeing absolute miracles here!!

Have a wonderful week y'all ;)
con amor,
Hermana Griffin :)

Amanda and Joel got married!

 MATE from the Russo's!

Blizzards!

Phillips Baptism! June 22,2020

Heyyyy everybody!!! This week was STELLAR!!! It had so. much. good stuff in it and also a not so good moment hahah not like regarding me being sad or anything BUT I'm definitely still 20 and make dumb decisions hahah but I'll get to that story later :) We were supposed to find out transfer news last night, but the database was down so we didn't find them out until JUST BARELY... which is why my email is coming out later because I wanted to wait until I knew what was happening for my last transfer... CRAZY RIGHT?! well, my last transfer will be spent in... I DONT KNOW YET hahah I've waited ALL DAY to send my email so I can know what is happening, BUT we haven't found out yet hahha

I got a message from my recent convert Xiomara this past week, and she shared with me that she has the COVID19 virus... All I ask is that you all pray for Xiomara and her family. That news made me super sad and I hope and pray they can recover from it.

Monday was a super cool day! We had our three hours of proselyting time, or time to have lessons, and as a mission we had a goal of finding 100 people just in those three hours, and we did it!! We found 109 people as a mission in just 3 hours which was awesome! We had a mission call last night and we found 460 people during the whole week! That is crazy awesome, as we were finding like 300 ish when we were finding in person! Agh I love when we work hard as a mission and reach above and beyond our goals, it is so sweet!
Something EVEN MORE AMAZING is that I got a random video chat from President Tveten hahah we were sitting on the couch having a messenger lesson and jumped right up and got by our teaching desk and answered it haha but this is SO. COOL. so buckle up!! President Tveten went on to explain that Elder Clayton will be talking in one of the missionary devotionals in July, and had asked for a few success stories from missionaries in self isolation, and he asked President Tveten if Amanda's story would fit it and he said yes! So President Tveten asked us to write up a summary of Amanda's story, include how her fiance Joel was baptized, and how we found Phillip through Amanda and he was baptized this last week. Seriously just the most incredible story!!! So we got the story typed up and sent it in! We don't know if it will for sure get used or shared, but it's just funny because as a missionary you always hear about or see when general authorities share stories of other missionaries and how they're like "legends" and stuff and it's just so crazy and super humbling to be able to be a part of someone's story as special as Amandas!
Phillip also messaged us that night and asked if we could go to the church tomorrow and open it for him so he could pray, so that was cool! Then I got to talk with my fam and Linds never fails to remind me how many days I have left hahah

Tuesday morning we rode our bikes to the church and then cleaned the church in preparation for Phillips baptism!
That afternoon we drove to Cotulla and got a few things done there! We were able to stop by President Gonzalez's house and help them shovel some dirt, hahah they are building a gym in their back yard and needed help leveling it so we shoveled a ton of dirt. Then we went and stopped by David's house and met him in person for the first time! He was super nervous hahah but he is super nice and awesome and we continue to work with him!
We drove home and stopped by the church and let Phillip in, and he was there for like an hour and a half hahah we don't exactly know what he did because we left, but apparently he wanted to solidify everything he was doing with God so that was cool!
We drove to Crystal and picked up a violin from the Guerrero family, because Sister Brooks plays the violin and it has been fun to see her play since she got it!
We had a lesson with Dee that night and it was super good! She is solid and we are excited to see her progress.
We have been friending more people on Facebook and wow, I have never felt more uncomfortable on my mission than this past week hahah and my companion thinks it's sooo funny.... So we messaged a ton of people that night, but two boys replied back about our beauty and one is named Eliseo and he keeps messaging me personally and it's super awkward... All I want to do is share the gospel with these people but it's so annoying and difficult when they won't listen to the gospel messages and just keep hitting on me hahah I think I'm done sending friend requests to random guys hhaha.

Wednesday we made some more preparations for Phillips baptism, which included Sister Brooks baking the key lime bars, and dang they were sooo good! She was sad about them because they didn't fluff up like she had wanted, BUT they still tasted good and everybody was obsessed hahah.
We received a self referral that night, and we called him and said we saw a note he had requested a missionary visit, and his response was "yeah but I didn't know y'all were Mormons. I don't want no Mormons in my house" and then hung up. Hahaha that was funny. I had friended him on FB (before we called) but after we called is when he saw it I think, and then he accepted it and messaged us and asked why we were so persistent and I apologized and explained I friended him before we called hahah and then he went on to tell us our website is so "deceptive" because it's "Come Unto Christ" and "doesn't have any affiliation with Mormonism on there" so that was an interesting referral hahha at the end of our discussion he said "let's agree to disagree" so that's where that ended hahah.
We had awesome video calls with Oscar, and with Phillip and with Jesse! We taught them all different things but still awesome lessons and super solid people!
We also asked for some help from Amanda and her son Mason, and idk if anyone has ever seen Kid History, but that is a video idea we are going to do, and so we got Mason to send us a videoa and AGH my heart melted hahah He is SO CUTE!!! We are going to post one of his videos next week on our FB page, I'm sooo excited!!
STORY TIME: So. big oof. hahah but I learned this thing from my trainer, that if you soak your garments in Clorox, that they will become white again hahaha so anyways, mine have become a little colorful while being on my mission, so I decided to buy Clorox last week and soak them.... and I soaked them.... and then put them in the washer to wash them.... well..... when I went to transfer them from the washer to the dryer.... I literally pulled out shreds of garments..... soooo, I learned that you shouldn't soak clothes in Clorox for very long because they will literally disintegrate your clothes hahah.

Thursday will literally forever be one of my favorite days of my mission ever. We drove to Eagle Pass that morning and we were able to help at the South Texas Food Bank thing they had going on there! I will attach some pictures, and maybe you can see how insane it was hahha there were so many people but it was really fun! All of the missionaries in our zone were able to come, so we got to see the Del Rio missionaries which was sweet! The elders made a cute service video, which we will be posting on FB on Thursday which is exciting as well :) Service was fun, OTHER THAN our job was to go through these boxes of produce and pull out all of the rotten canteloupe and throw it to the side... ahhhh... soo gross hahah. That smell has literally haunted us cause we can still smell it at the most random moments hahha.
Then we drove home and changed and headed to the church and we got to have a devotional with an APOSTLE of the Lord! Elder Neil L. Anderson talked to the mission and it was honestly the coolest thing ever. As soon as he started talking, the Spirit hit me so hard and bore testimony that he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ. Elder Anderson talked about the new mission opening up and blessed us that we will make the most of wherever we end up as missionaries. It was such a cool devotional and truly a super cool experience!
That night we had Phillip's baptism!! Agh that was such a special moment as well. He got there early and changed and we all took pictures and then the service was able to happen, and the Spirit was so strong there as well! We were able to have people there through video as well, like Sister Persia, so that was awesome! After Phillip was baptized and received the Holy Ghost, he had asked us if he could bear his testimony and share a little bit about his journey. He had it typed up, and we asked him if he could send it to us so he did, so here is his testimony! "My Name is Phillip Michael Gallegos. I am a child of God. A brother to Jesus. And a friend of the Holy Spirit. This decision has been one in the works. Its funny that I have heard The Lord knocking on my door, and I being deaf failed to hear Him, and failed to see his signs. Such is his love, strength, and wisdom, that I can still hear, and see the echoes in my life from him knocking on my door this whole time. I don't have scriptures, I have no words, that could equate. Through a series of seemingly random events that lined up perfectly along with the daring of "our" Sister Missionaries, the guts, Love, and willingness to Evangelize, I am here. I have raged, I have ranted, I have plied my strength, my intelligence, my will on building not just a wall, but a life on not ignoring virtues but ignoring The Lords part in it all. Now I come before God, giving up to Him, because everything I am, and ever will be, will never be complete without Him. I Surrender to You My God.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen"
Isn't that just so sweet? It was so sincere and agh just literally one of the best days of my life!
We also found out that the Sanchez family is starting to prepare to go to the temple and will be starting their temple classes today!! (Monday the 22nd)  Thursday was spectacular!

Friday morning was full of service as well! We went to Crystal and ran on the running trail again (2.5 miles) and then went to Sister Bustamantes house and helped her in her garden by pulling weeds, so that was fun! Then we went to Ms B's and helped her in her office and then went to the Morales' house and helped them clean up their yard some more! It was a morning full of service!
We got home and got ready, and then Phillip came by and gave us flowers and it was SO SWEET. He was like "It's just an appreciation gift for all you've both done for me" and ahh the flowers are SO CUTE!
That night we had our Faith Bible study on Facebook and that went well! I'm starting to get the hang of the live videos more haha but it's super fun! I received a letter from my favorite sister missinoary ever, Hermana Sauan, and last week I had asked for some advice on how to push strong to the end and she came up with this CUTE acronym for her last transfer that she shared with me that I want to share with you (mostly so I remember it in the future as well haha) It's called S.P.R.I.N.T.
S- serve as much as you can
P- prepare for future responsibilities
R- recognize the daily miracles
I- inspire the people around you
N- no negative thoughts
T- trust in the lord that if you just do your best, it will all work out!
I LOVE IT! Thanks Hermana Sauan ;) I wrote it up and laminated it and it's on my wall sooo that's cute hahah.

Saturday was a little less eventful of a day haha all of our lessons fell through, we were still able to contact random people and have lessons with them, but I felt super crappy all day which wasn't fun either :( But I'm feeling better haha I get super weird random moments where I feel really sick but it's all good!
That night we were able to invite Jason to be baptized and that was exciting! He accepted to work towards July 19th so I really hope he continues to progress well!

Sunday was Fathers Day and that was fun to be able to call home and talk with my family for the THIRD time that week hahah it's crazy how it used to only be twice a year and now there are some weeks that's three times.. haha but I love it and I wouldn't trade it! I hope everybody had a great Fathers Day!!

We were supposed to get our transfer news last night but we had a mission call, and President Tveten told us we wouldn't be getting them until today so that was crazy haha. We still haven't received the transfer news yet, so I'll just send the email without it.

This week will be crazy as usual, but I'm excited for it and all that this last transfer has in store!

Thank you all for your support, I love you all so much! Have the best week ever!

con amor, hermana griffin :)

All the Sisters in the border zone!! haha

The event was huge!

Service at the South Texas Food Bank in Eagle Pass.

Devotional with Elder Anderson.

Phillips Baptism!

His High School Coach baptized him!

After running 2.5 miles.

Service with Sister Bustamante.

Service with Ms b.

Phillip brought flowers!!

She had a cookie craving haha

Joel's Baptism!! June 15,2020

Helloooooo everybody!!!! I hope you all had a wonderful week and didn't freeze too much, I heard it was super cold in Utah?? It hasn't gotten any colder here hahah but it's all good, we had such a solid week!! We set so many high goals last week and we accomplished them all! It's so fun to set goals and then see the motivation take place to achieve them!!

Monday we were able to have 12 lessons in just 3 hours, and a lot of them were messenger lessons BUT it was still a lot and still super amazing and that carried into our whole week of having  a ton of lessons!! One of them was with Phillip and we talked more about his baptism and we FINALLY got him to settle on a date, which is the 18th!!!! Yay Phillip is getting baptized on Thursday!!! He asked Brother Sanchez to do it, because Brother Sanchez was actually his high school football coach and helped him a lot in life, cool huh?!
That night after we finished talking with our families, I received a call through messenger from Joel, which is Amanda's fiance, and he asked if I would say the closing prayer at his baptism and awww it was SO. SWEET. I remember when Amanda was baptized and Joel didn't really want anything to do with the church, but his heart was definitely softened and then we started sharing the gospel with him and found out he lived in Uvalde, so the elders had the chance to finish helping him learn and grow his testimony, and it is just so awesome! It made my heart so happy he called me and asked me to participate in his baptism :)

Tuesday we had to get rid of the treats we had in the house so we went and delivered them to some members haha and then delivered a few Book of Mormons as well! We were able to find someone named Elizabeth who just graduated high school, but she lost a family member a couple months ago and so we shared some messages with her and have a return appointment with her this week!!
We had a long lesson with Phillip that night and went over the baptism interview questions because we were able to set it up with the elders for the next day! He had some questions but overall he totally understands and agrees and believes it all, it has been quite the journey with him though haha and pretty funny too. Practically ever since we had our super long lesson with him a couple months ago, he has known it all to be true but hasn't wanted to fully accept that he knows it is true, but he finally did lately and now he is super solid and we are excited :)

Wednesday we had our sisters call with the sisters in the mission and it was SO. GOOD. but also SO. SAD. because one of my most favorite missionaries ever Hermana Sauan, goes home next week, and so she shared her testimony of things she has learned on the mission and agh it was amazing but as soon as she started crying, so did I, haha the mission is the best thing ever and to have your time becoming less and less is not fun at all.
That afternoon we had our district council which was good and fun, and the elders came down to Carrizo from Eagle Pass to do it so that was good!
After district council we had dinner, and we made a deal with the elders that if they were able to make it work to come down and have district council here and do Phillips interview, that we would provide dinner, SO we did! We made Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps, and we made enough to feed 6 grown men and us as well haha. We had the 4 elders, and then Phillip and his friend Thomas, and then us sisters! We got them their favorite sodas as well and it was fun haha we felt like little moms haha. They all enjoyed the meal though so that was good :)

Thursday we did service with Ms. B so we were going to be in Crystal and they have this running or biking trail there, so we did our exercise there and wente running and ran 2.5 miles and it was the worst hahah.
That afternoon my comp made Peanut Butter Bars, and wow that ruined my weeks full of trying to eat healthy hahah they were SO. GOOD. She made them for Joels baptism on Saturday and tbh I'm surprised they lasted that long haha.
We had a video call with Jesse that evening and he is still struggling a lot with what's been going on but we are definitely trying our best to help him and he appreciates when we call so it's all good!
We were also able to find 5 new people to start teaching that day so that was fun!

Friday we had a fun time driving around and trying to find a place to record our music video we are going to post today on our area page, and it's difficult because there aren't many places to record or take pictures here, and there is one park but it's right next to a busy road so nobody could even hear us haha, but we were able to find a junk yard and we made it work haha
We had our Bible study on Gratitude and it was awesome! I have loved studying for our Bible studies, and I've always felt like I've been a grateful person but while studying and preparing for this, I came to realize that I still have a LOT of work to do! But it's good, I love being able to repent and work on bettering myself!

Saturday morning we went over to Phillips at 7 am and we were planning on helping them put in more grass and we were going to do that for our exercise as well, BUT when we got there, his parents hadn't tilled the ground yet so instead of helping we kind of watched a little as he got everything hooked up and then right as they begin tilling we had to go because it was already 8 and we needed to change and go to Joels baptism! It was sad we couldn't help more haha but they got it done and it looks good
We got changed and ready and went to Uvalde! It's about an hour drive from Carrizo so it wasn't too bad! We got there and got to see Amanda and her son Mason and that was fun! It was awesome to see Joel and how happy he is and he has truly changed so much since Amanda's baptism, and I absolutely love seeing how the gospel can change people like that!! His baptism was so special, and the Spirit was so super strong, I loved it! The elders had asked us to do the intermediate activity while they were changing after he was baptized so we were able to pretty much share the restoration with Joels family that weren't members and it was amazing!
After his baptism, Joel had invited us and the Elders to go to his house for a cookout! We were able to sit outside while he grilled and it was super delicious and so fun to be with them! We were able to talk about their future plans, and Joel and Amanda are hoping to get married soon and start their life together, this time in the gospel! I can't wait for the day they get sealed as a forever family, ah days like those are really what keeps me motivated as a missionary!!
We got home and had another lesson with Phillip that night and talked about the Joseph Smith Restoration movie, because that was one little holdback he had was he didn't know if he fully believes (or will let himself agree he believes) that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet so we invited him to watch the movie and he loved it! We also sent him a talk from when President Nelson was called as a prophet and it helped him a ton as well! He is so prepared!

Sunday was sooo amazing! It's just amazing to be a missionary haha. But we had a lesson with Rick first thing in the morning and talked more about baptism :) We also were able to go to the Sanchez home and partake of the sacrament, and Phillip was able to come as well! It was funny because we all stood outside and it was super hot haha. But it was so special that Phillip was able to come and he was able to catch up with Brother Sanchez and ask him his conversion story and yeah, Phillip is super set for Thursday haha it's the best thing ever :) He is super cool and kind of reminds me of my older brother haha he is just super funny and is always teasing everybody but also has a short temper hahah.
We had a killer day yesterday as well and had like almost 20 lessons haha. I will attach a picture of our day yesterday because it was insane! We hit our goal of 70 lessons this week and had 79, I was sad it wasn't 80 cause that would be cool haha but we were able to find 21 people to teach this week and also have 18 nonmembers have a lesson with us yesterday! It's been a solid week and I'm exhausted but that's a good thing!

We have a super fun and busy week ahead of us as well! We have to drive to Cotulla sometime this week to drop off some Book of Mormons, and we have a mission tour with Elder McKay and he will be speaking to us and then we have Phillip's baptism on Thursday! So many exciting things happening and we love it! We find out transfer news on Sunday night, so I'm scared because I want to stay in Carrizo but I also will be ok if the Lord has other plans for me. It'll be hard and I'm scared I will have to say goodbye to the people I love here but we will just have to wait till Sunday before I start crying hahha.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads in my life!  My Dad, My Grandfathers, My Friends Dads that are like my Dads.... all the Dads!!!!  You are amazing and I love you all!  Happy Father's Day! Thanks again for all of your love and support! I love you all more than you'll know and I'm praying for you always!

Never forget Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you!!

con amor,
hermana griffin :)

Joel's Baptism...

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Dinner for everyone...

Set up dinner for the Elder's with their Favorite Drinks!

Feeding the Elders!

Cutie Mason!

I play the Ukulele!

Book of Mormom Stories, Missionary Style!

Starbucks in Uvalde!

Sunday Schedule!

Book of Mormon Missionaries!  We love it!

Cute Masks made from Grandma Sue!

My dad's miracle and 16 months... so crazy!!! June 8, 2020

Hello everyone! I hope this week was fantastic for you all and that you're still seeing miracles! If any of you read my email last week then you will remember that yes, my sisters got in a crash.. but no worries they're ok! What I didn't write about (I didn't know about it when I wrote my email) was the miracle that occured when my dad helped on the rescue call of the family in Logan Canyon. If we're friends on FB, I shared it the other day and would encourage you to read it! My dad was the rescuer that got caught under the water and almost didn't make it, but once again I want to THANK YOU all, from the bottom of my heart, for any and all the prayers you have said on my behalf and the behalf of my family. Last week was a sure testament to me that prayers are answered and that Heavenly Father watches over the families of His missionaries.
We had AMAZING things happen last week and even more AMAZING things will be happening this week :)

So we started off the week pretty great! We had like 8 lessons last Monday in the span of 3 hours, and then I got to call my family and I heard about the crazy experience and miracles my family witnessed last week and then I also had one of the BEST surprises ever!! Kenz got home from her mission two weeks ago and last week she went over to my house and I got to TALK with her!! It was the weirdest thing hahah but it was so fun :)

Tuesday we had one of those weird days where nobody really wanted to answer us hahah. We spent about an hour just on the computer at the church scheduling our FB posts. We realized it is a lot easier to take one hour every week or every two weeks and schedule out the post, instead of 30 minutes every single day, so we did that and it was really nice! We were able to have kind of an unplanned video call with Jesse! He is someone we have been teaching for a while but has been going through a lot in his marriage and family.... But we were able to video chat with him while he was at work and have a wonderful lesson and he is thinking about baptism!!
That evening we also went on a drive out in the country side and tried to find a quiet place to film our musical number for the devotional we had on Sunday through our FB pages. If you haven't seen it, it'll surprise you because I've been learning a new skill and I did it in our musical number so go watch it!! But that night we weren't able to find a good place because so many cars kept driving by and we couldn't hear it hahah

Wednesday we were able to go to Eagle Pass and have district council in person!! It was a little scary to go there because Eagle Pass has like a thousand cases (I'm exaggerating) BUT they do have a lot hahah. But our district council was fun and it's crazy because everybody in our district hasn't even been in our district for 6 weeks yet, but ME, I've been in this district for 8 months... hahah but I LOVE IT!! So many missionaries have come in and out of our district since I've been here but I love it and I love being in Carrizo :)
That night we were finally able to find somewhere to film our musical number! We thought of the Johnsons an how they live far enough away from a busy road and their backyard has a perfect overview of the Texas flat-ness hahah. But it was perfect and it only took us a few tries  until we got it good enough for the devotional :)

Thursday morning we RAN two miles.. hahah it was torture. We've been doing a fun exercise and meal plan though and I've loved it! IDK if any of you care to know what it is, so if not you can skip this part but I'm going to include it because I want to remember it in the future that we did this meal plan hahah.
EXERCISE-
Tuesday - kickboxing video
Wednesday - yoga
Thursday - running
Friday - abs
Saturday - biking
MEAL PLAN-
Monday - chicken & asparagus
Tuesday - fish & corn
Wednesday - ground turkey lettuce wrap
Thursday - curry OR chicken pesto spaghetti squash
Friday - fish & steamed carrots
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - BFAST for dinner (sausage, eggs & pancakes)
Anyways, that's been fun to do and helped me get back into shape a little bit! That morning we were able to go and do some service with her and that was fun!
That night we did some book of mormon drop offs and went to Big Wells for a while and sat in the truck while we friended like EVERYONE that lived in Big Wells on FB and tried asking them if we can bring them a book of mormon and absolutely none of them answered hahahah but it was a fun drive out and back and we listened to some good Christian music :) If you haven't heard "together" by king and country, I recommend it :)

Friday was CRAZY!!! We started our day with MLC and it was super awesome! There were amazing trainings and one of my favorites was on 'personal development' from Sister Sauan and Sister Jacobs, and they are seriously some of my favorite sisters I have ever met. It helped motivate me as well to continue working on myself and in turn, that can help others as well!
We had a few lessons with Phillip and Vicente and Kino, and it was awesome, and we were able to talk with our families and that was fun!
We had our live bible study about service on our Facebook page and it was fun!
I also hit 16 months on Friday. That's crazy.

Saturday we went on like a 5 mile bike ride and we get it done pretty quickly and I wish we could do more but there are dogs EVERYWHERE and we don't really want to die hahah. we had lots and lots of lessons and we were also able to find four people! We also had our zone call and it was good!

Sunday we had soooo many lessons, and messaged like absolutely everybody and we were able to share lots and lots of messages about Jesus Christ and I always LOVE talking about Jesus Christ :)
We also fasted yesterday and it is always quite a challenge for me because of my thyroid not working BUT with the strength from Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ, I am always able to live through it even though sometimes I feel like I'm going to die hahha.
We were able to watch our live devotional yesterday as well that we have been working on with the spanish pages in our mission (half the people in our area speak or understand spanish so we have it cross-posted to our page as well) and we were able to have our musical number in there!!! If you haven't seen it and you're curious what I have been learning, go to Church of Jesus Christ in Carrizo Springs and check out our devotional from yesterday!!

This week will be super duper awesome like usual :) We are going to have a mission wide Sisters call on Wednesday and I am super excited for that! Except I'm not excited at the same time because Sister Sauan has to give her departing testimony and even though I am soooo excited to hear it, I know for sure she's gonna cry and in turn I'm going to cry and then that means I'M NEXT aghhh. So many weird feelings.
This saturday, JOEL, who is Amandas FIANCE (yes, they got engaged again hahah) but he is going to be getting baptized in Uvalde!! It's soo crazy because he was super against the church BUT he is proof that the church and the gospel and most importantly Jesus Christ can change hearts! I'm super excited because Sister Persia and I started teaching him right after Amandas baptism, and then after a few lessons we had to give him over to the Elders in Uvalde because that's where he lives, BUT we got permission from our mission president that we can go and I'm super excited!! I love seeing the gospel and how it can change people :)

I don't have much more time because we have looooots of stuff to do today BUT I love you all and I'm eternally grateful for each and every one of you and all  you've done for me!

Happiest of birthdays TODAY to my grandpa Terry and my little cousin Brooklyn! I love you both and hope you have the most fabulous day ever!

p.s. if you have any ideas of fun gospel related videos we can make for our FB page, please email them to me!!
Have a great week y'all!
con mucho amor,
hermana griffin :)

Practicing our song...

Talking with Kenzie and my family!

Charlies Baptism!! June 1, 2020

Hello everyone and HAPPY JUNE!! I honestly cannot believe I woke up this morning and it's already June. Time is going WAY. TOO. FAST!!!! But this week was seriously spectacular and I know I always say that haha but time is always spectacular when you are involved in the Lords work!

Monday's are our preparation days and so we usually only have about 3 hours to do lessons or contact people and last week in those 3 hours we ended up having 7 lessons!! So we already knew we were starting off on a great start for our week and we sure did!
We had our mission zoom call that night as well and our mission president told us some awesome news! We are allowed to teach people in person, outside of their home, social distancing and wearing masks, if they are low risk!! Haha so a lot of regulations and we actually haven't tried this much yet, but we are excited to get going back to normal meeting in person stuff!!

Tuesday we had such a special opportunity to have a mission devotional with Brother and Sister Craven, and Sister Craven is in the young women general presidency so that was super cool! They talked to us for about an hour and they were actually mission president and wife a few years ago in a state side mission as well, so it was amazing to hear some of their experiences!! :)
That night we did stop by the Morales family in person and we just chatted with them for a bit and let them meet the new missionary! It was so good to see them in person but also super sad we could't hug any of them :(
We also stopped by Amanda's and they were eating so they gave us food hahah but it was super awesome because her boyfriend Joel was there, and he is still currently learning about the gospel from the elders in Uvalde, AND he is planning on being baptized on June 13th and we are trying soooooo hard to get permission to go!! I honestly never thought this would happen hahah I remember meeting Joel at Amandas baptism and at this point, he still didn't like the church so he wasn't super friendly, but after Amanda cut things off because "he wasn't helping her come closer to god" (her words, isn't she amazing?!) he had a change of heart, and WOW. when we were talking with them on Tuesday, he is SO different!! The gospel truly does change people, and for the better!! He even said the prayer on the food and it was just so flippin awesome!!!! I am still in awe every time I think about Amanda and the miracle she is, and the wonderful example she is to everyone around her!!! She told us when the church opens again that her mom and sister said they would come with her as well! SWEET!!!

Wednesday we had our zone conference and it was super amazing as well! We gave our training on teaching online and we focused a lot on making sure we do everything in our power as missionaries to bring the Spirit in, because He is the real teacher! I have learned that a lesson through technology can be just as powerful as a lesson in person, as long as you have the Spirit with you! It was a great training and we were pretty happy with how it went!
We also found out that we can start street contacting people again!! It's kind of hard because there is nowhere to street contact in Carrizo hahah BUT we are just excited the rules are opening back up again!

Thursday we were able to have district council in person!! So the elders from Eagle Pass came down and we were able to have a super awesome time! It was funny because we still had to social distance and the Elders wrote on papers and put them on our seats that said "cooties section" and then our names hahah it's like they're 18 or something??? oh wait, they are... hahah but it was fun and good to be able to see them again! One of them is leaving our district, Elder Gardanier, and heading to San Antonio tomorrow so that is sad :(
We had a HUGE MIRACLE that night!! We were finding through Facebook and friending people that live in our area, and I friended someone named Johnathon and he accepted so I started a conversation and we got talking about what church he attended in the past and I had a prompting to ask if he was baptized in that church and he actually said he has never been baptized but would like to work towards that! We set a "goal" with him to learn what he needs to and grow a better relationship with Christ and we set him on date for June 28th!! We literally messaged him and put him on date for baptism in the same hour!! It was spectacular!

Friday was quite the day hahah. lots of mixed emotions!! I want to start by telling everybody THANK YOU so much for all of the prayers you have been saying for not only me, but also my family, because I have a very strong testimony that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answers them... so... story time! I'm not sure if my family wants me to share this but I feel I should. So I got to call my family on Friday and as always I was super excited to see them!! First thing that happens when my family answers is my littlest sister, Lindsey, was like "guess what happened???" and goes on to tell me that on Wednesday, her and my other sister Makell had gotten into a crash.. and then my mom sent me pictures and wow.. I was just in awe and was holding back tears of gratitude because 1) I remember when my brother Kaden was on his mission and I had a car accident that could have been much worse but because of his faithful service, I wasn't hurt and this time neither of my sisters were hurt and that's something my mom said was that one of her friends told her "do you realize that both of the times your kids have had an accident, you've had a missionary out" and that right there makes me tear up every time. Reason 2 is because that same day, Wednesday, right after zone conference I knelt in prayer and just begged Heavenly Father to help me make the best of my last 2 months, to have Him help me be the best I can, and also to bless my family with anything and everything they need help with. When I found out my sisters got in a crash at pretty much the same time I was praying, it just solidified my testimony even more of prayers being answered. So once again, THANK YOU to every single one of you for your prayers. My sisters are good and so is the other people involved in the crash, and I am just eternally grateful that Heavenly Father continues to bless my family.
On to the people! Friday we had awesome lessons with Rey and Phillip and we were able to talk about the Restoration Proclamation that we sent them! They are still pretty solid and we just have so much fun teaching them! We also had a lesson with Rick, and we were able to invite him to be baptized on June 21st, Fathers Day, and he accepted!! He was baptized when he didn't have a choice and he wants to be able to choose for himself! We are just thrilled for him and he is amazing!
We also had our live bible study that night.... For those of you who watched... I'm sorry!!!! hahah it was quite the struggle with our technical difficulties BUT we will have it figured out this Friday for sure hahahh it's so funny to watch it over again and everybody is commenting at us to turn our phone haah ahhh good memories for sure.

Saturday was a day I'll remember for a long time too!! We woke up and for exercise, we rode our bikes to the church which is about 2.5 miles away! We cleaned the church for an hour and a half in preparation for Charlies baptism, and then we rode our bikes back to the house! It was funny because I had the bike pump hooked onto the back of my bike so I looked super duper weird hahah but my tires have been having a hard time keeping air and I didn't want to get stranded so it was worth the looks I guess haha
That afternoon we were able to do more service and do the nursing home calendars again! It is funny because there are little moments here and there where I realize just how long I have been in Carrizo.. and when I'm writing the calendar for June and I remember that I did Novembers too, then I realize I've been here for a while hahah but I LOVE IT and wouldn't trade it for anything!!
I also had the amazing opportunity to reach out to my recent converts through messenger!! I messaged Xiomara from Balcones Branch and she is doing good and so is Hoffmara!! I love them and am so so so excited for the day they go through the temple!
I also got to reach out to Stephanie Gomez in Liberty Hill, and wow I never thought I could love that family more! When I left back in October, her husband Ruben was working on getting the Melchizedek priesthood and was really close when the whole virus thing happened... BUT she said they were given the permission to have sacrament in their home during this time so they have been able to do that and that is the best thing to hear about my recent converts!! She also said they are preparing to go to the temple and be sealed once it opens back up again ( she hits her year mark in August :) ) so it looks like I'll be coming back to Texas sooner than I thought!! But it just makes me so so so happy hearing they are still strong in the gospel and have the goal of going to the temple and being a forever family!

Sunday was agh, I'm just speechless at this day!! We got to the church and we set up everything for Charlies baptism!! The Morales family showed up and Charlie got changed and so did her older brother LUKE!! Luke just got baptized in March, and is 15 so he was able to baptize his little sister and oh. my. goodness. THAT right there is the sight you hope and dream to see on your mission! After Luke baptized her, they just had the biggest smiles and hugged each other and Veronica was crying and agh it was just so stinkin sweet. THEN Charlie was given the Holy Ghost and her dad was able to stand in the circle!! Her dad has been a member since he was 10 but doesn't have the priesthood, but our district president was there and invited him to stand in the circle so he didn't put his hands on Charlies head, but on our district and branch presidents shoulders and agh that right there made us cry too!!! So awesome. THEN we had the sacrament with the Morales family!! Luke was able to bless and pass the sacrament for us and his family and that was just so amazing too.
The Sanchez family came to the church as well and had a meeting with our district president, and he invited them to start preparing to go to the temple and be sealed as a family!! That is just so sweet!! Their 9 year old girl, Tony, was baptized in March and the became active again right before the virus, and now they are going to work on going to the temple!!! agh so many miracles and blessings.
The Morales family cooked a brisket to celebrate so we were able to go pick it up last night for dinner and YUMMY I love Texas BBQ even though it isn't the greatest for my body hahah.
We had the longest but most solid lesson with Phillip last night and he shared that kind of his biggest holdback of not wanting to jump right in is because he feels that we (us missionaries) kind of have a wall up, like he wants to know us as people too so he knows whether or not he can trust us and it really makes sense, it truly does and it's always been hard to find the middle between missionaries and friends (especially when its a 25 year old man who's single and calls us pretty ladies) hahahh but we were able to share some more personal experiences and my companion shared a very personal story of stuff going on in her life right now, and after that we were all in tears, and he was like "that was what I needed. let's do it" and he still states he wants to wait until he can come to church once BUT we are hoping by the middle of June which is what our district president said :) So we are SO excited for him and he will honestly be so solid. This branch is growing and I am so stinkin honored to be a part of it!!

We received MID TRANSFER TRANSFER news last night.. YES a transfer in the middle of a transfer hahahahah I have been SO nervous the whole past week but I'M STAYING and I'm just so relieved and THANKFUL!!! I love Carrizo with my whole heart and I truly hope I am able to end my mission here, BUT I will do what the Lord needs me to do!
Anyways, this week should be awesome as well! We are hoping to have Davids baptism on Sunday but that is only if he has been following the word of wisdom still :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! I have been so blessed to have the best people placed in my life and help me to where I am today. You're all amazing, and never forget Jesus loves you!!

Have a fabuloso week!!
con mucho amor,
hermana griffin :)

Charlies baptism...

Luke and Charlie!

The Morales family!

Bike riding!

Mondays dinner...

Tuesday's dinner...

Sunday dinner!

Veronica's posting on Facebook!  So awesome, The necklace I gave her!

There was a crazy storm!

Makell's and Lindsey's car accident!  :(

"The Church of Jesus Christ in Carrizo Springs" Facebook page.