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

"Seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo...?"

Hello family!

 

Thanks for all the news and information in the letters and stuff.  I love to hear about what all the stuff going on back at home.  Keep me posted about the mission calls too- congrats to Doug and Scott!  Thanks for the socks and shirts and ties and stuff.  There's some pretty serious tie trading in my building and that paisley tie is a good assett, so I''ll let you know if I make any good deals this coming week.

 

The reason I've made some transactions with the health center is because they made us get flu shots when we got there and then my burn got reinfected this week so I had to go get that taken care of.  Elder Lundberg actually has a bunch of Doterra oils, but they're since they're kind of expensive and since I was going to the clinic anyways, I figured I'd get stuff from the Doctor.

 

The reason I was headed to the clinic anyways goes into some complicated companion switch up stuff that's been going on.  I think I talked about it last week, but my Elder Valesquez got reassigned to the referal center until his visa to Costa Rica comes through so then I was with Elder Graza for a few days, but I think it was Monday he had an appointment to get the okay to go out into the field (after having some medical issues), so thats when I saw the doctor.  He got the okay at that appointment, and then we went and saw the person in charge of arranging such arrivals with the Mission Presidents, and since he was going to the Utah Provo mission, the Mission President was able to come pick him up an hour later.  Since then I've been back with Elder Lundberg and Elder Snyder.  If they get their visas to go to the Peru MTC, then things will change up again, but it sounds like there's a good chance that they'll be here for the full nine weeks.  I''ll keep you posted about that.

 

Every time I wear my suit, I get a bunch of compliments.  If I were headed to a third world country, I'd consider sending it back and looking for another one, but I feel like it will work well in New York.  Another funny thing going on with me and clothes is that we're supposed to match our companions with sleeve length and stuff, but since most Spanish speaking people are going to warm places, they've got lots of short sleeve and few long sleeve, so it's been interesting trying to work that out.  We've definitely been able to, and I don't need any more shirts, I just think it's funny how that has been working out.  Also, while talking about clothes, I really love my Clark's shoes.  I'd recommend them to anyone and everyone.

 

Lots of things pertaining to New York have been coming up here in the MTC.  We watch these videos from the NYTimes called one in eight million when we're talking about discerning people's needs, and at a fireside the speaker talked about The Book of Mormon musical and showed all the mormon.org adds and stuff they put all over the city, and it seems like there's been other stuff coming up too.  All in all, it's just getting me super excited to get there and have the opportunity to talk to so many different people.

 

I'm learning a bunch- the Spanish isn't quite coming along as quickly as would be nice, but I know it's coming.  We're working on goals to only speak spanish at certain time (that really helps a lot), and so by October we're planning to pretty much only speak Spanish.  We'll still need to speak English when we need to express ourselves at important times, but otherwise, daily conversation and such will only be Spanish.  A lot of the learning here in the MTC is more about learning how to learn on our own and developing study habits and the likes to be able to make the most out of our time.  That's been really good.  Another thing I learned from Elder Kimball, an Elder in my district, is how to split an apple in half with my bare hands, so that's pretty exciting too.  Haha, I'll be sure to get a good picture of that one.

 

One thing that I learned this week that I wasn't so sure about was extending a commitment to be baptized in the first visit.  I always thought that would be a little pushy and kind of awkward or something, but our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come closer to Christ.  When we invite someone to be baptized, we ask them, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority?", or something very close to that.  In asking that, we're able to establish expectations and a lot of time the investigator will say something along the lines of, "If I think it's the right thing to do then yes, I'll be baptized."  It's just a really exciting prospect, knowing that you're being used as a means of helping someone else draw closer to Christ, and baptism is a necessary step in following His example.

 

I wish I could say more because I've had some cool experiences, but something funky happened with my computer and it took away a chunk of time.  But yup, things are going well!  Being in the MTC is defintiely a learning experience in almost every aspect.  Thanks for all the support!

 

-Elder Griffiths

La Vida Buena en el C.C.M.

iHola!

Things are going well thus far.  This week has been a heck of a lot better than last week- we're getting into the swing of things, we aren't so overwhelmed with all of the stuff we had to do at the beginning and so forth.  The relief really came when we had our time for our temple walk on Sunday and the Zone leaders said that we didn't have to wear our suit coats and that we could take naps if we wanted to- that was great!  And since then, we've just been doing the routine stuff- classes, study, eating, sleeping, etc.

The Spanish is coming along pretty well, I believe.  It is kind of hard to track my progress, though, since I came in with some background.  I don't feel like I've improved a ton, but I think I am able to communicate a little better now.  One thing that has really helped me, particularly in our lessons, is to not get caught up on being perfectly proper, but to realize that as long as the spirit is present, there will be understanding between both parties.  I've definitely experienced that and it's sweet!  And while it really does work, it'll definitely be nice to be able to be fluent or at least conversational.  Such is coming, it's just a matter of patience and working hard in the mean time.

My companions are still great!  There have kind of been some tricky switchups- technically my companion right now is Elder Valasquez, a native Spanish speaker from Texas that was supposed to go to Costa Rica but is being delayed because of visa issues.  I haven't really been with him though because there's another Elder, Elder Garza, another native Spanish speaker from Texas, that was supposed to be leaving this week for the Utah Provo mission, but is getting over some health issues, so since they're in the same boat, they've just been sticking around with each other.  I've still spent some time with both of them though, and they're great!  They both should be on their way next week, so if one leaves before the other, I'll be with the other until he leaves.  They're both willing to help out with my Spanish, so that'll be good!

Seeing all the diversity here is sweet!  We're not supposed to hang out at all or go around to other people's rooms, but I've met and befriended some people in the bathroom while brushing my teeth and stuff, like an Elder from the Netherlands going to the West Indies, the first Elder from Nepal, an Elder from Belgium, an Elder from Chile, and Elder from American Samoa and a few others.  I really love how we're all coming together from all over the world to join the cause of inviting others to come to Christ.  I can't wait to meet the diverse group of people in New York!

As far as mail goes, I have only received one letter from Elder Peter Totten (friend from BYU) and then one dearelder letter from you guys (parents) and then one from Brother Branham.  I also did get the overcoat and it looks good and fits well, so thanks!  Anyways, the district leader of the district I would have been in should be putting any letters I've received in the misplaced mailbox, and then they should be forwarded to me, but I haven't received any forwarded letters so I'm kind of doubtful that district leader has taken such action.  So if you're reading this and have sent me anything already to the old mailbox, 291 I believe, feel free to copy and paste what you sent (if you used dearelder.com) to a new letter to my new mailbox, #355.  Otherwise, I apologize if you don't get any response from me- that's just something I can't do without a letter in the first place...  Not that I'm soliciting for mail, just be aware that I may have not received your letter.

I think that about wraps things up!  Things are going just fine and dandy.  Friday is our preparation day, and it's been nice- went to the temple, went through a session and then ate at the cafeteria- good brake from the MTC cafeteria.  About to go do some laundry and relax and stuff.

Hope all is well with you!

-Elder Griffiths

Hay Mucha A Hacer, Pero No Hay Mucho Tiempo Para Hacerlo

Hello All!

Looks like I've survived my first three days here at the MTC (o CCM en espanol).  The days haven't passed too slowly, but looking back at the end of the day, breakfast and everything seems like it was an eternity ago.  Things are going well though- I feel like I''m adjusting well to the sleeping schedule (I''m actually able to sleep at night now- it was hard falling asleep the first night), getting used to having to always be with somebody and just getting used to the MTC life.  I was imagining that they would always have a chaperone of some sorts guiding you and directing you where to go, but there's actually a lot of freedom in the sense that if we really wanted to skip out on something or do something we shouldn't, nothing would stop us.  At least in the moment.  That's just really nice because you know that everybody here is acting out of their own will.

So far my companions and my district are great!  I'm in a threesome (switching to intermediate at the last moment has kind of switched things up like that) with Elder Lundberg and Elder Snyder.  Elder Lundberg is actually a fellow Chem-E major from Layton who got a year in at BYU.  We took a lot of the same classes but at different times and with different teachers, so we didn''t already know each other.  Elder Snyder is from Clevland Ohio and he went to summer term at BYU this year.  He likes to play basketball and adds some color to what would be just a couple of Chemical Engineers.  Haha but yeah we're working together well- we all want to be good, obedient, hardworking missionaries, and so that helps us all be able to learn and grow off of each other.  Oh and they're both going to Peru on their missions, and if their visas come, they'll be leaving after three weeks to go to the Peru MTC.  Anyways, our district is great too!  We're already coming together and getting to know each other well.  We have two Hermanas (sisters) and then seven Elders.  One is going to the Idaho Falls visitor center, three to Peru, three to Los Angeles and one to Tampa.  Yesterday all of us Elders coordinated and work red ties and now today we coordinated with las Hermanas and we're all wearing purple, so that''s fun (I had to borrow a tie from one of the other Elders).  Because we're in intermediate, we all come in with different amounts of Spanish and different means of learning it.  Most everybody had four years in High School, one of the Hermanas minored in it in college, one of the Elders learned it when he worked at McDonalds, and I'm just the Rosetta Stone guy.  It's really nice though, because with all of our pool of Spanish knowledge, we're able to come together and answer each others questions most of the time.

All the various leaders have given us a bunch of assignments and we really haven't had a ton of time to do anything.  It's kind of overwhelming, but my companions and I are trying hard to be exactly obedient and we''re being blessed for that.  And Spanish is rough too.  The teachers really only speak in Spanish, and I'm able to understand the vast majority of what they say, but I'm not great at speaking yet.  That'll come though.  Yesterday we had to teach a lesson in Spanish to an "investagator'' and that was definitely rough.  Luckily Elder Lundberg had a good handle on things so it wasn''t a total disaster.

I''m sure I could say more, but time is running short.  I would like to note that because of the change, my mailbox is now #355, so if you could change that on the blog and maybe post something on facebook about that, that would be great!  I don''t know how the forwarding works- I haven't gotten any dearelder.com letters, but I did get a copy of yours (mom and dad) in an email.  Good to know that you were able to work things out with the car!

Anyways, I'm enjoying my time here!  I just can''t wait to be used to everything and be on a consistent schedule and stuff.  Being a noob is no fun...

Elder Griffiths

Este Lo Es, Chicos :I

I'll be getting set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in less than eight hours.  Then tomorrow, early in the morning, we'll be leaving for the airport to go to Utah (my parents are coming to drop me off).  The idea that I'm leaving now is a little surreal- I've been waiting for it for a long time, so I'm having a hard time knowing what to think at this point.  There's just a lot to take in.  But it'll be good just to make the transition, get into the Missionary Training Center and not to have to worry about the stresses of making sure everything is in line.

Speaking of the MTC, I called in, did a little language test and found out that I'll be starting with intermediate Spanish classes, but I'll still be there for nine weeks.  So.  If you have any desire to get in touch with me, you can write me at...

Elder Jeffrey Griffiths
MTC Mailbox # 291
NY-NYCN 1106
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

Or if you'd like an easier, free and more immediate means of communication, go to...

http://www.dearelder.com/index/

... Select the Provo MTC, then fill out the information and write a message.  My MTC Box number us 291, I guess my mission code is NY-NYCN 1106, and then my estimated time of departure is 11/7/2012 or somewhere around there.  But yep, I would love to hear from you, and if you choose to write me, I'll try my hardest to write back!

And please do continue to check up on this blog.  My mom will be posting my weekly letter home, which does in fact mean that there will be a new post every week.  And I'll be having her post pictures I send home and all that hooplah, so stay tuned- the best is yet to come!

I'm not sure what's left to be said.  I've been waiting for a long time to be able begin my service and I am really excited about having this opportunity.  Many people tell me I'm ready to go.  I agree in the sense that I am ready to move on and getting going, but if people are implying that I've got it all together to be able to preach the gospel, that's news to me.  Haha I've still got a ton to learn (not even including an ENTIRELY different language.  Goodness :T), and even if I know it all, I won't make one bit of difference without the Spirit.  I've tried to do a good job preparing, but I know I'm still quite inadequate.  Luckily I've got Heavenly Father to fill in the gaps and get me to where I need to be to be the best instrument in His hands so long as I choose to work hard and be obedient.  I know serving is going to be tough, but I know it's going to be worth it, at the very least to those whose lives are touched by the sweet message of the restored gospel.  I'm grateful for all those who have helped me to get where I am today.  And I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father that trusts me with the great responsibility to serve.

I'll leave you with a song and a scripture that do a good job of summing up my feelings.

I Will Not Be Still

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.  Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people." -Doctrine and Covenants 18:10-11, 14