Jamaica, Jamaica

Date: July 25, 2011
Area: Jamaica, Queens
Companion - Sister Alavardo


Dear Family!

This week was FANTASTIC! Alright so...Where to start. alright so this week we were able to meet with Jose Martinez (our progressing investigator) for a family home evening. We went to Hermana Alarcon's house and so her along with another member named Anna were present. We were able to teach him El Evangelio de Jesucristo. (The Gospel of Jesus Christ) It really helped to be able to have another member there to add an additional testimony. We were able to explain to him that he can be the pioneer of his family to join the church and that he is setting such a wonderful example to his family. He really enjoyed having family home evening and was super excited to meet with us again, and to further progress towards baptism.



We have been able to do a lot of tracting/finding. We found two new investigators whose name were both Jose! So we now have THREE investigators named Jose! ( So sometimes we like to sing..."Jose,Jose,Jose..." haha) anyways We were able to meet with Melbyn our investigator whom we contacted on the street about 2 weeks ago. When we got to his house one by one 3 other men came down the stairs. Melbyn then informed us that His brother Dalin (22 Years old), along with his Cousin Alex (16 years old) and cousin Delbyn (22 years old) all wanted to hear our message. He loved our message last time and now had the desire to share it with his family. Man! I was just overwhelmed with Joy! We now had 3 new investigators with the blink of an eye :) We taught them the restoration and they loved it! We gave them the Book of Mormon and assigned them some homework that they could all do together. They were really excited about our message and we have another "cita" appointment with all 4 of them this Friday! I am so excited!




On Saturday we had an appointment with a man named Victor. He was a referral that a member gave us (Guido Gallardo - aka funniest guy alive). So we went to his house and taught him the restoration. He informed us that he was Catholic but that he wanted to know more. During the lesson we found out that half of his family (his mothers side) were all pretty much Mormon. He was really attentive during the lesson and had a lot of good questions. We invited him to church on Sunday and he said that he would love to come!




So then we had an appointment with Jose again, where we were going to teach him the word of Wisdom. We were rushing to go and meet our member who was going to accompany us during his lesson. Right when we got there we recieved a phone call from Jose telling us that he was going to cancel. Ah I felt my heart sink to my stomach. We then began plan B and were going to catch a bus to go and teach some potentionals. Right before we got on the bus Jose called us back and said that we could come over and that he was available now :)




I wanted to shout for joy :) Ok so we went over to Jose's house and taught him the word of Wisdom. We had him make a list of things that we should intake and things that we should not intake (aka foods, drinks, etc...) He was SO excited to know that there was a church out there that believed in keeping our bodies healthy. We also read with him in the Doctrine and Covenants 89 about the blessings that the lord promises us when we obey the word of Wisdom. (For when the lord gives us a commandment he always gives us the strength to follow it and always promises a blessing) He was So excited!




After this we reviewed with him the questions that he was going to be asked to be baptized! I was filled with joy from head to toe when he responded YES! to knowing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was true, and that the prophet Joseph Smith was true! When we asked him what it meant to him to have a living prophet on the earth today this was his response. "It is a blessing really"! He knows so much and has such a high level of understanding. We go to teach him, but half the time he ends up teaching us! He has such a desire to do what is right.




The next day he informed us that he went into work to tell his boss that he will NO longer be working on Sundays. He understands the inportance of keeping the sabbath Day holy.




Saturday we contacted this cute little guy from Honduras who was selling (shiskabobs) I dont know how you spell but anyways he said, " Why dont you guys write down my name, number and address, I would love to hear more about the word of God." HA ok you bet we will! Made our job easy :) So on Sunday we called him to invite him to church! He said that he would love to come! To we waited for Pedro on Jamaica Street. And there he was in his shorts, blue polo t shirt and a ball cap! ha He was all smiles and just happy as can be! He came to church and was attentive throughout the entire thing! He even came to gospel principles! He had to leave early to go and visit a relative in the hospital. But I know that he felt the spirit and wanted to come back next week :)



Speaking of Sacrament meeting the Temple Presidency came and spoke to us :) It was really really neat! They spoke to us about the importance of making sure that we ALWAYS have a temple recommend and that we never let it expire and that we are attending the temple as often as we can. I can't wait till I get to go to the temple at my half way mark :)



“And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. ( Mosiah 24:11)



I love this scripture! We have trials in our lives for a reason, and I love knowing that our Heavenly Father is in charge. And most of the time he does not take the burden away, however he does give us the strength to get through it. And that is all that matters!



I love this gospel! I love NY! And I love you family! Can't wait to hear from you next week!



Love,
Hermana Gray

What a wonderful week :)

Date: July 18, 2011
Area: Jamaica, New York
Companion - Sister Alavardo

Dear Family,

This week was just absolutely.....hm not sure how to put it into words besides FABULOUS :) I do not really know where to start...so I apoligize for random thoughts :)

So... Tuesday we had the awesome opportunity to go out tracking with President Nelsons Wife Sister Nelson. She is just an incredible lady with such a drive for missionary work. We were talking to everyone that we saw! We contacted SO many people that we were in. The area that we were tracking in was not highly populated with hispanics but on the contrary many African Americans. She said that she loved knocking doors here in NY, because honestly we NEVER know what we are going to get :) There are some of the funniest- god loving people here. She treated us to some Lemonade from this little lemonade stand, I gave a mormon.org card to the guy selling the juice and he wanted a picture with us. He was the funniest guy.

Monday Sister Alvarado and I were tracking and well we looked a little bit lost, so as we were passing a house this lady asked us if we knew where we were going. ha Well to answer you honestly no. lol We then got directions from her and then I told her who we were and how we were missionarys. I gave her a mormon.org card and she said, " oh the Mormons?" ha I am on your website all the time chatting with them mormons. ha REALLY!?! She then asked me if I could help her interpret her dream. She proceeded to tell me her dream and how in her dream the savior came down to the earth. Ha I told her that I was no dream interpreter but I then pretty much explained to her Alma 34:32-34 about how now is the time to prepare to meet God, and how he is coming sooner than we think, and that we need to make sure that we are doing those things that we ought to, reading our scriptures, going to church and that we also need to be baptized. She then said, " I want to be baptized in your church!" haha ( I can take care of that :) ) haha I gave her info to the English Sisters :)

So....about two weeks ago we were tracking and just about finished to go to the house for the night. We saw a man struggling to carry his ice cream card along with another. We then offered him some help and he said that he was fine and that we were so nice to offer. He then said that, " Since you offered help, you deserve some ice cream." haha fine by me. We then asked if there would be a time that we could come by and visit. We had our first lesson with him and his daughters this week. His name is Guillermo and he is from Guatemala- just the humblest nicest guy ever. They LOVED our message and accepted our challenge to read the Book of Mormon. We pass him everyday walking down Jamaica Street and he always gives us shaved ice :) haha but the thing that was really neat is that when we pass him he says that he is reading the Book of Mormon with his girls everyday! And that he is SO excited for us to come over again- he said. " I want my girls to learn good principles" He is solid. When we talked to him/invited him to come to church we talked about how he had a job on sunday and that we knew that it might be hard for him. Right in the middle of all that he said

" I can find a new job!" AH That made me SO happy! His girls are 10 and 12 and just the cutest things! We meet with them on Thursday :)

So... We had two lessons with Jose this week. He was SO happy when he came to realize that his prayers have been answered. He is SOLID and knows SO much! We had given him the homework assignment to read 1 Nephi 11 and to find out what everything symbolizes in Lehis Dream. He had his little notebook ready and answered everything PERFECTLY! He is amazing! So we have been teaching him for a while now and he has not come to Church yet. This time in the lesson HE brought up coming to church! ahh! When we showed up to his apartment for Church we went down stairs and he then informed us that we were going to wait for his brother. He invited his Brother Saul as well to come to church. ( Look at that! He is already doing missionary work!) haha they both LOVED Sacrament meeting, I was praying hard that Jose would stay for gospel principles. and he did! The members were all so wonderful at making him feel welcome. Unfortunately his brother had to leave but Jose stayed and he LOVED gospel principles. He said that everything was"mas clara" ~ clearer! We are having a family home evening with him and his siblings and another ward family this week :) He is SO excited!!

Something that has been really neat this week is my next couple thoughts. When I think about offering the gospel or this sweet message to others- we get rejected um...well A LOT! However something that has helped me and perhaps can help many if we look at the sharing the gospel in this manner.

Everytime I offer someone to listen/partake of this gospel I just think of it this way. I just pretend that I am offering someone a $100 dollar bill. And if they do not accept it, then I just go and offer it to someone else :) The gospel is oviously SO much more than a $100 dollars and can ultimately make us happy for the ETERNITYS and not just the simple gratification of that 100 bill. People are being prepared at different times in this life to ultimately someday recieve that 100 bill in a sense :)

We had 5 new investigators this week and we also got 2 refferals from ward members! (Which is AWESOME!) Its the first we have recieved in months! Member work is the key!!

I just loved this week! I am excited for this weeks adventures! I love LOVE this gospel! and I love you Family VERY much! Thank you Whitings for your package! I LOVED it!! Thank you for everyones support :) You are all in my prayers!

Shout out to Stephany Goit and Courtney Burford! I love you! And Kayleen Sanders you have some writting to do :) I need to know some details! haha p.s. Summer Lewis I met Elder Hall From BYU Idaho he says hi and Congratulations :)

I love everyone else too :) Dont have time to write all your names down but I love EVERYONE :)

And Happy 12th Birthday to my little Miss Courtney! I love you!!!

I love you!!!

Hermana Gray

P.s.

" When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our Walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound and obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden." President Uchdorf

Do what you love, Love what you do!!!

Date: July 11, 2011
Area: Jamaica, New York
Companion - 

Dear Family!

This week was wonderful! It feels like I was just at this computer writing you last week! Man I seriously feel so loved and supported by everyone. I am so thankful for wonderful family and friends! So shout out to you all :) I love you!

Alright so hm this week. Alright well we had another training meeting! ( I seriously love these meetings!) We learned again about the importance of Sacrament meeting. A lot of the members/investigators here in NY have a hard time getting to Church. So we learned/ talked about how we can get them to Church. We talked about teaching them about the significance of the sacrament itself. "We cant live a celestial lifewith out partaking of the Sacrament" ~ Elder Doxey. Also he said that we can not be perfect in this life, but we can be worthy. We partake of the sacrament so that we can renew our baptisimal covenants which are

1. To Always Remember him.

2. Keep his Commandments

3. and that we may always have his spirit to be with him

I am SO thankful for this wonderful gift/ opportunity that we have to partake of this sacrament each and every week. We are indeed blessed. I think that it is the coolest thing that I Hermana Gray - Have been called by a Prophet of God to preach to the people of the New York New York South Mission! Seriously that knowledge alone gives me strength to do what I do each and every day.

We had the opportunity to bring with us a 17 year old member whose name is Ursula with us tracking and knocking doors one day. She wants to go on a mission! ( I think thats a great Idea :) I may be a little biased) ha anyways so we were taking the bus to go and visit a less active. I began talking to a guy named Fernando he said that he had met with the missionarys before. I asked him what they had taught him and then began to explain to him about the Book of Mormon and gave him a card. He kept saying over and over again, " Its not an easy thing that you do. Walking and Walking everyday talking to people." ha And you know what? He is right! But I did not expect it to be the least of bit easy. Because like President Holland put it so beautifully " Salvation isn't easy" What the Savior had to do in Gethesame was not easy. However I told him like I have said it over and over again. But its worth it! Every minute is worth it! And I have to make every minute count!

Right when we got on the bus it began pouring!!!!! like CATS AND DOGS :) not like what we "think" are rain storms in Az :) haha Betweeen the three of us we had 1 tiny umbrella. After we got off the bus we figured that we were already SOAKED enough eh who needs the umbrella? :) We looked like we had just jumped into a swimming pool. When we got to "what we thought was a less actives" house to our surprize a member opened the door! He laughed at how wet we were and invited us in. He gave us towels to dry off and some papaya juice :) Anyways then his wife walked in. She just had barely came in from Chile! They have not seen each other in SIX years!!!!! man I can not imagine that! The sacrifice that these people here in NY do and have never ceases to amaze me! I begun to tell them that my dad served in Chile! I ALWAYS get SUPER excited when I hear that they are from Chile and always happily say that my dad served there! They said that you and I dad were more than welcome to go and visit them in Chile! So dad were going to chile :) Plan for it! haha Anyways we had a good visit with them and were able to share with them a brief message and were on our way.

Saturday we had another "Street Sweep" This time in Richmond Hill. It went fantastic! Walking up and down the streets for two hours what we call " Fearlessing people!" That means just going up to them, walking with them and introducing the church. (aka contacting!) I am constantly amazed that within that 2 hours I was able to talk to over 50 something people from ALL around the world!! Ah I love it! Some people accepted some didnt. Just like always :) This one lady from some island (she was hindu) but from somewhere else began telling me her whole life story and how her and her husband had traveled pretty much 99% of the US! We talked for a good 15 minutes (usually hindu people DONT talk like EVER) ha I then found out that her Husband was a member!! THAT NEVER HAPPENS!! ha I invited her to join her husband and gave her the card. Her name was Bibi :)

We had a REALLY good lesson with Jose the other night. We were able to bring with us a member Hermano Marinez. When we got there he had his Book of Mormom ready along with a notebook full of questions that he had about the Book of Mormon. This made me SO HAPPY because that meant that he was actually reading!! We read with his in First Nephi 8 about Lehi's vision and he was very attentive and understood what we were teaching. The spirit was so strong, it was really neat to see his eyes open as we begun to see that light shine in his eyes.

Well my time is up but here is a quote that I LOVE! by Spencer W. Kimball

" God does Notice us, and he watches over us, but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. ... " Therefore it is vital that we serve each other"

" Often the answer to our prayer doesnt come while we are on our knees but while we are on our feet serving the lord and those around us!"

Find and look for ways to serve! And ALWAYS ALWAYS follow those spiritual promptings! we never know when we are the answer to someones prayer!!

I love you all!!

Till next week!

Hermana Gray

Happy Forth!!!

Date: July 4, 2011

Area: Jamaica, Queens

Companion -

Dear Family,

I hope that you all are doing fantastic and that you had a blast at Stadium of Fire :) Wish I could have been there to watch little Courtney Dance! I love you all! Who would have thought that I would be in New York on the forth of July watching Fireworks from the roof of my apartment :) I love it!

So this last week was great as always! We had another wonderful training meeting which as usual was amazing! We talked about how true conversion comes through the spirit and that we need to be worthy of the spirit and that we need to be prepared. Something that stuck with me is when we talked about the spirit, and the information by which it draws from. We are told to rely on the spirit, however the spirit can ONLY draw from information that we have already studied,pondered and thought about. That is why it is SO important to study up the words. Just like it says in Doctrine and Covenants 11:21 "Seek not to adeclare my word, but first seek to bobtain my cword, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my dSpirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the econvincing of men." I have truly fallen in love with my scriptures and really do treasure those early hours in the morning where I am able to study my scriptures. and not only to study them, but to study not only for me, but most importantly for my investigators and their specific needs.

We have been able to do a lot of street contacting this week, which I absolutely love love! One because we get to talk to people, and I love talking :) haha no but really it is being able to bring people closer to christ and when one truly comes closer to Christ we can really see that light begin to shine in their countenance and it is just the neatest feeling.

We also learned in training meeting about how important it is to really talk and teach about the Book of Mormon in EVERY contact that we do. So not only giving away pass a long cards but carrying the Book of Mormon and using the introduction to teach.

One thing amoung many that I love about the Book of Mormon is the Introduction itself and the last two paragraphs which says

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.

The reason why I love this, is because if an investigator truly reads the Book of Mormon, and prays to know of its truthfulness they also will gain a testimony that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet, That This is the True Church and they will gain that by the personal witness of the Holy Ghost. That is just something that is just pure joy to me :)

We were street contacting and we ran into a name by the name of Pedro. He pretty much telling us his life story, and that he wanted the best for his Two sons. He said that he did not believe in drinking or partying and that he wanted his son to gain an education and talked to us about the importance of attending church. We were able to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon with him and the spirit was there. He said that he really wished that he had more time to talk with us, however he said that he had to go. We then gave him the book and he had the HAPPIEST look on his face. We got his info and he was super excited to be able to meet with us :)

We were challenged to invite everyone that we see to come to Church :) So in doing so we invited this cute little mexican lady who was hauling around 6 kids! We asked her if she wanted a free DVD and she said no, but that she was going to come to our Church on Sunday! Fine with me :) Oh the little joys.

So as missionarys being in the Spanish Area, we have the opportunity to teach English! Which I LOVE!!! ( I have a secret desire to be a spanish Teacher) anyways so my companion and I were coming from an appointment racing to the English Classes, which we usually have only about 6 maybe 7 people who come. To our surprize when we got there, there were about 15 people! ( Guess handing out those flyers worked) ha anyways at the end of every class we are able to teach a part of a lesson. We taught about the plan of Salvation.

Afterwards I began speaking with these two new faces who I had never seen before "Josealine and Judith" The mother and daughter were originally from Ecuador however moved to Spain! I told them that I had always wanted to visit Spain! They said that If I come I can stay with them!! ( YIPEE! Now I have hook ups in Spain) haha so turns out that they are visiting family down here in NY and are going to be here until August. Anyways after the class they asked if they could learn more. She wanted us to teach them both English and wanted to know more about the gospel! (MUSIC TO MY EARS) :) :) So the next day we met with them both and were able to teach them a little bit more english. Then we taught them about the Book of Mormon and Invited them to read it! They were ESTATIC and asked if they could have one to read in English as well. They understood not only the importance of reading it, but the importance of reading it every day. I am excited to meet with them again later this week!

The work is good! I love the fruits of the gospel and the true joy of being able to share it with others. We are so blessed to have the true gospel restored to us in this day.

I love you all so much!

Love Hermana Gray

P.s. Shout out to Amanda Walker! Happy BIrthday! I hope that you had a great one :) I love you!! p.s You're legal!

The last picture is a picture of Dulce and I. She is the CUTEST little girl of Antonia an investigator that we are teaching!