Week 64 - October 21st, 2019 (Santa Teresita, Philippines)

The Gonzaga Zone, October 2019

My dear family and friends, I hope you have all had a spectacular week. We have been so so so blessed this week with more miracles than I can count. Santa Teresita has been prepared by the Lord, and we are meeting his people and helping them all better know His love for us. We had a whole bunch of wonderful people seeking the truth behind this confusing world come to church this past Sunday, and are really just loving working with all the new people that we have been finding. It is the greatest joy in the world to see people changing their lives and finding joy in a greater knowledge of our Heavenly Father's love and plan for us. 

The Spaghetti Block we made

We had exchanges with Santa Ana this last week, and I got to spend some great time with Elder Smith, from Utah, who is in his first few weeks in the Philippines right now- the was lots of fun, looking forward to working with and seeing these new servants of God progress and learn and find new levels of joy in this next year of their time here. Other than exchanges that Tuesday, not much of great mention occurred during the week, Elder Morley and I are having a great time together- we learned all about herbal medicine as he was sick earlier this week and an old nanay just came up and beat him with a tiny malunggay branch, that was a highlight. He got better, though... Anyway, but all jokes aside, we are really so grateful for the help and power we are seeing from God pouring out His Spirit upon this little town, and those people He has been preparing that recognize truth and the Spirit and the hope of this message. Again and again, I am astonished by the power of the Spirit in testifying and bringing peace to our hearts, conveying God's will and helping us know what to do. How blessed we are for His continued counsel to us here on Earth through His living prophets and our own personal revelation. I really have noticed, just in watching the outcoming Book of Mormon videos online, how blessed we can become if we just follow the will of our loving Father in Heaven, humble ourselves like a child submits to the will of their mom and dad here on Earth, and see how much better He really knows. Even through trials, which themselves are for our growth, we see miracles and we feel His peace and love. I testify that we are here to find joy- and that comes through following His will and using the incomparable gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, to become clean and changed and prepared to enter into His kingdom of happiness. I feel so blessed to be a tiny part of this work, to at least offer this hope to others every day and feel the true, living God as He establishes His kingdom here on Earth through those humble and penitent, those truth- and joy-seekers. May we all commit every day to seek His will and truly follow it, I promise- I know that if we do that we will become ultimately happier and better than anything we could possibly develop ourselves. Seek Him, and He will be found. I love you all so much, be safe and healthy and happy this week- will see you all soon!

The Morla Family, some people we are
teaching who made us amazing bread

Love,
Elder Griffitts

The hike we went on earlier out in Barangay
Mission- reminded me of pics from
South America, a bunch of cool
mountain-hills that were covered in thick jungle.