Viva Jamaica

Date: June, 21, 2011
Area: Jamaica, Queens
Companion - Sister Alvardo

Dear Family,

Where do the weeks keep going?! Time is a flying! Alright so this week has seriously been AMAZING! So we were able to teach one of our investigators named Jose. He is what we call one of those "Golden" investigators. So we brought with us a Member Hermana Marinez with us. We were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation. He loved hearing the fact that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us. We then committed him to be baptized. He accepted. He said, " I will prepare myself and do everything that I can so that I will be ready to be baptized"! I wanted to SHOUT for joy right there and then. ( However I might have gotten a few weird looks) He is solid.

We have done a lot and a lot of work with inactives. I have really learned the importance of Home and Visiting Teaching. It is so so so important that we do our duties in the church. For this is just another way that our Heavenly Father shows his children that we love him. We have no idea how many times we are and can be answers to one anothers prayers if we fulfill our callings and also listen to those spiritual promptings that we recieve and ACT upon them.

We were able to have what is called a "Street Sweep" on Thurdsay. What this means i that we set up a little booth with all of our Church DVD's on it, and along with that we have a Book of Mormon and a Bible. So we stand there and pretty much let the people know that they can have a free DVD and along with that a Free Book of Mormon. We then tell the people that they can sign up and we will bring them a free copy of whatever selection that they want. ( that also may include a Little lesson here) :) I was actually surprized at how many people we were able to gather from this. It is really neat to me to have been able to watch these people from ALL around the world come up to this booth. Everyone here has at least some type of belief in Christ. This one lady came up to me and said

" Does your church preach the word of God?" I replied, " Of Course we do!" She then said, "Well do they preach it well? I told her that we preach it SOoo good :) She then said, " Good! Because I am looking for a church that teaches the word good! Ha I told her that we were the ones! ha She said alright then, I want your book of Mormon, I want your Bible and I want EVERYTHING that you have :)
And ~ Your Wish is my command! haha!

I really enjoy contacting. We get to meet some of the MOST INTERESTING people I have ever seen! I have had some pretty fun encounters on the bus. The other day I was able to teach this lady on the bus in english ( which I am not going to lie I kinda struggled with because I am so used to speaking in Spanish) anyways I taught her about the restoration. At certain points I would ask her if it made sense.... after a long pause she said, NOPE! haha but keep going! She was willing and had a listening ear. And sometimes that is all that matters :)

I do not know if any of you have heard about the Broadway Play called " The Book Of Mormon". Well anyways it is a play that is supposed to be about the Book of Mormon. Which of Course it is totally off and very much Down plays the Book of Mormon. However whenever satan uses a tactic it gives us the opportunity to be stronger. So what the church has done, which I think is really neat is, that they have been advertising Mormon.org. We now have Mormon.org on Billboards in Manhattan, and along with that we have it on top of all of the Taxis. This has been able to increase peoples awareness of our church and what we are really about. Also to show that us "Mormons" are normal people. :) For anyone who has not had the chance to create a Mormon Profile, I invite you to do so. It is such a neat tool to be able to use the internet for good so that we can share our beliefs.

** Funny note- The other day my companion and I were walking down Jamaica Street and someone yelled! Youre the Mormons right?! Yes why of course we are :) " Youre Famous!" You won the Oscars!
If anything it has made people more aware :)

So this weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to sit and the feet of church leaders. We were privilaged to hear from Elder Gong and Elder Christiansen from the 70 and along with that their sweet wifes. They held a fireside where everyone was invited. It was so humbling to see familys travel from very far away on trains after trains after subways just to get there.

Here are some key points that I would like to share.

Sister Gong talked about what it meant to be a "True Mormon". Do we walk the walk? It is so important to not only preach our values but more important of course to actually live them.

Another fun fact that I learned is that "The gospel is going forth amoung all to the nations....we now have the gospel in 21 countries that have over 100,000 members! Three in North America Countries, 12 Central American Countries, and South, 1 country in Europe, 4 Asia and 1 in Africa. The Church is Growing at Rapid Speed :)

Another quote from Elder Gong that I love ~ "I can always tell a woman/mans heart by the way that he/she prays"

We also were able to hear from The 70 again Yesterday. We had a really good discussion about the Sacrament, and partaking it. And the deeper meaning behind it. We spend about 45 to an hour discussing and really trying to analyze the sacrament prayer and find what it really means. We learned what it really meant to " Remember" through what our savior taught. I am SO thankful that the lord has given us the Sacrament and I know how important it is to be able to partake of that sacrament each week.


We were able to talk about our theme as a mission 2011.

" Remember him by serving Others"
1) Remember - Luke 22
2) Witness - 3 Nephi 11
3) Testify - 3 Nephi 18
4) Baptize - Doctrine and Covenants 20:77

I would go into more detail but I do not have time, However if you have the chance to study these are GREAT scriptures :)


" When we do his will, we discern his love for us" ~ Sister Gong

I love this gospel! I am SO thankful for the chance that I have to teach and help the people of New York! Thank you everyone for your continued love and support, it means the world to me :)

Be strong~ Joshua 1:8

Love
Hermana Gray!

I'm in NYC

Date: June 13, 2011
Area: Jamaica, New York

Companion - Sister Alvarado

Dear Sweet Family,

I am in NY I can NOT believe it!! I have so much to tell you in so little time. Alright where to begin... Well we had some INCREDIBLE last few days at the MTC! I did not want to leave. Having General Authoritys come and speak to us has just been something else. The spirit is TAN fuerte (really strong) in the MTC! Our teachers gave us some really good advice and scriptures at the end.
1. Isaiah 41:10
2.Moroni 8:3
3. Jacob 2:8
4. Doctrine and Covenants 100:1-4
5. Doctrine and Covenants 101-4-6
6. MY favorite section 121 and section 123

If you have time maybe you guys could study these :) They are such incredible scriptures! I can not believe that I actually am in the field. It feels like just yesterday I left on my mission and now I have already gone to the MTC and now am out in the field..... Time is flying!

I was able to meet my mission President, President Nelson and his sweet wife. They are seriously INCREDIBLE! Not to mention President Nelson has the FUNNIEST sense of Humor! He is an incredible man who has done so much with his life for good. I was able to spend some quality time with Sister Nelson as I helped her prepare dinner and breakfast the following day. She is such an amazing lady. Her herself served a mission in Chile! yay for Sister Missionarys! I love her!

I met my first companion, my trainer Hermana Alvarado. She is Mexican :) You have NO idea how happy this makes me! hehe I forgot to mention I am THE ONLY WHITE person here...let me repeat ONLY white person here! ha besides the other missionarys. People walk around with pink hair, blue hair, purple hair and its normal! ha I feel like the odd man out being white and blonde!! This means that I am speaking Spanish 24/7! There are people from ALL over the world here! People from Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, ( a few from Mexico) Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. I have heard ALL sorts of different types of Spanish. I admit sometimes when I am talking I forget how to say things in English :) This is a wonderful sign and makes me SO SO happy!

Well the members they sure feed you good. ha Dad you should be proud of me! I have eaten things that I NEVER imagined me eating! I am not even sure what they are. lol I have never prayed so much to be able to eat a meal. Rice and Beans..Rice and beans... REPEAT! haha I am definitely not going to go hungry :)

I have never walked so much in my life! Our means of transportation is the Bus :) They are SO many interesting people here on the bus. One thing that I love about being on the mission is the fact that I wear this black name tag. It not only has my name on it
"Hermana Gray" but along with that it has the name of our Savior! Jesus Christ. As I bore my testimony in the MTC I talked about how excited I am not only to share the gospel with others, but the fact that I have this name tag one to share it. I know that I am helped by my savior. He has given me so much strength. We have had zone conferences and district conferences. One of the Elders asked my companion how her nueva companion is being me. She replied, " Great ha she talks to everyone" ! lol

Funny Story, I was making a contact with someone on the bus. He was from Mexico. As I was getting his information and giving him a pass along card, my companion informed me that it was our stop and that we had to get off. As I tried to get off ( while hauling this box of bedding that mom send me) I missed the stop! ha I stood there and waved as I watched my companion get off the bus! haha Dont worry I managed to get off on the next stop :)

We have 6 progressing investigators right now. One of them is Eddie. He is the cutest little man from Guatemala ( They are tiny). We went by his house on Sunday to take him to Church. As we got to his apartment he said "Dame 7 minutos" So we waited as he got ready for the day. He got his best outfit on and his best shoes. This was so humbling. He walks with a major limp. We had about 15 blocks to walk and he was so cute saying hi and waving to everyone in his path. He really enjoyed church. **Side note alright dad I know that I have had said this before but I just wanted to thank you for making me take those piano lessons. Right when I got there President Martinez the branch president asked me if I would play the piano.So I am not the Ward Pianist - and when I say that I mean the Sacrament Pianist, the Gospel Doctrine Pianist AND the Relief Society Pianist. haha did I mention I am also the pianist for (special musical numbers?) haha So thank you dad :) I love it!

Eddie had SO many questions in Gospel Doctrine. We were learning about the Holy Ghost and the "GIFT" of the holy Ghost! Eddie asked what salvation was, we explained to him the 5 steps.

1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
2.Repentance
3. Baptism
4.Laying on of hands by the gift of the holy ghost.
5. Enduring to the end.

He also wanted to know what the difference was between the holy ghost and the Gift of the holy ghost. We explained to him that one recieves the gift of the holy ghost by the laying on of hands after one is baptized :)
This was the PERFECT lesson for him, because we were just going to teach him the gospel of Jesus Christ and commit him to baptism. We have a date for the 26th of June. Please Pray for him that he will feel the love that the Savior has for him and that he will commit. After Church before we got out of Relief Society he had already left. However that night when we were at our zone meeting, he called. He told us that he LOVED church. This made me SO SO happy!!! Ahh! Oh the joy that this gospel brings :)

President Nelson showed us the last 13 minutes of a talk given by Elder Holland. He talked about when the savior told the disciples "peter" to leave their nets behind he meant everything! As missionarys we also are asked to leave our nets behind. We have to dedicate 100% of our thoughts, heart, might mind and strength to the lord. If we really do love the lord we will serve him. I love in Mosiah 2:17 how its says when we serve gods children we ultimately serve him. I am SO thankful to be on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have learned so much! I am so thankful for those precious early hours of the morning where I am able to treaure up the word of god. The Scriptures.

I love our 2011 Mission Theme. " Remember him, by Serving Others"

Se que Dios Vive Y que el es Nuestro Amoroso Padre Celestial. Se que JesuCrist se murio por cada de nosotros y mediante el y su arripentimiento nosotros podemos volver para vivir para siempre con nuestro padre celestial. Se que Dios contestan a TODOS de nuestras oraciones, y que el nos aman. Se que Jose Smith fue una profeta de dios y que el le Traduyo el libro del mormon. Se que esta inglesia es la UNICA iglesia verdadera en esta tierra.

Remember that when we share the gospel that the first thing that we should share is about the Atonement. For that is what this gospel is based off of. I am so thankful for the restored gospel and for the chance that I have to share it :)

I love you all!!

Hermana Gray

P.s. I gave away a Book of Mormon on the plane :) There is no greater joy than bringing others unto christ!

p.s.s there was this lady the other day who came up to us. and said " What is this all about ? I saw you guys on TV! I told her that we were representatives of Jesus Christ and his church and that we bring people closer to christ! She told us that that was EXACTLY what she needed in her life right now and that her husband just died in Nov. She said do you want my number?!? haha OF COURSE we do! Then she said...now are you going to teach me in spanish? ha we told here that we would turn the English missionarys over to her . She then told us that " I CANT WAIT to be baptized!" haha Me either lol!

God has prepared people to hear this gospel :)
I love it!