June 3, 2019
First things first, we got a baptism this week!
Jake was baptized Saturday morning and then confirmed
Sunday. The Spirit was super strong in both of those meetings! His confirmation
blessing was super spiritual and some powerful things were said. Jake was
brought to tears and gave Elder Jensen and I a BIG hug. After our baptism, President Tateoka took us
to lunch. We went to Red Robins and it was super fun. President has a great
Spirit about him and he is always uplifting. We talked about how it was really
random that the Lord needed me here in the YSA but he is grateful he listened
to the Spirit. Grand Prairie YSA has not seen a baptism since last July.
President said he has seen a huge blessing on the District with Elder Jensen
and I working together.
We talked a lot about Redmond, my first area and both Elder
Robinson (my trainee) and Elder Woodruff. They both are in Redmond right now so
I wonder if one of them will be my next companion.... President sometimes
spills transfer doctrine before transfers Haha. The rest of the week was spent
preparing for the baptism.
I did have an exchange with Elder Anderson, our zone leader.
We had an awesome day and talked to a lot of people. He has a really cool
story. He made a complete 180 change on his mission and now he is a ZL! We are
both very similar. We like the same music, played sports, and love blizzards
from Dairy Queen. Blizzards are
blessings. They are so good. If you are ever having a hard day, go get yourself
a blizzard.
This will be another busy week. Cory will be baptized on
Saturday night. Also, this is the last week of the transfer. Time went by fast.
I can't believe I've been here for almost a transfer already.
Spiritual thought: Alma 30:44
Context: Alma is talking with Korihor, a man who is trying
to denounce God.
44 But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will
ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony
of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are
laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the
earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea,
and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there
is a Supreme Creator.
God is real. He is aware of us. He loves us so much, He
created a beautiful planet for us to live on. He wants us to be happy. Go out
and find the beauty. This Earth was created so that we could come and gain
bodies, have mortal experiences. Experiences that include happiness, sadness,
anxiety, pains, joy, and so on. We need the lows in life so we can experience
the highs! When we are in the low, turn to God. He is there for us. And when we
are in the high, praise Him and thank Him for blessing you.
Love you all. Have a great week,
Elder Graybill
May 27, 2019
My allergies are killing me. I just wanted all of you to know that. I am surprised that I haven't passed out because I can't see or breathe. But anyways, this week has been a super busy week.
First of all, we have to new people on date. One of them is named Cory and is the most genuine person I have ever come in contact with. Literally, I have never met anyone so kind. We had an awesome lesson with him on the Plan of Salvation and we put him on baptismal date for June 8th. We had another solid lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he kind of taught part of the lesson to us as we asked him certain questions. He is super cool! The other is Kirsten. And she is an energetic one. She accepted a baptismal date for July 20th! She wanted a little bit of time to work and really focus in on finding out the truth. Once she receives her witness, she said she would be willing to move the date to a closer time. We meet again with her Wednesday to find out more. We sadly had to take John off of date for this Saturday. He has a couple more questions we need do work on, but we will get him soon. Same with Cody, he has a thing or two to work on and all will be well! The Lord is blessing this area. It hasn't seen a baptism in a year. And now we have one this weekend with Jake and one next with Cory!
Second, I went on an exchange with a stud Elder named Elder Schultz. He is from Provo and has been out for 22 1/2 months. He is a super hard worker. We talked to a lot of people and I talked to like 10 Latinos and it was awesome. It was the most Latinos I have seen in forever. Elder Schultz is super trunky though. We went to bed at 10:30 like obedient Elders but the white handbook doesn't say we can't stay up. It just says we have to be in our beds at 10:30. Elder Schultz talked to me about life until like 1. It was cool to see him on a normal level. Also, my alarm went off at 3, which was super weird. Then, Elder Schultz sat up and started talking to me at like 5 in his sleep. Then laid back down and didn't say anything else. Then our alarm didn't go off at 6:30 but luckily I got up to go to the bathroom at 6:29. So we stayed obedient :) haha.
Third, I was reading in Alma 26 this week and man do I love that chapter. It fits being a missionary so well. Ammon starts talking about how he and his brothers did such a good job on their missions and how they brought a lot of people to Christ. Then his brother Aaron was all like, "Woah, calm down, don't get prideful!" And Ammon hit Aaron with that "I am not boasting in my strength you fool. But boasting in the strength of the Lord!! He is merciful and delivered us from the depths of hell and our sinful state. And because of Him delivering us, we were able to go on that cool mission and help out our brethren. And yeah, we may have suffered a lot but hey. It's been good"
Obviously that wasn't the language they used, but that's how I imagine it. And it is so true. I wouldn't be on a mission if the Lord wasn't merciful and forgiving. I am in no way perfect and won't ever be here on Earth. But He gives me the strength I need to help put my brethren (and sisteren) lol that's not a word, here in the Oregon Salem mission. He picks up where I am weak, and helps me fulfill my calling as His representative. I am grateful for this opportunity. No matter how hard it gets, how negative I feel, or how badly I want to give up and go to Taco Bell and eat my body weight in five layer burritos, being a missionary is awesome.
I love all of you!
Elder Graybill
May 20, 2019
Hello friends and family. This week has been another busy week. We have been working really hard trying to get our people ready for baptism. We had to move Cody's date to July 13th to give him some more time to prepare himself. He hasn't been keeping all of his commitments but is still keeping a couple so it's been a process trying to get him ready. Jake is amazing and fed us a delicious steak dinner on Saturday. We showed up for a lesson and he had all this food ready for us. Which was much needed after a long day walking in the rain. Oh yeah, it rained super hard for a couple hours on Saturday which was super random because it hasn't rained in weeks here. It was the first time I have seen lighting here in Oregon and the second time I have heard thunder. It was a super cool storm. Anyways, Jake will be baptized on the 1st of June and is super excited. John is also on date for the first of June and he is excited as well, but we have been struggling to keep in contact with him. He doesn't have a phone so we have to walk over to his house periodically to see what's up. We have seen a huge blessing with referrals these last 2 days. We have received 4 referrals and 2 or 3 are almost ready for baptismal date! The Lord is blessing us extremely for our hard work and even when we don't see it with the people we talk to on the streets, we see it with referrals.
This week’s spiritual message is found in Luke 18. From the Come, Follow Me study. The Pharisee was being boastful and telling God how he was better than the Publican because he "followed" all the commandments. But the Publican humbled himself before God and admitted he was a sinner. Obviously, follow God and try not to sin, however we need to humble ourselves before God and not boast. God is pleased with the humble of heart. We should never look at another person and put them down to raise ourselves up. That person you just put down is going through a rough patch in life. They might be smoking, drinking, gambling, etc. because they don’t know where else to turn. They might feel your judgement and it might make them think "oh, well I'm already sinning and everyone is judging me, I might as well continue on in sin." So instead of putting yourself above someone who is struggling, kneel down next to them, as Christ would, and ask them if they need help. Give them a hug. Take them to a movie or for ice cream. Ask how you can help improve their lives and be understanding. None of us are perfect. This world needs more charity and love. So start with yourself and start showing it to others. Also, the Gospel blesses us when we are humble.
Elder Graybill
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| President and Sister Tateoka |
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Mi Hermano Jensen
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May 13, 2019
Sorry for the short weekly emails these last few weeks. I have had ZERO motivation to write. So when I got the transfer call to come to the YSA, President told me that this area has been struggling with the work recently. I am blessed to say that we received 3 referrals and 2 of them were on date and we put the third on date in the first lesson. They are all super solid and have had rough pasts. The dates are May 25, 26, and June 1st. We are really working hard to get them taught everything before their dates.
We have been doing a lot of finding in our free time as well but it is really difficult to find YSA aged people who are willing to listen. Most of them just blow us off or tell at us. We will keep trying!
Also, I have great news. Elder Hinck is in my Zone and I get to see him sometimes so that's awesome. He is my favorite person in the whole entire world. He is a former Assistant to the President and the biggest stud in the entire world. He is a great example of all Christlike attributes.
We had some really weird dude stop us on the street and start talking to us about Christ. He said this to me "He wants me to tell you something, you my friend, are a leader and a teacher. You have leadership qualities and have great potential." Then he turned to my companion and said "you show Christ like love. You have a love for all people of all ages." It was literally the weirdest/coolest thing. And while that was happening, a guy was blasting Take On Me by ah-ha the greatest Norwegian band ever according to Shawn Spencer.
My spiritual message for this week is : Alma 9:27
27 And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.
Christ will redeem only those who are baptized but also exercise faith. Exercising faith means to follow His commandments and actually live in accordance to His will. Not to just say you believe. It is an action based word. So if you aren't doing all that you can to show your faith, sit back and ponder. Ponder what you could be doing better to show Christ your faith. Whether that is through charity/love, scripture study, or whatever.
Love y'all
Elder Graybill
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| The Oregon Duck. haha |
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Jensen and Graybill
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