Mission goal (505 Baptisms in May)

This week was more fantastic than the others. We got the information of the goal that our mission is having for May, 505 baptisms. We set the personal goal of having 12 baptisms this next month.

We had the baptism of four this last Saturday.
Mishel (16)
Nohelia (11)
Ema (11)
Milagros (19)

It was a really cool experience. I know that the Lord is blessing us.

So the first of the week we were really stressed out because we did the math of the numbers the Mission President had challenged us, and figured out that after the baptisms of the people in April that we were dead. There were not sufficient investigators for May.

We planned for the next week and prayed for the spirit of revelation. My companion and I received revelation that we needed to write the possible future investigators and we needed to have a division (splits). So we planned it for Saturday. Two future missionaries that have the Melchizedek Priesthood went out with us on Saturday. We ended the week with 55 lessons!! Along with the four people that got baptized we now have 11 of 12 baptismal dates for the month of May.

I don’t know how everything worked out, but it did. I know that the Lord has so many people in our area that are prepared and ready to hear the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and make this decision in their lives.

My companion is pretty cool. We do have our differences but are having success. A lot of hard work and we have the fruits of our labors.

I love you guys. Please pray for us and also for the mission so that we can have this extra help to complete our goals that we have set. I know that the power of prayer is huge.
I LOVE YOU.
-Elder Griffin

¿Que tal la buena vida en mi casa?

I am so excited for the month of May. I don’t know if I will be here still but that doesn’t make any kind of a difference. 12 baptisms....wow.

The work rolls forth

Life is great! The success that Elder McGary and I had is continuing.

We had the baptism of Queli Huaymacari Ahuanari (24 years old). It was really special. She is the daughter of Mamerto and Bertha (two of the converts that we had).

We have 9 more baptismal dates set.
Mishel (16)
Ema(11)
Nohelia(14)
Milagros(19)
ALL OF THEM ARE GIRLS and are all getting baptised this saturday.
Then we have
David (25)
Enrique(64)
Miguelito(16)
Enzo(12)
ALL OF THEM ARE GUYS and are all getting baptized the 25 of April,
and last (Jureli(15)for the 2 of May) We are also trying to get her mom in the waters the same day, we will see if that works out.

Life is great. Everyday I am having EXPERIENCIAS ESPIRITUALES. I love this work and know that this is the Lords work. The church is growing fast here in Iquitos. I haven’t felt more happy and content with the work that is happening.

That is interesting to hear that so many of your co-workers are being laid off. Just be glad that you still have a job. I hope that everything will turn out for the good. I know that if you are doing your hardest to do everything that you know is right that the Lord will bless you with work and everything else. I have so much faith that the Lord will help you guys out. You are amazing and ARE MY HERO. I LOVE YOU TONS. I love you all so much and really know that everything will be alright. Helaman 5:12 (if you have Christ as the rock you will never be let down.) Good luck and have a great week.

I LOVE YOU, CHAUFA.....

General Conference

Life is great.

Conference was awesome. Unfortunately, we missed the first session due to bad planning and miscommunication. The whole thing was in Spanish, but surprisingly I understood a lot and it really gave me a new look on life and (life in the mission). I really loved Elder Holland's talk on Christ. It brought the message home of what we believe. It was really special we had 12 of our investigators in the church with us.

We have 6 baptismal dates.
Quelli Huaymacari(24)-11deAbril
Mishel y Ema (16 y 11) 18deAbril
Nohelia (15)18deAbril
Miguel (17) 25deAbril
Enrique(64)25deAbril

We had some really spiritual experiences this week. Enrique is the dad of one of the members in our branch. We got the reference and went to there house with the member. She had said that they are really hard to talk to about religion and might not be interested. That idea was correct. When we said hi to him and started talking he was kind of hesitant in letting us in and talking, but his daughter was with us with his grandchild. He let us in....we taught him about Lesson 3 and we asked him about baptism. He accepted.

He told us the last time that we visited that him and his wife were kind of fighting a little. Things were kind of bad. He said that when we came in and taught him, things started to change. We are now going to talk to his wife and see if we can get her with the same baptismal date.

We also had another cool experience.
We were walking down a busy road on the way to an appointment, when a guy stopped us and told us that he wanted us to visit him the next day. We wrote down his information and visited him the next day. We were a little late because we didn’t know where he lived. But luckily we found his house and while we were waiting for him to open the door, glanced in the house to know who he was. We saw pictures and quotes of evangelical stuff. We have once in a while people that will invite us in very happy, and later we figure out they want us to bible bash. Well this was a little different. He invited us in and locked his door...weird.....we sat down (we were a little nervous) and talked to him. He had his family there and we start talking. He isn’t married but was receiving lessons from other missionaries. After a time they moved and he hasn’t gone to church since. He knew who we were and wanted to talk to us about investigating again.

So far nothing has happened but we are planning on meeting him again.

Guess what mom; Elder Layton is in my ZONE. He was the very first person I knew, my companion in the MTC...and everything. He is the MAXIMO.

I know that this is the work of the Lord and that we as missionaries are the instruments to get the job done the right way.

I love you all so much and hope that you guys are all doing great.
-Elder Griffin