Welp folks...I am going to BROOKLYN :)

Date: June 18, 2012
Area: Flushing Queens - Transferring to Brooklyn
Companion - Sister Allen


Dear Family,

I hope that you all enjoyed fathers day and Dad I hope that the family made it special for you! I love you dad with all my heart and am ETERNALLY grateful for all of the eternal truths that you have taught me and the love that you have for the work of the lord and sharing your testimony. You have truly been an incredible example to me and all of us children. So THANK you :) I love you muchisisisismo!!!

This past week has been amazing as always. Many different miracles have happened and prayers answered....not in the way that we expected but they were answered. I love love this gospel so so much and am so thankful for the principles that it teaches us to live by. Ok so we were able to teach Manuel Lopez about about faith and watched the movie, Finding faith in christ. I thought before the mission that I really understood faith. Believing in something that you can not see. However on my mission I have come to realize that, that is JUST the beggining of faith. Faith is SO much more than that. To simply HAVE faith is NOT enough, however we should ultimately have faith in Jesus Christ. He is the one that makes everything possible. ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is possible through the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one that helps us get through our days. HE is the one who loves unconditionally. It is Us the ones who sometimes fall away, however his arms are ALWAYS stretched out still. He is just waiting to convert us in time of need. He is waiting for us to REPENT and make those changes neccesary so that we can becoem closer to our father in Heaven and one day make it back to live with him in his prescense. I am so grateful and words can not fully express how I feel about my savior Jesus Christ. However this is a HUGE reason why I am out here on my mission. I LOVE MY SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

Fun note- So on Tuesday night I recieved an unexpected phone call from President Nelson. I was asked if I would train another new missionary. Sure thing :) I am excited and extremely humbled to be able to train another missionary. I have learned SO much from Hermana Allen and I know that I am going to be able to learn SO much from the other sister missionary. She is from Las Vegas I cant wait to meet her tomorrow! All of these experiences are helping shape me into the missionary that the lord wants me to be.

Ok so Thursday we were able to go to the temple with Alexandra Ayala and Manuel Lopez both recent converts. We were able to go with the flushing branch. I never thought that you could grow to love someone so much in such a short amount of time, however I have truly come to LOVE all of the members in the flushing branch. They are SO incredibly humble and just want to serve the lord. It was really neat to be able to go to to the temple and to do baptisms for the dead for the first time with Manuel and Alexandra. It is so neat to be able to see recent converts participating in the great work of the lord.

We had a fathers day BBQ on Friday night which was a HUGE success. There were quite a few people there who were not members whom the ward members invited. Hermana Allen and I sat at a table with these people. There was this one lady named Jackie who kept asking about our beliefs and said that she was going to come to church next Sunday. She was able to see the standards of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She started talking about baptism and we explained to her that we believe in the age of accountability in having one when at the appropiate age ( age 8 and older) be able to choose whether or not they wanted to be baptized. She really liked that, and told us that is the reason that she never baptized her children as a baby. She was excited when we began talking about baptism and is really excited to learn more.

It was strange saying goodbye to everyone yesterday. Like I have said earlier I have truly grown to LOVE all of the people here in Flushing. It is weird on the mission its almost harder for me to say goodbye to the people that I teach then it was to say goodbye to my family back home. You just get so attached to all of these people and you also desire more than ANYTHING their salvation and you just want to truly helpe them through the atonement and the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I know that My redeemer lives. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ performed the atonement so that ALL of us if we obey can make it back to live in the prescense of our Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ with our FAMILYS. I know that baptism if the GATE way by which we enter to make it to Eternal Life. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a the prophet of the restoration. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. I know that this is his WORK!

I lOVE being a missionary!

I love my family!

I love this gospel!

Love,
Hermana GRAY

HAppy birthday Jocelyn, Amanda Walker and Lindsay Olsen! I love you!

 

 

Be Happy!! and live the commandments! Mosiah 2:41

Date: June 11, 2012

Area: Flushing, Queens

Companion - Sister Allen

Querida Familia,

This week has been wonderful! Time passes WAY fast! I know that you are probably sick of me saying that....but it does...I can not believe that a YEAR ago I landed here in the blessed land of NY! It has been by FAR the BEST year of my life :) And I have had some pretty good years. haha Anyone who is thinking about going on a mission.....do not THINK anymore! Just GO AND DO! (1 Nephi 3:7) You won't regret it!

Ok so Monday as you can see we went to the METS game :) It was pretty fun! It was really neat to be able to see old companions and hang out with other missionarys that I have served with. The mission is simply THE BEST! Monday night we were able to meet with Tito and Maria. We were able to teach tito the first half of the plan of Salvation. I am and will be forever grateful for my savior and the atonement. I am thankful that time and time again he forgives me. I know that I am not perfect....in fact FAR from it. However I know that through my savior Jesus Christ I can become the person and the daughter that he wants me to be. If it was not for the sacrifice the infinite atonement the plan would not work. However I am thankful that our Heavenly Father loved us enough to send his only begotten son, to die for us and pay the price of sin, so that we might have a way to make it back to him. I am and have been learning SO much from my mission, and I have a LOT still TO learn. I am just thankful for the opportunity that he gives me to be here for this time to serve him.

We also had the opportunity to teach Tito the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that we have as God's children to Obey the commandments that he gives us. I know that every commandment is given to us for OUR benefit. They are designed to make us happy! I know that we have a modern day prophet who leads and guides this church. I know that we have the scriptures to help us, The Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. How blessed are we to have them. I am thankful that I have been taught by incredible loving parents to read and study from the Book of Mormon Daily. I feel so blessed.

We have been doing a lot of "finding" this past week and have had the privilege of finding some really cool people. The other day we went to go and look up some people. They were not home so we went to our next plan. When we were walking we saw this lady sitting on her porch so we asked her if she had a couple of minutes. We ended up teaching her the Restoration. She loved it. We invited her to be baptized and then she told us that she had been baptized as a baby catholic. We then showed her the scripture in Moroni 8

11 And their little achildren need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the bremission of sins.
12 But little achildren are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a brespecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!

We explained to her that we are to be baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority from God, and at the age of accountability which the lord has told us is at age 8 and above. She then told us that, that made sense and that she would pray about it. She was MORE than excited to read the Book of Mormon. She asked us if she had to pay and when we told her that it was free her eyes LIT up! We were able to help her little son age 8 gave the closing prayer. I absolutely love it when children pray, especially for the first time. It is so humbling and I love the fact that we have the opportunity to pray to our Father in Heaven and ask him for help or answers to questions. Heavenly Father loves us and is just Waiting to help us, however a LOT of the blessings that Heavenly Father has prepared for us are conditional upon our asking. I love this gospel!

Sunday was another wonderful day! We were able to go to the Carpintero's house for dinner. They are amaizing! THey are the BEST! (not to mention they are mexican so they cook the BEST food) :) The rest of the night we were looking up people. We came across this lady and began to talk to her. She immediately told us that her father is a member and would ALWAYS take her to church. She said." I love the Mormon thing"! haha I am so excited to be able to teach her this next week. She had the CUTEST kids little kids.

I love this gospel for it is the thing that TRULY brings us JOY! If we want to be Happy OBEY the commandments :) Its as simple as that. Its like this we need CPR - Church, Prayer and Reading! We need to do what the lord asks of us and we will ALWAYS be happy :) I love MY mission! and am ETERNALLY grateful that I have the opportunity to be here in NY serving my savior for a year and a half. I would NOT rather be doing ANYTHING else! This is HIS work and it wont stop until he says its done!

I love you all! thank you for your love and support!

Les Quiero Mucho!

Hermana Gray



"The attributes by which we shall be judged one day are all spiritual. These include love, virtue, integrity, compassion, and service to others. Your spirit, coupled with and housed in your body, is able to develop and manifest these attributes in ways that are vital to your eternal progression. Spiritual progress is attained through the steps of faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, including the endowment and sealing ordinances of the holy temple."

—Elder Russell M. Nelson,

June?!!? Where is the time going?

Date: June 4, 2012
Area: Flushing, Queens
Companion - Sister Allen


Querida Familia,

Another week has come and gone. I feel like I JUST got here and now in three days it will have been an ENTIRE year since I first set foot here in the blessed land of New York! It is wonderful! I love it here! I am and will forever be Eternally Grateful for the choice I made to serve a mission, to serve my savior Jesus Christ for a year and a half. The time is short, I wish I had more time. This last week has been absolutely marvelous! Lets see.....

Wednesday- We were able to teach English Class. We had two students this time. They started asking questions about Where we came from? Where are we going? and what our purpose was on this earth. Hermana Allen and I had the privilage of teaching the Plan of Salvation. I absolutely LOVE teaching the plan of Salvation. It has got to be my favorite, the reason being because it really does answer ALL of those questions. It also lets us know why we are here, and what we need to do in order to make it back to live with our Heavenly Father. One of my Favorite Scriptures answers this question. In the Book of Mormon ALma 34:32 "For behold, this alife is the time for men to bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of cthis life is the day for men to perform their dlabors.". How blessed we are to know why we are here. I know that Heavenly Father has a purpose for each and every one of his children. I know that he loves us and that he wants NOTHING more than for us to return to live with him. I am so thankful for the gospel- the teachings of our savior Jesus Christ in my life and the knowledge that I have to know that he died for me. This knowledge makes me want to be better! To be the type of person that my Heavenly Father would have me be. I am thankful for my savior and am so thankful for the love that he shows me and that I am able to repent every day. I am also humbled to be here on the mission and to be able to put into practice the things that I learn, and am thankful for the lord and his forgiveness.

We were walking going to look up people, when we began talking to this girl. It was really neat to see how she recognized that we were servants of the Lord and she congratulated us on our hard work. We were able to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she was MORE than grateful :)

SUPER FUNNY NOTE- Ok so the other day the Elders gave us a refferall. There was this guy that came up to the Elders and asked if they were the Mormons. He said that he had studied with everyone else except for us, and he said that we were next. So we went to go and look up this referral. We knocked and he peeked his head out and asked us if we were the Jehovah Witnesses, to which we replied no. Then he quickly asked if we were the mormons and we said YES! He smiled and said COME on in. (Now you have to understand this man looked like CAPTAIN HOOK! He even talked like him and had looooooong curly hair) Ok so we went inside and quickly found out that he spoke more english. So we asked him if we could come back in like 40 minutes.... He said, " are you going to prepare?" haha something like that :) So we called the English ELders and then came back with them. When we knocked on the door the second time and he answered saying "HI YAAA" and stood there in a NINJA pose :) So we left him in the hands of the blessed elders and we went on our merry way :) They said that they had a VERY interesting lesson with him :)

We were able to teach both Alexandra and Juliana the importance of prayer and DAILY scripture study. I have SUCH a testimony of the power of prayer. It is REAL it works! If you aren't praying I invite you to pray. There is nothing more satisfying that getting down on your knees and offering a sincere heartfelt prayer to your father above. My testimony of prayer grows more and more every day in the mission. As I am able to see the hand of the lord in my life. I know that Heavenly Father Loves each and every one of his children and that he wants us to succeed. That is why he has so lovingly given us the Book of Mormon. How blessed are we? There are people that died for the Bookf of Mormon, and I think to myself sometimes am I taking FULL advantage of the Book of Mormon? Am I reading and searching through its pages to see what I can learn from it? He has given us the FULL ness of the gospel. I know that the fullness of the gospel has been restored through a Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that we have a LIVING modern day prophet today! Do we listen and heed to his counsel? He has given us Temples! The closest place on earth to Heaven! Are we attending the temple as often as we should? There are so many things that I need to do better, and I am SO thankful for the atonement and the opportunity that we have to go to church EVERY Sunday to partake of the sacrament and to renew our covenants which we have made.

This is HIS WORK!
This is the TRUE Church!
I love being a missionary! There is nothing greater :)

I love you all
Muchisimo amor,
Hermana Gray

(p.s. Ill get pictures next week! We are heading to the METS GAME :)

As you seek to live the gospel and doctrine of Christ, the Holy Ghost will guide you and your family. ~ Elder M. Russel Ballard.


Miracle- I found out that this girl that I talked to the other day when I was on exchanges- I talked to her and got her information and then I set up an appointment for the other sisters to teach her because I was on exchanges and not serving in that area.....anyways I recieved a text the other day saying that the girl that I talked to is getting baptized the JUNE 17th!! You never know what seeds you plant :) Talk to everyone! THe lord is preparing the hearts of many :)

 

 

 

 

Come what MAY and LOVE it!!!

Date: May 21, 2012

Area: Flushing, Queens

Companion - Sister Allen

Dearest Familia,

Where oh where has the time gone!?! I have now been out an entire year.... :( the time keeps going faster and faster and my window is closing....I need to make the BEST of the time that I have here! Enjoy your mission...It goes by faster than you think! So let us begin...
Monday Monday - Was a wonderful day! I love being able to show families out here how to do Family Home Evenings. I am so thankful that growing up Mother and Father you always made sure that we had family home Evening. That was truly a time that I cherished growing up. So anyways we were able to have a family home evening with Guadalupe, Guillermo and Michelle. We read 1 Nephi 8 and acted out Lehi's Dream. It is really nice to sit and think about this chapter in the Book of Mormon and put it into perspective as well as the gospel. There are those that make it to the tree and partake of the fruit (being the gospel), however they are ashamed. There are others who do not make it because they are made fun of along the way. Lastly there are those who make it all the way to the end. If we endure to the end and live the gospel of Jesus Christ- that is when we can make it to the celestial Kingdom. Its Worth it! (Vale la Pena). One of my favorite quotes is, " I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." This is my favorite verse:

"But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the arod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." (1 Nephi 8:30)

Sorry my thoughts are scattered, I was talking with my father, and I am So thankful that we have commandments. The commandments are to help us and guide us, so that we can make it back to live with him. They are guidelines to make us Happy! Here is a secret- If you want to be happy OBEY and LIVE the commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ. :) Don't tell anyone I told you that :) haha No but really its true. The people that are miserable in life and the ones that are not obeying the commandments. So its our choice....Do we want to be happy or miserable? Its all up to us!

Funny Note- So on Monday we were running back and forth to appointment and we had not eaten dinner...so we decided to run quickly to this chinese restaurant. We went inside and began franktically searching the menu. I then asked this nice old looking guy next to me what his favorite thing on the menu was. He then proceeded to tell me a lot of things to try. He then asked what we were doing here and we told him that we were missionarys. He then told us that he was From Israel and a Jew. We then said, "Oh the Covenant People." With that being said he grinned. He asked us if we got paid for what we do. We replied no and actually on the contrary. That we paid to be here. He then was more interested and asked what we did. So went on to explain a little bit about what we do as missionarys. He then said,"You girls are so dedicated to what you do, and I know that it is for a good cause, for that I am going to buy your dinner." So this Jewish Man bought us our dinner. It was very nice of him.

We were able to have a breakfast with the Elders as we talked to a member who recently got married and so she wants us to start teaching her now Husband named Tito :) so we are excited to be able to teach him! Friday we were able to teach the Ayala Girls. We talked about missionary work. We even did a practice about sharing the gospel with their friends. They loved it and were laughing pretending to be someone on the bus After that we went to the church to go to an activity that the Young womens and relief society were having. We all ended up going to Taco Bell- which I thought was SO funny and Ironic :) A bunch of hispanics at Taco bell lol We really enjoyed being there and talking about what activity we are going to be doing for Fathers Day.

Saturday was great! We did a lot of look ups and contacting people in the street. Sunday was wonderful! It always is. It was really nice to be able to go to church. I really enjoy playing the piano for the ward! (Yes I did just say that! Thank you Mother and Father for being so dilligent in making sure that I practiced as a little kid :) ) Anyways the girls came and it was good! There were some really good talks that I thoroughly enjoyed. We were in charge of little Julian making sure that his father could go to priesthoood. After church Hermana Allen and I went straight to work! We went and hit the pavement! We went and knocked doors! It was great! Long story short we REALLY had to use the bathroom ha and we were knocking this door when the next door neighbors (these 2 white guys) told us that the family that we were looking for had just moved. We then asked them if we could use their restroom to which they said yes. So we ended up going to use their restroom and then we were able to teach them the first half of the Restoration. It was really weird teaching it all in english :) ha but I loved it! It is really humbling being able to see someone ikneel down and pray for the first time. Afterwards we asked him how he felt and he shouted, " I FEEL GOOD". He actually worked on the set "The Book of Mormon" play on Broadway. We then told him that he could have his OWN copy of the Book of Mormon and find out what it isreally about :) He liked that idea and thanked us for the visit.

Missionary work is great! I love it! There is NOTHING like it! If you are thinking about a mission DO IT! If you haven't thought about it...-THINK ABOUT It! And then GO! ITs the best thing that I have EVER done in my life. I have come closer to my Savior Jesus Christ by doing his work and serving his children. I love my family so much! So Family if you are reading this- LES QUIERO MUCHISISISISIMO! :) I love you lots! I have the best parents and I am so so thankful that you have raised me the way that you did. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It is another Testamant of Jesus Christ and I promise you that if you read from it everyday you will feel of his love and come to know more about your Savior Jesus Christ than by reading any other book. I love you all!

Thank you everyone for your love and support! It means everything to me :)

Love.
Hermana Gray

"Our lives of service and sacrifice are the most appropriate expressions of our commitment to serve the Master and our fellowmen."~ Dallin H.Oaks

I hope you had a Happy Mothers Day!!!

Date: May 14, 2012
Area: Flushing, Queens
Companion - Sister Allen


Dear Family!

Mother I hope that you had the BEST Mothers Day ever! It felt so good to be able to talk to you! I hate to Brag...but I have THE BEST MOTHER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD :) Mom I love you so much and I am ever so grateful for you and all that you do! I don't know how you always put up with me, but thank you so much for everything that you do for me. I hope someday to be half the mother that you are and Ill be good :) You are ALWAYS putting others needs in front of you own and always seeing the way that you can help. You mean the World to me and I am so thankful that you are my best friend and that I can come to you for anything. I love you so much and am so grateful for the relationship that I have with you! Te quiero mucho! I could go on and on but I might be here all day!

So this week was Great! So on Tuesday night we went to go and teach the girls (Alexandra and Juliana). We were not sure what we were going to teach them. Hermana Allen and I were a little bit stumped because we were a little unsure what to teach. We then got down on our knees and prayed asking Heavenly Father what we should teach before we went over there. We both had the feeling that we should teach the Restoration of the gospel. Which was weird because we had already taught that to the girls but we went ahead with it. We had planned to watch the Prophet of the Restoration. However half way through the Movie Hermana Ayala and Giovanna came home. So we put the movie on Pause and then began talking with them. When we went back to play the movie for some reason it was not working. (Now we know why we were supposed to teach the restoration.) So we were able to teach Giovanna the Restoration :) It was a wonderful lesson and the entire family was involved! Sister Ayala was bearing a beautiful testimony about how she found out for herself that these things were true. She talked about how when she read the Book of Mormon, Prayed and how she recieved her answer that these things were true. The spirit was so strong and it was also really neat to see the girls so excited to share their testimonys and help their sister out. At the end of the lesson we all knelt down and Giovanna said one of the most powerful heartfelt prayer, truly desiring to know if these things that we had taught her were true. I know that anyone who reads from the Book of Mormon and has a real desire and real intent, to know if these things are true, they WILL recieve an answer. I love this gospel so much and know that it changes lives.

We were able to have a really powerful lesson with Guadalupe about mothers and the Strippling warriors. We shared the story about how the 2000 strippling warriors were afraid to fight because of the trust that they had in their Savior. Here are some of my favorite verses.

47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the aliberty of their bfathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their amothers, saying: We bdo not doubt our mothers knew it. ( Alma 56:47-48)

I am so thankful that you mom KNOW it :) I feel so blessed to have grown up in a Home where both my parents KNEW it! I am ever so grateful that at 6:00am every morning mom and dad you woke all 7 of us kids up to read from the Book of Mormon. I know that my life has been blessed because of it. Also the fact that every night as a family we kneeled to have family prayer. I know that this is something that has carried on much longer than just that moment. It has carried be through college, times away from home and here as a missionary. I want you mom and dad to know that everything that you are doing and have done with us children is WORTH it :) So I just wanted to say Thank you!

So I dont know if you remember but a couple of weeks ago we taught this lady named Pamela whose mom is a member here, Pamela lives in Florida. So anyways Teresa Gutierez her mom called us the other day and wanted to know where the closest chuch was to her daughter in Florida, because Pamela had called and told her mom that she wanted to go to church and she wanted to listen to the missionarys. Seeds are being planted everywhere :)

On Saturday we were able to go to the mothers day church activity. It was so cute to see all of the young men serving their mothers and everyone there. The Branch President Perez asked Hermana Allen and I to talk about mothers. So mom I got up there and talked about you, and yes I got teary eyed. But anyways I talked about my own mother and how much of an influence you have been in my life. I talked about how much it meant to me throughout the years all the support you gave me. Whether it be piano lessons and concerts, Gymnastics meets, dance, L.I.G.H.T, BYU Hawaii, Provo.etc. However the thing that has meant the MOST to me in my life, is that you supported my decision to come on a mission and that you have been a continual support to me throughout my entire mission. So thank you mom :) I love you! I also talked about your testimony and how it means the world to me. I love you mother !

Sunday was another amazing day! It was mothers day! Also Alexandra and Juliana were confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. They were so happy and excited because they know that the Gift of the Holy Ghost is going to be a guide for them for the rest of their lives, to help them make better choices. They know that it will be a source of comfort when times get hard. They know that the role of the Holy Ghost is to bear testimony of the truthfullness of the gospel and they have felt it. Giovanna came to church and stayed for the entire time. You could tell that she really enjoyed it and looks forward to coming back next week.

I know that this Church is true and that Jesus is the Head of this Church. I know that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are the words of God. I know that if we do our part we can one day enter into our Heavenly Fathers Presence. I am so thankful for Temples and I know that it is through temples that we can be with our familys for ETERNITY! I love my Savior and I know that it is through him that we can live with our Father.

I love you all! Thank you for all your love and support!

Loves- Hermana Gray
A Foundation of Faith - President Erying

A foundation of faith … takes time to build. … If the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble.

… That solid basis for a foundation of faith is personal integrity. …

It is never too late to strengthen the foundation of faith. … You can do it wherever you are and however alone and deserted you may feel.

Families can be Together FOREVER through Heavenly Fathers Plan!

Date: May 7, 2012
Area: Flushing, Queens
Companion - Sister Allen


Dear Family!

These are truly days NEVER to be forgotten! My Heart is Full! I feel truly blessed to be here serving the Lord 24/7 as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the New York New York South Mission. I feel so blessed! Truly Blessed. Ok So where to I start off.....This week was INCREDIBLE!! We have truly seen the hand of the Lord bless us in EVERY aspect of our work. This truly is the lords work and he is 100% apart of it. For we know that we could not accomplish ANYTHING with out the help of our Loving Heavenly Father. I honestly feel spoiled to be here serving a mission at this time in my life. There is NO place I would rather be. This is just the BEST!

Well where oh where. Highlight...Sister Nelson ( President Nelsons wife) came out teaching with us. She came to teach the girls and another lesson, which both of course went wonderful! We were also able to teach Manuel on Tuesday, he is a recent Convert and just loves learning more about the gospel. We also had the privilage of going to a members home her name is Eva, we were able to meet her vecinos ( aka neighbors that live with her) and we made Papusas! mmmmmm Oh p.s. I ate papusas like a Real Salvadorean! I ate them with my hands :) ANyways we got to know some people that she lived with and we hope to be able to start teaching them soon.

Fun Surprize- So we were at the Ayalas house reviewing for their interview when all of a sudden we heard a knock on the door. To My Surprize it was the famous SISTER LAMBERT herself!! I love her so much and it was truly the BEST surprize ever! IT was so good to be able to teach with her again. Sister Lambert if you are reading this I LOVE YOU!!! It was also fun to be able to catch up on her after life and also to go and eat at our favorite sushi place :) ROLL ZIP!

This week has been a lot of running around doing little errons and getting everything ready for the girls baptism. The girls had their interview this on Thursday and the ENTIRE Ayala family came to the church for the interview. It was such a neat experience to see the entire family there supporting their two girls. They passed their interviews with FLYING colors! I have never met girls so prepared to hear and accept the message of the gospel in my life. It is so true when they say that Heavenly Father is preparing the hearts of his children to recieve this message. Everything went smoothly and Sister Ayala is so excited to be able to become active again in the church.

The Sunday of the girls baptism was much more than a Baptism. It was about Families! This Sunday May 6th was their baptism. Little Julian their son was able to be blessed in Sacrament Meeting by his Father Alexander. Juliana bore one of the most powerful testimonys, the spirit was strong. The day proceeded and both Juliana and Alexandra Ayala were able to be baptized by their dear father. The girls were able to bear their testimonys at the baptism! They more than anyone know why they were baptized. They know how that all of their sins were washed away. They know that they are one step closer to being with their familes for the eternitys.

It all started with a simple desire a earning to learn more about our Heavenly Father. They are a walking testimony of the Spirit of Elijah," The hearts of their children will turn to their fathers." Now their family can be an eternal family. They are committed, to living the gospel for the rest of their lives. As Juliana and Alexandra said so beautifully," We want to endure to the end, because we know that is what our Heavenly Father wants us to do, and we will endure to the end so that we can live with our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and Our Families. We know that Heavenly Father is so proud of us.

A Family Changed Forever. They can now be a Family Forever. I know that this gospel is real. I know that through baptism we CAN be with our Familes forever if we follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God, and that if ANYONE wants to know the truth of it, if they read and pray and ask Heavenly Father if it is true. He WILL answer them! I know this church is True. Jesus is the Head of this church. I love my family so much!

I know that I was supposed to leave my family for this short time, so that I could come here and help other families be together with their familes for the Eternitys!

I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Gray

P.s. Chelsea what are you doing breaking your foot?!?! haha I love you and hope that you feel better!

"The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood. Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling—from which they will never be released—is to one another and then to their children."

—President Boyd K. Packer, "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them", General Conference, Apr. 2012
Topics: Parenthood, Children, Marriage, Family

 

I LOVE Missionary LIFE!!!

Date: April 30, 2012

Area: Flushing, Queens

Companion - Sister Allen

Dearest Familia,

The Lord is SO aware of each and every one of us. He loves us and he wants nothing more than for us to to return to live with him again. He wants nothing more than for us to return to live with him. This week has been nothing short of AMAZING! I seriously LOVE LOVE missionary work, missionary life! This is the work of the Savior, for we all know that when the savior was here on the earth that he taught the gospel, he invited souls to come unto him. That is what I have the privilage to do as a missionary. Nothing greater!

So Tuesday....We were able to teach Manuel who is a recent convert. He wanted to know more about the story of Joseph Smith, so we were able to watch the movie "The prophet of the Restoration." He was paying so closely attention to the movie and just so amazed and soaking up everything that he learned. It was so humbling to be able to give someone this knowledge he was more than happy to be able to now know the story. Afterwards he told us that the movie made him want to become a better person, and that he is going to make sure that he reads from the Book of Mormon everyday and that he was going to take everything more serious. He was able to talk to President Perez, we are working so that he can get the priesthood. I love Manuel so much, I hope to find someone like him to teach, he just gets so excited about everything that we teach!

We were able to review the Plan of Salvation with the girls. We wanted to see how much they remembered. It was such a neat experience to see what they have learned and to have them review the Plan of Salvation and to see that these girls KNOW why we are here on this earth and what we have to do to make it back to live with our Heavenly Father. I LOVE this gospel and its teachings. It MAKES SENSE :) Our Heavenly Father loves us so he created a plan, a plan by which if we live by it and obey we can make it back to live with our Heavenly Father. He does not ask much of us, but what he does ask is that we Obey his Commandments. When we obey his commandments we are blessed! So WHY not?! haha sounds like a good deal to me :)

So about a week ago we were able to meet this lady named Iris who is a less active. Anyways if you remember we invited her friend Debrena who is from REAL Jamaica to come and pray with us. Long story short we brought the English Elders over so that we could teach Debrena. Lets just say that she is one of the MOST PREPARED people that I have ever met. She was like well....shouldn't the Book of Mormon just be like a continuation of the Bible?? She loved everything that we taught. Not to mention that she said and I quote, " My favorite prophet is Isaiah?!?!" haha who says that?! Well we told her that she would LOVE 2 Nephi! :) She said that she would read it and she understood the need for modern day prophets. The elders are excited to teach her and oh p.s did I tell you that she asked US if she could come to church! Of course!!!

This week has been INCREDIBLE! I just wanted to say thank you so much everyone for all of your prayers I can feel them. So our Zone decided to do a fast for the zone and all of the baptism commits. So church this Sunday we were all praying really hard so that Hermana Patricia Ayala could come to church. Our church starts 9:00am, I was sitting at the piano because I am the ward pianist, and as I sat there I said a little prayer to myself that the entire family would show up. It was past 9 oclock... I then began to play the first verse of the first hymn. As I began to play the second verse I looked over and I saw the ENTIRE Ayala Family Walk in. You have NO idea how happy I felt. I had an overwhelming feeling of Joy! I really can not tell you how I felt. It was so good to know that I have been able to work in THIS part of the Lord's Vineyard to help bring souls back to Christ. Everyone was so nice and very welcoming. This gospel is about FAMILIES! Families can be together forever, through Heavenly Fathers Plan.

Fun note- So on Sunday when I showed up at the Sanchez family for Dinner they threw me a surprize birthday party!!! The Martinez and Gonzales family were also there! ( 2 of my favorite families from Jamaica Branch) I feel so loved and so spoiled! The people of New York are my Family here! I love NY, I love the Members and I am so thankful for the wonderful people that I have met on my mission!

He loves us! He sent his son to die for us, so that we through him might live! I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. If we read it everyday we can prepare to live and have eternal lives. God has given us families for many reasons; one to be happy, to provide a place where we can learn correct principles and to prepare us to one day be able to live in God's presence and to enjoy the blessings of Exhaltation. I love this gospel! I am SO thankful that I have to opportunity to serve the lord for this short time period of a year and a half.

I love this work! This is His Work.

I love you all!

Con MUCHISIMO Amor,
Hermana Gray



"Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege. It is based upon eternal, unchanging principles. We receive help from our Father in Heaven in response to our faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency."

—Elder Richard G. Scott, "How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life", General Conference, Apr. 2012
Topics: Prayer, Revelation