Goodbye Clonsilla.....

What a week! I loved conference. I loved serving with Sister Caswell, and then with Sister Quinones! I am full of gratitude! I am also grateful for the Easter Package that I received!! :D I love Easter! :)  

On Saturday, Sister Quinones and I were sitting down at the table doing nightly planning when all of a sudden a loud beeping noise went off! We just looked at each other, and then looked down the hall... It made us kind of nervous. We walked down toward the noise in the hall and realized it was the fire alarm! We thought maybe there was something wrong with the alarm, or it was a joke... haha, we were wrong. We opened our front door and saw smoke! Our neighbours were scrambling to grab things and put on shoes. Sister Quinones and I grabbed the keys and coats. We are on the third floor so we had to run down the stairs. As we were running downstairs there was a little girl by herself who looked confused and scared. I grabbed her hand and helped her down the stairs with us. The further down the stairs we went the thicker the smoke got.... Honestly, it was a pretty frightening experience. We didn't die or anything, obviously. And no one was injured. But seeing all that smoke, and knowing that it wasn't safe made me think about my life and what was important to me. We had to wait outside of our flat in the cold for a little over an hour. The little girl who we helped go downstairs found her parents and they were so grateful she made it out okay. There is a lady who lives next to us who came looking for us to make sure we made it out okay. It was so sweet of her! Everything ended up being okay. I for sure had a new perspective on counting your blessings though. 

Sunday (last night) was moves call! I am leaving Ireland and heading to Glasgow.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Don't forget to count your many blessings! You will be surprised for all the Lord has done for you. 

xoxox

Love Always, Sister Kelsey Griffin 

Be Careful For What You Pray For... :)

Quote of The Week:

"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. 

:)

Conference is Almost HERE!!! :D

Scripture of the Week:

1 Nephi 17:41- I love this scripture! So often we go around thinking life is SO HARD! However the simpleness of how the Lord wants us to fix the situation is often quite humorous. If we look to the Lord, no matter what's the circumstance, we will be able to get through our trials! :) 

Quote of the Week:

"In the end, most women get the type of man they dress for." -Elder Tad R. Callister

This week was a really good one! 

...However, Sister Caswell and I seemed to struggle with names.... The first incident was when I called a man named Peng on the phone. Peng spells his name with the "e", but pronounces it "Pong". The way I reminded myself how to say his name was by thinking like "Ping Pong". When he answered the phone I said, "Hello, is this Ping?" And he said, "No, this is Pong..." Woops.... AWKWARD!

 Then we met with a guy on the street to walk with him to the church, so we could do a church tour with him. We were chatting with him and I say, "Your name is Basheem, right?" And he says, "Wajeed..." And I said, "Yes!" I tried to play it off like I knew that... Haha, oh boy! It was pretty funny!

Finally last night Sister Caswell, McCleary, and myself were planning to meet our investigator's Gabriel and Josue at the church to watch the Restoration DVD in Spanish with them. They brought a friend with them and I thought his name was Jeffrey, but Josue kept telling me I was saying it wrong. Haha, it was pretty entertaining for everyone as I tried to pronounce his name... I can now say it, but I can't even attempt spelling it... sorry :)

There are SO many pregnant ladies in our ward! When Gabriel came to church (not this Sunday, but the last) he asked why Mormon's have so many babies. It was pretty funny!

One lady in our ward is pregnant with twins and she is in A LOT of pain. We went to her home and did service for her this week. I think she really appreciated it!! :) She is a really independent woman! She owns a Montessori (preschool) in her home and is still teaching it, but while sitting in a wheel chair! She is truly inspirational as she endures to the end of her pregnancy!

Last Monday when Sister Caswell and I were walking to an appointment, at 7pm, we were in a sketchy part of town. We passed a 7 year old who was smoking and he was with two little girls who were about 5 asking us if we had a cigarette they could have. It was really sad... 

Oh my goodness! We saw a miracle this week! Sister Caswell and I were trying by some people weeks ago and one lady has a 9 year old daughter, 5 year old son, 4 year old daughter, and 4 month old daughter. When we tried by her home the first time the 9 year old had the chicken pox. Nicola (the mother's name) was so stressed that all her kids would soon get the chicken pox. We made her dinner and when we brought it over to her, her fear had become reality as all of her children had the chicken pox!! She let us in and we chatted with her for a little bit. I was a little nervous though because Sister Caswell has never had the chicken pox before, so I felt the need to shield her from all the germs! Nicola is happy now because all her kids are better. We went to visit her this week and it seems as though things are going well with her! Her family is just so cute! Her and her husband are adorable also!! When Sister Caswell and I were chatting with her this week she would leave the room every once in a while to check on her kids and every time she would leave Sister Caswell and I would talk about how we need to tell her our purpose as missionaries and invite her to take the discussion, but we were both so nervous! Now, we aren't usually nervous to invite people to listen to the message that we have to share, but this family is GOLDEN! If she said no we were sure we would cry... Lack of faith on our part. While we were talking with her Sister Caswell and I would bump knees as if to say "Go on then, ask her!" Oh goodness, I kept trying to think of a time to bring it up in the conversation but would chicken out! Finally it was time to do so! As I opened my mouth, Sister Caswell told her our purpose and asked if she would like to take the lessons!! We both paused and Nicola said, "Yes. I would really like that. I wasn't raised religious, and I would like my children to grow up knowing there is a God." It was truly amazing!! Sister Caswell sat there in shock and I excitedly picked up the conversation! It was so good! She is so prepared! We will be seeing her on Friday and I am so excited! 

This week a 23 year old mother of two children passed away. She was going to get married next month. While taking a shower she slipped and hit her head. It was very sad. Her grandparents are in our ward. Sister Caswell and I had the opportunity to help the Relief Society President make TONS of sandwiches for them. It was incredible because right before we got her phone call all of our plans cancelled and we were trying to decide what to do with about 5 hours of extra time. It was perfect because after we made the sandwiches another sister from the ward came to pick them up and we drove out to the country with her to deliver them. The Lord ALWAYS has a plan for us. It's so great when we can witness it for ourselves!

We had a celebration for the Relief Society birthday this week! It was very fun! It was like a family history cultural night. People brought food that ancestors made. Pictures of old, dead relatives. Shared stories about their ancestors. It was so cool! Sadly, there was a really small turn out. The other women really missed out.

Sister Caswell and I planned a game night this week! We invited our investigator's, the elders in our ward, and the elder's investigator's. It was SO fun! Sadly the two investigator's we planned the game night for didn't even come (Gabriel and Josue) but Wajeed came and seemed to have a really good time! We are thinking of doing another game night in a few weeks! :)

Sorry I have been so bad at these weekly emails! I feel like time has been slipping through my fingers lately! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!! :) Conference is just around the corner! How couldn't you be happy??

Love you all!

-Sister Kelsey Griffin 

xoxox 

Pictures from Saint Patrick's Day!!

I am doing very well! 

Sister Caswell has been out for 11 months :) She is very experienced and teaches me SO much! Some nights when I crawl into bed my brain hurts so bad from learning SO much that day! I really do love serving with her! She is so amazing! We have WAY TOO MUCH FUN TOGETHER!! :D 

I wish I could say things were warming up here. They were in the beginning of the week! On Friday we would get hailed on, then the sun would come out, then it would be pouring rain, then it would start to snow, then it would hail on us, then the sun would come out.... etc. It was crazy! Today is FREEZING!!!

I miss America. And Americans. It's interesting because you can always tell who the American's are or who has been to America recently because they usually are REALLY kind.... and really loud. Hahaha

I am soooo excited for General Conference! Remember the last conference and we had that donut challenge... ya, I'm not doing that again! haha! 

I know a lot of people have been missing the big forward that I usually do, but I am just SO exhausted lately! I haven't had any spare time... and the spare time that I have I like to use it for a cat nap. I am so sorry... I am excited for this week... Though it sounds like a blizzard is taking place outside right now... I'm not too excited to walk around in that! haha, but it will be alright! I have my superdry jacket :)

Saint Patrick's Day in IRELAND!!

Oh my goodness!!!!! :D I had Saint Patrick's Day in IRELAND!!!! :D How legit is that????? McCleary picked us up at 10 a.m. and the three of us took the train to where the parade would be. I wore a green hoodie and some of my favourite jeans. On the train Sister Caswell (who was a clown for a part time job back home) painted my face and McCleary's. McCleary also bought us cool hats! It was so fun! The parade didn't start until noon, but we had to go really early to stake out a good spot where I would be sure to see... because I'm so short... Haha! Then while we were waiting for the parade to start... SO many people came over to the three of us and asked to take a picture with us because we looked so cool! The library was closed so we couldn't email... Sorry about that :) The parade was so cool! I recommend going to Ireland on Saint Patrick's day!!!! After the parade we got kebab's! I was FINALLY kebaptized!!!! :D They are really yummy! Then we went to Saint Patrick's cathedral and got ice cream after on the way to the train to get back to Clonsilla. We had to be in our flat by 6 p.m.  It was a REALLY fun day!!! :D On the train on the way back to Clonsilla a man sat next to the three of us and asked us LOADS of questions about our religion. We gave him a pass-a-long card with our number on it. Hopefully he either comes to church on Sunday or gives us a call :) It really was such a good day! 
Haha, Spring here is the same as winter so far... with a little more sun than usual... but still cold and rainy :) On my way walking to the computer a few minutes ago I tripped and hit my hand on the way down. It is ALREADY swollen and bruised so it hurts to type which is slowing me down..
Have a wonderful week! 

Still a klutz!

I am feeling a lot better and this week was definitely grand dandy! 

Yesterday Sister Caswell and I were out walking for over three hours and the whole time I was carrying a bag with my new planner that I just decorated, southern style sweet potatoes, muddy buddies, and cookies to give to people. The bag was HEAVY because the sweet potatoes were in a big glass container! My fingers kept getting numb, but I kept thinking when we eat these bad boys at 6pm it will all be worth it. We stopped this really nice girl on the street named Jennifer and she told us she is a really devoted Catholic and has a problem believing prophets can be on the earth today. We asked her if she has ever felt alone. She said yes. We asked her if she has ever felt lost. She said she felt lost right now. We asked her if a loving God would want her to feel that way. She said no. Then we told her we know God wants us to be happy and to know who we are and what our purpose is on this life. We told her how happy this church makes us and the wisdom of prophets. By the end of our conversation she told us our church must be the true church and she will come to our services next week! How great is that?? When she walked away Sister Caswell told me to hold the bad different so the sweet potatoes don't tip. When I looked in the bag.... Guess what! There was a HUGE mess! The sweet potatoes had fallen EVERYWHERE! Guess how that happened... Three hours before at the beginning of our walk with the bag we were talking to a potential investigator and when we were leaving her home my foot slipped off the side walk and my face went hurling towards the side walk!! Can you believe it? I almost got severely injured! Luckily for me Sister Caswell is used to me falling all the time so she caught me right before I hit the ground! As I was falling I was swinging the bag of goodies around trying to catch my balance. My planner is ruined. The bag is ruined. The sweet potatoes were ruined. The cookies were ruined. Never fear though. The muddy buddies were okay :) When we got home to our flat at 9pm I felt my dress that I was wearing and it felt sticky. As I had been carrying the bag around for over 3 hours it had seeped through onto my my dress, tights and garments! Hahahaha, can you believe it? Sister Caswell and I died laughing! The whole thing was a "you got to be kidding me" experience that all you can do is laugh about! :) 

You have heard of the travellers, right? They are like gypsies! We went to visit a lady and she had a friend there. Her friend's face had stitches all over it and she seemed drunk. She said her family did that to her. Crazy right??

Sad face over busted bag...

Moves Call is OVER! :)

Scripture of the Week:

1 Nephi 11:17- "And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."

Quote of the Week:

"Don't let life discourage you, everyone who got to where he is had to be where he has." -R.L. Evans 

This week was AMAZING! :D Full of laughs! :)

Monday, Feb. 24- We played hide and seek in an old, falling apart castle with Elder Lee, Elder Scott, and Elder Hatch! It was sooo fun! Sister Caswell and I also made puppy chow which we ate in the car ride there! :) 

Tuesday, Feb. 25- Sister Caswell and I were out knocking on doors and after talking to one lady when we turned to walk away I totally biffed it and landed on my hands and knees! I got a hole in my favourite tights! My knees and hands where swollen, scratched, and bleeding! The crazy thing is I don't even know how I fell!! Ya... it was pretty embarrassing... but also SO funny! Sister Caswell and I were laughing so hard! I hadn't fallen in quite some time... I was wondering when it was going to happen again!

Wednesday, Feb. 26- Tuesday and Wednesday combined Sister Caswell and I walked over 25 miles! Our legs were soooo sore Wednesday and Thursday!!

Thursday, Feb. 27- We made the second newsletter :)

-Thursday evening I went to bed with wet socks and woke up with a cold! Woops! I sound like a man... And have the sniffles so people keep thinking I am crying ALL the time!

Friday, Feb. 28- We had a really good lesson with our friend Kay Kay! We haven't seen her at church for awhile, so it was nice being able to sit and talk to her and all bear testimony and see how much she loves the gospel. She is just so sweet! We are hopefully going to do some teaching lessons with her this week!

-Sister Caswell and I leg wrestled Friday evening! I won once out of the three times that we did it. It was so fun! :)

Saturday, March 1-We helped to clean the church building with Relief Society. It was so fun! When you get a group of women together cleaning it always looks so nice and fresh afterwards!

-We set up 11 lessons for this week by calling everyone in our phone who we did not know! That is AWESOME!!

Sunday, March 2- MOVES CALL! Sister Caswell and I were so nervous all day! But, we are indeed staying together again in Dublin, Ireland :)

I hope that you all have an amazing week and take the time to count your many blessings. You will be surprised by what the Lord has done ;)

xoxoxoxox

-Sister Kelsey Griffin :) <3