Serving in San Antonio Texas: 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 :)