Get to Know a Garden City Member: Elle Mitchell

Hello! I’m Elle Mitchell, I’ve been attending Garden City since I moved to San Jose 6 years ago. When I moved here, I was planning on being here about 2.5 years, but God had other plans, and I’m very thankful for this church family that has been so loving and caring throughout the years. I currently serve with the youth group and love seeing how much it’s grown recently. 

I grew up in Pleasant Hill which is in the East Bay, next to Walnut Creek. I was a really imaginative kid, so a lot of my childhood was spent getting all my friends to join in on whatever game I had come up with most recently. When I got older, my favorite thing to do was to take Bart into SF or Berkeley with friends and explore. 

Even though I grew up only an hour away, I never came to San Jose before moving here, so there has been a lot to discover. I’m big on coffee shops and Academic in downtown and Manresa Bread in Campbell are two of my favorites. Some favorite restaurants are Orchard City Kitchen, The Table, and Jalisco Taqueria (in east san jose). I also love going to wineries and some of my favorites in this area are Picchetti, House Family Vineyards, and Wrights Station. 

A favorite recent Life Group memory has just been being back together in person again. It sounds so simple, but I really dislike virtual meetings and it makes a huge difference to see people’s faces more clearly and be able to feel more present. We’ve been breaking into guys and girls groups on Wednesday’s and I’ve really enjoyed that as well. The girls have been taking turns sharing our stories and it’s been really special to get to know each other more deeply during this time. 

My Life Group has definitely been a source of encouragement during this time, but I also live with 4 girls who are believers and I’m really thankful that we've been able to lean on each other, especially when the shutdown first happened. I own my own business so I had no idea what this season was going to look like, but I’ve seen God show up in amazing ways that I wasn’t expecting. Seeing Him continue to provide in a time of such uncertainty has been so encouraging. 

Love you all and can’t wait until we can all be together again!

Elle