Villa Agricolas 14 - Happy Father's Day!

Villa Agricolas 14 - Happy Father's Day!

HAPPY LATE FATHERS DAY TO THE BEST DAD I'VE EVER HAD. 

Even though you and the family were in Puerto Rico without me living the life for a week, I love you so much and hope that your Father's day was the best one ever. You mean the world to me and you're the real MVP (First American reference I think I've ever used in any of my letters).

 (Insert from Jordan Graff: I included this photo of Taylor as a little boy with his Grandfather C. Terry Graff.  I love this picture of both Taylor and his Grandpa)

 

But anyway, life has been like a box of chocolates lately. A lot of things have been happening. Elder Maatatia and I had to leave a couple investigators that weren't progressing as well. It's always really rough to leave people. No matter how little they're doing, as a missionary, you just always have the desire to convert everyone you possibly can because you know how much the Gospel will bless people's lives. But it was alright because we found two new families we started teaching that have a lot of potential. Finding new people every day.

This past Wednesday, we watched "Meet the Mormons" as a branch. Probably one of the coolest documentaries I've ever seen in my life. Really cool stories about 6 individuals completely unique and different from each other but with one thing in common: Their love for Christ and their families. I almost went through the water works at the end though about the Mom with her son that left on the mission. But I kept strong and didn't need one Kleenex.

Photo of Taylor w some of the members sent by Juan Carlos, the Ward Mission Leader (center)

Martin is doing really well. We had a lesson with him and his family last night about the Word of Wisdom. We had his entire family there too. His wife and son which are both less actives and all three of his daughters who are superstars in the church. As we were teaching, I was thinking of an example I could use because I love using examples in lessons and it just works way better to teach. They had a rose in their house. Elder Maatatia and I started asking what kind of things they give the rose to help it grow and be healthy. They started naming off "Water, sun, fertilizer, nutrients". I asked if bleach would be something that'd help the flower grow. Or rat poison maybe. A little bit of shower cleaner. They looked at me really weird until they finally understood the example. Us, as human beings, we're the rose. We have amazingly made bodies, precious gifts, from our Heavenly Father. He trusts us to take care of them. And when we use substances such as alcohol, tobbaco, drugs, we're giving bleach and other harmful substances straight to the roots of our personal growth. Even though we may not notice it because the effects may not be immediate, every choice we make that deals with the Word of Wisdom will affect our lives in some shape or form. We set some great goals with him and his family and we're really excited for his progress in the Gospel.

Had some sushi for the first time in 8 months and just about died. Heaven.

Rudy and William are also doing well. They've both been going to church constantly and they're really showing us that they want this in their lives. We also planned a branch temple trip for this Thursday and Frank and Eliany, Maireny, as well as Erika (a less active in our area that has been coming to church for the past 7 sundays) are all going to do temple work with the branch.

We're doing great. To see how God has worked with this branch and how it's improved little by little is such a testimony builder to me of the power God has. If we work hard and put our part out there first, God will take care of the rest.

Be safe and have another great week of summer,


Elder Graff


1 Nephi 1:1 "I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father" 

Villa Agricolas 13 - Progression, New Investigators

Villa Agricolas 13 - Progression, New Investigators

Another great week down......So many cool experiences happened this week its going to be very hard to describe and tell about all of them. But lets just say for Elder Maatatia and I it was a very blessed couple of days.

Maireny, the woman who just got baptized last Saturday is doing awesome. She's super happy and received a calling to work in family history and helping out with the temple trips that the ward takes. We're setting a goal tonight with her about the date she wants to set to visit the temple to do some temple work.

Frank and Eliany are also doing great. We'll be visiting them on Tuesday to set the same goal. Its really cool to see how animated and excited all three of them are to help the ward out and do everything they can to stay strong in the Gospel.

 (Insert Jordan Graff: Taylor didn't have any photos this time with his post.  However, during this same week, we were just a couple hundred miles away from him, experiencing very similar weather, foods, cultures, and language.  It made us feel a little closer as a family.  So I included a couple photos from PR and we imagined the similarities for Elder Taylor Graff)

 

 

 We also received some very inspired references (English "referrals") from some of the members this week. They've been working a lot harder with us over this past couple of days and we're gonna' have a SWEET activity this Wednesday and the next. We're planning on watching "Meet the Mormons". The ward made flyers and everything and we've been passing them out like crazy. Hoping that a lot of people are gonna' want to come. Then the next, we're going to play a bunch of "Minute to Win It" games, hopefully. The amount of people that come are growing every week. Lots of crazy kids but also a lot of great parents we've talked to. 

But the experience I want to share with you guys today is a lesson we had on Wednesday. We had just got done teaching some lessons out in "The Zurza" or the most ghetto part of our area. And as we were walking back, we decided to stop by and visit La Familia de Jesus. They're a great family. The three daughters are all super active in the church, the mom was baptized a couple years ago and has been inactive for a while and the father isn't a member. We don't visit them all that often but Elder Maatatia and I that night just felt like it was right. So we did it. No one was home but the father, Martin. Really nice guy but not all that interested in the church. But he invited us in. We started talking normally but then after about 5 minutes he got serious. He explained to us that his family was going through a rough time. That he really felt a lack of unity and his relationship with his wife was getting worse, they were arguing a lot. He told us that he was going to leave his family and go live with his mom, that he couldn't take it anymore and needed to start a different life.

Now obviously, as missionaries, that was hard for us to hear. We're here to help every family we teach. And to listen to his struggle, pain, and train of thought really hit me. But Elder Maatatia and I started to explain to him the blessings of the temple. About how this Gospel has affected our lives, our families, and how it strengthens us as missionaries. We started talking about the difficulties of life, and how the knowledge we have about the plan of God for us helps us to overcome them. And we testified of the tranquility and love this doctrine brings to the family. The Spirit was extremely strong and we invited him to Church that Sunday. AND HE CAME. He's "talked" with missionaries multiple times, but that was his first time in Church in a long time. He told us he wanted to be baptized and that he needs this in his life. We had a great lesson yesterday with him and his family and he'll be working over these next couple weeks to overcome the challenges and fix the problems he needs to in order to be a member of the Church. 

It was a very touching experience and we'll see with the desire and faith he has for God where it'll lead him soon. 

I love being a missionary. It's truly something you have to live and do to understand. So shout out to everyone that's serving, has a missionary call, or is thinking about doing it. It'll change your life.

Elder Graff

Acts 19:20 "So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed" 

Photo from one of the members there who share stories and photos on Facebook of the Ward and the Elders serving there. 

Villa Agricolas 12 - Maireny Baptism

Villa Agricolas 12 - Baptism of Maireny.  The Flood!

HEY EVERYBODY! (or the people that are still reading these after almost 9 months of the boring stories of Elder Graff)

Hope you guys have all been great and that life is wonderful for each and every single one of you.

I've been really, really happy. Elder Maatatia and I are having the time of our lives in Villa Agricolas. He's the best companion I think I've ever had. I seem to say that about every comp I get but we get along great and work super hard. 

So in addition to teaching a lot of great spiritual lessons, having a family that lives literally right in front of the church come for the first time on Sunday in their entire lives with many visits from the missionaries, and tons of special experiences, we were really trying to prepare Maireny for her baptism that happened on Saturday. 

With Marialuisa and her family at the baptism. They are very faithful members that helped us a lot in the teaching of Maireny.

As the day was getting closer and closer, every time we'd pass by, even to say hi, she would always mention how excited she was for that day. We were hoping on a lot of people coming, she was reading a lot in the Book of Mormon, and we were all just waiting for Saturday. Well, the day came and in the morning for our studies, Elder Maatatia and I went to go fill the baptisimal font. We waited until it was full, turned off the faucet, and then went to work visiting the people we had planned for the day. We were calling everyone, making sure it was all set up for the night, and then I had "san cocho", which is this amazing soup, for the first time in my mission (definitely won't be the last), at Maireny's house with a family from the ward.

 

At about 4 o clock we were passing the church on the way to another lesson, everything all ready, and I just felt that we needed to check the font. I told Elder Maatatia and we opened the gate and walked up to the door. I put the key in and as I opened the door, a small wave of water spilled out onto my shoes. I looked inside the church to find a puddle of 3 inches of water sprawled across the ENTIRE chapel!! The baptism was in three hours and with the chapel completely flooded, we immediately called our ward mission leader (Juan Carlos) and told him what was up. He came running over and we were working like mad dogs to try and get the water out. I was on broom duty with two brooms basically running down the hallway, pushing a wall of water out the two open doors and out of the sacrament room. Elder Maatatia had the mop and Juan Carlos was on his knees with a towel, pushing out the water and wringing out what got absorbed when he was pushing. 

I know my English is awful and that probably wasn't the most interesting explanation, but I wish we would`ve had our cameras to video it so you could better see what this was like. It was hands down the most stressful, funny, and embarrassing moment of my entire mission. But after 2 long hard hours, the chapel was dry again and looked pretty good if I do say so myself. We basically just did a deep clean of the church.  We joked with the Branch President when he came that no one has to clean the church for a year because we basically "baptized" the chapel instead of Maireny. And the only damage was a cardboard box that had a bunch of garbage in it because luckily all the electronics were off the ground and its a tile-floor church. Lets just say I won't make the mistake of turning the faucet the wrong way and leaving it on full blast (instead of "off") ever again! (insert by Jordan Graff: sounds like the faucet control was in another room from the actual font and spigot, like I experienced in Ecuador, so you don't actually see the spigot and water flow when turning on / off)

Elder Mattatia and I and Elder Alba with Maireny. She brought her 2 and 4 year old all dressed up in tuxedos, basically. It was sweet! They definitely beat me out for the title of best dressed!  (Sorry for the low quality pictures. It was night time and we didn't exactly have the most skilled photographer taking the pictures:)

With President and Sister Corbitt

But the baptism was so great. Our Mission President came, and we had some members and investigators there. The Spirit was so strong and she was really happy. Elder Alva my old companion was able to come as well as another companionship that works in Capotillo. We did a special musical number and it was a night to remember. I was able to confirm her the next day at church, too and we had 62 people there (with our average attendance of 41) -- we almost didn't have enough chairs. She felt very supported and we're hoping the best for her here on out. It was another great experience and I'm so glad I was called to this area to preach the Gospel. 

Sorry for the low quality pictures. It was night time and we didn't exactly have the most skilled photographer taking the pictures  :)

With each day that I live out here, I come to the realization more and more of my purpose as a missionary. Looking back on where I was when my flight landed in this country to now, it's like I'm living in a completely different world. I've come to love this people and this Gospel in missionary service in my second home. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love it.

And I'm happy.

I miss you all so much and shout out to all the people that got mission calls this past week. You'll all do great.

Signing out,

Elder Graff

Matthew 28: 19-20 

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Villa Agricola 11 - Maireny

Villa Agricola 11 - L. Tom Perry, Maireny, little Ilan

First off, my heart and prayers go out to L. Tom Perry and his family. It really surprised me to hear of his death but I know that God has a purpose to everything and he really was one of the most influential apostles for me, especially how he always knuckle bumped people and always had on the biggest smile.

But life is great. Maireny passed her interview with President Corbitt this last Tuesday and he should be coming to her baptism this Saturday which we`re pretty excited about. He even asked us afterward about our ward mission leader, Juan Carlos.  He wondered if Juan Carlos and Maireny were both single. We said "yes", and as they both walked out the door (with Maireny's crazy little kid kicking and screaming), President Corbitt winked at us. It was hands down one of the funniest moments of my mission. But she`s so happy and we`re definitely going to try and have a lot of people there from the ward and her family supporting her.

 The "Boca Chica Boys" reunited, Baby!

We got transfer calls last night and I`m staying here in Villa Agricolas with Elder Maatatia which made me even more happy! I was hoping I could get another month and a half here at least so needless to say I'm super excited to get to work with this awesome branch for a while longer. The members are doing great work and really bringing a lot of their friends to the activities which makes life so much easier and better for us as missionaries.

We also got the privilege to hear from Elder Zivic from the Quorum of the Seventy on Friday. It was a really great experience. Really prepared and made especially for our mission. He had some great advice that we`re definitely going to try and use here in our area. I also got to see a lot of missionaries I hadn`t in a while and if I have time. I'll send a lot of photos with them if I can. 

 

We had the baptism of little Ilan in our ward Sunday and I got the honor to do the confirmation. Super close with their family and he`s gonna be a great missionary someday. 

 

Everything else is pretty normal, teaching great people and trying to get more people to come closer to Christ. But I do have a pretty crazy experience I want to share (I usually don`t share all the dangerous ones out of respect to my mother, haha). But I`m going to share this one...sorry mom:

On Saturday, we were teaching a reference named Jolfan at a "colmado", or really TINY supermarkets that are scattered all over this country. It was our second lesson with him.  Just to set up the scenery, which will be really important in a few seconds, its a place full of vegetables, eggs, and other delicate items that definitely aren`t the best to have around when there`s a fist fight going on. But anyways, two BIG Dominican girls walk in, about 20 years old, and they want to buy something. So Jolfan goes over to help them out and we`re about 5 feet from them. We`re just waiting for him to get done so we can keep teaching him the lesson, when the two girls start arguing about one of them owing the other money. They start getting pretty aggressive and begin to push each other. We both get up to try and get them to stop when they start going at it. One of the girls throws an uppercut and they girl goes flying back onto the table full of vegetables and knocks over a huge pile of eggs. They get up, start grabbing hair and going at it. Elder Maatatia, Jolfan and I are trying to break them up, but if you have ever seen a Dominican chick fight it is NOT pretty. After about 2 minutes of flying fists and super-fast Spanish yelling we finally -with about 7 other guys-get this fight broken up. They both walk out and we think it`s over. We all sit down to resume teaching when we hear SCREAMING outside. We run out to one of the girls has a machete and the other one is swinging around a 4x2. Everyone in the neighborhood by this time is there and people are trying to stop the girl with the machete but she`s swinging it around like a wild man. She`s now running at the other girl with the 4x2 and swings the machete. But her mom steps in and tries to grab the machete. Its not so easy to just grab a machete. She gets her hand pretty messed up and a couple guys finally tackle the woman and get the whole thing settled down. We made sure the mom was getting medical attention, the cops came and we left.

Definitely one of the crazier fight stories I have in this country. But we`re both safe and don`t have machete wounds - so everything's OK:)

 

But I really am loving the mission and happy I get to stay here one more transfer.

Shout out to both of my cousins -- Michael and McKay Graff --who by the time this day is over will both have returned honorably from their missions. I love you guys a lot and hope you don't have too much fun without me!

Until next week,

Elder Graff

D&C 84:88 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

I got a picture finally of the painting I'm in love with.

Villa Agricola 10 - Normal

Villa Agricola 10 - The "Normal" Week

Sometimes, I feel really repetitive in my letters. So I`m not going to start off my letter with "This week was..." or "I love my mission" hahaha.   Sorry if sometimes my letters get boring it`s just hard to think about all the things that have happened and have time to write about them all in the 15 minutes I have to write this.

But a lot of things have been happening in my area lately. With the people we`re teaching, they were kind of in a dead point, or not really progressing all that well like we had hoped they would.  So Elder Maatatia and I have really been trying to work harder and depend on God more. And we have been seeing the results. Everyone we have been in contact with have been seeming to - little by little -  love this message of the Gospel of Christ a little more each day. Maireny, who we`ve been teaching for about a month and a half is finally having her baptismal interview tomorrow with our mission president. We`re really excited for her and we`re just hoping the best. Yesterday, at a lunch with her and our ward mission leader, Juan Carlos, she even brought over a friend and explained to her how this Gospel has helped her with her kids and everything and how we "arrived in her life at the time where she needed the most help". We`re going to start to teach her friend tomorrow.  The changes that Maireny has been making lately have really showed us how ready she is.

Question: "Do you guys have mangos in the US"

     Me:  "Of course we have mangos."

2 days later    *Sees GIANT mango the size of my head*

 

     "OK, we really don`t have mangos in the US."

When I was on an exchange with Elder Vega the Zone leader about three weeks ago, we saw some kids playing basketball as we were contacting in the morning. We both looked at each other and felt like we should play with them. So we took off our ties and asked them if they wanted to play. They said that they`d take it easy on us because every missionary they`ve ever played with they`ve beat. Obviously, we were offended because we aren`t just everyday missionaries when it comes to basketball hahaha. So we made them a deal. That if we won they all would come to church. But if they won, we`d buy them all a juice. They said yes and so needless to say, we both played like LeBron and Stephen Curry. We won and really didn`t think any of them would actually come to church. But one of them, Melvin, came and hasn`t stopped since. He`s 16 and one of the most prepared teenagers I`ve seen. He`s already asking about a mission, bringing friends to church, and we`re hoping to set a baptismal date with him today.

I`ve been having some truly unforgettable experiences out here and meeting friends and basically "family" I will never forget. I`ve really been coming to realize that my time in the Dominican Republic isn`t going to last forever. I only have 2/3 of my mission left to go. But I`m trying to live in the moment 

Bikes and Motorcycles: A SWEET motorcycle I saw while we were on the way to a lesson. I wish you guys could see how long the people do wheelies here for. They honestly, at 2 years old, start wheeling. I saw a kid once riding a bike around that had no front tire - and that`s no lie.

Oh and one more thing, it`s mango and hurricane season now which is SWEET. You really can`t have a bad day when you start it off with a homemade mango smoothie (see Mango photo above).

Hasta luego gringos,

Elder Graff

 

2 Timothy 1:7

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a strong mind."