Hello Mom!!

 How are you? It sounds like you had a busy week. I got your handwritten letter on Friday. It sounds like Ammon's Eagle Court of Honor was good. What did he do for his project? I still have a lot of catching up to do to thank everyone for all the letters they sent me for Christmas. Everyone is so generous and caring! We aren't really getting very much snow. The big storm that was supposed to hit us hit everyone north and south of us. We just got a drizzle of snow and today it is raining. 

  You said that you have been asked to speak in Stake Conference...that's awesome!! You asked for some ideas on how Relief Society helps with activation. That first thing that I thought of was through visiting teaching. Arlene Love is a perfect example of how visiting teaching helps people come back to church. Helping those that are less active feel the Spirit is so important and visiting teaching does that. Mom, you are a great example of a faithful visiting teacher. You go every month and the sisters that you visit know they can count on you no matter what. Think of some of the sisters that you have visit taught over the past years...maybe some of them came back and maybe some of them didn't but you played a vital role in helping them have the spirit in their home. Thanks for your wonderful example Mom!!! I love you so much!!! 

  This week has been awesome!! We started teaching a lady that has met with the sisters before. She really wants to get baptized but she thinks that she won't ever be able to quit smoking. We are going to try to help her realize that the Savior can help her because of the Atonement. She has such a strong desire to get baptized but her faith in the Atonement is lacking a little bit. We talked to her about studying the Book of Mormon and why it is important. She loves learning about the gospel. She always has questions for us. 

  A member, Sister Gretter, brought a friend, Kathy, to church this week. Kathy met with Sister Johnson, my trainer, when Sister Johnson was here in Methuen. Sister Gretter told Kathy that I am a lot like Sister Johnson. When I went to talk to Kathy, she mentioned to me that I was famous. It through me off a little. She told me that Sister Gretter had told her all about me. Kathy then said, "I think you are an answers to my prayers." I don't know if I am an answer to her prayers but I hope I can help her come closer to her Savior. She has been searching for truth for a long time. We are meeting with her this week and she told me that she has a lot of questions to ask us. I can't wait to meet with her!! 

 Sister Brea gave a talk yesterday in church and she talked about her dad. She lost her dad very suddenly about six years ago. She described how she felt after that and how her siblings felt. I felt like she was telling everyone my life story. It was a tender mercy of the Lord. I was trying to describe to my companion how it felt and the only way I could describe it was to tell her that I felt like I was watching myself give that talk. It was such a spiritual talk. She talked about how the gospel has helped her and her family. She is one of 15 kids. She is an amazing woman!!

  This week I studied about our life on earth and why we are here. Our life here is an opportunity and a blessing. It is an opportunity because it is what makes it possible for us to become like our Father in Heaven. If we didn't come to earth then we could not progress. We are put on the earth to choose righteously. Those who are choosing wickedness are living in a state that is contrary to our nature (Alma 41:10-11). God wants us to be happy and the way we are happy is if we are choosing to live the way that He has asked us to. I think of the quote from President Hinckley, "Don’t make the kinds of mistakes that will bring regret. You can be wise and happy or stupid and miserable. The choice is yours.” That is so true!! I love you! Have a great week!!!

  Love,

    Sister Griffin

On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 11:26 PM, griffincru@juno.com <griffincru@juno.com> wrote:

HI, Missy Callee,

How are you doing?  Have you had a good week?

I hear tell you wrote Marilyn and Gary L:iptrot a sweet letter.  You are good to try to catch up and keep up.  You are amazing!

Are you still having to walk because of bad snow storms?  Jennifer said she heard news reports of lots of snow in the north east part of the country.

Are you still teaching investigators?

I still haven’t heard from Lilliene that moved to Salt Lake.  I’ve been hoping she will call.

This has been a good week for me.  I didn’t go to Family Home Evening group because Iwent to Salt Lake with the Barnes.  I already told you that.

Tuesday, I went to lunch with Kathy Talbot.

Wednesday, I worked for Coray’s.  I will start goi9ng there on Fridays, too.  They’re having a few troubles, so I need to drive them around a little.  Barbara is falling off and on.  Ed can’t help her because then he would fall.

Diane and I went to the Logan Temple with the temple group.  It had been awhile since we had been with them.  There were 8 of us.

Thursday, we (Darren and I) went to the Olive Garden to dinner and Jennifer and Brad and Lindsay and Shawn were waiting for a table so we ate with them.

I had Friday off.  I just fiddled around.  I made chicken noodle soup and took some to Brooks and to Dolly. 

Saturday, I just cleaned the house and then at night I went to Weber State’s basketball game.  Weber won.  They played Montana university.  I enjoyed going – it was fun.

Today, I should have gone to the Ewings house for dinner, but I had thyem to my house because we all went to Ammon’s Eagle Court of Honor.  That was a real nice program – a live eagle came from the Ogden Nature Center.  The man who gave the presentation did a superb job.  It was cool.

Well, I’ll close for now.  Take care. I love you and miss you, too.   

  Love, Mom

Hi Mom!

  I'm so glad you got my package. It sounds like you are doing well. Did you get the house put back together yet? That's awesome that you were able to do visits with the Stake Relief Society Presidency. I haven't been able to go shopping for clothes yet.

  This week has been great! A lady in our ward, Sister Russell, invited her daughter-in-law, Amy, to learn about the Gospel and she said yes. We taught her this week and she is awesome!! She is searching for truth because she wants her twin girls to know who God is. She doesn't feel like she knows how to teach them who God is and why it's important to believe in Him. She wants so badly to find the truth. When we were talking to her about Joseph Smith she compared herself to him. She said, "Wow, that's kind of like me." It's awesome that she recognized a little bit of herself in Joseph Smith. It was a powerful lesson and she wants to learn more. She lives in the Boston Mission but her Mother-in-law lives in our mission. Eventually we are going to try to get her to meet the missionaries down there.

  We met with Ashley again this week. She has asked us why we pray. We focused the whole lesson on prayer and why we pray. She told us that she knows God answers her prayers. We asked her to pray every morning and every night and she said she would. She told us that she forgets to pray sometimes. We made a sign with her to remind her to pray every morning and every night. She was really excited about it! I have noticed that people really have to see how the gospel applies in their lives for them to care about learning more. The gospel is applicable to everyone. The gospel can help any one in any situation.

  This week I have been studying a question that one of our investigators asked us. She asked why does God allow suffering and evil to occur? 2 Nephi 2 answers that question very plainly. There must be opposition in all things! We can't know happiness without sorrow. I was also studying in the Bible Dictionary about the book of Job. Job had to suffer a lot but he never lost faith. Job would not have been able to endure his trials without God's help. Affliction is for experience, discipline, and instruction. I know that to be true!! There is growth when we are being tested or tried. We have to go through the Refiner's fire in order to become the people that He needs us to be! I love you so much!!! Have a great week!!!

   Love,

     Sister Griffin

Hi Mom!!

  How are you?? It sounds like your week was eventful! I would love to see pictures of all the changes that you have made to the house. How is it having Sacrament Meeting first? Thanks for putting some money into my account! I'll send you pictures of the new clothes that I get. Brad's lesson for family home evening sounds like a good one. Will you tell Aunt Diane Happy Birthday for me? Thanks!

  My companion is not being transferred. We are both staying here in Methuen. My companion was really nervous about getting a call but I didn't feel like either one of us would be transferred. This week the weather has been pretty warm. We have been getting rain instead of snow. It's weird to get rain in January. We had a lesson this week with a member that wants to go to the temple. We are trying to help her know what she needs to do to prepare for the temple. She is going to call the Bishop and set up a time to meet with him. I love being able to help people grow closer to their Savior!

  We taught our 10 year old investigator, Ashley. She read more of the Book of Mormon than what we had asked her to do. She was so excited! She wrote down a lot of good questions and while we were answering them she kept asking if we could just keep reading the Book of Mormon. It was awesome!! She is trying to prepare for baptism. Her mom is a less active member. We are hoping to help her live the gospel at home so her daughter can have that spiritual support at home. Ashley knows a lot and is so excited about the Gospel!!

  For service we help at a nursing home. We usually help the residents with Bingo but on the second Friday of the month they have Catholic Mass. Sister Miller knows how to play the piano and so before the residents have mass we sing and play the piano. The residents love it! Sister Miller plays the piano and sings but you can't hear her sing because she is facing the piano so I'm pretty much singing a solo. I wish the people could hear my companion singing so they didn't have to just listen to me but oh well. It's a great way to bring the Spirit into their lives.

  This week I have been studying the First Vision. I was thinking about the what led Joseph to turn to God and how amazing the power of prayer is. Joseph had a question and it was answered. I know that God answers our prayers. Joseph had a war of words going on around him that made him uncomfortable and so he turned to God and His word. That is where he found solace. I know that God is the only way that we can obtain peace in this life. In Preach My Gospel, it talks about how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul. I think Joseph's questions of his soul were in JSH 1:10. Joseph wanted to know truth and as he really pondered and asked God, his question of the soul was answered!! I know that God answers our questions of the soul! All we have to do is ask Him and then study His word and our questions will be answered!! I love the gospel!! I love you!!! You are in my thoughts and prayers!

  Love,

   Sister Griffin

Hi Mom!!

  HAPPY NEW YEAR! How are you going to ring in the new year? It was so good to Skype with you on Christmas. It sounds like the rest of your week was good. I'm glad you liked the Nativities. I hope none of them broke in transportation. Did my sand dollar make it in one piece and the sea shell? If you want to just put some money in my account then I can go get some new clothes rather than you spending more money to send them to me. We have all kinds of shopping things here in Salem. I got Dolly's card but not Donna Adams yet. 

  The rest of Christmas was great! We spent some time at the Bursells. Sister Bursell loves our family. She said that she would just love to be part of our family. Mom...she loves loves your caramels!! We then went to Ed and Joyce Lewis's house for lunch. Sister Lewis is the Relief Society President. They didn't have any of their kids coming over because they had some of them over for Christmas Eve and their other kids live in Colorado. We really enjoyed going over to their place. Then we headed to the Allens. Sister Allen is so sweet! She is from Utah. Right when we walked in she gave me a present and said Happy Birthday. She is so sweet for remembering!! She got me a necklace. Sibel was also there. I loved being able to spend Christmas with some members in our ward. Christmas is different on a mission but I love it! It was awesome to be able to focus just on the real meaning of Christmas! Sister Miller made me a cake...we still haven't eaten it because we have so many goodies at our place. Thank you again for all the gifts!! I loved them. I love the purple shirt you sent me for my birthday! Thank you so much!!!!!!! 

  This week has been great!! I forgot to tell you that on Christmas Eve the Bursells had all of us missionaries over for dinner and it was an all seafood dinner. They had crab, mini lobsters(I can't remember what they are called), clams, and shrimp. I tried all of it! Fresh crab is way better than lobster. The clams weren't too bad either. I may be starting to like seafood...I never thought I would say that!!!!!! Ha ha! We stopped by a less actives house this week and she let us in. The Sisters had been trying to get in with her for a while but she wouldn't let them in. She was talking to us about her prayers and how she is trying to pray more. She is also trying to come back to church. I asked her if she felt like us visiting her more and teaching her some lessons if that would help her come back to church. She immediately said yes. It is amazing how the Spirit helps us know what to say and how to say it. The Spirit works in marvelous ways!

  This week I have been studying in 3 Nephi 11. I love that chapter so much!! in verse 16 it talks about the people being unified and shouting with one accord. I was thinking about how important unity as a missionary and for everything in the gospel. I was thinking why it is important to be unified with my companion, President Stoker, and the Lord. I can't be the servant that the Lord needs me to be if I am not unified with those around me. Why is unity important? We are to make our will one with the Lord's will. How do we do that?? I know that if we build upon His rock that we cannot fail!! He put us here on the earth to succeed!! He loves us!!!  Have a great week!!! I love you so much!!! 

   Love,

     Sister Griffin

Hi Mom!!

  How are you?? That's great about the Relief Society room being full from the start. That is a big change. I hope Melba is doing ok. That's funny that Mary works at the same school Tina does. It's such a small world!! How was your New Year's Eve? What did you do?

  We had a lot of snow. Our car was grounded for two days so my companion and I did a lot of walking. I was so happy to be able to walk...my companion not so much. She hates the snow...its ok, I'll like it enough for her and me both. We did a lot of shoveling. The first day that our car was grounded it was still snowing. We walked to the Relief Society President's house to shovel her driveway. They made us come inside and eat after we were done. Everyone here thinks they have to feed us when we go to their houses. It's sweet of them but really not necessary. We were walking and there was a man that was shoveling out his car and he didn't want the rest of his driveway done because he needed to leave. We helped him get his car out and then we walked on. Sister Miller and I got the promtping to go back so we did. We noticed that his car was gone so we decided to shovel the rest of their driveway while they were gone. They ended up catching us because they had to come back for something. They were so happy for the help. It was awesome to be able to help them. It got pretty cold here but it was bearable.

  We are meeting with a less active now. Her name is Diane. She has been less active for a long time. She really wants to come back to church and she wants to quit smoking. We asked her how she wanted us to help her. She thinks that meeting with us regularly will help her get the motivation to get up and go to church. She also wants to start reading the Book of Mormon more. We suggested some ways that could help her get the desire to read every day and she wants to do one of them. She wants to study by topic and we are going to help her pick topics to study. It's going to be awesome!!! I love being able to help people come closer to Christ!! We were supposed to meet with one of our investigators this week but we had to cancel because of the storm. Hopefully we can meet with him this week.

  Transfers are happening next week. My companion thinks she is getting transfered. She has been here for almost six months...crazy!!!! She loves it here and doesn't want to leave. I keep telling her that going to new areas is a fun growing experience.

  This week I was studying about sacrifice this week. I was thinking about Christ performed the Ultimate Sacrifice. I was also thinking about the little sacrifices that the Lord asks of me. I love what it says in "True to the Faith" about sacrifice. It talks about how we give up something we value for something of greater worth. I asked myself, "What is someone else's salvation worth? Am I willing to give up ALL to help others gain salvation?" It also says, "If we were not required to make sacrifices, we would never be able to develop the faith necessary for eternal salvation." I love that!! Our sacrifices build our faith so we can gain eternal life. I was thinking about the difference between the rich man in Matthew 19:16-22 and King Lamoni's father in Alma 22:15-18. Which one are we like? Would we give anything for the Lord and His Kingdom. I need to be more willing to give of myself. I love you!! Have a great week!!!

  Love,

    Sister Griffin