Christmas Testimony

Another good week in the books! I can't believe it's already Christmas!

When I was younger, Christmas was all about the presents. But as I got older I really just enjoyed the time we spent together as family. Christmas has a different spirit, it really does, and I'm sad that I won't be able to share it with you this time. I will miss you guys this year, but I'm excited to talk to you in a couple days.

Sacrifice - giving up something good for something better. For a time I leave my family and the comforts of home to find the Comforter, My Savior, and My Father. I love you, my sisters and my mom and my dad, but I need time to learn to love Them, and I have. I feel closer to My Father in Heaven than ever before. I'm learning how to receive counsel from him every night as I pray. My gratitude for my Savior has grown deeper and deeper, and I've felt the spirit in my life more and more fully. The greatest blessing is our lives, and the Atonement is what makes it possible for us to grow. I am growing, learning, changing, becoming. I love Christ. He is my strength. I'm grateful to be His missionary. I know that God has a plan for us. I know that plan was revealed to Joseph Smith and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on earth today. In it we have the true ordinances of Salvation that provide us spiritual safety and peace. As the Savior said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

That spiritual peace and purpose to our lives is found within the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is. I leave this brief testimony with you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Graf.

Talk to you soon!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

This is how we study every morning ;)

Someone gave us the flower after a Christmas activity, haha.

Branch Christmas Party

For the month of December, President Porter has printed a different talk for us to study every day. Each talk is about the Atonement. I love it. I love that we get to study the Atonement of Jesus Christ every morning. My faith, gratitude, and love for the Savior has grown deeper and deeper. It truly is a blessing to have several hours each morning as a missionary to study the gospel. I know that the rest of you at home don't have that kind of time, but daily gospel study is an absolute must. Even if it's just a few minutes, we have to set aside time to rebuild and reignite the fire of our faith. Faith is a principle of action, but it can also become a principle of power (Jacob 4:6) that allows us to cause a change in ourselves and others. There are a limitless number of things that can occupy our time in the world but we need to spend a few minutes each day and become "God's investigators", so He can teach us through the spirit and build our faith.

You asked about the Zone conference with the Member of the Seventy. His name was Elder Perkins and I learned a lot. At the beginning of the meeting they had everyone write down two questions that they wanted answered. The idea was that if the spirit was there throughout the meeting we would each be able to have our questions answered, regardless of the words spoken or the messages taught. I wrote my two questions down and within a few minutes I got both of them answered; revelation is pretty cool! We have another Zone conference tomorrow as well, this time for Christmas! It's going to be another big surprise cut to our allotted miles this month, but that's okay, the buses really haven't been too bad.

We had quite a miracle last week. When we got back from the zone conference with Elder Perkins we noticed that someone had tried to call us several times. We didn't recognize the number but we called back and talked to a guy named M....    M... said missionaries had come by in the past (which is how he had our telephone number, but the missionaries were transferred and contact was lost) and that he wanted to meet with us again. We set up an appointment for the next day, Friday afternoon. We met M... and his girlfriend, C.... We learned that he was a recent convert that went less active. He had problems with drinking but had found power in the Book of Mormon. He bore testimony to us that when he read the Book of Mormon he didn't have any temptation to drink. He and his nonmember girlfriend had been reading the Book of Mormon every day for a week before they had called us. They don't have a car, nor any seats in their apartment, so we taught them sitting on the carpet :) But we had another one of our investigators drive them to church. They both dressed very nice and the members did such a good job at fellowshipping them. It was C....'s first time at church but she and M... had a good experience. They are very special people and they are going to make such awesome members. They need to get married before she can be baptized but we are going to invite them to be baptized in our lesson with them tonight! Pray for them that it will go well! We and the branch are very excited for them. It seems as if they came completely out of no where but we know Heavenly Father's hand has been in it the whole time.

Friday night we had a branch Christmas Activity. In line with Hispanic fashion it started 2 hours late. M... and C... couldn't come but maybe it's a good thing they didn't. The members love to "baile", or in other words, dance. After a while of peaceful socializing and the completion of a cute but awful nativity reenactment (we never practiced it beforehand), the reverence of Christmas spirit was replaced with someone's iPod played over a concert floor speaker. After that we left. We had to leave anyways because of curfew; it was getting late. But overall it was a good thing. Even without the pig leg we had dutifully prepared, the food was plenty and delicious and we had lots of less actives and investigators come.

Here's a last few words. We can gain a testimony in several ways, my particular favorite and perhaps the most direct is through the Book of Mormon. But another way we can gain a testimony is by looking at the fruits of what we are doing. See Matthew 7:16-20. So even if all we know of the church is that we feel peace and it makes us happier, then we can know that it's true. Those "good fruits" of the spirit that come from God wouldn't be there if it wasn't true. Simple as that. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has all the good fruits to offer because it's the only church with the fullness of the gospel. And it's within this Church that we can be healed, find peace, and bind families for forever. I love this Church, because it's His. Christ stands at the head of it. I know that with all my heart and I leave that with you until next week! Enjoy Christmas break, look forward to talking to you all soon! Les Quiero!

Elder Graf  

I (Sydna) am Facebook friends with this nice member. She takes care of the missionaries and posts lots of pictures on Facebook. I really appreciate her. These are her pictures.

The picture is of two stuffed pig legs. We jousted it with knives and then filled the holes with pineapple, ham, bacon, and  prunes. It was the main meat for a branch Christmas party we had at the church on Friday. Unfortunately it didn't finish cooking in time so we ate it for lunch both Saturday and Sunday at Sister C...'s house. (Spanish culture fun fact - the branch doesn't really refer to people by their last names. So it's like saying Sister Sydna or Brother Curtis. Kind of weird but that's how they do it). So I don't know sister C...'s last name but she has a son serving in Chile, so that's probably why she's so keen about taking pictures of missionaries.

Tuesday Journal Entry

I've been pretty awful at writing in my journal lately; we are just so busy, running from place to place, sun up til long after the sun is down. But last Tuesday was noteworthy so I made sure to record it in my journal. I don't have much time but I'll share with you my entry for that day.

"Every day of my mission I have been blessed to have the privilege of driving a mission vehicle, up until today. Elder Carranza had to borrow it for exchanges with the Fort Wayne elders (side story- that exchange cost 400 miles that we later found out aren't going to be reimbursed to us. that's a third of our miles for the month gone in two days and the joke is one me and Elder Gibb. Not excited about it but we are going to become more acquainted with public transportation this month haha). So, today we were left with using the buses. And where the bus routes stop, the foot paths begin. After teaching C... in the Puebla tienda (Hispanic store), we boarded the bus until the closest stop to our next appointment, E... and her kids, including recently baptized Jo.... The distance, 2.5 miles. At a brisk walk we made it to their trailer home in 45 minutes, just in time to meet Jo... and Ja..... stepping of the bus. We met them and walked with them inside where E... had a delicious warm dinner of potatos, mac and cheese, and grilled fish waiting for us. We had a good dinner and shared funny stories, usually about how Elder Gibb gets to listen to me snore all night. Jo... and Ja... are really good- natured kids, and little 2 year old C... is a ball of endless energy.

   After the meal we sang a hymn and shared a lesson about the Sabbath day. After the lesson, we bore testimony that this is Christ's church and we wanted to do everything we could to help the rest of the family be baptized. E... shared her desire to be baptized, but explained that she needs to get a divorce from her old husband so she can marry her current companion so she can be qualified for baptism. She is faithfully living every commandment she can, but just needs help with the legal complexities so that she can be living the law of chastity. We closed with a prayer and left her the promise that we would do everything in our power to help her, and we will. I know Heavenly Father is going to open up that opportunity for E... to be baptized. I also know that the adversary will do everything he can to complicate things. But Elder Gibb and I walked out of their home feeling tremendously blessed. E... and her family are really special people that are humbly doing their best to follow the Savior. It is so satisfying to see the gospel become an honest desire for their family.

   By the time we began our trek back to the bus stop it was dark, but our spirits were as bright as ever. Though completely whipped from a big day, we offered a prayer of gratitude on the side of the road and sang our way back home. Two guys hiking along in their suits must have been a funny sight to see for the cars passing by. I had brought my large over coat because I thought it would be much colder than it was. I quickly learned that hiking with a backpack full of thousands of pages of scripture in both the Spanish and English language keeps you plenty warmed up. I threw my big overcoat over my shoulders as we walked through the night. In that moment I thought of the picture of the Savior with the lamb over His shoulders. I couldn't help but think of my overcoat as being a symbolic lamb. I felt the spirit bear witness to me that I had pleased my Heavenly Father this day with my efforts to bring souls to Christ. I felt I could imagine angels walk with us. I really grew in my conversion this day."

 Even the bus ride home allowed me to see people with all sorts of different backgrounds, and it emphasized how truly merciful the Lord has been to me. I am truly very grateful for the family and faith that I have.

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS A MI QUERIDO MADRE!!!!

Elder Kevin Graf

P.S. if anything doesn't make sense, please forgive my typing but this keyboard doesn't like "T's" or P's or "K's"

What a Thanksgiving!

Wow, can't believe it's December! It really hasn't snowed here that much so it doesn't feel like it's that time of year. I think I'm the fifth oldest Spanish elder (in time out on the mission) and there are about 20 Spanish elders. Pretty crazy. We're a young mission. Elder Fivas was called to be a zone leader in English work. I don't know how he feels about it but I think he was excited.

Well I don't even know what to say, I love my mission and Heavenly Father is blessing us. I'm learning a lot out here and it's a lot of fun to work with all sorts of people, especially the Spanish culture.

We got a new elder in the branch named Elder Shifler. He's from Portland Oregon and he's super clean and healthy. So he's a nice addition to the apartment that now has 4 of us.

Christmas: We will be spending Christmas together as a district because Elder Carranza's apartment complex had an electrical fire. No real damage happened to their room, just some smoke. But he and his companion Elder Shifler can't stay the night there until the apartment complex gets recertified. So for the next couple weeks they'll be with us in our apartment, lots of fun, lots of distraction. I'll have to help everyone stay diligent. But we just might put up a Christmas tree pretty soon, there's one stuffed in one of our closets.

Seriously, I have no complaints. Good area, sweet branch, and a good companion. We are having some sweet experiences with less actives and investigators. We are helping to reactive several people. M... has been coming to church again. And a guy named N... (Spanish for Nephi) came to church for the first time in who knows how long! N... also has a nonmember wife :) So that could be a conversion in the future. Elder Gibb and I are also teaching well and we're finding several new investigators each week. We're healthy and happy. I think we're being blessed simply because we are working hard and have been patient. We are doing everything that we know we're supposed to be doing. We're honest with ourselves on where we need to improve, and we constantly look for ways to progress. We're being humble and obedient and diligent. We're far from perfect, but we are learning and applying everything we learn and Heavenly Father has blessed us in simple but significant ways. 

I know that a critical part of our success has been because of the members. They are doing what they can to help us. They also showed Heavenly Father that they are sincere about their desires to grow the branch by creating a branch mission plan. They've got the goals to baptize 6 new families in the coming year and I know it is 110 percent possible with the Lord's help. It's exciting to see the branch participate more in the work. Members are learning their callings, less actives are reactivating, and investigators are feeling the spirit. I know that this is Christ's church. I know that the spirit can really help people change. It's helped me change. I know that missionary work is full of the spirit and that it's inspired. I love my mission. It makes me sad to think that it will come to an end. These past 10 months have flown by.

A couple more details about this last week....

What a Thanksgiving! Every member invited us over for Thanksgiving, but we only had time for two, and both of them absolutely filled us to the brim with food.  It was ridiculously painful to finish the last plate. Hispanics are big on food and Thanksgiving was no exception!

We had a really good American dinner (The husband is from Utah but his wife is from Mexico. He served his mission in Spain). We ate ourselves full and then went directly to another members house and had a second thanksgiving dinner, but this time we ate Hispanic style. I now realize that my branch in Dayton was pretty Americanized, so the food varied a lot. But the branch here in Kentucky is more true Hispanic, so we eat beans, rice, and tortillas every meal but I don't get tired of it. They cook so well here! but don't worry I'm not going to get fat. We exercise hard every morning and Elder Gibb And Shifler are really health conscious. I know I'm spelling everything wrong but I can't remember how to spell any more. When I get back to Utah State and have to take a junior level college English class I'm going to struggle really hard.

Okay I'm actually going to have to cut this one short because we've got to run!

Have a good week!

Elder Graf

Thanks to these good members for feeding my son Thanksgiving dinner!