Service, District Meeting and Missionary Musical fireside make for a great week!

September 28, 2015

Hi Everyone!!!!

It's been a sweet week!

Monday was Sweet, pday was fun as always, and then we went to the Jeromechecks and had calzones for dinner! it was so Good! Mama J is the best! That evening we also set some new goals for our companionship to help us move the work forward more effectively!

Tuesday we did service for the spokane Valley food bank! It was sweet! Sorting potatoes, I love food banks! It's quality, fun work! Then we went to the stake center and practiced for the musical fireside coming up on  Sunday.   After we helped Brandon with some family history and actually made some good progress. Then we saw Keeta and she's all healthy and ready to start progressing! it was sweet!

Wednesday we did service at inland NW baby and sorted diapers for a couple hours. it was fun! we helped the lloyd family move out that evening, we're gonna miss them. We had dinner at the wagners and they made smoothies that had kale in it! It actually tasted really really good!  Then we finished our evening at the Wibergs, it was great! I love the Wibergs!

Thursday we spent the afternoon helping Bro. Wiberg hang lights in trees for his daughters wedding reception, it was really fun and a lot of good work. then we went to the Ence's house for dinner, they're going home soon and we're gonna miss them! Then we finished the evening at Brandon's and had a good chat with him.

Friday we had district meeting and then a lesson with Melissa before we went to Choir practice. It was a really good lesson, she's got awesome questions and she always throw's us for a loop when she starts asking questions. she's awesome. Golden! after Choir practice we had some extra time and some sisters had an emergency with making a baptismal program for baptisms the next day, i was able to help them and it was a fun little project. That evening we saw the Powells, which is always nice.

Saturday was fairly uneventful, but it was a good day. we were able to take some time and visit sis Moosmen, she's awesome! She's always a pleasure.

Sunday we had church and such, nothing too exciting, except in the evening we had the missionary musical fireside, unfortunately I wasn't able to do any trumpet stuff because i couldn't find one, but it was an amazing, spirit packed event. it was really really good.

It was an amazing week! love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

Best haircut ever...(no offense mom!)

Elder Satuala and Elder Griffin

September 21, 2015

Hi Everyone!

The Last week has been fairly uneventful.

Monday we went bowling for p-day, it was lots of fun, we got the whole zone there and it was just super relaxed and lots of fun!

Tuesday we had the car and Helped Glenyss Move some things in her house with the help of Brandon, then we went to inland NW baby and helped sort a ton of clothes. it was really good. lots of fun.

Wednesday we had a lesson with Melissa at the Temple and gave her a priesthood blessing to help her quit smoking, it was really cool, we gave it on the temple grounds because the church was locked. It was a really neat experience.

Thursday we got a call from the AP's and they asked us if we could do some service for the Paul Mitchell school, so we all went and got free haircuts! it was awesome! one of the best haircuts i've ever had ( no offense mom). We also helped the walls set up an apartment for the new senior couple in the mission, that was really good. Then we went to dinner with the Kish's at Red Robins, it was delicious!

Friday was zone conference, we had really good trainings and it was a lot of fun, that night we went on exchanges with the ZL's and Elder Magalei was my companion for the day.

Saturday was just exhausting, we did a tracting blitz in the Bowdish ward and then lots and lots of walking the  rest of the day. I was pooped at the end of the day.

Sunday was uneventful, we had a good day at church and had dinner at the Powells, they're awesome, so it was a good visit.

That's my week!

Love ya'll!

Zone Conference

September 14, 2015

HI everyone!

Elder Daniel Johnson of the Seventy

it's been a busy week!

Wednesday we did service at inland NW baby and helped a new investigator with his yard, Brandon came and helped, it was great! He really appreciated it. 

Thursday we had a sweet zone conference with Elder Johnson of the 70 and it was great! He talked a lot about making members more comfortable with doing missionary work, it was great and i've been able to better teach that concept to members, it's been great! 

We also had a lesson with the luna's and had an amazing lesson on the Plan of Salvation with Melissa and her friend Bill, it was great! She's so excited for the gospel it's been great! 

Friday we had weekly planning and saw a bunch of people and just worked hard. It was good.

Saturday we had a blitz in the Dishman Micah ward, we met these really cool LA members who were willing to invite us in, it was great. That evening we had pizza with the Porter family, it was lots of fun. 

On our way home from their house everyone decided to be grumpy. We had a guy pull over his car to try to anti us, then we had a guy give us the bird and drive way to close to us and then another person drove by and threw something at me, luckily they missed, because i was going super fast and it woulda been an ugly crash.

Sunday was nice, we had church and Melissa came and asked all sorts of good questions and especially about baptism, it was cool. She's got a lot to overcome, but she's also got a lot of faith. that evening we had dinner at the Mckluskies, it was super good and lots of fun! 

That's pretty much my week!

love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

What? Another new companion?!

Hey Everyone, it's been an interesting week. Very very interesting.

Monday we had a really good p-day, but Elder Linde ended up having his medical condition act up and so he got picked up by the Sr missionaries and I went to a FHE at the Powells, it was super good! Then we went and stayed the night in the mission home because President and Sister Dymock felt it was the best option. So it was an interesting night, really nice staying in the mission home though, like a hotel but even nicer!

Elder Satula & Elder Griffin

Tuesday was completely nuts! We went to a bunch of dr's appt's and got Linde's diagnoses and were told that he would be going home to recover, so we went to the Dymocks and President took Elder Linde into his office and Elder Satuala said "HI I"M YOUR NEW COMPANION!" and just like that I'm freaking out! and Elder Linde ended up leaving the next morning back to the land of endless p-days! It was sad, but for the better. That evening we went to the Vasquez's and gave Brittany a priesthood blessing to help her get better. The Flu is going around now! Woo!

Wednesday we had a huge miracle night! Keeta is on date and Kjirstie is on date now! It was amazing! We had the help of the Powells to get them both excited to go to the temple and it was just amazing! Then after that we visited Glennyss and helped resolve some concerns that came up after our last visit, it was great!

Elder Satula and Elder Griffin

Thursday wasn't too exciting, we had dinner at the Luna's, FINGER STEAKS!!! They were super good! Then we went to Glenyss' house and had a great lesson about the Book of mormon and it started getting cold up here!

Friday we helped Elder Wall move some things for a missionary apartment and then went to zone training, it was good, then we helped a family move into the ward and had dinner at the Portray's, it was great!

Saturday we had the zone blitz in our area and it was great! Lots of new people to work with and so it's super exciting! We also had a great visit with the Sweckers and they're going to talk about starting to come to church and such, it's gonna be sweet!

Sunday we had a crazy day, Elder Larsen caught the flu and we had dinner at Mama J's house, pancakes! they were super good!

Monday we had a good day, collected some cigarettes from an investigator, did some service for Glenyss and she gave us a pie and just had a good day. It was great!

Love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

Not sure the significance of this picture, it came with no explanation.

Service, smoke and investigators make for great week!

August 31, 2015

Hey everyone!

It's been a sweet week!

Monday we helped with fear busting and had fun and said goodbye to some people for Jorgie and bowled and had fun. it was a good day.

Tuesday we had the new trainer meeting and had fun. It was good. Linde hit his head on the ceiling fan in our room, which was hilarious, Perks of getting the bottom bunk! We also had a really in depth discussion with Glennyss on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was intense. We also visited Jill and are gonna work with her on quitting smoking again, this time she's gonna get it! We also got to talk to Riley about the for strength of youth pamphlet, more specifically dating, it was a good discussion and she really appreciated it.

Wednesday we had a really good visit with the Lunas and we're working with them on setting goals for going to the temple. it's going to be really good. We also had a church tour with Melissa Clark and she's just awesome!

Elder Griffin and Elder Lyndie

Thursday we helped elder wall with some missionary apartment furniture and such. It was good. Then we did service with inland NW baby and it was great as always. We had a really good weekly planning session and then we went to Glenyss's for a lesson and brought Sis Price with us, she was super bold and it was a really really good visit!

Friday we had a good district meeting and then gave a church tour to the Powells, (our appt cancelled) but it was really good practice and we just had a good time. Then we finished planning the blitz for our area on Saturday and then visited Sis Moosmen. That evening we went to the Powells and it basically turned into a missionary correlation meeting, it was super good.

Saturday we had an interesting day, we went to a ward service activity in Valley Ford and then the smoke and dust started to get really bad, so we got a text from the mission saying to stay inside as much as possible and to not go out proselyting except for set appointments. so we stayed inside and studied and planned and didn't do the blitz and just had a crazy day!

Sunday was sweet! We had 5 investigators at church and the lessons were all super good! We also finished the plans for the Powells FHE this evening and had a great visit with Holly and Riley talking about the organization of the church. it was super cool!

That's my week!

love ya'll!

Elder Griffin

Smoke, Transfers brings training

August 24, 2015

Hey everyone!

Elder Linde, Elder Jorgensen & Elder Griffin @ Sis Christina Jermochek's house

It's been a good busy week!

Transfers were this week, so we'll get there in a minute!

Monday we had a good p-day, Jorgie and I went bowling and had a great time!

Tuesday we had an interesting experience at the dr's appt and then while we were there, the crazy parakeet guy started texting us, it was really funny, he's pretty crazy and we ended up blocking his phone number because he kept wasting our time! That evening we had a buffet with the Kishs, it was super good and we even got to talk to a random LA girl who's brother just went on a mission, it was cool.

Wednesday we had a good busy day We did service at Community of Christ and that evening it started getting really smokey. but we had a super good lesson with a new investigator named Melissa, she's been studying the church for a long time and somehow didn't get in contact with the missionaries. it's pretty sweet!

Thursday we visited Sis Moosmen, she's doing well, then we went to the baby place and had a good time, that evening we visited the luna's and they are doing awesome as always! and then we had a long lesson with Glennyss, but it was really good and she's growing a lot. it's been great teaching her!

Friday the smoke got so bad that the church finally told us that it's time to stop proselyting. that didnt' really stop us, because we had a bunch of appt's going, but we got lucky and everyone gave us a ride to our next appt. so we didn't have to be out in it too long. We had dinner at the Luna's,it was super delicious! and they're always fun to visit. that afternoon we picked up a ton of stuffed animals with Bro Wiberg from an investigators house, it was awesome! we donated about half of them to inland NW baby and the other we had to just give to goodwill. It was super funny, we felt like Mormon santa driving around in a big read truck full of stuffed animals.

Saturday we helped the spears move out of the ward, it was sad, but a very good move. I love moving people that are actually ready to move. That evening was the ward picnic, it was super good. we got the Luna's there and it was just a great ward activity.

Sunday was pretty standard, except the AP's dropped a random missionary on us, Elder Linde, he's super cool. We got transfer calls that night, and i'm second training Elder Linde, it's gonna be great!

It's been a great week!

Love ya'll!

The "Smoke-ane" mission is on Fire! Pray for rain and safety for those affected.

Letter from Stake President in the Spokane Area:

Brothers and sisters, we would invite you to combine your faith with surrounding Stakes this Sunday in fasting and prayer for the safety and protection of lives and property by petitioning the Lord for favorable weather conditions to help control the many regional wildfires currently burning.
Please get the message out to the members of your units that would help as many as possible participate in this fast.

President Matt McCombie

+

Letter from Mission President dated August 21, 2015:     

Hazy Spokane Temple

 Today we may be called the “Smoke-ane” Mission! We have received a report that there are currently over 30 fires burning out of control in our mission. Last week there were 4 missionaries temporarily evacuated due to fire concern, but they returned to their apartments the next day.

Hazy Spokane Temple

     Heavy smoke and ash particles are in the air. We have been advised from SLC to keep the missionaries inside as much as possible during these weather conditions. They will continue to do teaching appointments and make visits but will not be street contacting for the time being. Missionaries in high-risk areas have been asked to have a 72-hour bag in their apartment. 

Church members are watching out for our missionaries. Zone leaders receive daily reports from each companionship. See attached pictures. Pres. Wayne R. Dymock, Washington, Spokane Mission President

*********

Air Quality Index not looking good

August 21, 2015 News article from KXLY.com

Hazy in Spokane from all the fires nearby

SPOKANE, Wash -

More than a couple people outside wearing dust masks to help them breath easier Friday.

Many of the dust masks you see are designed to filter out things like saw dust. Unfortunately many of them don't filter out the harmful gases in the smoke like carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.

It's an eerie sight looking over downtown Spokane. Heavy smoke from wildfires burning across eastern Washington lying thick and heavy on the city. A picture worth event that hasn't happened in a very long time.

Hazy days

"Maybe firestorm that we had in the late 90's," said Spokane resident Leo McLaughlin.

The air quality dipping down into the hazardous range briefly on Friday night.

"Bad to breath. You know, you shouldn't be out here without some kind of protection," said Spokane resident Thomas Becker.

Many people using scarves, shirts and dust masks for some sort of relief from the smoke.

"It is helping quite a bit," said Becker.

The smoke so thick, it's even getting inside buildings.

Air quality continues to get worse

'I live up the road, the whole building smells like smoke," said Becker.

Anyone with respiratory problems is urged to stay inside. Health officials saying physical activity during the next couple days should be dialed down. 

"Well, some guy just yelled at me that I shouldn't be out running in the smoke. So that worried me a little bit," said GU cross country runner Shelby Mills.

Riverfront Park normally busy on a Friday afternoon, now looking more like a ghost town.

"Not a lot of runner or not a lot of walkers either," said Mills.

Look at the difference between normal and now

The forecast for more smoke, having some people running for clearer skies.

"Back to campus and then I'll call it," said Mills.

If you do want to wear a dust mask make sure it has a N95 or N100 filter on it. Remember, these won't protect you completely some fine particulate will still get through.