Vamos A La Playa - Food For Those In Need - Ocean Baptisms Due To Covid 19 - Good Bye Sister Lau

 

Porque tu familia es importante para ti?

Singing at Jacob's ocean baptism

Why is your family important to you?

This has been the best week so far! But also, it's been the saddest too :(

We finally had the opportunity to take part in a service project! They are few and far between here due to the pandemic but we found one! Pretty simple, volunteers come and pick up food (meat, vegetables, milk, etc.) from our station and they drive it to houses of families who are in need. We load the cars full of food :) It was SO WONDERFUL! Getting outside and being able to serve is so refreshing! We get to do it with the other elders who serve in the El Camino Ward. So there's 8 of us :)

The next highlight of the week is that we got to attend the baptism of Jacob! He is such a sweet kid. The coolest part of this mission during this pandemic is that we have to have baptisms in the ocean!! So Jacob got baptized in the ocean! Which means we got to go to the beach  Yes yes. I stepped foot on the sand!! Amazing. So exciting!

So we have had a few more lessons with Juan since I last wrote. This man LOVES the Book of Mormon. Long story short, after a really good lesson we asked him if he wants to be a member of our church. He said "claro que si!". Which means of course! He said he would pray to know if he should be baptized as a member of the church! So we will know soon if we can put him on a secure date! I'll keep you all updated. :)

Later that night we found out transfers. Sister Lau is heading to Oakland on Wednesday. Not gonna be easy for me. Shes become a very close friend over a very short amount of time. I truly love her with all my heart. She's the reason I have been able to make it through my first transfer here. I was having a hard time today knowing that she would no longer be in my companionship anymore and she said to me, "Don't let anything get in between you and that flight to Costa Rica". I needed to hear that. She seriously pushes me to be a good missionary and to keep trying. Shes the best missionary and I'm going to miss her so so so much. 

On a less sentimental note we went on a beautiful hike today with some of the elders in our zone along the coast! It was GORGEOUS! Not to mention it is the most wonderful thing to get outside of the apartment and socialize with other missionaries and get to know them better! Such a wonderful week! 

I've been reminded this week that God is really with us through everything. It has been the best week for me, but it has come with some of the hardest moments. But God has not forgotten me! He knows me! His son died for me! Jesus Christ is my savior! He is the savior of the world! I know that He is walking by each of you through each of your trials. He knows each of you.

Have the best week!

Sister Graves

1- El Camino missionaries at our service project :)

2- Comps at service 

3- At the beach baptism!!

4- The little beach we went to + Elder MacPherson's head. 

5- MY GIRL SISTER LAU 

6- The only people in attendance at the baptism were us missionaries and his Grandmother and his aunt. Pretty cool.

 

7- The view from our hike today

8- Me on the hike :))

California Fires?

Another week has already passed! It feels like I was writing a weekly email just 2 days ago! Time flies when you're having fun 

I'm sure you are all wanting to know about the fires...? Well. We are safe, as of now. We are pretty much surrounded by fires in every direction. Our Zone Leaders call and check in on us a lot to see if we have been evacuated yet. So who knows? Maybe we will have to be evacuated from South San Fran for a while. As far as the air quality goes...yikes. I haven't seen a blue sky in days. We can barely see the hills. It is very very thick smoke. President Durham has told us not to go outside at all. He is very concerned for our lungs. So now we've got Corona AND the fires keeping us inside from visiting people! Things can only get better from here right? 

We have a new friend! The Elders in San Mateo met a man that was in our area so they passed him off to us. We had 2 lessons with him last week. He is Christian and he LOVES the bible. He's really enjoying the Book of Mormon too! I mean, how can you not?  We asked him to join our Mission's Virtual Spanish Zoom Sacrament Meeting...AND HE CAME!!! He said he loved it! We are so excited to meet up with him again this week! So if you feel so inclined, keep my friend, Juan in your prayers 

This week I have learned a lot about God's love for me. I find myself being really hard on myself frequently and feeling down. During personal study I was listening to a talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf. It's a classic. You've probably heard of it. "Forget me not". I would strongly encourage anyone who is sincerely feeling forgotten or sad to go listen to this talk! I was reminded that no matter how dark my days might seem or how insignificant my efforts might feel, God has NOT forgotten me. He never has and he never will. He knows me and me struggles. And it's the same for you!! 

Have a wonderful week everyone! Love you all. Thanks for your prayers

Hermana Graves

P.S. if anyone needs a pen pal...I LOVE writing letters :) shoot me a message if you want a handwritten letter from yours truly

1- The night the fires started getting bad...this is right outside the apartment.

2- The sunset last night. Smokey skies make for BEAUTIFUL sunsets somehow. 

3- My dad sent us this paint by number.  

4- Grandma and Grandpa Graves sent me a fun package with lots of food 

5- The sunset again ahahahah so beautiful.

6- My girl Hermana Lau in the Target bathroom. Target is out favorite place.

Me Gustan Trenes - Toilet Flood! - All He Wants Is The Best We Have To Offer

Alrighty everyone. Buckle up. It is story time. You know how every missionary has a few near death experiences? Well I just had my first one. And it has to do with a train.

We were driving home from picking up dinner for a member and the GPS sent a

us a way we have never been before. It brought us to a railroad crossing. The lights started flashing and there was a stop sign so naturally we stopped. The gate thing on the other side of the crossing was closing but Sister Finch (who was driving) could not see the other gate. I was sitting in the back seat when I saw the gate about to close r oh get on too of us. That's when I realized we were about to get hit by a train. I screamed "Sister Finch GO NOW!". She had no idea what I was talking about but she didn't hesitate and floored it...and a few seconds later the train came flying by. So, the gate we were under almost crushed the car, we almost got hit by a train, and then we almost hit the other gate on the other side of the tracks. It was a wild time. 

Needless to say we all feel like heavenly father was watching over us in that exact moment because I'm not sure how we cut it so close. God watches over his missionaries. He watches over all of his children!!

Here's another story that I think you will all find very interesting. Our toilet flooded our bathroom on Saturday. And both of my companions were literally watching me screaming trying to figure out what to do. I kept telling them to call someone or to do anything and they just stood there laughing at me. It was terrible. To make a long story short I figured out how to fix the toilet and it finally stopped spraying everywhere. Neither of my companions were willing to help me clean up the bathroom so it did it all by myself. It was not fun because we had nothing to clean up all of the water with, But I persevered! I'll attach a photo of me cleaning just so you can tell how happy I was to be cleaning it up. 

The work here is slow. Still being unable to visit anyone in person makes it hard to build trust with the members. It's been a hard week. But we know that we are going to be greatly blessed for the efforts we are making! God is preparing people for us to teach! 

What I've learned this week is quality vs quantity. I was reading a talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf and he talks about not focusing on the numbers in missionary work. About being genuine. It's hard when we report our numbers and they are so low but the important thing that we are making a difference for the people we are teaching. The savior wants to know the conditions of our hearts. How we love his children. How we are striving to grow closer to him. Not the statistics. As missionaries and normal people. All he wants is the best we have to offer.

Love you all! Have a wonderful week! 

Photos

1- making pupusas at 9 PM after a long day of plans being changed. 

2- waiting for another lesson to start :)

3- Sister Finch 

4- Cleaning the flooded bathroom

5- Avocado toast...our usual breakfast...and lunch...and dinner...

5- Me and my girl Sister Lau at our favorite place. The laundromat. Just kidding. It is kind of a soul killing place. 

6- Las hermanas del barrio, El Camino! 

5 month mark! - How To Be Happy In An Increasingly Sad World...It Is A Choice

 Alright ladies and gents. I have officially hit my 5 month mark on the mission as of today! Pretty crazy that I've only been away from home for a month of that time. My mission has been an interesting one thus far that's for sure! 

Not much has really happened this week here in good old South San Francisco. We are not allowed to visit with members in person at all so we are still teaching completely online. It's been very clear that Satan does not want our lessons to follow through because something ALWAYS gets in the way of a lesson. Usually the connection through zoom. About half the time we end up just doing a normal phone call to share the message we prepared. 

My zone leader asked me on Saturday night at 9 PM if I would give a talk for the zone at 9 AM on Sunday morning. Obviously I could not reject the opportunity. But that being said I really did not enjoy the last minute preparation for a talk. I think that it went really well despite my lack of time to prepare.

I chose to speak on Happiness. More specifically how to be happy in an increasingly sad world. I shared a few experiences from my life and the lives of my family and how they found joy even in the hardest times. Here's what I discovered. Having joy and/or happiness is a CHOICE. Our circumstances definitely influence it. But we can choose to be happy. This world is in a crazy place. It's been so hard to have a positive outlook. But we can choose to see the good in the worst situations. It's up to you if you want to be happy. So go and be happy:)

Love you all. Have the best week!

Hermana Graves

1- Even California Costco believes in eternal families!!

2- I hated avocados until coming here...now I love them.

3- This photo was taken around 7 PM just to give you an idea of how foggy it is in San Fran.

 

4- Waiting for another video call lesson with Guadalupe:)

5- Sister Lau didnt realize you had to pay to use the telescope...she thought it was broken

6- Took a long walk today along the coast. How beautiful?! I love God's creations!

7- It was VERY windy today (it always is tho hahaha). Can you tell? 

9 Months Later!!! - COVID Mission - Saying Goodbye to Friends and Family Again

After waiting for 5 months to leave to Mexico and 4 months to leave for California...I have FINALLY made it to the mission field!  I live in the beautiful city of South San Francisco.  The mornings are VERY cold here.  It is strange that it is August and I freeze every morning when we go outside to workout or go for a walk.  I've already fallen in love with this place.  Let me tell you something about California.  The cost of living is CRAZY!  We went to the store today and everything is so expensive.  I feel pretty confident I didn't see a single thing on the shelf for less than $4.99.  I'm really hoping I learn really fast how to use my money wisely because I am not used to everything being so expensive 

I am in a trio! It is me, Hermana Finch (my trainer), and Hermana Lau. Hermana Lau is so cute. She was in Costa Rica San Jose West (my original assignment) when Corona hit. So I've been asking her all kinds of questions about it. It's been so nice for both of us to have someone to talk to about it  

Being a missionary during quarantine is weird. There's not many things we can do, so it's pretty much the exact same thing every single day. It gets pretty exhausting. We make lots of phone calls and 1/7 ish will actually answer. Then half of the ones that answer hang up when we say that we are missionaries. It's really an interesting experience

We got a referral from our bishop for his friend, Ricardo. So we have a new friend! Ricardo was actually diagnosed with COVID-19 so he's been very down and stuck at home alone for a while. We taught him a lesson and he seems very interested in what we have to say! We have another lesson with him tonight. We are super excited to have someone to teach. 

My Spanish will hopefully start coming soon. I still feel that I am at a very similar place that I was at in the CCM. That goodness for the gift of tongues!! I can't learn more and more Spanish!

It was emotional saying goodbye to friends and family for a second time. But I'm glad to be here. It's been hard but good. I know that this mission will bring blessings to me and to my family. I know that I am going to help people here in San Francisco. Just gotta find them

See you all next week!

Hermana Graves

Pictures

#1- the view from a short hike right by our apartment 

#2- me and Hermana Lau in the car while dropping off notes to our cute members 

#3- Hermana Lau again. #besties

#4- how cute is this view?! I wake up to that every single day (with the ocean on the other side hehe)!!

#5- we all started crying today at the same time so we decided it needed to be documented. 

#6- I told Hermana Lau that my best friend, Tifa, puts her pizza in the toaster when she need to reheat it...well we tried it and let me tell you all. It's a genius idea. I recommend 10/10!

Shauna was set apart as a full-time missionary for a second time (after a few months at home due to the Covid 19 global pandemic) on July  27, 2020.  We said goodbye on July 29, 2020 and she headed to San Francisco, California for part 2 of her mission.  

Here are some pictures: