Week 3 - MTC

Week 3 MTC Dominican Republic:

So this week has been so awesome. I've had so many cool experiences this week and I'm gonna try and share all of them with you guys but it'll be hard because we have limited time. We're way overbooked here at the MTC. We have nine districts here when we're only supposed to have 6. A lot of natives but they are way nice and humble. I'm making tons of friends here and the older group is leaving in 6 days which will be rough cause I love them all so much. But they'll do awesome in the field.

      First off, we went contacting at a university last Friday. It was the coolest experience of the week. Walking there was such an experience. The atmosphere is absolutely nuts here. It's way different than the US. But everyone here is SO friendly. Even if they don't have a lot of time, all you have to do is say hi to some people and they spark a conversation. But anyways, at the university, Elder Hansen and I talked to as many people as we could possibly talk to. We had about 5 BOMs to handout and a couple pamphlets on the restoration. We gave out 4 of the 5 BOMs and all the pamphlets. But we weren't just looking to give out pamphlets and BOMs. We wanted life changing experiences and we wanted our experiences with people to mean something other than "Here's a book and a pamphlet". One of our coolest experiences was with a woman named Violeta. We were walking past here and I felt prompted to say hi. So that's all I did. She said hi back and we kept walking but we took no more than 5 steps when she called out to us from behind. We turned around and she came running up asking us if we were missionaries. We said yes and she went on to explain that she had ran into some missionaries over the summer on her vacation to utah, She talked with them for a while but they didn't have a BOM and she left Utah before they got her one. So we gave her a BOM and she was so joyful. We both testified of the truthfulness of the book and I said that I know it's true because I have read it and prayed about it. When I said that, the Spirit hit me like a train. I almost teared up because it was so strong. Even though there were noises all around us, they almost drowned out. It was so peaceful, the language was flowing well, and I KNOW the Spirit was there to touch her heart. We then explained and answered some questions she had and then invited her to read it over the week and gave her the number to some missionaries in her area. I know she'll read it I just know and I've been praying for her every single day this week. We had so many other cool experiences at the University but I don't have more time to write about it because I only have about 10 more minutes to write. But anyways it was sweet.

 

        On Tuesday, we had a live devotional from Elder Zivic, a member of the First Quorum of the Presidency of the Seventy. He testified so strongly of the Book of Mormon, the power of this gospel, and how you can affect anyone with the Spirit. It was the best live talk I've ever heard in my life. We also heard another devotional by Holland on Sunday. I think it happened about 3 months ago in the Utah MTC but we had the broadcast. Holland is always such a great speaker but he had so much fire when he was talking. He basically told us that "We aren't here to not work. We aren't here to go home early. We're here to work hard, love the people, and serve God."

 

         The language is going well. We went contacting at a park yesterday and handed out some Book of Mormons to people that we felt inspired to talk to. We talked to this one lady with a name I can't remember it was so long. But we talked for about 30 minutes about everything. She told us she was from the Pentacost church and that she didn't really want to hear our message. But instead of just saying ok and walking away, we asked her about her church and why she was apart of it. She said that her whole family had always been apart of it. She said it was just a family tradition basically. And so we asked a couple more questions and sparked her interest. We started really talking and she started talking so fast I was having a hard time understanding. But she slowed down and we started talking about the Book of Mormon. We read out of Moroni 10:3-5 and told her that if she wanted to know for herself, she has to read the book and pray with a sincere heart to know that it's true. Our Spanish wasn't the best but she understood and I think it was more powerful because we had the Spirit with us than it would've been if we were fluent and didn't have the spirit. But we testified and gave it to her. And about 25 minutes later, we walked past where she was sitting and she was still there reading. Just completely focused on the book. She was just taking a short break from working out at the park when we talked to her and she had just completely stopped her workout and started reading. I thought that was so cool.

          But yeah, things here are so sweet. I'm getting pretty tan. A lot of the teachers think I look like I'm from Brazil haha! But I'm still 1000% Gringo. I'm trying to stay humble and I'm working as hard as I possibly can every day. I loved hearing in Dad's email about you guys. Aaron, keep up the good work in volleyball and make the most of it. Cause when it's gone it's gone. Leave it all out on the court. And Joseph, you're gonna' do GREAT at football. I can just see you now, 7 years from now as a huge defensive end that every quarterback fears. And Ethan, keep working out hard man. I saw in the pictures Kathy sent me how big you're getting and I'm impressed. I'm a solid 185 now haha - I've already lost almost 10 pounds. So I'm trying to eat more. The pictures from the lake outing made me miss you guys a lot. But I feel bad cause I honestly haven't been missing you guys that much. I mean I have but I'm working hard so God is blessing me with my homesickness and I'm absolutely loving it here. Say hi to everyone back at home. I love and miss you all so much. I wish I could just travel to Arizona for a day spend some time with you guys and then come back out the next day but it doesn't work that way. And dad, next family scripture study, please read to the boys D&C Section 122. It's such a great section and will make you feel like any little problems you guys are having are nothing. Cause the Savior has felt it all. The Savior knows exactly how every single person in the world is feeling right now. It's hard to comprehend, but it's true. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for this church. And I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the people here. I wouldn't want to be ANYWHERE else. The month mark is coming up in 8 days which is psycho. I'll be home before you know it. Love you all.

Love you all with all my heart,

Elder J. Taylor Graff