Coffee shop, cards, handball and BACON family!

Elder Griffin at Orphan Acers

February 16, 2016
Hey everyone!

It's been a fun week!

Monday night we said goodbye to a couple members with elder Holmes and then Tuesday morning we shipped him out.

My new companion is Elder Ryan Williams from Layton UT, He's a lot of fun and we've enjoyed working together. He's been out for about 8 months now and we've been working a lot on cleaning up our area book. 

Moscow Missionaries working the acers

Tuesday we spent most of the day dealing with transfer things, getting settled and we had get to it Tuesday, it was lots of fun, we played handball.

Wednesday  we gave a really good church tour to Kristen and had a whole herd of children there. it was pretty fun showing them all the rooms of the church building. For dinner we went to the Bacons, it was a lot of fun. we really enjoy the Bacons. They're a great family.

Thursday we had a lesson with Nancy in a coffee shop, it was lots of fun and unfortunately she isn't interested in the church, but she is going to read the book of Mormon, so i trust in it's converting power. We also did service at the food bank and it was absolutely a delight. I love the food bank!

Friday was pretty uneventful, but we had a really good dinner with the Mortensen's and it was just like going home! They're a great family.

Saturday we met with Bishop and it was great to get to know him better and work with him to help us better do the work in this area. We also went to Good samaritans and had a good game of cards with lester and it was just a good service opportunity.

Crappy job!

Sunday we had the Stake conference broadcast, which was amazing. then we went to priesthood preview with Gregory, then afterwards participated in a ward baptism for a boy named William, IT was really good and he was really happy the missionaries participated in his confirmation. Afterwards we went to the Deobalds and had a really good lesson with Kelly on Scripture study, we brought a RM sister with us to help fellowship Kelly and it was pretty funny because it was like we were teaching in a trio. Other than that, there isn't much else that happened, lots of walking and lots of fun discussions with Elder Williams.

Love Ya'll!

18 month pants burning, teaching, learning and serving!

February 8, 2016
Hey Everyone!

18 month Pants burning

Found a really big oven to burn the pants in!

It's been a really good week!

Monday for p-day we played sock soccer (which is surprisingly dangerous!) but very fun. I also got an engraving tool and a leather wallet and spent the week making myself a new wallet.(its nice to have little projects to do at the end of the night.) Tuesday we spent the morning at orphan acres where I burned my 18 months mark pants, and we helped shovel horse poo, it was lots of fun. always good to get a little dirty!

Wednesday we tried a lot of less active families and had some success, nothing too groundbreaking though.

Thursday we weekly planned and did service at the Moscow food bank. It was a lot of fun and we were able to get a lot done. we had dinner with the Picarellas and had a great lesson. We were able to have Brother Picarella ask us a lot of his questions and answer them to the best of our ability. We also saw amber and Gregory and had a nice lesson with them.

Elder Griffin engraved these

Friday we had zone meeting, and learned a lot about the atonement. it was really great. Afterwards we had lunch with the zone and went to work. It was elder Holmes birthday so I surprised him with his favorite meal at a great family in the ward's home. it was lots of fun. We also visited the Barnes that evening and it was really good.

Saturday we went out to the boonies and met some really great people boonie tracting. It was lots of fun and our car got really messy. It was great.That evening we finished preparing some lessons for Sunday and helped the paradise ridge elders with their appts.

Sunday was good and busy. We had an amazing lesson with Kelly on Justification and sanctification, she has really had a change of heart since we've focused on teaching her doctrine. IT's been amazing watching the idea that "true doctrine understood changes behavior" it's definitely true. I've seen it in her and she's coming so close to baptism now, whereas before she felt very distant from it. IT's been great! That evening we had dinner with the Martin family and they made cafe rio sweet pork, it was sooo good! Just like going home! that evening was transfer calls and we found out that elder Holmes is going to Chewelah and i'm staying here, my new companion is elder Williams, haven't had the chance to connect with him yet, so hopefully that happens soon. But i'm excited to be staying here in rolling hills.

Working at Orphan Acers

 Sister Thompson and Elder Cuevas working at Orphan Acers

That's all from me, Love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

Pirate Bryce

Pirate Bryce

"P-DAY" was full of some fun "P's"! Perfect!

2/1/16

District Meeting in Moscow, Idaho

Hey everyone!

it's been an absolutely great week! 

Monday we had an awesome time at the family home evening with the Picarellas and Penningtons and a couple other families in the ward. We had our lesson on the word of wisdom and the It was perfect! Afterwards we played around the world pingpong and then had treats. it was great.

Tuesday we went to orphan acres and got nice and messy. lots of Horse stalls that needed cleaned. that night we had get to it Tuesday and played gator ball. Luckily no one got injured, it was a lot of fun.

Wednesday we did a blitz in a little town called Julietta. it was lots of fun. there were some really nice people and the scenery is just beautiful. We also had dinner with the Martin family and had Ratatouille! it was delicious! then we went to a former investigators house and set up an appt, so hopefully it works out!

Thursday we did service at the food bank, it was really busy! (it usually is at the end of the month.) so we were very much needed. it was a lot of fun as always. That evening we had dinner and correlation with the Schroeders and then went to a lesson with a new investigator named Barb. she's a really nice lady and she's going to be great to teach! afterwards we went to the Giddings and basically got antied. it was interesting. not going to continue teaching them. they DO NOT want to know if the church is true.

Friday we had district meeting, which is always a delight. we helped the Paradise ridge elders with their area and then went to dinner with Bro Bacon. he Bought us Pizza and went out with us after dinner to a couple teaching appts. it was really nice and a lot of fun.

Saturday we had a great time doing service at the Good samaritan sr care facility and then went out to amber's and had a lesson with her son. it was really good, we taught the plan of salvation and he really got it much better. her other, less morally inclined son, stayed for the lesson too and it was really good.

Creepy...

Sunday was absolutely perfect! Church was great, really good speakers and lessons. the Picarellas and Deobalds came to church It was great.  after church we went to the Deobalds and taught the plan of salvation using the parable of the good samaritan. https://www.lds.org/liahona/2007/02/the-good-samaritan-forgotten-symbols?lang=eng IT was great. The father Participated, which was HUGE and at the end of the lesson we even got Kelly to pray! (it was her first vocal one in a long long time) it was huge progress for their family and I'm just happy to be a part of it. For dinner we went to the Schroeders and had a lesson with one of their neighbors. it was wonderful. Lots of good fellowship and it was nice to meet her.

That's my week! love ya'll!

Bye!

Temple and Service

Elder Holmes

Elder Holmes crashed and ripped his pants

1/25/16

Hey everyone!

It's been a wonderful week!

Last Tuesday we went to the Temple and had a wonderful time, the spirit was strong and i definitely felt the lord's presence as i went with a searching heart. Afterwards I met up with Melissa for lunch and we enjoyed catching up on the last couple months, her family is slowly softening their hearts to the gospel, but her daughter is still very hard hearted, hopefully she softens her heart soon. It was great catching up with her! That evening we took Bro Picarella a brand new quad with his name engraved on it, he was so excited and I'm happy he enjoys the scriptures.

 Wednesday we had a great time at the world wide missionary broadcast. They mostly talked about working with investigators and ensuring they have fully repented before their baptism. It was great. Afterwards we had lunch at buffalo wild wings and for whatever reason E Holmes Decided to get the hottest wings on the menu. It was super funny to see him torturing himself and it was fun watching him try to fix it. That afternoon we were able to contact a LA family we'd been trying to contact and the family has been sick, so she invited us to come back next week and then we will start working with her.

Thursday  we weekly planned and spent the afternoon doing service with our ward mission leader. it was lots of fun. We helped with ranching and got really really muddy/covered in manure. It was honestly one of the funnest service projects i've done in a long time. Really Really Messy though. That evening we had dinner with the Richards family, which was delicious and then went with Bro Schroeder to visit a recent convert family. It was really enjoyable and we helped the son prepare a little bit for receiving the priesthood.

Bike wreck owie

Friday we had district meeting, and practiced teaching the plan of salvation. it was nice. I've got a fun district. that evening we helped the paradise ridge elders with their area and elder Holmes got in his first bike wreck. it was a good one!

Saturday was fun, we volunteered at the Good Samaritan sr care center and then went to a baptism with the picarellas to help them know what it will be like when they get baptized. it was fun.

Sunday We had a great day at church. Everyone we wanted to be there was there and then we had a great lesson with the Picarellas and bishop that evening. It was a good day.

That's my week!

Love ya'll!

Elder Homes sporting his owie

Lots of service

Elder Pendell, Moscow Idaho

1/19/16

Hey Everyone!

it's been a fairly uneventful week, but all is well!

Last Monday we had a fun pday, playing games at the stake center as usual.

Tuesday we went to orphan acres in the morning and this time the sisters came with us, it was alots of stinky fun, really really stinky. That evening we went to Zone conference and learned a lot and had our ward leaders come and learned a lot more about working with our ward counsel. it was really good.

Wednesday  we made cookies and gave them to some ward members and then went on exchanges to help Elder Pendell in his area because his companion had been sick, we ended up finding this really cool depiction of Christ and it was just lots of fun.

Thursday we weekly planned and worked at the food bank. it was lots of fun and we even had a lesson with a struggling investigator. it was good.

Friday  we started volunteering at good samaritans Sr care facility and and then went on exchanges with Elder Dugan, it was fun. learned a lot and it snowed a bunch!

Pants ripped off Bryce Griffin 

Saturday was uneventful except i found out that the Berglands know mom and dad, which was funny and then i found the old apartment mom and dad lived in.

Sunday we had two really good lessons with Tom and Kelly and it was just a great day,

sorry for the rushed letter, gotta run!

love ya!

ELder Griffn

Parable of the Snowman

The little snowman of faith!

1/11/16
Hey Everyone!

It's been a great week! The Rolling hills ward is great and I'm loving the work we have to do in this area! 

Lil porch snowmen survived the cold all night!

Last Monday for pday we played basketball and made a snowman and it was just a lot of fun. We had an interesting experience making the snow man.  The Elders who grew up in places where there was snow said the snow was no good, The sisters said they didn't think it was good but they would be willing to try and I said "i want to build a snow man and if we don't try, it definitely won't happen, but the worst that can happen is we tried." And so I went about making a snow man, the two who doubted sat mocking and telling me it was a waste, the two who were unsure sat and watched and after a moment hearkened unto me and so we went about making a snow man. And so it was that we went about in faith making a snow man and though the one we made was small, it was perfect and it was proof that if we act the lord will bless us, even if it's something as  small as a snowman.

Elder Holms in unsafe territory (Syringa trailor park,
Moscow, Idaho)

Monday night we visited the Greshums and gave Sis Greshum's two little boys a name tags that say "future missionary" they were both really excited and it was cute to see one of them wearing it at church so proudly this Sunday.

Tuesday we had a fairly unexciting day, A really good lesson with an investigator named Jill, a really nice visit with a lady at good Samaritans sr home and we dropped off some scriptures and a movie for one of our main investigators, Kelly. 

Wednesday We had a lot of appts fall through and did a lot of walking, I also was surprised to find a box on the porch in the morning with some new shoes!!! thanks Dad!

Thursday we mapped out Syringa (a trailer park in our area) and made plans to tract it out in the next week or two and we had a lesson with a new investigator named Nancy at Bucer's coffee shop down town. It was fun. A really good lesson too. Then we had a lot of fun doing service at the foodbank and spent the evening weekly planning.

Beautiful sky

Friday we had zone training and learned some interesting new adjustments to the rules, so now pdays will be run a little different. We had dinner at the Bacon's, who are probably one of my favorite families in the ward so far and  had a good evening out in the cold.

Saturday we spent a lot of time contacting LA's from the ward list, we had a couple of not very nice people and a couple of really nice people. it's always interesting to see what we get. that evening we had dinner at the ST. Pierres and it was a really good dinner, just like eating at home!

Sunday was amazing! Ward council before church then church was great, had a lesson with Kelly right after church and taught about our bodies being temples, E. Holmes had a little bit of an embarrassing moment, but it was a really good lesson. that evening we had a lesson with the Picarellas and it was absolutely awesome. we taught about prayer and it was great. the husband always has tons of good questions and we were able to connect really well with the family and he is feeling really close to baptism. it was perfect.

That was my week!

Love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

Happy New Year!

Elder Griffin and Elder Holmes

01/04/16

Happy new years everybody!!!!

I am absolutely loving my new ward! The Rolling hills ID ward is a lot like the Washington 8th ward back home, so it's really fun to be meeting all the members and feel right at home.

Moscow, Idaho apartment

My new Companion is Elder Garett Holmes (not Sherlock) and he's from Washington UT! he only lived there for about 6 months before he came on his mission but we have a lot of friends in common, so it's really cool to connect!

This week has been really busy!

Elder Holmes

Monday was p-day and we played games and had fun with the whole zone at the stake center and then finished the day with prepping the area for the new missionaries coming in after us.

Tuesday spent the whole day helping other missionaries with transfers and got settled in the apartment and then spent the whole night out teaching and meeting members of the ward.

Wednesday we went tracting and had my first ever tracting miracle and found a great service opportunity that potentially could turn into an investigator. The snow softens hearts! and Snow shovels do as well!

Elder Holmes

Thursday  we did service at the food bank and it was lots of fun, i love the little old ladies there! we had dinner with the Burglands and then spent the evening weekly planning. We weren't planning on staying up till midnight but when we went to bed we started talking about home and figured out a bunch of connections we had, it was pretty cool!

Friday we had district meeting, (my district is super fun!) and then we went and met some of the families we are working with, the deobalds are awesome! and we are working with their daughter and hoping to work with the husband.

That evening I also went and met the Zirkers and caught up with them and talked with them about mom and dad, They remembered you guys!!!

Saturday we handed out invites to an activity we do every Tuesday and met a few member families and had a really good dinner at the Hansens, it was just like home!

Sunday we had church, it was great to meet the whole ward and get to know everyone and it was just really enjoyable. After church we went and taught the Deobalds the word of wisdom and it wasn't our best lesson, but it was okay. Then we had dinner at our apartment because the family providing our dinner was not feeling well. It was really good though, SPAGETTI!!!!!!!!!!! So good!

After dinner we taught the Picarellas and it was an amazing lesson. The husband has such good questions and it was a great learning experience. We finished the night visiting a PMF and the lady talked our ear off, it was pretty funny.

Painted up their windows! 

One of Bryce's food creations with Taco Time sauce.
I'm sure he's in heaven!

That was my week!

Love ya'll! 

Elder Bryce Griffin