Well, as the title states, October 12, 2024, will be a day to remember for me and the Griffiths family! I’ll get into it more later on!
Monday: Pday was pretty valid! Our zone played some wiffle ball for our activity, and it was pretty fun. It gave me some great memories of playing wiffle ball with the cousins at the Rhineers and the boys at the park. We had to go to the mission office and get flu shots afterward, which was just inconvenient, tbh. However, I got to talk to the family lots, so that was awesome! The ZLs and STLs have to plan a lot of stuff, and they need another companionship there, so it’s not a ” double date “. (I can’t wait to not have to follow rules like this anymore, haha). So we were there to babysit while they planned, which we did a lot of this week.
Â
Tuesday: Classic weekly planning in the morning. We had made a goal to spend more time in the area to go out and find people to teach. As we were backing out of our spot to go find people, our DL called us and said, “We need help with this service project ASAP.” So we went inside and changed our clothes. We then shoveled tons of pounds of dirt into a u-haul, literally! I’m not gonna lie, it was actually pretty fun. They bought us pizza afterwards, too.
We had a pretty chill afternoon, and then Karl had his baptism interview! We went and supported him, and it was great!Â
Â
Wednesday: Our day was blown to shreds. We had a Zoom lesson with Tina in the morning, which was good. She is honestly super interested but just is busy with life, so it’s hard for her to keep her commitments and come to church. We then had an apartment inspection, and they said, ” You Elders have the cleanest apartment we have seen so far.” I hope that made you happy, Momma. Afterward, we had to babysit the ZLs and STLs again for like 2 hours, but we just did language study and social media, so it was fine. We ended the night with an amazing Zoom lesson with Andrea. She is the best ever. Please keep her in your prayers.Â
Â
Thursday: We had a fire zone council. It was about companionship and unity, and they did a great job. They gave out awards to all of us missionaries, and I got the “Most Mischievous” award, and they related me to Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. So that was funny. Another chill day. In the evening we had a lesson with Karl! It was our final lesson before his baptism, and it was super bittersweet. Just knowing how far he had come was amazing, but also knowing that it was our last lesson with him before baptism was sad to think about.
Â
Friday: What felt like a very normal day. Finally! We spent hours tracking, and it was pretty brutal because we weren’t able to find anyone. On top of that disappointment, I was eating a granola bar in the morning, and I broke my permanent retainer. It was BUGGING me like crazy, so we had to blast to CVS and snag some wax. We visited the Kretchmer family, and, wow, they are so lit. Sister Kretchmer was sooo dang funny. She has me dying. She made us these goated green smoothies. I asked her for the recipe. For sure, I might have to blend up a smoothie sometime.Â
Â
Saturday: Oct 12th! A “Crazy, Crazy day!” Karl’s baptism went super well! The whole ward was super nervous about how he was going to get under the water because he is like 6’4 and a big boy and 70 years old, haha. But Elder Hunsaker and I were able to figure it out, and we got him fully under on the 1st try. The ward was super clutch in showing up to support him! And while all of this was going on, my big bro, BG, got sealed in the temple to the love of his life and my new sister, Quincy! I am so hyped for them.
I have been thinking about them all week and all day long! It made me reflect on life and how lucky I am to be a part of this gospel. To have the authority on the earth to baptize and also to seal has changed my life. I was sad I missed it but super happy for them! Lowkey, the rest of the day was super mild because Elder Hunsaker was sick, so he rested all day long. I spent about 6 straight hours watching gospel library videos, and man, those can get boring fast. However, I got to call home, and that was super fun, as usual. To end the night, Elder Hunsaker started feeling better, and we did a dope pizza night! We made pizzas, and there’s a video in my G photos at the bottom if you wanna watch!
Sunday: Church was great! Lots of people congratulated Karl. Being able to be in the circle to confirm him was such a dope feeling. Bro Toluepe confirmed him. I love that man. The spirit was so strong, it was wonderful. He got interviewed right after for his temple recommend and the priesthood! Just like that, Karl Hillhouse is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Such an amazing experience being a part of giving somebody the holy ghost. I could feel the spirit so strongly. We had a good visit with some members of the congregation and then had a cool ” Friends Fireside ” put on by President and sister Galotera. Andrea came with us, and it was so cool to hear testimony from some recent converts in the mission and to also hear from President and Sister Galotera!
I freaking love this gospel so much. It truly is the happiest thing on this earth. Saturday, while my comp was sick, I had so much time to think, and I thought about how much happier I am when I live and study the Gospel consistently. There is nothing that will make you happier than being a part of this great gospel. It took me 20 years to realize it. I love you all so much. I would love to have you all listen to Gary E. Stevenson’s most recent conference address and think about where you want to be 10 years from now. I’d love to hear some of your answers! Love y’all! See you in 9 months. Can you believe it? Â
Â
Elder L. Griffiths Â
