Thursday, January 30, 2014

Buenos Ejemplos de Buenos Amigos

January 29, 2014

Hello! Good week, good week.

Little snow, little cold, but all is good. Today we went to Orange County Choppers because it is literally five minutes away from our apartment. Not Orange County California, but Organ County New York! Anyways, Paul Sr. was there signing stuff, so I got a t-shirt and he signed it. I also gave him a pass along card with our phone number on it, so if he stops cussing on the show, you can thank that pass along card for that! Haha today we've also just been playing some games at the church after shopping - good times.

Things have been pretty normal in a good way with few exceptions. Michael, a youth in the ward, is heading out on the mission in a week. He had me translate into English for sacrament meeting for all his nonspanish speaking friends. I hung in there alright except for a couple parts. It was a good experience though. I went on a couple splits- one with Elder Critchfield who I live with and served with the whole time in the Bronx, and one with Elder Gonzales who will be home in a week and a day. They're both awesome missionaries and so it was just a good relaxed fun time. I love being with other missionaries. Yesterday I had an experience that is probably one of the top sweet experiences I have had out here.

I'll explain! I was going to give a baptismal interview for somebody that Elder Fox and Elder Fuller, our Zone Leaders, are going to baptize, but when we got there, we found that their investigator had been hit with some anti-Mormon literature and wanted nothing to do with us. After all four of us took some time to listen to his concerns, we started to speak. The spirit filled the room and we were all able to participate and lead him to understand that the adversary was fighting against him. He felt the Holy Ghost whisper to him, telling him that what he had read and been told were lies, and so he got up and ripped apart the paper that had the literature on it. It was great seeing the Spirit work with him and we could feel the power behind each other’s testimonies. He passed the interview after that and is going to get baptized on Saturday- should be a great service! I am grateful to be used as an instrument in the hands of God. That helped revamp my testimony of the restored Gospel, seeing God work through us. Looking for those daily, and not daily, experiences that build our testimony of God is important.

I know He lives and loves us. Thanks for the support! Hope all continues to better with the snow situation! I'll hear from you next week, possible from somewhere else other than Newburgh! Have a good week!

 -Elder Griffiths

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Estamos Helados Pero Bien!

January 22, 2014


Hello All!

Hope everybody is staying warm. I think I am getting used to it best a little chilly- whenever it gets up to about 30 degrees, it feels good! Crazy crazy.

Things are going well here. We got the highest number of lessons here that we have had since the area split. We were able to get back into good contact with our investigator Yolanda. She is probably going to get baptized soon because she definitely wants to. Less active work has been going too. Hermano Sierra, who we have been working with since I got here, came to church for the second time since I've been here, the first time in many months. The work is going great, and this week is going even better.

I got to teach a little in sign language this week. I was on an exchange with Elder Davenport and we went to a lesson with a deaf guy and I said a couple things. Not too much. And it helped that Elder Davenport was talking to interpret as we had the lesson. But I enjoyed it and would like to learn more after the mission. So things are going well! Sorry for cutting it short- we had a fun zone activity playing broom hockey on a frozen lake in ten degree weather. Good stuff! 

Thanks for the support and have a great week!

-Elder Griffiths

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Zión


January 15, 2014



Hey Everybody!

Another good week! It has definitely warmed up to the point where it has been pretty rainy.



Anyways, Thursday we had a zone meeting where at we were told that we are to no longer use paper planners or the area book- all on the iPad. That way we put anything that is ever important in here and then it goes on with the area rather than leaving with the missionary with the planner. Makes sense. I'm a little worried about pulling out he iPad in downtown Newburgh, but so far so good! The work is moving forward and we are setting the stage of how missionary work is going to be done until the end! Pretty exciting!

We've been having great lessons lately and pumping the number of lessons up too. Things are going great! We picked up he daughter of a recently reactived less active. Her mom had been praying for her for awhile and we just so happened to catch her home and she gladly listened to a lesson. We've got another one tonight with her. We have also been getting back into contact with other people that had fallen off the map after the holidays. Last night we had a sweet lesson with Yolanda- she has been going through a rough time and circumstances haven't allowed us to meet with her. By the end of the lesson she was glowing with hope that came from the Holy Ghost testifying to her that all would be well. That was great!

Our district has been spending a lot of time together and it has been awesome! Part of consecration that we have been working on is being of one heart and one mind. I've learned out here that love is spelled T-I-M-E. If you want to gain somebody's trust and show your love for them you have to spend time with them or on them. When you gain that trust and you work together everybody wins. The best is when all of your individual worries get swallowed up as you're helping each oh her out. When one person has a victory, everybody has a victory. That is what Zion is all about. President Morgan has told us that a lot of times we're getting a taste of heaven out here and I can feel it. Gotta love the mission!

Thanks for everything! I hope that all is well at home! Have a great week!

-Elder Griffiths

¡Que No Caiga más Nieve!

January 8, 2014

Hello all!

It is cold here in New York! And windy- I think the wind chill was
about -20 degrees yesterday. We went out knocking as a district and
about freezed to death, but it was fun! So yeah that's what is going
on here.

This past week was pretty good- we're still getting back into he
groove of things after the holidays but things are definitely going
up. There have been a couple of sicknesses that have slowed us down
(we usually switch things up and have somebody stay with the sick
person while the other two go out and work, so we've all been taking
our turns with that). Thursday it dumped snow- we got a good eight
inches worth. Got boots just in time. We went out before there was too
much on the ground but we were sliding around pretty good so we
decided to come back and stay in for the night. I'm getting some good
snow driving experiences. We spent some good time on Friday shoveling
snow, maybe enough to make up for my lack of doing such as a kid. This
past week we've started to do a district language study- there are two
companionships of Spanish missionaries and two of English and one of
an ASL/English zebra companionship. So anyways, we're teaching the
other guys some basic Spanish so that they can contact others and
we're all learning sign language from Elder Davenport. Sign language
is sweet- not too hard to pick up. We're having a good time with it
describing our daily activities (I chased some deer, that is crazy, I
teleport, hallelujah are among some of the things I can say at this
point). I love learning languages and I feel like it's a blessing I
have. We'll see what happens with sign language- I might come home
speaking Spanish, some sign language, some Italian and a little
Portuguese- that's be cool. I'm grateful for the gifts that God has
given me and for letting me discover them.

After being out for a little bit of time, the ruts come more often and
you have to keep things moving to not be stagnant or boring or just
routine. I guess the thing lately that has caught my attention a
little more lately is being like Christ. I haven't put to much thought
into that recently, but luckily Heavenly Father is looking out for me
and had led me to study and apply those principles. Trying to be like
Christ has been  an answer to many of my prayers and has been helping
me out a ton. Treating others with kindness and love, being obedient
and humble, having faith in God and being diligent are so important
when we're serving others and serving with others. On top of that, if
we expect to be joint heirs with Christ, we've got to be like Him- how
else would we be able to handle everything that is promised to us? I
know it's what God wants, us to be like His Son, and as we live the
gospel we can do exactly that.

Things are great and getting better! I look forward to a fruitful rest
of January. Thanks for the support and have a great week!

- Elder Griffiths

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

El Año Nuevo

January 1, 2014


Happy New Year everybody! 

We had a great night last night, celebrating by going to bed at 10:30. Haha we actually did not have to be in by 6:00, so we got to stay out and work. We were able to get in with a couple people so that worked in our favor. Woke up this morning to a new year and that was that. 

This past week was great! Christmas was great- we went caroling almost all day Christmas Eve and a little on Christmas as well. It was super fun and very fulfilling- we could see that we made a difference in people's days. Spending that time serving others was super satisfying and made for one of the best Christmas's I've ever had. The next couple of days weren't quite as satisfying- I got some sort of stomach flu that knocked me out. I did lose any sort of weight that I gained eating tons of unhealthy food for the holiday season. That was a good outcome I guess. Haha but that slowed things down a little but. Now we're bouncing back, getting back into the groove of things. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow a ton, though, so that might throw things off. We'll see! 

With the new year, I've thought about repentance and the importance of repentance in bringing about change. I challenge you to join in with me in taking specific steps to repent everyday of all the little and maybe big things we do and don't do everyday. We start that process as we recognize what it is that we lack in doing the will of God, then we stop doing that thing, and confess it to God and ask for His forgiveness. We then make restitution, fixing anything that we may have messed up. Keeping the commandments helps give us strength to do all those things and then we do the most important part of it all- recognize and give thanks to Christ for making such possible. It's only through His atonement that we can change and be forgiven. So do it! Everyday. That's what I'm resolved to do before anything else, just repent. That will help me put everything else in line. 

Thanks for he support and the packages and everything- I enjoyed it all. Hope you guys have a great week and a great start to this new year! - Elder Griffiths

Feliz Navidad!

December 23, 2013

Hello Everyone!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!  Elder Wagner said that today is Christmas Adam because Adam comes before Eve.  He's a goofy guy.  Haha

Anyways, all is well here in Newburgh!  The work is going well- we picked up another person with a baptismal date- Jenny!  She is progressing well and is looking to be baptized in February.  Less actives are progressing well too- we had eight at church yesterday!  I counted the number of priesthood holders and potential priesthood holders there and if things keep on going as they're going, soon enough the branch could be a ward.  We'll see what God has in mind though.  Another thing that will help is that we got another car!  The other guys have a nice white 2014 Ford Fusion now, so that will help us to get around together without having to either depend on each other or the bikes.  We're hoping to move out of the city of Newburgh a little more, so we'll see what we can do!  Things are great!

The Christmas season has been a delight!  We're planning on caroling tomorrow and Christmas when we have free time (we didn't do a whole lot last year on Christmas when we had down time, so I'm excited to get out there and serve in that way with the free time that we do have).  Christmas eve is a lot bigger of a deal in Spanish culture, so we've got some good stuff going on tomorrow evening, and then Wednesday for lunch we're going to Paul's house with almost the whole district (the sisters have something else going on).  Being a missionary during Christmas time is great!  And I've been blessed to be able to look back and see how my mindset in regards to Christmas has changed.  I'm grateful to have had experiences to know that giving is so much more fulfilling that getting.  I don't have a lot of physical means for giving, but I've been blessed with the opportunity to give of my full time and service as a missionary.  I love caroling and I think its because it is a giving service and helps everybody listen to and feel Christmas through music.  I look forward to doing that tomorrow and Wednesday.  I challenge you to look for someway you can go out of the way and serve somebody else, out of the norm, and see what you feel like.  If you want to get some nice baked cookies, go give somebody some nice baked cookies and see how you feel.  It's great!

Thanks for the well wishes and everything.  Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
-Elder Griffiths