Feliz Navidad!

Hello All!

Merry Christmas to everybody- hope it was good!  I always am a little bummed after Christmas because the anticipation and lead up to Christmas and all the good that comes with that just suddenly ends.  But as with everything else that passes, it's always best to move forward, keeping in mind the lessons that you've learned to make later experiences in life better.

With the holidays, things have been kind of slow.  Focusing on specific individuals has been hard and so we've just been doing a lot of preparing gifts for people in English class, preparing and executing APFs (area proselyting focus- activities we do with our zone where we come together and either set up a table on the street, go tracting in a specific area or something along the lines of that), and lots of other little things here and there.  Getting past New Years will be great because then we'll be able to get back into the swing of things (which is something I really feel like I haven't experienced since I got here right after the hurricane, followed by Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas).

I can only think of a few particularly exciting things that happened this past week.  First off, we had our mission wide Christmas party so it was cool seeing everybody all together in one room.  That might be the last time I see that, especially after all the new missionaries come in.  Also we went caroling a couple of times and that was really great!  I love caroling and was glad I had the opportunity to do it here on the mission.  It snowed as we were doing it on Christmas eve so that was really nice and it felt pretty iconic (White Christmas in New York City- good stuff).  It's snowing again now just as we're about to head down town, so that'll be sweet seeing everything with Christmas decorations still up all in the snow.

We had a great experience with an investigator too.  Her name is Aura and she called us earlier last week after we had scheduled an appointment with her and told us that she really didn't have any intentions of getting baptized into our church.  We hadn't been over to her apartment in a while anyways, so we had kind of already dropped her, so we weren't terribly shocked.  We went to the appointment with a member that's good friends with her, and the Spirit was really strong and we just were able to be lead to say some good stuff that really touched her heart.  The next day was Sunday and she came to church and brought her kids and stayed the full three hours!  It really was a miracle and we're looking forward to following up with her and seeing where the Spirit takes us next time.  She has been taught the all the lessons already.  Twice.  So we're going to be doing some good thinking tomorrow in weekly planning.  

That's about all I can think about right now.  Thanks for all of the support once again!  You guys are great!  And Happy New Year!

-Elder Griffiths

Los Cambios Vino y...

Buenas Tardes!

Thanks for letters and stuff, it's always good to hear about what all is going on even if there really isn't a ton going on.

Preparation Day might just be my least favorite day because they always stress me out and I feel like I accomplish absolutely nothing that I need to accomplish.  Today we had transfers, so now I'm serving in... the exact same place, good ol' Harlem East/El Barrio (Little Mexico- one of the best places in Manhattan.  Legitimate Mexican everything).  Elder Topham and I are still together too and we're looking forward to a great cycle together!  We had some switch ups in zone though, so that'll be good to get to know more people and learn lots from them.  Being in the city, especially in Manhattan, our Zone is pretty compact and so we work together a lot as a zone, and even more so as a district, so that's great!  But yep, transfer times are exciting, I've decided, especially since they are so inspired.  I know I'm where Heavenly Father wants me to be with the people with whom He wants me to be and now I'm just hoping to do what He wants me to do and be who He wants me to be.

I don't have a lot of time to write, but things are going well.  I'm figuring out my role in the work and how to accomplish the things that have been asked of me.  I think often times human nature leads us to take the easy route, avoid pressure and tension and so on, even if that's exactly where we need to head.  When such thoughts have come to me, I think back on 1 Nephi 3:7 and how the Lord has made all that He has asked of us possible.  I've seen the Lord testing me in all sorts of ways that don't even seem fair, but I'm still determined to do His work in the manner that He has prescribed.  A lot of time it's not as straightforward to follow the rules and do what He wants, but I know that as we have faith in His power to work miracles, have hope in the promised blessings that come from obedience, have charity that drives us to work for others, and we go and do, all will work out in the timing of the Lord.  I've been studying and learning a lot about patience because waiting for those blessing can be tough.  Luckily we're all on the Lord's time and He knows best, so I encourage everybody just to just keep trying, just keep doing what you know to be right and you will be led down the exact road that you need.

So things are working out.  Missionary work isn't by any means always easy, but it's enjoyable.

And sorry to anybody who wrote me- I plan on writing everybody back, I just haven't had a lot of time.  I think in the next couple of weeks, I should find some good time to write back to you- thanks for the patience in the meantime!  I appreciate your support and everything!

Merry Christmas to all!

-Elder Griffiths

More Pictures...

Abrid Vuestras Bocas

Hello everybody! I don't have a lot of time to write (we're at a multizone Christmas party in North Manhattan and so I haven't been able to concentrate very well as I've read and replied to emails and stuff. I also take a good chunk of time to write to President Morgan, so that doesn't help either...), but I guess I can't think of a lot to say, so that works. Things have been going well! Elder Topham and I have been going forward under the direction of the Bishop, so we haven't been finding and teaching in the typical missionary sense. Most of our focus has been on stopping by less active members and trying to get them to come back to church and we've seen some miracles already! President Morgan really wants us working with the Bishop because he's the one who is best able to direct the work in our area. We're also just trying to build up member support, and it's going well so far! We're getting to know our ward and getting their backing, and we're getting little tastes of the fruits of our labors already. We can already see a bunch of potentially really solid investigators, so we're excited about that! One of the problems I've been having is that I hesitate and get scared and don't talk try to talk to people. I guess I fear rejection. And when you're crammed in trains, buses, elevators and walking on the streets with tons of people everyday, having such a fear leads to a lot of missed opportunities. So yeah I'm getting better at just starting to talk to people and inviting them to action. I'm not very good right now, but whenever I do just forget myself and go for it, I feel good afterwards for at least trying to spread the word of the Lord. A good saying that I've tried to use to motivate myself is "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." That's so true for everybody, though. I feel like at times we all have a friend that we love with whom we could share the gospel, but we don't because of our fear of rejection. If we just invite them to hear our message, testify that it's something that has changed our lives and testify that it could change their lives for the better, then the worst that they can do is say no. Looking for little opportunities to testify about simple or grand things can be good too. And one of the most important things to do is to invite out of love and a sincere desire to better their lives. It's something I'm working on and something I'd invite everybody else to work on too! So yep, things are going well. Transfers are in a week. I felt pretty sure that things were going to remain the same with us, but no I'm not so sure, but I guess I'll let you know next week! Thanks for the emails and the support from home- hope all continues to be well! -Elder Griffiths

Los Miembros Son Claves

Hello!

This past week has been great! I've learned a lot and we've made some good steps forward in the work. I guess I'll just give you a good briefing of my days, day by day.

Thurday- weekly planning. That's always fun. Actually I really do like planning and just getting stuff down on paper and seeing what we need to do. We spent some good time with the Bishop handing out little papers for our English class and doing some other business. Our bishop is great! Then we had dinner I believe and then went out and tried visiting some families from our ward and we met with one that was in the area and they said the missionaries hadn't been over in over a year, so that was really good. We're really focusing on improving our relationship with the members, gaining their support and teaching them how to be better missionaries, and that was just one of a few visits that have gone very well.

Friday we had a new missionary/trainer training meeting up in the Bronx that we went to. It was good and insightful and I learned a lot. President Morgan is a very insightful man and he's got a lot of good stuff to say. His meetings do run a little long at times, though, so it shot our plans a little. Afterwards, we got dang good sandwiches at a bodega (little corner convenience store things. New York thing), went to a hospital to give a blessing, came back and then the assistants called to do an exchange with Elder Topham and me. I went with Elder Fusco (from Brazil- super cool Elder) up to Inwood (very north Manhattan where the Assistants work) and worked there- it was great and I got a lot of good advice from him and it just got me excited about the work.

Saturday we went and did service. I saw the video that you posted on my Facebook page and it was really good. We didn't work in the areas that the video showed, but we still had plenty of work to do. The people were very grateful for what we did, and it was good to see the unity that came from our service. Sometimes it takes drastic measures to get us to go down to the basis of our relationship with one another as children of God. Seeing that relationship in the finest as we served our brothers and sisters was really encouraging and uplifting. Coming home on the train, I had some good sharing opportunities. I talked to a guy from Mexico, Javier, for like twenty minutes about this and that and then I eventually started talking about his family and how the gospel could strengthen his family and help them strengthen the already strong unity that they had. Then Sister Richardson, a sister in my district gave him a pamphlet and he was very happy. It all just fell together nicely- I just hope he follows up and has the desire to learn more. We talked to some other people on the train to and it was just nice and uplifting. Then we got back to the apartment, got ready and went to an incredible stake Christmas concert (you can imagine the talent found in the New York New York Stake).

Sunday Elder Topham wasn't feeling so well, so we took it easy, did our studies, went to church and then essentially came home and I did some productive stuff while he relaxed. We had a good noche de hogar (FHE) with Victor, a good buddy of ours in the ward, and his roommate and his roommate's girlfriend and it went well! And that was about it for the day.

Monday was a glorious day. We had studies and a district meeting after which we went looking for service ideas with the Sisters in our district (they serve in the west side- really nice area with lots of money, so it's pretty hard to work in). Afterwards, we came back to our area with the intentions of visiting some members of our ward (dropping by as opposed to setting up appointments works best with the Latinos). Anyways, we were standing outside of the building of one of the members without a way to get in (private buildings are tricky here- being a missionary in New York is just a whole different ball game in so many ways) and then one of the recent converts, Teresa, comes up and says hey and invites us into the building because she lives there. We then go to the apartment of the members we intended to visit, find the kids home so we make friends with them. Then the mom comes home and we talk with her and then their neighbor comes out and it turns out he's a member too! The thing is that they're all pretty inactive, but we struck up a good relationship, shared a powerful message and now we've got a firm appointment to have a noche de hogar (FHE) with them this Saturday, and they all seem very interested in coming back to church. It was miraculous and we definitely saw the hand of the Lord in all of that. We then went to our dinner appointment at la familia Chavert (fun bunch- probably one of our favorite families to visit), had a good experience there, then dropped by our ward mission leader's apartment, then went home for the night.

Yesterday, we had a Multi-Zone Conference with Elder Paul B. Johnson of the 1st quorum and that was good and insightful! By the time we got home it was about time for our 5:30 appointment with one of our investigators, Paulina a 16 year old Dominicana. She's hard to teach at times but she's fun so we enjoy our visits with her. After that we went to English class, after which we went back up to the Bronx because my companion had a meeting with President Morgan. We got home close to 10:30 (we were justified in doing so, obviously...) so after planning and stuff, we crashed.

Today we've just done some studying, washed clothes, went shopping and now we're about to make some dumplings with the sisters in our zone two of whom are from Taiwan and Singapore, so that'll be good. We also had some dang good and legitimate enchiladas from a Mexican street vender. Then later we're just planning on dropping by an investigator, some less actives, and other members, so that'll be good!

Things are going well! We're moving forward in what we feel is the way that the Lord wants. We're just beginning to see some of the fruits of our labors, but there's definitely moer on the way and I can't wait to keep everybody posted about it all! Thanks once again for all of your support, and I hope you all have a great week!


-Elder Griffiths

Ya Viene La Navidad

Hello All!

Another week gone by already?  Time is flying pretty fast I guess.  I feel like there's still a weird time warp similar to the MTC though- I guess that's just mission life.  Anywhoo...

Thanksgiving was good- we had real Tacos and Dominican food- no gravy, mashed potatoes, etc. but that's okay.  We haven't had anything too weird yet(though one of our good friends in the ward from Guerrero, Mexico talked about eating Iguana- I want to try some but they really only sell it in Guerrero and Puerto Rico), but three weeks in is really nothing, so I'm sure I'll have some good stuff to report.  The Spanish people do feed us well, but the past few days have been a little different so our meals haven't been consistent in the least, but other than that, food has been good.

One of the wives of the members of the Bishopric (Sister Richards) said she knew somebody from Suwanee, so that's the connection.  I've been making other connections too, like a Sister in our district is from Peachtree City.  I can't think of any other ones right now but it's pretty cool making those connections!

Here are some other random thoughts- my apartment mates tell me I do have a southern accent that comes out at times.  I guess that's a pleasant surprise since growing up with parents from Utah in an area where there aren't too many southern accents wouldn't give good reason for me to have one.  My companion and I are Italian magnets- he's been trying to learn Italian for a good part of his mission and we've had a bunch of experiences running into people who speak Italian.  First off there's a sister that we see a lot that we're good friends with that is from Italy.  Then we've just met people on the train, in the street and all the likes who speak Italian.  This past Sunday, two Italian women randomly showed up to our church building so my companion helped them out and they enjoyed the services and are going to go home and check the church out, so that was good!  And then we go to this pizzeria in our area that this Italian guy runs and we're planning on teaming up with Sister Malarizzi (the one from Italy) to teach him.  And he gives us discounts and dang good pizza so that's sweet!  Maybe I should have you send my my Italian stuff that I got over the summer so that I can participate too.  Or maybe I should just stick to Spanish... Haha

This week was pretty good.  Saturday we went and did service on Far Rockaway in Brooklyn, so that was cool.  There was a lot of flooding in that area so we pretty much spent the day cleaning out a guy's basement.  He was very grateful for our service and it was good making friends.  We also had a big run in with a lot of Indians (Asian Indians) because there are a lot of them that are a part of some disaster relief group.  I really enjoyed doing service and there's a chance that we might go do it again Saturday- we'll see!  Sunday we spent about nine hours at the church for various meetings and just trying to get information about our area- Elder Topham has only been here for one cycle before this one, so we're still trying to get our feet on the ground as far as getting to know our members and stuff good.  Monday we did an event at the temple where we handed out a bunch of DVDs, pamphlets, copies of The Book of Mormon, and free hot chocolate because they were lighting the tree there at the Lincoln Center.  That was a lot of fun being there because that part of town is a lot more like what people usually think of when they think of New York City.  We sang carols as a group and had a good time talking to people.  Me and my companion got to sing with a Mariachi Band that we made friends with - "Feliz Navidad" one of my favorite Christmas songs so that was sweet!  Nothing too terribly exciting happened yesterday.  Today we went to the Temple and that was good.  I miss going to the temple regularly, so it was good going back and just being there.

I've been learning a lot in my studies and I think one of the things that's helped me out the most is going into my studies with a question.  When I do that, I'm able to get a lot more out of my studies and apply the scriptures to my life and circumstances like it says in 1 Nephi 19:23.  As we apply the scriptures to our lives, we love the scriptures more and want to apply them more and then we get more out of them and it's just a good cycle.  So study your scriptures!  Go to them with specific questions and with the faith that those questions will be answered and you'll get a ton out of your studies.

That's all I can think of for now.  It's good hearing from home- hope all is well!

-Elder Griffiths

Los Verdasitos Libres

Hello!

Thanks for the emails and stuff- it's good to hear from people.  Also, last Friday we received the mail that has been sent to the mission home, and so that was really great to hear from everybody that had sent me stuff- so thanks to everybody!  I'll try to respond to them as well as time allows me.

Things are going well here!  Last night we challenged one of our investigators to be baptized and she accepted.  We're planning on inviting her mom and her mom's boyfriend to do be baptized as well tonight.  Preparing somebody for baptism is hard, but with the Lord all things are possible.

We've had some pretty cool experiences and there are a lot of people that we're working with that have a ton of potential.  I'd love to talk in more depth about such things, but I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just share one cool experience.

Monday night, one of our roommates, Elder Stevens got sick, so Elder Topham "gave me the area" and his companion Elder Orellano and I go out and do some work by ourselves so that Elder Orellano didn't have to stay inside for the whole day.  Elder Orellano is an English speaking missionary that came out at the same time as I did, so we were two missionaries with two weeks experience being let loose in Manhattan.  I was excited, he was a little nervous, but we went out and went to work.  First, we went and tried street contacting (NY is such a unique place in street contacting- you pretty much just stand on a corner and try to engage people in conversation and lead it to the gospel.  Something that I want to get really good at.), then we went to a not very firm appointment and she wasn't there, so we started knocking doors in that building.  After a few doors we came to a guy whose name is Leroy who we talked with for a bit after which he let us in.  We then proceeded to teach the first discussion and had a really solid experience with him.  The spirit was strong and we committed him to reading The Book of Mormon and meeting with the missionaries.  It was really sweet!  I love teaching and helping people to come closer to Christ and can't wait to keep working.

Sorry I don't have much time.  Today we're going to a museum with the Elders that live in our apartment.  Tomorrow we've got a lunch appointment and a dinner appointment and otherwise, we're just planning on doing some hard core cleaning, so that'll be good.  Thanks once again for the support!  Have a great Thanksgiving and don't forget to offer up thanks for the great blessing of the Gospel!

-Elder Griffiths

Todavia Estoy Viviendo- Que un Milagro!

Hello all!

I survived!  One week in Harlem that is- there aren't too many of us gringos here, but that's okay.  I like the people here- it definitely never gets boring.  I probably have been taking in the equivalent of a pack a day of second hand smoke.  We knock doors in the projects (all public housing looks the same, and as missionaries we can't get kicked out so it works), and while many of the humble parts of Harlem are in our area, we also have the Upper Eastside, the richest zip code in the US in our area, so it's in interesting mix.  I think I've figured out the street system and I'm used to getting around on public transportation.  All the subways are up and running- we mostly take the 6 though, and I think it was the 1 on the West side that had problems from the storm.  The storm didn't seem to do anything where we are as far as damage or even power outages go.  I don't think I have any other general things to say, so I'll go ahead and answer your questions and then go in to what we've been doing on a day to day basis.  As long as I don't run out of time...

Sunday evenings are fine writing to me.  We use the computers in the church building- it's an interesting building.  It has all the same amenities as other buildings, just spread out over five smaller floors.  Welcome to the church in New York I guess.  There are four of us Elders in the apartment- the other two are English speaking in the Upper Eastside Ward.  Another interesting thing- we have three sets of missionaries in the ward, and I think there are a lot more missionaries like that in all the wards here in general, probably just to keep up with the population density, so that's interesting.  We have to go to a laundry mat to clean our clothes.  Elder Topham just said to carry a five or ten dollar bill to give to people if they try to rob me- they're not going to wait or ask if I have anything else after I give them that money.  Yeah I'm not sure if I'm going to get boots or not- we'll see as time goes on, but I'm sure we'll figure something out if I decide I do need them.

I think that's everything.  So anyways, this past week:

Wednesday we had a good conversation with a man who started out by saying "Mitt Lost" to us (lots of Obama supporters here in Harlem so that has happened more than one time) so we had a good conversation with him about our stance on Blacks and the priesthood and how things have worked out, and then we left him with our card.  Later we went to Costco to get some food.  In the Manhattan Costco they were selling Gucci purses and jewelry for like $30,000 and $100,000.  Manhattan is an interesting place.  Afterwards, we trudged through the falling snow like reindeer with our food in what Elder Topham calls a "bronx cart"- kind of looks like a short, deep shopping cart, something that you probably only see in New York.

Thursday is our weekly planning and that was kind of rough.  Just took a little longer with me being new I guess.  Afterwards, we visited our ward mission leader's wife in the hospital after she had a baby.  Then we went knocking doors in the projects near the hospital where we found like three or four potential investigators in only three floors.  Then we went home.

Friday we went and did service at a food pantry (it's a weekly thing- do it Tuesday and Friday), passed out fliers in the street for our English class, taught English class then went to a ward party where a lot of the nonmember English class students went.  That was good.

Saturday we had English Class and we had a guy come up to us and say "This morning you read Matthew, you ready Acts and I'm your Savior" something weird like that and then walked off.  That was right after Elder Topham had warned me about interesting people being around there.  So yeah never a dull moment here.

There were a lot of other cool experiences, but I'm out of time so I'll wrap things up.  We haven't taught a lot of lessons- Elder Topham explained that we're kind of in a slump, more focusing on finding than teaching, but the lessons we've had have been pretty good.  I'll try to tell you the specifics next week.  And the Spanish is coming along.  It's hard to measure my progress, but Elder Topham and I have been trying to speak mostly in Spanish.  My problem right now is understanding people- there are a lot of different accents that I'm just not used to.  But it'll come with time.  Things have been tough, but I know it'll work out as I try to do my best.

Sorry if this hasn't been the best letter home- I've got a ton I'd love to say and not much time to say it.  Anyways, hope all is well!  Remember that it's hard to understand why things happen the way they do, or why the Lord has us do what we do at times, but it's all for His wise purpose and everything will be good in the end!

-Elder Griffiths

First pictrures from NYC...

Map of my area

Elder Vanner and me

Hermano Bell and me

Hermano Evans and me

Nice sunset (from Provo?)

$1 a slice pizza!

View 1 from my apartment

View 2 from my apartment

View 3 from my apartment

View of the street from my apartment

Llegue en... (Lea para aprender)

Hola familia,

Yesterday was a very long day.  Got up at 2:40 to catch the bus at 4:00.  After two planes, we arrived safely in White Plains and drove back to the mission home.  During my travels, I attempted to talk to a couple people- ran out of time with one and got rejected by a couple others.  It's pretty hard getting to people, but I think with some practice I'll be able to get to know people, develop a good relationship and share a brief snippet of the Restored Gospel with them in a short period of time.  There are so many people out there that don't have the truth only because they don't know where to find it.  So that's why I'm here!

Being at the mission home was good!  There  were twelve of us, three sisters and nine Elders.  The mission home was still without power, but they have a generator that allowed us some light and other amenities.  The mission home is nice and it's located in a very nice area.  I love it!  There are nice windy streets, trees everywhere, classy old houses, a nice "small town" down town and so on.  But yep, it was good talking with President and Sister Morgan and just having a good relaxing time after a long day of travel.  I had the best night sleep I've had for a while.

Funny side note- on the way to Detroit, I sat by the Elder who would have been my companion in the MTC had I stuck with beginner- Elder Kerr.  Turns out his first name is Jeffrey and he was born on July 31st- crazy, eh?  He also is good friends with Elder Goodman who serve in the Lawrenceville and Grayson Ward.  Also, on the bus to the airport, I sat by Elder Vanner from Kazahkstan.  He's one of about a hundred members in the whole country, and only the eighth missionary.  He's a modern day pioneer and an inspiration.  There were some other great missionaries that came in as well!  We're all excited to be here and get to the work!

This morning, we woke up, waited our turn for the shower, got ready, talked a little as a group and then got on our way to the transfer meeting in Kingsport.  A lot of the missionaries had been told where they were going to be assigned during their interview with President Morgan, but I had no idea, and I was kind of looking forward to it.  After some business and other stuff, they introduced us and told us where we were going to be serving, and so guess where I'm serving?  Central Manhattan Zone!  Harlem 2nd Ward!  (Spanish Ward, of course!)  My trainer is Elder Topham from Sandy I think he said.  He's been out for about a year and a half and I look forward to working with him!

Kind of a random side note- the missionaries in this area teach English, which is great because I really wanted to do that for some reason.  So that'll be great!  different, but great!

My apartment is on the nineteenth floor of a thirty three story high rise just a few blocks north east of Central Park.  Our area covers the east side of Central Park for about the length of Central Park.  I have yet to see Central Park.  Anyways, it's still a little unreal that I'm living in Manhattan, close to the heart of one of the most famous cities in the world.  I don't know how long it'll take to get used to that.  But so far I love it here!  I haven't seen too many of my fellow gringos, but that's fine because us gringos can be kind of dumb.

As far as living the New York experience goes, I feel like I've already had a fair share of it.  After the transfer meeting, we rode the subway to our apartment (we don't have a car- it's all about public transportation for us) from the Kingsport building.  After dropping my stuff off, we walked to this little pizza joint and got some dang good pizza for $1 a slice (big slice, mind you).  Then we took a bus to the church where we're writing our letters.  Also, we walked through some lovely snow and rain and all of that.  I think they call this kind of storm a Noreaster or something like that.  Not the most pleasant thing but I like it because it just adds to the experience.  Also, I haven't gone much time without hearing a siren, so even better, right?  Haha

I'm a little overwhelmed and out of my comfort zone now, but I'm sure with time it'll all get better.  Having today be preparation day is pretty nice though because I'll have some time to settle.  Like I said, I'm just excited to thrust in my sickle and get to work!  And we're probably going to go down and do service in the South mission on Long Island or Staton Island, or possibly in the Jersey Mission on Friday or Saturday.  I rode to the transfer meeting with President Morgan and he talked on the phone with somebody from Salt Lake and it sounded like it was going to be a two month process, so it'll be interesting to see what role we missionaries get to play in that.  Since we're in the city, though, we're definitely going to be involved in any service because with the missionaries upstate, it would take too much gas to make it worth it, especially because there are 1-2 hour lines for gas.  So I'll let you know how that goes!

I would have been fine being upstate, but I'm super happy to be in the city, especially in Harlem.  Spending the big holidays here will be great!  Though it'll be interesting going to bed at 10:30 on New Years Eve when the biggest party in the world is going on a mile or two south.  But yep, all is well!  I can't think of anything else to say right now,  but thanks for all of your support back home!  Best of luck with everything coming up with week- I'll definitely let you know about my doings in a week!

-Elder Griffiths

p.s.  Another fun note- riding the subway back to our apartment, we switched trains where Yankee stadium is located so I got to see that.  And it sounds like when you're in the city, you can go pretty much anywhere in the city and do lots of things.  Like go to a Yankees game, or Times Square, or a bunch of other things, so I'm stoked about that!  ...But I'm more excited about the gospel, of course!

Al Campo!

It snowed pretty good yesterday!  (Oct. 25) This is my district
and some from our neighboring district

Elder Deboin and I- he joined the force with
Sister Griffiths in Denver South this week.

Our district with the native district
(minus Elder Lopez- he had already left for Denver).

Buenas Dias!

Things are a little different today- doing laundry in the morning, which is nice because there's pretty much nobody here.

Anyways, all is well!  I'm just getting ready to ship out- yesterday we had our thirteen hour in field orientation.  It wasn't bad, pretty entertaining and definitely informative, but I wasn't sad when it finished.  I got a lot of packing done yesterday, and I feel like after finishing laundry, I'll be good to go.  I sent a package to my mission home full of some stuff that I neither need now nor would be affected too much if the package didn't get there.  It cost only about $6 to send about thirteen pounds worth of stuff.  I'm getting a package ready to send home to with some stuff I don't need and some Spanish study materials that you can use to learn Spanish if you ever do that.  I'm excited to leave, but I have enjoyed my stay here at the MTC- I've learned a ton!  I'm not ready for the field, but that's where the Spirit comes in to give me that little extra boost as I realize I'm not adequate on my own.  I'll be going to a humbled people, so that'll be interesting to see how that plays into the work.  I wouldn't be surprised if I spend the first week or so just serving.  But yup I'm excited and getting ready to leave!

Thanks for the pie!  It took me by surprise, especially because it came in such a massive box.  I shared it with my district and one of my teachers.  Otherwise, Halloween wasn't anything particularly special.  We were new missionary hosts again, and we got a couple trick or treaters in the residence (which is super smart because there's so much junk food here), but yeah otherwise, it was just a normal day.

I found a Portuguese vocab/grammar book in the free box, and because it's fairly similar to Spanish, I'm going to have one of our neighbors that is going to Cape Verde speaking Portuguese teach me some basics with pronounciation and then I might try to pick up a little practical Portuguese in the field.  Vamos a ver...

Thanks for the heads up on people going out to serve!  I enjoy hearing where everybody's is going.  The work of the Lord is going forth for sure!

This week I did some study on the Atonement, and I've learned to look at it in two different ways.  First off as an expression of Christ's great love for all of us, and as a means of increasing our appreciation for Him.  Second off as a very useful means of improving ourselves and helping us through the hard times.  Christ has already paid for a whole slew of things (see Alma 7:11-13), and since the price has already been paid, He wants us to use it.  We can receive comfort, strength, council and so much more because Christ was willing to take the time and go through the effort of getting to know us personally.  And the fact that He was willing to experience my pains and afflictions and everything in my life rather than just have such revealed to Him, I know that He loves me that much more.  Jesus Christ is my Savior and the Savior of everybody in the world, and I can't wait to go into the world to share this message.

Tuesday is the day!  I have no idea what's going down after that, but I'm sure it'll be good, and I'll be sure to keep you posted  as best as I can!

-Elder Griffiths

October Snow at the MTC

Snow falling pretty good at the MTC!

It snowed pretty good yesterday!  This is my district and some from our neighboring district

El Fin Viene

Hello to all!

Week and half left?  Seems unreal!  I love the MTC and I've learned and grown like crazy hear, but I can't wait to get out to the field!

I don't have a lot of time to write today (my laundry just finished and we've got dinner shortly), but I'll try to get off everything I want to say.

First off- Feliz cumpleanos Abuela!  (Happy birthday Grandma!)  I hope it was great!

Second off- There is a Hermana Henrie in our zone in the class room right next to us and I was talking to her and it turns out that she was one of Mackenzie Gregerson's freshman year roommates!  That was an exciting discovery.  She also lived in Grand Junction for a little while, so Yep good stuff.  Anyways, if anyone reading this wants to tell Mackenzie about that, that'd be great!  Because I have no direct form of contact with her otherwise.

Third off- Spanish.  Va bien!  I don't know if that works as a translation, but it's going well!  Thus far this week I've probably spoken more than 50% in Spanish.  And the Natives think I'm doing well, and I feel like I'm to the point where I've just got to work out a lot of little kinks and learn a lot of vocab, but otherwise, I feel like I'm to the point where I can figure out how to express myself with most things.  I've still got another week and a half to learn, so I'm looking forward to that.  I'm hoping to be fluent by the end of the year!

And finally, I've had a good number of humbling days lately.  For the most part, the biggest advice that I feel like I get from the Lord is to just press forward, doing what I'm supposed to do, and things will turn out well.  And that's been the case!  As I've chugged along and really strived to improve myself and turn my will over to the Lord, He's helped me to improve myself and have some really great experiences!  And that's so true for everybody, as anybody endures to the end of their daily, weekly or whatever sort of trials, with a good attitude, continually trying to do what they're supposed to, things just work out.

Sorry for not having more time.  Just as a heads up, I'll be writing on Saturday next week- things shuffle around for the last week.  So yep, have a good week!

Elder Griffiths

Los Nativos y El Planamiento Son el Mejor!

Elder Souza and I on preparation day.  He was my
former home teacher that's in my zone here.

Companions:  Elder Fitzner, Elder Boyd, & me

Nice tie I obtained during some tie trading-
goes well with my suit!

Mini Preach My Gospels!  English and Spanish- if they aren't
available to the general public I could probably buy some and
send some home if specific people want them.

Me voting!

Buenas Tardes!

Another week gone by here at the good old MTC.  Time is just accelerating- this week seemed like it went by faster than ever.  Things are still going well though!  I'm picking up more and more Spanish everyday and getting more comfortable and able to speak and teach.  Estaban usando Rosetta Stone?  Espero que puedan hablar un poco de espanol en dos anos.  Anyways, we got a new district of natives in our zone last week (two of which are going to Denver Sur- Elder Lopez and Elder Deboin) and we've made a special effort to become friends with them.  In turn, they've been able to help us out with our Spanish, especially as we're becoming more and more comfortable speaking.  They're great!  I love los latinos and I'm really looking forward to teaching and working with them in New York.  They're a faithful, humble, and ready to learn group of people, and they're really funny too!  Haha but it's been a great blessing to be able to hang out and talk with them.

Once again, I really don't have anything specially to report.  Lessons with our "investegators" are going well, I'm making individual improvements, we're improving as a companionship, I shined my shoes today, and the list goes on.  I'm just finding pretty much everything super fulfilling and I'm trying hard to not waste a minute of my time here.  I know there are a lot of MTC haters out there, but I love this place- it's such a great place to learn and progress, if you put the effort into it.  One of the things I've been working on this week is planning and having a better purpose with the time I've been given.  The idea of planning out studies, planning out lessons and planning out how the day is going to go has been coming up a lot lately.  As I've created general and more specific study plans for my language and gospel studies, I've been able to go into the time with a specific goal and I've just been able to get a lot more out of it than when I try to come up with an objective as I'm studying.  I've learned that it's good to write out a list of available resources, long term goals or bigger ideas, specific ideas or tasks and then activities that can accomplish these tasks (such as chronological reading, topical study, conference talks, etc.) and then just plan out what I'm going to do during specific times ahead of said specific times.  This might seem like something that really only applies to a missionary, but I know that we can get a lot more out of our personal gospel study or even school study if we have a plan.  Even better is an inspired plan- when we put the effort into making any sort of a plan, we make something that God can work with and help us to tweak so that we're best using our time and learning what we need to accomplish our purpose.  I enjoy planning and can't wait to see the continued fruits of my efforts in regards to it!

And that's about it.  I'm sure I have plenty more I could say, but nothing comes to mine.  Things are pretty routine here, but that's not bad when it's such a good routine.  And I love my companions- Elder Boyd and Elder Fitzner are great!  We're really able to build off of each other and we work together well.  They've been a great blessing to me as I've been here and I can't wait to see what kinds of things we're able to do in the next two and a half weeks!

Thanks for the letters and the support!  I really appreciate it.  And sorry if I'm not writing specifically to any reader of my blog that would like me to do so- unfortunately I didn't get as many addresses before I came into the MTC as I would have preferred.  So yep, I'd love to hear from you if you feel so inclined- I'm mailbox #355 and I'll be here at the MTC until November 6th.  And I'm not really soliciting letters, just throwing that option out there for anyone who was wondering.

Que tengan una buena semana!

-Elder Griffiths

More pictures...

"Broadbent Boys" at THE MAP

Elder Snyder's last night.

Elder Snyder and I in our very cool matching sweaters!

New York T-Shirt!!!

Ties I came with...

Ties I have now!

Buenas Tardes a Todo!

Conference was pretty good, eh?  Being here in the MTC for it was great!  Aside from the fact that we're naturally a little more focused on the Gospel here and that we're able to better pay attention while sitting on hard, uncomfortable chairs instead of couches, hearing the mind of God with about 2700 of the missionaries is great!  We enjoyed listening to Elder Nelson's talk about asking the missionaries- we're just all together getting ready to help out.  Everybody went pretty crazy at the  at the announcement of the lowering of the age that people can serve.  I think it was all that everybody talked about during the songs and breaks during the session and then for the whole day afterwards.  It's still a little crazy to think about and we're all wondering how the outside world is handling it.  Feel free to give me any updates-  I'd love to hear about who all is deciding to serve!

One of the biggest impressions I've felt, multiple times coming away from conference and other stuff is that missionary work really is about to explode.  One of the teachers said that they're expecting there to be about 100,000 missionaries in two years.  He learned that in a teacher's meeting with some official, high up person involved in missionary work, and what's even better is that this same person talking at the meeting said that they will be needed.  Exciting stuff is about to start happening and I'm grateful to be a part of the work!  The missionaries that will be coming in soon will be more qualified and able than ever, and I'm certain they'll be able to step up to what's coming.  You asked about whether I think I would have been ready after just six weeks of language training, and I'd say probably.  By tomorrow, we'll have finished going over all the grammar we have to go over in class, so at this point being one on one with a fluent or native speaker would probably do me good.  A lot of what they teach here in the MTC is more about how to study and teach yourself.  But yeah I think things will work out just how they're supposed to for the people who now have this door open to them.  I probably would have jumped on such an opportunity and left as soon as I could, and I  would have been fine, but I know that God's timing is perfect for me and that those experiences I had in that extra year were just what I needed.  Another fun fact- after everything has settled following the initial wave, it's expected that we'll have a steady 80,000 missionaries- super exciting!

The departure date they gave me is the 6th of November.  And I've had a bunch of companion switch ups, I'm guessing because I called in last moment to be switched to intermediate so I've just kind of been thrown around, not originally having a place.  And of course it's just all a part of God's plan- I've got something to learn from everybody.  And so far so good with Elder Fitzner and Elder Boyd!  We're working well together!  They're both pretty goofy, so it makes for a good time.  I think I told you where they were from and where they're going, but feel free to ask anything else about them!

Thanks for the package!  The watch doesn't work, but I can use somebody else's when I need it.  And I've already made some good tie trades- Elder Fitzner traded me the perfect True Blue Tuesday tie, so I'm excited about that and the other prospects I have.  I might send some home after I've settled things and made all the trades I want because I don't need eighteen ties in the field.  But yeah thanks for send them and everything else!

I'm writing this at a different time because my companions usually just write their letters home during laundry, and my old companions liked doing so after the temple.  My letters home will most likely come home around this time from now on.

Oh and random thing- I saw James Gosling in the temple today.  I said hey to him- that was good!

Not much else to say at this point, I don't think.  Serving a mission really is a challenge at times, and I'm sure I don't know the half of it not being in the field yet.  One thing that's given me the most strength through all of my trials, though, big and small has been prayer.  I've continued to fortify my testimony that when we have righteous desires, we're trying to do what's right, Heavenly Father will help us out and give us answers to everything.  Whether it be Him just encouraging me to endure through a rough time, or Him leading me to finding a book I wanted in a free box in the residence halls, Heavenly Father is always willing to help us out with anything so long as we trust Him and do our part.

I wish I could expound more on that, but I don't have much time.  Things are going very well here- I'm continuing to learn and grow!  Three and half weeks left- good deal, plenty of time to learn a bunch.  I hope all is well at home!  Thanks for your love and support!

Elder Griffiths

Pictures from the MTC

Companions:  Elder Lundberg, Elder Snyder and Me!

Elder Shresta - first missionary from Nepal! (and me)

Laundry room on p-day - fun stuff!

Napping during our temple "walk", haha...

Our District all nicely coordinated with purple.

BYU roommates: Elder Geronimo, me, Elder Jones

This is where we are going...

En Su fuerza, puedo hacer todas las cosas

(In His strength, I can do all things)

Buenas Dias!

I believe that today marks a month of being here at the MTC and that tomorrow is my half way point.  I´m getting there.

Thanks for the letter!  I'll try resending pictures later while we're doing laundry- those computers don't track your time spent on email.  I only have one four gigabyte memory card with me.

I really don't have a ton to report this week- things are pretty routine at this point.  I'm definitely still learning and growing and having good experiences, but that's all just become the norm here.  A good norm.  My companionship is switching up again- Elder Snyder received his visa and travel plans for Peru on Wednesday, so he'll be leaving Monday for the Peru MTC.  We've got two companionships of two left in my district, so I'll probably be slapped on with one of them.  General Conference makes this situation a bit tricky, but I guess I'll be able to report to you next week how things worked out.  In the mean time, though, I've really enjoyed being companions with Elder Snyder.  He's a great guy and he's going to be a great missionary!  Being together one on one has been great (trio's kind of stink) so it's a bummer he has to go so soon.  Additionally, I'll be moving to a different room in my building to be with whoever my new companions are.  So four companionship changes in four weeks- crazy crazy...

Life here at the MTC is great, but we've come up with a few little things to do for fun.  Such include watching sparks come out when you open a bandaid, messing with people on the other side of a two way mirror using a plastic jack-o-lantern Elder Snyder's uncle sent him, tie trading, learning how to tie different tie knots, playing "In which chapter in The Book of Mormon is this verse," and many other great things that I just can't remember.  Haha.  Oh and speaking of tie trading, in our district we've found out that you can trade junk food for ties, so feel free to send whatever junk food in any packages you send.

I've really enjoyed teaching here at the MTC.  Normally we're teaching our teachers pretending to be investigators, and then on Friday night we teach volunteers acting as themselves.  All of our teaching is done in Spanish.  Even though it's generally not a real situation, if we go in with the right attitude, we can come out with real experiences.  I enjoy seeing the promises of the Lord being fulfilled in the sort of stuff you hear about all the time with missionary work, like going in there with a set plan and having that change because the person being taught needs something else, and seeing how we're able to come up with words and express ourselves in ways that we otherwise are generally unable to do, and many other things.  I feel like I'm better learning how to trust in my companions and in the Spirit, and that I'm better able to feel and follow the promptings of the Spirit.  Lessons aren't always perfectly smooth, but as long as we come out having helped that person come closer to Christ, we've done our job.  I just can't wait to get out into the field and be able to see real change in people's lives as we share with them the sweet message of the Restored Gospel.

I'm sorry I don't have much else to report on.  Like I said, things are good, I'm learning and growing and having experiences that will help me to be able to be a better missionary.  He aprendido mucho espanol,  y aprendere mucho mas espanol en las proximas semanas.  Es importate que yo trabaje con y confie en El Senior porque come dice en Alma 26:12, "Yo se que nada soy.  En cuanto a mi fuerza, soy debil.  Por tanto, no me jactare en mi mismo, sino que gloriare en mi Dios, proque en su fuerza, puedo hacer todas las cosas."  Con Su fuerza puedo aprender espanol y hacer todas las cosas.

Thanks for the all the support back home!  Hope you have a great week!

Elder Griffiths

La Voz Del Espiritu

Hello!

 

Three weeks down already?  That's pretty crazy.  Time passes really weird here at the MTC and I'd imagine at all times while serving a mission because on one hand it is crazy that I've been here for three weeks already, but on the other it feels like two years have already passed since the day I was dropped off and the prospect of being here for another six weeks is kind of daunting.  But I still have a ton to learn and I'm still enjoying myself, so bring it on!

 

Elder Lundberg left this morning (at 3:00 AM...) for the Peru MTC- he got his visa and travel plans on Wednesday, along with another Hermana in our district, so they had less than two days to get things together for that.  So as a companion who has to be there pretty much all the time, things have been a little different and crazy for me too.  But he's on his way and should be in Peru tonight, so that's good.  That leaves me with Elder Snyder as my companion, which is great because we have a lot to learn from each other!  Having just one companion is going to be good.  I guess I've had different companion situations each time I've written home, eh?  And with Elder Snyder potentially leaving anyway for Peru that's likely to not change.

 

Last Sunday we got to watch a broadcast of the Brigham City Temple dedication!  That was pretty neat.

 

In case you were wondering about my weight, I've only gained fifteen pounds...  Just kidding- for our weekly service assignment we work in the warehouse of the cafeteria and they have a giant scale, and according to that I've pretty much maintained my weight.  They give us a good chunk of time to exercise and I've spent most of that time running, so that's been good.  In fact, last Saturday I decided to try to run a mile as fast as I can and I destroyed any previous record I had.

 

I'm continuing to meet a bunch of people from all over the world and so sweet talking to them and learning about them!  I really want to have a job where I'll be able to travel and do that to an extent because I really do enjoy it.  Anyways, Elder Shresta, the first Elder from Nepal, left this week to Minnesota and I got a picture with him.  I met an Elder from China going to New Jersey, an Elder from the Phillipines, an Elder from Tahiti (who made Tahiti sound like the best place in the world- beautiful landscape, happy people, etc.  he said that he'll give me his address and facebook stuff and that if I ever want to go to Tahiti he'll let me stay at his house.  Sounds like a good deal!), an Elder from Florida who was in the same ward as the group of 28 young men who all got baptized after one guy brought his friend to church or something like that, and an Elder from Brazil going to Georgia Atlanta North speaking Portuguese.  I had a funny conversation with the Brazilian Elder because he asked me if it was true if people in Atlanta spoke Ebonics and what that was, so I explained it to him and used examples and so on.  Haha good stuff.

 

Thanks for the message about the temple- I'm really glad that we get the opportunity to go to it here in the MTC and that we live so close to one back home because there are so many people out here who live four plus hours away and stuff.  Oh and family history- I was messing around with familysearch.org or whatever a couple weeks back and on Grandpa Adam's side I went back and made it all the way back to Judah and Jacob and Isaac and Abraham just by following back on the Grandpa Adam's patriarchal line.  I don't know how accurate that is, but it was pretty cool and there were a lot of people that needed their family history work done.  haha

 

Elder Bednar has come up a few times here in the MTC- he's the man!  He hasn't actually visited here while I've been here but we've had the opportunity to watch some of his MTC addresses and they're entertaining and life changing.  The one that I saw most recently was one where he talked about following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  He explained that a lot of people get caught up in wanting to hear a distinct voice telling them everything that they should do, but instead of really analyzing and trying to decide whether or not we've been influenced by the Holy Ghost we should move forward, be good, keep the commandments and honor our covenants.  If we're doing this, the Holy Ghost will guide us to do the things we need to do, whether we're able to distinguish such guidance from our personal thoughts or not.  As I've tried to follow this advice, things have gone better for me and I have noticed smaller ways in which the Holy Ghost influences my everyday actions.

 

Things are continuing to go well here!  I feel like just this week my ability to speak Spanish has had a big jump.  Starting this Monday, as a district we are planning on pretty much only speaking in Spanish, and while I know that it will be hard, we're going to learn so much.

 

Thanks for everything!  Hope you have a great week!

 

Elder Griffiths