Week 86 - March 23rd, 2020 (Sinait-Manila, Philippines/ Auburn, California)

Saying goodbye to the Sinait apartment,
Good times with Elders Paredes, Canales, and Walters!

My dearest friends and family, I've been asking you all for so long how life is over there, well now here I am, haha. It's been a long week, but so full of miracles and tender mercies. It all, as last week's entry demonstrates, really started out relatively normal. On Monday the only real big difference is that we had a curfew by 8, after which we were informed via text that the entire Luzon region was going into enhanced lockdown and we were no longer allowed to leave our apartments and proselyte. We all settled in for a couple days to weeks stuck in the apartment, not quite looking forward to the prospects. Instead, on Tuesday after a slow and uneventful morning, around 2 in the afternoon we got a text telling all foreign missionaries to pack up immediately in preparation to evacuate the country- that was the beginning of our long trip. 

Last day in Sinait, goodbye Laoag Mission!

We ended up not leaving until Wednesday, after an entire morning of checkpoints and border difficulties and not being able to cross from Ilocos Norte to Sur, we finally were able to rendevous with a huge caravan of private vans (all public transportation has been shut down) coming from Laoag with all the missionaries from there and get an urgent document to the checkpoint, thus finally enabling us to pass through and pick up the rest of Vigan Zone down in Vigan. From there we all sped as fast as those vans could go down to Manila, we were at first on a 72-hour schedule to get out of the country or get stuck in total lockdown. It was a miracle that we were able to get there, we arrived at the MTC in Manila around 12am on Thursday, though during the trip the 72-hour limit had been lifted so we were given the further miracle of more time for the Church to secure airplanes for all of us here in the Philippines, especially considering the airport was otherwise mostly out of commission. So many miracles happened while we were there, they were able to charter five huge planes out of the USA to fly into Manila on Sunday and pick us all up. It was a good stay at the MTC, most of us were also moved out closer to the airport on Friday to a hotel across the street from the airport. It was quite the experience, and really uniting for all of the foreigners left from our mission as we really sought to stay together and keep our spirits up, we sang the mission song and discussed things to do during this waiting period- it was good to be able to share this experience with so many other missionaries whose examples are just phenomenal and who are all so consecrated. I really felt comforted despite the relative stress and uncertainty of the situation. Eventually the day came for us all to leave- in the hotel lobby, the Philippines Laoag foreign missionaries sang one last time our beloved mission song, then all of the missions in Luzon were taken to the airport and placed on our respective planes that had been prepared, we left Sunday afternoon in Manila and arrived in Salt Lake City after a brief stop-over in Tokyo, making for about a 13 hour flight total- though relative to the respective time zones, it ended up being a total of 2 hour flight, haha. Got into Salt Lake around 6pm on Sunday evening, then all separated to get to their connecting flights to their respective home towns. I and about 10 other missionaries all flew into Sacramento on a commercial flight, and by some miracle all of us were able to make those and get home safely. I got home last Monday morning around 1am, and was subsequently released from my calling as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that evening. 

Operation: Flee the Country

Elder Walters and I at the hotel

Home to my beloved family!

All in all, this has been just so unexpected- luckily, throughout the week I have been given much time to think and ponder upon these events. One conclusion, above all, that I have come to is that faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things to come. Rather, faith is to have a knowledge that if your life is being lived according to the statutes of God, no matter what happens we can know that it will be for our good. Faith is to know that Heavenly Father loves us perfectly and has a Plan for each and every one of us. What a fitting end to this theme that I believe my Heavenly Father wants for me to apply to my whole life. I am so, so grateful for the testimony that I've gained, that I've been blessed with, above all on those simple, pure truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father, we are His children, and He has a perfect and pure plan for each and every one of us to become happy. I know that He has given us the gift of His divine, perfect Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for our sins and a mediator for us to become reconciled to God, and that this can be done through faith, repentance, baptism and confirmation, and the rest of this everlasting Gospel and Doctrine that He has established again on Earth through His Church. I know that Joseph Smith truly did see God the Father and Jesus Christ 200 years ago in that grove of trees, and that through him as a prophet of God, the living Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ was restored upon the Earth today, along with the authority and power of God given to men. I know that these truths are contained in the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. It contains a fulness of the restored Gospel, as well as so many incredible testimonies of the power of the Atonement of Christ in our lives. This, all of this, is for us to become reconciled to God- this and this alone is our purpose here on Earth, and this can be accomplished in and through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ- He is our hope, our strength, our salvation. We are all to do all we can to come unto Him. I'm so grateful that I was given the opportunity to represent Him for these past years, and to continue as His disciple for the rest of eternity. Moroni closes, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you, that by His grace ye may be perfect in Christ..." I will come unto Christ, and I invite all of you forever to do the same, for we may do so at all times, in all things, and in all places. I love you all so much, and love the people of the Philippines. I will see you all soon, and hope that we may all every day come a little closer to our Father through Christ. I leave all these things with you in His sacred name, even that of Jesus Christ, amen.

Our view of the Manila skyline from our hotel

One last Philippines sunrise... Mamimiss ko ito!

Week 85 - March 16th, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

Birthday of our recent convert, nanay Maribeth

Hello everyone, hope you all are healthy and well! We are having a great time here in Sinait, despite the scare that continues to sweep the world, no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. We had a wonderful week here, on Wednesday we were privileged to have a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Steven R. Bangerter, come to our mission and give a training to all the missionaries up in Laoag, it was an incredible experience. He is a member of the Area Presidency here in the Philippines, and told us that as of now, the Philippines Laoag Mission is the top baptizing mission in the Philippines, which is the top baptizing nation in the world- so it is a cool time to be here. It was so enlightening, we discussed several topics but above all, he truly instructed us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how the whole purpose is to sanctify ourselves and bring ourselves to the same vision as Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. He talked about the power of ordinances such as baptism and confirmation, and the potential that they have to thin the veil to Heaven and bring us closer to Christ through our actions and willingness to submit to the will of the Father as He did. He focused much on our purpose as missionaries to baptize converts, and bring them these experiences necessary for conversion- that was an otherworldly day, the feeling there was just so special.

Packed our lunches for the first time

The great week continued with all these interesting changes in policy involving no longer holding meetings on Sunday, thus we have been encouraged to help those we teach learn how to hold meetings and learn the Gospel as families within their own homes. What inspired changes have been made as of late, with the "Come, Follow Me" initiative and focuses on ministering! The Church of Jesus Christ will roll forth boldly despite any challenges that the world presents. This is the Lord's Church, and He has promised that it would last until His coming again. We were so happy to have the baptism of Brother Christian Idica this last Saturday as well, he is quite an incredible guy- so humble and eager to learn about God's Plan for him. I'm so grateful to be here at this time at the top of the Philippines and look forward to the progress and miracles to come in this next week. I love you all so much, stay safe and continue to look forward with hope and an eye of faith. See ya soon!

Love,
Elder Griffitts

Desk picture

Baptism of Brother Christian Idica

Week 84 - March 9th, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

Another great week here in Sinait! How is everyone doing over there, hope all is going well! We are enjoying it over here, had a good last week that just flew by- lots of going back to some cool people that came to church and finding others who are looking for truth. Had a fun Family Home Evening on Monday, our branch is great because they always do them every week and we have a bunch of people we are teaching that are invited and have a fun time there. Lots of games, a nice spiritual thought, and food. We had exchanges on Tuesday with Cabugao, I was in our area with Elder Olsen from Canada, he's on his third cycle in the field and is doing great. We had a good day of work here, lots of new people met. Summer is getting underway here, it's hotter than usual. Though this morning was more overcast, actually the first time in a while I've seen that. Also had interviews with President this last Thursday, those always are wonderful and so uplifting. The next day, however, we had to make a trip to the hospital because my companion's feet were so hurt he couldn't walk, so we got some x-rays and spent some time there and that's an experience I'm alright with not repeating, haha. Oh, the adventures you have here that you just never expect. It's all in good time, though, and we are just here to do what we can for these people.

A pic from our Family Home Evening last Monday

One thing that our mission is really focusing on, we actually have an upcoming Mission Tour this Wednesday where Elder Bangerter from the Area Presidency will be coming to speak to us. I'm very excited, we are really going to be focusing on the act of "becoming", rather than just doing good missionary things. We are here in the mission, all of us are here on our earthly missions, in order to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ and receive His grace in our lives, that we may one day return to live with Him and our Father in Heaven and receive eternal life, eternal happiness. In other words, we through striving to live the way He lived are all seeking to become like Him, to emulate His example and follow His commandments in all things. It is such a special privilege, and joyous time, to be able to serve Him at this time with all I have. He is the Savior, the One who was sent to save us from our sins, to give us a chance to become happy despite us often choosing ourselves misery and pain through sin. I know that His is the only true and living Gospel, the only way that we can truly be made clean from our mistakes. He brings that perfection, because He as a perfect being and took upon Himself our own imperfections. I am just so grateful for our ability to depend on Him, if we will but humble ourselves to our desperate need for His help and strive to follow His counsel. I hope all of you can find this peace always that is reserved for the truly penitent and meek, and I look forward to writing to you next week! See ya!

Love,
Elder Griffitts

Week 83 - March 2nd, 2020 (Sinait, Philippines)

Dear friends and family, I'm so happy to be able to write you all again today! Sorry that last week's entry was quick, I was in a bit of a rush, but this week has been really great. We are seeing so many miracles happening here in Sinait- this is the last part of the Vigan district before it will become a stake, and the branch is just stepping it up and really moving. We had so many people this last Sunday in sacrament meeting they had to open up the overflow, and between us and the other pair of elders in Sinait we had 17 people in church that aren't yet members that we are teaching. It's amazing and so humbling to be here at this time that the Lord is pouring out His Spirit upon this city. This upcoming March we will be seeing a lot of amazing people enter into a covenant with their Heavenly Father and being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ here on Earth. Really just teaching me so much about the greatness and reality of this work and the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every aspect. 

Exchanges with Elder Juntilano from Vigan

I've really just been reflecting a lot this week as to the importance, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to not only teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ but to live it in every aspect of our lives. In Preach My Gospel, it talks about the Gospel being both the "what" and "why" of this great work- not only what we teach, but also the reason for which we go out and share it. Because we, as Alma and all the other prophets from the scriptures, need to have experienced this conversion to Christ's grace and mercy ourselves before we can effectively share it with the world, and I would like to assert that it is the single most important thing that we must do here on Earth... First, exercise faith in Christ and His power to save unto repentance- unto true and lasting change. We need to give up all our old evils and worldly ways and just submit to the will of One who is much older, wiser, and infinitely more loving than anything or anyone else we may know. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly coming to know the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ, in all their glory, majesty, mercy, and love. They want for us to succeed! They are cheering us on, They are on our side! As long as we are moving forward, seeking Their counsel, and repenting of the slip-ups we make in our daily lives, we can follow the path that the Savior has set. He set it for us knowing we are imperfect, knowing that we must humble ourselves and trust in His redeeming love and not our own abilities, and just give Him our all. I love King Benjamin's discourse on our absolute reliance on a Savior due to our own helplessness found in Mosiah, I would really invite all of you to go back and study those amazing words- I know that through the grace of Christ, we can be saved after all we can do- we are here to learn, we are here to practice. Let us always do so, continue moving forward in Christ as we strive to endure to the end, He will be with us every step of the way! I love you all so much, have a phenomenal week everyone!

Love,
Elder Griffitts