Mom,

  Things here are wonderful! We got a call on Saturday night about transfers. I'm staying here but my companion is being transferred. We won't know where she is going until Tuesday. They told me that I'm getting a new missionary. I still don't think I have wrapped my head around that idea yet. I'm glad Matt was able to fix the pipes.  We are teaching a lady named Esther. She is 94 years old and she is less active because of her health. She is so funny!! She teases us so much. She loves having us come. She lives by herself and for being 94 years old she still gets around really well. She walks without a walker or a cane. She joined the church when the church was still pretty small here. She has a wonderful testimony of the gospel! She likes to talk and tell us stories. She tell herself to be quiet so we can teach our lesson. She is an amazing woman!! One of our investigators has been having health issues and she was really concerned so we had a couple men from the ward come give her a blessing. The Spirit was so strong!! It was awesome!

  I just found out that I can e-mail friends now. Will you get the Broadbent's e-mail for me? I have gotten a few letters from Mary Broadbent. She sent them in Januray and the beginning of February. It was good to hear from her. Thank you for telling me about Colt and Nicole's baby. Tell them congrats for me! You asked if the members feed us...yes they do! We are scheduled to eat with them three times a week. We have to be careful when we stop by people's houses because they always want to feed us if it is close to dinner time. The members here are so generous. The ward is amazing! You asked if I needed any clothes and I don't think I need any right away. I'll let you know when and if I'll need any. Thanks for your letters!!

  The ward here had a ward dinner and a dessert auction to raise money for the Young Men and Young Women. The dinner was free but then they had people in the ward make desserts to auction off. Members in the ward were giving us missionaries money so we could buy things. We bought some whoopie pies. They are kind of like homemade oreos but they are more cake-like. I think the most expensive dessert sold for 130 dollars. The members were outbidding each other--it was hilarious. 

  Have fun at the Easter party! Tell everyone hi for me! There is a family that is here in Maine that is coming to Conference. I am hoping to talk to them to keep an eye out for you. They might have already left but I'll try to talk to them if they are still here. I'm so excited for Conference!!!!

  This week we taught a lesson on testimony and faith. We read Alma 32. I love that chapter! Our faith will always grow if we are doing the things God has asked us to do. What a blessing faith is. Will you read Alma 32 and think about what faith is?? It's amazing that God doesn't expect us to have a perfect knowledge but He just wants us to act on our faith. We are so blessed to be a part of this Gospel!! The Church is true!! I love you!!! 

  Love,

    Sister Griffin

The first picture is of President and Sister Wilkey and me

The second picture is of shrimp at a members home...yes I ate shrimp! This is what fresh shrimp looks like before you pop off its head and outer shell. 

The third picture is me with Sister Johnson and the Mullin family. Brother Mullin isn't in the picture because he is the one taking it. They are such a cute family. 

 

Hi Mom!!!

  It sounds like everything is going well at home! I haven't gotten your package yet but I'll probably get it sometime this week. Thank you for sending it. We had interviews this week with President Wilkey!! He is such an amazing man. We talked about how important it is to recognize the Spirit in our work. There is a table in Preach My Gospel on pgs 96-97 that he wants me to fill out with personal experiences with the Spirit. He is such an inspired man! We also were able to have a study time with Sister Wilkey. We talked about how the Book of Mormon can answer questions to soul. It was awesome!! I wish I could study with her every day. 

  I don't mean to sound rushed in my e-mails. I'll try to not sound that way. Tell Ron Clark thank you for me! He is so nice! Maine is good. The sun is shining but it is still a little cold during the day. We aren't in the 50s yet but hopefully we will be soon. I'm not sure with the transfer yet. Transfers are next week so I'll find out next week. I am thinking that I'll be put with one of the sisters that I came out with but I'm not sure. Sister Johnson said that you never know with transfers. The exchange this week was awesome! Sister Wallentine is from Bear Lake, Idaho. She played Volleyball and basketball in high school. We got along really well. It was awesome to be the one to show a missionary around. It was kind of nerve racking too but it was fun. I learned a lot on the transfer even though it was only for a day. The ward here in Topsham had a Relief Society birthday celebration this week too. It was a lot of fun. They had dinner and a few games. I'm glad that yours went well too!!! 

  You'll have to let me know if Amy and Chris go on a date...Amy, I want to hear all about it!!! Shauna and Dave are clearing out her mom's house--that does sound familiar. That's awesome that Jase and Kelsey are going to buy her house. Can you get me the Jauregui's address and Charles Moulding's address? I got the knife from Rick and I wanted to write him back to tell him thank you!   

  My companion and I invited a man to take the lessons and he said yes. The missionaries have just been doing object lessons with him and his family for awhile and now he wants to take the lessons. My companion and I were way excited that he decided to take the lessons now! We also had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators. The Spirit was so strong. He has been investigating the church for a long time but says he hasn't received an answer about the Book of Mormon being true. My companion and I are trying to help him receive his answer.
   We were able to hear from Elder Ballard, Elder Christensen, and Elder Matthew Eyring. It was so awesome to hear from all three of them. Elder Ballard talked about how we already know everything about the gospel that we need to all we need to do is teach people what we know. We need to become master teachers because everyone should have the opportunity to hear the gospel. Elder Christensen talked about allowing our missions to transform us because if we do people will see Christ in our faces and our behavior. Elder Eyring talked about the importance of living by the mission rules and the handbook. Elder Ballard also bestowed an Apostolic blessing on us. It was so amazing!!!

  This week we started a day by day reading of the Easter story. Will you read the Easter Story in the New Testament before Easter? I know that my testimony of Christ and His Atonement are strengthened as we read about that and ponder about it. I know that Thomas S. Monson is our living Prophet. I know that we have the true Gospel on the Earth today. You are in my thoughts and prayers! I love you!!! Thank you for your handwritten letter Mom!! I bet your talk was wonderful, D! I always enjoy hearing you speak--you do such a wonderful job!! Have a great week!

    Love, 

      Sister Griffin

Hi Mom!!

  You sound like you are doing well. We haven't gotten stuck this. We are staying away from unplowed dirt roads. Have you been able to do Uncle Gary's temple work yet?? I'm really nervous to train next transfer but I know if the Lord wants me to train He will help me do it. I keep thinking that it is so unlikely that I'll have to train but Sister Johnson keeps reminding me that it is pretty likely to happen.

   That's awesome that you got some more cleaning jobs!! That's great about your temple class! I'm sure the people in your class love your lessons! Was D able to work on your cabinet some more? How was family home evening? We rode the bus this week and we ended up getting on the wrong bus so it took us twice as long to get where we wanted to be but that's ok because now we have the bus system figured out. We met a new family to teach. They have met with the missionaries before but they want to meet with them again. Their son Bobby is really interested in the Church and in our standards. He is so excited to learn more! We met them while we were at a dinner appointment. They are a really nice family! We are doing exchanges this week for a day. My companion is going to Farmington and Sister Wallentine is coming to Topsham here with me. It should be fun to get to know another sister in my mission. 

   I heard that the sister that you met at the Conference Center in December is praying for me to come to Manchester so she can meet me. She has told President Wilkey and the sisters that are serving there that she is praying for me to serve in that area. Maybe I'll be able to meet her one day. We are having a special meeting this Saturday with an Apostle. He is coming to the Boston mission and has asked that it be broadcast to us too. I'm so excited for it! Some of our mission gets to go down to Boston to be there for it. We are having interviews this week with President and Sister Wilkey. I'm excited to get to know them more and to receive more training. It should be awesome!! 

   Nicole Flitton should be having her baby on the 22nd of this month. Will you find out how she is doing for me? How are people in the ward? Does Shauna have someone else helping her with Activity Days? How is the Conference Center? What events are you going to this month? 

   Things here are great! It's kind of feeling like Spring but people are saying that it could still snow. I'm learning so much and I have so much more to learn. I have been studying about the Plan of Salvation this week and how it all works because of the Atonement. If we didn't have the Atonement then the Plan wouldn't work. Heavenly Father loves us so much!! We are so blessed to have a living Prophet on the earth today!!! How are you preparing for Conference? I know that you might not be able to listen to all of the sessions since your are ushering down there but how are you preparing for the talks that you will be able to listen to? 

   You are in my thoughts and prayers always!! I love you Mom!! The Lord is aware of you and can help you in times of need! Sorry this is so short!! I love you!

   Love, 

      Sister Griffin

Hi Mom!

 How are you? How's the Conference Center? I'm doing good. The stuff you need to send me should be on my floor in my room close to my microwave. My call letter should be somewhere in my room in the call envelope that it came in. It might be on a pile of papers in my room on my DVDs. The CDs I think they are in the living room. I can't have you send any CDs that are burned. D should be able to help you sort out which ones are burned. And only send packages through the regular mail. If you send it UPS or FedEX I have to wait weeks to get it. Send packages to the mission home address. Can you also give people in the ward my mission address and not my apartment address? Can you send me Charles Moulding's address? He e-mailed me and I don't have his address to write him back. I'm going to be taking about $50 out of my account this week so I can have a cash reserve. This transfer is short and so I might be getting transferred in three weeks. I might be training in when those transfers happen because we are having so many more sisters come into the mission field. Thanks for your hand written letter. 

  My companion likes to sing and so all of our investigators expect us to sing before we start our lessons. It kind of made me nervous at first but now I really enjoy it. We had a training for all the new missionaries this week. It was awesome! It was so good to see the missionaries that I was with in the MTC. My mission president is amazing! He talked about how we have to approach people the right way if we want them to feel the Spirit. He talked about how we must teach the gospel as if we were sharing it with someone we know from home. I hope I can do that. We were tracting one day this week and we found a man who wants to hear our message. He said he had a lot of questions. I hope my companion and I can answer all of them. I wish I could tell you more about some of the people that we are teaching but I don't have a ton of time. The man that we committed to baptism is still meeting with us. We are trying to help him come to Church. Hopefully he will come next week. 

  President Wilkey should have sent you a picture of me with him and Sister Wilkey with my new address. I'm sorry they didn't send you a picture. Yesterday afternoon all of our appointments fell through so we decided to go see some less actives. We had gone to see one and were headed to see another one. The road to the second one's house was snowy and we decided to turn around. Our car got stuck. All of the men in the ward were gone to a stake priesthood meeting. One of the sisters from the Relief Society came to help us. We tried shoveling around the tires and under but we didn't have any luck. The car just kept getting more stuck. We got a hold of a man who is not member to come help us. By this time its getting dark. His truck got stuck a couple time but we were able to get it out finally. We had decided to just give up and wait until morning to have a tow truck come get our car. We decided to try getting it out one more time. It worked! We were so happy that we got it out. My companion still can't believe that we drove the car home last night. It was a miracle that we got it out. 

  I wish I could reply to all of the families e-mails but I don't have time this week, I'm sorry! Please let Aunt Diane know that she is in my prayers. How are you feeling Mom? I have been studying in 1 Nephi this week. And I have been studying Lehi's dream in chapter 8. I have been thinking about where I am in Lehi's dream. It is so important for us to be holding fast to the iron rod! Where are all of you in Lehi's Dream?? Will you work harder to hold fast to the iron rod? This Church is true! I know that Thomas S. Monson leads the Church today. I know that by reading the Book of  Mormon and praying about it we can come closer to Christ! I know that the Savior is aware of our needs. Tell everyone hi for me and that I love them! Have a wonderful week!! You are in my prayers!! I love you!!!

   Love,

    Sister Griffin