Well, Christmas came and went...

I don't have much time to e-mail.... but I just wanted to let you all know about what's been happening with me! :)

On Wednesday the 18th we had 3 dinners!!! :o Oh my goodness, I thought I was going to die. I almost started to cry during the third meal. The first one was hamburgers and chips (French Fries) with a shake. The second one was a HUGE traditional African meal. The third was spaghetti. They were all yummy. The members were too kind for doing that for us. I was soooo stuffed!
Appointment books:

Have you heard of the book The Continuous Atonement? It is by Brad Wilcox. I recommend it to everyone... True I only heard someone read 3 paragraphs out of it, but it definitely seems like a good read. Make sure to tell Nans about that one!

On December 19th Sister Douglas and I had just got off the train and were walking home around 9pm... Suddenly I just got the WORST feeling that we shouldn't keep walking. I told Sister Douglas and she grabbed my arm and started running back towards where we had come. While we were running we called the Zone Leaders to ask where we should go. It was dark and pretty sketchy out. They told us to call Sister Shine to see if she could pick us up, but that we shouldn't return to our flat. She came and got us, let us borrow pj's, and we got to sleep in the attic on a spare bed that she has. It was fun. She is so kind! :)

We FINALLY got the General Conference Ensign! :D

On 21 December we went to the City Center with YSA and other Missionaries and we caroled in pouring rain for about an hour and a half! It was so fun!!

Somebody blew a blow horn...

A few nights ago while we were out chapping we didn't really know where we should go... Sister Douglas decided to say a prayer. In the middle of her prayer I heard a noise and looked up. There was a girl coming towards us on her bike so I stepped back so she could easily come either in between Sister Douglas and me or behind Sister Douglas. When Sister Douglas heard me step away she stepped back also... then BANG! She got hit by a bike!!! Bahahaha!!!! It was so funny! The girl that hit her apologized several times then hurried and rode off shouting "Merry Christmas" to us. Oh goodness, just TRY to picture it, it really is hilarious. Don't worry, she isn't injured!

NANNIE!!! Thank you so much for the blanket that you made for me and sent to me!! I keep thinking how much I miss my quilt and wish I had a blanket, then poof, I get one! It is beautiful also!

Everyone who sent me a card or a gift or positive thoughts- thank you all so much! I appreciated all of it! I am so blessed to have such caring friends and family! I don't know how I will ever be able to repay you all!!!

So, I don't have much time left, but I will quickly tell you about Christmas Eve and Christmas! :)

On Christmas Eve we had District Meeting (like we have every Tuesday) at 10-noon. After District Meeting we had to take a bus back to Blanch Center and it took about 2 hours because the traffic was dreadful!!

Around 3 we went chapping on doors and it started to snow!!! I had my first white Christmas!! :D ...well, the snow didn't stick, but I am counting it anyway!

At 3:45 we went to a less active families home. They fed us some really yummy food and we had wonderful conversation with them! They really are just too kind to us.

The Zone Leaders picked us up at 5:30 to take us to Finglas for our Missionary Christmas Eve! All the missionaries in our Zone met up and we played games and ate! The Senior Couple made us tons of food! IT WAS SO FUN! :D

THEN IT WAS CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! Sister Douglas woke me up at midnight and I was so excited to open presents... but she told me to go back to sleep. At 6 we woke up and opened my parcels!! :D It was so fun! Again, I really am blessed with such loving friends and family! I got many wonderful goodies, cute clothes, a blanket, etc. I love it all! :D

At 8am we made Rice Krispy Treats. By 10am the Zone Leaders came  and got us so we could Christmas Carol at less active members, investigators, and recent converts and give them goodies. Such a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas!

Then we went to our wards cantada! :) It was lovely. There were so many less active members there.

The O'Farrell's fed us a HUGE meal at 4-6.

We went to Sister Shine's to Skype. By half 6 I was looking at my mom, dad, Heather, Shaela, Nannie, Grumpa, and Cricket! It was shocking, weird, but fun! I don't even remember a lot of it... I was just rambling on and on and on!!!! I'm so sorry if they got bored! Haha! I couldn't stop talking! ...shocking, I know ;)

It was overall, a very Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well. Know how much I love you all and appreciate all that you do for me! <3

This week I really enjoyed the scripture 3 Nephi 12:43-48 if you want to read it, it is a good one :)

Talk to you next year!! ;D

Merry Christmas!!

We were able to Skype with Kelsey today! It was 6:30 p.m. in Ireland and 11:30 a.m. our time. We were able to Skype for an hour but it went by really fast. Kelsey is doing really well. She was so happy and funny when we spoke with her. She told us about funny sayings in her area and how different the food is. We opened the package that she sent us while she watched. We were also able to see and say "hi" to her companion and the lady whose house she was visiting. It was so good to see her and hear her tell us how she is doing. She is happy and working hard. So proud of that beautiful girl!

9 MORE DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!! :D

Hiya! :) I hope that you are all doing well, and in the Christmas spirit! :) I just love this time of the year! :) 

This last week was a very good one! A lady in our ward (Sister O'Farrell) had us over and we made ginger bread houses with her. After they were all decorated pretty we took them to less active members and some members who help us out a lot. It was a really good activity. :)

We put up our Christmas tree in our flat! The elders gave us ornaments to put on the tree. We bought lights and hung them on our window. AND a member gave us a REAL tree that is a tiny one that was also already decorated! :D Our flat definitely has a Christmas essence. :)

On the bus a few days ago I sat by a guy the same age as me. I was able to teach him about our church and answer a lot of questions that he had about religion. I was so scared to talk to someone on a bus about religion because it's not like they can slam the door on your face or run away from you, but it was not hard to do at all. I quite enjoyed it. He really took in all that I had to say and I could tell he was thinking hard about it. I gave him a Restoration pamphlet, taught him how to pray, and gave him our number telling him to feel free to call if he has any questions or ever wants to talk about religion more. It was a cool experience. 

On Wednesday night we went to an investigators house. We were planning on sharing a DVD explaining the importance of the Book of Mormon and a man's story and his testimony of it. Right before we played the DVD one of her friend's came into the home and said she would watch the video with us. As soon as the DVD started and the friend say the Book of Mormon she gasped and tensed a little bit. After the DVD we asked them what they thought of it. Our investigator's friend told us she was raised to believe that Mormon's are satanic. She was terrified every time she saw the guys in white shirts or the blue book. She said after seeing the DVD though she felt compelled to read from the book and asked if she could have one. I gave her one and testified of the truth in it and the happiness she can receive from it. She promised she would read it and thanked us for helping her to understand it. How amazing is that? Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, and sometimes His planning is so incredible. 

After our lesson with the investigator and her friend on Wednesday night we went back to our flat and I thought I was going to puke. I ran to the toilet 7 times Wednesday night and got no sleep. I had food poisoning! Sister Douglas let us stay in on Thursday and I slept the WHOLE day. I didn't throw up once, but I felt like I was going to MANY times. Guess what though!!! They don't have ginger ale here. That is a for sure bummer. Friday morning when I woke up I suddenly felt loads better! It was weird. No worries though. I am now 100% better :) 

I have chalices on my knees from kneeling in prayer so frequently!!! Crazy, right?

OH! I have news about our investigator Virgil! I do not remember all that I have said about him, but he is the sweetest man! He was an investigator before I got here and when Sister Douglas and I were on exchanges Sister Douglas and Sister Morgan committed Virgil to be baptized!!! :D He was completely on board and excited. We have never met his wife and she has a lot of problems with Virgil coming to our church all the time. A few weeks ago we got a text from Virgil saying he wouldn't be able to see us for 2-3 weeks because he doesn't want his wife to be upset. We were so sad. The other day after we did our grocery shopping though, we saw VIRGIL!! :D And his wife was with him, so we had the opportunity to meet her. I hope that she was able to see we are not bad or mean people and will take the discussions with Virgil. We will see what happens. 

My talk on Sunday (yesterday) went really well :) The topic was: "Let Your Light So Shine". I was really proud of how little I wrote on the paper and how much eye contact I made with the congregation :) Then we also had the privilege of teaching the young women lesson.Saturday night we were called to teach the lesson so we had VERY little time to prepare. We were teaching how to help recent converts feel welcome and how to bring less active members back to church. It made me think back to the days when my appearance at church was scarce and remember how much the vanB's did for me. Thank you so much! I really appreciate all that you all have done for me over the past many years. Aunt Jan I wish our lesson went as well as yours with the analogy and movie and sugar cookies! That sounds wonderful! Ours wasn't too bad though. We shared a testimony from President Hinckley from a Preach my Gospel DVD and had them write a letter to a recent convert or less active friend. The girls really got into it. There were only three girls there, so they had several friends the could choose to write to. 

It rained so hard a few days ago my waterproof raincoat that I bought wasn't very waterproof and the purple color of the raincoat seeped through and stained my shirt and skirt. It was super rainy and crazy that day!!!

Well, there is so so so much more that I can share because my week was so full this week, but I am running out of time!!! I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas! Don't forget to remember Christ at this time of year. Mosiah 3:8

I love you all! 

Irish You a Merry Christmas <3

-Sister Kelsey Griffin

IRISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! :D ...get it?

So, guess what! Moves Week is this week. HOWEVER, neither Sister Douglas or myself are moving. We are both staying in Clonsilla! :) I am so happy because I love the ward that we are in AND we already have exciting Christmas plans :)

This Sunday I am also giving a talk in church, so it is a very good thing I wasn't moved. My talk is on letting your light shine. I still have no idea where I am going to go with it.... but it is only a 5 minute talk, so it shouldn't be too difficult. :)

Last week while we were e-mailing the guy on the computer next to her asked her out! Bahahaha! It was funny because he didn't take "no" very well, so he gave her his number and told her to call him in a year when she gets home. 

Sister O'Farrell (a member in our ward {who served in France on her mission}) made us PB&J Brownies the other day. It may sound weird... maybe even gross, but they were SOOO good! I recommend anyone reading this to find the recipe and make them for yourself :) Yum.

Sister O'Farrell also took us to the zoo. The Dublin zoo. It was loads of fun! We saw elephants, red panda bears... well, lots of animals. :) 

Here "dinner"="lunch" and "tea"="dinner". I just recently figured that out... It is pretty good to know. I almost scheduled for us to have two dinners with two different members in one day because I didn't realize what tea meant! Woops! 

We have an investigator who we taught this week named Kay. She has been investigating the church since 2005. She comes to church every week. She is so kind and always feeds us a delicious dinner before we teach her. We can not get down to why she won't be baptized. Every set of missionaries that she has had felt as though she was so close to baptism, and then they got stuck and didn't know what she needs. It is always so fun to visit with her nonetheless.

McCleary had us over for dinner on Thursday! :) It is always so fun having dinner with her! She bought us Indian food! Curry. She got the hottest one for herself and a reddish orangish one for me and Sister Douglas. Oh. My. Goodness. Why have I never had Indian food before? It was so good!! She is getting it for us again this Thursday! And then of course Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert <3 It is heavenly. 

On Friday Sister Douglas and I were out trying by people when suddenly we both had to use the toilet VERY bad, but we were about 20 minutes away from home. Luckily the O'Farrell's lived really close to where we were so we went to their house and asked if we could use their toilet. While there Sister O'Farrell told us the dinner she was planning on making would feed more than just her and her husband and their daughter so we were welcome to come over later. Guess what she made for dinner. MEXICAN FOOD!! :D Man I missed it. It was sooo yummy! :) The O'Farrell's do so much for us! We are planning on going to their house for Christmas :D

On Saturday we had the Ward Christmas Party. "Free food and Santa's coming!!!" Is how I went about advertising it. We had soup for dinner. It was very yummy. Then several members put on a nativity presentation. It was really good. :) 

Sunday at church McCleary walked over to me with a plastic bag and handed it to me. Inside were BOXES of Macaroni and Cheese!!! Christmas came early! I almost cried tears of joy. She knows me so well already. She went to England for the weekend and while she was there she bought us some! :D Isn't that just so kind? That is how great the members in our ward our <3 I am really so blessed.

This week was so good :) I hope that you all had a wonderful week as well. 

Love you all! 

-<3, Sister Kelsey Griffin

Mission life....

Farewell to Sister Morgan

Misssionaries!

 The following are trips from the zoo!!

Funny thought from a garden!! Haha!

Thanksgiving

OHHH MY GOODNESS! Such a small email with so much information!!!

My week was so good and so was Thanksgiving! :) Some American families in the ward invited Sister Douglas and myself to the church building for a Thanksgiving feast. It was so yummy and very fun to talk to all the families that came! :) I love the ward that I am in. They are all so kind. Speaking about kind people in the ward!!! So, there is a girl in our ward named Linda. She found my blog and has been reading it. She said that as soon as she saw I needed a wallet she grabbed one that she doesn't use much and brought it over to me as soon as possible. Isn't that so sweet?? And it is beautiful! Purple with diamonds :) People here are really looking after me and taking care of me. I am so grateful for all the help and love that everyone is showing towards me. Also, there are about 4 families in the ward that already are telling us they want us over for Christmas! There is just so much love here! :')

Did anyone run in the Turkey Trot this year? Apparently they have a Turkey Trot here, but they do it during Christmas :) I had Irish stew this week! It was so yummy! I think it was mostly just beef with potatoes and carrots... and other veggies... it reminded me of just a normal stew..., but it was gorgeous nonetheless. There are two spouts on the faucet. One is hot and one is cold. When I wash my face I have to turn them both on and mix the waters to try to get warm water... I feel pretty silly when I do it!

This week we did a lot of chapping (knocking on doors) again. I love chapping though. We knocked on one door, rang the door bell, and waited... When no one came to the door we went to the door next to it and knocked. We waited... Suddenly BOTH doors began to open! I panicked and looked at Sister Douglas with WIDE eyes! She started to laugh SO hard! I talked to the guy from the first door and she talked to the guy from the second. It was so hilarious and awkward. The guy I was talking to started laughing and he was like, "What are you tying to say to me?" It was hard to talk to him because Sister Douglas and I were talking at the same time to different guys. It was so funny though! 

I had my first flat check this week. The Senior companion came over and had to make sure our flats were nice and tidy. Don't worry, we passed the test. AND! They brought home-made pumpkin pie that Sister McKendrick made! It was SO good! It tasted just like back home. :) 

I love it here. The schedule is hard. But I am doing so well and getting used to the mission life. It is a lot of fun. I learn so many new things! It gets dark by 4pm now!! Isn't that crazy!?

I love you so much! Have a wonderful week! Yay! It's December!! 

Love, Sister Kelsey Griffin <3 :) 

Sister Lewis

I went on splits with Sister Lewis a few weeks ago. She is such an amazing missionary and has such a strong testimony. She will marry an apostle. I can see it now. 

Beautiful Ireland sunset!

An outing

 Sister Huntsman

Boots!

So, this was after the first day of walking all around town in my new boots! See the blood on the sock! Epic, right? Man I'm so tough to endure that! ahaha! I unfortunately didn't get a picture of the blister on top of the blister on top of the blister that I recently popped. Don't worry! As of Wednesday my feet no longer hurt from my boots!!:D

Sister Douglas

Kelsey's first companion is Sister Douglas. (Her first name is Kelcie! Too funny!!)

They go on hikes..

They clown around.

 Such excitement! 

 They enjoy yummy food!!

Stockings!

From Kelsey:

We (Sister Douglas and I) found Betty Crocker mix to make chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cake for only 2 euro so we bought it! :D ...unfortunately we failed at making it... We don't have measuring cups so we had to guess at the amount to put in. We added wayyy to much water to the cake mix and had to throw it out. There was no way we could fix it.... Then we added too much oil to the cookies... They weren't awful, but uhm they weren't very good... Haha

Oh my goodness! This week was such a good week! One thing that happened was a friend who works with Sister Douglas's mum came to visit Ireland! She brought gifts from Sister Douglas's mum. Her mum wrapped 25 gifts for 25 Day of Christmas AND included me in it! :D Isn't that so nice? So every morning we get to open a new present! Sister Douglas's mum is so kind and thoughtful :) I really appreciate all that she does for us <3