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!