Rancho Chico and Beaver Lodge

Monday, March 30

Hey everyone!

It's been a good and busy week!

 

Tuesday we had a road trip and got the jeep serviced, so we decided to try Rancho Chico, it was super good and not too expensive! 

 

 

 

Wednesday we did service at the food bank and had a lot of fun. we also tried to contact a referral and this random guy outside got mad at us because we knocked twice, it was really random and kinda funny. We also had a really powerful lesson with Jim and the Fitzsimmons and an amazing lesson with Lester and the fruits of the spirit.

Thursday we had another road trip and tried to stop for slurpees, but the slurpee machine at the 7-11 was broken! It was frustrating. We taught a former investigator and almost had this random apartment manager try to bash with us. It was random and not very nice of her to interrupt our lesson.

 

Friday we did exchanges and my first district meeting, it was a really good district meeting and the spirit was strong. On exchanges with Elder Pendell, we literally spent the entire exchange in service clothes. It was lots of fun doing various service projects and i was worn out by the end of it. We even got pizza!

 

Saturday was fun, more service! I was so exhausted! But it was really good work. we also went to a YSA activity with Jim and had some really good food.  I also realized that a good comparison for Colville, it's a lot like Hurricane.

 

Sunday we had a really good day at church, we got a bunch of dinners scheduled with members, we got priesthood holders signed up to come out with us and we even bore our testimonies in sacrament meeting! That evening we had an AMAZING dinner at the relief society presidents house, it was super good! Overall just a great day!

 

That's about the extent of my week, lots of cancellations, it's been frustrating, but the work is getting moving, so I'm excited!

 

Crystal Falls

Crystal Falls, Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge

Beaver Lodge Campground & Resort, Colville Washington

 

Love ya!

Elder Griffin

The Jeep and a big bucket of cookie dough ice cream

Hey everyone! it's been a good week!

Tuesday we had specialized training and got to ride in the transfer spaceship (big fancy 12 passenger van). It was lots of fun. and at specialized training we learned a lot about the new Easter initiative and the talk "We're doing a great work and cannot come down."  It was really good, and we had a lot of fun doing team building activities. We also started teaching Jim, who's an awesome investigator who's living in a member's home. it was a really powerful lesson and we had a lot of fun getting to know him too.

Wednesday,  we had a really good lesson with Jim and he basically told us a bunch of stories from his

childhood. He apparently was like the sandlot kids -- times 10! It was fun! I also got pulled over for having a bike rack on our car! it was funny, but the officer was really nice once he saw we were missionaries and didn't give us a ticket. We also had a really good lesson with a lady in the ward who's been struggling with coming back to church and then she found a copy of "Our Search for Happiness" in Wal-mart or something and the book just spoke to her soul. it was truly a miracle! Her daughter is actually considering taking the lessons now too, because we didn't push anything on her while we were there.

Thursday was a long day. We got to road trip to the doctors in Liberty Lake and had Carl's jr and almost stopped for Slurpees, but we missed the turn. it was a lot of fun though and we listened to some good talks as well. We had correlation meeting after that and then played basketball with the Elder's Quorum.

Friday we had a lot of fun doing service at the food bank and they gave us a huge thing of Umpequa ice cream -- it's super tasty! Cookie dough! We also had one of the Young men in the ward come out with us and had several good lessons.

Saturday we had a baptism for a girl in the ward, then we met a few people with Bro. Marugi, who's super nice, awesome guy! And then we did service for Sis Warren, helping her move some stuff into a storage unit and such out in the boonies. We also met with her son and daughter, who aren't members and just made a good impression. NO one out here likes to be pushed.

Sunday we had Stake Conference and set up for exchanges with the Ione elders -- it's going to be fun and miracle filled! We also had a couple nice visits and have some service projects coming up this week that are going to be fun!

It was a solid week and i'm excited for the prospects of meeting the ward next week in church!

Love ya!

Elder Griffin

Spiders, a Jeep and life in the boondocks

Bryce has spent almost a week in his new area -- Colville, Wash. -- and he said it is sooo different from Spokane. The pic posted in last week's blog is, in fact, his apartment (actually a duplex) and he said it is huge compared to his last place, though they have spider problems.

Bryce and his new companion were double-transferred in to replace a couple of sister missionaries and Bryce is the new District Leader in Colville. His district includes six Elders and a lot of miles.

He said there is no snow right now up in Northeastern Washington, but it does rain a lot. We (Andy and Shelly) are glad to have our boy out of the inner city, but Bryce did say he enjoyed his time there and will miss some dear friends he made.

Here's a couple of other excerpts from his letter:

"It's been an interesting week adjusting to the new area! My companion is Elder Buckley and we're full time car and we drive a jeep compass (it's sweet!). Elder buckley's from Lindon, Utah, and he's super fun!
We had a really good visit with my new bishop and his family and they're excited to have Elders in the ward. It's going to be a lot of fun!
Thursday we had a funny experience -- we had been planning on the new DL training being on Thursday and then we called the ZL's about it and looked in the Spokane Word (mission newsletter) and both said it was supposed to be on Friday. Then we got a call about 9:15 Thursday asking if we were coming to the meeting which started at 9, sooo we drove for the full 2 hours went to the meeting for 2 hrs and then another 4 hours of driving from getting lost finding the gas station and everything. it was super funny! We were so exhausted by the time we finally got home! it was a really pretty drive though and the Jeep is way fun to drive!
Friday was weekly planning and just slow going with learning the area, it was tough. but we met some ntersting people and got to try one of the local restaurants. it was pretty good. and we finally got the spiders under control in our basement study room.
Saturday was a good day -- we walked most of the day, which was a nice change of pace, and we met a few people who were fairly receptive to the gospel who we're starting to teach. We also got to check out the church a little bit and get to know some of our boonies a little bit better.
Sunday we got to meet the ward a little bit and get to know some of the brethren better. We even met one of our investigators, which we didn't know about! We also had dinner at our WML house and he lives WAAAYyy out in the boonies. It was quite the drive in the rain -- learned a little bit more about hydroplaning and such -- it was fun! We arrived safe and sound though. I did accountings for the first time and it was pretty simple and fun.

Bryce did send his love and some good pix:

Elders Griffin and Larsen with Doc.

The new comp.

Bishop Olsen from Spokane gave Bryce a ride to Colville.

The new digs.

Elders Griffin and Buckley.

It's a pretty big place.

Roomy.

The basement study -- minus the spiders.

The open road in Northeastern Washington.

Transfer! Headed to Canada -- well almost!

FIRST TRANSFER!

Hey everyone, Bryce has been transferred out of Spokompton! He has been on his mission for seven and a half months and finally got transferred. His new area is Colville, Washington. It is a small town (less than 5,000 people) in the northeastern part of the state. about 30 miles from the Canadian border (here's a link to it on Bing maps).

We went on Google Street and got right to his apartment, took a "drive" around Colville and even went to the Colville Stake Center.

With transfers and all, he didn't have much time to write. Here's an excerpt from his short letter:

"Wednesday we had a kinda bad day and so we finished it up by stopping for a pizza on the way home and it was SOOO GOOD! Funny story though, I asked Faustin if he could give me a haircut and he said "I no give you haircut. I never cut white man hair. If I cut your hair I make you skinhead and people say 'Who give you haircut? It very bad' and You say 'Faustin' and that is bad." It was hilarious!Thursday we got to visit with Sister Dowell and Doc had his first homecourt. It was really good and he learned a lot about family history.Friday we had dinner with Doc and talked about his baptism. We found out he had coffee and so he had to push the date back til the 21st. i might not get to go.Saturday we Had an awesome lesson with Faustin and resolved a lot of his concerns and it was awesome. Also, I attempted the 5 lb challenge at Pizza Rita and failed, it was disappointing, but I still got the t-shirt. It was fun! Doc even came to support me!Sunday i found out about transfers -- I'm going to Colville, WA and i leave tomorrow to sweep in and get to work! Elder Buckley is my new companion. I haven't heard much about him yet, but he sounds like a nice guy. I'm excited for the new challenge and it's going to be great!

My new address is 179 S Walnut Colville WA 

So there you have it. We are happy that Bryce is out of the scary part of the mission, though we know he learned a lot and will miss the many friends he made.

Here are some screenshots from our Google Street tour.

We think this is his apartment -- it's what came up under his new address.

Colville Stake Center, though with only 5,000 residents in town,
the people must come from all over the county.

 The town is just off of Lake Roosevelt and it has a Wal-mart, Taco Time and even a Zip's Drive-in -- but no more Pizza Rita for Brycie-Boo!

Here are a couple of other Colville pix -- seems like a picturesque small-town -- though it does have some harsh winter weather. Hopefully that's mostly done with!

View from Colville Mountain

Lake Roosevelt is nearby.

Uh, yeah, it does get cold in Colville.

PB pie and the wrong Walnut Street

Hello from Spokane!

Hey everybody!

It's been quite an odd week!

Monday I got to eat a PB Cream Pie courtesy of Aunt Laura and Sis Deangelo!

I also found out the Mitmas are moving back into the ward!!! It's both good and bad, but it is. I'm excited to see them, though!

Tuesday Elder Larsen started getting sick, but we had to help someone move in, It was a really good

easy move and they bought us Pizza Rita after! MY FAVORITE!!! Elder Larsen had to take a nap that afternoon and that was interesting.

Wednesday we had an interesting day as well, Elder Larsen was still sick, so he had to sleep a ton more, but we had an awesome lunch appt with Billy and afterwards President Mullen picked us up and we went to see the Cornwells (Faustin had to cancel), but we had a really good lesson and President Mullen gave Elder Larsen a blessing, which helped so much!

Also, we got the clearance to teach Khaled, a Muslim (for now) from Sudan and he's been progressing really well!

Thursday  we had to go on splits for an appt because Elder Larsen was still super sick, and so Elder Ledbetter and I went to teach Doc. He's such an awesome guy and his heart is so prepared to receive the gospel! We've known him since I've been here, he's the guy that runs the computer lab we email at! And he's progressing so well!

Friday we had zone training and I received a lot of needed inspiration to help me manage my stress as well as improving the work in our area! We also had an awesome lesson with Doc! We gave him a  church tour and the spirit was so strong!

That evening we spent running around getting jumpsuits for the baptism and all sorts of chaos -- NEVER DOING A BAPTISM AT ANOTHER STAKE CENTER AGAIN! It was so ridiculously complicated, but luckily it worked out.

Saturday, we helped someone move, and it was super funny! She said she was moving from Mallon to Walnut (like 4 blocks away), but she failed to mention that it was the Walnut out in the Valley! It was not good! And Bro Deangelo was actually in a hurry! It was an interesting experience, but Bro Deangelo is so amazing, He didn't even let it bother him!

That evening we had Dominick's baptism! It was perfect! And Bro Tibbets had to have help because his arm has some problems, so Elder Larsen and him baptized Dominick! 2-man baptism! Woo! It was such a good baptism!

Sunday was the Confirmation and just a really good day at church. We also had Egyptian food for dinner and just had a lot of fun!

It's been a really great week and things are going great!

Thanks for your prayers!

Love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

The Tibbets Family

Dominic's baptism
The Tibbets Family