Last week of transfers

Date: August 22, 2011
Area: Jamaica, Queens

Companion - Sister Alvarado

Dear Family,

Alright first off I want to say HAPPY 17th Birthday Kyle :) I can not believe that you are that old! haha I hope that you have the BEST birthday ever tomorrow! I love you!!

Ok so this week was fantastic! Well lets see so we were finally able to teach this family who have been really welcoming and nice to us. When we told them that we had transfers coming up they got really sad. They said well if the lord wants you to stay you will stay :) So they are 7th Day apentist and the father Samuel had a LOT of questions that I do not know the answer to. But What I do know is... So it was really neat because I had opened the Bible to a certain scripture to answer one of his questions. However I was prompted by the spirit to not answer that question but to just bear plain and simple testimony of what I knew to be true. After both Me and my companion did this, he was silent. And He had completely forgotten the chain of questions that he had. We then invited him and his family to Church and surprizingly he did not object but said that if him and his family could, that they would love to. Also With our previous lesson with Samuel he said that he would not accept ANY other boook besides the Bible. So I was a little bit hestitant to ask him to read the book of Mormon. However when we were leaving I had the strongest impression to give him the Book of Mormon and ask him to read it. So as prompted I followed. And to my surprize he thanked me and said that he would lOVE to read it. There is SUCH great power in the Book of Mormon. There is NO other book, by which someone can get closer to Christ. I have truly fallen in love with the Book of Mormon on my mission. ( for anyone that knows me I am not much of a reader) ha but sometimes I cant put that book down!

So we were able to have a lesson with this Lady Mirium. She was contacted the transfer before I got here in May and my companion has not been able to get a hold of her. However we were knocking this one apartment building and right as we were leaving we say Mirium!! My companion and I got really excited and she said that she would LOVe to have us come over and visit tomorrow. So we came over the next day and she was SO excited she was talking to her Sister who was in El Salvador when we got there. So she handed me the phone so I was able to talk to her Sister in El Salvador. Her sister was SO excited that we were there and also the fact that the Temple in El Salvador was being dedicated :) So we were able to talk with Mirium and she said that she has been reading the Book of Mormon every day and that it gives us peace. She said that when it gets dark that she has a hard time reading so she asked us if we could read outloud from the Book of Mormon! Gladly :) So we read with her in 1st Nephi 18 about Nephi building the ship and his brothers and how wicked they were. Ha She loved it! It was also really neat to be able to stop and think about how we could apply the scriptures to our own personal lives.

We were able to visit Guido Gallardo our little less active cute guy from Chile! ha As always he took us Grocery Shopping! Love him! Anyways we were able to talk to him about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon :) Invited him to church again as usual. Anywho- So....He showed up for Church on Sunday! Honestly that IS A MIRACLE! ha I do not think that he has been to Church in YEARS! It was SO good to see him at Church!

Jose Martinez was able to recieve the Priesthood on Sunday! Honestly it was the coolest thing. I was able to feel on a small scale the Love that our Heavenly Father has for him and I know that he is SO pleased with his decision to be baptized :) Were going to the temple with him this week to do baptisms I cant wait!

Well Family my time is up! But I love you all and am So thankful for a family that is so supportive! I am thankful for the way that you have raised me mom and dad to love my scriptures and to truly gain my own personal testimony that He lives! I know that Joseph Smith saw the Father and Jesus Christ. I know with out a doubt that the Book of Mormon is True! I know that we can pray to a Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers! I love you all so much!!

Love

Hermana Gray

"If we will hold fast to the Church's proclamation on the family, we will see that we hold the jewels, as it were, that can enrich so many other things. Let the world go its own way on the family. It appears to be determined to do that. But we do not have that option. Our doctrines and teachings on the family are very, very powerful, and they are full of implications for all the people on this planet."

Neal A. Maxwell, "Insights from My Life," Ensign, Aug. 2000, 7