Boca Chica - 1: First Week out in the Field

 

Taylor with President and Sister Corbitt at mission home

HOLA!!!!!

 

So I´m actually in the field now in a place by the beach called Boca Chica. You´d think it´d be really nice cause it´s right by the beach but it´s actually a really poor undeveloped area. Our house is hard to live in cause the power goes out all the time and we only have fans and a tiny kitchen but it´s so awesome. The people in this area, and in the DR in general are so amazing. They don´t have ANYTHING. Most people don´t even work they kind of just sit around or sell kanye (aka: sugar cane) or they do something else small to pay the bills. But there´s no power companies here, just everyday people that attach power lines to a main router for power.

        My companion Elder Tate is an absolute stud. He´s from Utah and he´s the hardest worker I´ve ever met. We are really busy with lessons, service, and really just about everything. But EVERYONE here loves to hear about Christ and so it´s really easy to talk to people and teach the first lessons. But the hard things for people to do here is commit. So most people just flake after the first lesson but we still come by and say hi asking how things are cause we´re their friends - we aren't just trying to sell them something. I´m absolutely loving the mission though. We have some awesome investigators with a lot of people that truly are progressing very quickly. We have as of right now 6 baptisms scheduled for December with a lot of other investigators that are right on the edge. But all we can do is teach from the Spirit, love them, and invite. It´s up to them to act and decide for themselves, which is another thing that´s absolutely awesome about Christ´s gospel and life in general. We have agency. We have control over our own lives and that´s just the greatest gift you could possibly ask for.

 

Taylor with his new companion Elder Tate

     But anyways, here´s some stories and a little bit more about our investigators and just the news down in the DR. So one of our investigators, the Domichi family are awesome. Elisabeth is a single mother with two daughters Vanessa and Candy. Elisabeth is an awesome cook and today we went over to her house to help her clear out her backyard of some weeds with MACHETES. It was so awesome but really hard in the blistering sun. But I´m so glad I learned how to work cause the mission is NOT easy. It´s really hard but so worth it. But anyways , hat family is awesome. Another one of our investigators is a Haitian named Joel. He lives in the smallest house I´ve ever seen in my life with only a bed and a desk but guess what... HE HAS A GUITAR!  And he´s absolutely amazing at it. He humbled me so much 'cause I thought I was good at guitar. His fingers flied when he played it and he was the best person at guitar I´ve ever seen in my life. But I played a little bit for him and he was impressed.  I´m losing some of my guitar ability and I´m having "guitar withdrawals" hahahah but it´s all good. But anyways, he´s awesome and he is so motivated to read the Book of Mormon. The first lesson we taught him he asked how he can be baptized and we were just kind of like -slow down there buddy haha. But he believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God and we´re just working with him and making sure he´s ready before we commit him to baptism. Baptism isn´t just one step and dunk in water and it's all good.  It´s the first covenant we make with the Lord and we covenant with Him to live the Gospel THE REST OF OUR LIVES. It´s no laughing matter and it´s serious. 

 

I can´t describe how happy I am. This work is hard. It´s not fun and games. But I´m so happy all of the time. Because God called me to serve in the DR. To help and love the people here. To give all I have for two years so others can have the same happiness from this Gospel that I have. It´s amazing.

Spanish is coming along fine and I´m really starting to understand but it´s hard cause Dominicans talk soooo fast --the fastest out of any other country that speaks Spanish, which is awesome cause I´ll be able to understand everyone that speaks Spanish back home but I'll be able to talk so fast that most people won´t understand me if I really work hard haha. But the mission is going so great. I wouldn´t trade it for anything in the world and I´ve only been out for a month in a half. Just know that I know this church is true. I´m not out here because my parents know this church is true. I´m out here because I have a testimony of this Gospel and I want to share the happiness and joy I have with EVERYONE I can. I´m looking for my brothers and sisters out here literally and I can´t waste anytime doing it. Because I´ve been sent to help the people out down here in any way I can. And I cannot miss that one person only I can touch. Cause there´s that one person for every single missionary in every area. Hope all is good back home. I love you all. See you in 22 and a half months hahaha.

Love,

Elder J. Taylor Graff