First Week In Lincoln!!

Week 66, Transfer 10 

Area: Auburn (Auburn 2nd Ward Spanish group & Lincoln 4th Spanish Branch)

Compañera: Hermana Griffin

This was our first official full week in Lincoln!! We're now double covering the branch in Lincoln and the group in Auburn, and it has been SO fun!!

Our first experience in Lincoln was driving through a neighborhood that could've been straight out of a dystopian novel while visiting a referral from the Sisters. There were blocks and blocks and BLOCKS of cookie-cutter houses, peacocks, and the roads had not only a bike lane but a dedicated GOLF CART lane too... when we got out of our car for the first time, there was a guy across the street standing in his yard. We said, "Hi, how are you?" And he just stared at us like we were from another dimension, kinda like we were intruding on this dystopian neighborhood haha.

It's been a hard week for finding and lessons with members, and none of our friends came to church on Sunday.... but we were able to meet a lot of cool people, have some really good conversations with people we were able to refer to other missionaries, and start to build things up in Lincoln! It's a testament that numbers are not everything. As missionaries, there are some numbers we track, but they do not determine your success or the area's success as a missionary. Yes, it's always nice to find lots of new people to teach and have lots of friends at church (which hopefully they will all come and partake of the blessings of the gospel), but if you're so focused on numbers, you miss the miracles that are happening on a personal level in the lives of EVERYONE in your area. There are phases and ups and downs for all of your people for sure, but God knows what they need, and we are here to be His hands.

Zone conference was also this past Thursday in Yuba City!! So, so many takeaways. I can't get over how much the idea of light stood out to me, though. The underlying theme through all of the messages, at least to me, was how much the light of Christ influences and changes people, and how it's something we need to develop and look for each and every day. And how we can help others experience the light of Christ that we carry to help them experience the joy and peace that comes from diligently striving to follow Jesus Christ's gospel.

Matthew 5:14-16 (New Testament)

"14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

My invitation for you this week is to do as the Savior says and LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE!!! We all have that light of Christ innately within us, and it's something we can all shine just by being us, but make a conscious effort this week to put in the effort to turn up the brightness and to take off your bushel to share it with others!

Christ is the light of the world and can shine in places that are so dark we can't even see our hands in front of our faces! Let Him in to light up your life, then share that light with others.

/Hermana Ellis

Mission photos!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UtFZf4erpztBvg7x5

Notable Quotes:

Elder Jenkins: We found lizards in our apartment today. They swiveled, rhe criveled, and they yammed in the cracks.

Hna Griffin: being a missionary is just "The Great Sifting"... except you get attached to every piece of flour.

Hna Griffin (looking at our color-coordinated schedule for the week): this looks... like a gender reveal party.

Sister Pilj: coincidences are just God's way of staying anonymous.

Sister Hamilton (a senior missionary) @ Zone Conference to Elder LeClair (one of the APs): don't be so cute there, young man. I've got socks older than you.