First week in Tapatio! February 20, 2017.. Happy Birthday to me!

Well my first week in Tapatio was pretty good honestly! so far the weather has been pretty normal, there are some days that it gets pretty hot at about 3 in the afternoon, and there are others that it gets so windy my companion about flies away so i have to keep a hold of him on those days haha. So far our area seems pretty good! we are always climbing up and down hills though, and i mean steep hills! so i don't think ill be getting too fat here haha. also in this area the streets are pure cobblestone, just my luck my BRAND NEW BOOTS opened up on Tuesday, i was mad no lie. but we went to a little corner store, bought some super glue and so far so good! Don't be thinking that ive lost my redneck touch. This week was pretty great though! I've been doing everything possible to start a good relationship with the members, we went and talked to the first counselor of the bishopric, who is basically the bishop now since this ward doesn't have one. Were going to plan lots of activities and were going to do everything possible to explode this area! also we had a great meeting with our ward mission leader, something we almost never did in my last area! he helped us out alot and really wants to help us in everything and he also gave us lots of ideas of what we can do to have a bishop! our area is a little big and since all the streets go in so many different directions i never have a clue where were at, but i think that in 5 more weeks ill have it down. We also had leadership council this week and that was alright, kinda boring actually haha. We talked about health rules and how we shouldn't eat food in the streets(lets just say that's a rule that i would love to obey but my stomach doesn't let me). and we also talked about the new schedule we will be putting in this mission! starting Thursday we will be getting up at 7 instead of 630! this is so that we can sleep more and be healthier. also starting next Monday we will have 3 extra hours on our pday to do whatever we want! ITS GONNA BE AWESOME! and church was pretty good yesterday, 100 people showed up to church! my companion said that's the most he has ever seen and it was great honestly to see it! so yeah so far so good in this area! the members are pretty great, its a little tough working with the leaders here just because there not as "gung ho" as the leaders in my last area(i think that's a saying?). BUT we are giving it our all! this week well have interview with the president and i hope we can talk to the stake president as well about what we are going to do to see more miracles in this area. Still loving the mission! oh and apparently today's my birthday, kinda weird but yeah i guess that means I'm 20 now. To celebrate i ate my heart out(pictures to follow). So that was my first week in my new area! Cant wait to see how this next week goes! i want to say happy birthday to my cute cousins Emma and Madi! I hope they have a great birthday now that they are turning 8!! and i hope you all have a great week and may god be with you till we meet again! Love Elder Griffin

 My new area!

 The killer hamburger I ate today, then get my picture taken and posted on the wall... He said he even ate icecream after that the sister missionaries bought for him for his B-day!

 My Birthday ride...  if only????

February 13, 2017.. I'm in Guadalajara... Transferred to Tlaquepaque!!!!

Hey everyone!! so just a quick update on my life. Today was transfers! i cant believe it but i got transfered! im now officially in Guadalajara! im in the tlaquepaque stake and in the tapatio ward! i was pretty suprised honestly, i really thought i was going to stay another transfer in my other area, but oh well i know im here because the lord needs me! anyways this last week was pretty awesome! we had alot of cool things happen and it was a great week to work without having too many meeting or things like that to worry about! Tuesday was normal with the district meetings, after that we got the whole zone together and listened to the last testimonies of Elder Menchu and Sister Allen since they have ended their mission! i always love hearing those testimonies, it just reminds me how special this work is and how lucky i am to be a part of it! and also how much we have to take advantage of this short time that we have! Wednesday was pretty normal as well as far as the work goes. Thursday was 100% crazy though!! the sisters in our ward had a baptism planned for that night, so like usual they ask for our help to clean the baptismal font and fill it up. Well we started filling it up at about 3 pm, and the baptism was supposed to be at 730, so plenty of time to fill. Well when we got there, just our luck, there was no more water! so the font had only filled up to knee height!! that was a little scary. Also it was supposed to start at 730, but the baptismal candidates along with the sister missionaries didnt show up till about 845!!! (we have to be home at 930 as missionaries or else we get in big trouble). so we literally were running throughout the whole church handing them the baptismal clothes and telling them to change. Rather than having a normal baptismal program that takes about an hour, we sang a hymn, prayed, a short 10 minute talk, then the baptism!! An adorable family got baptized, an 8 year old boy, a 16 year old boy, and the mom! the only tough part was that the 16 year old boy had to be baptized 3 times since there was hardly no water and they couldnt get all his clothes under the water haha! that was really fun( once again the sisters giving me more stress haha). Friday we said goodbye to the missionaries that ended their missions, Elder Fullmer stayed with us after since His companion ended his mission. Saturday we had an awesome stake activity! we did a day in the mission field! the stake organized a bunch of little workshops like about how to talk to people, how to iron your clothes, how you should dress, missionary things like that haha! We got to participate in all those fun things then all the youth that were there went with us to do make a few visits and contact people! it was awesome and all of the young men and young women loved it and all of them said they wanted to serve missions after! Also the bad news came on saturday that i was going to be transferred. Honestly i was a little sad, i really loved my last area and i REALLY dont like big cities, but again i know im here for a reason. When i talked to the assistents saturday night he told me that they really needed me here because all the zone is just depressed basically and no one is working really hard and things arent going good here. Talking to my companion he has basically just been telling me the list of problems there are in our area, our ward, our stake and in our zone. But im gonna work hard and give it all ive got!! And finally yesterday i spent packing my bags(its ridiculous how much stuff i have!) and i also said goodbye to everyone at church, that was pretty rough, lots of good friends i had made and lots of special people that i will definetely miss, but i know that we have to keep moving in life! also after church the family that was baptized on thursday invited us to eat at their house! that was pretty much my last supper haha. And here i am in Guadalajara! From what i can tell my area is a really safe and secure area( so dont worry mom im not gonna get mugged, i hope). My new companion is Elder Peña and so far he seems alright, just kindof a negative nelly because of how many problems there are here. One of them is that we dont have a bishop in our ward. that should give yall an idea of our problems here haha. Our house is super nice though!! i asked my companion why it was such a nice house and he said that is used to be a house for sister missionaries and then it all made sense haha. I love you all so much! thanks again for all of your prayers and love and support! it means the world to me! As i came into Guadalajara today in the bus i could just see all the pollution and the big city and no fields and no mountains and i immediately felt closterphobic. So wish me luck because we all know i love my mountains and my wide open space haha. Have a great week everyone! Love Elder Griffin

Little guy... Elder Menchu

 I've lost a little weight...  and I can't wait to get rid of the pants....

 Ready, watch em' burn!  ( I asked why he didn't give them away, he said they were in way to bad of shape!!!)

 Saying goodbye to all his friends...

 Everything I own is in these suitcases...

  Had to leave the tree behind... no room in his suitcases...

A Week of, of, well lots of things!!!

Hey everyone! this last week was awesome!!! so many things happened and everything was so fast paced, i cant even believe how fast this last month has gone by either! it seems like just the other day it was january 1st, were working as hard as we can here and i think thats why time is going by so gosh dang fast! Monday and tuesday were pretty normal as far as the work goes, were really struggling to find people who are willing to listen to us, and its even harder finding people who are willing to come to church and change their lives. But we are doing all we can and we know the lord will bless us! Wednesday was awesome because we had the multizone conference with Elder Valezuela! He came and talked to us alot about the 4 new indicators that we have as missionaries. He focused ALOT on the importance of finding new investigators, having them come to church, how to help them accept a baptismal date, and lastly and most importantly baptisms! he really helped us understand how we can work to have more baptisms and told us that we can baptize alot more than we are right now! Thursday was really really fun! we helped set up the church again for the same conference but different zones! I saw alot of old mission buddies that i hadnt seen in a while, including Elder Ashford! i finally met my cousin haha! that was really fun and it was great to see ex companions and old friends. After the conference got over for them Elder Ramirez and Elder Corona stayed with us rather than go all the way back to lazaro. So that day i got to be in divisions with Elder Ramirez!! like always it was great to be with him and he even made the comment that we need to be companions again haha. So it was  a fun day being with them and also all day friday we were with them since they stayed at our house, planned with us the next day and traveled to Guadalajara with us! I tell you what traveling here just gets more stressful and more stressful! we almost didnt get a bus ticket because the buses almost filled up! but luckily all went well and we got to Guadalajara about 930 at night. Saturday we had the leadership council as well with Elder Valenzuela and he just told us that we have to teach the missionaries how they can work better with the 4 new key indicators and we have to teach them and train them and help them alot! by some miracle we got over at 1230(normally it gets over at 3 or 4), so we ate hamburgers by the mission offices with a few other elders and traveled later that day! same story with the buses, i knew that they were going to fill up so we got there an hour early to buy our bus tickets, when the other missionaries got there only 20 minutes before, the bus had already filled up! So again thankfully we got home at about 9 that night, just perfect time to get ready for bed! And of course sunday, but not just any sunday, superbowl sunday!! haha the only reason i knew it was the superbowl was because a family that used to live in the US invited us to their house to eat that night. Basically they invited us to their superbowl party, but we just kept our eyes on the food haha. Im Pretty sure i ate more than a pound of steak, and they also had cream soda and dr pepper! those reaaaaally hit the spot haha! Also just an update on Laura, she is doing awesome and her kids are doing great as well, they always want to say the prayers and they are always so happy to see us and its such a blessing to have been able to have helped a great family like them! Today was a pretty fun pday, we went to the most high class shopping mall in all of morelia! Its called altozano and that place reminded me of city creek center it was so nice! we went there and even found an ihop! we went in to eat, and then saw the prices and walked out haha, it was pretty sad. But we found a carls jr after and that made up for it! It really made me think i was in the US it was so nice! But thats about it for this week! if a miracle happens( and we hope it does) well have another baptism this week. Also transfers are next week and i really hope i stay here another transfer as i love this area and it has easily been my favorite area, but i will go where the lord wants me to go! I just want to thank you all for the love and support you all send and for your prayers! I love this gospel and i love the opportunity i have to be on the mission! I cant believe how much ive changed and whats even better is to be able to see the way the gospel changes the lives of others! I hope you all have a great week and may god be with you! Love Elder Griffin

Pictures at Lunch with our Stake President... Happy Day!