A week of Miracles :)

Date: October 31, 2012

Area: Long Island

Companion - Sister Lewis

Something about Snow in October just doesn't sound right?... haha but it happened :) Man its cold!

Well this week was nothing short of a week full of miracles. Monday we went bowling as a District...lets just say I may need to warm up my bowling skills :) ha the last time that I went bowling it was with my EFY kidos at BYU. Man I miss you guys! Anywho that was super fun!
Tuesday we had the opportunity to do a service project. we were able to go and pick up peoples leaves off their lawn. It is amazing to me how much fun service can be. Just like you said Dad, " If you are ever feeling bad about yourself, then go and serve someone and I guarantee that you will feel better." Its so true! Service is the coolest thing. and it gets even cooler when you think about what King Benjamin says when he says in Mosiah 2:17
17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the bservice of your cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

I think that it is so neat, to think that when we are serving others we are ultimately serving God. Thats why missioarys are so happy! Because they are serving god. There have been SO many people out here that say, "Now if youre from Arizona what in the world are you doing out here? ha Well I love the Lord, that is what it comes down to. I love the lord, and so I want to serve him. It all comes down to Obedience. At times children when they first begin to learn about obedience, they first obey their parents, maybe for fear of punishment. However I think that one of a parents dreams is to someday have their child obey them because they love them. If Love was our motive for everything, I think that this world would be a better place altogether. Love is so important. It needs to be our motive. Love as missionary's is something that is key. Just like Elder Holland says, that if we teach with love, we need not wonder what to say. If our investigators see that we truly do have a love for them and are only interested in their benefit and interested in making THEM happy then they will be able to see that change and want to keep commitments and progress.

So about two weeks ago there was this lady from Puerto Rico came to visit the church, because she had found it in Puerto Rico and became a member. So while she was visiting her friend she decided to bring her friend Ana to Church. Anyways she had wanted to take us to lunch so we met with Ana and Julia at Panera Bread. (which was delicious) Anyways we were able to talk to her and clear up some of her misunderstandings about the church. She said that we were easy to listen to. It was really neat to see how she changed throughout the time we were talking. At first she was really stand offish and wanted NOTHING to do with us as far as missionary work went. However by the end of the lunch we had, Ana ended up inviting us over for Dinner to eat at her house :) Its amazing to see that when the spirit is there, it can testify of truth and soften someones heart.

So about two weeks ago we were knocking doors and we were trying to look up a member of the church who was less active, who is the only member in her family. When her son Will answered. ha the Minute he saw us he said, " Aww you are the church people huh? Don't try to make me go to church. haha we told him that, that was not why we were here. lol but that we had a message about Christ. We told him that we were missionarys and that we were here for a short time period of a year and a half to invite people to come closer to Christ. He was about to let us into the door as he started to open the door and then quickly closed it. Ha lets just say that he was not going to let us in for a second. Well brightside....This week we were in his area again so we decided to go and see if his we could meet with his mom. His mom quickly let us in and was excited to see us.As soon as Will her son saw us he quickly went and hid in the back room. We then began talking with the mom and she explained to us that she had not been to church in a while but would come if someone invited her. As were talking with her Will snuck in haha and so we invited him to sit down. His mom was like yeah you need to talk to him about God :) We were able to teach the first lesson and it was really neat to see how his heart changed and how he was able to soften his heart and listen to the message that we had instead of criticizing :) He was really interested and had a lot of questions.

Alright I know that this is what you all have been waiting for! The Miracle of MIracles! SO.... one day Hermana Lewis and I were walking. And quite frankly we were lost. So..Hermana wanted to take a picture by this Brentwood sign and so we did. Then this little cute guy named Juan from El Salvador walked up to us and asked us if we wanted a picture together. So we said sure! So he gladly took our picture. We both noticed that he had a fortaleza de juventud pamplet "for the strength of youth" pamphlet in his hands. So we immediately asked him if he was a member and he was. I guess he just had not been to church in a long time.

Milagro 2. So we have been struggling to find members that are available to go out and teach with us during the day. So I was praying that we would have a member with us the next day. I knew that someone how the lord would provide, but I was not sure exactly how. So that next morning after going through calling about everyone on our list we were about to give up. Then all of a sudden the thought came to us to ask Juan. So we called Juan and he said Sure I would love to!

Milagro 3. So later that day we were able to teach an AMAZING lesson with Juan and this family that we have been teaching and the spirit was so strong and they were all very attentive and wanting to know more. ok so here comes the good part. After our appointment we were walking with Juan - talking to him trying to get to know him. And he told us that he has not been going to church, but that he was reading out of the Book of Mormon and praying. He knew that he needed to go back to church, he was praying that he would some how find/come in contact with the missionarys again so that they could invite him to go back to church. He then went walking that day and he ran into us lost Hermanas :) He said that he knew that God would answer his prayer and he did.

Pretty Much Juan was our miracle this week! He has helped us so much. He even called us to offer our investigators a ride to church, and then wanted to go teaching with us later that evening. So we called him and told him that we did not have any set up appointments but that we were going to go and look up people to teach. He said no problem. So I knew that we were going to get into a door I just had that faith and said that I was going to do everything that I could. We met with Juan at this one house and we knocked on the door. This sweet guy answered and I asked if we could come in for a minute. We then were able to teach a powerful lesson with this man and his sweet wife. side note - another miracle, we did not have any more book of Mormons because we had given them all out last week. And so at the end of the lesson Juan whipped out a Book of Mormon to give them! A Miracle?? I think so :)

We all have miracles that happen to us everyday. We just have to take the time to look for them. I promise you that if you count your many blessings you can and will find those little milagros ( miracles) in you life! Try it. I dare you :) Its amazing what miracles you can find if you just take the time to look for it.

Moroni proclaimed that Jesus Christ did many mighty miracles, that many mighty miracles were wrought by the hands of the Apostles, and that a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever must be a God of miracles today (see Morm. 9:18; Morm. 9:9).

I know that this Church is True. I know that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow! I know that we can find out for ourselves that this church is true, if we would just take the time to read and meditate out of the Book of Mormon and pray about it. If you have not tried it, Try it :) You will see so many blessings!

I love you Family!
Have a Happy Halloween!!!

Love,
Hermana Gray

Another week on the Island :)

Date: October 24, 2011

Area: Long Island

Companion - Sister Lewis

Dear Family,

Where to begin…the week’s just keep getting faster and faster! I cannot believe that October is pretty much over!! This week was wonderful! I mean how could it not be? The mission is just incredible! We have been doing a lot of less active work which has resulted in finding more people to teach. We visited this lady named Marcia and were talking about the importance of the Book of Mormon, when this man walked in and so we invited him to sit down and talk to us. He was really neat and had a lot of good questions. I love to see how the lord really does prepare people to hear this gospel.

We do what is called 2x2x5 here on the mission. This means that when you go to a house and they are not there then you knock 2 doors to the left 2 doors to the right and then 5 doors right in front of it. Anyways we have seen a lot of good come from that. So we were knocking doors and this sweet Dominican lady answered the door. We told her that we had a message that we would love to share with her about Jesus Christ and families. She invited us right in. We were able to have a really good lesson about the atonement and the sacrifice of our savior and talked about what that meant to each of us individually and what we can do to show our love and appreciation for our savior. She loved our message and invited us to come in and visit another time. Her little boy kept running in and saying stuff like “I know who Jesus is.” Ha he is adorable!

So I do not know if you remember the family that my companion and I found like a week ago. If not it’s ok…ha but anyways they are an incredible family and I have seen how prepared they truly are to receive the restored gospel. So my companion and I found them however they were in the other sisters area so we are not able to teach them. However one of the Hermanas has been really sick and had to stay home so I went on splits with Hermana Nay and we were able to teach this family J this made me super happy! Anyways so we went over there to teach them and they invited us right in. It was so neat to see an entire family sitting on the couch ready to hear the message that we had to share. We read with them out of the 3rd Nephi 11. Before my mission I never really quite understood why missionaries always assigned this chapter for people to read, but now I understand exactly why it is the perfect chapter. The reason is because it talks about when Christ came to the Americas and established his church and when he taught the people the way that we need to be baptized and he gave them the priesthood authority to do so. Right after we read that part the father of the family paused and said

“Well this means that I need to be baptized “– ha you have no idea how happy this made me inside. When someone comes to accept the message of the restored gospel and they come to know for themselves that it is true…there is no other feeling like it! We invited their whole family to be baptized and they said yes when they come to know for themselves that it is true. The spirit was super strong in that lesson. Without the spirit we cannot teach. It makes such a difference when the spirit is there, because the spirit testifies of our savior Jesus Christ and he testifies of truth- allowing the investigators to FEEL. Because if they do not feel for themselves that something is true, then they are never going to know!

We were able to visit Hermana Bonilla. She is this lady who is got to be in her 70’s or 80’s and she is paralyzed waist down and has some sort of Handicap. Anyways I have never seen someone so strong in the church. She has such a strong testimony and even though she can hardly move and when she does move it hurts her she still does everything that she knows she is supposed to. She also has something wrong with her hands where she has a hard time picking anything up. But she still presses on. She could easily have the excuse….” Oh I can’t go to church because I am paralyzed waist down…but she doesn’t! She comes to church EVERY single week because she knows of the importance of it. She likes the way that it makes her feel. Not only that, she reads from the Book of Mormon EVERY SINGLE DAY! This lady has really given me strength. She has a faith very firm in our Savior Jesus Christ and knows that through him ANYTHING is possible!

We had an amazing stake conference yesterday- and they talked about the importance of Gospel in Action, the Scouts program and the Young Women’s Program and Personal Progress. They talked about how important it is for us to accomplish them. There was this priest who bore testimony of the Scout program and how close he has gotten with his dad because of it. I am so grateful for you dad in teaching to your sons the importance of obtaining their Eagle. And helping them achieve their goal and mom for always making sure that they were working on it. Mom I am also thankful for you making sure that us girls all have worked on our personal progress. I am thankful for you example, and I am so happy that Me, Chelsea, Alyssa have all achieved our personal Progress award and now little Courtney has the opportunity to work on it. It is not just a program but something that will help us in our lives. Something that will help us to set goals and achieve them! I love this gospel so much and am thankful for it. The church is so incredibly organized and it amazes me! The only way back to the father is through his son Jesus Christ. He died for us so that we might live!

I am so thankful for the scriptures and the opportunity that I have to really immerse myself in the scriptures and learn from them. We are so blessed to have a living prophet today who leads and guides us. I know that this Church is True!

Thank you all for your examples and support! You truly are the best!

Much Love ,

Hermana Gray

My favorite chapter for the week Alma 58! Talks about the Stripling warriors J you should read it!! I love verse 58!!

Always Faithful Obedience

"At times we may rationalize that the Lord will understand our disobedience because our special circumstances make adherence to His laws difficult, embarrassing, or even painful. However, faithful obedience, regardless of the apparent size of the task, will bring the Lord's guidance, assistance, and peace."

Bruce A. Carlson, "When the Lord Commands," Ensign, May 2010, 39

Topics: Obedience, Faith, Courage

Long Island!! Stand a little Taller :)

Date: October 17, 2011

Area: Long Island

Companion - Sister Lewis

Dear Family,

Well Transfers came....and I got transferred! I thought that the hardest goodbyes would be from my family and friends back home....however saying goodbye to Jamaica Queens and my investigators there was super hard. The members become like your family, they love you so much and will do just about anything for you! I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to serve there, and for all of the miracles that I saw and that I was able to be apart of bringing people closer to Christ and proclaiming the atonement. The atonement is real and I am SO thankful for the sacrifice of my savior and for the chance that I have to repent on a daily basis so that I can become more and more like my savior Jesus Christ. It was the hardest thing to say goodbye to those three little girls, I have gotten so attached to them. Ha little Stephany said that she was going to get me a lock and lock me to the ground so that I wouldn't leave :)

Well I have been transferred to Long Island and blessed with a wonderful companion Hermana Lewis. She is from Utah and a wonderful missionary! I am excited to be able to learn from her and be able to apply those tools to become a better missionary. Along with being Transferred I failed to mention that we have been asked to OPEN a brand new Area. This means that this is an entirely new area for the sisters. So just like baking a cake we have to start from Scratch! We have zero investigators, therefore we have a LOT of work to do! The work must go on :) so we are doing all that we can to be able to find new investigators! We as missionary's really have to be humble and ask the lord how HE wants things done and as to where and what we need to do in order to accomplish those things. It has been a time more than ever where I have been brought to my knees in prayer asking the lord what "His will" is for this Area in Long Island.

So this week we were driving (no more riding buses or subways for now) and we saw this lady walking so we stopped the car and started talking to her. She was from El Salvador and we asked her if we could come by and visit with her some time this week. She said that we were more than welcome :) So her name was Hildalia and we went over to her house the next day. While we were in there we began talking to her and then she called in her two daughters and her husband to come and listen. You have NO idea how happy it makes me to teach the whole family :) We asked them if it was ok if we could begin the meeting with a prayer. They said of course - we then proceeded to teach them how to pray, after doing so I asked the dad if he would pray. Usually it is a struggle to get investigators to prayer- because they feel uncomfortable, however the whole entire family begin repeating and they all said a prayer. It was the coolest feeling ever, the spirit was so strong. During the lesson the Dad out of no where said, "Do you sisters really believe that you were sent here from God?" I quickly responded boldly " Yes, I KNOW that I have been sent here by our Heavenly Father". Then the wife said, " Well of course they were, why else would they leave their familys?" :) We watched the Restoration and then afterwards the little girl Natalie asked me, "Does God really hear and answer every one of our prayers?" I told her You bet he sure does! She thought that was really neat and was excited to read the Book of Mormon.


Heavenly Father loves us so much that he has given us tools- such as the Book of Mormon, Prayer, Prophets, Familys and so much more. Heavenly Father has his hands stretched out waiting for us to reach up to him. Just like President Monson said, "Its better to look up!" We need to have faith that God will answer our prayers, I know that he does. I have seen so many miracles and acts of faith on the mission. If we have faith that God will answer our prayers he will! Prayer is real and I have no doubt that our Loving Heavenly Father cares about the tiny details of our lives, he wants to be involved we just need to do our part and ask him. There are many of our investigators who feel that their prayers are not being answered, however some of them do not know how a prayer is to be answered. My advice is this- after you say a pray we need to take the time to listen, just like a telephone call if you call someone and just talk and then right when you are doing talking you just hang up....there is really no point. We need to take the time to listen just as our Heavenly Father listens and pay attention to how we feel. Also another way that the lord answers prayers is through the Book of Mormon. Through the Book of Mormon we can recieve our own personal revelation. My challenge for you - if you have a question ask god, then open the Book of Mormon and start reading!

" If you want to talk to God Pray, If you want God to talk to you, read the scriptures"

One of my favorite quotes! Well I have already seen so many miracles here in the week that I have been here in Long Island. The lord really does prepare these people here and leads us as missionarys to them. I feel so blessed to be a missionary doing the lords work.

I love you Family! I hope that you all had fun in Mexico :) I think that it is awesome that you got to go to Church in Spanish! ( Its the best language in my opinion!)

Keep being awesome and Remember who you are :)

Love,
Hermana Gray

“Our Heavenly Father has placed an upward reach in every one of us. The words of scripture speak loud and clear: ‘Look to God and live’ (Alma 37:47). No problem is too small for His attention nor so large that He cannot answer the prayer of faith. Prayer surely is the passport to spiritual power. You can pray with purpose when you realize who you are and what Heavenly Father wants you to become. You will not find it difficult to approach Him with your sincere prayer as you remember the words of the Apostle Paul, ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?’ (1 Cor. 3:16).”
( “Your Celestial Journey,” Ensign, May 1999, 96.)

Miracles DO happen!

Date: October 10, 2011

Area: Jamaica, Queens

Companions - Sister Lambert, Sister Hughes

Dearest Family,

First of all Happy Birthday Mom tomorrow!!! And happy BIrthday Alyssa in like 4 days! I love you both and hope you know how amazing you really are :) I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family, I love each and every one of you! I love love telling people that I am the Oldest of 7! Its funny to see the type of reactions that I get from people. Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching me to love the lord and to always put the lord first, I know that If we put the lord first that everything else will work out how it is supposed to :) ( 3rd nephi 13:32-33) one of my favorite scriptures!

Okay so this week was just wonderful! I went on Exchanges last Monday- Tuesday. So I was able to work in Richmond Hill with Sister Fifield. She is an incredible missionary and I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to work and learn from her. I just love people! Everyone has something good to give. We can really learn from everyone, it we just take the time to stop and think, think about how you can learn from someone and apply those things into your own life. I really learned about listening from her. Sometimes as missionarys we get in this robot mode.....ha where we just want to get the lesson done and everything covered. However if we just take the time to listen to people we can come to understand and recognize their own needs and then alter and change the lesson according to their needs. Also when we listen we are able to follow and rely on the spirit more. It is incredible to me how much our Father in Heaven really does love each and everyone of us and how he knows exactly what our needs are. He loves us more than we even can begin to comprehend and he wants NOTHING but the best for us, I know that for a fact. I have seen that in my life. I have seen the lord direct me in my life, when I go to him and seek his advice in honest, heartfelt prayer. I can feel of his love.

Ok so at the begining of this transfer we were talking as companions and we decided that we wanted to find a family to teach! So we did what we like to call this "Celestial Finding". So what we did was we drew a picture of a family, and we made it specific, we wanted to find a Mother & Father with 4 children and we wanted on of them to be a girl :) Also we did not just want to find any family, however we wanted to find a family who were bien prepared. Ok so we drew the picture of the family and stuck it on or door. Then we made specific goals in order to be able to find this family. Along with that, everytime that we prayed we made sure to say a second prayer SPECIFIALLY for this family. I have never prayed SO hard and SO much in my life!!! Honestly I was wondering if I was going to see this family while my time in Jamaica. We worked our hardest - we made sure that whenever we saw a mom with a stroller that we talked with them among a lot of other things.

So this last week it happened! We were looking up some potential investigators when we decided to look up this person named "Paul". Ok so when we got ahold of this person to our surprize it was a family! A Family with A Mother A Father and FOUR little kids, and one of them was a girl! You have NO idea how happy this made me! PRAYER IS REAL! I have no doubt about that! It is amazing how the lord works. The lord does answer prayers- maybe not in the time frame or in the way that WE want, however I know that he DOES answer. He loves us SO much so he answers. He is just waiting to bless us, all we have to do is ASK! Mom just like you say " It never hurts to ask" :) Same goes with our Heavenly Father. I am SO excited! oh I forgot to mention...not only did we find a family, but they were VERY prepared. The mom whose name is Monica - well ALL of her family are members EXCEPT her! This family moved from Utah Provo that is haha a year ago and were taking the dicussions from the missionarys and going to church in provo! I can not believe it! THey even invited us over the next day and wanted us to teach them ;) We had the Gonzales family come with us and the made instant friends. They had READ from the night before! They KEPT commitments! AH you have no idea! ha keeping commitments as a missionary means SO much! Ok the story even gets better! They ALL came to church oh and not to mention her sister who is a member was visiting from Utah was there and also able to help with the lesson. Even though I am sad that I am not going to get to teach them, I know that everything happens for a reason, and everything happens on the LORDS timing :)
'
So this last week was what I like to call "La Semana De Milagros". We talked a lot about miracles in our Combined District meeting - and miracles are spiritual manifestations. When the spirit is there! My companions every night take the time to recognize the miracles that happen in our day. I want to challenge you to do this. Whether it be with your family, or with your spouse, or just by yourself. Take the time to recognize the miracles in our life. They do not have to be anything big - it could be that you got home safely, that you were able to talk to someone new, that you got to eat breakfast :) However big or Small take the time to recognize those miracles and tender mercies in your life! Count your many blessings :) Youll be able to realized how much the lord has really blessed you!

Family I love you! I am SO grateful that we have a living prophet today President Thomas S. Monson, May we never forget how blessed we are! Take the time to thank Heavenly Father for what you have for he has given us all :)

Have the best week ever! I can not believe its october! Live up every moment - time goes too quicky! I leave Jamaica tomorrow! I am excited to see what the lord has in store for me next and what people I can help come closer to christ! :) I love the mission!

Love,
Hermana Gray

                             Conference


Date: October 3, 2011
Area: Jamaica, Queens
Companions - Sister Lambert, Sister Hughes

Dear Family!

Another week in the mission that has absolutely just floooown! Honestly I do not know where the time has flown. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was here in the library, and now here I am again! Wasn't conference just amazing?! I am so jealous that you were able to go to Utah in Salt Lake and watch it live. We are so incredibly blessed to have living prophets on this earth today. Men whom are really inspired of God to tell us the things that he wishes that we would know. I love President Monson isn't he just the best.

    
I was thinking the other day back to my days in seminary which I loved! Kyle, Garrett, Alex and Alyssa you are SO lucky to be in Seminary. I miss seminary. Take advantage of it, because those 4 years in Highschool sure go quick! Also memorizing those scripture mastery scriptures helps more than ever on a mission. Ask any missionary. I loved Elder Scotts talk about the scriptures and really how important the scriptures are. I have read the Book of Mormon numerous times before the mission, but it is really neat to see how the Book of Mormon truly comes Alive on the mission. The storys are so real and I love how they can all be applied to missionary Work. Seriously EVERY word of the Book of Mormon is SO inspired and can be used in everyday situations. I love how bold and powerful the words of the scriptures are. I love how powerful and incredible of a missionary that Alma was. I hope that I can be a missionary like Alma. The scriptures are true, and if we find the time to truly immerse ourselves in the scriptures we will be blessed in more ways than we can imagine. There are so many people that say that they do not have time for the scriptures, however they find time to do other things. No need to mention them - we all know what are our own little

" Time waisters". If we would spend more time in the scriptures our knowledge of this gospel would increase immensely. And we would be more confident in sharing this gospel with others. My invitation to you is to find in your life what that "time waister" is and instead of doing that thing, immerse yourself in the scriptures. Have a little study journal and think of how it can apply to your life. Really the words are powerful and we can find so much comfort in them that we can not fin anywhere else.

    
This week has been a week of learning. I have learned more than ever that we HAVE to rely on the spirit and the lord 120%! With out the Lord we are nothing! But with him we are everything! Relying on the spirit is Vital - for we can not do ANYTHING without the guidance of the spirit. I love what was said in conference about prayer. There are so many blessings that the lord is just WAITING to give us. However there are SO many blessings that are conditional only to our asking. If we ask we shall recieve! Its as simple as that. Prayer is real. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of EACH AND EVERY one of us. No matter how small we may feel at times or how unimportant we are never that way to our Heavenly Father. He loves us! He loves you! He knows you and wants NOTHING but the BEST for each and every one of his children. We are each literal sons and daughters of a Loving Heavenly Father.

    
I am so thankful for my mission. I love my mission! My mission means the WORLD to me! I want everyone to have and experience the same joy that I have! If you have not read the Book of Mormon I humbly invite you to do so! Pray about it, put it to the test like our apostles and prophets have said. This church is true! This is real, I love being a member of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints"! There is NO better way to live!

I love you family!

Have fun in Mexico! ( think of me when you are eating mexican candy and tanning on the beach! ) haha I love you! Say hi to my fellow Mexicans :)

Love you

Hermana Gray

P.s. always remember " Its better to look up" ~ President Monson