When the Relatives Came.....

Here is one of the rooms in moms house that was packed with over 30 people every night......

Elder S. James Graham August letter and pics

August 18,08
Dear Family,
the time has flown, and Im more than certain Ill find myself unready to return one year from now.
its hard to understand. the times passing I mean. Im sure this isnt a "first" by any stretch of the term.but its cool, being here, and looking back. the views change in drastic ways.
Im serving in Monterrey Valle Verde.
with the wards Valle Verde 1 and Valle Verde 2
my living conditions are great.
Like, I think about my old living conditions, from when I lived in utah. In perfect fairness my living conditions are in comparison pathetic. lacking. an observation I made when I ferst arrived to Mexico. However, worn a little by time and routine, I see them now as normal and very comfortable. No complantes on my part.Im chill.
(its not like we live in the house anyway, we are ALWAYS outside. so I suppose Ill be a happy camper so long as I have a bed to sleep in and a desk to read at. Thats a benefitial attribute. for me at least, who knows how the wife will take it someday....)
My comps name is Elder Mata, hes another dying missionary. Again, Im fine with him. Hes doing the best he can. Its been neet, I adopted this idea that people always do their best about.....2 years ago, maybe it was 3 years ago! To continue, It was very easily said before my mission. sure, "everyone does their best" I would say. but when youre in a companionship with rules expectations both phsyical and spiritual, that term is one that has to be faught for. If I wish to hold to that idea, I have to search on a daily basis to establish its reality.
Hard and very rewarding. my comp is 6 weeks short of his departure, and its been hard for me to watch his focus deteriorate and fade. He will have very little difficulty adjusting to "normal life" again. I feel safe saying that he will not flinch when he is released as a missionary.
Its hard, its sad, its draining, but then again, he is doing his best.
I should also mention that in the short time that we have been companions (8 weeks) hes lost a 23 year old cousin to birth complications, his dad (hefting somebody elses heart) has had multiple close calls, being rushed to the emergancy room on several occasions, family not expecting his return. And unfortunatley, my companions 27 year old sister (and single mother of 2) (who has also had heart complications) had a horrible car accident 2 weeks ago, and is now in the hospital because the central part of her brain has stopped its functoning. and she is not expected to live for much longer.
I have had to hold my comp 3 times in this change, as he would just sob and sob for his families ill fate.
I was never prepared to deal with such heavy emotional challanges. Ive been thrown into those "what can you possibly say?" situations more times than I ever expected.
Its an understandable situation. I pray for my comp.
Im am not yet a senrior companion. My health is wonderful. Im just really healthy.
The work is wonderful, we've been baptizing every other week now for a while.
Its all been a very interesting learning experience.
watching people commit, and then watching what they do when things get hard.
Its all wonderful.
we had a powerful baptism yesterday.
we've seen miricles with him and his family. his wife was supposed to die, and my comp gave her a blessing, and as the husband took on the commitments and preperations for baptism, she has been healed and restored in health.
its more than I can describe in words.
as if his sacrifices to God we're returned as blessings in the curation of his wife.
it was this fantastic parrallel. they were seperate in location but linked in spirit almost.
based on his actions, her phsical state grew stronger or was weakened.
really cool.

life back home sounds fantastic.

Im very happy where I am right now.
Very comfotable.

Dont be surprized if I end up asking for an exstension in time.
I really like this as a whole,


all my love

j



my Gods blessings be upon you.

Recent Pix of L-Da Graham III

These are some pictures of Landon contacting with some youth in his Stake. He and his former companion have been planning this Stake Youth Conference from some time, and it finally happened. Some 50 youth from 2 stakes, split up with 4 companionships and contacted for a day, finding inactives, etc. Said it was really fruitful. Check out his smile. He looks happy, eh?

More England

Jingle Bells... Everybody!

Alpine 4H Camp Memories

Dearest Graham Clan

Carolyn and I just returned from what has been a wonderful weekend at the Alpine 4H Camp. Some of you know that when we were first married, and looking at family pictures, I saw a picture of the Alpine girls camp and thought we were looking at my pictures.

As it turns out, it was Carolyn's pictures. Her family, the Robinson Clan (through her mother Jean) settled Afton and Freedom, and had yearly reunions at the 4H Camp the week before the Armstrong reunion....for years!!! Neither of us have been back since we were teenagers.

This year, we had committed to attend the John Robinson Anne Gregson Reunion. The Root of the Robinson family that joined the church. John Robinson was our pioneer. It was a wonderful experience for Carolyn and I to take our own kids to the place where we had so many wonderful memories. A few things have changed, but mostly, it was just like stepping back in time.

One of the great surpises was to see our cousin, David Bednar!!!! He married into the Robinson Clan like I did. We walked in the old hall, and I said to Abby, "Hey, there is Elder Bednar!!!" We literally sat at his feet. We were on the front row, next to the SAME OLD PIANO!!!!!----and Elder Bednar was our closing speaker at the program on Friday night. He was nearly standing on Sunee's toes!

There was a hush as he spoke. I felt like I should take off my hat in that spot. He said some profound things. Speaking about the John Robinson Family History, entitled " A Legacy of Honor", he asked us a simple question " Are you bringing Honor to their Legacy?" He spoke of this for a time and then stated something very profound. I will try to remember it.

He said "It is my witness that all the keys of this dispensation are on earth. I witness that the hearts of the Children are turned to the Fathers, and the hearts of the Fathers are turned to the Children. I am a witness of the keys to the sealing power. I do not know if all the keys to this dispensation have ever been present at this place, but I bear witness to you tonight that all the keys to this dispensation are present in this room, right now. I hold them, and I bear witness they are real...."

After the meeting, Carolyn and I, Abby and some of the other kids got to talk to him for a bit. This picture is obviously special to us.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Tuesday.

Brad and Carolyn

Pursuit of Happyness

I just wanted everyone to check out this pic I got at my company's tradeshow last week in Las Vegas. Chris Gardner, the man on whom the movie" The Pursuit of Happyness" was our keynote speaker and I got to meet him personally and discuss his life story...quite simply, an amazing person who gave a great message to people. It was essentially this: All the material gains he has had, the triumphs and defeats in his life, nothing was more important to him than breaking the cycle of absentee fathers in his family....nothing is more important than his son, and knowing who his father was.....basically told everyone that nothing else will matter if you have failed in your home"...he got a standing ovation for that one. After we spoke, he told me to "show him the love, brotha"....and he gave me a big bear hug....