Today has been pretty crazy. We had to wake up early so that I could do
laundry to be able to pack to be able to make it on time to transfer meetings.
It was kind of stressful and I was ready to get gone. Transfers were great
because there were forty new missionaries. It took a little while to get
through them all, but seeing them all and the way things are going is inspiring.
The mission is just getting better. After the meeting, I met with my new
companion and then we left for...
...The Bronx! Concourse South is the official name of our area. It's
really only one stop away from the stop that was closest to our apartment on the
green line (subway), so I'm not too far away from Harlem. It's just across the
river. I'm really excited to be here- the people seem to be a lot more humble,
or at least people seem to be more tolerant or something. I had a good number
of people tell me I was the devil because I'm white back in Harlem, so I think
getting away from some of those feelings will be nice. I'm actually serving in
Elder Topham's old area (the one he was in before Harlem), so that's cool (and
he went home today from upstate, so be looking for a facebook add from
him).
My companion's name is Elder Longmore. He's from Draper and he came out
one cycle before me. Technically I'm follow up training him, but I don't have
too much time on him, so this cycle is just going to be a great learning
experience all around! So far he's great! We get along pretty well and I just
feel like it's going to be a really good cycle filled with lots of miracles as
we try to work hard.
This past week wasn't particularly exciting. We just had lessons as normal
and English Class and so on. On Sunday, somebody from Deseret News or some sort
of church news came to our sacrament meeting and Elder Loera translated for her
as she interviewed a couple of people from our ward. She took a lot of pictures
of us too, so look for those in the church news and stuff! Another cool thing-
apparently there's a video on youtube going around called the Harlem Shake. I
am proud to say that I was serving in Harlem when that got big- and there was a
big graffiti painting that said "The Harlem Shake" that we were going to get a
picture with, but then we didn't end up having enough time. Maybe we can get
down there sometime and get a picture with it on a preparation day or something.
Another fun fact- yesterday marked my six month mark! A quarter of the way
through- crazy!
Here's a fun New York cultural thing- the dogs here in New York are
somewhat of a unique breed. A majority of them are just sickly and malnourished
looking. They're caught up their apartment all day long and then get to go on
the occasional walk. I think it's against the law to have a dog unleashed.
It's a rough life for a dog living in the city.
This week I've been blessed to see some of my seemingly fruitless efforts
pay off. A lot of times doing what's right, doing what's best comes with a lot
of opposition. I think a lot of times, the adversary amplifies that opposition
by feeding us negative thoughts and trying to create a sense of hopelessness to
motivate us to not do what we really should do. I believe that God allows this
to happen to test our faith, to show Him and show ourselves that we're willing
to do what He wants despite any opposition. We just always need to stick to
our standards, and do what we know is right and true. Doing what's right often
doesn't pay off now, but it definitely does in the future and that's what it's
all about. So keep chugging along! Even when it's hard, even though often
times it doesn't seem to make sense, just do what the Lord's want and He'll
bless you according to His will and pleasure.
I hope everything is going well at home and elsewhere! Hearing about
what's going on with others is always good! I appreciate all the love and
support from back home and I hope that everybody has a good week to come!
-Elder Griffiths
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