Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

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

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

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

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

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!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

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