Week 3: The Little Missionary that Could

August 31, 2015

Hello darling friends and family!! 

Guess who's actually in the great state of Washington now!?! That's right, you guessed it, ME! It's super crazy to be here and not in the MTC bubble, but I'm so excited for all that the next 18 months has in store.  

First and foremost, when we got here on Monday morning, we got off the plane and could barely see a thing.. It's so smoky here because of the fires, and I'm pretty sure that my asthmatic lungs hate my guts because it seems like I'm constantly breathing in smoke, but we got some rain this week after much prayer and apparently a stake fast last week, so I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us and helping this beautiful place be a little bit less on fire.  

After getting here on Monday afternoon, we went out in downtown Spokane and went "fear busting." Basically that just means that all of us scared, "greenies" (New missionaries), went out and talked to some people right off the bat.  It was super nerve racking to talk to real life people, but it was really rewarding as well.  I gave a Book of Mormon to a lady named Lakeesha (I basically am super jealous of her name) and she said she would read and pray about it -YAY! Anyway, then we went and got oriented with all of the rules of the mission, went to sleep at a member's house, and then the next morning I met my trainer - Sister Norcross!

She is from Arizona on the Navajo Reservation and she has been out for 10 months now, so basically she's a pro at all things missionary. Sometimes when we're teaching I just stop talking because she's so good at what she does.  We live in a home that is on a member's land with 2 other sisters and also.. Chickens! Basically I live in the wild with all of the chickens, and it's awesome.. Sister Norcross and I are in an area that covers 4 cities, so it's pretty big, and the work is good.  We don't have many investigators so we primarily visit less active families and members and I just love them all so much!  The work is good, and I am so exhausted all of the time that I can basically fall asleep in like 10 seconds.. it's a problem.  

We do lots of service with members and less actives which makes me happy.  This week we went to a ranch with 80+ horses and changed out their water and scrubbed their troffs.  It was super intense and awesome.. I felt like a cowgirl, so that was really neat.  We also split firewood and stacked it for the winter at a member's home which was fun too.  I feel like I'm out in the wild and it gives me lots of joy.  

Most people live in humble homes, and are so willing and ready to follow all that Heavenly Father wants them to do. I've only been here a week, and I've had lots of discouraging moments already, but if there is one thing that I know, it's that God loves these people.  I can see it and feel it as my companion and I teach and bare testimony to them.  He knows their efforts and sent His son, Jesus Christ, down to earth to feel all that they have felt and to bare every burden that they are facing.  It's so true what they say about loving the people.  I love them so much already.  Not because I know everything about them, because I don't, but just because it is literally tangible how much the Lord loves and cares for them.  

The work is just that, work.  This whole missionary life is much different than anything I would have expected, but I am so grateful that I am a missionary.  I have felt really inadequate this week a ton as I don't know the area and don't know all of the people, but yesterday I prayed for strength to overcome and to be better, and let me tell you, Heavenly Father listens to the prayers of His children.  I felt so much love in that moment and that it's okay that I'm just "a little missionary" right now.  I am doing the best I can, and the Lord is aware of that, and will provide a way for me to become the kind of missionary that I so desperately want to be.  It has been hard to be with a companion every single day all day, but I have been praying for that too and feel so much strength in the fact that I am in this little town for a reason, and that as long as I am laboring as much as I can out in this area, that I will be directed to whomever the Lord has prepared to hear the message of His restored gospel right now.  You should all look up a talk called "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality" by David A Bednar. Just google it, it's amazing.  It has given me so much strength to be able to overcome the challenges of missionary life, and I am grateful I am here and on this mission!

I love you all and am so grateful for the emails/letters I get and for the love that I feel from each of you.  You truly are such a strength to me and I thank my Father in Heaven that you are all in my life.  I hope all is well and that you are finding joy in the journey that is life.  Remember that whatever you feel like you can't do, Christ is here for you and experienced everything you're going through before you ever did and if you pray to Heavenly Father and ask for the strength to change your circumstances, not that your circumstances will just change, that He will indeed bless you to be more than you could ever be through relying on only your own power.

Have the best week!  My address for at least the next 5 weeks, in case you want to write, (I love letters :) ) is:

9011 S Metifor Rd

Cheney, WA 99004

Here are some pictures!! 

 -Our Investigator Ron and his wife with Sister Norcross and Me (they are the funniest!) 

-Before and after the rain (smoky vs beautiful!) - Rain is literally the best.

-- 

"God be with you 'till we meet again!"

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith