Week 82 - February 24th, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

Baptism of nanay Emelita Recometa

Hello everyone, been a good week here. We had the baptism of sister Emelita Recometa this last Saturday, that was awesome. She is an example of a very willing person. Also are really working with some others who have been coming to church for a while, but are still hesitant and helping them understand the purpose of the Gospel and the Church in order to help bring people closer to Christ in His way. It's been a good week, and we are excited for the next. Will see you all soon!

Elder Griffitts

Exchanges with Elder Bacurnay in Cabugao

Found this cool wall

 

A fun Family Home Evening with
a branch and some of those
we are teaching out in Sabangan.

At our district hike

 

Week 81 - February 17th, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

In front of our church with my comp -
Elder Canales

Hello everyone, great to be able to write to you all this week, it's been really great here. Been warming up here, going into summer and we are hitting the heat head on. Lots of cool stuff happening this week- we have a baptism coming up this week and some other people in these upcoming weeks, and right now are really looking for other people who are ready for the message.

One thing we have really been focusing on in our work is seeking out people's needs and how to help them with those- just talking to anyone on the street or in their homes about their lives and what kind of goals they have and what they think their purpose here on earth is, and one thing that overwhelmingly comes out among almost all is just that life is hard and so they just have to work and give it all they can. That's been giving me a lot of thought, because while at first glance this principle is true, we must work while in this earthly life, they completely sacrifice all trust in God in order to do so, choosing to work for the day at hand rather than take time to save up for treasures in the eternities to come. There is, of course, a balance, but above all the first and foremost priority must always be doing the will of our Father in Heaven. We must believe that He truly does have a plan for us, so His commandments and requirements are not to distract or hinder us from progressing in this life, they bring about the exact opposite! We just want to extend to these people how much potential that we have to be happy, to overcome our problems and fulfill our needs, if we can just trust and seek to know how from our loving Heavenly Father. One thing I'm learning is just how wonderful life is when we truly align our wills with His and just can be comfortable and confident in all our choices and even through trials we can still be at peace because we know that all things have a reason. I'm so grateful for all the knowledge that has been given me, and even more so to have the opportunity to share it with those in need. I love you all and will see you all soon.

Kitakits,
Elder Griffitts

Week 80 - February 10th, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

Movie night with the Restoration
video and homemade popcorn

Dearest loved ones, friends and family,

So happy to be able to write this week. There are some awesome miracles happening here. We are really starting to work closely with members to get a huge amount of people- their friends and family and others we are finding- to come and see the joy of Christ's restored Church here on Earth. We have a couple people we have been teaching that we just found at their homes who just happen to be relatives with many of the members here, and they are all looking forward to being baptized this upcoming February 22, we are very excited for them. I'm with my new companion as well, met him this last Tuesday. His name is Elder Canales, from Caloocan City in Metro Manila. He's been out for about 6 months now, and I'm excited to continue the miracles here with him.

New companion- Elder Canales,
taga Caloocan City, Manila

One thing that I've really been pondering on and also seeing the results of here in Sinait and among missionaries and members in the mission is the effect of charity in this Gospel, in the hearts of the children of God. It's a topic we hear a lot about in the scriptures, Paul and Mormon describe it as being perhaps the most important attribute that we can ever develop, and when we look at the Father and Jesus Christ there is no other attribute more accented than that of love. But that's the thing about love- it's not something that can really be effectively exercised in words alone. Even good deeds are not enough- charity becomes an attribute that must enter into our very selves and actually define us. I'm really working on building charity to become my motivation for going out and doing this work, for at times I fear it becomes somewhat habitual. I want to come to realize again that true joy comes only in and through living as Christ lived, and Christ never had a selfish thought in His existence- part of His perfection is that He always, always turned outwards. It truly is that attribute, that kindness and humility and love that causes us to seek to serve others and forget ourselves and our own problems and concerns, that will result in our souls being filled with joy and the love of God. I'm so grateful to be in a situation where I can apply this, and seek to live it with all my words and actions, and I just testify to what Mormon said in his epistle to his son, that although all things will pass away, charity truly will never fail us. There will never be a mistake in seeking to help people to come closer to their Savior, to come closer to true and lasting happiness. It overcomes fear, doubt, and pride, and truly, when rooted in the perfect example of charity Jesus Christ, gives us power to overcome any temptation of the adversary.  Let us all follow Mormon's invitation to "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love"(Moro 7:47), and through the Holy Ghost it will be gifted to all of us and we will find happiness above all else. I am so grateful for you all and your examples of charity to me, and I love you all so much. See you soon!

Cool spots in Pug-os

Love,
Elder Griffitts

Week 79 - February 3rd, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

The best soft serve ice cream flavor- ube

What a wonderful week, hello again everyone! Hope everyone is doing fantastic, we just finished up a week of miracles and mercy here in Sinait. So many awesome things have happened this week, we had the baptism of sister Maribeth Unciano this last Saturday over at the church, she is so amazing and it's been such a great experience to see her change over the past two months- she bore her testimony this last Sunday in church just about the peace that has come into her life and the joy that comes from trusting in God and looking to the future with hope and confidence. The miracles didn't end there, though, as yesterday when we went and visited her, we met her 29-yo son, brother Carmelito, he just walked out the door and asked us if he could join our church. He went on to tell us that he really wanted to change, and just asked us where he should start. Those are the people who are prepared by God- it testifies to me over and over as to this being His work, and not just some program for young people to go out and experience this for ourselves- it is such a humbling and gratifying experience to just be an instrument, however weak that we are, in helping these our brothers and sisters come unto their Savior and truly know Him. We were able to share with him about the Gospel and Atonement of Jesus Christ, and how it has been restored to the Earth in our day and that in order to start down the path of faith and repentance we need to seek truth from our Heavenly Father by asking Him and diligently seeking through reading His words and going to His Church- we are so excited to start really teaching him this week. 

P-day = 7-11 time

Speaking of this week, we just got news on Saturday that Elder Gajete is transferring tomorrow, going up to Ilocos Norte. IT was a bit unexpected, I'm going to miss him a lot, it was so fun to work with him and get the ball rolling here. He's taught me so much about humility and love in one cycle and I'm just so grateful to have been able to work with him. My new companion will be getting here tomorrow, his name is Elder Canales. I don't know him yet, but I'm excited to work with him. It's going to be a super awesome next cycle here in Sinait.

Exchanges in Vigan
with Elder Crandall- round 2!

One last really cool miracle that happened this week, we are teaching this college student named Christian who has been coming to church for two weeks now, and this last week we taught him about the Restoration and Joseph Smith's first vision and invited him to ask God if the event was true and really happened. He told us the next time we visited that after he had done that, he went to sleep and had a dream that he was in a forest like Joseph and just wandering around, looking for something, after which he woke up. He also keeps telling us about how we came at a time in his life that he has really been struggling to know what God wanted for him, after having a bit of a falling out with his previous church that he was very active in, and really was just looking for the will of God for his life. We are so blessed to be able to teach people like him, I testify that the most humble and meek and diligent in seeking are truly those to whom God will give the most knowledge, power, and peace. These people are such examples to me to always be seeking the will of God, and being willing to humble ourselves to those called by Him and follow His counsel for us- He uses the weak, simple, foolish things and brings to pass His great and eternal purposes in small and simple ways. It's all up to us if we will but humbly seek and listen and be willing to change and repent- that's where faith can start, that's where we gain a hope for salvation through Christ and His Atonement. I love you all, and invite you all always to seek His advice and counsel, in that we might be made pure and holy as He is. I'll see you all soon, have a great week!

Love,

Elder Griffitts

A sweet sunset we saw over the ocean

Just learned how to make sunny-side-up eggs

 

The baptism of sister Maribeth Unciano-
what a wonderful day

 

The Sinait bahay

Saying goodbye to Elder Gajete-
it's been an awesome cycle!

Goodbye to Elder Smart-
 transfers now!