Hello Mom!!!!

  How are you? You sounded busy this week. Were you able to get the lady all moved? I'm so excited that Amy went through the temple! I can't believe that she gets married in less than two weeks. Time has just flown by! I am still anxiously awaiting her wedding invitation! When are you going to San Francisco with Mary? Are you excited to go?

  This week has been great! We did teach English. It was awesome! We had about 15 people there. Two people that just got baptized were there and the rest weren't members. It was great to see them use the words that we had taught them. The people that came to learn English are all from Africa! Some have been in America for months and some just a few weeks. They are such awesome people! They love learning! The Elders also helped us teach the class. I can't wait to teach English again. We are going to be doing it every week for about 6 weeks and then we might start over again. The place where we are teaching it is a non-profit organization and so we can't teach the gospel at all but we had a few people ask us questions after the class. English is needed so much in Portland.

  We met a lady this week that wants to come back to church. Her name is Stacy and she has noticed a huge difference in her life since she stopped going. Her daughter is 8 years old and hasn't been baptized. Her dad is really sick and is on his death bed. It is so amazing that I am here at this time. The Lord has placed me in certain areas for certain people. The Lord has placed me in areas where there are people that have lost loved ones or are losing loved ones. I know Dad's death was a sad time for us but I know that it has helped me help these people that God has placed in my path. I love being able to testify of eternal families! We are going to teach Stacy and her daughter this week. It should be great!

  I did get to see the Relief Society meeting. I missed Sister Burton's talk though. We were helping a lady in the ward move and so we missed her talk but we saw everything else. I loved Sister Stephen's talk. I received so many answers from her talk and from all the other ones. I had been praying to know what to do for one of the sisters that I am helping and the Spirit, through Sister Stephens, told me exactly what I needed to do to help her. It was amazing!!  I love being able to learn at the foot of our living Prophet. He is definitely called of God. The choir was amazing! My companion was saying that she wished she was still in the MTC so she could have been in the choir. It made me laugh. I can't wait for conference this next week. There were two more people that got baptized this last Saturday. It was two people from Africa that the Elders are teaching. It was wonderful!!

  This week I have really been thinking about what it means to always have a prayer in our heart. I was thinking of how we physically need our heart to live. It pumps our blood through the rest of our body. Our spiritual heart is what keeps our testimonies or spirits alive and strong.The Gospel must be a part of us. It can't just be surface deep. I was reading Romans 2:15 and I was thinking about how if the law is written on my heart then my thoughts and desires will be directed toward Jesus Christ. When we have a prayer in our heart always we are showing that we want God to be a part of us. It is our choice to open our hearts to the Spirit. My study of always having a prayer in my heart became more of a study on the heart. What does it mean to always have a prayer in your heart? 

  I know the Lord loves us. I know that as we watch conference this week that we will see just how much God is aware of us and loves us. I love being a missionary and helping others see just how much God loves them. Have a great week! I love you so much!!!

    Love,

       Sister Griffin

Here are some pictures of the beautiful fall leaves! And also a picture of the beach that is right by our place! Enjoy the beautiful colors!