Dario's Baptism/Successful On 3rd Attempt In Very Cold Water :-) - Love Tacuari! - Dario's Neighbor Also To Be Baptized! - Members Are Key To The Work

This is Taylor's Dad:
Taylor had a great week!  I am hoping to add a picture of Taylor and Dario at the baptism next week.  For now, Here are a couple pictures of Taylor (and our family) on his baptism day:

 

This is Taylor's letter home:
Well its been another awesome week here in Tacuari. I feel like I could just stay here for the rest of my mission! (I probably just jinxed myself and will have to stay for a long time now.) but really there is so much success, and the members are so willing to just work and help the missionary work.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that we had somebody named Dario who was getting ready for his baptism the 31st of January. Well obviously that day passed and he wasn't baptized. We had talked to him before that day, and he told us that he had a feeling he needed to wait for the 21st of February to be baptized.  He is an incredible member already, and is talking about how he cant wait to get on a mission! We are so excited for him!

​Well I have a kind of embarrassing story that goes along with this baptism...

We entered the water (which of course was FREEZING COLD) and got all ready to baptize him. I said the prayer and put him under the water. I looked up to the witnesses, and one of them said that I had said the prayer incorrectly. I immediately realized that I skipped the whole first part! So... Dario looked at me and said with his lips purple from the cold water and said "no me diga que tengo que hacerlo otra vez..." don't tell me I have to do that again!

Haha so we did it again... I looked up to check if the prayer was right and if he went all the way under the water... and with much shame in the face of the witness... he told me we would have to do it again... apparently I had skipped another word. At this point Dario was just laughing! He said, "well... I guess I needed to get baptized 3 times to get all my sins off."

I did the prayer right the next time and hugged him after and really gave me flash backs of when I baptized my best bud Tanner.

His family is so excited to work in the work of the Lord. They have been helping us and because of their excitement, one of there neighbors came to the baptism and has decided that she believes that this is the true church and will be baptized March 13. 

The day after the baptism, I gave a talk in church and talked about how the missionaries really depend on the members. We as missionaries would not be able to accomplish anything without the help of the members. Think of all the people that you know who have been baptized into the church. Did they do it because a missionary knocked on their door, or because a friend or family member invited them to come to church one Sunday? 

I know each and everyone of you have someone in your head who you think, maybe, could receive this message. Talk with the missionaries. I had thoughts of inviting Tanner to church for 2 years before we finally did something and invited him to church! If there is someone in your head... talk to the missionaries!

I know that this baptism is going to change the life of Dario, and later in his life will be blessed because of the mission that he will serve.

I love the message that we teach every day, and love being a missionary!

Thanks for your love and support!

Elder Graves

Argentina Posadas Mission

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS

 

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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

Miracle Of A Priesthood Blessing - Picture Of Finished House - Member Missionary - Bejerano Family - Sunken Ship - Running With Companion - Zone Activity/Ruins

Okay to try and make up for last weeks lack of pictures I am going to make the email kinda short and just send lots of pictures!

I will just share one experience from the week.

We were searching for a woman that someone had told us was a member of the church but hadn't been to church for a long time.  They told us that we should look for her and try to help her return to the gospel. We found her and we were very excited to teach her. She started by emotionally telling us that she was so sad that she hadn't been to church in so long and wished that she had been going the last seven months but told us that she simply couldn't. We asked her why? She told us that her foot was severely broken (and had been like that for more than 7 months) and could not afford to go to the doctor.  Because of her broken foot, she could not make the walk to the chapel.

My companion asked if she wanted a blessing. She anxiously said yes and awaited the blessing. She chose my companion to be the voice of the blessing and I participated by laying my hands on her head as well.  My companion humbly gave the blessing using the words "you will be able to go to the church with the body you have."  Three days later we came back to see how her foot was doing so we could know if we should expect her at church the next Sunday. She greeted us and yelled, "It's better! You cured me! You two are my angels!" We looked at her foot, and it was NOT purple like it was 3 days ago, it was NOT  enormous because of the immense swelling that she had suffered for 7 months, and it WAS perfectly healthy.

I know the priesthood works, and I know that miracles happen. I have seen it. 

The next day she walked in the chapel with the biggest smile and when she entered she put her two arms up with her fists and said to me "¡Elder! ¡Estoy Aqui!" 

I am so grateful for this mission that has given me so many opportunities to see God's hands showing the mercy he has for each of us. 

I love this gospel!

 

 

This is me and a member that works like crazy with us in this ward! He is incredible and a good example of what a "member missionary" should be.

 

 

​This is the house all finished! Keep in mind, we didn't do it all, we can't take all the credit, but a lot of time, sweat, blood and tears were put in and I am glad to say we could help this woman find a home. The woman that I mentioned that we found (because of this project) continues to take lessons from us, and I will try to keep you all updated on how her story progresses.

 

 

​This is the family Bejerano and two random elders who were visiting us because of paper work! The one on my right (looking at the picture) is leaving in a week and is probably the funniest person I have ever met!

 

 

​We woke up early so that we would be able to go see the beach before we had divisions with some Elders in another part of the mission! I liked this view because my dad has a ton of pictures that are similar from his mission.

 

 

​Here is a picture of me and my companion after a REEEEALLY long run! (well for missionaries anyway) I LOVED IT! We were pretty tired though.

P.S. This is right in front of my house, and we live in downtown Posadas basically, and there are still lots of dirt roads!

 

 

 ​Lets just say we had a pretty cool Zone activity this week :)

 

LOVE YOU GUYS!

 

Elder Graves

Argentina Posadas Mission

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS

 

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

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"

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

 

Learning To Build With Dad - Construction Service Hours Yielded A New Family To Teach! - God Answers Prayers Sometimes In Ways That Are Unexpected - Many Attended Church - Baptism Planned - The Gift of Tongues - Testimony

This is Taylor's Dad: 
Taylor was unable to send pictures this week, but we have lots of pictures of him :-).  If you read Taylor's letter last week, you know that he and his companion have been helping to build a home for a single mother in need.  Kirsten, his AWESOME mom, suggested sharing this picture from the early days of his construction career :-) .  It was taken in our backyard (in TX) while Taylor, Jake and Amber helped with the construction of my soon to be workshop/shed.  Our cute little Shauna was not pictured - she was too small to be of much help :-).  I miss those cute little kids.  They were so much fun!  If you can't figure it out, Taylor is the boy in the middle and...yes that is me with the torn pants.  We weren't as poor as I made us look, but...I guess that project was hard on my pants (repeatedly kneeling then standing) and I ripped both my pant legs.  Kirsten made me toss them after that :-)
 

 
Here is Taylor's letter:
Well once again it looks like I will not be able to send any fotos ;( .  I cant seem to get this computer to work with the pictures. That always makes me sad when I can't send you guys any pictures :( .  But thats okay I can still share some experiences of this week!

So when we built the house (I have awesome pictures of the finished house) we kind of were hoping that the lady would be curious about the church, and she seemed a little curious, so we taught her a lesson about Joseph Smith and how he restored the true church through the power of God. She was pretty far from interested it seemed like, and honestly we were kind of disappointed. But there was another family, there in her house, listening in on the lesson. She later on asked for a pamphlet about the Restoration, and we gave it to her, and told her she should read it and we could pass by and talk more about it with her.

Now you have to remember, sometimes when we give someone a commitment to read something, we don't always expect that they will actually read. We give out SO MANY pamphlets, that sadly go unread.

 

I was on divisions with a missionary who will be going home in 2 weeks named Elder Bogardus, and we passed by that family's house to see if they had read any of the pamphlet. We got there, and she had read every page! Every page was marked had notes on it, questions that she wanted to ask us, and some parts were underlined. In my 7 months on my mission I have NEVER seen someone do that. She came to church yesterday and we are really excited for the potential she has. Tonight at 7, my time, we will be trying to put a date of baptism with her, so if you could please pray for us!

The "moral of the story" is that God sometimes answers our prayers in ways we don't expect. We helped this family build their house, and we hoped that as we did she would find an interest in the message. That is not what God had in mind, but he had something else in store for us. 

Here in Posadas, things are looking really great. We had a bunch of  investigators in the Church yesterday and we will be having a baptism in two weeks. I really do love it here.

To give an update on how I am doing with the language, lets just say I feel like my English is struggling in these emails. So, forgive me if I sound weird. I have had several members / investigators tell me that my Spanish is perfect. Now that is far from true, but it is amazing how quickly the Holy Ghost has helped me progress with this language.

I want you all to know, that I have knelt down and asked God if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon is true. I have received an answer, and I will never doubt that this is the true church. My testimony continues to grow, and I love this mission.

 

 

Elder Graves

Argentina Posadas Mission

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS

 

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

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"

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

Miracle For A Single Mom In Need - Building a house - Work Hard & Grow! - District Reunion

The summer before my Junior year, I would run to basketball practice at 5:30 in the morning. I remember I often was so tired that I couldn't even keep my eyes open! I would literally close my eyes while running for a good space of time. I practically was sleep running. I would do this every day, for weeks on end. I now look back, and wonder why I would do that along with 2 or 3 other runs through out the day. Why would I put myself through so much difficulty?? Haha Well as I walked out here in the road after a long Fast Sunday to dinner, burning my skin from the intense rays of the sun, searching like a maniac for whatever shade I could find, falling asleep as I walked, I remembered those days of running asleep.

Why do we put ourselves through times that are so difficult? So that we can grow! Ha its awesome!

Recently we had a reunion of our district and it was awesome! The new district leader is really great and is a big help to everyone, his name is Elder Mechan.

This is a picture of the District of Tacuari! (I am really trying to get rid of the thumbs up habit! Everyone hear does it and it is starting to bug me that I always have my thumb up in the pictures!)

Well the most exciting thing that happened this week is that we were teaching a group of about 8 adults.  At the end, one of them (a single mom with a little baby boy) mentioned that they were going to be kicked out of their house in a week. They weren't going to have a  place to stay and didn't know what to do. We told her we would help her (although our schedule is insane and really there isn't much time for anything!). When we said we would help her, I wasn't really sure what was going to happen. She didn't have any wood or tools to build with, the only thing she had was a small piece of land that she owns. We told her we would come back and work soon (not really knowing how it would happen) and try to build her a house. 

We came back as we promised with a set of nails and a hammer, without any wood, not sure how we were going to make a house. (So you all know, the type of "house" in this area that I am talking about is like 10 by  20 feet, 4 walls a roof, dirt floor.)  We arrived, and wood was there. TONS of wood. We asked the woman where it came from, and she just told us that she was praying the whole night that wood would come and it did.

It turns out the government or something like that had a bunch of extra leftover wood from an old project and didn't know what to do with it, so they just dumped it all about 50 feet away from this woman's land. We carried all the wood over to her land, and with the help of lots of men from her neighborhood, we built her her own little casita, house. 

This obviously was an answer to a prayer and a miracle. As I tell this story, I realize even more how amazing and how incredible it was, and how much God really loves us.

I don't have pictures of the finished house, but a few pictures of while we were building it.

 ​I will send more pictures of the finished house in the week that comes (I really just wrote that... that is how you would directly translate the Spanish version of "the next week".

Well sorry the pictures arent that nice... but still! haha

I am gratefull to have had the chance to talk to you all today!

Love you guys!

Elder Graves

Argentina Posadas Mission

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS

 

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

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"

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