Time In The Temple & a "Heart Attack"

Hey everybody,

This past week we've had lots of tender mercies and miracles amidst partially melting out in the hot, humid weather!

The first tender mercy was when we were having a lesson with some people named Mike, Kim, and Marshel. We asked Mike to read verse 4 of Moroni 10:3-5, and instead of saying "ye" he said "y'all" throughout the entire verse. Literally made my day. God blesses us with a good laugh every once in a while!

On Thursday we went to the temple as a mission for the last time with the Hanks'. It was a special experience and we had a good time. We also got to help with the laundry afterwards (along with the Florence sisters) and it's an entirely new, awesome experience working in the temple and not just going for a session!

While out on a team up with Sister Stark, we had nothing on our agenda after our appointments and we decided to visit a member who is working on coming back to church. We called her and she said, "I was thinking about calling you earlier, but I didn't. I figured you were busy. Then about 30 minutes later you called me!" She went on to say that she had been wanting to cook a good meal yesterday, but something told her to wait until today...which worked out because our dinner appointment had canceled...and we had a great visit over dinner with her. :) The spirit works in mysterious ways, and God definitely provides for His hungry missionaries!

Last week we met one of our neighbors, Brandy. We had a great time chatting with her and she had lots of questions about our missionary work. We came to know that she is having a rough time in life right now. An idea came to mind that we could "heart attack" her front door with encouraging scriptures and messages. We had planned on doing it for a couple days, but we just didn't get around to it until Sunday evening. While doing 12 week later on, we had a knock on our door. It was Brandy! She was SO grateful for our simple gesture. She said that she had been having an especially hard two days and that the timing of our heart attack couldn't have been better. I'm very grateful for the guidance of the spirit!

Sister Oscarson and I have been doing lots of tracting and are enjoying our summer in Russellville. Hope everyone enjoys the 4th of July next week! One of my favorite holidays!

God bless,
Sister Griffith

Sister Oscarson and I at the beautiful Birmingham Alabama Temple!

 

Our amazing President & Sister Hanks....their last temple trip with us!

Us and the Stephenson's (who will be departing soon!)

The Russellville and Florence sisters at the Temple!

Our missionary name tags!

Railroad crossing!

Sister Oscarson and I out tracting!


***BONUS PICS THAT SHE SENT A WEEK LATER TO BE ADDED TO THIS BLOG POST**

 

New Companion, New Mission Car, New Investigators!

Hey y'all,

Transfers came and went this past Wednesday and now I have a wonderful new companion named Sister Oscarson! She's "fresh off the boat" from the Provo, UT and she is so bold, confident, and energetic that I feel like she's come "pre-trained" to the field! I am excited to be companions with her in Russellville. :) We've already seen miracles together and it hasn't even been a week yet. Here are a few examples:

We got a NEW CAR! Okay, this isn't so much of a spiritual experience, but my goodness it made my day finding out that we would drive a Nissan Altima, with only 200 miles, for the next 6 weeks. It's the little things in life that bring joy. ;)

On Friday last week we were contacting in "Aldi's" and a man walked up to us as we were browsing their amazingly cheap produce. He asked, "Are you missionaries?" We said, "Yes!" He explained that his name was Pedro and then said, "I could tell you were missionaries by the modest way you dress and your demeanor. You stick out from people in a good way." That made us feel really good to know that we are "different", but in a good way. :)

That same day, the Elders referred us to a lady they had met named Wendy. We went to meet her the day after, Saturday. Wendy is searching for truth and spiritual knowledge. We talked with her on her porch for a while. I got chills the whole time, in the 90-degree weather, because I could feel the spirit and know that she has so much potential. We'll be meeting with her tomorrow. :)

As for myself, I had a sweet experience at church yesterday receiving strength from the Sacrament and feeling the spirit. Hymns speak deeply to me and I found myself a few times tearing up while singing, "I know My Redeemer Lives"---what a joyful sentence.

Well we are just chugging away in Russellville right now and doing lots of finding! Please pray for the people we teach to receive answers to their prayers and spiritual strength.

Love,
Sister Griffith

Sightseeing on UNA campus :) This fountain is beautiful!

Sister Oscarson and I at transfers!

Our new ride, a Nissan Altima. It "push" starts. Smooth driving. New car smell. Only 200 miles. OOOH! AHHH!

 

Lessons on Charity

Hello!

On Wednesday we had a meal appointment with a member here in Florence that just moved into an Assisted Living Center. That's consecration at its finest---still feeding the missionaries even you can barely take care of yourself. Anyway, we had a good meal and as we were sitting in the community dining room, a lady across the room said, "Are you the sister missionaries?" We replied that yes we were, and she came and sat with us. She was a member in Florence as well, and was the sweetest thing. She expressed just how much she loved the church and how she and her husband did lots of missionary trips when they were younger. The lady that was feeding us also went on a mission as a senior missionary. It was a treat for me to be able to talk with these faithful, southern pioneers.

Thursday we had Zone Training in Russellville. It was really good. The biggest thing I got out of it was something the spirit taught me as they were giving a training on charity. I came to the realization that there is no limit to charity. God never said, "Once you pay your 10%, you don't need to give any more." We are commanded to continually love and serve our neighbor! We give, we serve, because that's what Christ would do. We don't do it for credit, pay, or blessings. We serve because that is how we learn to become like Christ. True charity means serving without expecting anything back, and looking for opportunities to do more. I do understand there's a difference between service and "free labor" (God taught us compassion but also gave us common sense) and I understand that our giving to someone doesn't always result in them spending it wisely (but that's on them). As we follow the spirit and look for opportunities to serve our lives will be changed for the better because we are striving to pattern it after the life of One who is perfect.

Sunday was a good day for the Russellville ward...we enjoyed three baptisms right after church, of a 15-year-old girl and two Hispanic brothers! I was asked to play piano for the baptism service. Lots of members were there to support these newly-baptized members. :)

I hope everyone's week is blessed and my challenge is for you to look for opportunities to serve! :)

Love,
Sister Griffith

Doing service for a member and she let us ride her tricycle :)

Sister Bradford trying out the tricycle! 

Everyone looks so happy--- then there's Sister Bradford and I... Haha

Amanda, our investigator, and us!

Beautiful clouds as the sun was setting

Apparently Walmart came out with a great new church movie!

Four Interesting Things From This Week

Hey y'all,

This week has been an interesting week! Here's four reasons why:

1. On Sunday I was asked by one of the Elders to play piano while he sang for a musical number at district meeting. We didn't have any sheet music but he said he'd show me some on P day. Turns out we couldn't practice that day because of our hectic schedules; so the morning of district meeting we had about 5 minutes to practice. Sight-read a musical number with basically no practice....check.

2. Sister Bradford and I were out tracting one day....and in the South when the sun starts going down, and it's summertime, the fireflys come out! They are easy to catch because they move slow but they don't stay continually glowing so sometimes they camouflage well into the scenery. Anyway we had always heard that if a firefly hit your windshield or was partially "smooshed" that it would stay glowing. Needless to say, we found that fact to be true. They sure are neat insects!!

3. Talking about bugs...one day this week we got in the car and were driving down the road and Sister Bradford saw a spider on our windshield. She tapped the glass where it is, just to find out that the spider was IN our car and had built a small web on the ceiling of the car! That gave us a good laugh.

4. Today we played Ultimate Frisbee and Gator ball with the Elders in our district! We played Ultimate at the park and it was sure hot. Then we moved to the church gym to play some gator ball. I got hit in the face with the ball, but I survived. :)


Wishing everyone a splendid, and interesting, week!
Sister Griffith

On exchanges with Sister Beus and we found more beautiful Hibiscus flowers while out tracting :)

The Florence fountain

You know they're Mormon when....

Sister Bradford and I!