Week 40: 9 Months and Counting

May 16, 2016

Well, you guessed it... this month I hit my half-way mark as a missionary. I'm not sure how time seemed to pass so quickly, and I don't like it, that's for sure... but I am grateful that I still have another 9 months to be a missionary, continue learning, and growing closer to Christ and Heavenly Father.. what a gift!

So, you're probably all wondering how things have been going with the combined areas.. well, this week we spent the first part of the week cleaning out the Sisters' old house and bringing Sister Kitchen and her stuff to our apartment here in Post Falls. Then, we worked on what days to be in what areas, organized our lessons we had already set, and everything in-between.. so a lot of logistical stuff this week, but we did manage to get some pretty wonderful proselyting in!

Sister Kitchen is SUPER awesome! This is her last 6 weeks as a missionary, and I have already learned so much from her.. I am so excited for the rest of the transfer and to learn even more.. I am so lucky to be her companion!!! She is from Roswell, New Mexico and doesn't like the cold. She has Strawberry Blonde hair though, so it feels like we're actually Sisters.. so fun! Plus, we get along really well, which is definitely a tender mercy and blessing. She. is. AWESOME! :) 

Anyway, so some miracles that happened this week? Well, the one that I thought of first was how we went to go contact a Former Investigator in the new area. Well, she had an interest in learning more about the Gospel, but had gotten divorced, and in the agreement apparently part of it was that they both had to agree on what religion the children would be raised in. Well, her ex-husband didn't want the kids to meet with the missionaries, so he threatened to take her to court if she kept meeting with the missionaries... well, so.. they stopped meeting with her a while back because of this. Well, this week we decided to go talk to her and she. was. super. cool!! She knew exactly who we were and said that she's in a better place now and that her kids still can't learn but that she can when they aren't there.. and they're gone on the weekends, so we have an appointment to come back this coming week. HOW MUCH OF A BLESSING IS THAT!?!?!?! Super awesome, I know! :) It was such a tender mercy to be able to meet with her and for her desire to learn more about the Gospel! :)

Well, there's not much more of an update than that... this week really was wonderful though! OH!!! I remembered something else.. So, there's 3 sets of missionaries that live in our apartment complex (2 sets of Elders that live together, and then we live on the other end of the complex)... ANYWAY.. but the apartment complex is in our area, so anyone that wants to learn about the Gospel, we get to teach. So, the Elders were leaving one night and this man walks up to them and says, "Are you guys busy tonight? My wife and I would like you to come by and teach us more about your Church." WHAT!? IS THIS EVEN REAL LIFE!?!??!?! So they called us and gave us their information, and we went to the house that they said, and it wasn't them.... so.... that's awkward. I hope and pray that they weren't kidding and giving us a bogus address, and that they just gave the wrong one by accident or something. We tried around and couldn't find them, so hopefully we'll have more luck with that this week. It was really cool though. :)

Well, that's it. I hope that you are all happy, finding joy in the journey that is this glorious life, and knowing that God loves you so much. I know that He lives. I know that He loves you. I know that He is aware of each and every one of you and that He is in all of the details of your lives. It is such a gift to know of the fact that we are never alone in this crazy world. Our Heavenly Father is with us. If we pray to Him and put our trust in Him, He will bless us more than we could ever thing would be possible. I know that's true! 

I hope that you all have a wonderful week! I love you all! Sorry this email is so short. The hour and a half just flew by! Oh, just so you are all aware, next week (the 24th) I will be going to the Temple (SUPER EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), so my P-day will be on Tuesday, and then the next week after that it is Memorial Day on Monday, so P-day will be on Tuesday that week as well... So.. the next two weeks, I will email you wonderful Children of God on Tuesday.. that is all. :) Then it's back to Monday, don't worry. :) 

Until next week,

 

-Sister Finau and I - reunited before she goes back to Tonga!!! I got to see her on transfer day and it was glorious. :) <3 that Sister!

-A super nice view of Post Falls from the Sisters' old house. So pretty!

-9 MONTHS!

-Sister Kitchen and I.. we took this picture like 30 seconds before emailing, so it's not super good.. next week they'll be better ones, for sure! :)

-- 

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

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith

Week 39: Michelle and Mikayla get Baptized!!! :)

May 9, 2016

Hello friends, family, loved ones, everyone... I hope you all had an amazing Mother's Day! I know I did. Skyping with my parents was the best! :)

I'm in Coeur d' Alene for the time being because Sister Erickson has flown home. I'm staying with some other sisters so I'm not alone, until I get my new companion tomorrow.. ! :) I don't have a lot of time to write... shocker, I know.. haha... anyway! First things first, TRANSFER CALLS....

Well, so ... I'm staying in Post Falls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... but I'm pretty sure that we all knew that was going to happen, haha... I'm super excited to stay! ... there is a PLOT TWIST though.. I will be getting a new companion that is serving in Post Falls already... her ward and my ward are going to be combined into one proselyting area, so the two of us will cover both wards! How exciting is that? I've never been assigned to more than one ward before, so this will undoubtedly be an adventure, but I am pretty excited for it. My new companion's name is Sister Kitchen and she is going home in 6 weeks, so I will be her last companion as well.. woah, crazy!!! ... THE BEST NEWS EVER THOUGH is that since we cover 2 wards, it's back to having a full-time car! No more walking in the summer time!!! Such a tender mercy! :) So... she will be moving in with me, so my address will be the same. :) (So if you wanted to send me letters, I wouldn't be mad about it... I'll even put my address on here again so that you don't have to go through past emails to try and find it. ;) ) 

501 W Mullan Ave #12

Post Falls, ID 83854

You're welcome. ;) Well, anyway... I don't really remember a lot about what happened this week... we were able to get some members to come to our lessons with us, so that is always amazing! Seriously though, when members come to lessons and fellowship investigators, the investigators progress SOOOO much quicker than if they're taught without a member present... every. single. time. it's. better. with. members. there. So, member missionary work is amazing.

We were able to have a lesson with one of our new investigators, EJ. He is divorced and has 4 children, so we brought one of our members with a similar life situation with us. Anyway, at first he wasn't really intrigued in what we had to talk about.. he was actually grilling some meat for dinner and was only half paying attention.. and then one of the little girls that was there spilt her pop all over herself and he had to clean it up, and it was just all an awkward adventure.... Anyway, eventually it all worked out and we were able to teach him about the Restoration. He said he was very intrigued and didn't really grow up religious at all, but it's definitely something that he wants for his children. So, that was cool. He's not very good at keeping appointments though, so hopefully we'll be able to see him sometime again soon! :) 

We also had a lesson with one of our investigators, John. He is 84 and has been Roman Catholic his whole life, so we've got some pretty big differences in some of the essential doctrines.. like the Godhead and prayer and such.. Anyway.. our ward's executive secretary came with us to his lesson, and he was able to testify SO powerfully to John about the power of prayer, the Priesthood authority, and all of those wonderful things. It was such a blessing! He hasn't come to church yet, but I am confident that he will soon! :) 

THE BEST PART OF THIS WEEK, by far, was on Saturday when Michelle and Mikayla got baptized! I literally cried so much at their baptism, it was unreal. But, it was just such an amazing, powerful blessing to see them get baptized. Especially Michelle... she has worked SO hard trying to quit smoking, and she did it. Then, to see her and her daughter get baptized and literally become perfect right in that very moment. . . the Spirit was so strong. Heavenly Father was so proud of her and the amazing progress she has made. I am so grateful that I got to be in attendance at their baptism. It was a powerful night.. not only did they get baptized, but also... During the time that they were changing back into their church clothes from their whites, missionaries normally teach something. So, Sister Erickson and I had actually been asked to teach at a baptism at 7pm as well (Michelle and Mikayla's was at 8), and so we taught twice that night... and we sang a musical number. It was pretty stressful to coordinate all of that, but it was such a gift.. what an amazing life it is..

Well, I don't have much more for this week, but I know more than anything that Heavenly Father is so aware of us and is so in the details of our lives. He loves us. He is aware of us. He wants to bless us, and He wants us to ask Him, because it's how we grow. I love you all. I know this church is true and anyone can know that as well. Pray to Heavenly Father. He will tell you! 

Love you all!... on a completely unrelated note... I will hit 9 months as a missionary in 3 days..... my half-way mark... How does time even fly so quickly? I have no idea. Crazy business.. Have a happy week! :) 

-My beautiful MTC companion and I at the temple a few weeks ago.. I never sent a picture, I realized. :) 

-Skyping my adorable family

-Michelle and Mikayla's baptism!!! :) 

-- 

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

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith

Week 38: "It's Raining, It's Pouring"

May 2, 2016

... It may be raining and pouring this week a lot, but there's no "old man snoring" here.. well, there might be, but it's not me!!! This week has been spectacular. 

ANYWAY, let's get to it, shall we? 

First of all, I'm SUPER excited that Mother's Day is less than a week away because that means I get to Skype home and that will be SUPER HAPPY!!!! Can you tell I'm a little bit excited about this?

So, I know you're all probably waiting for an update about my toe, and if you're not, you'll get one anyway.. well, IT'S ALL BETTER!! It's amazing how much the power of our Savior helped me through all of this and continues to help me. I don't know what I did to be so blessed with all of these Tender Mercies, but I am so grateful. Really, I didn't do anything, I know that.. It all comes to each one of us simply because God loves us so much. Aren't we so blessed!? 

Well, this week we saw a lot of miracles up here in Post Falls! I got to go on exchanges with the Sister Training Leader again this week, and we saw a TON of amazing miracles. We were able to contact a few people, in particular, that we haven't been able to meet at all throughout the last few months. .. and.. 2 of the people that we contacted this week wanted to learn more about the Gospel!! How amazing is that!? The coolest experience, by far though, is when we went to go contact Joey. His daughter comes to church with one of our members' daughters, and so they referred us to go over there and talk with them. Well, we haven't been able to talk to anyone yet but Joey and the difference that we have seen in him between last week and this week is AMAZING and nothing short of a miracle. Well, last week we stopped by and he was a little hesitant about learning about the Gospel. He said that he had a desire to study the Book of Mormon if only for the history aspect (I may have already shared this story, I can't remember), but we were excited for him to read, none-the-less. He told us that he might be interested in learning more, but that he'd need to talk to his wife about it first (we get this excuse all the time). Anyway, so... we told him we would stop by next week if he didn't call us by then, so that was this week that we stopped by. Anyway, so.. (this is the miracle part).. between last week and this week Joey has read THIRTY WHOLE PAGES of The Book of Mormon, and even though he has been reading it for the history of it, his intentions have already changed so much! The word of God is so powerful! Anyway, so we talked with him about what he read and about the Gospel more and extended another invitation, this time for his whole family to learn, and he said, "Like I said last week, I really can't move forward without my wife's support... this is something that's going to be important to our family, and I need her to be a part of it.  I have been talking with her about it a lot this week, and she's coming around, so hopefully by next week when you stop by, she'll be ready and you can come in and teach us all." ISN'T THAT INCREDIBLE!? The difference in dynamic of what he was saying to us and his intentions and everything changed SO drastically in only 7 short days, all from what? Reading The Book of Mormon. Wow. This Church is SOOO true!

Another fun thing that happened this week was that I got to travel down to Spokane with Sister Erickson and a Sister from our ward, so that they could go to the Temple since it's Sister Erickson's last week. I didn't get to go because there wasn't enough room, so I worked with some sisters in the Valley - one of which (her companion also was in the Temple session) was Sister Bryson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (She was my MTC companion). It was so beyond fun to be able to reconnect with her and to serve around each other for a few hours.. it was like seeing an old friend that you haven't seen for years and reconnecting right away.. A mission creates so many wonderful experiences! Anyway, but her and I worked with the Spanish Sisters and we just went and did service for a member in their ward. Well, they all speak Spanish, so that was interesting for Sister Bryson and I.. it was a TON of fun. I wish I knew how to speak Spanish, haha. Maybe someday.

Another miracle that happened this week was when we were walking to Michelle and Mikayla's to have a lesson with them and it started to rain a little bit. Well, seeing the color of the clouds, we knew it was going to start raining some more pretty quickly, so we decided to walk a little bit quicker. Well, Heavenly Father's hand is SO in our lives, because the MOMENT we ducked under their porch, it started DOWN POURING so intensely... and hailing... and being really cold... so... that was such a tender mercy. Missionary life is AMAZING!

Also, this week I experienced my first missionary blitz! A blitz is where all of the missionaries in the area (we did a blitz with our District - 8 missionaries) go to one area and all the missionaries work in that area for a few hours. Well, lucky us, they all came to OUR area! So, for 2 whole hours, 8 missionaries were proselyting in our ward boundaries.. So many people were able to be contacted because of that. This life is amazing! :) 

WELL, I hope that you each have a glorious week and know how much you are loved! This life is amazing and we are each so blessed to be living it! I hope that each of you Mothers (especially my own), and future mothers have a wonderful Mother's Day and know how much you are loved and cared for. I am grateful for each of you!!! :) <3

-We went to Coeur d' Alene last P-day.. it is SO beautiful!!!

-Coeur d' Alene lake.

-Look who so happened to be in my Sacrament Meeting yesterday.. WHAT? Crazy small world when you see your cousin at church (Don't worry, I got permission from the Mission President to talk to him. :) )

-- 

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

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith

Week 37: Toe-ns of Fun!

April 25, 2016

(In case that didn't make any sense to you.. that's supposed to be "Tons of Fun" with toes... it will make sense in a minute).

SO..... HELLO AGAIN!!!! I love you all and hope that you had the happiest week in ALL the lands. I know that my week was pretty dandy... thanks for asking. :) 

Well, so.. first of all.. about that subject line. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but (skip this if you get grossed out easily) I had some sort of weird thing growing on the bottom of my big toe throughout the last couple months- ever since a few weeks after I got transferred to Bonners Ferry. ANYWAY... so, this week I went to the foot Dr to get it taken care of because it never went away. They thought it was a wart, but NOPE.. false... it was a foreign object (the Dr. thinks like a piece of hair or something) that entered into my toe and then my body built up a wall around it which made itself present as a wart... So, he took some blades to my toe and got it to come out.. whatever it was. The whole thing just came off of my toe and then he realized that there was a wart underneath it which he then removed as well. He saw it and said, "Yeah, this is going to hurt a lot for me to get this out, so I'm going to have to numb you up." So, he did. 2 shots later, I couldn't feel a thing... what a blessing. Afterward, the Dr said,"this should be numb for the next 3 hours of so, and then after that, it will probably hurt a lot." Then he gave me some additional bandages to change it and things. So, I was worried about that.. good thing we had the car that day. Well, there was no need to worry. Just like the Lord always does, He provided a way for me to be able to continue on in the work.. He definitely looks after His missionaries!! ...my toe wasn't numb for 3 hours, it was numb for 3 DAYS! So, that was a blessing, because during the part where it would have hurt the most, it didn't hurt at all. I am doing fine now.. it's healing very well. The funny thing though, was that I had to wear flip flops out proselyting (don't worry, the mission nurse gave me permission) because my toe was so giant it couldn't fit in any of my shoes!!... the biggest tender mercy of all was that the nurse came out to call me back and instead of saying my first name like every other Dr, she said, "Sister Griffith..." Well.. she was LDS, so that was awesome, and SO. WAS. THE. DOCTOR!! How amazing is that? The person that referred us to them wasn't even LDS, so it was definitely a blessing! 

Also, something else awesome that happened this week was that I got to check off "Eat Moose" from my bucket list!! It's so ironic.. 3 months in Bonners Ferry and no one ever fed me Moose. But then I come to Post Falls, and BOOM! Moose and Bacon burger coming right up.. it was delicious, just in case you were wondering. 

Also, Michelle and Mikayla (our only 2 real investigators) came to church again yesterday and are planning on getting baptized on May 7th!! I think I mentioned that last week... Anyway, for Michelle to get baptized she has to quit smoking at least 2 weeks before the baptism. Well, the 2 week mark was on Saturday.. and SHE HASN'T SMOKED AT ALL! Yesterday at church she was like, "Yeah.. I went outside last night and I was looking through the buds in the ash tray and I was like.. man, I have a real problem if I'm going through these nasty buds. Then, I told myself, 'Michelle, if you smoke, you're going to jail.' (even though that's not true), and I went back inside and I haven't smoked at all!" It was so awesome!! I'm so excited for their baptism!! We have been praying for her a lot that she can keep resisting the urge to smoke.. so far, so good! They also came to the baptism of someone else this week so that Mikayla could see what their baptism is going to be like, and the Spirit was strong. Afterward, they were like, "we want this, this and this to happen at our baptism." It was so heart-warming that they're already planning it! Love that!! :) 

Well, something else funny that happened this week was that we come home on Saturday night only to find that our power is completely out. We tried to flip all of the breakers off and on to no avail, and so we called our landlord and he gave us the number for the power company and they were able to talk us through what to do... so that was an adventure. All was well, though.. by the end of the night, we had power fully restored.. Never a dull moment! :) 

Well, to end, I just want to end with something that has really affected the way that I pray.  A Spiritual Experience that really has blessed me this week was of learning about prayer and how to better align my will with Heavenly Father's will for me. I came across this article on LDS.org about "How to Pray in a Way God Can Answer." Reading it, it's like it was written just for me. It's amazing. It's all about how we tend to pray for things that we want, or things that are our will... but oftentimes we leave out Heavenly Father's will. When we pray, it is important that we pray for both wills. "____________ (my will), (insert the phrase) 'but if not', __________ (something I'm sure Heavenly Father wants for me/that person)." I have tried doing this during the week, and it has been powerful. I really was only praying for my will, not my Father's. When I started including both wills, the Spirit has been so much stronger in my life, and my prayers have just about always been answered. What a blessing! (it makes more sense on the article - https://www.lds.org/blog/how-to-pray-in-a-way-god-can-answer?lang=eng)

Well friends, missionary work is the BEST work ever. I am so grateful to be a part of it, and to be able to learn and grow in this amazing setting. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and that you can try the whole "Praying in a Way God Can Answer" thing.. it will change your life and strengthen your relationship with Heavenly Father and Christ, I just know it. Love you all! 

Until next week then,

-My giant toe

-EATING MOOSEN!!!!! :D.. super exciting.

-Some super cute invitations we helped make at Mutual with Mikayla.

-Beautiful Post Falls 

-- 

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

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith

Week 36: Reaching Upward

April 18, 2016

Well, no time left, so this will regrettably be pretty lame... I still love you all though, don't worry. 

Some really amazing things that happened this week were:

1.) The area is starting to pick up. Something cool I noticed a lot this week was just how much Heavenly Father places us in the path that we need to be in to find those who are prepared. This week we were walking to go visit a part-member family and afterward, we were walking to our next appointment when we see this man across the street walking with 2 little girls, and a stroller with another baby inside it. We wave to him and give him a friendly "hello" and then he stops, asks how we're doing, and we start talking to him about his family, and the church that he goes to in the area.  He opens up about the loss of his mother and sister and how he used to go to a certain Catholic church, but now he goes to a different one and that he is in school right now and studies all about Diety. We then had the opportunity to testify to him about God's Love, and how "something really amazing that our Church teaches is how Families can be Together Forever." We gave him a #Hallelujah card, and he said that he's really interested and will check out our Church. His name is Kurt, and he is awesome. 

2.) We were on exchanges this week and I had the opportunity to be with a missionary that just came out a few weeks ago. Throughout the course of the day we were able to talk to a lot of people, and she was able to get out of her comfort zone and talk as well, even though she's really quiet. It just makes me grateful for the time that has passed and how much I've been able to learn on my mission so far. .. I'm sure I was the EXACT same way when I first got here.. Anyway, we were filling up the car with gas before going to an appointment and there was a man outside (one of the convenience store workers), who was smoking on the curb. I said hello to him and we were about to talk to him about the Gospel when a car pulled up so he had to go inside an work. Disappointed, we continued on and went to our appointment. A couple of hours later, we were walking home after dropping off the car to the Elders, and felt impressed to walk down a different street (kind of out of the way), thinking that it was just because that street was more lit and so it'd be safer.. Well, we started walking that way, and happened to walk past the same gas station we were at earlier in the evening and guess who was outside once again? Jim. The same man we had tried to talk to a few hours later. Well, wasting no time, we talked with him and he opened up about how he was in the army and doesn't believe in God because he doesn't understand how God would let so many bad things happen in the world. He told us how he was fighting for custody of his children and was really burdened with that. Just then, a car pulls up that he has to attend to, so we've only got a few seconds before he has to leave. We gave him a #Hallelujah card and said, "Jim, I know you don't believe in God, and that you don't think He can help you, but I know He will. Watch this video and you'll be able to know how you can be with your family forever. When you have questions, give us a call. We'll see you around." The Spirit was strong and he left with a smile on his face. We walked home the rest of the way, grateful for the second opportunity to talk with Jim. It was no coincidence. What a blessing.

Also, on Tuesday this week I hit my 8 month mark as a missionary! WHAT!? Right? I feel the same way. It's hard to believe that time has flown so quick, but I am enjoying the ride. It is such an amazing gift to be a missionary. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Also, 2 of our investigators, a mom and a daughter, Michelle and Mikayla, are on-date to be baptized on May 7th!!!!!!! (insert freak out here). They came to Sacrament Meeting yesterday and enjoyed it a lot. Sister Erickson and I got asked to say the prayers for the meeting.. it was the first time I have been asked to say a prayer in Sacrament Meeting my whole mission... milestones, haha! :) Anyway, when we committed them to be baptized on May 7th, the spirit just filled the room and everyone was able to feel just how right it was. We are all super excited, and it will be Sister Erickson's last-ish day as a missionary, so that will make it extra special. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week. I was studying this talk by Elder Robert D Hales this week (he's one of the 12 Apostles) (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/meeting-the-challenges-of-todays-world?lang=eng), and something he said really impressed me. That "if you want more than you have now, reach upward, not across." Wow. Powerful.

-Sister Erickson and I at the "Falls" of Post Falls.

-Our District.. what fun! 

-A church marquee that I saw this week while we were walking. So true.

-- 

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

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith

Week 35: Impatience Impedes Faith

April 11, 2016

Hello friends! Well, this week was just swell. A LOT better than last week, so that is definitely a blessing and a half. 

I don't have a lot of time to write (what else is new?), so I'll just summarize some things that were neat that happened this week.

Something SUPER cool was that the Elders gave us a media referral that got sent to them, but the person really lives in our area. Anyway, this person had requested a Bible, and so the Sisters before I got here had been trying to drop it off, but no one was ever home or they just felt weird about it. Well, yesterday after church I felt really strongly that we should go try and contact her, told Sister Erickson, and she agreed. So, we went. Well, we got there, knocked on the door and asked for Kathleen.... the lady that answered said, "Well, that's going to be kind of hard.. Kathleen hasn't lived here for 7 YEARS.........." Well.... that was interesting. There had to be some reason why we felt so strongly to come visit her. Anyway, so I'm like, "Oh, interesting.. what's your name?" She says that she's Theresa and doesn't slam the door in our face (that's always a good sign), and so we start telling her who we are, ask her about her religious beliefs, and she says that "Well, my husband used to do missionary work over in Africa, and he really enjoyed that. We don't go to any church around here right now.. we're hopping between some trying to figure out which one is right for us to go to." ... that's seriously the most amazing answer we could have gotten. So, I say, "well, Theresa, I don't think that it's a coincidence that we came to your door today looking for someone that hasn't lived here for 7 years. We share a unique message about Jesus Christ that we know will bless you and your family so much." Then, we teach her a brief version of the restoration, and she tells us we can come by another time. She wouldn't set a return appointment because she was really busy, but it was super cool none-the-less. It donned on me this week that I have been struggling a lot with having faith that the Lord is preparing people in this area to hear about the Gospel. Every time we were meeting someone on the street while we were walking, each and every one of them were super uninterested. I found myself automatically assuming that each person that I was going to talk to were going to be uninterested as well. During Fast Sunday yesterday, we fasted for one of our investigators, Michelle, to be able to quit smoking, and it definitely hit me hard that's what my mindset had been this past week... SO, I prayed that I would be able to have hope when meeting people and faith that there are people here in Post Falls that are being prepared, and then right after that we met Theresa. Coincidence? I think not.

People are being prepared. This is the TRUE Church on this earth, and we have that knowledge. What an amazing blessing.

Also, earlier this week I was reading a talk about being a perfectionist and how that hinders spiritual growth (which I am, sadly), and something that Elder Gong who gave the talk said really stuck out to me.. ."Impatience impedes faith." (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2014/07/young-adults/becoming-perfect-in-christ?lang=eng).How powerful is that? That hit me really hard too.. I have been being really impatient - with myself, with others, with this sickness that I have, etc... and that has been hindering my faith. Wow. What a blessing to come to that realization. Needless to say, I wrote that on a note card and put it on my study wall so I'll see it all the time. :) Well, I better be going, but I just want you all to know how much I love you. This church is true. We are so blessed to have it when so many in this world do not. Pray for guidance and you will receive it. What a wonderful life it is. Love you all! Have a great week! 

OH! Something really awesome that happened this week too was that yesterday, I was finally able to meet people in our ward at Church. Before the meeting began, an older Brother walks up to me and says, "Sister, where are you from?" "Oregon," I reply. Then, we start talking, and he leaves.. (Pretty standard conversation when people meet missionaries.. didn't think anything of it). Then, he brings his wife in and she says, "Sister Griffith... what is your father's name?" I tell her and she says, "Figures as much. It almost gave it away just because of your hair, but we're the Nichols family. We were in your ward with you and your family when you got baptized." WHAT!? It was so neat. The world really is so small in the Church, AND, it made me feel like I had a little piece of home with me on an otherwise nerve-racking day. :) 

-Apparently this painting is one of the 6 originals in the world? Here in Coeur d' Alene.... not sure I buy into that one, but that's what people keep saying. It is breathtaking! :) 

-On Exchanges this week with the other sisters in our Zone. So happy! :) 

-A member we visited this week had this sign up in her house and it reminded me of home and how much my mom would always sing that to us. Such a tender mercy! :) 

-Sister Erickson and me. :)

-- 

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

Hurrah for Israel!

Much Love,

Sister Jennifer Griffith