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

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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