Perfect Gifts

I have been trying to write a quick last note to a number of people so this might be on the shorter side.

But I want you to know that last week the miracles continued. So many things came together in such a beautiful way that I never could have expected. Blessing upon blessing kept reaffirming to me about how great the love of our Heavenly Father is for us. He allowed me to see several blessings that really taught me in a personal way how aware He is of me, and how much He surely is aware and loving of each of His children. On one level, the zone finished the transfer setting new records. We truly came to be a unified Dayton family. And with that unity came power, and with that spirit came revelation on how to build each area to be more than it was when we got here. It was so exciting to see every missionary progress and grow. Saturday was such a testimony builder to me that you just never know what impact the small and simple things you do may have on someone. I was overjoyed to be able to learn of a baptism of someone that I had found nearly two years earlier and then to be able to attend that service. After the baptismal service, I was stopped by a couple younger girls, ages 17 and 15. They introduced themselves to me as K… and M... They said I looked familiar and we discovered why. I was the first missionary to knock on their door, they have since been baptized and both are wanting to serve missions. The parents are not yet members but I know they will take that step when their time is right. But it was overwhelming to me. It was my final weekend and Heavenly Father was so kind to reserve these special blessings for that time. He is a perfect Father, He knows how to give the perfect gifts. And the greatest gift of all was his Son, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the privilege that it has been to serve as one of the Lord's missionaries. These past 2 years have allowed me to come to know Him in a more personal way than ever before. I love Him. I can say that now in a way that I couldn't say before. I know He lives. I know He's there. I'm so grateful for what He did to show His love to us. I feel that my mission was at most an ineffective offering. I need to be careful what I mean by that. I say that because for every sacrifice, He blessed me and my family a hundredfold more. I feel that giving my life through all my time and talents will forever be the way of saying thanks for what He did for me. I love this great work. I gave my all. I have no regrets. There is nothing that means more to me now than His gospel. I know that it has been restored to the earth. I know that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to young Joseph Smith in the sacred grove. I know this because there is no way to deny the Lord's blessings that have come into my life and the life of others because of what happened there. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth for the final time. I know this because I know the Book of Mormon is true. I have felt the witness of the spirit and the revelation that flows into each and every day that I study it prayerfully. I don't know much but I know these things are true. I love the Lord. And i have served Him the very best i could, and I wouldn't trade anything in the world for how it has changed me. 

Here is the standard of truth as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith:

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

I LOVE YOU!!! See you Wednesday for some Cafe Rio :D 

Elder Kevin Graf

p.s. the primary president wants her daughter "to find a guy like me." hehehe awkward. 

And J... and half the Spanish zone again! The Spanish zone is getting it's first new Spanish greenie since I trained Elder Gibb. It's about time!

Missionary Testimony

Alright, before I do much of anything I want to send a quick note for Bishop Brown that you asked me to write a couple weeks back. I don't have his email so you'll have to copy the letter below over to his email if you have it.

To parents: Well I ran out of time so basically you'll just have to be satisfied with reading this letter as my weekly email. Love you!!!

Bishop!

     Long time no see! The mission has been the experience of a lifetime, but it sure keeps you busy, and I can't believe that these 2 years are already coming to a close. It is surreal and I am a bit in denial that it is actually happening. I'm not very excited about returning to the "real world." Not to say that serving a mission in the cities of Dayton and Cincinnati aren't real enough, but you know what I mean. Life after the mission has a whole new list of stresses and responsibilities and opportunities. I'm excited and not excited at the same time. It's hard to describe but you probably know what I'm trying to say. 

     I am most grateful for the privilege to serve. I served 21 months as a Spanish missionary, and my last three months I was switched to English work. I am very grateful for the opportunity to fulfill my purpose as a missionary in these two capacities. The latter has allowed me to work more closely with the Stake President in the Dayton area and I have learned much from observing the dedicated way that he serves. I'm equally grateful for my mission President. I know everyone says that, but President and Sister Porter truly are the most tremendous examples of how to live a life with Faith in the Savior. They remind me of the obedience, diligence, faith, and sacrifice that I also see in my parents. I know without a shadow of a doubt that my calling was inspired from God. I know I was meant to serve under President and Sister Porter. I know I was meant to serve 21 months as a Spanish missionary and 3 months as an English missionary. I know I was meant to serve in the 3 areas that I served in and at the very specific times that I served there, even returning to previous areas 2 or 3 times. I have discovered my purpose, my gifts, my identity, my strengths and even my weaknesses. I have been left in complete awe of how the Atonement of Jesus Christ has completely molded me and changed me into becoming someone better than I was before. I know for a fact that I was meant to be with the companions that I had. I know that the experiences that I've had were meant to be, and they happened in such a chronology and in such a careful progression that I know that each transfer was inspired from above to allow me to grow in the way I needed to grow. In a nutshell, I know God is at the helm of our lives and that He has a plan for us. He knows us so individually and so specifically that He knows perfectly what we need. 

    I now have a conversion that is deeper than ever before about our Savior Jesus Christ. I now know more sincerely that He is the living Son of God. I've come to experience more sincerely and more frequently the redeeming and enabling power of His great sacrifice. I now can better recognize the Lord's voice and His hand in my life. I have come to learn, love, and enjoy the companionship of the spirit more fully in my day-to-day life. I have learned the principle of revelation through the scriptures and the power of prayer. I now know how to more fully trust in God and to seek His spiritual gifts. And I love Him. If anything I have come to love Him, and to love His commandments, and to love His words. And that love has broken barriers and has allowed me to see with a greater perspective. My perspective of myself, family, and the potential of others has changed. Even my perspective of trials and sacrifices has completely changed. I have come to love the doctrine of Christ. I know that through Faith in the Savior, repentance, making and keeping of covenants, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end is the answer to life's greatest blessings. It is the way to hope, change, healing, growth, joy, comfort, peace, and all good things. I know that it is the same gospel that has been restored to the earth in our last days through Joseph Smith, a humble farm boy called to be a prophet of God. I know that the priesthood and the fullness of the gospel, with all it's ordinances, doctrine and blessings, have been restored to the earth one final time. I have personal witness that the Book of Mormon is a powerful evidence of all these truths that will never be destroyed. Oh how it has changed me. It has meant so much to me and my family. I am most grateful for all the blessings of the Lord in my life that has allowed me to serve. I have grown so close to Him through the service of others. And by serving others I have grown to love them. I love the Spanish people, they make us English people look so boring. I plan on doing everything I can to use Spanish throughout my life. I also intend to maintain the relationships that I have developed for forever. I hope that the miracles that have been shared with companions and converts will be a launchpad for our growth throughout our lives. 

   Bishop, I thank you for the support I have felt through you and the ward. I have really appreciated the thoughtful gifts put together by the members. And not to mention the very real support I have felt through countless prayers said for my behalf and for my family. I love you guys. Nothing has been so hard, nor so rewarding and amazing as these past two years. Thank you for keeping a good eye on my family while I've been gone :) Very clever of you to call my dad as second counselor to keep him close so that my family didn't get too out of line ;) We can be a rowdy bunch sometimes haha but not really. See you soon. Adios.

Elder Kevin Graf   

Awesome!

Hey family! Happy first Monday of 2015 :) last week was awesome. We've been battling some illness but no worries, the work goes on and we had a week full of tender mercies.

Actually, I know why we are all sick. It was Elder Klodnicki's birthday last Monday and he's wanted to go running for forever so we finally went out running in the morning and it was only 12 degrees. So that's probably our problem haha :( But also, the whole city seems to have been hit with some plague of winter illnesses. But I am grateful for the priesthood and priesthood blessings. On Friday, after an all day mission leadership council, which was awesome, we worked a little bit and then returned to our apartment. There in our apartment my companions gave me a blessing and I have had quite a quick turn around. I'm still coughing pretty deep but I am feeling remarkably better, all thanks to the priesthood restored :) 

I should tell you more about Friday, because it was an awesome day for several reasons. We had mission leadership council, where President called us to repentance in such a loving and powerful way. He taught us many things. One of the messages that I liked was that our success doesn't come through our skill, but through the diligent, obedient, and faithful keeping of our covenants. So it's a good reminder of the importance of our covenants. Our covenants are designed to help us reach our divine potential. And the closer we hold to them the more power of spirit we will have in our lives. Our very characters will become as Christ's character, and that is power. When missionaries truly serve after the manner of the one who they represent, their service and ministry will truly be miraculous. And so it is in every aspect of our lives: making and keeping of covenants invite power into our daily lives. Because our covenants bind us to God, and by being bound to God we are blessed with his power and his gifts. So it is my invitation to all that we all call to remembrance the covenants that we have made and that we study them in the scriptures and seek to understand them with greater depth and that we commit to applying them more fully in our lives.

So leadership council was awesome. We had to wake up at 5:30, which wasn't so awesome, but the rest of the day was. When we got back to Dayton we only had about an hour to work in our area. We had a goal to find 1 new investigator that day. But because of time we were only going to have time to do our appointment with Paul, so I'm sad to confess that when it got to that point in the day we had kind of given up on the goal to find that new investigator. But! Our district leader, as wonderful as he is, called us and committed us to find TWO new investigators with that hour that we had left of the day. We could have said something like, "well we can't because.... we don't have time... or we already have an appointment.... or maybe tomorrow." But, we said, "game on!" Challenge accepted! So we quickly arranged for a member to do splits with us so we could divide and conquer and essentially be in two places at once. A member and Elder McEachern went to teach our lesson with Paul and Elder Klodnicki and I went out to find 2 new. We had no idea what to do but we were committed to do it. We felt we needed to contact one of the referrals that some other elders had sent us earlier that week. We went and BOOM, we found a new family :0 so we ended up not just finding 1, not 2, but 3 new people to share the gospel with. I am thoroughly convinced that we were only able to be receptive to that impression at that time to see that miracle happen only because we were strict to be obedient to the little things that day, so even though we were all dying of sickness, we were in tune with the spirit's promptings. It was a testimony builder to me of how obedience brings the power of the spirit in our life. And as well, we need not look for reasons why we can't do things, but instead we can search for the why nots? Why not be awesome? Why not see God's Grace each and every day? God is awesome so if we want to be like him we have to learn how to be awesome too haha :P Anyways, Out of time!

Have an awesome week. Yes I need to improve my vocabulary, I know. Church is true!

Elder Graf

(sorry no new pics from this week)