7-1-13

Hola Familia!

Sounds like everyone is doing good, Stay strong and stay happy!

This week has definately been an interesting one. We have had a lot of great experiences and some not so great ones.

The week started off really good, we taught some lessons and are starting to find people who are actually interested in our message. It is nice to know that those people exist. One thing I have found on my mission and am really excited about the change from the braodcast is the churches being open all the time. Here we do church tours with people to try and make them more comfortable coming to church and i have had some of the most amazing experiences there. One of those was this week. One of our investigators was scheduled to come to a church tour. He loved what he was learning about all of our classes and the fact that we had a center where you could search for your ancestors. It had been going great the whole time. When we got into the chapel, he really liked it. He told us that he knew what he was hearing from us was true and he wanted to learn more, but his wife was against it. He is torn because he wants a good relationship with his wife and God. We told him we would help in anyway we could to try to make both of them more comfortable. But as he was telling us this, i knew somehow everything was going to workout, someday he would be able to have what he wanted. I don't know when that is, but Heavenly Father does, and i wouldn't leave it in any hands less capable than His.

Also this week we met a family and helped them move into their house. Lets just say so much good came out of that service. I learned a lot. At first they were a little hesitant, but finally they let them help us. We started helping them unpack and i ended up helping the mom unpack and set up her room... by myself... and she didn't speak English. At first i was pretty scared, i have never thought my Spanish skills were as bad as i did at that moment. But i just started talking, As time went on, i understood her better, she was teaching me words in Spanish as i pointed to things. She asked me questions about the Church. She was so nice. by the end i had told her about church, prophets and my awesome family. The part she seemed to like the most was that no matter where you were in the world the church is the same. It was such a great experience. Plus as you will see in a picture. They had Parrots! big parrots. They were nice enough to let us take some pictures, and then before we left she asked us like 4 or5 times if we were hungry, which meant we weren't leaving without eating. and then she taught us how to make tortillas!! they are sooo good. and i think i might have only burned off 2 of my finger prints trying to flip them over.

All i know is that the more i share the gospel, the more i love it. So many people tell us how awesome it is that we are willing to go and share a message of Jesus Christ and how they are impressed with our courage.

Friday is when our week got interesting. First the Greers left. Second, Hermana Pierce started getting sick and we have spent all weekend trying to figure out what is wrong with her. Luckily we found an awesome member of the ward that our branch is connected to, Sis. Monson and her daughter Sis. Tippets, have been helping us so we can still try to get out and do dome missionary work. Luckily today she seems to be feeling a little better, still haven't figured it out yet whats up. But i have had an opportunity to dig into my scriptures and PMG to try and fill my time. I am so grateful that we have the power of God on the Earth to help bring comfort.

Luckily i get lost a lot less often than before but i still find myself going on "adventures" often. It reminds me of when mom would get lost and tell us that "we weren't lost we were going on an adventure". Mom, i go on lots of "adventures." but your right, life is more fun that way.

The knowledge that we get from he gospel gives me so much hope. To know that there is more than this life, to know of God's love for me and how i can obtain the most blessings possible. I love you all and pray for you everyday! Have a great week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Ray

I think we should make this our slogan and drive a car like this.

As for the awkward pose: 1. the bird was trying to eat me (don't do thumbs up with birds) and 2. the bird was falling off my arm!