LIfe is good in Dayton

10 minutes, here we go...

Ohio's pancake flat terrain has one irreplaceable blessing, HUGE sky and HUGE clouds! I love it!

So Conference was so amazing. There isn't a temple available to us here but I truly felt like listening to the words of the Prophet and Apostles was a heavenly experience. The spirit was so strong and I learned more from this session than ever before. Conference is the coolest experience as a missionary. All of the talks were so inspiring. I like what Elder Hales said right from the beginning that the greatest blessings come as we apply what we have learned. And the unique thing is that regardless of the words spoken, the spirit will teach us what we need to know and do. Because of this, Heavenly Father's instruction will be different for each of us. So I hope you all weren't just passive listeners. Don't just be hearer of the words, but listen to the spirit, and don't just hear the spirit, but act on what he told you! This conference was truly awesome, study these talks over and over again! I feel like I'm rambling but President Porter asked us to think of things we learned from conference that can help us be more powerful servants. I might just share a few things that I'm going to take away.... *this is where I copy and paste from my letter to President hehehe...

In no particular order of the session's here is what I'm taking away from this conference.

1. Above all, become Christlike, especially in the attribute of Faith. Being Christlike is the very best form of missionary work. Who we are speaks louder than anything else.
2. Make God my highest priority. Not only worship Him as the Supreme Creator, but also love Him as my closest friend. This really changes my perspective and the dialogue of my prayers.
3. Act, don't wait to be acted upon. Cause a change, don't wait for others to do so. Be a leader. Have strength of character. Be the one to bring the fire, the faith, and the spirit; don't rely on others to do so.
4. Be healthy and take care of yourself. The body affects the spirit.
5.Teach with word and power. Word by using the scriptures more, power by truly making the gospel of Jesus Christ the center of my life and desires.

So that's the basics of what I felt. Study the talks and learn what Heavenly Father wants YOU to personally learn. I promise you that you'll be able to hear His voice through His servants, it's part of the power of the priesthood.

Well between my frantic typing and total loss of ability to spell due to mixed Spanish and English words in my mind, I hope you can discern something from this letter. A couple other things that happend this week is that we are teaching a guy named Sergio. We are showing him how the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ can help give him strength to quit smoking!

The father of the Torres family read 3 chapters since we saw him last week! And he remembers everything perfectly! The trick with them continues to be the fact that they work on Sundays.

We watched the Sunday morning session with a less active/part member family and had the coolest experience. The spirit really was working with them. They both were emotional after the session as we talked about what they felt. The messages were so inspired!!!

   

Love you! Life is good in DAYTON.

Elder Graf

Here is our zone! sadly this group might change the next Tuesday (transfers are on the 15). Everyone thinks I'm going to leave because I'm pretty ancient to Dayton. I still hope that I can stay here for forever.
I love it here.
The picture was supposed to be coordinated. The only blue tie I had was a "posterity tie" that I inherited from Elder Brown. It has a lineage of half a dozen trainers who have signed their names on the back. The silly things we do as missionaries. Elder Foote doesn't know it yet, but he's the next heir of the tie. Haha.