Elder Holland in the DR!

Hola mi familia y amigas!!!

I hope you're all doing well and that you had a great week.  Thank you all so much for your emails. I promise I read every single one and love them!!! But I usually run out of time to respond.  So sorry!  I will respond as soon as possible I PROMISE. I love you all and you're the best!

So this past week, we had one of the most amazing opportunities of my life.  Okay well this mission is the most amazing opportunity of my life, but we had an especially spiritual and powerful experience here.  On Thursday, we had the opporunity to go to the capital and attend a conference with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  He is an Apostle from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and he is an amazing amazing man.  He testifies of Jesus Christ with such power and conviction, and he has a special love for missionary work.  We woke up at 3am, got ready and took a gwagwa from Vicente Noble to Santo Domingo. It was an historic thing for the mission because all 200+ missionaries were all there in the same capilla.  That NEVER happens.  Missionaries got to reunite with old companions and it was just super special.  We had the opportunity to hear from Elder Zivic from the Seventy and his wife, and also from Elder Holland himself.  Even more amazingly, we all (all 200+ of us) got to meet him personally.  This was not planned at all but when he walked in, our President announced that he wanted to meet us all.  My companion Hermana Johnson led the music so we got to sit in the very first row and were the first missionaries to go up and meet him.  Hermana Johnson went and I followed, saying my name and where I was from and shaking his hand.  Even more special, was to sit back down and then watch up close as he greeted every other missionary of the Santo Domingo West Mission.  He looked each and every one of us in the eye and I truly cant describe the spirit that was felt. He had such love with every single person, a true disciple of Christ.

Elder Holland had a powerful and direct message of the importance of missionary work and the impact it can have on not only our lives but the lives of those we teach as well.  He explained the impact that his own mission has had on his life and the importance of treasuring and utilizing every moment.  I can't believe I have already been here for almost 3 months and time has seriously flown by.  This 18 months is such a short concentrated time to serve the Lord with my whole heart.  Its such a sacred calling and responsibility and I am just super grateful to be able to have these experiences and represent Jesus Christ.  This is no small thing and I was just overwhelmed by the blessing that this mission is.  Elder Holland was so personal as he taught and asked questions.  I could see just how important missionary work is to him and his desire to ensure that we all make the most of this time.  He then spoke on the power and divinity of the Book of Mormon.  It is the evidence of the Restoration through Joseph Smith, but more importantly it testifies of Christ.  He said ¨It is a book endowed with the power of the Spirit.¨  The Book of Mormon is such an important and powerful book. Elder Holland explained that he has read it close to 100 times and has a more profound experience each time.  There are very few book he has read more than once or twice, but the Book of Mormon he has read over and over.  It was so great to be reminded of the power of this book.  I can honestly say that the Book of Mormon has had such a profound impact on my life.  Its really the foundation of my testimony and the reason I am here now.  Each time I read it, I can feel closer to Heavenly Father and I can feel the Spirit testifying that these things are true.  

It was amazing because when we got back from the conference, we had a lesson with a menos activo.  He used to be President of the Rama here but is now inactive.  We had a different lesson planned, but decided to just talk about our experience with Elder Holland and share some of what he said.  We spoke of the importance of this book and how he can recover some of what he has lost by really reading it every day.  Hermana Johnson shared a really strong testimony and then I had the opportunity to testify and share why this book is so important to me.  I explained that I had been less active for several years just like him.  I really clearly just said ¨Porque esto libo, estoy aqui ahora con usted.¨  This book is the reason why I'm here.  It has gotten me to where I am today and its fundamental to the things I know and the relationship I have with my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ.  What other book has the power to have such a significant impact on one's life.

Our mission president has given us the assignment to read through the whole Book of Mormon in 100 days.  To read a fresh unmarked copy from the beginning another time and mark it for a specific purpose.  I invite you all as well to join me for this challenge.  Its about 6.5 pages a day and we're starting today!  I know it will bless your life!

Okay more things happened this week but these things were especially noteworthy.  It was an amazing week and Im so blessed to be here with these people and to be in the service of Jesus Christ.

I hope you all have a great week.  You continue in my prayers.

Thanks for everything!

CON AMOR,

Hermana Graham

The First 6 Weeks

Hola mi familia y mis amigas!!!

¿Como estan? Espero que ustedes esten bien y que tuvieron una semana fantastica! Estoy muy agradecida por su ayuda y oraciones y amor.  GRACIAS.

Entonces, I will now switch back to English :) I promise I can say more than that in Spanish but writing is harder and I´m sure part of that is wrong. haha 

ANYWAY, I really do hope that you all are well and had a fantastic week!  I had a great week here in Vicente Noble, full of a lot of hard work and learning and trying to be the best missionary I can be for the Lord.  So, what happened this week.  Well it was a pretty normal week.  The only special thing is that this is the last week of the transfer so we've been anxiously waiting to see who would stay and who would go.  Hermana Johnson and I already knew we would be staying here because I'm not done with my training yet.  We got the calls Saturday and Hermana Walter is leaving our house and going to the capital.  I'm really sad to have her go but we all pretty much knew she would leave because she's been here in Vicente Noble for a while.  Another Elder from our district is also leaving so we will have some new missionaries here starting tomorrow.  It's amazing how close we've all gotten in just 6 weeks.  It really does make a difference to be unified in this purpose and to be working alongside these amazing missionaries.  While change is hard, its also a great blessing.  I'm sure the new missionaries coming will be amazing and exactly what we all need!  The Lord always puts people in our paths exactly when we need them. Nonetheless, I will miss Hermana Walter a lot.  She is a great friend and even better representative of Christ.

This week we've been focusing a lot on planning and setting goals and in general being prepared.  It's amazing how goals can help to focus and motivate to be working for the benefit of the specific people here.  When we plan and are prepared, we become more effective instruments in the Lords hands. We can share exactly what the people need to here as guided by the Holy Ghost.   Its been amazing to see how this preparation and attitude has helped to have some great teaching experiences that were both spiritual and successful.  On Friday we went to teach a family that lives next to one of our menos activas.  The family wasn't there so we went to check on our menos activa, who's cousin just passed away.  We ended up getting to share with her grandma who is having a really hard time.  Even though we don't know this sweet older woman very well, she allowed us to share some things to help console and comfort her. We spoke about the eternal plan that Heavenly Father has prepared for us, that allows us to see our loved ones again and allows us to know that they have entered into His rest.  We also spoke about Christ and the fact that He is always here to comfort and help us through hard times.  With Christ, we can find the strength to continue on.  While she was very emotional throughout, I think she was able to feel a greater sense of peace and acceptance.  It was such a humbling and tender moment to be able to represent Jesus Christ and offer words of comfort during this time of sadness.  It's so important to be prepared and ready in these moments so we can share things by the Spirit, so we can share the scriptures and testimony that can really make a difference in the lives of these wonderful people.  

We had the opportunity to teach our Haitian investigator again.  We brought with us our translator member for Creole and taught about the restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith.  It's hard to teach him super effectively because the translation takes time and he has many questions so there are often tangents from questions.  But we were still able to share with him about Joseph Smith and the restoration of Christ's Gospel and church through this modern day prophet.  This was an important lesson because we spoke a lot about how he can know for himself.  Understandably, he has a hard time accepting this account of Joseph Smith.  He wanted evidence in the Bible that spoke specifically about Joseph Smith.  Finally, we just taught him the role of prayer in coming to know that these things are true.  We can teach and answer questions and look up scriptures all we want, but it really comes down to sincerely asking our Father in Heaven in prayer if these things are true.  I had the opportunity to testify of these things and the importance of prayer.  I asked him to have patience with us, that we had a lot more to share than just this.  I explained that this message is not our's, its not the message of Joseph Smith, its really a message from God.  I know that through prayer, we can accept and receive the blessings of this message and of Christ in our lives. 

Its such a wonderful opportunity to be able to represent my Savior here in Vicente Noble, to be able to testify of Him and the blessings of this gospel and message. I know I have been sent here specifically for these people at this time to help them and remind them of the importance of Christ.  Through hard work and diligence, we can see miracle here in the Dominican Republic.

I love you all so much.  Thanks for everything!

Con mucho mucho amor,

Hermana Graham

Almost 1 Transfer Done

Hola mi familia y amigas!!!

I hope you all are doing well and had a great week.  Thank you for your emails and prayers.  I appreciate them so much!!

This past week was another amazing week in Vicente Noble.  The more I am here, the more I realize just how blessed I am to be serving here.  While Vicente Noble is small, its humble and sweet and really just amazing.  The people are so warm and happy and our rama is small but powerful.  We've really been focusing on how to strengthen to rama and be more effective with helping members here.  

This past week went by really quickly but it's amazing how many opportunities we had to learn and continue working.  It's crazy to think that I am already almost done with my first transfer here.  On Thursday, we had a training with all the new missionaries and their trainers and it was completely eye opening.  It was a wake up call to realize that I am almost half way through my training.  There is so much that I still need to learn and our leaders at the meeting did a fantastic job of helping me regain perspective on this work and my purpose.  Hermana Johnson and I left the meeting with a renewed sense of animo and a desire to be more diligent and effective in the work.  It's so important to remember that this is the Lord's work and to remember the great responsibility I've been given to serve in this area and know these people.  I'm really working on serving with all my heart and mind, really focusing on how the things we do help the members and our investigators here.  I'm really excited to see how this new attitude will change our success here in Vicente Noble.  I know that as we seek to diligently do everything we can and really allow the Spirit to guide us, we will be more effective instruments in the Lord's hands.  It's so important to remember that the Lord will help us in whatever trial or responsibilities we have, as long as we turn to Him in faith.  

We've had a lot of amazing teaching experiences and opportunities this week.  On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to share the message in our District Meeting.  It was nerve wracking to teach by myself in Spanish but my district was all very supportive as I tried to piece my thoughts together in Spanish.  I had the opportunity to teach about the Spirit and its role in helping people be truly converted.  This is honestly one of my favorite topics because the Spirit is so key in missionary work.  With the Spirit, we as missionaries can be guided in how to serve and understand the needs of the people here.  Also, unless someone can feel the Spirit, they wont truly come unto Christ.  It was great to teach about our role and purpose-to help people recognize the Spirit in their lives and feel of the Lord's love for them.  We've also been teaching this Haitian man who doesn´t speak much Spanish or English. He mostly speaks Creole or French.  His lessons are so interesting and such a unique experience.  We bring a member with us who can also speak Creole and he acts as a translator for us.  Its so strange to be sitting there as they go back and forth in this ADDITIONAL foreign language.  I can understand Spanish fairly well now, but with Creole I'm blank.  Its so cool to be able to teach him with the help of this member.  He has such a sincere desire to learn and has many great questions.  Hermana Johnson and I just explain simply and our member translates into Creole to help him have a better understanding.  We're still looking for ways to help him more, like finding a Book of Mormon in French, but I´m very hopeful for him.  He came to church this Sunday and while he might not have been able to understand perfectly, I'm sure he was able to feel something.  One of the greatest things I've learned here is that even if I can't perfectly understand the language, I can still feel the Spirit and it helps me understand better.  

It's so amazing to be here in the Dominican Republic, surrounded by Spanish and Creole, Dominicans and Haitians alike.  The culture is amazing and its so great to be able to serve the people here.  I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that the Lord is helping us in this work.

I love you all! Have a great week

Con MUCHO MUCHO AMOR,

Hermana Graham

2 MONTHS!

Hola mi familia y amigos!

I hope you've all had a great week!

So this past week I had my first cumplemez out in the field.  Cumplemez is like your birthday from the first day in the mission.  On Feb 17, I hit my 2 month mark here in the Dominican Republic.  Its crazy how time flies.  Also its funny because I definitely feel like I've been here much longer than 2 months!

This past week was full of a lot of awesome experiences. I'll share just a couple.

So my district here in Vicente Noble consists of me and 3 other Hermanas who live in the house with me and 2 Elders, who actually work in a small pueblo called Tamayo which is like a 45 minute or hour long walk away.  On Sundays, we spend the morning at church in Vicente Noble and then walk to Tamayo to attend the church service for those who live there.  When we walk there, its literally just along the side of the road and its so beautiful to see the campo everywhere around us.  We usually try to catch a bola each week.  A bola is basically hitch hiking.  We yell Tamayo at a passing truck and if they stop we hop in the back.  This past Sunday was my first time successfully catching a bola and it was one of the most simple but funnest moments on my mission so far.  We just hoped into the back of this truck and he drove us into Tamayo.  It was so fun to have the wind blowing our hair and get to see the beautiful Domincan countryside passing us by.

We also got to attend a Zone Conference in Azua this week which was amazing.  A zone conference is when several  zones meet together for a conference with President & Hermana Nuckols.  It was great to see some missionaries from other zones, including Hermana Larson who is also serving in the South in San Juan.  The conference was an awesome learning experience and it was great to hear advice and instruction from our mission leaders about how to be better missionaries.  The focus of the mission this month is helping people keep commitments.  As part of teaching, we invite our people to do certain things to increase their faith, like pray or read or attend church.  In the conference, we talk about how essential these commitments are to helping people come unto Christ.  Its so simple but powerful.  In order to truly come unto Christ, we must make changes in our lives and really actively seek after the Spirit in our lives.  It was so nice to attend this conference and learn so much.

Also on our way home from the conference, I had a really cool experience.  So in order to travel from city to city, we take a bus called a gwagwa.  Its basically just these people who have large vans and drive people from city to city.  So we got onto a gwagwa in order to go back to Vicente Noble.  The gwagwa was really full so we all ended up sitting separately from one another because there was no room.  As soon as the missionaries in my district sat down, they immediately started contacting the person next to them.  They started a conversation on get to know them and introduced themselves as missionaries for the church.  It was such a cool and funny missionary moment to see how naturally all these missionaries just immediately started to contact these people.  I ended up finding the courage to talk to the girl next to me as well, which was nerve wracking because I had to carry out the whole conversation in Spanish by myself. She was a sweet 20 year old who lives our near Tamayo and is going to school is be a history teacher. Even though I was nervous, I was able to talk to this sweet Dominican woman and get to know her.  It was such a sweet opportunity to speak the language and get to know another awesome person who live here in the DR.

While my experience with the language is still small, I know the Lord provides opporunities for me to practice and become more comfortable as a missionary.  The longer I'm here, the more I want to learn and be better at using Spanish.  With time, I will  finally be able to speak and get to know these people like I really want to.  And then I can be better at really serving them and helping them learn of Christ's love for them.

I hope you all have a great week!

CON AMOR,

Hermana Graham

Another Week in Vicente Noble!!

Hola mi familia y amigos!

Espero que ustedes tuiveron una semana maravillosa!  Espero que tendran salud y felicidad esta semana y gracias por TODO!!!

Haha I know that is mostly gramatically incorrect but I continue trying.  This past week in Vicente Noble has been great.  It's crazy to think that I've already been here 3 weeks.  At the same time, I can't believe its only been 3 weeks!!  Time out here on the mission is so interesting.

So this past week, we really just worked a lot.  I am learning so much each day about how to be diligent and really apply myself with Spanish and teaching.  Hermana Johnson is such a good teacher and example and trainer.  It's great to be able to learn from her and also really serve the people here.

This week we found a lot of new people.  It was also crazy because most of our days did not go as planned.  We plan citas and people to visit, but we had serveral days when people werent home or time just went crazy.  We used our Plans B, C, D etc.  We found a lot of people but also had many disappointments when we couldn't teach people we had prepared for.  I learned a lot about how to just keep working and trust in the Lord.  Sometimes things dont go as planned because the Lord needs us somewhere else.  This was especially true one morning this week.  Hma Johnson and I planned a powerful lesson for a menos activa.  Her husband used to be the President of our branch, but they are both now inactive.  We planned to talk to her about eternal life, and about how its really a choice.  We can choose now to do the things necessary to be able to return and live with Heavnely Father after this life.  We were so ready and excited to share, and then she wasn't home.  Somewhat disappointed, we went to go see if someone else was home who lives across town.  On our way over, we were contacting and found a woman.  She had been taught by some missionaries before.  As we spoke a little about our purpose and Christ, the topic of eternal life came up.  We had a great conversation about eternal life and about how everything Christ did in his life on Earth was so that we could obtain eternal life.  We left in good spirits and I realized that had we not prepared that morning for our menos actvia, but for this woman.  It was such a sweet and awesome moment and opportunity to be led by the Spirit.

OKay I've run out of time again.  I'm so sorry!!

But life here in the DR is awesome and it's AMAZING to be able to serve the Lord here.  I love every moment!

I hope you're all well.  Have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Graham

Week 8!! Metas y Fechas y Getting to know Vicente Noble!

Hola mi Familia y Amigas!!

I hope you're all having a fantastic week and that life is good!

So first off, sorry for the quick and short email last week! We are still kind of trying to get a hold of this emailing thing and we keep running out of time. There are only so many places with internet access and they keep being closed!  Anyway it's all good and I´m excited to tell you all a bit more about my time here in the field and about my area and the people!!

Sooo, this is now my second week here in Vicente Nobles, which is a small pueblo that is out west from the Capitol.  It's typical campo and it has so many little quirks and things that make life here so funny and awesome.  Domincans are so funny and sweet and it's been great being able to see and experience life here.  Life is simple and awesome and I love being able to get to know these sweet people and teach them more about Christ!!

My companion is Hermana Johnson who has been serving here her whole mission so far.  We share an apartment with Hermanas Walter  and Wheatley.  Hermana Walter is from Saint Lucia and is 23.  Hermana Wheatley is from Arizona and is 26. They are all so funny and are great missionaries and examples.  We have a great time in the apartment talking about our days and cooking food.  I am already obsessed with fritos, which are fried platanos chips.  They are insane and we eat them too often.  It's a problem. :) Our apartment is really nice compared to a lot of homes in this area.  But our apartment has been kind of falling apart since I've been here which has made for some great experiences.  Since I've been here, our generator has been broken so we use flashlights ever morning to get ready and shower and all that.  The light works in the night time so we are good then, but mornings consist of having devotional with small flashlights and strolling around in the dark.  Our water also wasn't working for about 2 days so we had no running water!  It was a struggle but we finally got it fixed and it's great again.  The water is always ice cold so showering is sometimes painful but I've already gotten used to it so it's great!

The days here consist of studying and planning in the morning, then leaving to teach a few lessons. We come back to the apartment to eat lunch and prep more and then we leave to teach and find people from 2-8.  We are usually pretty busy with lessons but we also have days when our citas (appointments) fall through so we go contacting instead.  Everyone is so nice and willing to listen, even if they have different beliefs or go to other churches.  One day we were working really hard to get 30 contacts, which is a lot! We had this goal so we could meet our goal for the week.  It was amazing how much success we had at talking to people and sharing when we were really trying to find people! We ended up with 33 that days which was so amazing and definitely a blessing! I know Heavenly Father helped us to meet our goal and also find people who were willing to listen!

Anyway I'm just learning so much and I get more comfortable with the work and Spanish and these people every day. It's amazing how small lessons here and there can have a great impact on these people´s lives.  The Spirit is so sweet and subtle but I know its guiding us in everything we do.  With diligence and hard work, we are able to help the people here! I love having this opportunity to serve and lose myself, really thinking of others and how we can help me.  It's such a blessing and I'm learning so much about the gospel and how to teach it each day!

OKay last second AMAZING things!!

1.  We had a lesson with a menos activo about being more active and also temples.  He agreed to set a date for when he wanted to be worthy to go to the temple!  It was so amazing and he really has a desire to go to the temple

2.  I got to ask an investigator to be baptized this week and he said yes!! He has a fecha (date) and it was such a powerful moment.  Now we get to help him be prepared for this amazing convenant.  I know the Lord has prepared people for our message and that we can help them draw closer to Christ!

3. Lastly, ELDER HOLLAND is coming to our mission!!! On March 12.  I am already hyperventilating and can´t even wait! SO EXCITED! Plus my companion is going to be the chorister so I think we´ll sit near the front.  SCORE!!

Okay thats it for this week! I'm make sure to talk more about Dominicans and some awesome local quirks next week.

I love you all and think about you often.  Thank you so much!!

Con MUCHO MUCHO AMOR,

Hermana Graham

  

EL CAMPO! Week 6?

Hola Amigas y Familia!!

I'm sorry but this week's email is going to be a bit short. I have run out of time!!

Anyway, WEEK ONE IN THE FIELD!!

Last Tuesday I left the CCM early in the morning and transitioned into the field. The other missionaries serving in the West and I left and joined our mission President and his wife, the Nuckols, at a chapel and had a morning of training. They gave us a orientation and then we met our new companions and were assigned our area! I was beyond sad to have to say goodbye to Hermana Larson (who is seriously an angel and has helped me more than I ever thought possible) but I now have the awesome opportunity to be with Hermana Johnson. She is my trainer for the next 12 weeks. Here in the mission, we refer to her as my mom, because she is my trainer. She is from Thousand Oaks in CA and is super great. She has been serving here in our area for her whole mssion so far, because she was trained here too! So my area is Vicente Nobles. Its in EL CAMPO, or also refered to as the south. Basically here we categorize areas as either in the Capital (aka in the city, Santo Domingo) or El Campo which is everything West. I'm in a small town that is surrounded by trees and farmland and its a very humble place. Many people's homes have concrete or dirt floor. Its been raining so there's mud all over the place. There are small comidos which are kind of like corner stores and everyone drives through the streets on their Motos (aka motorcycles or scooter because very few people have cars). The people here are so humble and its been great to learn more of the Domincan culture.

 The first week was hard to transition. As much as the CCM prepared me, the work out here is defintely different. We share short and simple messages with scriptures. This town also has a branch as opposed to a ward, which just means that there's a smaller congregation size. We are focusing a lot on menos activos, or less actives who have stopped coming to church. While we might not have many baptisms, I know that this work is just as sacred and special. Helping these people feel the Spirit once more and remember the truths of the Restored Gospel is amazing. I am just learning so much and it's great here!

Okay I'm sorry but thats all the time I have today! I'm on a computer in our capilla (church building) and I'm out of time! Anyway I love you all so much and thank you for your continued emails and prayers!

I'm truly overjoyed to be here in this country and to have the opportunity to serve the Lord!

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Con mucho mucho amor,

Hermana Graham