el 1 de junio

i feel like i say the same thing each week, but where is the time?!
it's already june, and i have almost been out five months. but here 
we go!

a great success this week, would have to be helping anai, julissa,
and francisco into the waters of baptism, helping julissa make her 
dreams come true with her wedding, and having lots of people at 
church, nine! the standard of excellence is to have 6 
people at church, and consistently right now, we are having
more than that every week! gooo loma linda uno!

 

hermana anai, tuesday, at her baptism. we had to have it tuesday
because we weren't sure if jefri,  her husband, would be there to 
support her friday or saturday. so off we went tuesday to fill the 
baptismal font, but guess what?! there wasn't any water! problem.... 
but we figured it out, and even if we did end up having to have 
the baptism with her kneeling in the font, it happened.
never a dull moment with baptisms here. never....

​example number two of crazy things that happen before
baptisms: the lawyer for julissa's wedding was an hour late because 
of traffic, but thank goodness we had all the papers in order. here 
the lawyer marries you, and then after you have your act, you have 
to go and inscribe it, or let the law know that you are married. 
because julissa is a minor and is pregnant (almost half way through!) 
the lawyer has to inscribe the wedding.. 
one less thing that we have to worry about!

crazy thing about this baptism? we weren't the one that taught
hermano francisco the lessons, but he is our baptism. why? because 
the elders taught he and his girlfriend together, and he is none the 
wiser that he is actually our recent convert... sshh! 
it's a secret, kind of.

really big challenge this week was my stress level. for some reason,
i have been feeling a lot more stressed than i have yet to feel while 
out on my mission. well, besides maybe the last saturday night of 
the mtc, but that's besides the point. i don't know if it's the stress of 
having three baptisms, but  first "difficult" companion,  i  don't know. 
but prayers that it gets better?

most significant tender mercy, would probably be the fact that there
was actually a full baptismal font saturday night for the baptisms of 
fransisco and julissa. it could have been very interesting, if we didn't 
have a full font to baptize a full grown man 
and a pregnant woman... very....

a goal for this week would have to include reading and studying the
book of mormon each day. president russell, my mission president, 
has mandated a 15 minute study time each night specifically for the 
book of mormon, and speficially for us as individuals. it's been 
amazing to read and study topics personally, and see the way that 
it all of my studies lead into each other and manifest themselves in 
our lessons.

a favorite teaching experience would have to be with douglas, a
man with a little bit of autism, and reining in his rants about visions 
and revelations... like i said, never a dull moment.

this week i studied about the parables of jesus christ, especially the
ones listed in matthew 13. parables so simple and clear, yet profound. 
james e. talmadge makes clear the lord's statement of why he taught 
in parables (see verses 9-17 of aforementioned chapter). paraphrasing, 
he writes that those that have open hearts to hear the word, will 
hear it, apply it, and will go about doing good with the word. then 
there are others that will hear it, not understand it, but will remember it 
and later will apply it. and yet there are others who will hear it but not 
remember i t and won't allow the word to grow. ​those that have ears to 
hear will hear it and the word shall be added upon them. 

what kind of ears do we have?

hermana graves

el 04 de Mayo

heejolay! another week!

our biggest challenge this week was getting all of the papers together for two different weddings, and making sure that one of the couples didn't realize that they were getting married again. let me explain: one couple, was married by a lawyer about eight years ago, but never went and registered their wedding, which actually finishes the whole process. she didn't want to go through the whole process again, but it was cheaper to just have them married again, then pay the large fine for each year that a constancia, or the paper that says that you are married, goes without being registered. so we played chase the investigator to get all the paperwork together, and get copies of it all, for the lawyer so that she could have it all ready the day of. that was just a very large pain in the neck...

our largest concern was setting a time for three of our baptisms, especially when he works every other day, and she starts a new job this week, it was just really stressful. but somehow we got it all together, got them married, and we have four more baptisms in the book. but more about that later!

our biggest success was bringing to pass four baptisms, my first family! we helped married Jefri and Anaí, and then Jefri was baptized! His picture is during their wedding, where I missed the kiss again!! then later that evening we married Eli and Marjurí, and baptized them and their daughter, Jennifer! That baptism was a grand experience, because while waiting for the lawyer, our mission president showed up! talk about a hike of the nerves! i ended up shouting my message because it was down pouring outside, but we had a great service, with quite a few members, and they couldn't be more excited to be baptized!

my favorite person is hermano jefri, because he loves his family so much, and loves his new wife even more. he has a goal to attend the temple in one year, and we are preparing his wife, anaí, to help him complete with this goal!

a tender mercy would have to be the opportunity we had this week to do divisions as a zone. all together, we changed companions for a day, changed the standards of excellence, and went to work. hermana tadeo, the hermana training leader, and i worked here in loma linda, and we had ten lessons, five lessons with less actives, and 46 contacts. echando fuego!

this week we are looking forward to working with our new converts, in the hopes that we can find some new investigators to teach.

one of our goals is to place a baptismal date everyday. and one that will stick. 

a scripture this week, will actually be a saying. and this is something that i love!

it goes something like this: "It is possible that in a moment of weakness, you and I exclaim: Nobody understands; Nobody knows. Perhaps no human being knows, but the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before us; and because He paid the ultimate price and carry that burden. He understands perfectly and can reach out His arm of mercy in many stages of life. The hand can set us, touch us, succor us, literally run to us and strengthen us." 

I love the promise this brings. that the Lord understands it all. No matter what happens. He understands.

lots of love, hermana graves

{this was my first Eskimo, the only type of ice cream really available here. and it was great!}

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el 25 de Mayo

this week passed by so quickly, and it shows in the lack of photos that i have to send this week... sorry!

my biggest challenge this week was getting into the rhythm of a new companion, and her teaching style. i love hermana carranza a lot, and am trying to find that balance between being myself, and becoming a better missionary and person.

a major concern is the divorce of a dear one here in loma linda; lots of prayers that all works out with the lawyer.

successes of the week include getting Anaí to come to church for her third time before her baptism, helping elder velasquez have a baptism and a wedding without him having a breakdown without his senior companion, and having a slumber party with the sisters of monte fresco last night because they got locked out of their house. woo hoo! lots of fun!

hermana carranza, an investigator and her two kids, and me the night of the wedding. originally we were going to have the wedding at the church, but we didn't end up having keys, so we had to have it at Hermana Gladis's house. yeah, that's a story for another day...


last night we had a slumber party, and hermana gutíerrez told us all her good stories... we may have gone to bed a little late.... shhhh!​

this week, julissa takes the favorite person prize because she actually reads the chapters that we leave for her in the book of mormon, she marks the chapters, and actually understands and retains what she reads! this week she's getting married and baptized, so pictures next week!

a great tender mercy is the realization of my setting apart blessing, that if i was obedient i would be saved from harm. there have been a lot of elders and other sisters who have had problems at night, but thankfully i haven't in my time here. thank goodness!

this week i am soo excited to finally help Anaí have her baptism, and get her firmly on the path to the temple next year. also helping Julissa, and another investigator into the waters of baptism put the icing on the cake!

something that sister carranza and i have been struggling with is sharing our time in our lessons, so we are going to work on that. go companionship unity!

matthew wrote it right this week in chapter 11, verses 28-30:

::come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for i am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.::

as missionaries, the work isn't easy. i love this quote from a return missionary, that i actually shared in my farewell talk, but it's just so powerful:

::A mission is kind of like a rosebush. It is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen from a distance. As you get closer to it, it becomes even more beautiful and all the details become more evident. Then you enter the mission and even though the roses are more beautiful than you have ever seen from afar, it is painful and the thorns prick and scratch you until you bleed. Just when you are about ready to cry out because of the pain, you exit the rosebush. You look back at the beautiful roses and think about going through the bush. Then as the distance increases and your wounds heal, this bush becomes the most beautiful bush you have ever seen. You love and cherish that bush that has become even more beautiful to you after going through it. Any time to see the roses looking back, you don’t remember the thorns, you only remember the good and the roses are even more rich and beautiful than they were before.::

the rosebush is painful, sometimes emotionally as well as physically. but that's the beauty of the contrast. all ye that are heavy laden, all of you that are in pain, come unto christ. he offers you his yoke, his burden that is light, and has taken upon himself the pains and burdens for you. the thorn pricks and sctratch marks will fade, and the scars will remain. the lessons learned will be ever etched in your heart.

lots of love, 

hermana graves