I'm going to honest, this week was a complete blur.  

Nothing crazy happened but we had a bunch of tender, beautiful moments.

I will start by answering your questions though.  I am feeling MUCH better.  After a whole transfer of being sick I am healed!! (mostly) wooo!  It was just a really terrible cold that wouldn't leave.  Headache, nasty cough, tired, achy, all of it.  We went to the hospital and they gave me a million and one different kinds of medicine that had so many side effects.  That led to me getting "la duzi" and other not fun things.  So I quit all the meds and just kept pushing through and here I am:) no need to worry.  Sorry I wasn't more clear with all that.  I sucked down all the vitamins and airborne you send me.. thank you so much. 

Sister Guo and I are doing well!! Sometimes its hard to have a companion who's Chinese is perfect.  Because then you become prideful and frustrated. haha.  But its ok! This week we had a wonderful specialized zone conference and it was a wonderful experience.  They taught four languages. 

1.the language of the spirit.

2.the language of love.

3.the language of Taiwan.

4. the language of the gospel.

When we started I was so excited to learn how I could make my chinese better so I could better teach the taiwanese.    I am to give my all in studying this language.  I study during meals, I keep a small notebook and write down every word I don't understand, I review my flashcards before I go to bed and while I get ready I look at the new ones for the day.  I am giving all I have to learn this language and I have such a desire to be able to communicate and share the gospel.  But as the day went on, I realized that chinese is the smallest part of being a missionary.  The language of the spirit and the language of love over power any Chinese idiom I know or if I can read the menu at a restaurant. 

The spirit will carry the message to the hearts of these people.  God will never keep people from learning his gospel because of my weakness.  I know without a doubt that this is true. This is Christs gospel... this is Gods work.  They have ALL power.  Why would I ever think that I could ever get in the way of their will.  

I learned so much from that conference but mostly I was reminded of Christs power.  I was reminded that I need Christs atonement everyday.  Not only because I make mistakes and have trials but also because I need to become something that I never thought I could be.  I never  thought I would learn this language.  I never thought I could go to the other side of the world, face pouring rain and crazy humidity on a bike, in the streets of Taiwan.  I never thought I could leave my family and spend everyday facing rejection.  I truly need the savior.  

But even though I learned all that, I still forget. ha. 

  Last night in a couple of our lessons, I felt as if I was in training again and I was frustrated that our investiators always look to sister guo for answers and they don't give me a chance to catch to think and express my thoughts because they can just turn to my companion.  

This morning in my personal study I prayed long and hard that I would be lifted.  I turned open the Liahona read about Elder Bednars talk from last year in the May general conference.  He said that through Christs atonement we are given strength to do things that we otherwise would never be able to do with our own strength.   It hit me right then that we are all in need of Christs atonement more than we ever can imagine.  During the Zone Conference I was like "yes! I need Christs atonement more!" and then two days passed and I was like "wow... I really need Christs atonement"... It is a never ending process of looking to our savior.  

This mission is an MTC for the rest of my life.  It is training me to look to the Savior every day and never under estimate his power. 

A couple tender moments from this week! We have an investigator named Irene:) She is the best.  She missed her baptismal date though because here in Taiwan everyone is super superstitious and they have all these crazy traditions.  And the week before she was supposed to be baptized she failed a huge test and had an anxiety attact.  It has been hard to get her back on track.  Before her test though we taught her the word of wisdom and she pretty much said she didn't know if she could do it and then started to wonder if she wanted to be baptized.  So I have just been non stop praying that god will give her strength.  Last night we went to her house to review the commandments and make a new baptismal date.  We told the member that was going with us that we would have to be bold and teach the blessings of commandments.  We started by teaching about all the blessings that come from keeping Gods commandments and read several scriptures.  At the end, I asked her if she had any questions about the commandments we had taught her and she said no...She said she has kept them all since the day we taught them to her and its been so easy.  My face was probably priceless.  I was smiling so big and even laughed.  I know that God really did bless her with strength!! Even with the anxiety and the failing of the test, she never broke down.  HUGE MIRACLE.  

Also we taught a sweet older man this week the first lesson about Jospeh Smith.  His eyes were full of tears and gratitude as we taught him the truth.  I used to feel so bad about telling other christians that their church wasn't complete but I know now that we are only helping them find the fullness of Jesus Christs gospel.  As we knelt down together on the dirty cement floor, this sweet man offered up the most sincere prayer of gratitude that I have ever heard.  

These are only small pieces of what is happening here.. God is in everything and is directing his work.

This week I though a lot about my past mistakes and wondered how God would ever trust me to do this.. But I am so grateful he has.  

Happy Easter! 

I know without a doubt in my heart that He Lives.  

Love, Sister Griffin

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! 

 my cute comp

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