Beanie baby and posing with pizzas in Spocompton

Hi everyone,

This week was a tough one. We got snow and I got sick. I was pretty close to down last week for a couple days and we ended up spending a little more time inside calling people than usual. We did have a busy week though and we had a lot going on. We have found new ways to talk to people since they've been inside because of the cold and so the work is picking back up again.

We had a really rainy day last week and we found out that the mall downtown is confusing and everyone stares at you funny, even if you're just trying to find a bathroom. We did find out that their are Spocompton shirts at a store downtown and we'll probably go buy some one of these days. 

Elder Griffin, Larson, Ledbetter, Aguilar

We've also discovered how much fun it is to buy pizzas and take ridiculous pictures with them! And Papa Johns is really delicious! And they give missionaries a discount, which is awesome!

Last night we discovered that there are people who KNOW the gospel will make their lives better, they KNOW they should be doing what's right, they KNOW that God will bless them if they change, but they just don't because they don't feel like it. It blew our minds. We were teaching a part-member family and they just put it out there that they know and don't care. It's really sad. We know how much potential they have, but they just don't want to change themselves. Free agency is one of the most wonderful, yet frustrating things we've been blessed to have.

Also, just last night we were trying to visit a member who wasn't home and all sorts of crazy was going on. There were police cars everywhere with their lights on and one of them slowed down and asked us what we were doing and we were just like "we're missionaries" and the officer said "Go inside the gas station and hide out for a little while, we have K-9 units running around the neighborhood searching for an armed suspect. So we went into the gas station (the booths there were really comfy) and then every time someone walked in we were like "HE'S GOT A GUN!" but it was pretty fun! We decided to just hurry home and then most of the rest of the evening we heard police sirens and saw them driving all over the neighborhoods around us. It was ridiculous! A little scary too!

Asher Tibbets, cutest baby ever!

Oh and we started seeing the Tibbets family more and they have been doing really well. The Tibbets are awesome and their baby Asher (IN THE BEANIE) is stinkin' adorable! Sis. Tibbets is super good at crocheting things and she's making us knit caps. Mine is going to look like the Mushrooms from Mario and it's going to be reversible. It's pretty awesome!

Ope! Out of time!

Love you everyone!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Elder Larsen

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Spocompton.

Umm, Halloween?

Elder Griffin and Elder Larson

Cold weather, cold nose.

Hey everyone,

Brrrrryyce!

This week has been an interesting one. The cold came full forced and the temperatures dropped overnight on Tuesday last week. It was FREEZING! And I guess it's not even as bad as it gets just yet.

Wednesday we struggled all day to find someone to teach and no one wanted to talk. We ended up doing some tracting, but no one would talk for longer than 10 seconds because of the cold.

Thursday ended up just as bad, except everything seemed to be going wrong all at once. But we had fun with it and made it ridiculously fun to have bad stuff happen. It turned around though, and I got a package from Grandma with a blanket that is AWESOME! And we found someone new to teach.

Friday was basically the same as the last few days, cold and not too friendly.

Saturday our phone was really acting up so we went to the Sprint store and they did nothing for us, so our phone has only been receiving half of the texts we should be getting and it's been tough on our proselyting, But we're dealing with it slowly.

Sunday I started getting sick, but it was a really good day.

Bryce (far left) at zone conference.

Monday I was sick. We had zone conference and it was lots of fun, and my voice was super low, so anytime I went into the bathroom I really enjoyed the acoustics as my voice echoed off the walls. It was a bit ridiculous. That evening we had most of our appts fall through and it was really frustrating.

Overall things are doing okay, working through sickness and learning a lot from Elder Larsen, 

Hopefully this week it warms up a little and we can find more investigators!

NOTE FROM DAD: This song reminds soooo much of Bryce! When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Love you all!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Lyden leaving and no more peanut butter!

Hey everyone!

This week has been stressful!

Me, Elder Lyden, Elder Aguilar, Elder Ledbetter outside Pizza Pipeline

Monday was a pretty good day, but it was mostly Elder Lyden saying bye.

We got to visit with the Mitmas and they actually bought us pizza at Pipeline Pizza and it was lots of fun. They had a raffle going and everyone at our table won! It was way fun!

We also got to see the Cuevas family and the Johnsons before we headed home. With Elder Lyden being transferred, I had to figure out rides for getting rid of him and getting to my new companion and just lots of new stressful learning experiences. He actually got his transfer call changed and ended up needing to go to the North Stake Center, while I had to go to the East Stake Center to get my companion. I was thoroughly frustrated at that, but the Bishopric was super helpful and made everything work out for the best.

That was pretty much how we spent Tuesday and now Elder Lyden is in Sandpoint, Idaho. Elder Larsen is great, we are learning a lot from each other and it's been fun getting to know him.  Larsen is from West Jordan, where Dad went to high school. He likes sports and is a hard worker. But he is allergic to peanuts -- so no peanut butter for me for a while -- Aagh! We taught several awesome lessons and even saw several miracles.

Wednesday was lots of miracles! We did service and had an interesting dinner as a result of one of our service projects. It was a candlelight dinner on the porch of an old Victorian home. We also got to see one of our favorite families and were able to give several of them blessings for different struggles they are going through. The father is way excited to get the Melchizidek priesthood soon and they are progressing like crazy now! We also got to watch several of the new Bible videos the church has put out recently on lds.org. They are so cool!

Thursday Elder Larsen had District Leader training meeting, which was awesome because I got to be a trainer for a day! It was nuts! We walked all over town and got rejected several times. It was lots of fun though and he even bought me a donut! Such a big heart. 

Friday was zone conference and weekly planning, which meant we had very little time for proselyting. But we learned a lot and are going to start doing church tours soon. It's going to be great! Our ward mission leader came over and taught us how to plan more effectively and our area is about to go crazy! We're going to work way hard and baptize like we're in Brazil!

Leaves are turning in Spokane.

Saturday we did service literally all day. SO MANY LEAVES!!!! But it was really good and we made our church look much better with all the leaves raked up. We also worked out some of the troubles we'd been running into as a companionship that evening and things are going much better now. Our Ward Mission Leader bought us pizza for lunch and we took some funny pictures. It was way fun!

Sunday we had more miracles! The Cornwell Family came to church and I just couldn't stop smiling because i was so happy to see them! We also taught the Elders Quorum and it was an interesting and fun lesson. One of my favorite things that happened was after church we helped Sis. Dowell get all her kids out to the car and they were just so ridiculous and adorable! It was great! The Dowells are pretty much the best family ever! They're working on going to the temple soon and it's going to be so awesome!

That's pretty much been our week out here in Spocompton! 

Love to you all! Have a great week!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Fog sunset in Spokane

Spo-fog!

Elder Griffin, Elder Larsen and WML Bro. Johnson.

Carving apples!

Hi everybody,

This week has been full of exchanges, miracles and odd experiences.

For Halloween, we were on exchanges. I had Elder Aguilar with me and we had lots of fun and lots of weird stuff. For lunch we had "THE WRANGLER!!!" from Zips -- it was way good. And then we went out proselyting and had some fun experiences.

One lady we talked to said to Elder Aguilar, "Hey, I know your dad! Your real dad. Yeah CESAR. They didn't tell you? Oohh maaann! Here's his number. Trust me. CESAR! I'm helpin' yo all out. You Gangsters of GOD!!!!!" Just one of the interesting people we met on Halloween.

For dinner we went to a member house in the Spanish branch. They cooked bbq and it was very interesting looking ... We didn't eat that much. It was honestly just a little too close to looking like a real person.

We saw miracles though and we actually found 2 new investigators on Halloween and it was a really good day. We held district meeting that night and we carved apples to celebrate because we couldn't get pumpkins. It was way fun though!

We had the trunk-or-treat on Wednesday and it was a good time. We had tons of our less active members there and it was a great bonding experience with the Ward. I was on exchanges with Elder Johnson that day and we picked up an additional investigator. Things are looking really busy for next transfer,

Bye Elder Lyden!

Transfers are this week and things are kinda shaken up. Elder Lyden is getting transferred to Moscow, Idaho, and will be becoming a zone leader and in a trio. I am staying and will be companions with Elder Larsen. We have quite a few baptisms about to line up and so things are going to be great. I'm really excited for the potential we have and we're gonna be busy.

This is gonna be a good transfer and I'm gonna work hard and do my very best to improve the area and strengthen the Ward I'm in. Spokane Second is awesome!

Love to everyone!

Keep the faith! The church is true!

Elder Griffin

* -- Those who haven't heard, a friend of ours, a high school student at Snow Canyon, was in an ATV accident last weekend and is currently in a coma. He has been foremost in our thoughts and prayers for the past week. I've asked Bryce to pray for him and we would ask that you include Britton Shipp in your prayers as well. If you would like to read more on Britt's struggles and the miracle and hope that accompany him, his older sister, who is a freshman in college, is writing a great blog. 

                                                     Thank you -- Andy Griffin (Bryce's dad)

Baptisms at Glass Street!

 Hey everyone!

This week has been crazy!

Tuesday we got to see a new video put out by the church about Temple garments and that was really

interesting. Also we were able to have everything timed perfect to help Sis Dowell with her 4 kids and all her groceries. It was exact perfect timing. We had gotten lost on our way to another member's house and a bunch of other things that made the timing perfect! It was such a miracle! And then it was funny because we got to teach them a lesson and play a game with all the kids, it was super fun!

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Sunset Elders and Elder Rawlins (a zone leader) came out

Elder Rawlings and Elder Griffin

with me. It was way fun! We walked all over the area and ended the day with several miracles!

We taught Coral and put her on a date for mid-November and she's super ready for baptism!

Also, we taught Faustin the Plan of Salvation and he was understanding so well, it was two perfect lessons! The Deangelos fed us lunch and we love that family so much! They are so dedicated to the work and Bro Deangelo coming out with us was what made the miracles possible! Also that evening was the Mitmas baptismal interviews and they both did great!

Thursday we had weekly planning and it was a painfully long one, but we got most everything done. That evening we got to see the Mitmas and teach them the Plan of Salvation through a walking tour in  our church, it was super fun! Bro Deangelo came out with us and it really helped us get a lot done. We got to teach Faustine, but it was really strange because Elder Lyden sat down and got a really bad Migraine out of nowhere. We were kinda panicked and had to return to the apartment early. 

Friday we had district meeting and Elder Lyden's headache was okay until about halfway through the meeting. We almost had to go to the Emergency Room, but we gave him a blessing and he was drained. It was crazy. Then after lunch we went back to the apartment to let him take a nap and when he woke up he was better than he had been his whole mission. It was amazing!

Elder Lyden. Colia, Alyssa, Elder Griffin

Saturday we had the Mitmas baptism and it was such an amazing experience. I was able to confirm Alyssia and Elder Lyden confirmed Colia. Their cousin Clayton performed the Baptism. It was such a great experience. After the baptism, we helped someone move out of Felony Flats (the scariest part of our area) and there were some interesting smells. It was nice to work with members of our bishopric to help them move though.

We also got dropped hard core by some new investigators. He was not very polite in asking us to not ever come back again. That evening we taught Faustin and his family the rest of the Plan of Salvation and it was just amazing to see him understand and really enjoy the message. We were able to answer all his questions and now we're going to start teaching them English for half our lessons and The Gospel for half our lessons. Faustin was so grateful and he said we are welcome any time. Earlier that day one of our members dropped off some chairs for his family and he was so appreciative -- this is the text he sent! Faustin is so amazing! Love him!

Sunday it started getting really REALLY cold! Church was fairly uneventful, but that evening our ward started doing what's called "cottage meetings" and it was awesome! It was basically family home evenings and everyone comes and talks about the gospel and asks any questions they have and it was a really great experience. We are hoping to have it become a regular thing. 

Overall it's been a miracle filled and amazing week!

Love you all!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Mitma Family

Moving, snoring and potatoes in Spokane!

This week went by really fast!

Tuesday we got to visit Faustin and he's been struggling more because his friend is a Seventh Day Adventist preacher and basically said not to trust us and has been confusing him regularly. It's difficult because we don't speak French and he barely speaks English. It's frustrating sometimes.

We also started using the heaters this week and we had to rearrange some of the apartment to prevent fire hazards.

Wednesday we helped the Mitmas move and it was really sad, but we're still going to get to teach them. Also their new house is perfect for them and it's really going to be a blessing for them. It was a huge miracle because when we were helping them move, we needed someone to drive us (rules about missionaries with sisters and fun stuff) and so I just felt like we needed to call the Andersons, They were the exact people we needed there. They helped us put together the beds and clean the house and basically they were the perfect people. It was amazing!

I was also on exchanges and Elder Ledbetter and I had a ton of fun walking around in the rain. We went contacting less active members and ended up finding a house on the ward list that the lady had passed away 4 years ago! NO wonder she wasnt coming to church!

Thursday was weekly planning and we got a lot done. I also got a package from AJ with sweaters and a letter from the Stevens! Alo and Cecilia sent me some pictures and I'm hanging them on my wall now! I love them so much!

Friday was district meeting and we ended up doing service most of the day, That evening we had a sister in the ward come to teach Faustin with us because she speaks French, it was another miracle! We had no idea she spoke French and then she just turned up at church offering to help!

Saturday my snoring started again and it's been tricky figuring out what to do. Also, we met a family in our ward that just moved in from Utah and they are super dedicated to the work! They basically said anytime we want, we can come over. It's been awesome!

Saturday night we had the ward's annual potato feed. It was way fun and we got to meet a lot of members and we even had several of our less active families come!

Sunday, we had several of our prospective Elders come to church and it was totally unexpected. It was so good to see them, though! We also began the final preparations for the Mitmas baptism this Saturday and it's going to be so great!

This week is going to be full of miracles and we're going to work so hard!

I'm excited for the work!

Much love to everyone!

Keep the faith!

Elder Bryce Griffin

Here are some recent pix:

Bryce's license to preach.

Spokane near dusk

Elder Lyden

Beautiful day

Elder selfie

Artsy, eh?

The chart

Spanish Elders

Spokane chapel

Spokane chapel

Cece and Alo's art work

Missionary Central