4-21-14

Familia!

I hope you all had a fabulous Easter! I sure did! We had an amazing Sacrament meeting focused on Jesus Christ. We actually had two high council men speak which was interesting. But overall it was a good Easter. We went and tried to watch the Because of Him video with whoever would watch it with us yesterday. It was so powerful! I can't tell you how many times i have watched it, but i could still sit and watch it again and again if necessary! I love our Savior Jesus Christ and can't quite possibly picture my life without him!

Mom, to answer your question, no I don't think I will be in Quincy long term. In fact, we have transfers this week and I am actually headed up to Chelan, Washington. It will be my first time in and part of the mission that isn't in the desert and the only thing people keep telling me is that it is so pretty there!! And from what I hear good hiking.. I hope my new companion likes to hike :) Speaking of which. My new companion is Hermana Jett from New Jersey. I have meet her before and served around her, but i don't know her super well. I am excited to be off on my new adventure and to be using my Spanish again!

This week went pretty well we had a hard time getting a hold of people. But to me, that is just part of misisonary work right? Some weeks are better than others. But in every week there are highlights of the Miracles. This week we were eating dinner with a family that hasn't been to church in a long time and where the wife isn't a member of the church. We have spoke with them on a few occasions. Her and I get along really well. Well after dinner we were talking about knowledge in Preach my Gospel (Christ-like attributes is one of my favorite chapters) and it led into a discussion on the word Agency. I had never thought of that being on of the words that we as members of the church use rather than other people, but we talked about being agents and the point of Agency and then i told her we would study it more and come back. As well with Easter Bro. Barrow wanted to know more about the Garden of Gethsemane. Man they both really gave my brain a work out! 

It is amazing as i have been reading the Book of Mormon I have been getting excited for the parts coming up. Then i realized i know the scriptures well enough to know what is coming up in the future! It was really cool for me to see that personal growth! 

We had people come to church for Easter Sunday which made my day! Especially since Sacrament was all about the Savior and the Doctrine of Christ and all that he does for us! And many of the scriptures were out of the Book of Mormon and how the Book of Mormon testifies of our Savior Jesus Christ! it was super awesome. I love being in church and getting to hear others testimonies. Hearing the testimonies of others is one of the best sources of a testimony.

Yesterday i took a deeper look into the Saviors last days and his glorious Resurrection in "Jesus the Christ". Seeing as the book is really long i focused on the few sections in the Garden, on the cross, and the Ressurection. But all that led me onto other topics and other paths and i learned and grew so much in the love of my Savior yesterday. That is the most interesting part of holidays on your mission. you see them in a whole new light. You remember why they are special. They become very personal. Well after learning so much of my Savior i ended up in the book of Matthew. Chapter 16 verses 15-16.

"15 He saith unto them, But whom say ^aye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

My testimony is that. When i see him I can Say thou art the Christ, son of the Living God! And i want everyone to know that. If you haven't gotten a chance to see the Because of him video, it might still be up today, not sure how long the will leave it up, but i will attach a link anyway. watch it! it is amazing! I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives and am so glad to have the opportunity to serve him. Love you! Have a great week!

http://easter.mormon.org/ 

Hermana Ray

 

 

Easter Message

Rachel has asked me to put this video on her blog.


mormon.org/BecauseofHim

 I hope everybody has a wonderful Easter Sunday

4-14-14

Familia!!

This week has been a really good one. We are working tirelessly to bring people to Jesus Christ and help them realize they have a place and a purpose in this life. We have been seeing lots of miracles here in the WKM. We are trying to follow all of the council of the prophet and the apostles. i hope everyone got the chance to take Elder Ballard's message to heart. We have been talking to members about Preach My Gospel and we have had some awesome discussions about where they feel is their place in the missionary work. We pray for the people that they have been trying to share the gospel with. We are hoping to have a long list of people. But members have been telling us about these different people and it has been awesome!

The Lord and his angels have been hard at work. We got to meet with Heidi this week which like made my life!! She has been coming back and forth from Seattle, but life has been settling down. I don't know if i ever told you about her, but she is a miracle. She had her baby 2 months ago and he was premature, but she told us she was really glad she started going to church before it happened so that it wouldn't be hard to come back! She has been soaking up everything and has been reading a lot on her own to try and learn when we can't always meet with her. She has a fire ball attitude and has been really fun. We are set to meet with her again this week and i am sooo excited!! 

Besides that we had a missionary farewell and homecoming in our ward yesterday and it was fun. Many of our investigators came to church and i couldn't be happier about it! They all loved the parts they came to and the Spirit was there. All f the people we are teaching are really coming to love the Gospel and i love to hear that!

Today we went on a tour of an apple packing factory and it was like being in the TV show "How it is made" it was really cool. There were sooo  many apples. The positives to being in Farm country is i learn a lot about where our produce comes from down in AZ. Like all of our McDonalds get their fries from a Lamb-Weston in American Falls Idaho. cool huh?

Preach my Gospel moment: we were studying in a group of other missionaries this week and our mission is really focusing on helping other people. And so one of the Sisters talked about how many times the word help is in Preach my Gospel and she made an interesting point. Half of th times it uses it it talks about us helping other people, the other half it talks about God helping us. So our purpose is to help others, but we know that we need God's help! So let God into your life so that he can help you! Especially pray for those opportunities to share it with those that are close to you.

Thank you for the inspiring messages of people sharing the gospel. You set the example and help us missionaries more than you could imagine! Keep u the good work. remember Elder Hollands advice from conference! "Take heart, Pure Christ-like love flowing from true righteousness can change the world.":) Let's go change the world!

Sorry it is kinda short. I love you all and am grateful for all that you do.

Hermana Ray

Apple Packing tour pictures to come next week!

4-7-14

Familia!

Wasn't conference so amazing! So many powerful messages. i can't even express them all in my email. But I loved the talks on gratitude. I always have loved that aspect of the gospel. Especially when we are much happier people when we know what we have and appreciate it! I liked Elder Hollands talk about defending our faith. We truly are all called upon to stand up for our faith. I loved this quote, "Take heart, pure Christ-like love flowing from true righteousness can change the world." I believe that to be 100 percent true! Conference was especially focused on the family. and i really liked that. I love that the church stands where it stands and isn't going to subcome to the ways of the world. We got to teach about the proclamation to the world with one of our investigators this week, and i love the short but powerful statements it makes about the importance of the family. that is something that i have been blessed with a loving family that understands just how important we are to each other.  Another thing i noticed was that almost ever single person if not every person bore solemn testimony in 1 of the 4 essential truths that we were taught by Elder Richards. How important is was for me to see our examples using the same teaching pattern that we were given. To have them focusing so much on our personal testimonies and conversion. I truly know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and that through God's power that was brought back to the earth Christ's church was restored! and that through the power of the Book of Mormon, we can know that for ourselves and each have our own Joseph Smith experience! Where we can gain our own personal testimony of the truthfulness of these things. I know that Jesus Christ lives! Everyone in Arizona go to the Easter pagent this year and learn of our Savior! It is something that i will for sure miss. I am pretty sure that every companion wants to see it because i talk about it all the time!! I also noticed how much the scriptures were used this conference, especially stories from the life of Christ. That may be because i know the scriptures better, but i think they really are focusing on the life of our Savior.

Thanks for all the love and support. Take the time to look back on conference if you didn't get a chance. i am excited to start reviewing! And remember that "courage not compromise brings the smile of God upon us" (Pres. Monson)

Hermana Ray

3-31-14

Family!

So this last week was a little strange because i emailed on Monday, but pday was actually on thursday because we got to go down to the temple. It was so nice! I am so lucky to get to  go every three months! And this time i realized that i never want to go so long without feeling the peace that the temple brings. Since i had the stomach flu last time i haven't been in 6 months. There is a peace that i can find in the temple that literally blocks out all the sounds of the world and i love it! Plus i have really gained an appreciation for how close we live to the temple back in AZ. From where we are it is about an hour and 45 minutes which isn't too bad, but it is a lot longer than 10 minutes.

This week has been pretty good. Debbie had some set backs but still really wants to get baptized and is continuing to better her life everyday. We were a little worried about her after she called us last week, but she was worried that the members wouldn't still want to be her friend if she wasn't ready to get baptized. But she is doing so well.

Another person we are teaching told us she was reading the Book of Mormon every morning and every night before she went to bed and it was super amazing! She has now personally felt the peace in her life that comes through the Book of Mormon! How awesome is that? We talked about how the Book of Mormon can relate to our lives personally. We talked about the example of Nephi, and what an example he has been to my life personally. After studying the life of Nephi i realized that i should never have anything to complain about. My life has been so blessed. For her she was able to look at how he recieved his strength, as she reads more she is starting to understand the story and the words. It has been really cool. Hopefully she can finally put all the pieces in place!

The women's broadcast was really good and as i type this message, Heidi (someone we are teaching) just texted us saying she was sad that she missed it and was wondering if she could find it online. So we told her where and she just said "there it is :)" and she is going to watch it. We are super excited because it was a great conference about keeping our covenants and teaching our children to do the same, and she is a young mother who recently had a baby and is reflecting on how she can improve her family! And i loved how much it talks about relationships. Not just with kids, but with our friends and everyone around us. Again luckily i have been blessed with such a great family and great friends. I have always felt supported no  matter what i am doing. I have seen that as something that really helps people come to the church, when they realize the people there are doing much more than being nice so they will join the church, but the genuinely want to be their friend. Friends change lives for the better or for the worse, luckily for us, God gives us that choice and we can have those good influences to surround us. I feel very fortunate to feel as if i have always been surrounded by good friends!

Well missionary life is going great! Still trying to talk to 10 new people everyday. We have been telling our members about it and their response is, "are there that many people in Quincy? you will run out in like a week" It is funny but there is always someone to talk to and always someone who needs to feel the love and the reality of Jesus Christ in their lives. Right now i am in the Isaiah chapters of 2 Nephi and i can't imagine what it would have been like to live in those times when the people were soo wicked and there weren't many believers. I am grateful to have the ability to worship as i please and that the people of Washington are so nice!  And Spring is upon us and having that sunshine is super nice!

I love you. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and am so lucky to have him in my life and to be his servant. Find someone to bear your testimony to so that the spirit can whisper it to their heart! 2 Nephi 33:1. Let us Open Our Mouths together and try to make the world a better place and be examples of our savior Jesus Christ! Que tengan un buen dia!

Hermana Ray

Sister Tuigamala's birthday! Ironically i am wearing the same outfit in both of these pictures, but they were taken like 2 weeks apart...

Temple day. don't mind all the laughing and funny faces... it was super windy and we all had ahir up in our face! (I hardly ever wear my ahir down here... way to windy)

3-24-14

Sa by dee family!

Sa by dee is how you would say hi to some one in Loation, it is one of the like 4 words I now know! This week has been good, It has been a week of growing and learning. It really tires you out to learn so much! Especially when you are learning about Christ-like love.

It has been a roller coaster of a week as we strive to talk to 10 new people every day. I am amazed that we haven't run into the same people over yet. But it has been fun as we talk to everyone, it really helps us to branch out and do as the Savior would do. It is crazy! Sister Tuigamala has been learning some Spanish so that when we aren't companions she can still talk to someone about the gospel. Well, she got a chance to use it the other day and she was so excited! It was really funny. She was backing me out of a parking spot and she said hola to a little Spanish man across the parking lot. He said hola back and kind of paused waiting for her to say something back.. So she looks at me in the car, (At this point she is kind of laughing because I am watching all of this go down through the rearview window and trying to figure out what is going on.) then looks back at the guy and said, "Puedo dejarle una tarjeta?" and then runs to the car opens the door and pulls out a card with the Elders number on it. It was so fun! She was super excited that she could tell him who she was and how he could learn more. And we are literally trying to talk to EVERYONE that we see!

It has been a long week. Debbie's baptism is going to get moved again, but that is something that we need to be okay with. She is so amazing and I know at some point she will come unto Christ through baptism. I need to have faith that it will all happen in God's time. Earlier this week I learned a lot about Christ's love for other people. We had a really busy day on Sister Tuigamala's birthday this week and we had some amazing lessons, and in every lesson we talked about overcoming our weaknesses, and as we drove home I wanted nothing more than just for one day to take away the pain of the people so that they can be happy and at peace for just one day in their lives. I know it helps them learn and grow, but I just want them to have one day where they don't have to worry about all the things of this world! So then for our Book of Mormon challenge I had a few chapters to finish and I started on 1 Nephi 14 and verse 1 says, "And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks." What a cool promise! Every person has these stumbling blocks, but they can leave them to Christ. That scripture hit me like a wave and reminded me that my trust needs to always be in our Savior Jesus Christ.

I also got to remember the power that comes when we step into the church building. I think it is something we often overlook as we go to the church weekly with all the hustle and bustle that happens on a Sunday. We got to take Raquel on a tour of the church and I am always amazed at the spirit that accompanies us in the chapel. I was explaining that it was a house dedicate to the Lord, and that the Spirit resided more strongly there. I love going and sitting in a quiet chapel. I now know why it was so important that my parents taught me to be reverent. The feelings that we can feel as we sit there with our thoughts and concerns. The feeling that investigators can feel when they felt something different. I feel for real that Heavenly Father is closer to us than we might think sometimes and that we really do have his angels round about us.

Last night we had a really fun experience. We got to eat authentic Laotion food! A member in our ward has a brother-in-law from Laos and they were in town for the weekend. We went over and had Pho (super good!), coconut soup, fried rice, and chicken. Of course the brother in law insisted that we try all of it. I think I gained 5 pounds yesterday it was so good. I will try to send a picture next week. But they had Aiden and Bo over and after dinner we had a lesson with them. I have a personal testimony of the scripture that says every person will be taught in their native tongue. Watching them converse in Laotion (the only words I picked up were the ones they said in English Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Joseph) they really came alive. We learned a lot about what Aiden and Bo need and the concerns that they had. We talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and how we can feel the Holy Ghost in our lives. Aiden then asked us each to share a personal experience of when we felt the Holy Ghost in our lives. That was the first time I had ever had someone ask me for a specific experience in my life. So I talked about the Holy Ghost as a comforter and how sometimes the problem doesn't go away but we can receive strength in those times and know that tomorrow the sun will rise, or Sunday will come, whatever phrase we may use to say that things will work out. It was a good lesson! I didn't teach most of it, but the best is when you can feel the Spirit and watch your investigators growing without even being able to understand the conversation! I am so grateful for the Spirit who doesn't have a language barrier.

I love every thing that I learn as a missionary. I love that people know who we are as soon as they open the door and see our name tag. I hope that one day, when my name tag days are through that I can do as Elder Anderson encouraged and imprint one on my heart. That people can look at me and have no doubt that I am a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints. Hope everyone has a great week and looks at how they can be more charitable and more humble, and how they can be an example of the believers and find someone that they can serve!

Hermana Ray