19th Birthday! - Basketball! - Fat mannequins - Stuck in Apartment with sick companion - Testimony

Well I really have to start by saying thank you for the ridiculously awesome amount of birthday wishes from all of you! When I open up my email and see that I have more than 80 emails to read, I know I am loved :) So THANK YOU! You all have made my day soooo awesome! Also today we had the opportunity to have a multi zone meeting and we played BASKETBALL! There were more than 40 missionaries there and they all gathered around me and sang/scrame (not sure if that is a word I am almost 100% sure its not screamed) "Happy Birthday" to me. It was pretty funny because it was in English and most of them don't speak English! But I really got lucky to have such a big meeting on my birthday! Usually a birthday will pass unnoticed in the mission, but I got super lucky!

Also, my family is ridiculously awesome. About a month or so ago, I was looking into the deep pits of my suitcase and found that I had a b-day present! Also I found that I have a Christmas present that I will get to open later! (In my mission we can only recieve 2 packages a year so my mom got creative!).  Also, today my zone leader delivered another package from my family for my birthday! So tonight we are going to have a mini, party and open up my gifts!!!!

Sorry for the crazy face, but we had just woken up at 4:30 to go to the zone meeting (we have a lot of early mornings, and our nights are super late now, because our president changed our schedule to adjust to the ridiculous heat)!

​This is me with Elder Winston again, and my other package that the zone leaders had just given me. 

Well, we found these fat mannequins in the mall and could not stop laughing because... I don't know that is just super funny! But I decided it would be appropriate to take a photo with them because I literally just CAN NOT STOP GAINING WEIGHT! My body is used to having 3 or 4 runs everyday and much more physical activity than that, and my body is wondering what happened!!!!? But if I come home looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, you all still have to love me, or at least acknowledge me... ;)

My companion got sick recently and we had to stay in our pension all day. I was actually pretty concerned, because I figured I would be bored out of my mind! He literally slept and stayed in his bed for 36 hours straight! I felt pretty bad for him (I think he got up to use the restroom...) But I have a picture of me studying that day, because that day, truly was a day of loooots of studying.

11 hours straight to be exact. Yeah it was crazy. I literally couldn't put down the books. I can honestly say, that I now LOVE the scriptures. They continually amaze me. A dear friend of my family Brother Bob Christensen used to always say to me as well as say during his testimonies in testimony meeting, that every time he reads the Book of Mormon he has a strong feeling that the Book of Mormon really is scripture and the word of God.

*here in this picture I am comparing the sermon on the mount to the coming of Christ in 3 Nefi in English and Spanish, so lots of books!*

Well I just want all of you to know that I am doing well and am loving the life of a missionary. It is amazing how much I have grown (spiritually and physically...) I think of the boy that left for the MTC just short of 5 months ago and look at what I have already become and learned, and am truly amazed. The mission field really is the place to learn and to grow. 

Les quiero mucho y espero que todos tengan una semana marivillosa

Elder Graves

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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