The Field is White and I Need a Tractor!!!

Hey y'all!!

 Ok so we, as a district, have decided to do something crazy. That is, at the end of the transfer we want to have ten baptisms! The original plan was to have eight but the spirit told us to make that goal ten. Our district leader said that he called up the zone leaders, and he wasn't sure if we were going to do eight or ten, and he said that when they asked for the goal for some reason he just said ten. The zone leader stopped and said that he could feel the spirit testify that was to be our goal, so ten is to be our goal. 

I've determined that when we go out to check up on investigators and when they don't answer that is the Lord telling us there is someone else we need to talk to. Funny story, Wednesday night we were walking down the street and there was this group of three people, and the moment they saw us two of them jumped up and ran into the house. We laughed and kept walking. We ended up walking back to the house and said "hi" to them. We laughed for a few moments and when we left we thanked them for the laugh and went on our way. My comp turned to me and said that he likes it when people do stuff like that because it means that he is doing his job. Because if they run then that means that they know we are going to talk to them, which is our job. If they just sat there then that would mean that they knew we were not going to talk to them. 

That night we met Brent and his sister. Sitting outside drinking a beer and smoking an e-cig. We stopped to talk to him and we gave him a card and the first thing he asked was "Were is the church house?" He has read parts of the Book of Mormon before. We asked if he would like to learn more and he said yes! 

Thursday was great. We met Ruthy. She is so sweet and so kind, but she is so sad. She wants to be happy. She loves the missionaries. We had a turkey for dinner that night. It was Joshua's birthday. He was so kind to us. He took us out to the back yard and we played Yardzey. Later on, we went to a family and we tried to teach them about the priesthood but some of the kids are so full of energy. Jimmy doesn't understand why God has to be white, and pure, and why he can't be dark and cool!

Friday we had a "special" zone confrence. Everyone was thinking that it was either Elder Bednar coming to speak, or that they where announcing the use of Facebook or something like that. It wasn't any of those!!  President Bednar got up and said that he did not want to do this. This statement got everyone's attention!  Thoughts of "Oh no! he's taking the tablets away!" or something like that was going through everyone's mind. He then got up to explain how the Lord gives us blessings. He asked the question, "If I pay my tithing at 7% do I get the blessings of heaven, OR, if I pay 9% do I get blessings?" The answer is no! The windows of heaven do not open up unto you until you pay a full 10%. I think of the story of Naaman. He had to dip himself in the dirty river Jordan 7 times.  1, 2, 3 times, and the leprocy was not cured. Nor at the 4th, or the 5th. Come the sixth time he had to be thinking why am I doing this. I'm dirtier now than before I jumped in, but down for the 7th time, and when he rose up out of the water he was cured. 

President Bednar talked about the flaxen cord that we have to cut off. That unless we totally cut ourselves free from it then we will never rise to our full potential.  He also said that if we don't kill off the last remains and stop feeding our scraps to the natural man, just enough to keep him alive, then we will never be able to reach our full potential. During companion inventory me and my companion talked about the little strands of flaxen in our lives that we need to cut. 

Friday morning we played some basket ball at the church, and I am seriously out of shape. I would hate to think of what would happen if I tried to swim 25 yards of the butterfly!! Then we went and taught the Jame's family about the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Later, we went finding a little bit and we ran into a Progressing Investigator named Randy, and he got his neighbor over to hear the "good word!" Then we had an appointment with Caitlyn and her boyfriend, Mat. They sprung a surprise on us. They are getting married this Friday! She said "yes" to being baptized as well!!! We spent the rest of the night finding. We found an old lady named Dory. She doesn't believe in Jesus but she does need someone to trim her bushes. We naturally volunteered!!  Only God can tell what will happen with Dory.

We came home and then I gave my companion a Priesthood blessing. He was super nervous about giving a talk on Sunday. He ended up giving a thirty minute talk. That Sunday they had a marriage enrichment class taught by some guy from Utah, on his way to China! He works for the national guard, and apparently the military is trying to find ways to ensure successful marriages for our service men, and women.

They had had a fireside Sunday night on this subject as well but it we didn't go. We went a little further into the sticks and went finding!  We ran into Holly who lives in Berwick, not too far from us. She hasn't heard of the Book of Mormon, but believes in personal revelation, and believes that there isn't one set way for the scriptures to mean something. We gave her a book of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet and she said that she was going to read it that night! We went to another guys house and He said that he wasn't interested but he took our number anyway. It has been a crazy week, I can say that for sure!

Anyway... y'all take care now. Some of y'all are starting school today. Good luck. 

Love you guys

-Elder Griffin

To Mom & Dad

Hey Guys. Mom thank you soo much for the recipes!! Now I just have to go and buy some of those ingredients. I'll have to use the stove, rather than a crock pot but I'll make it work! All is well here in Berwick. I have to ask when did you send that letter because it got here fast! Maybe that has to do with the three stamps on it!!  Again thank you. It's so nice to have some home cooking again. The work is going very well. We are picking up potential investigators like pennies in a penny factory. Thank you guys for everything. I'm glad that Dad likes the shirt. I was worried that it was never going to get to you guys. As for the music rules, the president said this... "I'm not going to tell you "yes" or "no." That's up to the spirit. You'll know if you should have it or not!!" 

Love you guys!

Cooking Pancakes!!

Beautiful Mornings!

We Ain't in Utah Anymore, Elder!

First week in the field...we ain't in Utah anymore, Elder... holy smokes!! Can I just say that I love to fly. That was a fun experience for me. We arrived in Pittsburgh last Monday were we met President Bednar. He gave us all a big hug and gave us pass along cards and told us to go to work. We met a gal from West Virginia who told us that she would love to have us come over and talk to her about Jesus. 

Pennsylvania is a different place. No mountains. Just rolling hills filled with some of the greenest trees you'll ever lay eyes on. My companion/trainer is Elder Goeckeritz. He has been out for 21 months. He loves his ukulele. I'm in a little town called Berwick. If you don't know where that is that's okay. It took me two days to remember the name of the town. I've met so many great people here though. They love God and Jesus. There are a ton of Christian churches around, but ours is a 15 minute drive from our apartment. It's the only LDS church house in the area for Berwick and Bloomsburg... At least I think it is anyway. 

There is this store out here called ALDI. It like a super cheap Wal-Mart. It will beat most of Wal-Mart's prices. Heroin is a supper big problem out here. Almost everyone you talk to has been addicted to it, or has known someone addicted to it. School starts this week for the kids around here. They have early morning seminary, but some live so faraway that they have to do it online or join the class via Skype. The humidity isn't a problem until it gets hot. Then it becomes outright unbearable. The forests around here are old. You can feel it. The locals have told us about a lot of haunted places around here. 

So things are going well out here. Our apartment is nice. Except for the fact that it is right along main street. People out here love their street bikes, and loud cars. The streets out here are weird. They are a bunch of one way streets until you get out to the highway. Berwick is a very old place. Old houses and churches. Apparently out east if you put candles in your windows then that's a sign of welcome. First time I saw it I thought it was creepy. 

There is this nuclear power plant to the east of us. One day this alarm went off. Usually it's a short one to gather the fire fighters, but this one carried on for two to three minuets. They were doing a test. It was kind of spooky. If it was the real deal then the siren would not have stopped. It's like sitting at the base of a volcano!!

Glad to hear that everyone is so excited for school to start. You have to know that the first thing that I bought were two gallons of whole milk. I've been a VERY satisfied person!!

One thing that I find funny is when we go out finding, we never meet who we see out to go see. We run  into other people who end up giving us their number and saying that we can call them back. We will have to wait to see what will happen!!  Until next week!

Y'all take care now!!!!!

Berewick seems to be a pretty OLD town!

Lights in the Windows are a sign of Welcome!

More lights in the windows!
I think when Dalton comes home, we will make sure there are lights in every window!!

The hills are so GREEN!  

The LDS Church House.  Fifteen minutes away from his apartment!

Arriving in Pittsburgh and a New Companion!

Well, we will not be getting our letter this week.  We will have to wait until Monday, but we did receive word from the Mission President's wife and she was so kind to send us a photo of Elder Griffin with his trainer and to let us know which area they will be serving in!

Edler Griffin with his trainer.  They will be serving in the Berwick Area.

Assuming this is the mission home.  We have not heard from him to verify this! 

New Missionaries heading out.

Meeting the New Missionaries at the airport!

First Apartment 

Not too shabby for a first place.

MTC Photos and an Airport Phone call!

Today, August 14, 2017, at 5:34 a.m., we received a phone call from Elder Dalton Griffin!  He had just checked his baggage in and gone through security and was awaiting his flight departure to Pittsburgh, PA!  Pretty dang exciting adventure for a young man who has only ever flown on a crop duster one time!  He was really looking forward to this plane ride!!  It is 8:00 a.m. and I suspect that my son is now somewhere high above the clouds!

It was so wonderful to hear his voice this morning!!  I think I got to speak to him for about 20 minutes or so.  Several of the children and even Ed got to speak to him!  So glad we are early risers.  I have a few pictures that he has uploaded that I will post on here as well.  He looks so good!

I would like to share an experience we have had lately.  We have talked a lot about obedience, especially prior to his mission.   We have stressed it more than anything else.  Reminding him that adhering to obedience in the mission is of utmost importance!   One of my favorite sayings is "Obedience brings blessings, but STRICT obedience brings miracles!"  (Can't remember the author!)

This morning while we were speaking to him, he related the following:

"You know Mom, how you always talked about being obedient.... well everyone was pretty good the first 24 hours and then I was surprised at how many started doing things they weren't supposed to be doing!!" Trying to call girlfriends, etc.  He didn't go into a lot of detail.

I braced myself.  I thought this was the moment when my son was going to tell me that he didn't have to be obedient, and that he could slack off and do some of the other things some of the others were doing and that I was just an old fuddy-duddy!

However, he then went on to say, "You know, my companion nearly got sent home because of some of the things he did."

There was a slight pause in his voice.  I think I could hear in his voice the gratitude for our pushing obedience so much.  I think his seeing these missionaries that would not want to obey strictly and coming pretty close to being sent home, was an eye opener for him.

Finally!!  In my mind I was screaming!!  YES!!!

I told him "I KNOW it is hard.  I KNOW that following these rules strictly will be trying, but I can only promise you blessings from our Heavenly Father.... more than you can ever imagine!"  I hope that it will make enough of an impression upon him to be more diligent in his obedience.

We LOVE our missionary!  Our little five year old always prays for Dalton to be a good missionary, and my little seven year old is now praying for "Our Missionary!"

The work is true.  We are so grateful to be members of this great church.  I am so grateful to be a missionary mom!  Safe travels, Elder Griffin!  We will hear from you soon!

Lunch time!  So many white shirts!

And I thought I had a laundry problem!!!

Views of MTC outside! 

Flight itinerary!  First time on a big plane!

Sun peeking over the mountain in Provo!

Another MTC view!

Add your own caption.  Still trying to figure this one out!

Dalton and our neighbor!  She just entered the MTC this past Wednesday!

I think this is the group heading out this morning!  Some to PA and some to TX!

One of the classes!

Don't know what the "peace out" thing is, but every one is doing it!

Dalton and his room mates!  Preparing to leave at 4 a.m. this morning!

Week Two in the MTC

Hey guys. So Dad and Garrett are in Nauvoo?? Thats crazy!! So we do have our flight plans and we are heading out on the 14th at 3:30 in the morning. We have a layover in Detroit for an hour if things go well. I need to know Mom if you have been seeing my photos because I try sharing them with you and it just tells me that Dad can see them but not you. I have officially decided that this place is insane. There are so many Mormons here. Over 3000 to be exact. 

So we have two new TRC's Patric, and Josh. We also have a new PI named Olivia. Today we are heading out to the temple again, and possibly for the last time in two years!!  It's weird to think that I've already started this two year adventure. It feels like we have been here for forever. Yes I did get the cookies, and thank you!! I needed a break from the food here. Almost everyone here has gotten a cold! I think that the food here is just beating everyone's immune system into the dirt.

Well, it's week two and I'm still alive!! Holy cow this place is crazy. So many Mormons here!! What is this?? Anyhow... this week has truly been amazing. We discovered the power of the book of mormon. One of our TRC'S found that out!! We were reading in 2 Nephi 31 and we only read six verses and it opened his eyes to why Christ had been baptized. He added insight that we never saw. 

Guess what? Elder Bednar showed up! A sister in our district asked him a question and he gave an amazing answer about prayer. For those of you coming into the MTC you need to watch a video called the Character of Christ By Elder Bednar. You want a powerful change come upon you then watch that talk. You can only find it in the MTC. I'm glad that y'all are doing alright. Sorry if I didn't reply to any of you... last Tuesday got pretty crazy. 

Love you guys 

Week One! MTC Crash Course

Our first letter from Elder Griffin!  He left for the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on July 26, 2017.  I think I will need more than one paragraph to justify sending him cookies!!

Hey guys. Holy cow this place is crazy. You are teaching people within less than 24 hours from getting here. They have Pi's which are investigators played by the teachers, an then they have TRC's which are either members, or non members, or inactive. We don't know. When someone gets a letter everyone goes bananas. Some elders are homesick and it's going to take a while to get over it. I've been blessed to not have that homesickness...yet. who knows. I'll try to upload photos to the photo album daily. It truly is crazy here. Love you guys. Hey mom if you could send me some cookies that would be much appreciated 

This was the letter he sent to his friends and extended family!  

Howdy y'all. Holy cow this has been a crazy week. Everything runs at a hundred miles an hour. Especially the first four days. It's like you're running at a hundred miles an hour in first gear. Everything is screaming, and you're about to fall apart. Then you hit Sunday, and it doesn't get better still I'm alive, and have made it to P-day. The food is slightly better than the stuff they had at school. Time seams to fly here. In the moment it doesn't seam like it, but then you look back and you're like. Holy guacamole it's bed time already. My first comp. Is an Arizona native who played food ball, and went to a charter school. His name is Elder ---- (will not use real names). Interesting fellow at times, but he is close to the Lord. They have changed a rule about the emails. If we get an email from home we are allowed to read it. We still can't reply until p-day but we can read them now. They are saying that by the end of the year all U.S. missions will have a tablet, and Facebook. I can do almost everything that I need to on this tablet. Those of you that are coming in soon be prepared to teach on day one. I love you guys, and I hope for the best for all y'all. 

After some heckling, I was able to get a little more info from him today:

Ok. So we have two investigators. One from New York, and one from California. They both came to learn more because they are living over here. Olivia from N.Y. has a friend that went to BYU. Jose is a Catholic and likes to learn about diffrent religions. We have only had one meeting with them and so far so good. On sunday I signed up and joined the choir for today's Devotional. We watched a talk by Elder Bednar called the character of Christ. It's a recording that you can only find in the MTC. The new building is incredible. Laundry is an insanely mad rush. So is the line to the food. So many people. Our group that came in was the largest. Around 720, so it is jam packed. We leave August 14th sometime in the morning. 

These are some photos we have acquired.  One was sent to me by a friend who ran into him and another was one that he posted!