PICTURES-- DC Week 37!

DC Week 37!

Surprise!!

P-days are now on Mondays so you all have to hear from me twice this week ;) --I apologize.

Okay, I am on the lamest computer in this dinky little library with the slowest internet... and so, I just hope this little email can find its way through cyber space to you all! I have a few fun experiences I want to quickly share:

Several weeks ago, my companion and I received a call from Sister Cooke, inviting us to sing at an event which would take place at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia. The requested song was The Lord is My Shepherd. When we informed Sister Cooke that we already had a prepared number for that song (which we sang for a Night of Music and Inspiration at the VC back in the Spring), she said we were on! So the whole group got back together again!

Between practices on the car ride Sunday afternoon, we learned the story:

Sister Cooke had been contacted by an El Salvadorian man named Caesar (who is a recent convert in my companion’s old ward). Sister Clement was one of the missionaries who personally worked with him.  Well, he explained his desire to have a special musical number for a Veteran's group which would be gathering in Arlington to honor the 30 year anniversary of the Bairut Bombing in Lebanon. He was one of the 6 survivors out of over 200 men who were stationed there during the incident. The rest of them were killed. We knew little else except that Caesar insisted our presence there. We were asked to prepare two or three songs depending on how long the guest speaker took. In addition to the first, we chose I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord, and America the Beautiful. Needless to say, our speaker only took ten minutes so we ended up performing all three.

It was such a beautiful experience...To be able to stand there, on that sacred ground, as representatives of Christ in front of these hard military men...and watch them melt into tears as we sang our hearts out for God…and freedom. Everything went perfectly. (Better than planned, actually). The spirit was so strong...and we knew they felt it. Our Heavenly Father was looking out for His children that day. It just felt good to do something right, and to make Him proud. That’s really all you want as a missionary.

We finished. And the last note almost seemed to keep echoing into the hills around us. Like a dream or something… We returned to our seats and remained standing as everyone else joined us to show respect as they then played the taps for the deceased. As that trumpet began, this wave of emotion filled me. There I stood, with my hand over my (still rapidly beating) heart, and cried. Cried for those men who died. Cried for my Savior. Cried for the knowledge I have. Cried for those who still need it themselves… And suddenly I knew. I knew my purpose. I knew why I was sent here. I knew then more than ever the sacredness of my precious calling. I knew this gospel is true. And I knew I was ready to proclaim it to the world.

The program eventually came to a close, and we politely and professionally stood and shook the hand of almost everyone there, including the Ambassador of Lebanon. So many thank you’s. So many smiles. So many pictures. And yet…I still wonder how many lives were changed forever that day…The day that “The Sister Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” came to sing. Just to sing. But after all…isn’t the Song of the Heart a prayer unto God…? I know it certainly was for me that day. And each of us strongly felt, as we walked away from that sacred place that someone’s was. We may never know the ripple effects of the tiny, minute, seemingly insignificant things we do…but God does. He sees it all. He knows everything. And even if we don’t…is that ever a valid reason to hold back? Never. Oh, remember it.      

Family, I love you. More next Monday…

Hermana Graff

Mosiah 5:13 ~For how knoweth a man…?

PS—I was kissed by a Turkish man at the VC this week. That was an unexpected experience that I will never forget! Remind me when I’m home and I will give you the full story ;)

PPS—Our mission is now on Facebook. Yep it’s totally happening. And I'm going to need your help, okay? More details on that as they come. The Lord is really hastening His work…

Pictures:

1. After singing...

2. The Ambassador of Lebanon (2nd in from the left)

3. Sister Carcamo (Chile) and Nakatsuka (Japan)

4. The Big Guys.

5. Change is beautiful, isn't it?

PICTURES- DC Weeks 35-36!

DC Weeks 35-36!

Hey Everybody!

You'll all have to excuse Sister Graff. She's been mentally "absent" the last several weeks...and has been getting lazy with her emails home. Sorry. 

Well...not sure where to begin. 

I think I hit the "low" on my mission these last three months. It was hard. Just plain hard. So much has gone on that I simply can't begin to explain in a paragraph (or even twelve) through this dumb computer. So I won't try to. It's not worth my precious time on here, and besides it's not good to dwell on stuff of that nature anyway. 

I will say, however, that I needed every moment. Every struggle. Every person. Every rejection. It's changed me. I will never be the same missionary again. Every day...I evolve a little more. Now, which direction? That's up to me. That's up to each of us. We are constantly changing whether we consciously choose to or not. It is something inevitable and almost natural that occurs every moment of every day without us even realizing it. We learn new things, and go through new experiences all the time. More often than not, the things that occur to us...are uncontrollable. How we react, however...now that's something to think about, eh? 

"There are two ways of evolving: deliberately and accidentally. You can either decide who you want to become and deliberately work toward that end, or you can just go with the flow and become whatever life makes of you. In that event, you will become whatever the fickle circumstances and forces of life and society will make of you; whatever is currently considered to be popular or in; whatever is easiest. But, whatever you become accidentally it will not be nearly the full measure of our potential. You will become just someone, somewhere in the middle." ~Lawrence E. Corbridge   

The last two transfers...I made a lot of mistakes, and I wasted the Lord's time. I was "accidentally changed" you could say. But now, I know that I needed those lows...I needed those lows to see where I really want to be. The trick, however, is to have that vision. I needed something hard to make me see that I never want to be "that" missionary again. Never. I have already talked to the Lord about it, and it will be different from here on out...I will be different from here on out. 

And so...I guess you could say, that through my current decisions to learn from my experiences...and through setting wholesome, focused goals...I have been changed for the better. I have a new outlook and appreciation for missionary work that I lacked before. Now I have something to remember. Something to always remind me of why I am here. Why I am truly here. Because, let's get real...I could have never left any of you, if I didn't know the pure and true doctrines of this Gospel, and that although it would be a sacrifice, although it would be hard, it would be worth it. That other would be able to have the opportunity to have the same joy that we do. 

...And aren't we lucky?...

I don't have time for much more right now, expect to say that I love you!!

Sister Graff

2Ne 33:10-11

PS--We had transfers today. Sister Word went home, and I am now with Sister Clement from Mesa, Arizona! And it is going to be so good :) I promise. I just re-read my depressing email, and I swear I was not trying to get sympathy, or scare all of you or anything. Life can just be a roller-coaster sometimes...But you just have to learn to enjoy the ride! :D 

Pictures: 

1. Last temple trip.

2. Brookside Gardens

Hna Engman (Utah) y Carcamo (Chile)

3. Hna Chappell y Clement

4. I don't even know.

5. Art.

6. Noche de Musica despues de cantamos "Hazme en la Luz" (please excuse the grossness).

PICTURES- DC Week 34!

DC Week 34!

DC Week 34!

Well, I'm sure you all heard about the government shutdown. Lame. Good thing we don't watch the news at all 'cause I really don't want any part of it. We were going to head into the city today, but opted out considering the fact that we would probably end up sitting on a bench eating a hot dog from the nearest vendor the whole time. Who knows how long it will last. You would all probably know more than little ol' me anyway. Movin' on! :)

Thought for the week:

"Hope [...] comes from direct personal revelation, to which we are entitled if we are worthy. We also have the security of living in a time when a prophet who holds and exercises all of the keys of God’s kingdom is on the earth. Samuel Smiles wrote: ‘Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.’ … Hope sweetens the memory of experiences well loved. It tempers our troubles to our growth and our strength. It befriends us in dark hours, excites us in bright ones. It lends promise to the future and purpose to the past. It turns discouragement to determination.” 

James E. Faust: Hope, an Anchor of the Soul 

1999 October General Conference 

Think about the well-known verse in Ether 12:4 which discusses how this "hope" which cometh of faith maketh an anchor to our souls... If it's fair to assume that Christ is that anchor...what are the links in that chain...that ground us to Him?

Elder Ballard eloquently put it this way: 

"These links of your gospel anchor chain may seem elementary, but they are as important as the anchor of faith and testimony itself. Remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. We must take care every day to examine our own personal chain to anchor our souls to the gospel and see if we have any weak links that may make us vulnerable to the influence of the devil. [...] 

"Your personal chain that anchors your soul to the gospel can be as strong as you want to make it. Be grateful for the principle of repentance, which provides the way for us to strengthen any weak links in our chain. If you know that you are anchored to the Lord Jesus Christ, but still feel like life’s trials are more than you can handle, find peace and strength in the knowledge that each day you have done the best you can in honoring the Lord. Remember that strengthening your testimony is a lifelong process. Look to the Lord for strength. Work on one link at a time and strengthen each until you can feel anchored safely and securely to the gospel of Jesus Christ."

These thoughts stem from the workshop I gave last Friday for our training meeting in the Visitor Center with all the sisters and the senior couples. The theme was plucked from Ether 12:4. Classic stuff. Love it!

Anyway, I hope you are all excited for General Conference this weekend!! Examine the "weak links" in your lives... and go into Conference with this question or concern in mind. See if you don't get a response from your Heavenly Father. Remember: the more specific the question, the more specific the answer. 

I love you guys. Make it a good one.

Hermana Graff

Pictures:

1. Antique shopping!

2. ...

3. ...

4. ...

5. Say..."Queso!"