"Courage is not the absence of despair. It is rather the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair." -Kierkegaard (Courtesy of Sister Caswell)
Scripture of The Week:
Deuteronomy 20:1
Boy oh boy.... This week was a CRAZY one!!! Missions really are roller coasters! ...well, I suppose life in general is quite a crazy ride.
Thursday, March 27: I told Sister Caswell how much I have loved serving with her and I don't feel like we are done being companions yet. I told her I would LOVE to be her companion for one more transfer, and if we had the privilege to be companions again I would willingly train! I wouldn't even complain. I also told her if I am to prepare myself to train I need to start leading out the area more... So, that was that.... :)
Wednesday, April 2: At around 10:30am Sister Caswell and I were sitting in a lesson with a lady who speaks Italian and very little English. She was interested in our message and we were trying our hardest to communicate with her using Google Translate. Suddenly the phone rang and as Sister Caswell was about to put it on silent she looked to see who was calling and ran out of the room! I thought it was kind of strange because normally we dismiss calls during lessons. When she came back into the room she seemed kind of spacey and I couldn't tell why her attitude changed so fast. We put on the Restoration DVD in Italian and I leaned over to Sister Caswell asking if she was okay. She just whispered back "We will talk about it later..." Uh oh. We finished the lesson with Lindita and set up a time to see her again. When we finally left the house I asked Sister Caswell, "What's the story." She told me President Brown called. Now, missionaries tend to worry when President calls because their first thought is "who died??". I panicked a little that quite possibly something happened with SIster Caswell's family!! She than explained to me that she would be leaving to Scotland and I would be "training" a girl who hasn't even been to the MTC. I started to laugh and cry at the same time. I said, "You're kidding right? That's not true!" It was very true. Sister Caswell would be leaving me, and I would be leading out the area in a very short time...
Thursday, April 3: We had an intense weekly planning as we tried to prepare for me taking over the area with a fresh greeny who knows little about missionary work.
We also did service for the woman in our ward who is pregnant with twins. It is so good to serve others when you are worried about something because it makes you realize just how much other people have worse problems.
In the evening we called our investigator's Josue, Gabriel, and Jelfrin to meet us at the church. Jelfrin and Josue met up with us and told us that they may be losing their home the next day, but they still don't know for sure. If they lost their home they didn't know where they would go. I was shocked! I asked them why on earth they decided to meet with us! Josue said he wanted to hear the word of God because he knows everything will happen the way God wants it to. It was amazing to see the faith these two guys have! It truly helped me realize that I can train this girl if I turn to the Lord.
Friday, April 4: In the morning we met up with a sister from our ward and taught a lesson to an investigator named Nicola. Nicola is a young, married, mother of 4. She wants to find a religion for her kids to be raised in. We taught her the first lesson and she seemed to really enjoy it! She invited us to come back! I can't wait to teach her on Friday! :D
We are teaching another investigator named Abraham. He has terminal lung cancer. We taught him the Plan of Salvation. It was a very emotional lesson as he is a loving husband and father of two young children. He has so much faith in God. It is very humbling teaching him and his family.
In the evening we saw Trim Castle! It is gorgeous!!! :D
At 9pm my new companion, Sister Quinones, came.
Saturday, April 5: Sister Caswell woke me up at around 5am to wish me farewell. It was hard saying goodbye to her not knowing when we would see each other again.
I consider myself Sister Quinones' "Pre-Earth Mum" since she will have a legit mom when/if she serves a full-time mission.
Sister Quinones is very kind and willing to learn so much! I love her already!
McCleary let us come over to her home to watch conference. I love McCleary! She takes such good care of us! :) She fed us Japanese food for dinner :)
After conference we went to teach a lesson to our progressing investigator Nicole. It was crazy over there. Kids running around, and Nicole was drunk... It was pretty disheartening. We still shared a scripture with her and the kids and the kids mum and dad.
Sunday, April 6: Our investigator's from Venezuela were supposed to take the bus with us on Sunday morning to get to the Finglas building so we could watch conference and see two baptisms, but they would not wake up. That was rubbish. Oh well, agency, what can you do?
Conference was from 1-3 here, and was so good!
At half 3 Sister Quinones and I were able to see our friend's Helios and Alexander get baptized! It was so exciting for everyone! :) They really have learned and grown so much!
After the baptism we watch conference from 5-7pm. I loved Uchtdorf's talk! He said exactly what I needed to hear.
This past week was a crazy one, as was stated earlier. Sister Caswell and I taught 16 lessons! That is the most we have ever taught! It was really nice to hear the surprise and excitement from our Ward Mission leader, District leader, and Zone leaders! Then Sister Caswell left... It'll be interesting to see what this new week has in store for Sister Quinones and myself.
Sorry for such a long email! Hope you all have a wonderful week! Sorry if I run out of time to email everyone back this week, but know that I love you all and appreciate your prayers and support. :)
-Sister Kelsey Griffin
xoxoxox
PS Interesting facts about my new companion:
Sister Corinna Quinones
From the Philippines. Has lived in Ireland for 14 years.
Dating a boy from the Finglas Ward. (We will see him on Tuesday, awkward ;D)
Wants to be a pilot.
She is the only child.
Heard of the church for the 1st time in Hawaii during the summer of 2012.
Was raised Catholic and is the only member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in her family.
She was set apart to be a missionary for only 10 days.
She is thinking of serving a full time mission and might start her papers after our time together.
Her favourite food is chicken.
Her favourite colour is blue.
:)
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