1 Sep 1928
John Griffin to Mother / Grenoble, France

Here it is a year tomorrow since I left home. If I was in England I would be half done. The time slips right by and the busier you are the faster it slips. We held a meeting last Sunday night and had a pretty good turnout and a pretty good meeting. Frere Caldwell left real early Monday morning and since we have been 'buffing' it alone. Everything seems to be going along fine. We now have a cottage or a hall meeting every night of the week except Saturday and some days we get in two meetings. The cottage meeting is about the best way there is to teach the gospel. I believe that the large majority of the converts are made through a cottage meeting.

We have several (investigators) that seem to be ready for baptism yet it seems that one (becomes) scared and the other doesn't start it. I think if one starts we will have three or four (be baptized) We have one lady that is coming along especially well. she doesn't know much about the gospel yet, but she is willing and anxious to learn. She just worships the missionaries and would give us her house if she asked for it. She will no doubt be baptized before long. Most of the rest are old ones that have been hanging along for a long time. They believe the gospel but havn't the courage to go through with the baptism.

This morning we went up to Chambery, a city about an hour's distance from here, further up the valley. It is a historic old city and we though that it would be a good thing to visit it while we were this close. While there we visited the Chateau, a few old churches, and saw a bunch more monuments, as well as the art gallery. It was all very interesting yesterday, much the same thing as you will find in any French city its size.

The other day there appeared in four or five different Paris newspapers a very favorable article concerning the Mormons. They had a missionary President's conference there and all the Presidents of the European mission were there. The newspaper also mentioned the fact that they held meetings in Paris. It gave the truth about the polygamy question and in all ways was favorable. (The article) appeared in the New York Herald, and English newspaper printed in Paris. I cut it and have pasted it in my scrapbook, so you can read it in another year and a half.

I have learned to eat since coming over... cooked turnips, egg plant and fried rice. I guess it's a pretty lucky thing for Dotta that I came on a mission. Chuck wrote me from Geneva the other day and said that a missionary that was working in Belgium (Rulon Christensen) was chosen to be the new mission President. He is 27 years old, a college graduate and school teacher; very qualified. I have received no official notice yet so don't know whether they've changed their minds or not.

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