A Pday in the life of Elder Graves - Sleep Standing on the bus - Talking to EVERYONE - Tricks for the kids - Golden Investigator

So lets start with something funny this week! I decided that one of the ways to get families with little kids to enjoy your company is to do little tricks. Stuff like making a coin disappear and the one where you make your finger look like it got disconnected... HAha those are always fun. One I started doing a lot recently is telling the little kids that I know Chinese as well as English and Castellano. They always get so excited and want me to show them a phrase. All I have to do is say something in English with a crazy ridiculous Chinese accent and they bust up laughing. Its so funny!

Okay so we found a GOLDEN investigator a couple days ago. We found this woman in the street and we asked her if we could visit her later when she had time. She agreed and said she wanted to come to our church!  Without us even teaching her yet! We were so excited! I guess that doesn't sound super exciting to you guys, but it is something that is really difficult for the people here. They don't really like to leave there houses to go to church. So we returned to her house and taught her and she truly understood. Super excited to keep teaching her. 

Okay so one more story from this week that was super awesome. I was on divisions with my Zone Leader (Elder Sanchez from Columbia) and we found 4 girls (6 or 7 years) and we decided to give each of them a pass-along card, or a pamphlet. But first they had to earn it by listening to a quick lesson about Christ. As we were talking to them, more and more kids came. By the end we had more than 15 little children around us listening. It was amazing. We had exactly enough pamphlets and pass-along cards to give them. For some reason, this experience has been one of the greatest highlights of my mission thus far. I cant even explain why.

Finally we told them all they should all come to our English Class that we were having the next day. Teaching that is very fun! It is so fun to help people learn, in the same way I am trying to learn!

Okay so now a funny story! So yesterday, we took a bus to get to another city (2.5 hours away) for pday. We do this every P-day so we can use a computer. The bus was so ridiculously dirty, that if you sat down, your shirt instantly became brownish black. So I refused to sit down during that time. So I stood up the whole 2.5 hour ride. Keep in mind I am a missionary, and we try to work very hard all day. But because of this, we get VERY tired. My companion noticed I was still standing and had fallen asleep!

Yeah Missionaries are a tired people sometimes :) Don't worry it was just us and the bus driver so nobody saw me ;)

So since today is P-day, I will explain a day in the life of Elder Graves on a P-Day! Woo hoo exciting!!! Haha okay, so we wake up and eat breakfast... okay I eat breakfast. Everybody here eats one meal a day including the missionaries. They are insane, so I buy lots of food for breakfast and dinner and my companions do other things! So yeah I have my loner breakfast and then we leave for hair cuts/shopping/email/etc. and then we go to the chapel to play futbol. That is super fun! Then we are aloud to watch one mormon movie every pday if we want - so sometimes we do that! After that we start getting ready to have FHE with a family in the Branch out here (not our branch). We then return home, I have dinner, and then we go to bed! Haha my mom was wondering if we do laundry by hand, and the answer is no, we are helped by the members with that! Oh yeah and we have hot showers!

This is Elder Zuñiga and I having some fun on a  P-day!

This week I realized the importance of talking to everyone - literally everyone. My companion doesn't like the idea of it, because he is a little bit shy, but I decided after that experience with the 15 or more little kids, that I was going to continue to talk with every person I see. I would urge all of you to do this. In school, in work at the grocery store, wherever it might be, just talk to people. Obviously you don't have to bring up the church like I usually would, but just talk to people. 

I have so much more I want to say to you this week, but I don't have time. I hope I have conveyed a good enough message. My companion teases me for how hard I work on this blog. I pray daily, and write ideas down daily to know how I can best convey a good message to you all. I hope it touches the hearts of at least a few. 

I love you all.

Elder Graves

PS I really was asleep standing up on that bus!!!

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Write to Elder Graves in 1 of 4 ways:

1. E-mail -  tgraves@myldsmail.net

 

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2. Send mail through www.DearElder.com
They will print and mail it for you at no cost (without a stamp).  This is a free service.

www.DearElder.com Instructions:
Select the "Argentina Posadas Mission"

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3. Send letters through the Church Pouch Mail Only postcards or one-page correspondences (no envelopes).

Fold the letter in thirds, secure the long side with tape about one inch in from each end. Do not seal the ends. Stamp and address the blank side as you would an envelope. Use the following mailing address:
Elder Taylor Graves
Argentina Posadas Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Physical Mailing Address.
Due to exorbitant costs incurred in the country of Argentina by the church, He can not receive packages :-( - not even a bubble envelope. Please refrain from sending anything other than an envelope/letter - anything else will likely be returned to sender.

Elder Taylor Graves
Córdoba 1243
Posadas, Misiones 3300
Casilla 12
Argentina

Change of heart - Fernando's Baptism - White clothes can't stay white in a mud hole - Random facts about Paraguay

So one of the first things you have to know about people in Paraguay, is that they do not have the same opportunities that we have in America. Their schooling is very poor and not very frequent. So those of you who are not too happy that schoool is starting this week, you should be more grateful!!! ;) But really many of the people here struggle with things that most of us take for granted. Many of the people we teach do not know how to read. Almost all of the people here I can read Spanish better than them and NOBODY who speaks Guarani knows how to read Guarani. I am sure you can see how this would be difficult to teach people who cant comprehend things like that. However, I am growing to love them more and more because of their struggles. In a way, they are going through similar things as I am trying to learn this language.

I have talked about Fernando a bit recently, and told you about his baptism. He is the smartest person I have ran into here and he is only 14. He has a true desire to learn. He goes to a special school so he can be better educated. He really is a genious. He reminds me a lot of one of my best friends Tanner. Tanner and I went through a lot together in the last few months at home, including the missionary discussions. Tanner is also a genious. Although the missionaries could convince Tanner of the truth through facts, it wasn't until the spirit confirmed the truth of this gospel that he accepted baptism. Fernando was like this. From what I understand, the Missionaries before me had been working with him for 6 or more months. They never gave up. Finally he was ready to be baptized.  

 

Although I hadn't known him exceptionally well (especially with a bit of a language barrier) he chose me to baptize him. When he told me he wanted me to baptize him I was shocked. SO honored, but so shocked. This experience reminded me of Tanner and the change in heart he has helped me achieve. Thank you Tanner and Fernando for changing my life.

Alright, so the baptism was in a river, and I have to say... that was awesome. Very cold, but awesome. The fact that it was in Castellano was that much cooler. Unfortunately after the baptism I found a pretty deep mud whole (and of course I am wearing all white) and fell in it and nearly lost both my shoes!!

 

 

My comp was just busting up laughing along with the rest of the group that came to the baptism. 

Alright so I figured I would give everybody a list of random facts about Paraguay so here we go...

 

1. Dogs. There are dogs every where. No matter where you look. The streets, in houses, in stores on roofs, in the sky, there are dogs.

2. Mud and Floods. It rains a lot! The roads are made of dirt and rocks so there is always mud. Often we cant go to meetings because of the floods in the roads (especially in the area I am in).

3. So I am going to give you an example of a typical house.

 

 

Most houses are like this. VERY poor. Although you cant see it in this picture, this house has a satellite dish for TV. Every single house in this country has TV and every kid who has more than 14 or so years has a phone. Although their houses look like this! It is so backwards!

4. The food is amazing. I don't know why we haven't taken some of these recipes over to the states!!!! IT is impossible to not get fat here! ;) (So far I haven't gained, but I don't know how much hope I have for the future!)

5. Buses are crazy, as well as everybody else who drives. They just go and hope they don't get hit! Okay not really but it sure seems like it!

6. Their Spanish is bad! They don't really know how to conjugate! (sorry for those of you that don't know much about Spanish) They often will say things like, Yo estamos aqui...) yeah even I know that's not right!

7. They dont have a trash system so they just burn their trash!!

 

 

Yeah this happens throughout the day and night as we walk the streets...

8. All our discussions are done outside. I used to think it was the weirdest thing in the world, but now I cant imagine doing a lesson inside a house!

9. They play volleyball with their feet. No need to explain there, its just awesome.

10. All their clothes are in English. We talked to this big tough guy and he was wearing an English shirt that said "I love hugs".

Alright well I don't have too much more time, but again thanks for reading!

Suerte con escuela! Se que empieza pronto, y voy a orar por cada de ustedes. Les quiero!

Elder Graves 

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Write to Elder Graves in 1 of 4 ways:
 
1. E-mail -  tgraves@myldsmail.net

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Send mail through www.DearElder.com
They will print and mail it for you at no cost (without a stamp).  This is a free service.

www.DearElder.com Instructions:
Select the "Argentina Posadas Mission"

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3. Send letters through the Church Pouch Mail Only postcards or one-page correspondences (no envelopes).

Fold the letter in thirds, secure the long side with tape about one inch in from each end. Do not seal the ends. Stamp and address the blank side as you would an envelope. Use the following mailing address:
Elder Taylor Graves
Argentina Posadas Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Physical Mailing Address.
Due to exorbitant costs incurred in the country of Argentina by the church, He can not receive packages :-( - not even a bubble envelope. Please refrain from sending anything other than an envelope/letter - anything else will likely be returned to sender.

Elder Taylor Graves
Córdoba 1243
Posadas, Misiones 3300
Casilla 12
Argentina

EVERYONE Lets Us Teach! - Baptism - Church - Stansbury Cross Country & His Letter to HARC

HEY EVERYBODY!!!!

Another awesome week! Okay.. last week was hard but I am getting used to everything! From eating the same weird roots called Mandioca every meal, to the insane driving of bus drivers here!!! They are insane!!! Somehow I am always able to feel safe though :)

So here we have the awesome opportunity to literally teach everyone we want to. Everybody here is SO NICE! They will always let us in and teach them. We could take 5 hours if we wanted to and they would be completely fine with it! Only problem is they have a hard time keeping commitments, which can be a bit frustrating but we are able to look past it and continue teaching them. 

So I think I told you all that the baptism of Fernando was this week but it is actually next week. Super excited for that and I am so proud of him. It is amazing how smart he is and how willing he is to learn. He will be a strong member of this church. I will put a picture of him and I next week!

This week in church I had the opportunity to speak in Church. It is not as scary as you might think. I am only the 5th missionary ever to be in this area so the church here is still very small, but the members are so strong and NEVER miss. But yeah the ward group is very small, just over twenty and we meet in this little house.

This house is actually the nicest building in all of my area. We got pretty lucky that the church was able to buy it.

My talk went well though and I was able to talk about pioneers. I realize that when I have challenges I have them to look to and remember the hardships they faithfully went through. I also have my brother Jesus Christ to look to. He suffered all, and has promised that he would never give us something to do without providing a way.

I don't have much time so I will just share a few more pics!

Sike! Don't have time for that either! the computer is being too slow to share more, but here is me an my district after playing soccer! Yeah we have a really small district but it is still super fun!

Okay one quick shout out to my cross country team back home who has their first race this Saturday! Cant wait to hear how it goes! Everyone better give me updates! You will do awesome! I will be praying for all of you! I really do miss those days of running. Now the only running I do is running to the Chipa shop (best bread cheese and ham combination know to man store) because it is closing sooner than I thought! But I am thankful for the memories i have been able to take with me. Memories are so important. I have realized that here. They can shape our lives for the better if we allow them. Every experience, whether it seems bad or good, is given to us for our growth.

I love you all and hope you know that you are in my prayers. 

Elder Graves

 

Note: This is Taylor's Dad writing now.

Since Taylor mentions the Stansbury Cross Country team above and since the team will have their first race of the year this Saturday, I thought it would be appropriate to include a letter that Taylor hand wrote a month ago (and had his brother Jake read to the team during their recent week long cross country mountain adventure last week) - HARC!  He loved being a part of this team.  You guys mean the world to him.  In his heart, he will be a lifelong member of the Stansbury Park Cross Country Team!  Here is the letter that he wrote to the team-  along with a picture from HARC (when Taylor was there last year).  :

 

 

 

P.S.  I wish that the coaches had been in these pictures.  He loves the coaches sooo much.  They have helped to mold him into the great young man that he has become.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write to Elder Graves in 1 of 4 ways:
 
1. Send mail through www.DearElder.com
They will print and mail it for you at no cost (without a stamp).  This is a free service.

www.DearElder.com Instructions:
Select the "Argentina Posadas Mission"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Send letters through the Church Pouch Mail Only postcards or one-page correspondences (no envelopes).

Fold the letter in thirds, secure the long side with tape about one inch in from each end. Do not seal the ends. Stamp and address the blank side as you would an envelope. Use the following mailing address:
Elder Taylor Graves
Argentina Posadas Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Physical Mailing Address.
Due to exorbitant costs incurred in the country of Argentina by the church, He can not receive packages :-( - not even a bubble envelope. Please refrain from sending anything other than an envelope/letter - anything else will likely be returned to sender.

Elder Taylor Graves
Córdoba 1243
Posadas, Misiones 3300
Casilla 12
Argentina
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. E-mail - Taylor will only have a very limited amount of time (30-90 minutes - once/week) to access the computer. They travel about 5-6 hours round trip on a bus to access their e-mail and may or may not be able to reach a computer every week.  tgraves@myldsmail.net

1st Week in Paraguay - Rock paved roads - Language Mistakes/Struggles - Group/Not A Branch or Ward - Gratitude for Home Ward

Hey everybody! I hope this week has been awesome for you! It has been really interesting for me! It has been really hard, fun and has involved a lot of waiting on planes, lines, buses and lots more. There is a lot that has happened and I hope I can properly express how amazing this experience has already been.

When we took off from Atlanta Georgia almost a week ago, leaving the United States, it was really hard for me. I found myself with tears streaming down my face, while at the same time smiling because of how grateful i was to live in that country for my childhood. I was incredibly blessed to live in The United States of America for so long. Because of these tears I had, an old jewish lady noticed me and asked if I was okay, we then talked for a long time about our religions and she was very curious about missions, although she had no interest in reading The Book of Mormon I tried to give her a couple of times, I felt our conversation blessed both of us in some way, if that makes any sense at all... haha.

This is my companion Elder Collins and two other missionaries here in the Posadas Misssion. I was blessed to have an American Companion as my first comp, which is actually reallllllly uncommon especially in this mission. This could make the language more difficult to learn but we speak Spanish whenever we can, and we made a rule for ourselves to always speak in Spanish when we are out walking and not in our Pension. Speaking of walking I will show you a picture of our Roads here. All I can say, is... they are kinda dumb. Haha they are on EVERY road without fail.

Many people here think that we are here as American Spies to steal there road system. I will just say, that I will NEVER want these roads in America! haha they do it this way to help with all the rain, but it really starts to bug your feet after a while because the rocks are so uneven and they poke up and trip you all the time!

One of my real struggles here in this mission is the language. It really is worse than the typical mission as far as languages go! Almost everybody here understands a bit or more of Spanish, but ALL speak Guarani. When we speak Spanish to them, they get a bit annoyed. It is a bit frustrating for me, because I am here trying my hardest to understand how they feel and how I can help them, but they aren't as receptive because I only know about 5 words of Guarani. I am still really positive about everything though! We have a baptism coming up next Saturday for a boy named Fernando, and in 3 weeks for a girl named Laticia! Laticia's story is pretty interesting, but I don't have time to share today sorry! Maybe next week!

These kids are SO fun to be around! Their dad just made this little contraption for them and they were celebrating with all their friends. One of their favorite things to do with me is to try and say my name. I always tell them to just say it how it would be in Spanish, (Grawbes) but when I try to get them to say it in English they can not do it! They always end up saying something along the lines of Groofs or Gres or Groos. For some reason they just can't do it...haha.  Each child here is a member of the church, but there aren't many more unfortunately. Our branch is so small, it is not even called a branch. It is actually just called a group, but despite the small size, the retention is incredible, and that is perhaps more important. Everybody here who is a member goes weekly and is involved with church service and other things daily.

This is my first day, and I loved how jungly this area looked! Haven't seen any monkeys yet but I am remaining hopeful! What I have seen a lot of is dogs. Dogs dogs dogs EVERYWHERE. It is crazy. They aren't ever mean (yet) so that's good.

Okay well I will leave you with a thought.  Many times as we are in America and we have a beautiful ward to go to, we don't realize how blessed we are. I was the same way. Now I realize how blessed I was and I wish I had been more involved with my ward. I hope all of you will take the opportunity to enjoy mutual (I mean cmon you get to talk to people in English!) and be a helper in your ward as much as you can.

Thanks again for reading, It means a lot when I hear from so many of you. I love you all,

ElderGraves

Ps I totally forgot to tell say that there is also a lot of Portuguese here. It is crazy because I am always listening for Spanish and then all the sudden I can't understand anything. I actually used to wonder if the gift of tongues had left me when they switch languages but my comp always makes sure, now, that I know they have switch languages. Haha he is a nice guy. Oh and speaking of him I just remembered something else. When he got here, he hadn't studied Spanish at all. He didn't know ANY Spanish coming into the field. He said that he was never a part of the lessons until a few months in. Now only 9 months later, he is perfectly fluent. He amazes me and definitely gives me a sense of hope. He is always telling me how impressed he is with my Spanish already. I have a long way to go but I know I can do it!

Holy cow just had one last thought. As we were walking the streets yesterday I made a pretty big mistake with my language and it was pretty funny... We walked by this group of people and I meant to say Hola todos! Which is supposed to mean, hello everyone! But I accidentally switched the d in todos for an r. Entonces I said, Hola toros! Which actually means hello bulls! They all looked pretty offended... haha oh well! They know I'm a gringo so its all good! 

k that was my last though. Love you all......!"!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write to Elder Graves in 1 of 4 ways:
 
1. Send mail through www.DearElder.com
They will print and mail it for you at no cost (without a stamp).  This is a free service.

www.DearElder.com Instructions:
Select the "Argentina Posadas Mission"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Send letters through the Church Pouch Mail Only postcards or one-page correspondences (no envelopes).

Fold the letter in thirds, secure the long side with tape about one inch in from each end. Do not seal the ends. Stamp and address the blank side as you would an envelope. Use the following mailing address:
Elder Taylor Graves
Argentina Posadas Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Physical Mailing Address.
Due to exorbitant costs incurred in the country of Argentina by the church, He can not receive packages :-( - not even a bubble envelope. Please refrain from sending anything other than an envelope/letter - anything else will likely be returned to sender.

Elder Taylor Graves
Córdoba 1243
Posadas, Misiones 3300
Casilla 12
Argentina
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. E-mail - Taylor will only have a very limited amount of time (30-90 minutes - once/week) to access the computer. They travel about 5-6 hours round trip on a bus to access their e-mail and may or may not be able to reach a computer every week.  tgraves@myldsmail.net