I am a Mormon! I know it! I live it! I LOVE It!!!


Date: October 8, 2012
Area: Rego Park, Jamaica



Querida Familia,


Wasn't conference WONDERFUL?!?! I loved every minute of it! I know that they are so inspired. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the lords Prophet and that he recieves direct revelation from our father in Heaven. I love this gospel, for it truly is the Saviors gospel and I LOVE being a member of this Church. Sometimes I just want to shout to all the world I AM A MORMON and I LOVE IT :) I feel so incredibly blessed to be a member of this church, to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and that my life has purpose. I am so thankful to know that the gospel has been restored and along with that we have the proper priesthood keys to perform those saving ordinances. I love this work!



This week was AMAZING! So many things to write about. I will start with Tuesday, we had exchanges. I had the privilage to go back to Flushing and serve with Hermana Ellsworth. She is also from AZ and I knew her before the mission. ( I may or may not have put in a special request!) ha None the less, it was everything and more than I had expected. On this exchange I was able to teach Giovanna who I had mentioned in my previous email, who said that she wanted to be baptized. We were able to teach a powerful lesson on the importance of emersing ourselves DAILY in the Book of Mormon. I love being able to testify of the Book of Mormon and its power. I have truly seen it change people as they have taken a serious study of it. As soon as someone starts reading from the Book of Mormon and applying it in their lives is when they start that repentance process. Giovanna mentioned some of her concerns. I was able to bear testimony and talk about personal instances in my own life and how I had used the Book of Mormon to resolve them. Giovanna then told me how I had touched on every single one of her concerns. She has mentioned before in other lessons, "Hermana Gray, how do you always know EXACTLY what to say?". That is where the spirit comes in. The beauty of being a missionary is the fact that we are able to see people in the slightest way that our Heavenly Father sees them. We are able to know what to say as we follow the spirit. The holy Ghost knows what they need to hear and our Heavenly Father knows what our investigators are struggling with and what points we as missionarys need to hit on. I am so thankful for the spirit, for we all know that the holy ghost is the real teacher. We as missionarys are instruments in the lords hands. ( I read Alma 26 this week and I love how Alma rejoices for being made an instrument in the Lords hand, that is how I feel.)


Giovanna is preparing for baptism this coming week, and I feel so blessed once again to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ has truly played a role in her life and more so the atonement and how she has applied it and how she has been changing. I learned a lot from Hermana Ellsworth, she is an amazing missionary and I am excited to continue to see her grow and hear about the success that she has in bringing and inviting others unto our Savior Jesus Christ.



Thursday was Presidents interviews. I have been looking forward to this time since the last interviews. President Calderwood said, EXACTLY what I needed to hear. It was just another confirmation to me that he truly is called of God. It is nice to know that the Lord is pleased with my efforts and to know that this is EXACTLY where I am supposed to be. A mission is really the GREATEST thing that I have ever done. I have never felt so much JOY in my life. It really is hard to explain with words. There is just something when you see the light in someones eyes after having read from the Book of Mormon. It is something when you hear someone tell you that their faith has grown. It is something as you see someone enter into the waters of baptism and make that covenant with their Heavenly Father to serve him with all their heart and to keep his commandments. There is something about testifying of our Savior and his infinite atonement and how we can all return to live in the Celestial kingdom as we follow the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. Really there is NO words possible that I could use to describe it. Nevertheless I LOVE IT! I am so thankful for President Calderwood, I wish that I had more time with him.



Thursday night we also were able to go and teach Carmen Polanco. (She is that Dominican who came to church 2 weeks ago) We were able to talk with her about baptism and read from her in Mosiah 18:8-10 and talked about the covenant that we make in baptism. I then asked Carmen if she had prayed about being baptized on the 21st of October. She looked at me with a smile and paused, then she said, "Yes I prayed about being baptized on that date, and I am going to get baptized on October 21st!" My heart started racing! Her nephew and daughter who we had invited to listen to the lesson with us then started to say ,"Well Carmen how can you get baptized if you don't even know that much about the church?" To which she responded, " I have a desire, I know that it is a commandment of God, and I know that in order to make it into Gods Kingdom I have to be baptized, and that is enough for me!" Carmen really understands the nature and sacredness of baptism. We invited her to conference and she said in the affirmative,"I will be there." It has been amazing to see how she has truly been prepared by the lord, I LOVE teaching her and seeing her how she loves the Book of Mormon she gets excited to read :) There is no greater feeling.



Saturday was conference! We walked in at 11:45am because it started at 12. You will never guess who we saw sitting down by herself bright and early. It was Carmen herself, she kept her word. She loved conference! You have NO idea how excited I was to hear President Monson and his announcement! Girls can now go on missions at age 19 and boys at 18! You are SO LUCKY!!Kyle that means that you can go as soon as possible and Alyssa you can prepare and go soon! I wish that I was in your place and could do it all over again! The mission is THE BEST!! Missionary life is the greatest! We are so blessed! I think that just shows that we really are in the Last days and that the Lord needs his army to spread forth his gospel to every kindred, tongue and people. I really loved all of the messages that were shared....and if I took time to write down everything I liked I would be here for days. Really we are so blessed to have a living modern day prophet, with 12 apostles and the Priesthood power here on the earth. This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Christ is the Head of this church! This is the ONE AND ONLY true church on the earth and I feel so happy and blessed to be a member of it.



The second session of Conference we were able to get in contact with Julio Roman. He is a refferal from Salt Lake City Utah. He was able to take a tour of the Conference center in Utah with a member friend and wanted to know more about the church. He met us at the gas station and we were able to show him where the church was. We then gave him a tour of the church and showed him the baptism font. He mentioned that that was something that he wanted to do. He told us how he has been searching for many years for the right church. He said that something always felt missing. We were able to bear testimony about the truths of the gospel and told him that his search was going to stop here. He watched conference with us and then afterwards we were able to teach him the restoration of the gospel. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted! He is going to Puerto Rico for vacation but will be baptized when he gets back. He is reading from the Book of Mormon. I cant wait to see his progress when he gets back.



Conferece was amazing! I know that President Monson is the Lords chosen Prophet in this day. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and the most correct book of any book on this earth. I know that the gospel truly does bless families and that this is the Lords kingdom on the earth. For those of you who did not watch conference I invite you to do so. It will bless your life and as you apply the principles you will be happier! I know that this is the Lords work. May you all be a little bit happier as you apply the teachings of the prophet and his apostles. As you read the Book of Mormon I promise you that you will experience that mighty change of heart and come even closer to your father in Heaven. God is real, Prayer is real. This is the truth!


I love you all! Thank you for your love, prayers and support! I couldn't ask for a better family!


Les Quiero MUchisisisisismo!!!


Hermana Gray


It is that work of discipleship that Church members still need to commit to today, Elder Holland said.

“So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can't quit and we can't go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before.”

“To those who have not yet joined with us in this great final cause of Christ, we say, 'Please come.' To those who were once with us but have retreatedhe call is to come back, to stay true, to love God and lend a hand.

”To the youth of the Church rising up to missions and temples and marriage, we say, 'Love God and remain clean from the blood and sins of this generation. You have a monumental work to do, underscored by the marvelous announcement by President Monson yesterday morning. ...

“[T]he voice of Christ comes ringing down through the halls of time asking each one of us, while there is time, 'Do you love me?' And for every one of us I answer with my honor and my soul,'Yea, Lord, we do love thee.' And having set our hand to the plough, we will never look back until the work is finished and that love of God and neighbor rules the world.”