Boca Chica 9 - Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Boca Chica 9 - Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Picture of me with some "Kanye" which is sugar cane and a "gata de ora" or "drop of gold", which is an AMAZING mango that grows here.

Feliz ano nuevo a todos!

For me, it´s crazy that it´s already 2015. I still remember all of the stuff I did, the memories I made, and everything I went through in 2014 like it was literally yesterday. Time is really flying by and it´s crazy to think that on New Year´s Day started my "black year" here in the DR, where I won´t see the red, white and blue for an entire year. 

New Year´s for missionaries really isn´t anything special, though. We had to be back at our houses by 6:00pm because - as most of you can probably guess - things down in South America on any occasion to throw a party or drink, gets CRAZY. So we were back to the house by six, but we made sure to buy tons of "ponche and cidra" (or egg nog and cider) for the night. We really didn´t do a lot. We talked about a lot of things in the house and went to bed just like any other night but I got like zero sleep that night cause the bishop across the street was throwing a huge block party with tons of loud music and yelling and stuff. But it was still awesome.

Some of what the houses look like here. Really, really humbling to see some of the places that people call home. A lot of houses here are just tin with anything else they can find or put together.

But over these past couple days, I´ve really been thinking about this year. What I want to do with my only full year here as a missionary in the Dominican Republic. And when my companion got sick with a fever of 104.2 (and that´s no lie), when I was inside for the whole day I definitely had a ton of time to think and read the scriptures and just do everything I could not to fall asleep. And I´m starting to put together some goals for the year. I want to make this year the best year of my life, and the best year "for" my life. I don´t want to waste any time that I have while I´m down here. Just thinking about my purpose here, what I´m doing, and who I represent made me so motivated to just find as many people as I can to get to know and teach. I still want to have fun, cause if you aren´t having fun as a missionary you´re doing something wrong, but I want to be focused on why I´m here and what I´m really doing. I´m not just here to lose weight, learn a language, and chillax on the beach all day. I´m affecting people´s lives. I´m bringing something to people that they possibly haven´t ever heard before. Something that I know can bless their lives for the rest of the time they´re here on the earth and after. I´m just super glad for this year and the chance I have to be a missionary. But anyways, that´s my "motivational speech" for all of you haha.

 

Pineapple we got from a pineapple truck that goes around blasting the same thing from a microphone taped to the roof of the truck that says "Pina deliciosa, pina madura quince pesos por una pina fresca" and it just yells that over and over again till someone comes up to buy - and then they shut it off until the purchase is over and then turn it on again. It honestly gets so annoying sometimes we just buy something from them so they shut it off long enough for us to get out of the area - haha. We bought this during one of the breaks playing baseball on Pday with the Dominicans.

 

I don´t have a ton of time to write so this won´t be as long as usual full of stories and stuff. But just know, that I love you all and that I´m doing great here in the DR. I hope you guys have a great 2015 and make a ton of memories with friends and family.

Happy New Year,

Elder J. Taylor Graff

Boca Chica 8 - True meaning of Christmas

Boca Chica 8 - The True Meaning of Christmas (from December 29)

Decorations at Christmas time are sick even though they´re just bags and ribbon. Domincans get creative when decorating cause they don´t have a lot to use. These are up all over the streets as well as Christmas trees made out of soda bottles.

 

 Well, this week was full of a ton of experiences and it was an awesome seven days. I´ve really been enjoying this holiday season and this Christmas time even though it´s really the first time in my life I´ve ever been without my family on Christmas. But I really wasn´t as "trunky" or homesick as I was expecting. I mean, hanging up after an hour of Skyping the family was really hard don´t get me wrong on that. I felt like I was hanging up on them for the rest of my life. Hitting that red button with the phone on it was one of the hardest things I've done in my life up to this point. But after the Skype call and everything, it was just a normal day as a missionary. We went and visted all of our investigators and our two families that we´re working with. We made a juice called Pera Pina, which is basically pineapple with rice that´s boiled and you just put it in a blender after with sugar and honey. Some of the best tasting stuff I´ve ever had in my entire life let me tell ya'. We also were put in a "food coma" with all of the food we recieved from members and our investigators. Our entire fridge is still full with all of the food we recieved on Christmas. But, what is more important is the lessons we had the spirit we brought that helped our investigators a ton.

 

 Picture from the baptism that I never got to send!!!!! Best day of my life on the mission so far. The service was awesome. Sorry if the picture is bad quality.

 

We visited one of our investigators, Anthony, and the visit was one of the most spiritual experiences I´ve had on the mission so far. Anthony is seventeen years old. A STUD baseball player that is getting looked at by the Yankees and the Rangers and just trying to get out of the Domincan Republic like most kids by playing baseball. But anyway, we met him through one of our other investigators that we haven´t seen in a while. And our first real lesson with him was this lesson. We taught him the First Lesson, about the Restoration of  the Church, Joseph Smith, and really about our message and how its different. But when we were talking about the experience Joseph Smith had in the grove, the Spirit was SO strong. He was quiet and just seemed almost transfixed and confused on the feeling he had. But at the end of the lesson, when Elder Tate and I shared our testimonies and then sang the song "La oracion del Profeta" with him, which is also about the experience Joseph had in the grove, tears started streaming down his cheeks. He sang with us and we all just kind of sat there for a while. It was an awesome feeling. Just to see someone so tough and someone that has seen so much happen in his life in a bad situation at home, touched by this message. It really was a great experience and I´m glad that I was blessed to have it. He´s doing really well right now and we´re hoping we can meet with his family next time and get them more involved so he can have support coming to Church and everything.

 

A picture from the Christmas party we had with the Sandival Family which is one of the families that we´re working with right now. They´re awesome, and the party was fun. Started two hours late cause we´re on "Dominican time" over here but it was still legit.

I just want to say that this Christmas was the best Christmas I´ve had in my life. Not because of the gifts I recieved. Not because of the snowboarding trips, hot cocoa, hoodies, and family - even though I miss all of that. It´s because I was truly focused on the meaning of Christmas and I was serving others the best I knew how. And really, to me, that´s the point. That´s why we celebrate Christmas. To give to others. To help those that don´t have as much in any way we can. I´m grateful for the sacrifice Jesus Christ did for me. And I´m grateful for the time that we have to celebrate the birth of him and all that he did for us. I hope everyone has an AWESOME NEW YEAR. It´s crazy to think that it´s already 2015. But yeah, enjoy it and I love all of you.

 

Tgraff, I mean Elder Graff, signing out from La Republica Dominicana until Monday. Have a great week.

Elder J. Taylor Graff

Boca Chica 7 - Feliz Navidad

Boca Chica 7 - Feliz Navidad !

Merry Christmas everybody. First off, I don´t have a ton of time because la luz (electricity) went out in the internet center we are in, so I lost like 20 minutes of time for nothing. But I´ll try and pull this off as best as I can.

 

I hope everyone is doing good and that this Christmas time is going how everyone has expected.  I hope that you are all safe and healthy. Things down here in Boca Chica are going really, really well. I had my first baptism two days ago at a big baptisimal service for the stake. Our investigator, Elisa, was baptized and I perfomed the baptism. I was super nervous because it´s not only a baptism, but it´s a baptism in Spanish and I´m a gringo - so I was a little on edge 'cause I didn´t want to mess it up. But when I was in the moment, I felt amazing! I was peaceful, and I just felt very good and was FILLED with the Spirit. The ordinance went well, and if I don´t have one more baptism my entire mission, that one moment and one baptism would be worth the entire two years of hard work and service to the Lord.

The Christmas spirit is definitely hitting the DR big time. They do start decorating and celebrating in October but during this time, people are building Christmas trees out of bottles, and decorating their homes with literally whatever they can find. It really helps me stay happy and some of the things I see makes me laugh. But I really want to make sure you guys know how blessed we are. How blessed The United States of America is and how many abundant blessings we all have. Some of the homes and families we know are in some hard times. They hardly have enough money to buy clothes and food, let alone gifts. Some kids don´t have parental support because their father plays dominoes and drinks all day and the mother just doesn`t care. Most kids here are "forgotten" by Santa and really don´t have the Christmas most people imagine and want.

 

So be grateful during this time of family and celebration.  Even though it can be hard, try and focus just a bit more on Christ and the meaning of Christmas this year. The presents and egg nog with the big dinners will almost always be there every year. But really focus on the Atonement that Christ died for. I know that this Church is true. I miss all of you and hope your Christmas is everything you wanted this year. You are all in my prayers every day.

Love,

Elder Graff

Boca Chica 6 - Dreaming of Boca Chica Christmas!

Boca Chica 6 - Dreaming of Boca Chica Christmas!

Hey everybody!! There´s been a lot of things that have happened this week and I´ll try and fit them all in here if I can.  Sorry in advance for the bad grammar and stuff cause my English is getting worse and I´m typing on a Spanish keyboard so there´s that.

 

But things down here in Boca Chica are going really, really well. We got news last night about transfers and Elder Tate and I, as well as Elder Beuhner and Elder Gee, are ALL staying here for at least another transfer so I´m really happy about that cause we´re working hard and making good changes to the ward here. 

 

With one of the elders at a conference  

First off, our investigators are all doing great. Luis, one of our investigators that is progressing a ton, is really loving the church and the gospel. He´s came to church every single Sunday since we first invited him, he came to basketball on Saturday, and he´s just really loving it. We invited him to be baptized but he said he really wants to be ready cause he knows that baptism is a life-changing thing and that he wants to be sure this is the true church before he commits. But he´s reading in the Book of Mormon, understanding a ton, and he´s going to pray about his baptism so we´re really thinking about him a lot and waiting for God to help him out. But we´re hoping the best for him.

 

His luxurious accommodations, with fan and mosquito net .... 

                        One of the unwelcome roommates          Breakfast in the DR

We have two families as well that are making the changes necessary for baptism and they´re both doing really, really well. The first family is the Sandival family. They´re all absolute studs and the mom, Nancy, has really been interested in the message recently. At first, she was just kind of there and her kids were the ones that we´re really into the Gospel. But we had some really spiritual lessons, and one lesson that happened 4 days ago made her want to get baptized. Her mom, Ni Ni, has a tumor on the side of her body and it´s really making it tough on her and her family. And we didn´t know about it until that day. But she told us all about it and about how they were going to visit the doctor in the capital and she was talking about how they didn´t know what was gonna happen. It had just been a really difficult thing lately for them. And for some reason, I felt inspired to read in the Book of Mormon in Chapter 24 of Mosiah. And so we read the chapter about Alma and his people when they were in bondage and how their burdens weren´t lifted, but LIGHTENED. We really stressed that part and they really felt the Spirit of the message. But after the lesson, Nancy told us that she´d really been thinking about our message and she´s noticed that ever since we started teaching them, her daughters and son have been more open, obedient, loving, and she´s just noticed that their lives have been really good and peaceful. So we´re going to teach them in the Church on Wednesday and if the Spirit is right, we´re going to invite them to be baptized.

We´re having a lot of "numerical" success down here in our area, but I wanna stress that baptisms are not the most important thing as a missionary. Sure, it´s what we´ve been called to do and it´s the door to a new life, but a lot of people get wrapped up in the numbers. What is more important is the lives we change, and the peace this message can bring forever in the lives of children of God. This message is more than just dunking someone in water and after that moving on. This message is hope. This message is love. This message is the only thing that can bring true happiness to a lot of families and people that are struggling and missing this Gospel. Christ lived a perfect life. He overcame every tempation in his way. He suffered every single pain, thought of inadequacy, sickness, and sin that we will EVER have the rest of our lives in the Garden of Gethsemane. And He sealed his Atonement with His own life on the cross for us. This is the message. I love this Church. I love that I get the opportunity to be here in the Dominican Republic. Everyone is a child of God. Everyone on this Earth is our brother or sister. And God loves us more than we could ever imagine. I hope everyone is doing good and that things are tranquilo back home.

Cuidense mucho todo,

Elder J. Taylor Graff 

A ball that my cousin  Jacob signed when he was living in the same house that I am right now. 

 

Boca Chica 5 - "Vale la Pena"

Boca Chica 5- Vale la Pena (It's worth the pain) 

Como le van amigos!!!

Hey everybody hope everything is going well and you're all enjoying your families during this time of the year cause Christmas time really is a time for family and celebration. Everything down here in the DR is going great. It's actually starting to cool down a lot more. It's about 81 during the day and like 78 during the night. The people down here are busting out huge jackets and pants and everything like it's gonna snow 12 inches. But yeah, everything is going really really well.
 

 

After a long day of service

       First off, something super awesome is gonna happen in 12 days if everything goes as planned!!! We have an investigator named Elisa that has a baptismal date for the 20th of December and she's doing super well!! She's coming to church every Sunday, reading in the Book of Mormon, and making the changes she needs to be baptized which is awesome. She's doing super well and her baptisimal interview is THIS saturday so needless to say I'm stoked for her. She's changed a ton. At first, when we were teaching her, she didn't talk at all. She just kind of responded to our questions with one word answers cause she's super shy. But now, she's questioning things, making lots of friends in the Church, and she's just doing so awesome. 

 

Beautiful sunrise over the bay

But we have a lot of other wonderful people we're teaching. We have a family with three kids that we're teaching right now!! The mother is a superstar and she's already read everything we've left with her.  She comes to church and she's just doing everything she needs to as well as her kids. But her husband doesn't want anything to do with the "Mormónes" but it's all good. But she's progressing fast and she wants baptism really, really bad. We just gotta make sure she's ready first and really wants this for her and her kids for the right reasons. 

Everything else is going great too. My Spanish is getting there and I can actually talk on the phone now which is pretty sweet. I can say almost everything I want to. I just gotta keep the grammar and vocab coming but I'm doing well.  I have a goal to be fluent by 4 months so we'll see how that rolls out - hahaha.

But the message I really want to share with everybody today is that this Gospel is worth the pain or -"este evangelio vale la pena". Sometimes, we have to sacrifice for God. Sometimes, we have to do things that are hard and that seem impossible or near impossible at first. But if we really put our lives in God's hands, God can do things with us that seem crazy. He can help us more than anyone. He knows us more than we know ourselves. and if we turn in our will and accept His, we'll be happy no matter what life brings us. Because He will bless us more than we could ever imagine when we're doing what He wants us to do. 

Anyways, hope all is well and that everyone is safe and happy. I'm doing good down here don't worry about me. And if you're ever having a bad day, just say to yourself "At least I'm not a dog in the Dominican Republic." ......Just trust me, there's nothing worse than being a dog down here. So there's that.

Love,

Elder J. Taylor Graff

Boca Chica 4 - "El es la Dadiva"

Boca Chica 4 - "El es la Dadiva" (He is the Gift)

 "K lo k" mi familia!!!

Hey everybody, hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving and you ate a ton of food and watched a lot of college football -  'cause I sure missed that about 4 days ago.

           Things down here in la Republica Dominicana are going good. We had a huge feast in our apartment two days ago for our "dia de povo" (which means day of turkey down here cause that's what they call it). They don't celebrate it. The people down here just think it's funny and make fun of us cause we worship turkey hahaha. But it was hands down, a meal from the heavens. We had stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, candied yams, Dominican ham, and pumpkin bread with vanilla icing. It was the best meal I have ever had in my life. It really felt like I got transported home for a day except we had no light (electricity) and I was with three other skinny missionaries instead of my family. But it was still an awesome day. But our light FINALLY came!!! We had been going on a week and two days without any light at all because some "teegs" (a dominican word for criminals basically) stole the wire that runs to our house. So we had no running water, a maggot-infested freezer and fridge, and bucket showers. But I wasn't complaining cause it could've been a lot worse - and I liked the third-world experience of it. There's just something about the sketchiness of this country that makes me love it even more hahaha. But so to get our light back, we went to the store and got a 1000 pesos worth of wire and brought it back to the house. Then, we had to cross the street and buy two large 80 pounds wooden poles and carry them back a mile to our house so we could put the wire up higher so no one can steal it anymore. But two days ago, the mission leader who is also an electrician came over and hooked it all up so we have our light back finally. 

        Our mission leader in our ward is such a stud though. Two days ago, we had a Ward Council meeting and he was talking about how he would have to miss church for the sixth time since he was converted twenty years ago. And we were all like "only for the sixth time", kind of playing lightly with it cause that's not a lot of times in 20 years. But he broke down and started crying. He then started talking about how much this Church means to him and that he hates when he misses church cause he can't take the sacrament and hear the talks. I was in shock. It really made me realize how for granted some of us take the Church. Because we've had it our entire life. But it really is such a blessing. And being out on a mission has really helped me appreciate it a LOT more. 'Cause I'm teaching people every day all day about this message. And I've already seen a lot of people make changes and have a new light about them in the short time I've been here. Which really testifies to me that this church is true. Sometimes I miss home. Sometimes I miss my friends. Sometimes I miss America and good food and chocolate milk. But like it says in 1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child and did like a child. But when I became a man, I left the things I was as a child" (Or something like that, I'm translating from my Spanish bible right now). But it really is true. I'm not a child anymore. I'm not a teenager anymore really. I'm becoming a man. And the mission isn't a place to miss home. Sure thinking of home is good and remembering family is important. But I have to do things here that are more important. This message truly can change people. And anyone reading this right now that is a member, I challenge you to share this message with one of your friends that aren't members. Because this message really is for everyone. And you'd be surprised who needs this and who God has prepared to hear this message. Some people I have been teaching here remind me a TON of people back home. The only thing different is that they're a different skin color and they speak a different language. We ALL truly are, sons and daughters of God. And EVERYONE deserves the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to accept this message. I know this Church is true. I know Jesus died for us. Because He loves us. And I hope we can all during this time of Christmas this year, think a little more like Christ; and be just a little more like Him. I love this work and I'll stay grinding hard every day until I'm done. Share what you have with others and serve. 

       Because "When ye are in the service of your fellow men, ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17)

Elder J. Taylor Graff

Boca Chica 3 - Happy Thanksgiving

Boca Chica 3 - Happy Thanksgiving 

Hola familia!!!!

         Hey guys hope everyone is having an awesome holiday season and enjoying this week before Thanksgiving. Things down here in La Republica Dominicana are awesome as ever. We have a lot of really great investigators that just need time and need to keep their commitments and we should have a lot of people ready to be baptized in December but it's all a matter of time and if they really want to change as of right now. But I'm doing really good. Losing weight fast but doing really, really good. I couldn't be happier. This week was pretty long and hard cause a lot of our appointments fell through but we did some contacting and found some other awesome individuals and families. The people here are such a loving and religious people. It's really different than the U.S., it truly is. Literally everyone wants to hear about Christ down here. 95% of the people down here believe there is a God and whether they want anything to do with our church, they ALWAYS want to hear a message about the Person who has given them everything - which isn't much. The people here really have changed my perspective on life. They've blessed me in ways I never thought they would and I'm really developing an overwhelming love for everyone I meet.

        But on a different note, it's actually starting to cool down here in the DR. And by cool down I mean it's like 85 instead of 92. Which down here people are busting out the "chaquetas" and sweaters which is crazy cause I'm still sweating like a dog. But I've really began to appreciate the blessing of cars down here cause we walk EVERYWHERE. We walk probably about 8 miles every day and I'm so glad my shoes are still holding up! But today was probably the best day that I've had on the mission. On Sunday, these white people came to church and to our sacrament meeting. And as you can guess we were dumbfounded because I haven't seen a white person in a month. But we got to know them and turns out that they were baseball players for the Cincinnati Reds, and the pitcher has a girlfriend that's LDS and he wants to know more about our church. REALLY cool guys. But anyways, they invited us out to their game which was today and we went. It was such an awesome facility. And it made me miss baseball so, so much. But Domincans are another breed when it comes to baseball. One of the guys we saw my first P-day when we played baseball was warming up with a softball and was pitching 91 MILES AN HOUR. I really haven't lost much of my baseball skills since I've been out here which is awesome. Me and my comp see kids playing in the street sometimes and we play with them for like 5 minutes. They play a game down here called "Batilla", which is with a big bottle cap and pipes and they flick the bottle cap and you try and hit it as far as you can, basically. It's so awesome hahaha. But the kids here are so creative when it comes to having fun. Which is why everyone can wheelie here. I swear, every time I see a kid riding by on a bike he's wheeling and he just rides it like it's nothing. But this P-day was sweet to say the least.

On a more spiritual note, one of our investigators, Alfredo is going through a really rough time. He's literally like Job out of the Bible. He doesn't have anything. Hardly a penny to his name. His family isn't there for him and he lives in a house the size of most bedrooms in America. But he is progressing so well. He doesn't have a lot but he is so strong in the gospel. He set aside time for work to come to church this week and we're really hopeful for him and his two daughters to get baptized this next month on the twentieth.

But anyways, the mission is awesome. My English is already going downhill, and my Spanish is getting better. We have so many awesome investigators and they're progressing well. But sometimes, it's really hard especially some days where a ton of appointments fall though and you walk everywhere for nothing. But God always has us on his mind. He's always there for us. He's always reaching for us. We just have to reach back. "Ask, and ye SHALL recieve. Knock, and it SHALL be opened unto you" All we have to do is ask. All we have to do is knock. I know this Gospel is true and hard, but it is not impossible. I love you all and miss you all so much and wish you the best for these upcoming holidays.

Signing off in the DR,

Elder J. Taylor Graff