New Trainee

I snapped a picture of Dayton while on the way to dinner at members (Don't worry I wasn't driving this time - we were in a member's car, his name's Orlando and he's a Puerto Rican who served in Idaho and just got back a few months ago. He's the coolest guy.) There's also a pic of me and my trainee (yes, it was in the parking lot on our way in to send emails. I'm still not very good at taking pictures.... unless it's your companion who chopped his leg with an ax, heheh)

Well I'm going to be lazy and just copy and paste my letter to President. Here it is!

 "It is very humbling to have the opportunity to train a new Elder. These past few days have already provided me some of the greatest personal growth I've experienced on my mission. I know the Lord is qualifying me to lead the work in our Dayton area. I have already felt the mantle broaden on my shoulders. Literally overnight my Spanish comprehension has improved a lot. I'm not fluent by any means but Heavenly Father has really blessed me with an increase in the gift of tongues and a greater capacity to lead. I love this work and I love Him. I know Heavenly Father expects me to work really hard these coming weeks and I'm excited to do it. Elder Foote is a great missionary. He's really sincere and genuine about serving. His Spanish is simple and basic but he's got the intelligence, and more importantly, the desire to learn and grow quickly. I know we'll experience tremendous improvement together as we make it a focus and speak the language at every opportunity. 

This week our lessons were few in number but the lessons we did have were really good. Our main investigators right now are Sheila and the Torez family. Sheila is committed to quit smoking for good and to prepare for baptism on August 24th. We continue to build a good relationship with the Torez family and we're going to finish teaching them the Plan of Salvation tonight. We found a good number of potential investigators for the English speaking missionaries but we didn't find any new Spanish investigators. Finding will be a focus for us this week."

It truly has been a couple of amazing days this past week. Heavenly Father has really down poured the blessings. I was definitely feeling a little unprepared with my Spanish but I've really been experiencing the gift of tongues. The improvement I've experienced these past few days (and literally overnight of transfers) has been too grand to attribute it to anything but help from above. It's amazing.

But about my trainee! Oh man, I love him so much already. His name is Elder Colby Foote and he's from Eagle Mountain Utah. He also had 4 years of Spanish and didn't learn much from it either. We're both the first missionaries from our families AND we have the same birthday :) So it was meant to be. Elder Foote plays lacrosse and piano and went to the U of U and is thinking about Chemical engineering. In a lot of ways we're pretty similar so we'll get along great. He actually reminds me of a cross between cousin Brandon Beanz and Mr. Rogers. So naturally he's a Champion, he's a winner, he's a stud and I tell him every day haha. But really though he's a solid Elder and I'm excited to work with him!

I sure do Love you all and thank you always for your prayers. I know people are praying for me and I can really feel the difference. LES AMO!  Elder Graf

  

Elder Foote and Elder Graf

Dayton, Ohio

Crazy Week

Holy smokes where do I even start. This week was crazy on so many levels. We just found out about transfer calls literally an hour ago. Elder Brown is leaving the Dayton area and I'm taking over. There are 4 brand, spanking new Spanish Elders coming into the Mission and I'm going to be training one of them. (I don't know who until the transfer meeting tomorrow). But I'm scared and thrilled out of my mind! Me?!?!! I’m supposed to train? I don't even speak the language yet! Oh man I'm just delirious right now. I'm absolutely giddy and terrified at the same time. This is going to make me stretch big time. I'm going to really learn how to pray these next few weeks. This area has been a bit of a pit. Our apartment reeks, but what I mean by pit is that there hasn't been a Spanish baptism in this area for a couple years. President called us while a member (Bro. Bristow, best guy in the world) took us out to lunch. He called and asked me to turn this area around. Oh boy. I'm definitely feeling the heat now but at the same time I can't hardly contain myself. These next few weeks are going to be crazy. I prayed for a tornado and Heavenly Father delivered. God has a good sense of humor. So this transfer had my mind buzzing a hundred miles an hour, but I'll try to give a run down on a couple other things that happened since last email. (By the way I got over my fever really quickly and am back to full energy again, thank you everyone for the prayers I know you offered on my behalf).

A little about investigators: Fernando and Maria are busy as ever with work and haven't been able to make it to church. Sheila's father is sick and going to pass away soon and she is preoccupied with that but she is still solid and is going to be baptized hopefully in the coming month or two. We've been doing work with less actives in the branch. We had a priest age man come out teaching with us a couple times and now he's thinking about going on a mission! BOOYEAH. Also there's a young couple (one's a less active and the other isn't a member) that we've been reading the Book of Mormon with and now they're wanting to participate in church again!!! Power to the Book of Mormon! Another family, The T family, are looking like promising investigators. They might need time but the father of the family has already read all the introduction and first five chapters! The miracles that I've been seeing here because of the Book of Mormon have just been awesome. The spiritual power that those pages give us is crucial. The Book of Mormon isn't just another book, it's the word of God and the pathway to allowing so many blessings into our lives. May I never go a single day for the rest of my life without studying from that precious record of scripture. All of you must do the same! Heavenly Father gives us so much, we owe it to Him to spend a couple minutes every day at least to study the revelation and instruction He's given to us.

Okay so last Saturday was interesting. We were doing service at a member's house. They had 30 trees cut down for them, a small forest I know. They need help doing clean up work. So Elder Brown and I were on the job bright and early in the morning. We were having ourselves a joyous time wielding axes and chopping branches. It was great fun all until Elder Brown chopped into his lower right calf with the ax. I ran and grabbed a towel to put pressure on the wound. 911 was dialed. Sister Brown (name of the member whose house we were at) took over holding the bloody towel to Elder Brown's leg while Brother Holly (neighbor) and I gave him a blessing. Paramedics arrived and then wheeled us off to the E.R. where Elder Brown received about 15 to 20 stitches. Surprisingly the E.R. was quick and we were out 3 hours later. Elder Brown now has a sore leg and a nasty scar to show for it. I was quick thinking and took pictures to document the happening. Some pics are kind of gross so I'll send those to dad first haha. But hooray for my third trip to the E.R.!!!

Well I sure love you all! I have the best family in the world. I truly feel blessed to have the background I have. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything. This is Christ’s church. I know it is. I'm so humbled to represent Him. Thank you always for your prayers.

-Elder Kevin Graf

A cute family they are working with.

Paramedics in action

In the E.R.

Warning! Gruesome pictures ahead.

Yikes!!

Ouch!!

Cincinnati Mission

How is it already July?! These past few months have flown by.

 

Quick Shout out to CHEYENNE and SHAYLEE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And Erin happy birthday in T minus 5 days :) 

 

Also, Congrats Erin on the AP tests! that's huge! (mom and Dad will always doubt that their children can pass AP test but you just have to prove them wrong hahah). **(Disclaimer: We only told him not to take an AP test for a class that he didn't actually take. But even without taking the class, he got a 4. So we were wrong.)  P.S. Several Elders have wanted to write you but I've fought them off hehehe. One even tried to do several favors for me so that he would butter his way into getting our home address but all in vain. Maybe I'm just now getting protective of my sisters. Dear sisters, Stay away from Boys!

 

Thanks mom for the package and letters. I've enjoyed the talks you sent. Okay on to what happened last week....

 

Monday: Played volleyball as a zone for like 3 hours on Pday. Of course I got sunburned. I also forgot to take like any pictures this week... still working on that. But I did take a pic of a "Title of Liberty" that Elder Brown made during study. It looks sweet so I took a picture of it.

 

Tuesday: Did work in Dayton. Helped a Guatemalan named Gustavo feel the spirit.

 

Wednesday: Wednesday was awesome. We had 5 lessons. It rained big this day. It really pours down here, thus the reason it's so green here. I Love big storms. I'm praying that I'll get to see a tornado sometime during my mission ;)

 

Thursday: Zone Conference. Had an interview with President and Sister Porter. Both are really great people. They told us that me and Elder Brown will be a part of the Cincinnati Mission and that our area basically stays the same! Wahoo! perfect outcome that I wanted :) After the conference we did some more work in Dayton and Huber Heights, which included some weird experiences. A 94 year old Jehovahs witness grandma tried to convert me and Elder Brown. Upon realizing that we weren't going to convert she got desperate, warning us of our wrongs and condemning us if we wouldn't change. She was so old and tried so hard, bless her heart.

 

Friday: We had a good lesson with Fernando. We studied the Book of Mormon with him and I understood 95% of what was said! I walked out of there feeling like a champ. My Spanish was really on the mark Friday.

 

Saturday: Took down a huge tree for service. It was tons of fun. Brother Dunkin does this for a living and told us some interesting facts about trees- their branches are often only as tall as their roots are deep. Theirs probably a parallel to Testimonies in here somewhere.

 

Sunday: Elder Brown and I have both come down with a good fever but we worked through it Sunday and really saw Blessings come because of it.

 

Overall we're staying really busy and we're doing well!

Love You all!!!

Limbo

Sounds like the fourth was a fun time. As missionaries we were in early for the night of the fourth. We did weekly planning. So i didn't see any fireworks but I sure heard them.

We still are in limbo stage. The birth of a new mission isn't always as slick as butter so apparently there are some bigger issues that the Presidents have on their hands than deciding what to do with Elder Brown and I and our area. So in the meantime we just continue work as usual. My guess is they might just leave us to ourselves this transfer. 

However I got to meet President Porter. He has a quieter personality than President Nilsen (who also had surgery last week to remove a tumor, I believe he's recovering alright, we really haven't heard much). President Nilsen is rightly described as a conqueror. He will be successful no matter the costs, no matter the casualties. President Porter also has a big heart but he's definitely different leadership style. He's more quiet but very empowering. I'm excited to work under him.

Before I say anything else, which might not be much at all, but send mail to this new address:  Mission Office P.O Box: P.O. Box 11671 Cincinnati, OH 45211

We are technically assigned to the CIncy mission for the time being so send mail and stuff through this address.

  
We had two investigators at church this week, and best of all is that they were Hispanic! WaHooooo!!! Fernando and Maria have been investigating for years but they haven' come to church in over a year but they came yesterday. Elder Brown and I have been developing a good relationship with them. They shove plates of food in front of us every time we go over there (last time they gave us raw chopped up catfish and didn't tell us what it was till after we ate it). But we still love them and hope to see them progress.

  
Well it's time to go so I'll finish with this. President Porter was one of 173 new mission presidents being trained at the MTC. He said that one day all of the Quorum of the Twelve came and gave them a seminar. They announced that this era of missionary work, a true fulfillment of prophecy, is equal in significance as those of the First Vision and the Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood! How sweet to be a part of it! Missionary work is truly awesome. Sorry for all the typos I'm typing fast as I can! Got to Go! Love you all!

Elder Graf


Me and Elder Fivas at the "good bye" conference of Pres. and SIster Nilsen. We drank Golden Bears to the birth of the new Cincy mission. I actually saw Pres. Nilsen the next day. Me and Elder Brown and two other Elders were picked to help the mission car coordinator do car inspections on all of the Colombus cars the next day at the Northern conference.

 One more sip of the classic Golden Bear lemonade tradition.

 Me on some railroad tracks in a town called Germantown.

 Here's Elder Brown.

This is a picture of Dayton from perhaps the only hill in Ohio. I took it while I was driving haha, but while I was stopped at a light of course.

Roller Coaster

The mission is a roller coaster. You can have the best and worst moments of your life, the difference only being an hour of time. Neither Steven nor Sheila made it to church yesterday. But I made a special fast for them yesterday and I can feel how much Heavenly Father loves them. I know He's going to help them in these coming weeks. Both of them still have strong desires to learn more. Both of them are solid examples for their families, and who knows, their families might decide to follow them in the future. We will continue praying for and working with them.

 So, I was super excited about going into the new Cincinnati mission but it's possible that I could stay in Colombus. Even though the new mission boundries technically went into effect today they still haven't decided what to do with mine and Elder Browns area. Our area covers two English stakes. One stake (Dayton East zone) is in the Colombus mission, the other stake (Dayton zone) is in Cincinnati. We live in Dayton East but most of our investigators are in Dayton. The majority of our branch is in Dayton East but our district is in Dayton. Long story short is that our area is one of the largest most confusing areas in all of Ohio. So as of right now Elder Brown is writing up a report of the pro's and con's of our area and President will probably tell us by next week what he decides to do with us. I honestly would prefer to go to the Cincinnati Mission (More Spanish work down there, plus the one and only Elder Fivas and other awesome Elders willl be there) but time will tell. I'll serve with all my heart in whichever mission I get sent to. I know President Nilsen's decison will be by revelation and that's all I need to know.

  So yesterday I gave another talk in sacrament. It was awful, like 30 minutes long haha.  I didn't really account for the fact that giving a talk in a foreign language will always take twice as long unless you can fluently speak like a native, which I'm no where close. But my spanish continues to get better. I feel like I can understand most of what anyone says if I really listen carefully. Sacrament meetings are sometimes just ridiculous. Our branch is few in number and even fewer in singing abilities. When there are only 20 or so people and the majority of them can't sing, myself included, it shows really bad. Sometimes the hymns are just an absolute trainwreck. We are all singing different verses, none of which are remotely in tune. Sometimes it takes everything in me not to laugh at the pack of dying cows that we must sound like. Good thing our sacrament is the last meeting of the day and by then our branch is the only ones in the building, by then the english ward has already cleared out. But don't get me wrong, the spirit is present in our small meetings just as they would be in any of Utah's congregations, even as we reverently try to do the songs justice.

  Random event as we were tracting.... Police wheeled up at a nearby house, they jumped out of their cars, invaded the house and arrested a guy that was drunk and had threatened some guy with a gun. We were a good distance away and were never at any point in harms way but it's just a good reminder to be safe in Dayton. :)

  I've been learning so much out here. I know I've said that a million times but I just can't say it enough. So many incredible people. There is nothing I would rather be doing right now. Even after my mission I want to stay as close to this work as possible! The Church is awesome. It's so incredible to see people feel the spirit because of Joseph Smith's First Vision, whether or not they decide to accept it is their choice but it's awesome to be a part of their conversions. Love it all so much.

 ANd I love my Family so much to!!!!! Okay, Hasta luego.  _Elder Graf