Week 39 - April 29th 2019 (Dingras, Philippines)

My new Companion Elder Tuyak 

Good morning/afternoon/evening/day to all of you- I'm glad to be able to get something out here quick to you all. It's been a really good week here, full of just getting out and working and forgetting about everything else. Elder Tuyak and I are having a blast just meeting new people every day- we are really focusing on just finding the ones that will receive the gospel message of hope- and learning more every day. It's pushing us, which leaves nice and tired at the end of the day, but it's such a great feeling. Anyways, we are finally seeing the blessings as well, as we had one of the people we have been teaching, sister Marissa, come to church this last week- she is so strong, she's been reading the Book of Mormon every day and the Spirit is so strong when we are teaching her. And we have found a lot of other great people this week.

In front of our church

Anyways, short message for today, sorry everyone- but I hope you all enjoyed this last week. I just want to leave you all with the awesome idea that we all have the opportunity to know our nature and the nature of our lives here on Earth- that's something that has been on my mind a lot recently. The center of all of human knowledge is that we are the children of a God, a Father in Heaven, and His whole purpose for us is to become as He is now- perfect, eternal, and perfectly and eternally happy. That's what the Plan of Salvation is all about- and we have it to give us hope, and guide us through this short life. So I invite you all to seek to better understand this plan- through the scriptures, words of God's prophets, and the Spirit. And have a week filled with peace and hope that there is a plan, and purpose, and it's all centered on the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who makes it all possible. Alma 42 puts it all perfectly- I invite you all to read it this week. I love you all, have an incredible week. See ya later!

Love,
Elder Griffitts

 Our hike last P-day up a nearby mountain

Week 38 - April 22nd 2019 (Dingras, Philippines)

Dear family and friends,

First off, happy Easter to all of you, I hope you all had some good times over this past week as we have here. It's been a great and very busy last week of transfers, I got to meet my new companion on Thursday! His name is Elder Tuyak, from Butuan, Mendenao- way down at the bottom of the Philippines. He's fresh out of his three weeks at the MTC, so I'm what they call his trainer, meaning I'm responsible for teaching him about the work and life as a missionary for these next 12 weeks. But yeah. this week has been a very hectic one of travel and new things, but we were able to get some good work done. Anyways, I'll tell you a bit about it.

Elder Baran and I were together Monday- Wednesday afternoon, so until then we just kind of went through the work as usual, but on Wednesday we went to Laoag in the afternoon and met up with Elder Baran's new companion, and then Elder Burton and me became companions for the rest of the day up until Thursday, which was fun because what happened is after our trainer's training on Wednesday we along with two other elders training from my batch came back to Dingras and stayed here for the night, and we all got up on Thursday before it was time to pick up our new companions and got McDonald's, which was quite the gourmet meal, and then went to the mission office to pick up our new companions. Since then, Elder Tuyak and I have had a great first week- it's a great experience reliving the training of a missionary from the opposite perspective, and just focusing my efforts on helping him feel comfortable with this new and wonderful lifestyle, this marvelous work and a wonder. This last week we've really been focusing on helping people understand the grand hope from the Atonement of Jesus Christ, it being Easter weekend and all, and remembering the Resurrection that was brought to pass by His great sacrifice. Because of Him, we don't have to die forever- because He lives, so will we. And it's that simple fact that I love to share with people- as well as the opportunity we have to make our next life paradise according to our choices here on Earth. Because one day, we will all live again- every soul who has ever been on Earth. One day, we will be restored to our proper and perfect frames, and stand before our Father to answer for our acts, so that's why we have such a wonderful experience here on Earth- to get ready for that day. And because Christ did what He did, we can be ready. He made it so we could. By taking those bad choices, and making them His own. Along with every sickness, pain, and affliction. I hope with this knowledge we can all draw a little closer to Him this time, as well as always, so that He can take away the things that make us hurt inside. That's something I learn a little more every day. Though it takes work, it leaves us with so much more than we sacrificed- that's the beauty of this plan. So press forward with steadfast faith in Him who is mighty to save, for He is there every step of the way with arms outstretched, I know that He is. Come unto Him, and find His peace.

I love you all, have a blessed week,

Love,
Elder Griffitts

Week 37 - April 15th 2019 (Dingras, Philippines)

Dearest brethren and sisters, friends and family,

"Sobading" District

Naimbag ti aldaw, everyone, hope your weeks have all been as filled with hope and the Spirit of joy as mine has... We've had a lot of awesome events happen throughout this past week, most of all an amazing experience listening to the voice of our living prophet in General Conference this past weekend. But before we get into all that, I'l just start from the top.

On Tuesday we started off the week with our cyclical Zone Conference in Laoag, where we got a great day of trainings from our mission president, President Peterson, as well as the APs (Assistants to the President). We all had a super powerful discussion about repentance, and how it is central to our purpose and lives on earth, as well as a great training on how to avoid fear. It was fun to see everyone from the different zones in Ilocos there as well. We sang a song as a district, "Someone He Can Count On", which was also great. That was pretty much the whole of Tuesday, and left me with a whole lot to ponder and improve upon- the day for application coming Wednesday. On Wednesday we had exchanges, and I went up to Solsona, a neighboring area, to work with Elder Morehu, an awesome missionary from New Zealand who is going home today. It was an experience I don't think I'll ever forget, and somewhat of a turning point I think here in the mission- I decided to be loyal first and foremost to my Heavenly Father in all things, and really go about treating this mission with all the gratitude that such a privilege extends to me.

The road to Sulquiano

As a last wonderful finale for this week, we got to watch General Conference this past Saturday and Sunday, and what powerful messages were shared!  I loved the focus that was given on looking at the big picture and just remembering what is important, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing it with the world. Elder Holland's talk about the Atonement, as well as President Nelson in the Priesthood Session about Repentance were some big highlights for me. Though to be honest, I'm gonna be studying those talks one by one with great excitement over these next two weeks. 

Sulquiano mountains at sunset

Last of all, today is in fact transfer day, and Elder Baran is leaving Dingras, and my new companion is none other than... I don't know yet! In other words, just earlier today I found out I'm going to be training! I'm super excited, and my mind has just been filled all day with thoughts from back when I myself was a trainee (it feels like yesterday, haha). Anyways, I meet my new comp on Wednesday or Thursday, I'm super hyped for the opportunity to help a new missionary discover the joy in this great work. I can't wait for this next cycle to get underway! Anyways, I love you all, and hope you have a wonderful and hopeful Easter weekend this next one, filled with hope from the truth of the resurrected Christ. I'll see ya later!

Love,

Elder Griffitts

Branch Home Evening

From the Highway

A monkey we pass by on some of our routes

Zone Conference

Week 36 - April 8th 2019 (Dingras, Philippines)

Dear family and friends and fellow brethren,

I'm glad to be able to write you all this week, as I am every week. I'm especially excited to share a few thoughts I've had throughout this week, but first about some stuff that's happened. We've had a pretty normal week here, pushing hard to get this work moving faster, but learning that it really all depends on God, and all will be done in His time. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that the work has time to slow- when the work gets hard, work harder is kind of the slogan I'm living by right now. I'm learning a lot about the power of turning potential negative energy into energy to go out and talk to people. Oh, I did have one interesting experience yesterday- we met this really nice lady yesterday who was actually from Hawaii, and as such was more fluent in English than Tagalog, so I had an interesting experience teaching her in English- man it was hard, haha. And I was pretty much the only one talking, as my companion hasn't had much experience speaking English, but I found it interesting that I found myself translating from Tagalog into English for some reason, even though when I'm talking to my family I've got no problem with English. So that was a fun experience, and we look forward to going back and teaching her again- hopefully we have an experience like the one in "The Best Two Years", haha.

On another note, I have had some great opportunities to better understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ this past week, and how inseparably connected it is with the eternal and Christlike attribute of charity, pure love. Over the past few days, I found myself studying the invaluable sermon of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, in the first few chapters of Mosiah. He focuses so much on our desperate need to become changed through the Atonement of Christ, and what more I love how all that he says is what we need to do to be changed. His sermon is so focused on love, specifically through serving our fellow beings. I was thinking about it, and it really makes so much sense- if we think about it, what is our ultimate potential, our ultimate destination as children of Heavenly Father, children of God? Simply, to one day become exactly as He is. That is the wondrous truth about this amazing plan- I testify that we, as His children, all have this incredible opportunity to become as our Father. So how does love come into this? Well, who shows love better than our Heavenly Father- just look at John 3:16, one of the most well known verses in all of Christianity- God loved us so much that He gave His only Son. In addition, He has given us literally everything that we have- our very lives- and the hope of salvation one day. If we are to follow His example, what great need have we to love our fellows and love Him- with all that we have to give. What more important work is there in this world, than to serve those other than ourselves. I love how all of this is summed up so perfectly in Ether 12:33-34- we need to learn, line upon line, how to gain this pure love. I know that God loves us as His children, and that His work and glory is to draw us all to Him through His Son. So let's all try to do a good deed, to give a smile, to in some way fill the world with the light that Christ gave. I love you all so much, you inspire me to work harder every day, and I hope you all see the joy that comes from this great plan and Gospel. Have a wonderful week, see ya later!

Love,
Elder Griffitts

Week 35 - April 1st 2019 (Dingras, Philippines)

Dear family and friends,

It's great to be able to write to you again this week. I really appreciate all of you who still find entertainment in this blog, I hope I can continue to provide some positive messages for you all, and just hope you know I really love you all. We've had a great, pretty busy week. We just got finished moving into our new apartment today, it's quite a bit smaller but has AC and looks really nice and we are all pretty excited to get moved in. Work wise, we had a really solid week of talking to new people and spreading the news of the Restoration of Christ's Gospel and Church here on earth. It's been really interesting to see the power that the Spirit has in giving people the truth and helping them feel, rather than hear, the truth of things. That's something I've noticed to a new extreme this week- how critical it is for us in our lives to truly have something we can depend on for truth and answers. It seems like something everyone really searches for, to some extent or another- trying to find out what really is solid truth, or what we are doing here, and other deep thoughts that frequent at least my thoughts, but hey maybe I'm just crazy.

Anyways, that's the message I wanted to write about today- how I believe that is possible. First off, I think that finding truth is really a very mental process, and requires a lot of thought, but when it all comes down to it, it is ultimately something we feel within ourselves, something that causes us to change. That something is what we call the Holy Ghost- a real Being without a physical body, but as a spirit has the power to dwell within our bodies. Part of the whole reason we as members of Christ's Church are baptized and enter into a covenant with Him is so that we might have a better opportunity to partake of this power- this gift that makes it easier for us to find truth, to answer our questions, and ultimately to find more peace in life through the testimony of Christ that it gives. The Holy Ghost has the same will as our Father in Heaven, as well as Christ- to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life- and the ways that it can help are so applicable in our lives. Moroni 7 talks about how all good things come from God, and I take that to mean that the Holy Ghost is the testator of all good things. Through the Light of Christ, it kind of becomes what some might call a "conscience", but in reality is something much bigger. It helps us choose good, and as a result find peace. I know that it is a true and potent power, for I've felt it in feelings I can't explain as anything else. Though as with all things we need faith enough to seek and expect it. So yeah, it all comes down to faith, as all things to. For what can we know for a surety? Even the most advanced scientists can't fully explain every part of even the most basic procedures of nature. Miracles are everywhere. So just keep reaching for them. I know we over here are going to keep doing the same, for we need them in all things. I hope you all have a miraculous week as well. Just keep striving for God's power in our lives. He is more than happy to pour it out upon us all. I love you all, thank you for all you do for me, see ya later!

Love,
Elder Griffitts