Happy Happy December!! :)
Date: December 5, 2012
Area: Long Island
Companion - Sister Lewis
Como Estan?! Espero que todo esten Bien!! How art thou? I am wonderful!! This week was incredible!! Well I mean every week is incredible! Alright...where to start. Well on Monday we were able to take some lovely pictures of our District our little "Family" on the mission. So that was the first highlight of the week :) The elders bought Santa hats and everything! It was wonderful! I just LOVE this time of year more than anything! There is just something about the Christmas Spirit! People are a lot more giving, a lot more humble, full of more Charity.. the list could go on and on. Wouldn't it be neat if the world had a Christmas Spirit 24/7? All year Long? Its like they said last night in the Devotional.....we shouldn't need a Christmas season to have a little bit more Christ in us, I hope that we can all strive to keep the spirit of Christmas all year long! :)
Miracles? They happen ALL the time! All around us...we just need to know where to look :) Alright so we had the privilege to have President Interviews this week. Man I feel like it was JUST yesterday that we had president interviews....and that was 3 months ago! It is such a wonderful experience to be able to talk to your mission President and to be able to hear him say that you are doing a great job and that he is proud of you. It gave me just a glimpse of how our Heavenly Father feels about us when we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. When we are on the right path. I am so excited for the day when I can walk up to Heavenly Father and to hear him say, Well done thou good and faithful servant! I hope that I can always do the will of my father who is in Heaven. For that is what Christ did. He always made sure that he was doing the will of the Father. I think that it is so neat that we have the privilege to talk directly to our Heavenly Father through prayer...we are so blessed to have prayer by which we can talk to our Heavenly Father ANY TIME and ANY WHERE and that we can know that he is listening! He wants what is best for us and so he has given us a plan. A plan of Happiness, by which if we are willing to follow it, then we will find more happiness than we have ever or could even imagine. His plan is perfect...we are the ones who sometimes stray...but we can become more and more like our savior through repentance. We are so lucky that we have the opportunity to repent ~ or CHANGE for the better through the loving power of the atonement. I am so thankful that we have the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament - to start over for the week, and try harder to be the person that HE wants us to be.
So we met this lady Carol while we were knocking doors late at night. She said that we could come back the next day. So we came back the next day and we were able to talk to her about the message that we had to share about our savior Jesus Christ and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can make changes to become the person that HE wants us to be. She was able to express some trials that she had that were going on in her life. We explained to her that through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can become happy! We also were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon and that through this book is where we can find peace. She really like the message that we shared. The said that she never felt right going to the Catholic Church. It was a church that she grew up in but that she pretty much only did it because of Tradition. She said that she felt that something was missing. We made an appointment to come and talk to her the next day and assigned her a chapter in the Book of Mormon. When we got there the next day she said that she had read the entire chapter and she felt like it was speaking to her. It is amazing to me how the Book of Mormon and the spirit have the ability to teach things that we as human can not teach, but through the help and power of the spirit we can bring the message to the hearts of his children.
So we met this lady Carol while we were knocking doors late at night. She said that we could come back the next day. So we came back the next day and we were able to talk to her about the message that we had to share about our savior Jesus Christ and that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can make changes to become the person that HE wants us to be. She was able to express some trials that she had that were going on in her life. We explained to her that through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can become happy! We also were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon and that through this book is where we can find peace. She really like the message that we shared. The said that she never felt right going to the Catholic Church. It was a church that she grew up in but that she pretty much only did it because of Tradition. She said that she felt that something was missing. We made an appointment to come and talk to her the next day and assigned her a chapter in the Book of Mormon. When we got there the next day she said that she had read the entire chapter and she felt like it was speaking to her. It is amazing to me how the Book of Mormon and the spirit have the ability to teach things that we as human can not teach, but through the help and power of the spirit we can bring the message to the hearts of his children.
We had some INCREDIBLE lessons with Wendy and her family this past week. So Wednesday we had set up an appointment to go and teach Wednesday. We brought Hermana Velaquez with us and when we got there Wendy was not there. At first we thought that she "juked" us, and that got me pretty worried. However her neighbor was there, so we were able to talk to her and teach her the Plan. At the end of the lesson Wendy walked through the door. She mentioned to us that she had completely forgotten. She then sat down and we reviewed the last part of the plan. She then expressed some of her feelings to us about how She is SO ready and that she is willing to get married so that she could get baptized, even if Rey does not get baptized, because she said that she knew that it was HER time! She knows it is true! We had her read Alma 32:16-21 where it talks about faith. This was by FAR one of the most powerful lessons that I have had on my mission. The reason being was simply because of the power of the Scriptures and the testifying power of the Spirit! She had to pause half way through reading the scripture, her face got red and it was really neat to see how the spirit was really working on her. We did NOTHING! It was all the spirit! It is VITAL to have the spirit with us as missionary's, especially as we teach!
We were able to have another really neat lesson with Wendy and Rey.... We had the Majanos come over with us. THey were able to bear strong testimony about the importance of marriage and all the blessings that are awaiting them! We asked Rey if he was going to marry Wendy, and he said YES!!! Oh man I do not think that I have been that excited in my life about someone getting married! ha Everything inside me was jumping up and down. I had to restrain myself from Jumping up and down :) I am SO Happy because this is the next step that they need to make in order to obey the commandments so that they can then enter into the sacred covenant of Baptism.
Church was another Miracle!!! Ok so we had a meeting before church with all the leaders. So finding rides for our investigators was a little bit of a struggle because everyone was already at church- who would normally give our investigators rides for church. Hermana Lewis and I were trying our hardest calling everyone that we knew. ( I felt like a chicken with its head cut off!) haha but anyways about an hour before church our investigator Rachelle called and said that she wanted to come to church. So therefore we needed to find another ride. We called EVERYONE that we could and no one was able to go and pick up Rachelle and her family. Then the thought came to my mind to ask Wendy (our golden investigator) to go and pick up Rachelle and her family. At first I was a little hesitant but then my companion said, "Herman Gray, why don't we go and have Wendy pick her up?" Brain waves? haha The SPIRIT! So alright here I go! I called Wendy a little Nervous, because I wanted to make sure that her and her family got to church alright...didn't want to burden her with about job. However when I asked Wendy....she responded OF COURSE! Like with out hesitation. I was then a little worried that they would not get there on time..I saved them a seat. And right when I was praying they walked in! HE answers our prayers! Rachelle was a little nervous about coming to church, she did not know what to expect. However the moment she walked in she said that she felt peace. She said that this church is different, there is just a wonderful feeling here. Her little boy Angel was like " Mom are we coming back next week!?"
Heavenly Father loves us SO much! This Gospel is True! May we all remember what this Christmas Season is REALLY about! Its about "Christ". Did you just LOVE the devotional last night? We are so blessed to have a living prophet President Thomas S. Monson. I love this work! I know that he has a plan for each and every one of us. May we try to see what we can GIVE this year at Christmas instead of Receive! I promise that you will be happier!
I love you all!!!
Love Hermana Gray
“We realize in these precious moments what we feel and know in our heart—that Christmas is about the Christ.”
Though some of Christ’s gifts to us will be given only when our time on earth ends, President Uchtdorf emphasized the many gifts that the Savior gives every day. “He promises to be with us, to come to us when we need comfort, to lift us when we stumble, to carry us if need be, to cry, laugh, mourn, and rejoice with us. Every day He offers to take us by the hand and help transform ordinary life into extraordinary spiritual experiences.” ~ President Uchtdorf
Church was another Miracle!!! Ok so we had a meeting before church with all the leaders. So finding rides for our investigators was a little bit of a struggle because everyone was already at church- who would normally give our investigators rides for church. Hermana Lewis and I were trying our hardest calling everyone that we knew. ( I felt like a chicken with its head cut off!) haha but anyways about an hour before church our investigator Rachelle called and said that she wanted to come to church. So therefore we needed to find another ride. We called EVERYONE that we could and no one was able to go and pick up Rachelle and her family. Then the thought came to my mind to ask Wendy (our golden investigator) to go and pick up Rachelle and her family. At first I was a little hesitant but then my companion said, "Herman Gray, why don't we go and have Wendy pick her up?" Brain waves? haha The SPIRIT! So alright here I go! I called Wendy a little Nervous, because I wanted to make sure that her and her family got to church alright...didn't want to burden her with about job. However when I asked Wendy....she responded OF COURSE! Like with out hesitation. I was then a little worried that they would not get there on time..I saved them a seat. And right when I was praying they walked in! HE answers our prayers! Rachelle was a little nervous about coming to church, she did not know what to expect. However the moment she walked in she said that she felt peace. She said that this church is different, there is just a wonderful feeling here. Her little boy Angel was like " Mom are we coming back next week!?"
Heavenly Father loves us SO much! This Gospel is True! May we all remember what this Christmas Season is REALLY about! Its about "Christ". Did you just LOVE the devotional last night? We are so blessed to have a living prophet President Thomas S. Monson. I love this work! I know that he has a plan for each and every one of us. May we try to see what we can GIVE this year at Christmas instead of Receive! I promise that you will be happier!
I love you all!!!
Love Hermana Gray
“We realize in these precious moments what we feel and know in our heart—that Christmas is about the Christ.”
Though some of Christ’s gifts to us will be given only when our time on earth ends, President Uchtdorf emphasized the many gifts that the Savior gives every day. “He promises to be with us, to come to us when we need comfort, to lift us when we stumble, to carry us if need be, to cry, laugh, mourn, and rejoice with us. Every day He offers to take us by the hand and help transform ordinary life into extraordinary spiritual experiences.” ~ President Uchtdorf
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