Last Week in the MTC

 

LAST WEEK in the MTC 

 Goofing off with the Elders 

Well, Taylor sent a couple short notes to Laura and I today as well as some personal letters to a few of you who have been writing directly to him. We'll post some of those excerpts here:

 

Taylor said they get a little extra time in the MTC to write, so he's enjoyed being in touch with so many friends and family.  He also said "I don't spend more than an hour and a half cause me and my comp love to play ping pong and Frisbee etc. I love it here. I'm learning so much and trying to make God and the family proud."

He asked us to post on Twitter and Instagram for him as well, so if you're on there we'll keep it updated at his request.  "I appreciate that Mom's keeping all my friends updated. Thank you so much. You guys are awesome. I'm sure you know that packages and letters from home are the best thing out here. I love hearing from you guys and I'm sure I'm going to love getting little things here and there from you guys during my mission." 

 

He's getting ready to leave the MTC and head to the field, saying "I'm kinda living out of my suitcase - I packed up early cause I didn't want to be scrambling at the very end...." 

 

We had told him about his Grandma and Grandpa Brown who have submitted papers to serve a mission and have decided to serve a full 18 months if needed: 
  "I heard about their upcoming mission call. That's awesome that they're going out for 18 months! That's a long time but they'll love it. They're such great examples to me. I also heard about Jessyca and Summer's call.  Tell them I said "congrats".  They really will be awesome. I pray for you guys every day also."

 

His mom told him that we miss the sound of his guitar and singing in the home.  He responded: "Tell me about it! I'm having guitar withdrawls which leads me to playing the piano. I really wish I would've taken more lessons and just played the piano more often. But it's all good. Things here are awesome. I'm healthy. Tell all the boys to please email me separately! I'd love to hear from them about how things are going. If my English starts getting bad just know I'm speaking a TON of spanish hahaha. HAPPY HALLOWEEN."

 

 "Called To Serve" - Taylor and his companion going to the Temple

He also shared:   "I miss you guys a ton and I pray for you guys every night. I'm glad to hear that you guys are doing well. Halloween is an awesome time, one of my favorite holidays by far. And they don't celebrate it here. Which is an absolute bummer. But anyways, we're probably gonna do something for it here at the MTC cause we all bought candy and we're thinking about dressing up and going trick or treating around the MTC haha. But yeah, we went on splits last Friday. I thought some of the things I had done were humbling before. Going to the university, the store, etc etc. But going on splits was a whole different ball game. Poverty everywhere. Dogs dying in the streets. The homes were sometimes as little as some weak stone walls with a tin roof. It was super humbling to see. It was almost like the scene in James Bond where he looks out and sees all those shanty houses. It was almost exactly the same.

 

The driving is absolutely insane too. No rules. Basically the way you find out if you're a good driver here is if you don't get into an accident haha. We had to take these buses called "Gua wahs" and it was nuts!!  They just pile as many people as they can at a time into a bus and weave through cars, almost hitting people here and there and the whole time you're just on edge ready for anything. But anyways, I had a native comp that spoke no English 'cause I'm lucky enough to have some Spanish experience before I came here, so I'm progressing well. His name was Elder Camacho. Stellar guy. All our appointments that day ended up falling through. So we went to some less actives' homes and taught some lessons and mainly just talked with them. I can't believe how much I actually understood. It was crazy. The gift of tongues is so real. I know in my heart if it was just me out here, I wouldn't be anywhere close in Spanish to where I am now. But "Domincan Spanish" is a whole different ball game hahahah. They talk so fast it's gonna be hard to get adjusted for the first bit.

 

But anyways, things here are awesome. I'm losing some weight cause all we eat is beans, rice and some really bad meat. But it's awesome. I'm loving it."

 

Then he said to the youth who would read his letters:

"If you're hearing this or reading this; serve a mission!  It's the best choice you could ever make in your entire life. It changes you. You'll become a better man.  I mean, I've only been out here for 5 weeks in a place that could easily be Utah until you go outside the gates. But please pray for the missionaries around the world. I love you guys and can't wait to see you all again."

 

Taylor's MTC District

He closed by saying:

"I miss you all so much. I leave early Tuesday morning. I'll let you guys know. You are all in my prayers individually throughout the day every day. Please tell Aaron to email me seperately as well as the rest of the boys. I really want to talk to them personally. 

With all of my love,        Elder J. Taylor Graff"