Happy Birthday favorite Mission Girl in the whole wide WORLD!!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Lindsay... we love you!!!

The Latest

Well this has been an interesting week full of lots of changes…
Monday: So no preparation day today sorry to all of you who waited to talk to me online… we are going to the temple tomorrow so that was switched around. Anyway Sister Sawyer & Sister Gibbons were here today because of exchanges it was so fun we were really busy which I love. I was actually able to go tracting today YEAH!!! I know that is weird but I missed it. Anyway we found a new investigator which was cool. We had an awesome lesson with Wendy and her family they are really doing great and Wendy is beginning to see her prayers answered.
Tuesday: Oh the Temple!!! I really love being able to go to the temple it was so beautiful and I always learn so much. We had a busy day because the temple is about an hour away from our house. So we left really early and ended up getting there an hour early, it was cool because we had the chance to do a few initiatories (spelling???) before our session. It was amazing!!! We had a lesson with Bronwynn that night it went ok.
Wednesday: Today was pretty typical for us went to a meeting which was kind of weird… anyway then we didn’t really do much. That night we had one appointment this is pretty much how it has been for a while. Things are dragging but I am trying to be positive and have faith!! Which is good most days
Thursday: Today we had a sister study with our zone leaders it was awful…. I have so much to work on and it is just frustrating I feel like I am regressing, then we had a meeting with Sister Meng she is our RS President I really love her she is so fun and cute. She is from Las Vegas Painted Desert Ward and I went to school with her son. So crazy anyway she loves me in fact she is planning my marriage to her son which is funny. He is pretty cute… I guess you never know. We had a great lesson with Wendy it is crazy how much she has progressed in such a short time. She was telling us today that she wants to serve a mission one day when her kids are older, how cool is that!!! We had a good member lesson today it was nice to encourage the members. Our mission president called today and Sister Jones is going home Saturday morning. Anyway I am also sad to see her go she is a nice girl. I wonder who they will send here to replace her…We saw Patti Black she is so sweet. I love her to pieces. It was her Birthday today. I just love to see how the gospel has blessed her life. She is the sweetest lady!!
Friday: Today was like a farewell party for Sister Jones. We didn’t get too much work done…. But we did have two great lessons with Camille and Wendy I love love love being a missionary there is nothing in the world like seeing the happiness that can be brought in to lives. It is amazing!
Saturday: So my Sister Sawyer came back to me!!!! I am so excited it is such a blessing to be with her here we worked so hard today, tracted, had appointments, studied together. It was the best day in a long time. When we came home I was tired but had such satisfaction in knowing we were able to do the Lord’s work!!!

Weekly letter home

Hello Hello My Friends & Family!!!

Monday:
Well this day was pretty much the calm before the storm… we are so blessed we have seen an insane amount of miracles. We have found so many people to teach it is very exciting but intimidating and overwhelming as well. When you teach people the most important thing is to keep them progressing in order. To do that we like to set a baptismal date for them to work towards; so my companion and I have decided to help each of our investigators to do this, have faith it could happen!! I know that the Lord would prepare their hearts but I wanted to do everything in my power to be able to help them be ready. I prayed for a long time trying to discover what I could do more, I felt an answer to my prayers in my mind "Be Obedient" and so I was determined to do everything with even more exactness. You know me and rules but that is especially on the mission how the Lord blesses us, so I determined to do so.
Tuesday:
Tuesday we met with Cindy Tatchell and her family her grandson is 9 and we have been teaching him. We taught him a lesson and asked him if he wanted to be baptized he was so excited as well as the whole family. We set a date for June 11th, this will be such a blessing to his whole family. Cindy is doing great and they have all been coming back to church together!! Then directly after that we met our new investigator Camille Dragness she just came to church on Sunday and asked to meet with us she has two little girls and is married to an inactive member. We met with her and her husband, it was a great lesson. The spirit was there she wants very much to be baptized!!! She set a date for June 18th. This day was so amazing. I feel so humbled as I see the Lord’s hand in everything we do!!
Wednesday:
We had received a referral for a couple on Sunday and so we called and set up an appointment to give them a church tour on Wednesday. They were so sweet and have a strong desire to learn. The wife is from Thailand and she is very nice. We taught them the message of the restoration as we showed them around the church. It was so amazing the spirit was there and we committed them to be baptized as well. They are working towards July 25th!!! They were so nice unfortunately we found out they live in another wards boundaries... so the Elders there will be teaching them. I still was very happy to meet with them even if only briefly. The Elders were of course very excited when we called and let them know they had new investigators who were ready to be baptized.
Thursday:
We met with Clifton Ewell he is on date for July 18th and his family. My heart goes out to her as she does what she can to keep her family together. It is nice to teach in their home because it brings in the spirit and everyone can benefit from the lessons.
We also met with Patti Black we have been meeting with her all week actually. She is so amazing her testimony is so strong. I really love her we talked about how she can go through the temple in a year. She asked if I would come back and go with her!!! I was so happy. I can’t imagine a happier day than that; to be able to see her all in white at the temple. This gospel is so amazing... baptism is just the gate and so much more lies in store for all those we teach!
Friday
Today we meet with Wendy and her four children. The lesson was so amazing and when we asked the family to be baptized they said yes!!! I can’t explain the joy that I feel. I have seen miracles everyday this week it is the best experience in the world!!!
Saturday
Well today was interesting, the highlight was our visit to Brother Messenger, he is very old and very strange. The Bishop asked us to visit and share a message with him. Our lesson was very interesting, there was a parrot making some awful bird noise constantly the whole lesson. It was crazy and we brought a 16 year old girl from the ward with us.
Sunday
What a beautiful day, we had such a great turn out for church. We have so many investigators we have to get a lot of help from the ward to get everyone to class and to have someone to sit with!! What a great problem to have! Patti’s baptism was amazing. I wish you could all meet her to understand why I love her so much. You can’t help but love her; she has such a sweet spirit! The baptism was well attended by ward members and many of her family who are not members. I know that she will be a great example to them and I am so happy to have been able to see the change the gospel brought to her life. Wendy and her family also attended the baptism which was wonderful. They are a great family and I am so excited for them. My heart is so so so so so so full!!!
On the way home on Sunday I began to look ahead to the things we need to teach to these wonderful investigators that the Lord has put in our path and I began to feel inadequate. How can I teach them? I am so new and although I am giving everything I have sometimes I feel like I am not up to the task. I was talking to Elder Jenkins my District Leader about all this and he said I just need to trust God. I do trust God and I will work hard and do all that he asks me to do. I know I can't do this but He can. I felt peace last night as I prayed about the coming weeks of teaching. I know that the spirit is what teaches, not me so it is all right if I am new because the spirit has ample experience!!

I love you all,
Sister Graf

Yeah for missionary letters!!!

This has been the most wonderful week, I know this is a running theme for me but it is true this was a really great week!!
June 15th – June 21st
Monday & Most of Tuesday you got last week…
Tuesday: We had a great lesson with Paul and Bronwynn they both have a long way to come but that is what the gospel is all about change and the joy it brings to our lives. Paul is willing to go on a church tour this week which is a big step in the right direction. We did find out he has a huge problem he struggles with, which is a huge barrier, but the Lord can overcome anything!!
Wednesday: Things are so busy it stresses me out… Sister Jones doesn’t know what is going on here yet which means I have to remember everything and it can be a lot but luckily the Lord is with me. So somehow it all gets done!! We went over to the Ewell’s, we have been doing service for them, and tonight it all paid off we were able to teach there 9 year old son who has not been baptized. Clifton has been waiting for his Dad to be worthy to do the baptism. Unfortunately this may never be the case. We talked to the mom and then taught Clifton. We set a date and he is excited his Grandpa will probably end up baptizing him. He is a great kid and the whole family is really enjoying the lessons. Which is good!!
Thursday: Busy again we visited 2 less actives and one of our Recent Converts and then had two lessons with investigators. I love the people here and teaching them and that is so important. I just keep reminding myself of that! Wendy and her 4 kids, and also Tyler the grandson of Cindy, I told you about them last week... the 6 new investigators we found in one hour. Anyway they are doing so well. They love learning and being involved with the church it is so amazing to teach them. I love to see people get excited about the gospel. We have a wonderful ward that is so helpful and welcomes everyone in!! It helps so much. It is such a blessing to be here. Patti Black is also doing great... every time we teach her, her testimony grows. She is wonderful, I wish you could meet her she is the sweetest lady!! Friday: We had a great day. We had the church tour with Paul. It went well he is still hesitant but he felt the spirit and committed to pray definitely a step in the right direction. That is great!! We taught Wendy and the kids, they are so amazing. I am so excited for their family!!!
Saturday: We had an appointment with Patti and it was great she was nervous about her baptism being so soon. The lesson was awesome, spirit awesome, and at the close she prayed and it was the sweetest prayer there is nothing in the world like the prayer of an investigator. It is so simple and from the heart. She thanked God for us which was nice but then she said she was so excited to be baptized. It was so so so cool!!! I love this gospel and she is so ready now!!
Sunday: I don’t know if I have room for all the blessings I have been receiving from the Lord. Sunday another amazing day!! We had 7 investigators at church, wonderful!! I can’t express to you how much of a miracle this is.

Letter

June 1st – June 7th
Monday: We had so much fun today. The Elders in Lake Tapps had us all come over to a members home which is right on the lake we bbq and had tons of fun!! Also we had some good lessons and for our dinner went to the Birches and ate the most delicious Indian tacos YUMMY fry bread! Good day!
Tuesday: Today was good we had a great lesson with Dave Turley taught him about prophets. We showed this clip from this video Special Witness’s of Christ. You showed President Monson at the time it was Gordon B Hinkley was prophet but anyway we showed this part by Pres Monson he spoke about the Book of Mormon which was really good. Then we watched a clip with President Hinkley the spirit was so strong he testified of Christ and it was amazing!! We are still trying to get him to commit to baptism he says he will be baptized but he is not sure when. It is frustrating but we are making progress. He asked how many lessons we have I told him at least one a week until you get baptized. He said I hope you are creative… does he know me at all I am VERY creative.
Wednesday: Today was so busy we had a million lessons not really but it felt super busy… we taught Jamie we found her tracting last week and it was cool we taught the restoration and she really felt the spirit we are going back next week. The only challenge with her is that well she is living with her boyfriend who is her baby’s daddy and we can fix that but she doesn’t know about coming to church on Sunday. She goes to church with the boyfriends Grandma and she feels really obligated because they gave her a lot of help with the baby. Anyway we will see. SO we taught this really cool object lesson where you try to fit an egg into a plastic bottle, which is heaven, but you have to do all these steps take off the shell, baptize it, etc it still doesn’t fit until baptism of fire you light the rubbing alcohol in the bottle on fire and then you put the egg on top and it gets sucked down… it is pretty cool but very dangerous. My companion is terrified of fire so I am always in charge of the demonstration so in front of all these kids I totally burnt my hand, the rubbing alcohol was a little too much anyway I spent the rest of the lesson with my hand in the bowl of water we had used as the eggs baptismal font. Pretty funny oh know wait till I tell you what happened at our next lesson. That night when we showed the object lesson to Bronwyn her roommate/ baby’s daddy came in for the lesson. We taught him which is cool we are trying to get him to church you never know… anyway same object lesson except I forgot to tell you in one step we color black on the egg then peel away the shell to represent repentance. SO one of our eggs sins was stealing a candy bar… anyway when we lit the fire it sucked the egg in but sliced off about half of it. We all laughed so hard!!! Paul said “There goes that candy bar she stole” anyway it was hilarious. Who knew getting into heaven would be so violent!! But amidst all that, somehow we felt the spirit.
Thursday: We helped the Ewell’s move. We had a great lesson with Brandon his baptism is Saturday we are so excited for him and we showed the egg demo which exploded. We might have to retire this trick it is pretty dangerous. Went and taught a recent convert who is taking temple prep it was going great and she is super excited. Friday: Had some great member lessons they have referrals for us this is great!!! It is nice to see some results from working with the members. It was a good day not much else…
Saturday: We helped the Ewell’s move all morning it was really crazy and a lot of work. But it is always nice to see the ward unite behind someone. We had a lesson with the older man it was super funny he is the father of a member of the ward. The other day we set up an appointment. We asked if we could come and share a message but when we came today we asked to pray and he said no I don’t ever talk about religion… we are missionaries that is what we do! Anyway it was weird we tried to get around it unsuccessfully and he ended up just talking about his motor home. The weird thing is the member his daughter didn’t warn us at all and she knew… how weird. Saturday night was Brandon’s baptism it was so awesome the spirit was so strong and he was just beaming there was a good amount of support there which is always good. Dave Turley came to the baptism which was cool he really felt the spirit and we are hoping this will be the key to helping him progress!!!
Sunday: Today was crazy we had a long ward meeting and then tried to get a less active family with a 9 year old son to church. I don’t think they liked us coming over but the 9 year old came to church so that is good. To bad we need his Dad there too since he is the one holding up the baptism. We had a lot of people at church which is great but stressful there is only two of us, it is hard to be everywhere at once and make everyone feel welcome. Brandon bore his testimony it was amazing I am so happy for him. His family was supposed to come but didn’t, I worry about him. I hope the ward takes good care of him he has no support otherwise. We have a good ward so it should be good.
Monday: Well I woke up and came here. Write more next week.
Love,Sister Graf

Yeah PICTURES!!! :0)

Yummy coconut cupcakes...


Cute missionary!

Beautiful Temple grounds...

Linz with her last companion (2nd in the field)!

At the beautiful Temple!

Lindsay and her new companion!

Tracting in the rain!

Another Update from the Pavement Pounder

May 5th 2009 – May 11th 2009

Ok so here is the update… some of this will not be news to my family because I just spoke with you yesterday for Mothers Day. Which was awesome!! It was weird though because it didn’t even seem like it had been very long since I talked to you. Anyway maybe Christmas will be a longer stretch… So here is what I have been up to:

Tuesday:
We met with our Ward Mission Leader and he is really great. He has lots of spread sheets and information for us. He holds weekly meetings and they are serious well they actually just meet the normal protocol but this is the first time I have seen the plan followed  Each week someone from the RS presidency and Elder Quorum is there. Which is really helpful. Anyway he has every member of the ward taking a 3 Sunday missionary training class. And I mean every ward member he has the Stake helping cover classes so everyone will be able to attend. Pretty cool. So we have a lot of people in the teaching pool here which is awesome. I think we will be busy, I love busy

Wednesday:
We had Zone Meeting today seems like we have a great Zone everyone is super friendly and nice which is different then my last Zone. We have so much to do here but it is very frustrating because we don’t know anyone or know where anyone lives. Luckily I have Trent’s GPS which has been saving my life. But even with it things are challenging we are trying to get maps and figure out where everyone lives so we can use time and miles more effectively. Although there is a lot to do it is very frustrating and slow to get starting because we just don’t know where to start and how to get a hold of people

Thursday:
Well my new area is very interesting…. There are a lot of trailers and it is pretty scary. There are some nice homes but most of the neighborhoods are trailer parks. The Elders left a big note explaining where we should not go after dark. It is about half our area anyway we were tracting today and met this guy it was so interesting he believes almost everything we do preexistence, modern day prophet, heirs with Christ. All of that but he belongs to another church. It was complete news to me that anyone believed that… other then our church. But they have a sketchy story as far as how the authority was given to them. Anyway he came to the church, we do church tours as a tracting approach and teach the first lesson, so anyway he had this map of the biblical history of the world that stretched across the whole gym floor. It was really intense!!! He showed it to us and then told me how Ham descendant of Noah, was the one to construct the first pyramid and that it is actually a altar to God. Then he explained that before scripture prophets used to read the stars and that the Sphinx is Virgo, which represents Christ birth thru Mary and the Lion tail is Leo, which represents second coming. Now all of this new information was really interesting to me who would have thought??? Not me so needless to say he is not getting baptized but I did think the whole thing was pretty entertaining

Friday:
Well we have met a few investigators now… Brandon is 17 and is on date for baptism May 16th. We met him briefly Wednesday at the church and he had a huge hickey on his neck. As we prepared for our first lesson with him we read his teaching record turns out the Elders generously left the Law of Chastity and Word of wisdom for us to teach. I know it was really nice of them. So my companion is really worried about this because she doesn’t like to teach the Law of Chastity it is pretty awkward. So we decide to read from the youth pamphlet and I tell her I will talk about the awkward parts…. Anyway in the lesson we are all reading along and it comes to her turn I hadn’t looked ahead but the next paragraph had all of the details of the dos and don’ts needless to say she turned a little red. But she pushed thru. I felt so bad but it was kind of funny later. Turned out he was good in both of these and has committed to live these laws including abstaining from passionate kissing from now on!! He is really a great guy!


Saturday:
So today we decided because it was bright and sunny it would be safe to venture into the trailer parks what an adventure. Although one might think people who are a little less fortunate might be compelled to be humble and in turn would be more receptive you would be wrong. We ventured out with bright hopes but they were quickly dispelled. Almost everyone has a huge dog and a KEEP OUT sign. Somehow they thought we would read the sign and realize they meant us. We ventured past the fence at one house where we saw only a little dog and a woman out front. As soon as we entered 3 huge dogs came bounding around the corner and jumped on us. The largest a german shepard kept trying to bight me but don’t worry the Lord protected me the most interesting thing was this lady made no attempt to stop the attack. I was the only victim as my companion abandon me at the first sight of danger. Needless to say she also did not decide to be baptized. We also on the way back to the car came across a dead squirrel it had been dead for quite sometime and was in the later stages of decay. The strange thing was someone had spray painted it blue. Maybe it was some form of art…. My favorite thing about the people we came across was this, at the end of every door approach once they reject us we ask if we can do anything for them meaning service, but they always ask us to pray for people or for things like their bad knee. This is really funny to me… you don’t want to hear a message about Jesus Christ but you want us to pray for you????

Saturday:
I am feeling pretty exhausted. We are tracting a ton and trying to find people that we are suppose to be teaching. We got really lost because there was a new development not on our GPS or the map. On the map it was a huge forest but that was not true. It was pretty frustrating then after we found the people we had an appointment with they were not even home One cool thing did happen we went to a members house to call them on a mission we didn’t even get to there lesson. A friend of theirs Rusty was there fixing the computer. He seemed to be listening to what we were talking about and I felt prompted to engage him more in the conversation. Turned out he had lots of questions we ended up teaching the first lesson and he said he would come to church. It was so neat!!! He is a really smart guy and I am excited to teach him.

Sunday:
Rusty came to church and so did another investigator Dave Turley. Dave has been to church about 3 times and the first time he came he had already purchased a scripture quad. We are teaching him on Tuesday!! It is a little complicated because he lives outside of our mission. We are on the furthest edge south so it can be complicated sometimes. We are in the process of getting Stake approval because the fellowship is in our ward. Anyway we gave Rusty a manual for Gospel Principles he had read the lesson for Sunday as well as 3 other chapters he is really on fire and we are so excited to teach him more. It is nice to see the work finally starting to progress. There is always downs as well, Brandon didn’t come to church when we talked to him later he said he was not ready to be baptized but still wants to meet. It is kind of the dance of the mission two steps forward two steps back. But the work does move forward. I love love being a missionary and am excited for this new area.

Love always,
Sister Graf

Transfered
To Puywalup

Latest from Lindsay

Here is the update:> >
What a crazy week. Well first of all I am sorry I did not send any letters last week. Prep day was crazy because we went to the temple and then the rest of the week I would try to write during break and at night but it was very unsuccessful... anyway so all of the sudden it was Sunday and now I will just have to send you the news for two weeks at once! So let me see what happened this last week:> >
Tuesday:> We went to the temple it was amazing I just love going to the temple and wish I could go more often. It is hard because even though we have one mission rules are such that we can only go once a quarter. It reminded me of a few talks during conference basically if you have one near by go. Not only are you doing work for others but there is so much peace there. I had such a neat experience the spirit was so strong and in the celestial room I was able to pray for each of our investigators and I was given such direct answers as to how we could help them and to prepare myself for teaching them as individuals. I also prayed to see how to improve the work. What an amazing experience. The day was beautiful and sunny and we took lots of pictures on the grounds it was wonderful.
Wednesday:> Today was good we are busy trying to find new investigators and working with the few we have. We met with Sarah she is so wonderful and has such enthusiasm for the gospel. Her mom is also wonderful and I am so glad she is coming back to church. We met with Lee his wife is very active and he has been to church a lot. We spoke with him and had an awesome lesson following the Spirit as directed in the temple :) This was amazing, he is such a great guy and he committed to Baptism May 9th. We are so happy it was amazing you could just see it in his eyes that he was feeling the spirit. I love being a missionary there is nothing in the world like the feeling you get from seeing people change there lives and find that happiness. Thursday:> We had District Meeting it was fun we made goals. Sister Bush and I made a goal of 4 baptisms for May so pray for us. We have to on date and we want to find a family really bad so your prayers will help a lot. We also did this fun exercise where we did the first lesson popcorn style so at any second someone else would take over teaching. It was fun and hard to do but I think that is the point. We met with a member Brother Neubold he gave us about 4 referrals which is amazing. There is this family Brady and John how we met them is cool. We were trying to find Brother Neubold’s house last week and they answered the door they are renting the place! It was amazing they were so nice invited us in and were very open they have seen the example of the Neubold family and invited us to come back :) this was awesome. Our family we have been praying for. They have two little kids and one on the way. Both Sister Bush and I felt something we really feel they will be open to the message. Friday: > We made the most delicious coconut cupcakes on break today. I am really impressed I don’t really bake but these are insanely good we have been passing them out and people love them I should open a bakery :) just kidding but they are good. Anyway everything is great with our other investigators to help Lee quit chewing we covered his front door with inspiring post it notes!! And gum! He is great and I know he can do it we are praying so hard and just hope that he is too!
Saturday:> This was a busy day we had a lot of things going on with the ward they asked us to help out with which was fun it is good to become closer with them. We found out that Brandy and John our awesome family they are still great but Brandy is having complications with the baby and we can’t meet again until after May 22 when the baby is born that is like ten years for missionaries :( we are sad but still hopeful. We will be praying and asking members to get involved to keep up the relationship. Just another loop on that roller coaster of a mission. We went to visit some elderly widows in the ward our Bishop asked us to visit. It was so amazing they are so sweet and wonderful to talk to and learn from their life experience. Also they lit up when we were there and I know they appreciated the visit.
Sunday:> Great Day!!! Church was awesome I really need that time to be spiritually fed you give so much out during the week it is amazing to be able to recharge. Sarah and her mom were late to church I almost had a heart attack again it is so hard on me you invest so much in them. Anyway Lee was not at church we talked to his wife and it was heartbreaking he has started chewing again and she expressed how hard it is for her to even get her hopes up she said she doesn’t believe anymore we are really praying and trying to figure out how to help Lee have more faith... any ideas??? Sunday our ward mission leader was released we are so sad we loved Brother White so much and he was awesome. Oh well that is how it goes I guess. Our new one will be great. Justin was baptized the service was so beautiful and you could just see the change in his countenance. The spirit was so strong and I was so happy to be a part of it. In D&C 18:50 it talks about bringing one soul and how much joy it brings. That is so true!!! What a great day. I can’t describe how happy it makes me inspite of all the difficulty getting there.
Monday:> Today was great went for a long run around the lake and it was beautiful and felt great. Write more next week....

Pics with the companions

Sister Bush my new comp and I had a member give us presents from the ward that she forgot about from Christmas. We had the tree up with Easter eggs so we had an impromptu Christmas on Wednesday night.
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Lindsay and Sister Lauchner cleaning the car!

The news

Ok so this week has been pretty crazy! So get excited for the update...

Monday: So we didn’t end up hiking because the place we wanted to go is out of our area. Those mission rules get you every time!! Anyway we did go for a nice walk around Lake Wilderness it was very beautiful, we loved it!! Then we went to dinner and then exchanges. I think I mentioned before my companion is the training sister so I do these about once a week.... anyway I went to Renton with Sister Jones she is from Bountiful UT and is very nice. She has a degree in Physics which is pretty cool. We visited some families tonight and asked them to invite someone to have us teach. Like L. Tom Perry talked about in Conference the best finders are you guys... so I hope you all are doing your part to help the work along. Anyway good day

Tuesday: We went tracting, not fun.... this is my least favorite thing to do but I do it anyway!! The weather was really beautiful so that was a plus!! We taught this great guy later that night, James, he is about 19 and having a really hard time the lesson went great and he is on date for baptism. My favorite part was his prayer he was so sweet and simple. It was amazing how much faith you could feel in his words. Then the surprise call came.... unexpected Transfer so weird my trainer Sister Laucher was transfered and Sister Bush came here. This was a little crazy for me I feel like I was just getting comfortable with her and so it was hard to have this happen.

Wednesday: Sister Lauchner and I went to zone conference which was fun and I saw my good friend Elder Hughes from the MTC. He is so cool we had so much fun. President Moffat talked a lot about how we need to focus on having the members find our referrals for us; these referrals are priceless. So we now can only teach members and go to their homes if we extend a commitment to them. It is pretty cool. Anyway I am excited to try it out. So after Zone Conference my new companion came to the house her name is Sister Bush she is so great very focused on the work. This is her first time training. We are doing great together, we laugh a lot, and work a lot... it is pretty great. She is from California and is tiny. Super cute and fun!

Thursday: First day with Sister Bush, it is so funny because neither of us knows where anything is or really who anyone is, we had some great lessons. We did service today which was fun until we lost our cell phone... well Sister Bush lost it anyway. We looked for hours to no avail. The zone leaders had to get us a new one but we were uncontactable for about a day and a half :) we don’t need no cell phone!!! Dan Jones didn’t have one or Samuel Smith or the apostle Paul... so we are good :) In our lessons I especially loved meeting with Sister Baise she is so wonderful. She is the foster parent for 7 kids and just has so much love. She is having a hard time and we were able to share an inspiring Easter message got to love Easter!! She is amazing I really admire her!! Anyway we are working really hard to get 2 baptisms this month to reach our mission and companion goal. We have Sara and will put her on date this weekend. YEAH!!! And Justin is back on date. It is so amazing how the Lord works miracles!!!

Friday: This was a long day and I was so tired.... basically I have to take a nap everyday now. I feel like a senior citizen but it is true!! I haven’t taken one all week because of the crazy changes and stuff and I am feeling it (sorry I always change tenses it confuses me to write these update) Anyway we had a fun day taught these cute kids about Easter. Also taught some interesting people!!! Oh well it is all the Lord’s work :)

Saturday: Hard, we tried so hard all day to find anyone to talked to... all of our appointments canceled and we couldn’t find a soul home. We went to visit a former investigator she was really unfriendly to say the least. We couldn’t even find a member to talk to.... but then when we got back to the apartment and after all that it was awesome; we had calls from two investigators saying they would be at church. It was an awesome miracle, we were jumping around and dancing it was great!! Yeah the Lord is aware of us!!! Anyway Myfa our new investigator has come to church 2x and she has been reading the book of Mormon everyday; doesn’t get much better than that!!

Sunday: Went to two sacraments with investigators at both. Loved it, good Easter musical message. Then had dinner at a families home which was fun.... ok funny story my first week here these Elders told me everyday they pray for food very specifically it is really funny. Basically they ask for what they want and lo and behold the Lord provides it; I am serious. They said it works daily which is funny because we are only suppose to eat at members home's Sunday & Monday :) So last Monday I told Sister Lauchner I prayed that we'd have funeral potatoes on Easter.... and guess what we did! I guess this really works!! Oh we got faith, yes we do!! It was a busy day... talked to a lot of investigators it was very good!!!

Monday:So far went running this morning, then studied, and then here to the library. Oh one thing Jillian is having a girl, so I guess I really am psychic. I should get paid for this... right?!!
Love you All,
Sister Graf

The update...

Here is my update:
Oh I wanted to tell everyone that you can write me at dearelder.com they mail it and everything :) I am not sure how but you just pay the postage on there so it is just like sending an email! Then I get it in the mail... pretty cool!
The News:
I have decided to type this up from now on to avoid hand cramping sorry I know it is not very personal :( but I still love you all. This will also make it easier for my sister to post it on my BLOG!! Yeah! Anyway here is the news....
Monday:
For the rest of preparation day we got our haircut and went to Red Robin for lunch this ended up being a problem because we had a dinner appointment with the Gusten Family shortly afterward and I was so full it was crazy.... then we went to FHE with a member family and that is right they had a huge dessert for us too. I felt so sick and was ready to throw up! Then we stopped by the Bishops as we were leaving he said “Oh no we forgot to give you ice cream!!!” I was like THANK GOODNESS you forgot!!” We all laughed as I explained how full I was. So no more eating out on Mondays! It is a bad idea!!
Tuesday:
We had another new missionary meeting. These are pretty good but kind of boring we just sit all day and have training and the sitting all day part is what I don’t like. It was nice to see the Elders I knew in the MTC though. Hmmm what else we taught a less active... that was good and then Tuesday was over :(
Wednesday:
We had district meeting also not very fun... sorry is that bad it was April Fools Day!! Which is funny because the Zone Leaders told us that the Mission President decided we could not attend any of the conference sessions so we could tract and find more people. We really fell for it and everyone was really upset. Then they said April Fools!! It was so great... Oh yeah Happy Birthday Aunt Donna!!! Lets see then we had a few appointments and then I went to Federal Way to spend the night (my companion is the training Sister so once a week we exchange and this is kind of cool because now I will know all the other sisters)
Thursday:
So anyway I went with Sister Uria she is from Mongolia; pretty cool! She was really nice, a little hard to understand but considering she has only been speaking English for 6 months that is pretty good. We did a Zone Blitz in the morning so two hours of tracting. YEAH!! It was fun and this scary black guy yelled/swore at us pretty intense but I liked it. I feel like the real deal now!! It was more successful than Maple Valley, so that was good. We talked to one lady for a while and she agreed to have the Sisters come back; very good. She had a lot of tough questions ie: You believe Satan is Jesus’ brother... how do you explain that on the door step??? But it was cool and I need to study more!!! Then we exchanged back and taught some more lessons!!
Friday:
We did some normal missionary stuff, teaching, etc., and then we had a potluck with the ward this is a monthly thing that gives the members and opportunity to invite people to meet us. Two of our investigators came which was cool!! It went well and I hope we can have more come next time!
Saturday:
We had the most beautiful sunny weather all day today; I love it!!! Conference!!! So good my Uncle Wes was right it is the best to watch as a missionary!! We had to watch at the church so it wasn’t very comfortable or popular. Besides missionaries there were only about 6 members from the whole Stake there!! I loved all of the talks and we had an investigator come which was awesome!!! In between sessions we went to visit some people and we got a new investigator! I am so excited to teach her this week!! After the afternoon session we went to teach one of our investigators his sister was there and we were able to teach her too. It was so cool we taught the 2nd lesson the Plan of Salvation although impromptu it went really well!! Yeah this was the first time I have taught a formal lesson from Preach My Gospel. Up to this point we mostly just teach to needs!!
Sunday:
It was sunny again and even warmer :) We watched conference, oh man I loved it so much!!! I saw so many talks that helped with people we were teaching and I can not wait until it comes out in the ensign. I could not write my notes fast enough to catch all I wanted to. I love Elder Holland he is my favorite speaker and it was such an amazing experience!! We had awesome lessons today as well.
Monday:
Guess what it is sunny again today and we are going hiking :) it is so lucky that there is good weather on prep day!! Yeah I love being here and I hope you are all doing well. Thanks for your prayers and support they are felt!!!Love, ME

Letter 2

March 25th
Day 1
Well it's very cold and wet here. When we got off the plane the Mission President and his wife were there to greet us with the APS. I rode with the Pres. and his wife. After a long day of training I met my companion Sister Lauchner. She is really fun and out going. We set off and have been working ever since.
DAY 2
We had zone conference and tracted today... hard work!
Day 3
We taught a less active family and it was awesome! I am loving the people here. I love teaching! I think I am learning so much. I love to study but it really helps the learning process when I am able to teach.
Day 4
Today was also awesome! I got the cutest scarf from my sister Annica... I wear it all the time! I love getting mail. We taught this awesome family today. My heart is continually growing and learning to see people from Christ's perspective. I love the people so much... I didn't even know it was possible!
Day 5
Today was my best day yet! As a companionship we are trying to find new investigators. So pray for us. Then we had all these miracles. Saturday before we even left the house this family called and told us they had invited this lady to church and afterwards we could come and teach her; amazing! Then we found another woman interested and full of questions. She even invited us back to teach her whole family. Then we went to a baptism and another lady had brought a friend who was wanting lessons. It was pretty much the best day. After talking with that young woman I was totally blown away! :) I even asked Sister Lauchner if she'd paid the girl to be a golden investigator??? ;) It was a good day!
Day 6
Today was good. I love church and taking the Sacrament. An investigator came to church and had questions and might take the discussions. It was really good and I am excited. It was a hard day though because an investigator cancelled his baptism date... he just didn't feel ready yet. It was sad but we just have to be prayerful. Well, that is the update. I love being here... I just can't believe how much I love it! The church is true!!!

Mission President & his wife!

Yeah Pics... Life at the MTC

Our District at the Temple reading.

Me reading scriptures

Kaden, my nephew, dropping me off at the MTC

My companion Sister Grover & I.

Me shushing the class!

Me and the Sisters pointing to our missions.

Sister Wheelwright & I

The Sisters of our zone... Sister Grover, Me, Sister Peck, Sister Sionkovit, Sister Lee, & Sister Wheelwright.

Reading at the Temple!

Sister Lee, Sister Wheelwright, Sister Grover, & me in class.

Our District at the Temple! Elder Tobin, Elder Duncan, Elder Hughes, Elder Winger, Sister Lee, Sister Wheelwright, me, & Sister Grover!

Letter 1

Week 1
This letter is for everyone to get the general idea of what is going on. My hand hurts so bad I might have to be like Mitch and just photo my journal & send it home! :)
Day 1- I as a little sad when we parted ways, cried a few tears, but very soon I was okay. ( I haven't been homesick yet) I had 2 companions at first. My companion Sister Grover and Sister Wheelwright, who is with us till her comp shows up Saturday. She is sick. Sis Wheelwright and I have a ton in common and get along so easily. I love Sis Grover she is great and I am happy to get to know her. We are so busy and the Spirit is so strong. I had 2 letters when I got here. Thanks Mom & Donna!
Day 2-
I am tired and I can't sleep very well and have to wake up so early! We watched this awesome movie following some missionaries in the field, like real world but Spiritual. I am the Coordinating Sister like the RS for our district. Class and learning is great. Today I learned I need to increase my faith so I expect miracles. I am working on being humble. Sis Grover is homesick but we are working well together and I feel our love for each other growing.
Day 3-
We fasted as a companionship today. We really felt the Spirit and have become so unified. I study hard all the time because there is so much to learn. Sis Grover was sick and some Elders in our district gave her a blessing. I am so amazed! Awesome guys in my district. I have the 1st lesson down now , which feels good but now I'm working on teaching with the Spirit. Not reciting! I love Sis Wheelwright. We laughed a lot today & did lunges all over the residence hall! Ouch that hurt!
Day 4-
This was my hardest day yet and I don't feel like I have the time to be a good coordinating Sis. I have been praying... they say the Lord qualifies who he calls. I don't know. Also we learn a lot and I don't feel I have enough personal study time. This is hard but I can do it!
Day 5-
Everything was great today. I have the most mail (Thanks again!). Today we had our first appointment. It went great! Also I found out Dad's work is being done!! I am so happy, I know this is what he wanted. As we learn our teachers challenge us to pray about the things we teach i.e. Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon... This has been a great experience for me as I feel God's love for me as he testifies again of these things. This message of the restoration we share is so powerful!
Day 6-
Today went by so fast. We are learning so much and today we focused on the Spirit and using it to plan a lesson for specific people. Good stuff! Did service today which was nice and then choir which was amazing. Our director shared with us some insights about how we are literal offspring of our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. How they raised us which is how and why he knows us! The Spirit was so strong and man did I feel God's love for me!
Day 7-
Today is Pday and it flew by. I had no time to do anything. We went to the Temple, awesome! I learned like 5 new things. I love to be there and wish we went 2x's a week. Next times you might just get a few updates instead. The new missionaries came in today. It is weird to see them. It feels like we have been here forever and it has only been a week!
Love-
Sister Graf

Latest...

Here is the email I got from our favorite Sister Graf today... I think the major point of the message was TO WRITE HER! Then again I had to use the cliff notes to get that!

The MTC is soo awesome I love it here. There is so much to write and so little time. I will give you the quick run down. My teachers are great I have tons of oppurtunity to study and practice teaching whic is good I need it. I am so filled with the spirit we pray about 12 times a day. I am thru the first lesson and memorized my purpose and the first vision... pretty impresive. My companion is great we are working hard and I love her. Actually I really love all the girls in my district. I will share one quick spiritual experience as there is no time!! Last night I sung with the choir and it was awesome I can't tell you how strong the spirit was!! We sang the lillies of the field and the director taught us about how we are the literal offspring of our Heavenly Father and he knows us so well becuase he raised our Siprits of course I knew this but the spirit testified to me so trongly it was amazing. I know this church is true and I love this work. I am here because I love God and he loves his children and they need to know about the restoration. It is amazing!!

Love,
Sister Graf

MTC

We stopped at the Sister Missionary Mall on the way to the MTC to pick up the last few essentials for Linz and saw this cute little Sister Missionary Bear; I needed to get a pic of it it!

Bling-bling, it's official she has been tagged Sister Graf!

Lindsay with Mom... who was quite thrilled to have one of her three daughters follow in her footsteps and become a missionary. Hopefully The new Sister Graf doesn't have any harrowing brushes with 'almost' cases of Scirvy, (J/K)!

Future missionary Kaden with current missionary Lindsay

One big family... Marisa, Kaden, Mom (Donna) with Laila, Sister Graf, Mom (Mom), & Trent too!

Sister Graf with Stephenson's... Mom, Dad, & Trent

Practically Perfect in every way (accept cuteness!)

Here are the very plain but practical missionary shoes! Meant for comfort & durability, not style!