So basically, HELLO EVERYONE!! It seriously gives me so much joy to write these letters and update you about my life here in Spokane. Basically this week, as you can probably tell from the subject line, was full of knocking on doors with nobody home that we went to see... #awkward.... but it was good too, because we were able to meet some pretty swell people, so.. everything happens for a reason for sure! :)
So.. lots of super funny things happened this week, and I hope that you laugh lots when you read this email, because I found a lot of laughs coming from myself this week as well. :)Let's start out with a mini miracle, shall we? So, I have this thumbdrive that I keep my pictures on and things, and last week I left it plugged in on a computer at the library.. Then we left and I didn't realize I had even left it there until like 3 days later, so we went back to the library to look for it, and of course it was gone. Just my luck.. So, I asked the lady at the front desk if anyone had turned it in, and she checked and said, "no." So of course I was low-key devastated, and so throughout last week I was praying a lot that if it were the Lord's will that the thief's heart would be softened and that they would return my thumbdrive to the library. Then, on monday of last week after I was done emailing... I went to the front desk again and asked and guess what the lady brought out.. MY THUMBDRIVE! She said that someone had turned it in and basically my life was made! The moral of this story is that Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and will bless us with what we need, and sometimes even what we want, just like my little, inexpensive thumbdrive. It wasn't eternally significant that I get my thumbdrive back, but it was such a tender mercy for me to just have that reminder that Heavenly Father loves His children. SUPER HAPPY! :)On Tuesday we had a multi-zone training with Elder Johnson (a member of the seventy) and another prayer was answered. In Preach My Gospel (basically like a manual that helps us be better missionaries) we are told to talk with everyone that we see. I have struggled a lot with this the past few weeks because talking with everyone about the gospel is really difficult especially when they already know who you are and have a preconceived notion that they hate your guts and your message... So I have been praying for guidance, and Elder Johnson talked about exactly that! I think his message applies to everyone. He said, "talk with everyone does not mean talk with everyone about the gospel. It does, however, mean talk with everyone- be friendly! Smile! I give you the promise that as you do that, the conversation will, in some way or another, always lead back to a truth that you can testify of." That is so profound. We live busy lives, and it can be difficult as mortals to try and talk with everyone, but I know that being friendly not only brightens your day, but the day of everyone around. Just a thought.Another funny thing that happened this week (are you sensing a theme yet?) was that this guy came to our door and was trying to sell us some sort of super expensive $39 cleaner and was like "It won't take the cheese out the macaroni, will it? It won't take the paint off that car!" "I'm just trying to share this with you!" So then, after politely declining, Sister Norcross was like, "Well, thanks! We have a message we want to share with you too!" Then he was like, "OOOHHHHH! Don't think I didn't notice your nametags!! I've been to Idaho.. I've been to Utah.. I know all about your message!" Super funny! I love this work! :)Another thing that happened this week, super funny now but at the moment made me want to clench my fists and ask "WHY!?" was that I fell off my bike.. like hardcore. Ironic though because I'm not even in a biking area! So.. basically I have this nice new bike that we had to get for my mission, and it has just been sitting in a shed this past month and so I really wanted to ride it one morning for exercise time because I was super excited about it. So, at 6:30am, I rolled out of bed and Sister Norcross and I went biking. We were almost back to our house when there was this piece of tire in the road (super small) that I was trying to swerve to avoid running over, and I definitely avoided it, so that's good.... but I avoided it so much that my bike and me fell down a ditch... so that was a neat experience. Don't worry, I'm fine and all, but the right side of my body probably hurts real bad (luckily I'm left handed, am I right?) and if it keeps hurting, I'll go into the doctor or something, but it hurts less each day so I'm pretty sure I'm fine. That's what the Mission nurse thinks too, so don't worry, I'm not being some stupid teenager! :) haha, but yeah.. fun stuff to celebrate being on my mission for exactly a month..! I'm going to attach a picture to this email of what the scenario was so that you can laugh at how little the thing in the road was that I was trying to avoid, and also because in the background you can totally see my bike tire marks and where I landed in the ditch. Let's just say that my bike isn't so shiny anymore... some scratches have appeared and my glasses have a few scratches again but nothing too major. At least it will be a funny story to tell my kids someday!Some really spiritual experience that happened this week was that we went to see this family who is less active and we were teaching them about the temple. They have 2 girls and we were testifying to them on the eternal blessings that come from the temple, and the mom just started crying and the dad said that there's a lot of things they have to work on, but that they know they need to go so that they can be sealed to their family and to each other. It was such a spiritual experience.... and then yesterday.. THEY CAME TO CHURCH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME! I was smiling so wide when I saw them walk in! It literally made me the happiest person in all the land just then. :) So yeah... amazing!Also, it was like 8:30pm and we're not supposed to be home until 9, but there's not a lot you can do that late at night as far as visiting people, so sister Norcross felt like we should drive down this certain street and so we did and there were these two people there unpacking their moving truck and I felt like we should stop and see if we could help at all, so we did.. and right when we walked up to them, they recognized us immediately and told us that they were "ex mormons" and that they're not going to come to church (they told us that like 15 times) but that they'd love us to stop by and they'll feed us and stuff. We talked with them until it was time to go home and it was just amazing! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!? Like, really though? It was so amazing that the spirit led us to this amazing family, and although they don't want anything to do with us, we know we were supposed to stop by for a reason and we love them anyway.Throughout this week, I have just been overwhelmed with gratitude for the spirit and the promptings that we are given to be led the way that our Heavenly Father needs us to go in this life. No matter how many mistakes people make, or how difficult life gets, there is nothing too bad that the cleansing power of the Atonement cannot wash away. We may have tendency to believe that we are too far gone, or have done too many things to ever go back, or even we may just have feelings of inadequacy. but I know that if we just start with one thing and try to master that, and then another, and then another, we will look back one day and realize that our lives have changed and we have become those people that we so desperately yearn to be. Heavenly Father is aware of you. He knows you by name and loves you more than you can ever physically fathom. "Trust in Him and believe in good things to come."
Well, my time is gone. I am sorry that this was so long... but I know that this is the work of Heaven. Our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ love us so much that they let simple people like me come out and try to spread God's love to all of His children and the amazing message of Christ's atonement. I may not be perfect, but the message that I share is, and because of the perfect plan of Salvation and Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can be blessed so much and be more than we could ever be if we didn't have this knowledge in our lives.I love you all and hope you have a blessed week!--
"God be with you 'till we meet again!"Hurrah for Israel!Much Love,Sister Jennifer Griffith
-Sister Norcross and I doing service at the ranch! :)
-All the biking fun... not.
-Beautiful Washington
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