Travel orders are in...the count down is on!

Elder Griffin turns 20!

6/28/16

Hey everyone, it's been another exciting week!

Sandpoint, Idaho

 

Monday we had a fun p-day in Sandpoint with the missionaries in the zone, we also spent a lot of time saying goodbyes and getting ready for transfers.

 

Tuesday we spent most of the morning and afternoon driving and unpacking and such things as are involved in transfers. It was good. We also did some service for a sister in Newport who just moved in and the Newport Elders couldn't make it over because of transfers. We also met with the Abston family, they're the ones who showed up to church that Sunday and said they wanted to be baptized. It was a really great visit, we were able to teach them more about using their quad's and studying the scriptures and it was just a great visit. They're a great couple!

 

 

B is Newport, Idaho.  Can also see Priest River  and Sandpoint.

Wednesday we spent the day in town on bikes, we had a good day, met a lot of nice people and one in particular was a great contact. We met a man named Jason who's had a bit of a rough past, but he recognized us as servants of God, and was super excited to have us over to learn what we have to say. It was great. We also had a very frustrating dinner appt with an eternigator, He is very stubborn and has no reason to change. We would probably drop him, but he only is willing to meet with us once a month. So, it's not too big of a use of time. He usually feeds us as well, so it's not too big of a deal.

 

Thursday we had a great lesson with a new investigator, Kim, we taught her the plan of salvation and she opened up a little bit, but we're having a hard time getting her to open up to us. We spent the afternoon weekly planning and helping Elder Esser learn the area, it went pretty well. Then we drove out to the Proctor families house and had dinner with them. It was really good. Pineapple Hawaiian chicken and rice in a pineapple shell. It was super good. We went on splits with the bishop and Brother Holmes after dinner and were able to see a few really good families. 

 

Spokane, Washington

Friday we road tripped to Spokane for a dr's appt and Chelsea's sealing. Unfortunately, we got the time wrong for the sealing, so we missed the ceremony and got to wait in the waiting room with some members from Spokane first who I knew really well. It was good but still a little disappointing.

 

When we got back into Priest River we had dinner with the Jensens, it went really well and they're warming up to Elder Esser very nicely. Afterwards we went out to the Geoghens and had a really good visit with them and then went to Jason's and had probably one of the most spiritual restorations I've ever had on my mission with him. We were able to help him understand God's love for him by comparing it to his love for his daughter. It was powerful.

 

Saturday was not too eventful, we found some new people to teach in Laclede and had a good dinner appt with one of the Johnson families in the ward. It was a good day.

 

Sunday was yet another big miracle! We were greeting people for church and a lady walked in and said she was interested in joining the church. AGAIN! that's the second week in a row that that's happened! It's amazing! Her name is Becky and she lives just a few blocks from the church. I'm excited to start teaching her! We gave her a restoration pamphlet right before sacrament meeting started and she read it and had lots of good questions. After church we went out to the Charleston's and had a fun new member lesson, they're so silly and so smart. It's fun and challenging to teach them. Afterwards we got lost on our way to the dinner appt and ended up a little bit outside our area and blew a couple few too many miles. It was frustrating, but fun. 

 

That was my week!

Love ya'll!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Miracles!

Swinging Bridge, Libby Montana

06/20/16
Hey Everyone!

It's been a great week! soo Many miracles!

Monday we had an amazing pday hiking out by swinging bridge and kootenai falls. It was so fun and just beautiful! 

Tuesday we had a fun day, we had lunch with Lyle at Kings, taco tuesday! Super good. Then we went to the cooks home and helped them with trimming their hedges. It was really good. very enjoyable! all that time at Washington city parks has helped on my mission! For dinner we went to the Mullens and had taco salad, which was delicious and then we went to Sandpoint for exchanges and a baptismal interview. I had elder Rasmussen with me and we enjoyed it a lot.

Swinging Bridge, Libby Montana

Wednesday we spent the day out in Blanchard, Quite the drive, and saw several families out there. We had dinner at the Bates and had some interesting enchillada's, and afterwards we drove back to the apartment for exchanging back. It was a fun day and lots of little things happened, like having lunch on a families porch in the middle of a golf community. It was pretty fancy.

Thursday we weekly planned and had dinner at the cooks. Afterwards we went on splits with the high priest group leaders and were able to see a lot of brethren that we needed to. We had a great visit with Don Ivie and he's still adjusting to his wife's passing. It was a really nice lesson and we challenged him to open himself to serving others.

Elder Griffin

Friday we had a HUGE meeting in Spokane, it was for a general authority, Elder Keetch. Two thirds of the mission were there, so it was lots of fun to see all my Companions and friends from throughout the mission. When we got back we went to the Jensen's for dinner, they're a recent convert family, it was a lot of fun and they make good food!

Elder Pendell

Saturday was FILLED with Miracles. First thing in the morning after studies we went to the church and had a great lesson/ church tour with a new investigator Kim, it went really well and she agreed to be baptized when she feels it's true. Afterwards we got a ride from the Jensen's to the Temple and were able to show them the temple grounds for the first time. it was great! Then we did an endowment session with Chelsea, from Spokane 1st/ysa. It was a great experience, next week i get to go to her sealing! We finished the day with a dinner at the Hardwood Grill here in priest River, it was delicious. It's a really nice restaurant.

Libby Montana

Elder Griffin

Sunday we had the biggest miracle I've seen in a long time! After sacrament meeting we went to gospel principles and had a great lesson and a new couple showed up who had just taken the discussions from missionaries in Utah and want to be baptized as soon as possible. It was pretty miraculous. So we sat down and discussed the situation, got the info for them and for the missionaries in Utah and they will be having a baptism in the next month or so! Pretty amazing! 

After church we went to the Jensen's again for lunch and had a really fancy seafood lunch. It was pretty tasty! Then we did our studies for the afternoon and went off to dinner. After dinner we went to the Savage/Hammons, who had a recent death in the family and had a really good discussion on the plan of salvation. It was a very spiritual lesson and it was just what the family needed.

 

The last piece of news I have this week is that transfers is this week! Elder Pendell is leaving and will be going down to Lewiston, I'm staying here in Priest River, and my new companion is a missionary named Elder Essar, he's pretty new and so I'll be his first companion after training. It's going to be a fun transfer!

Love ya'll!
Elder Bryce Griffin

Swinging Bridge, Libby Montana

Swinging Bridge, Libby Montana

Libby Montana

Elder Morrison, Pendell, Griffin, Janis 

Exploring Montana! Exchanges, District meetings & a miracle

Hey everyone!

Janis, Pendall, Brother Fletcher, Morrison

 Excuse me if this letters a bit scatterbrained, woke up early this morning so we could get a jumpstart on p-day to go out to swinging bridge Montana, so i'll hopefully have some good pictures next week! With that, it also means I've served in 3 states, served foreign for one day and been to 3 different countries (Canada, US, and the Indian reservation.) So that's exciting!

Anyways, to my week!

Monday last week we went to Riley Creek Park for dinner with our bishop and his family, it was a lot of fun and a lot of good food! Riley creek is beautiful and we might start having our district go there on p-days.

Tuesday we had a really good visit with a brother who's wife passed away recently. We invited him to work towards going to the temple so he can be sealed to her. He was really excited about that. We also tried a few different families, but no body was home. OH well. it happens.

Wednesday we went on exchanges. It was a lot of fun. I went with Elder Morrison to Newport. He's a lot of fun and we were able to visit a lot of people. I enjoyed it a lot and i even got a new pocket knife!

Thursday we weekly planned most of the day and had correlation meeting. Then we drove out to the Kesler's for some good old fashioned North Idaho company and dinner. They are very into being "prepared" for when the crap hits the fan in the US. It was pretty funny and I really enjoy their family. On our way back into town, we saw a police car lay down a spike strip and then a couple minutes later we saw a little rice burner car going about 120 mph towards town with about 5 police cars in tow. It was pretty exciting. Luckily we were in the church parking lot when we saw them go by. Never were able to find the story on why he was running.

Friday we had district meeting. Elder Pendell made it a General conference district meeting, complete with a whole bunch of flowers, mo tab and a really formal and hilarious introduction. After district meeting we got a call from the Walls and they ended up coming by to give us a new co2 detector and check up on our apartment. It was good to see them again. For dinner we went with the Young family to the fancy golf club steak house. It was delicious! I had a ribeye stake and Brownie delight for dessert. We also had a really nice visit with Dave Bitten. He has a whole bunch of really old really cool cars and he's super fun to chat with. He even has a ford model A truck. I really like him. he's funny.

Saturday we had a really cool miracle. We were out looking for a less active and ended up on a driveway with 3 houses, unclear of which one was supposed to be his. So we went to one house that had a lady outside working on her car. We got there just in time for her to take the tire off and see the damage from a bad tire. She ended up really needing help, so we called our ward mission leader and before the WML training  on Sunday we went over there and were able to get her a good evaluation of the damage and offer her some help in finding a new tire for the car. We were also able to pray with her both times and she's agreed to take the discussions. I'm really excited for the prospects there. She's a sweet lady. 

Sunday we had lots and lots of church. After we went to Jennifer's (that's her name by the way,) we went to a ward mission leader meeting in Sandpoint with the mission presidency. It was really informative on exactly what a ward mission leader is supposed to do. Afterwards we had a dinner appt that was far away. So lots and lots of driving. But it was a fun dinner. The Wiser's and the Miller's are great families with lots of cute little kids. It was great. Lots of chaos and lots of good food! By the time we were done there, it was time to go home. So we ended up at home and planned and crashed for the night.

It was a super fun and busy week!

Love ya'll!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Zone training, inspections, beautiful Northern Idaho

June 6, 2016

Panhandlers Pies, Restaurant and Bakery in Sandpoint, Idaho

Hey everyone!

It's been a crazy busy week! quick and short too because of the holiday!

Tuesday after emailing we went out to Sandpoint and had SUPER tasty Burgers at Panhandlers restaurant. It's owned by a member, so we got a really good deal. Then we went out to a hike in the middle of nowhere and had fun hiking with the missionaries in Sandpoint, unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. The evening was spent at the ward social and talent show, we had a lot of good food and enjoyed the company of the ward members.

Wednesday morning we went to Bro. Cook's house and got some info about different LA families in the ward. It was helpful, save us from going up to a few more angry people who we don't know in the ward. We spent the afternoon out in the boonies and met a few really nice families, and then had dinner at the Myrvangs. It was a super good dinner, and afterwards Sis Myrvang gave us a bunch of food from her food storage! It was truly a miracle, because we weren't able to go shopping on pday and now we've got more than enough food to last us a couple weeks! 

Overview of Sandpoint, Idaho

Thursday we weekly planned, it was a pretty good one, and then we went on splits with the EQ presidency, it was really productive and we got to visit a lot of really good families.

Friday we drove to Sandpoint for zone training and car inspections. Our car was nice and clean and zone training was super spiritual. We learned (in short) about quantum physics and it's relationship to God. It was pretty interesting. update's and explanations are available to people in person, but unfortunately, I couldn't explain it over the email. We also got some new rules, but they aren't to exciting. After Zone Training, we had exchanges with the newport elders. It was just alright.

Priest Lake, Idaho

Saturday was Elder Pendell's Birthday, so we surprised him and Bro Fletcher drove up to give him a birthday lunch and spend some time with us. It was great! Absolutely love Bro Fletcher!

The evening was spent in priest lake at the potluck with the members who live up there. Priestlake is beautiful and it was enjoyable driving up with our ward mission leader Bro Hatfield. It was a lot of fun and the members up there are so nice.

Overview of Priest Lake, Idaho

Sunday was nice. I always enjoy fast Sundays and we had our first ward correlation when our auxiliary leaders are there. It was really good. We were able to discuss the families we needed to and do it quick so it wasn't overbearing. For dinner we went to the Leavitts, they are such a fun family, and they really took the ward mission plan to heart! There's is beautiful and short. but it's something there family can handle and I'm really excited for it. They're going to see miracles soon!

That's my week!

Love ya'll!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Baptism coming soon!

5/31/2016

Elder Davies, Morrison, Janis (seated), Pendell (red), Rasmussen
Sister Rich, Sister Florez, Elder Griffin (flag)

Hey everyone,

It's been a fun week!

We've had a lot of good things going on, so I'll dive right in!

Priest River District Missionaries

Monday night we met with Bro Ivie again and he's doing well, preparing for his wife's memorial and getting his life in order since her passing away. he's Excited to start working towards going to the temple for her.

Tuesday we had a really good lesson on faith with Sis Connoly, she's still struggling with coming to church, but the spirit was there and she's working on coming again. We also had a really good visit with Bobbie out in the boonies, she's a sweet little old lady and she's hopefully going to work towards baptism. We also had a dinner with a very... North Idaho.. Family and they shared a lot of their political views, it was pretty funny. That evening we had the baptismal interview for the Feika's and helped them pick out their jumpsuits, it was exciting! they both Passed!

Feika Family Baptism

Wednesday we had mi Pueblos Mexican restaurant for lunch with a part member family, unfortunately the lesson kinda went way out in left field and the spirit wasn't too happy with that.  Oh well! There's always next time!

Thursday we went had ward correlation and were able to get a lot done, we also put together the baptismal program and and cleaned the baptismal font in preparation for the Feika's baptism.

Friday we had a really good district meeting, we talked about different ways to find and the best ways to do each of them. We also took district pictures afterwards, in the Deans front yard. it was fun!

Peanut Butter soup and kasavaleaf soup - African soup

Elder Griffin

Saturday we spent the morning filling the baptismal font, and then had the Baptism of the Feika's. it was a super good experience and the spirit was so powerful! afterwards we went and got pizza to celebrate the baptism and enjoyed lunch with the newport elders. Then we went to the memorial service for bro Ivie's wife and said the opening prayer and enjoyed some light snacks with them. Then we went to the Feika's house for some african BBQ and celebrating with the Feika's and the ward. It was awesome! Peanut butter soup is different, but tasty!

Then we went to the Hardwood grill and had dinner with another recent convert, Bro Hall. IT was soo good! even after having had 2 other dinner appts we had just come from! It was such a good day!

Werner's Wigglers - worm business owned by member

Elder Griffin with steam tractor

Sunday was fairly uneventful, we had the Feika's confirmation which was really good, and then just a regular 5th sunday lesson. Enjoyed church a bunch! 

THat's my week! 

Love ya'll!

Elder Bryce Griffin