Lots of good things have been happening and I couldn't be
happier. I Love this work, it's lots of fun. It stretches you and pulls you and
puts you out of your comfort zone, but you grow and grow and you love how you
change. Something that put a smile on my face was last week right after we
finished emailing. Before we left the library some guy came up and wanted to
talk to us. Four white shirts and ties stick out like sour thumbs so this guy
wanted to find out what we were about. He wanted to test our Bible knowledge
more than anything and wasn't really that interested, he just wanted to argue
so we weren't going to spend too much time with him when a wonderful black
lady came to our defense. It was awesome. She said, "Look at these
boys, they know what they doing. Look at 'em, they happy. And, they got skills.
You should see them play basketball. They got talent, they real." Haha I
loved it. We signed her prayer book and left them with mormon.org
cards.
That same day I had a really neat experience on the bus. It was
the end of the day and we were exhausted. The bus pulled up to our stop and
thankfully there weren't any bikes on the rack so we were able to board. I
swipe my pass and we sit down at different seats so we can talk to more people.
I sit down and start talking to this lady and before we even mention anything
religious she says to me, "You know what? I felt something as soon as you
stepped on the bus. As soon as you walked on I just felt this peace, kinda like
this tingling feeling in your chest." It was an eye opener for me. I was
just thinking, "Wow, God really is preparing people." I testified to
her that what she felt is the spirit and that the spirit testifies of truth,
and that we as missionaries share some very special gospel truths that will
bless her life for forever. She accepted to receive the missionaries and I
scribbled down here number before jumping off the bus. We were only on the bus
for 3 minutes but I know that those 3 minutes will change the opportunities
that that lady will have to learn the gospel and it changed my testimony of the
spirit that is alive in this work.
Last week we had a super revelatory Zone Conference. President
Porter taught us about the doctrine of Christ and how it needs to be alive in
our daily lives. He taught us how we are no different than investigators. We
need to do something that will increase our faith in Jesus Christ each day. We
need to repent and make changes every day. We have to commit ourselves to God
and make ourselves accountable by continually turning our thoughts to Him.
"What does God want from you?", he asked. "Everything that you
don't want to give up." Obedience and Sacrifice are sister covenants. In
order to be obedient you must put everything on the altar of sacrifice.
Fulfilling the Baptismal covenant isn't an event, it's a process. A process of
burying the old and becoming new and alive in Christ. A process of laying down
fears, laziness, pride, unhealthy habits, shyness, disobedience and whatever
imperfections there may be, and rising up with faith, trusting in God, hard
work, love, hope, kindness, humility, and all other Christ like attributes. The
result is a greater outpouring of the spirit, which is evidenced by love,
comfort, and strength in our lives. He quoted his dad telling him, "Son,
God loves you enough that you're going to learn. You can learn through
obedience or you can learn through sufferings, but you're going to learn."
So let us take the initiative in seeking God and bringing our weakness to Him,
and "watch how he will deliver you, how he will transform you."
"You will fall. You will either fall into sin or you can fall onto your
knees, but you're going to fall, so you might as well follow the way the Savior
has laid before you." He is so inspired. I love that man! Another point
that he made that I loved comes from Alma 7:11-13. He pointed out how Christ's
mission was that "He went forth suffering". He didn't have to but he
chose to that He might know how to succor us perfectly. He pointed out that we
are His representatives and as such we will suffer. And what's more is that we
are to submit joyfully. That is the price of Discipleship. But Grace and
Miracles and Change are available to us because of the Atonement of Jesus
Christ. Grace is not only a redemptive power, but it is also an enabling power.
It is a power that gives us strength beyond our own. And the way we apply the
atonement is by living the Gospel, The gospel simply is the best way to go, it
is the answer that makes everything right in our lives and I Love it so
much!
So yes, zone conferences are pretty sweet around here. President
Porter is going to be an apostle someday.
On other news, we are teaching this father and son named J… and
V…. They work on Sundays so coming to church is going to be hard for them. but
they are reading the Book of Mormon and we had a sweet lesson about the word of
Wisdom last Sunday evening and they accepted! They are such humble awesome
people, and very promising to, they just need to come to church! Also, pray
that this family that we are getting to know will accept the gospel! It was a
total miracle how we found them but I'm out of time!
Love you all tons. I'm doing great. Que tengan una buena
semana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder
Graf
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| There was a big festival going on downtown called "taste of Cincinnati" so the bus routes were changed and by the time we realized it and got off we found ourselves in a nice spot to snap a quick picture of the city! It is definitely getting warmer and so climbing hills is sweaty hard work but it's good for the legs :) |
