12-9-13

Hola Familia!

It has been a pretty fantastic week here in Royal City! The people we are teaching are truly starting to let the message sink deep into their hearts and open their minds. It has been really cool. I also want to thank mom and Aubree Swann for finding Jannae a truly delightful going away outfit, i will enjoy pictures :)

It is definitely Christmas time, people are starting to put up lights, Doreen got her Christmas tree put up, and I have to listen to Christmas music in the car because it is the only thing that justifies the cold weather in my brain. I discovered fleece lined tights and i am in heaven!

Overall it has been a really good week! The people here in Royal City are truly fantastic! The missionary work is doing really well, they are a very involved group and it is just fun, it is a small town and they all care about each other.

This week, Hermana Heninger and I literally got thanked for all that we were doing for one of our investigators families. The husband came out and said that he was really thankful for what he has been doing. It was pretty cool, because this theme of gratitude carried on after Thanksgiving. Now if I even have the thought, am I making a difference i can look and see the face of Owen, Beatrice, Wendy, or Beverly and really see that God is watching out for each and every one of us. 

One really cool lesson we had this week was talking to Beverly. She is very concerned with where the World is headed and all the evil happening. As we were talking about it, we had asked her if she ever thought of praying for them. that was like a week ago, we went back and asked her if she had been praying for them, she said that she had and at that point she said you know what i have and i it has actually been helping a lot, Ed is a lot less worried for my health. She said it has been helping her heart. Then we asked if she had prayed and asked if Joseph Smith was really a prophet, and she said something along the lines of ya i have and pretty much every question was settled when we watched that film (restoration dvd) and no ordinary man could have written that book. Then she just kept talking like what she had just said was no big deal!! She is so funny. Overall as we talk with her, she is allowing me to really see it through her eyes, she shares her experiences with us, we can see the testimony building and then we talked about the Priesthood, Baptism, Christ's life on Earth, and then the Christmas Devotional, she was really excited to watch it! Such an awesome experience. It has been really nice to see our investigators learning on their own and coming closer to Christ. 

Since our training with Elder Richards, we have been teaching really simply and letting people build of that and it really helps us teach to their needs. It has been cool to see what happens as we focus on following the words of our leaders. 

The Christmas Devotional was good, and I was telling my companion that i missed out on doughnuts, but it doesn't look like i did, which is funny because it was a kind of crazy day yesterday. In a good way, we were running all over the place. Anyway we watched the last part of the Christmas Devotional with Wendy and it was really good. Elder Nelson's talk was so perfect for two of the people we are teaching. Anyway after it was over she made us Tortas! (Mexican Sandwich) and i thought to myself, well it isn't doughnuts but man it was so good! then to find out you didn't even have them made me laugh.

Overall I have nothing to complain about I am a happy servant of my Lord Jesus Christ "in whom there is no darkness at all." -Pres Uchtdorf. Which is comforting because it gets dark around 4:30-5pm here right now. I love you all, continue to be happy as we have this wonderful time to remember our savior Jesus Christ and his birth that truly changed our lives forever. Have a great week!

Hermana Ray

 

My favorite place in the house!

 

12-2-13

Hola Familia!

Looks like you all had a fantastic turkey day. Well I did too! Ate Lunch with one of the families in the ward and we used like real plates and sat around a set table... it was weird.. Just kidding. It was sure different than how we do it Ray style, but was really good! And what is Thanksgiving without eating something weird right? We went to the Wilhelms, Brother Wilhelm is our ward mission leader for pie later that night and to teach Owen and Brother Wilhelm made us try his bacon pumpkin pie. It wasn't horrible it was just weird, but I just kept thinking to myself, this is totally something my family would do! So don't worry you weren't forgotten. It was actually a pretty great day all around, we found 2 new people to teach and that was, for us, truly something to be grateful for. It was a great day and I got to reflect on what I was grateful for which is so many things that I just don't have time to write them all!

We also had another great family home evening with Wendy. Her little kids are so funny. It was great that as we talked about baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, we were aided by two of the Gilbert (members) children. Grace, the newest member of our ward, explained baptism in the best 8 year old way she could (which was great, probably better than i would have done) and then Faith described the gift of the Holy Ghost, they did awesome as they helped us prepare and explain how to become closer to Christ.

There other big news coming out of Royal this week was the baptisms on Saturday. Jesus and MariaCruz Perez live in Royal City and the other sisters have been teaching for over 6 months. 2 weeks ago Jesus came up to me and said, Hermana did you hear? I asked him did i hear about what. with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye he told me that they were going to get baptized! So exciting, he comes to church every week pretty much since june or july. Their baptism was awesome and at the end, the other sisters learned that Daniel, one of their other investigaotrs had really prayed for the first time this week and after the baptism he said, "I am going to be the next one." then he asked the other sisters if he could get baptized next week. Miracles! he has been talking with the missionaries for over a year I think. This community is truely amazing and i can't wait to see the miracles that come from my efforts. The Lord allows us to be a way for the Spirit to communicate with others. What an awesome opportunity we have.

I started the Book of Mormon over again and it is amazing how much i have already learned. I am paying attention to every reference to Jesus Christ and if people would do that they would realize that it truely is centered on him and what he teaches. I don't know if there has been a page that hasn't made a reference to him. It is such a good book. Who would have ever thought that I would like to read?

I am really growing an appreciation for everything that i have because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as i sit and listen to people, the gospel seriously answers their every concern. Sometimes they don't see it right away, but it is there. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is our plan while on this Earth to help us receive all of the blessings of His plan for us for all of time.

I read a scripture this morning while trying to understand the way the word "weak" was being used in the scriptures. The reference took me to 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 and it says, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when i am weak, then am I strong." As we strive to be like Christ let us not be weighed down by our weaknesses, let us remember that it is part of the refining process. Let us rejoice that it is through them that we are made strong. I love you all and hope that you have a good week! I am so excited that it is Christmas times, and by the looks of it i might have my first ever white Christmas ever. Let us remember the reason for the season and share Christ message and love with others.

Love ya!

Hermana Ray

 

Happy Thanksgiving. Us with Doreen Iverson, our house mate!

 

11-24-13

Hola Familia!

This week has been another fantastic one! why? for so many reasons! Obviously because of my birthday, and we had a meeting with Elder Richards of the second quorum of the seventy, and we had some really really good work this week!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes they were fabulous! It was my Golden Birthday! 21 on the 21st! and when i looked at hte temperature gauge as soon as it got light outside it was 21 degrees! Must be lucky! And the cake from home was a very nice touch :) It was delicious and i got to enjoy it with a family in our ward and Owen, because we had a lesson with him right after we went to pick it up. Leti made me dinner for my birthday and it was awesome followed by chocolate and peanutbutter cupcakes and then my cake! It was a really good birthday. We got to teach a lesson to Ed and Beverly, she has been reading the Book of Mormon and said the more she reads the more questions she has, and that she wanted to know where this Joe Smith comes from. We told her we could start on whichever question and she said ok, sit down. It was amazing what can happen when people are looking for the truth, to simply find understanding and hope in a World that as she says is becoming hopeless. As she talked about things that were happening in the world she told us that she yells and hollars at the TV, maybe she should try praying for all of it instead. (i didn't really do her justice through my words, it was much more animated and comical). I told them i couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday. Then i got told at dinner that I needed to go to Castletons because they had something for me, this is where I got my cake from home. Then that night we had a lesson with Owen and he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon to us! It was awesome!

Earlier in the week we had a meeting with Elder Richards about teaching simply and how we need to be there to help people learn and make sure they know it. He talked about the 4 things that we need to know to be converted:

1. Jesus Christ is our Savior

2. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ

3. The Book of Mormon is true

4. The priesthood power was restored to the Earth.

Seems simple enough, but if you aren't asking people questions, it doesn't spark them to think about these things for themselves. It was hard to realize that I may not have been helping people in the way they needed it, but this week i have tried really hard to apply that, and since we have done that, we have had some really really awesome experiences. It is fun because every lesson has become so much more personal and different. One of our investigators used an analogy to compare the celestial kingdom to Earth right now and the different people there are. It has deepened my appreciation for the way that the Savior taught through questions.

One of these lessons was with someone new we are teaching. Beatrice is a young mother with a lot on her plate. As we started talking to her, we weren't sure that she was going to be open to the gospel, she has some beliefs that are different, but for some reason she is always happy to see us and lets us in. Through questions we figure out that she had had a misunderstanding with some other missionaries about the Book of Mormon which gave us the opportunity to explain and invite. We also talked about a few other things that all came from asking a question and letting questions and concerns come forward. By the end, she said, well remember how i changed my curtains after the first time you came over. (which was something i had noticed and commented on like 2 weeks earlier). They were maroon and now they were white. She said after you left, I felt like I wasn't alone, it felt happy. SO i changed my curtains so it would be lighter and i open my windows every morning. We talked about the feelings and how it was what the Holy Ghost could do and then we tied that back into how we ourselves can bring that feeling into our own lives and homes and how when we read the Book of Mormon we can feel those. It was an awesome experience and the spirit was so strong! Almost tangible. And she doesn't realize it but she was the one who invited him to come in. 

Overall it was a week of happiness :) Lots of learning, lots of smiles and lots of growth for both me and those who are teaching me. As we talked with our relief society president we talked about what we are grateful for. As i am out here, i learn a lot and one thing i learned is how much i have to be grateful for. maybe for thanksgiving i will make a list. But i can share a few. I am so thankful for you, My family who i really love. That is really the best way i can express it, i couldn't have been given to a better family. I am also grateful that i can testify about the 4 important truths someone must understand to be converted. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that Joseph Smith saw God and his son Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and in reality Another Testimony of Jesus Christ. I know the the power of God has been brought back to the Earth again to bless each and every one of us. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and find the time to look at what is truly important and the many things that God has given us. 

Hermana Ray

 

 

Also i got to be the make up dummy at mutual this week...

My birthday cake

Thanks for these! they are heaven sent also the Nativity i love it

11-18-13

Hola Familia!

What an awesome week it has been! That's pretty much what it comes down to. Have a great week!

... Just kidding. It really has been an awesome week. The weather has been warmer than planned which is always a plus. Last Monday it was actually warm enough to run outside. We had 2 great ideas last week, go eat at La Cabana (Mexican place here in Royal) and go for a run. both great ideas but when you put them together, we were both ready to die! well... i can't talk for Hermana Heninger, she was probably fine.

This week at the Food Bank i had a good idea on how to help them Be better organized in the section where we help out. Which lead to us getting a demolition and cleaning project next week. It is such a great place to be and I love serving the people. We also had the chance to talk to a woman there who was helping out. Usually we don't talk to her a whole lot because we are super busy. This week wasn't to crazy and we started talking to her. By the end of our time there we had been someone that she could talk to, asked us for our phone number and said she might come to church, later that day she called us and asked us some more info. Later that day she sent us a text saying that she knew God had put us there at the Food Bank that day to talk to her. It was pretty cool.

Owen, who got baptized back in September is doing awesome. Since his baptism he had the opportunity to go down to the temple in Tri-Cities! He loved it! He is doing really well! he himself is a little missionary and will be the first person to jump in and help or offer a Book of Mormon. He has also been working on reading the new quad that he got for his birthday! it has been so fun to watch him! 

Wendy is doing really awesome. Her kids are adorable. Last time we went over was a combination of spiritual and funny. She was making some dinner and so we offered to help. She was making enchiladas. Thats easy right? She said to pour the sauce on and we did. after putting them in the oven, she asks. should we have put some tomato sauce in with our enchilada sauce... I have no idea, i have never made them before. i didn't even used to like them! She then says, oh man, they might be a little spicy. Then we realize that she bought the hottest type of enchilada sauce as well! Man... It was spicy, i felt so bad that it was and we all sat  there and were basically crying while eating it! But the meat inside was really really good! It was sooo spicy. I can handle some spice, but it burned! Definately a learning experience, and luckily she could totally blame it on us. But it was fun because we read out of the Book of Mormon stories with her kids and then after we had a really cool lesson with her. She has such a desire to learn. I think we will continue to have fun together and hopefully have great spiritual growth as well!

We had a really busy weekend. Running (sometimes literally) from place to place. The Lord has blessed us with work to do and the strength to do it. I love being a missionary!! Talking to people and helping them learn about Christ and inviting them to learn for themselves is the best way I could possibly be spending my time. At a meeting this week, a scripture was shared that goes along with something dad told me either in an email or before i left. It was in Alma 57:27 and it says, "Now this was the faith of these of whom i have spoken; they are young and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." I thought about had Dad had told me about God putting his trust in all of these 19-20 year olds to bring his words to the World and how crazy that was if you really think about it. Well he has put his trust in me and i have put my trust and my life in his. It has been a really great week and i Know that God is a God of miracles and always will be. I know that He loves us and is willing to bless us when we are willing to follow him. Have a great week! I love you all!

Hermana Ray

 

Fall in Washington

 

11-11-13

Hola Familia!

Another good week coming at you from Royal! Included was the first snow of the Winter! It was like a fake snow it didn't stay on the ground for very long. But it is one of the only times yet that i have woken up to snow, it may have happened once or twice in Flagstaff, but not in November! 

Also Royal High School won it's first play off game and as the lowest seed knocked out the highest... And here... that is a big deal. just thought you would all like to know. That is like the biggest news coming from our area.

Since the Weather has cooled down, people aren't working as much. They can't because it is dark by 5 oclock! I know you think i am kidding but it is true! 

It has been a really good week and I am happy to say that I am happy. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways. 

One of my favorite experiences this week was when we were visiting a less active with 3 girls. As we were getting to share something with her i couldn't think of a good scripture, i decided to ask her, are there any topics that you would like to hear about or that your daughters are stuggling with. form that we launched into a discussion watching what we say and who we are. and what did i share with her? Mosiah 4: 30 and a quote that is probably on like a third of the teachers walls at MVT. About watching our thoughts because our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, and our actions become our character... And our character is everything. As Hermana Heninger and i have been reflecting on our last week, we have noticed the importance of our actions and how they have influenced different people in our area. People do notice and I never want there to be a doubt on my actions or what I believe in.

We did service for Warren again. We have to show our love through action because he is hard of hearing and every time i try to talk he makes me start over, slow down, and pronunciate more. But we invited him to the dinner that our ward is having to celebrate the end of the harvest and i think he will come! He won't read anything we leave him because he says he doesn't like "our literature". One day Warren, one day.

I started rereading conference talks again and i am so excited. i love reading about what the living apostles and prophets have to say! Elder Hales said something about conference that i loved, and we could apply it to every meeting that we go to and who we are. He said, "we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them." SO let us all go and live them!

Have a great week, I love you all thanks for your support! 

Hermana Ray

 

Just sorting clothes at the food bank

 

11-4-13

Hola Familia!

It has been a really good week this week. Halloween has come and gone and was a very fun experience as a missionary. Plus i get to stay in Royal City for another transfer!! As Doreen would say, "Oh Good!"

We had a super awesome experience with one of the couples that lives in our ward this week. We have started doing lessons to teach the members what tools we have and how we present them to other people so that they can think of how to present them to other people. It has been an interesting process as we try to think of people that they could share it with. Well last sunday we had a cool lesson with the friends of the family we were eating dinner with. After we went to have dinner and talked about how they are doing. The Whithursts are an amazing couple who are a huge example to the neighborhood they live in. Well, it was a good day and we set up a time to meet with the Whitehursts and have one of these member lessons. Well, we were calling to confirm the day of the lesson and she tells us she has a great story for us. After we had gone and visited Ed and Beverly (the friends) she had gone by a few days later to drop off some cupcakes that she had made. When she went over Ed was talking about how impressed with the missionaries they had been and that Beverly wanted one of them "books" meaning a Book of Mormon! That night we brought copies of the Book of Mormon and thought of ideas and brainstormed and showed some ways to introduce the Book of Mormon. I am proud to report that when we were sitting next to Sister Whitehurst in Relief Society yesterday, she turned to us and told us that the books had been delivered. To me this was exactly what Elder Ballard had been talking about. Members and missionaries both working hard together. We wouldn't have been able to have this awesome experience without each other.

Like pretty much everywhere we had a Halloween carnival and trunk or treat, but ours was actually the day before Halloween because the youth help run the carnival and it was easier to do on mutual night because the high schools around here don't have games on wednesday nights. We were so glad because that meant that we got to go! We had a curfew on actual Halloween, but we got to go to the activity. Almost all of the people we are teaching came and there were so many people there! It is getting to big to have inside the church. It was a great way for the church to reach out to the community. The trunk or treat is big here cause there are very limited places to go trick or treating. Wendy came with her four oldest kids and it was really fun! Wendy is super awesome and is a really good person who wants to know Christ, she has really come to see the blessings that are coming to her life. It is amazing! 

We also had some opportunities to do service this week. Warren is an old guy that we found literally in the middle of some pine trees. i think he planted them all himself. Anyways, we found him a couple weeks ago and had talked to him. Shortly after that was when the big storm hit that knocked out power. he lost some parts of his trees and talked about cleaning them up, we offered to help and he said there was a guy who usually did it for him. Well, the wind blows here.. pretty much all the time and he had lost a few more trees. We went by to see how he was doing and offered to come back and help, we set up a time the next day. He comes from a belief that he doesn't know if there is a God, he doesn't believe there isn't one and doesn't there is one. We set up a time to come back after making a comment like, "well if God is willing" and we said we would be there the next day. We also went the day after that, and both my companion and i can see that he has a warmer presence to him just by knowing that someone cares about him. It was cool, plus after i smelt like pine trees for like 3 days. 

Halloween itself was pretty good, we went home after dinner, but Sister Trihey fed us dinner. This couple lives in the ward but travels a lot for work. They are the nicest people ever and we always have a great time. She spoiled us and sent us home with a Halloween treat bag. She said there weren't any kids around to spoil so she had to spoil us.

Over all it is was a really good week. The work here in Royal is moving forward and i have absolutely no doubt that it is due to the awesome members and our dedication to try and be obedient. I have been doing lots of studying on being obedience and how it relates to my dedication as a missionary. As soon as you stop seeing it as rules you HAVE to follow, they aren't a big deal. As silly as some of them may be, they are all given under direction of the Lord.I found this quote by Elder Christopherson today "We can expand our freedom by perfecting our obedience" That is one of the projects i currently have, perfecting my obedience.  I love you all thanks for your love and support!  Have a great week. 

Hermana Ray

10-28-13

Hola Familia! 

Man is it a great week to be a missionary!

Work here is going really well, we are blessed with people to teach and members who are AMAZING! They are all about missionary work and everyone cares about every person of the community!

A few quite amazing missionary experience and then i will get to the most exciting part of the week! First we had a second lesson with a young adult named Dallas. After sitting down, we asked him how reading the Book of Mormon went. He told us good but he didn't understand lots of it. So we asked him what he read so we could help to try to explain it. He then says, "oh part of 1st Nephi, 3rd Nephi, and Mormon." It was so awesome to see someone receive a Book of Mormon and run with it. We talked a lot about study tools we have and how important it is to make sure we understand the content rather than just reading through. We then talked about the Plan of Salvation and how God is watching out for us and knows us. It was great! As we were explaining. Every once in a while we would ask if what we were sharing was making sense, he then would respond that yes, yes it does, it makes a lot of sense. I feel as if the Spirit is truly giving him the answers that he has been looking for. we are simply tools in the Lords hands to get him this information. He talked about how he wanted to know what we believed because there is a lot of evil in the World and you never quite know what is the truth. That one experience could have made my week right there!

But wait, there's more! We had an Family home evening with Wendy, someone we are teaching,  and her 4 oldest children. They were a little shy at first being in the home of someone they didn't know. But as I was saying before the members are amazing here! Pretty soon they realized that they were in a safe enviornment and truly began to shine. Her kids are ages 7,6,5,4 and they are generally a pretty roudy bunch (a very cute roudy bunch). Along with the Fieldings (who have 4 kids 7 and under) we taught the kids about obeying God and the Ten Commandments. For Wendy to see that her children were actually learning things and remebering about Jesus put a huge smile on her face, especially when we got to honor thy father and thy mother. It was a great opportunity to show how powerful learning from our families is. It is truly a blessing from our Heavenly Father to have such experiences.

I know you are all thinking how this email could get better, well here it is. This last Saturday we had a meeting with the entire Washington Kennewick mission. Why? Good question. Because Elder M. Russell Ballard wanted to talk to us. As well as Richard Maynes and our area 70 Elder Risenmay. IT WAS AMAZING!!!! When he first came in each missionary got an opportunity to shake his had, what an experience it was to have the chance to introduce myself to a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! A living servant of our Savior Jesus Christ who has dedicated much of his life to Him. It was such a good conference. All of them gave talks that were truly amazing and I learned a lot from each and every one of them. I could sit here for hours and discuss all that was shared with us. But i received a witness of God's love, not only for me but every single person who has walked upon the Earth. They talked a lot about the fact that you will never teach those who you don't find, and that we need to literally talk to everyone! He also talked to us about member missionary work. He worries that as members are asked to do more that missionaries will feel that the members have more responsibility than we do and we need to let the members act and wait for them to give us someone to teach. He then said that we need to be the example and that if we are working hard the members will see that we love them and their area. He said with those efforts together, Members and Missionaries giving it our all, then we will see the miracles of member missionary work! So i will give Royal City my all. Since I have been here I have gained such a great love for the people here that I never want to leave!

Also from Elder Ballard, he said that we have to know the gospel to be able to share it. He said we don't need to know every detail there is but continually study the principles so that they are on our minds, and then share them. It is better to have a knowledge and share it with others. He said that they (the leaders of the church) are aware of Satan and what we are up against, but then he said... BUT, we also know the Lord. The Lord is powerful and he will always win over Satan.

Elder Maynes and Elder Risenmay both told stories about knocking one more door. Their stories were pretty similar in the fact that they were knocking door after door without finding much success. As they were finally getting ready to go home or start something else, they decided to knock one more door. And can i just tell you something? ALWAYS knock that last door! That night after the conference we had tried quite a few houses, it was dark and no one really wanted to talk to us. The last week here has been crazy for everyone with work. Anyway after knocking quite a few doors. we found ourselves in a group of 4 trailers that we have knocked many times. We knew one wasn't home. Another was busy and the other didn't answer, yes, leaving ONE more door. We had knocked on that trailer a few times, when cars were there with no success, but we decided it couldn't hurt to knock one more. As you can guess, she answered, let us in and we had a great discussion on prophets and the restoration of the church and she said we could come back again. Do i know where it will go teaching her? absolutely not, but God answers prayers and always has a plan for us even if we can't see it.

This week I have grown a lot, at least I feel like a different missionary. The importance of why i am here has really come to the surface. I have been humbled and served and enlightened by an Apostle of the Lord. My faith in the Lord has never been stronger in my life. I know what Faith is, I know it is real and that i have the Good hope in Christ that will anchor my soul (Ether 12:4). Looking for scriptures on faith? read Ether 12, it uses the word a bigillion times. I love you all and hope you are finding joy in your journey of life. We have the freedom to choose what our attitude will be in life. Choose to be happy!

Hermana Ray