I love my Companion

Hola, Familia y Amigos,

This week was really interesting. We were able to find many investigators. My companion is really cool and we are learning a lot together.
I did get the pictures of the outside of our house. It is very beautiful. How are you guys?? I really am great and am working hard for the last 60 days of my mission. How can you possibly count the days.
I love you guys.

(Elder Griffin’s response to some news about acquaintances that are choosing wrong choices)

YA, that usually happens when you haven’t fully repented of your sins and you don’t want to accept the shame and the culpa (consequences), I don’t remember that word in ENGLISH, well you know what I mean.
HOW ARE YOU GUYS

CHAU, I love you and am so grateful for your love and concern that you always have had for me.

~Elder Griffin~

Short note

Thanks for all of your letters. I am great.
This week has been very interesting. We have received a lot of references from our members and well we are really working hard with them.
Chancay-Huaral, Perú
Chancay is a beach town. It is really small, clean, and calm. We are enjoying ourselves.
My companion is ELDER TAX (it is pronounced ELDER TASH). He is from Guatemala.
I love you guys so much and am glad to hear that the Lord is blessing you in your work and in everything you do.

ELDER GRIFFIN

Gaining the Branch Presidents Trust

Buenos Dias
My week...

We had changes and like I said I am training, but not just anyone. He is the cousin of a ex-assistant that I know and that was serving in the mission. He is really famous, in the mission and well his cousin is cool too. We have already had some success.

We entered in our area on Wednesday and well things have been going great. We met a member that has been going through a separation and well he has been really down and depressed. We listened to him tell his story of devoted service and blessings in his life and he told us that little by little he was not going to church, wasn’t praying, wasn’t having FHE and wasn’t doing his part and that is when his life hit bottom. His wife started to make many wrong decisions and well after a while when he woke up he didn’t have anything. His family had left him; he didn’t have clothes, a TV, or any objects. He thought about taking his life on more than one occasion. He told us that he is always thinking of his wife and kids, and that it is very hard for him. He than told us that in his moment of despair that the Branch President knocked on his door and told him that he had a deep impression that didn’t leave his mind. The impression is that he needed talk to this brother. He called him as the Young Men’s President. We made a promise to him that as he serves the Lord and always has the Lord on his mind that Christ will put the puzzle together. He is now active and has had MANY testimony growing experiences with us. He is a clown and really knows a lot of people in this small town. Thanks to him we are having a lot of success. He is now so happy and animated.

We had a conversation with the Branch President. We asked him for a list of 10 inactive families. He told us that he only wanted us to work with 5. I told him the reason why we wanted 10, is because it is a rule that President Pérez has given us and I explained to him that we will be giving a weekly report on their progress. He started to tell us that he had a list of 24 kids that have not been baptized. I told him that President Pérez wants us to focus on baptizing families and men. He told me, ¨but Elder these are baptisms¨. I expressed my love and told him that we have the goal as a companionship to divide your Branch. We can baptize these 24 kids and your Branch will not divide but we can baptize 7 families or Men and you might be able to Divide your Branch.
In the end he gave us a list of 10 families, and we went with him to visit two of these families. We gained his trust and now he knows that I am not a trunky Elder that really I am here to help him.
After that he gave us a list of all the people that have not yet been baptized but are members kids. We received about 6 possible or future baptisms.

We are very excited with our progress. I really do love the mission and I know that God will be at our side that really we can have 8 baptisms in a newly Divided Branch. Pray for us and I know that your prayers will help.

I love you and hope that everything has been great.
I did receive one B-Day Package, Thanks.
Love,
~Elder Griffin~

General Conference

This week was a very memorable week...
We have changes. I am going to Huacho, Norte Chico. It’s close to Barranca were I was at a while back. I am going to have my 4th son. I am very excited for the change and have a lot of things to do.

The conference was amazing. I was able to hear half of it in English and the other half in Spanish. I took out of the conference some points.
1. a greater love for my family.
2. a greater love for the authorities of the church
3. a greater love for our Savior Jesus Christ and His atonement.
4. a greater love for the Book of Mormon

I am very excited for the future. I feel calm, happy, pure, and really am having a great time. I know that I still can change many things and sometimes the disappointment kicks in, but I have great faith in the atonement and I know that I can conquer whatever challenge that faces me.

Thank you so much for being parents so great. I too was born of goodly parents, and have been taught in the ways of my father (and mother). Everyday I think of all the things I learned in my childhood. I still remember the promise that you gave me mom, that as I would read the Book of Mormon my studies would become better and that I would be able to understand books easier. I honestly did not believe it at the time and didn’t take the challenge upon me, until I came on the mission. Thanks to you and your loving challenge and promise, I took upon me to read the Book of Mormon and try to understand it. I have now read the Book of Mormon like 4-5 times in the mission and I now have a love for it, and I now am not afraid to read other books that teach me good things.

There are many lessons that I have been learning, all the times that you thought I was not listening I now understand that the words did penetrate my mind and have changed my attitude, the way I think, and who I am.
Thanks for being AWESOME PARENTS. I love you
~ELDER GRIFFIN~