6 months!

It´s come! 6 months in the mission! Crazy, huh? It´s amazing how time flies! But we´re not going to focus on that.

This week, we sticky noted E***´s car. E*** is the brother of J******. He is one of the investigators of the Elders. We got together with the Elders and wrote on tons of sticky notes different scriptures and sayings, drew pictures. Anyway, J****** and her family thought it was hilarious, E***, not so much. He thought J****** did it. In the end he laughed about it though. We forgot to get a picture though! Which just means we´ll have to do it again!

I also ate kidney this week... I didnt know it was kidney until after the fact though, of course. It was breaded and fried and tasted fairly good, but pretty much anything is good breaded and fried. But it was really chewy though. So I can now officially add that to my list of weird food.

We had a guy follow us this week for about 10 minutes and finally he caught up to us and was trying to speak to us in English. He told us he saw us and liked what he saw and wanted a relationship with us. Me and Hermana Sykes layed down the law and may have chewed him out a bit. What would ever make a person think that that would actually work? We thought about pulling out our chastity pamphlet and at least getting a street lesson in there too.

I got a blessing from the Elders this week to help me stay focused and also because I wasnt really sleeping well. They gave me a blessing and after, they taught us a little lesson. It was a very district leader thing to do. Well, Elder Galeano (the district leader), shared a personal experience and a scripture. After, his companion, Elder Kempf shared Luke 22:42 and gave me the picture that was in his scriptures of "The Agony in the Garden," by Frans Schwartz. It was easily the nicest thing ever. There of course was a message with it, that was super uplifting, but Im not going to share that. I later had him sign his name on the back, so Id remember where and who it came from, and he wrote "For an amazing missionary and even better friend". What a sweet boy. He´s so encouraging always and such an awesome missionary!

Someone at church complemented me this week too. It was funny to me. They told me about how they have only ever seen the ocean once. They said they saw it and were  amazed at how blue it was. That the ocean was really blue, not greyish blue, but just blue. They then told me that my eyes were that color blue. The color of the ocean. They then told me they were sorry if it made me uncomfortable that they told me that, which made me laugh more.

So, yesterday, we were home sick because Saturday night when we got off the bus, Hermana Sykes just started projectile vomiting! So, we just hung out yesterday, caught up with some paperwork, watched some movies, and read the scriptures. I read from Mormon 1- Ether 6. Im so close to finishing the Book of Mormon for the first time in Spanish! So exciting! It actually makes me sad that I have to stop reading and do other things each day. The Book of Mormon is amazing!

S**** comes to all of the church meetings, all of the activities, tells us to call him literally any time to meet with him. He´s the best! Well, we taught him twice this week. First, we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end, we committed him to be baptized the 15th of May, AND HE ACCEPTED!!!!! So excited! It´s not far away, but this boy is so prepared! We then taught him the Plan of Salvation. Literally the funniest lesson ever. He is not afraid to ask any question, and he asked us, "Well, if we have to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ to live in the Celestial Kingdom and there are 5 steps in the gospel of Jesus Christ, why arent there 5 kingdoms of glory". We laughed so hard. He is just so funny! We clarified it all and he understood in the end, but it was an entertaining lesson. He is reading the Book of Mormon on his own and he loves it and is really understanding it! Things that not even me and Hermana Sykes have put together before. He´s amazing and told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet! He makes me so happy! I feel like a million bucks when we teach him because he really just wants to know everything and then how he can apply it. What a great boy!

We met with the girl from the bus station, S***, twice actually. We have been teaching her English and after sharing the gospel with her. First we taught the Restoration with her and she really liked it. She was excited to read the Book of Mormon. She has gone to lots of different churches and read lots of different bibles, and just wants to know the truth. Her boyfriend is not religious but enjoys studying religion as well. The next time we met with her, we asked if she had had a chance to read the Book of Mormon. She said no, because her boyfriend was so intrigued by it, that he took it and hasnt even given her a chance to read it. He read about the 2000 strippling warriors and loved it! So, we gave her her own copy and she is excited to read now too. She had lots of questions about random church doctrine, so we answered a few but then realized, we´d be there for hours with her answering questions, so we told her the best way to find out answers is to read, pray and attend church. She is excited to do it. She has a bit of anxiety around people she doesnt know, but she wants to come to church and see what it´s like!

We taught J*** this week too. We taught her about Tithing and Fasting and she loved it! She told us a story about her mom. She said she never liked giving money to churches, but one time, someone gave her 130 euros that she had lent to them years before, and she thought that money was lost. So, when she was given this money, she thought she´d give it to the church they were attending. She said everyone was crazy for giving so much, but she said she had been given so much and that she didnt need this money, but others did. That week, she made 2000 euros more in work that before. She said that was a huge testimony builder to her about the blessings that come from tithing. She asked if she could start paying her tithing and fast offerings before baptism. She´s amazing. The sad thing is shes going to Barcelona for 2 weeks of vacation, so we wont be able to meet with her for quite a while, but she wants to go to church while she´s there, so we helped her find a chapel to attend.

We we sitting on a bench this week, making phone calls and a mom and daughter walked up to us. It´s amazing how many times this keeps happening. Well, they are both members and they have been looking for the church for almost a year since they moved from Peru. So we met with them and they are excited to come back to church. Also, the father is not a member and they want us to try teaching him!

Things are great here in Barrio 3. We´re chugging along, through the sickness and occassional trials, and clearly are being blessed for it!

I love you all and hope you are doing well. Have good weeks!

Hermana Griffin

Also, Im getting tan and it´s not even summer yet! And I have weird sandal, watch and medical id bracelet tan lines!