Hello all, Happy Thanksgiving! Time is flying, as always, and Christmas will be here in no time. Things are going well! We had a great week. We've been having some good experiences together- seeing The Lord guide us to where He needs us to be. One instance in particular occurred on Thursday- it was our turn to be on the bikes. We were riding around without a ton of success- things haven't been working out as we had planned out. We were contemplating what to do when I realized that had to go to the bathroom pretty badly. For whatever reason the Alvarez family came to mind, so we set off on the two minute bike ride to get there. Upon arrival we found Javier, a less active who we had planned to see that day, along with the rest of the family. It turns out that the dad of the family had recently been admitted to a nursing home because he's going downhill after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The mom was feeling pretty down after that and so we were able to share a lesson about living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which helped Javier and Hermana Alvarez a lot. We also got some good hot chocolate and sweet bread after not having a dinner and I was able to use the bathroom! The Lord worked in a mysterious way that night and just killed four birds with one stone. I love seeing that and I testify that this really is His work! And with Thanksgiving coming up, I've been thinking about gratitude a lot. One of the lessons that God has been teaching me on the mission is gratitude- I was not at all good about expressing gratitude and being grateful before the mission. Now I've come to realize that the times when I am happiest is when I'm focusing on what I've been blessed with and expressing gratitude to those around me. Doctrine and Covenants 78:19 says "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." So be grateful! If you're ever down, write a list of twenty things that you love about life and then thank God and anybody else involved in that list and then see how you feel. I can promise that you'll feel better almost immediately. Don't save your gratitude for tomorrow and leave it for the next year's turkey day. Develop an attitude of gratitude and live will always be good. So yep, happy thanksgiving! Hope you have a good one tomorrow and a good week to come! -Elder Griffiths Sent from my iPad
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
El Agradecimiento
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
La tecnología es genial!
Hello all!
I am writing this letter in the car on my iPad. How cool is that? I can't remember if I said it or not but we were going to get iPads and now we have them! We got them and were trained on them last Friday. It's all part of hastening the work- I'm super excited to see where this technology takes us. Basically we now have our planners on here which sets out what we're going to do each day and stuff. It also has our area books, which contain the records of all that we teach to the people with whom we work. It's nice and offers a lot of things that are going to help us to help others come closer to Christ in an even more effective and efficient way. Tracie Watson, a head hancho big whig guy in the missionary department came and trained us on the iPads and he told us that revelation is based on information, and so now with this much information more accessible in a nice organized manner, we should be able to move forward with that much more guidance from the Lord too. We also use the iPads for Facebook, to use the scriptures and pamphlets in lessons, to have access to pretty much anything the church has ever put out to study (manuals, magazines, etc.), to skype for lessons, to stay on top everything and other things I'm sure. It's great! Now I'm probably going to want an iPad mini when I get home. We'll see!
Alrighty now I'm actually on the
computer typing. This week was pretty good. We're adjusting to changes all
around- switching up companions, respliting the area, using iPads, and just hunkering down for a shorter cycle (five weeks so that transfers is not on
Christmas). It's going to fly because next week is Thanksgiving, the next week
is our mission Christmas Devotional, and then the next week is when we find out
where we're going, and then that's it. Should be good though! We're just going
to be focusing on getting both areas up and running independently again, making
sure that both areas have a good, consistent teaching pool. We have seen a ton
of progress here in Newburgh. As a branch we've had a convert baptism every
month since September, our weekly sacrament attendance has increased from mid
50s to upper 70s since just this summer, and I've seen the members all become a
little more missionary minded. I think everybody is realizing that the Lord is
indeed hastening His work, and they're doing their part to move things forward in
this neck of the woods.I am writing this letter in the car on my iPad. How cool is that? I can't remember if I said it or not but we were going to get iPads and now we have them! We got them and were trained on them last Friday. It's all part of hastening the work- I'm super excited to see where this technology takes us. Basically we now have our planners on here which sets out what we're going to do each day and stuff. It also has our area books, which contain the records of all that we teach to the people with whom we work. It's nice and offers a lot of things that are going to help us to help others come closer to Christ in an even more effective and efficient way. Tracie Watson, a head hancho big whig guy in the missionary department came and trained us on the iPads and he told us that revelation is based on information, and so now with this much information more accessible in a nice organized manner, we should be able to move forward with that much more guidance from the Lord too. We also use the iPads for Facebook, to use the scriptures and pamphlets in lessons, to have access to pretty much anything the church has ever put out to study (manuals, magazines, etc.), to skype for lessons, to stay on top everything and other things I'm sure. It's great! Now I'm probably going to want an iPad mini when I get home. We'll see!
Actuar... con Amor
November 13, 2013
This week was great! I can't think of a lot that happened this week to be honest. But it was a great week! We had a good last hoorah as a trio, going around teaching people and we've seen great results! The average attendance has gone up from about mid 50's to now being lower 70's! We just need to get some more priesthood holders going! We've got a baptism this weekend- Abril! She's awesome- she's a fourteen year old who's family doesn't come to church too much but she and her older sister have been coming pretty much every Sunday lately. She's got a great testimony and is really looking forward to the blessings that come from making covenants with God!
One of the bigger things that I feel like Heavenly Father has wanted to teach me on the mission is about acting with love. A lot of times we're in a position where we can and even should tell somebody to do something, but it doesn't always work just to tell somebody what to do. When we're in such a position we should be motivated by our love for others, for their well being and the well being of those around us. When we act with love, we're able to say the words that motivate people, we're willing to give of ourselves and our resources to help others. I've seen that a lot as a missionary- working with members, investigators and even other missionaries. So yeah help others with love! It's great!
Thanks for the love and support! I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you next week!
-Elder Griffiths
Hello all!
I am limited on time- transfers always take up a
good chunk of time- so I'll try to be brief. Anyways, I am still here in
Newburgh! My new companion is Elder Wagner from Reno, Nevada and he's great!
He's been out for a few months and is coming from the Bronx, but a different
ward in the Bronx than the one in which I served. I'm looking forward to a good
cycle or two with him!This week was great! I can't think of a lot that happened this week to be honest. But it was a great week! We had a good last hoorah as a trio, going around teaching people and we've seen great results! The average attendance has gone up from about mid 50's to now being lower 70's! We just need to get some more priesthood holders going! We've got a baptism this weekend- Abril! She's awesome- she's a fourteen year old who's family doesn't come to church too much but she and her older sister have been coming pretty much every Sunday lately. She's got a great testimony and is really looking forward to the blessings that come from making covenants with God!
One of the bigger things that I feel like Heavenly Father has wanted to teach me on the mission is about acting with love. A lot of times we're in a position where we can and even should tell somebody to do something, but it doesn't always work just to tell somebody what to do. When we're in such a position we should be motivated by our love for others, for their well being and the well being of those around us. When we act with love, we're able to say the words that motivate people, we're willing to give of ourselves and our resources to help others. I've seen that a lot as a missionary- working with members, investigators and even other missionaries. So yeah help others with love! It's great!
Thanks for the love and support! I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you next week!
-Elder Griffiths
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
El Punto al Oeste
Hello Family!
Exactly one year ago (pretty much to the hour too), I touched down at the White Plains Airport here in New York. That's crazy to think about. Just don't blink because time is going faster every single day...
Anyways, things are great here in Newburgh! It's getting a little chilly, the bright leaves are fading away and thanks to day light savings, it's getting dark around 5:00/5:30. We're still in the trio, Elder Nelson, Elder Warner and myself, and it is great! I'm not going to lie, being in a trio in the MTC wasn't super easy for me, but out here it's been going great! I feel like we balance each other out pretty well, so that's been awesome.
This past week I've spent a good bit of time at West Point, and I love it there! I went on a split with Elder Berube there in the West Point brance on Friday and then with his companion Elder Holzer on Monday. On top of that, we had a tour of West Point on Wednesday and then there was a stake youth activity, a mini-Zone Conference that we went to Saturday (where I was made companions with Kevin, a West Point cadet from John's Creek- go Georgia!). Anyways, we aren't allowed to knock doors or contact people on base, so we just have to drive straight to planned appointments, so that's what we did. The branch members there are great- they come from all over and are very supportive of the Work. So yeah it was an enjoyable experience getting over there and interacting with the great people there at West Point!
Last Wednesday we had a miracle night- all four of the lessons we had planned along with the split we had planned cancelled (no worries, that's not the miracle!). We tried dropping by a couple of people and then at about 8:45, before heading home, Elder Warner felt like we should pray to see if God had anything else in mind for us before heading home. After praying, we felt as though we should drop by a less active with whom we have had very little contact. Upon knocking on the door, we were invited in to a room full of people- turns out it was this less active's birthday! We wished her a happy birthday, ate the cake that was offered to us (politely turned down the offer of coffee), and then shared a message about the importance of prayer as a family. They were all touched and expressed their appreciation. Thanks to Elder Warner being inspired and the merciful guidance of God, we were able to have that great contact.
Thursday, Halloween, we had to be in by 6:00 at the latest, so we went out and tried to do stuff during the day. We had lunch with Paul for his birthday, spent some good time working on facebook, then had a lesson with an investigators. Afterwards, we chugged through some planning then played some games with our Zone Leaders that live in the same complex as us.
The rest of the week went great! We've been having some really great lessons with people. It'll be hard for sure to leave Newburgh because the people here are so great! Hopefully I'll be here for at least another month or two. We'll see what God has planned!
Thanks for all the love and support! Hope you have a great week this week!
-Elder Griffiths
Exactly one year ago (pretty much to the hour too), I touched down at the White Plains Airport here in New York. That's crazy to think about. Just don't blink because time is going faster every single day...
Anyways, things are great here in Newburgh! It's getting a little chilly, the bright leaves are fading away and thanks to day light savings, it's getting dark around 5:00/5:30. We're still in the trio, Elder Nelson, Elder Warner and myself, and it is great! I'm not going to lie, being in a trio in the MTC wasn't super easy for me, but out here it's been going great! I feel like we balance each other out pretty well, so that's been awesome.
This past week I've spent a good bit of time at West Point, and I love it there! I went on a split with Elder Berube there in the West Point brance on Friday and then with his companion Elder Holzer on Monday. On top of that, we had a tour of West Point on Wednesday and then there was a stake youth activity, a mini-Zone Conference that we went to Saturday (where I was made companions with Kevin, a West Point cadet from John's Creek- go Georgia!). Anyways, we aren't allowed to knock doors or contact people on base, so we just have to drive straight to planned appointments, so that's what we did. The branch members there are great- they come from all over and are very supportive of the Work. So yeah it was an enjoyable experience getting over there and interacting with the great people there at West Point!
Last Wednesday we had a miracle night- all four of the lessons we had planned along with the split we had planned cancelled (no worries, that's not the miracle!). We tried dropping by a couple of people and then at about 8:45, before heading home, Elder Warner felt like we should pray to see if God had anything else in mind for us before heading home. After praying, we felt as though we should drop by a less active with whom we have had very little contact. Upon knocking on the door, we were invited in to a room full of people- turns out it was this less active's birthday! We wished her a happy birthday, ate the cake that was offered to us (politely turned down the offer of coffee), and then shared a message about the importance of prayer as a family. They were all touched and expressed their appreciation. Thanks to Elder Warner being inspired and the merciful guidance of God, we were able to have that great contact.
Thursday, Halloween, we had to be in by 6:00 at the latest, so we went out and tried to do stuff during the day. We had lunch with Paul for his birthday, spent some good time working on facebook, then had a lesson with an investigators. Afterwards, we chugged through some planning then played some games with our Zone Leaders that live in the same complex as us.
The rest of the week went great! We've been having some really great lessons with people. It'll be hard for sure to leave Newburgh because the people here are so great! Hopefully I'll be here for at least another month or two. We'll see what God has planned!
Thanks for all the love and support! Hope you have a great week this week!
-Elder Griffiths
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