Sister Gray's Mission: Wonderful Week

Hello!

What a wonderful week! It's crazy to think that Thanksgiving is on Thursday! It truly doesnt feel like the holiday season here in highland village. The weather is basically the same everyday (warm with a light breeze), there is no snow, we haven't had time to think about the holidays because it has been CRAZY busy (enormous blessing). The only thing that has really changed in the past couple of weeks is that it gets dark REALLY early. I'm talking 5 p.m. pitch black. It's super fun because we aren't supposed go be knocking doors in the dark (it gets super sketchy at night, lots of big scary people think they need to talk to us) so we do member lessons, family home evening, mission prep classes, and such to fill the time. Overall we have seen the blessings we receive when we work diligently and not waste time. It's exhausting, but worth it.

I apologize for last week's letter! We had transfers so we decided to have a big zone P-day to send off our transferring missionaries. Little did we know that no one would be leaving. Anyway, it was a great celebration. We went bowling, had a pickle-ball tournament (thanks to an amazing family in the Lantana ward), basketball games, hatchet throwing (btw sister Gray is strangely good at this so watch out), homemade peach cobbler, and a jam session provided by sister Gray and Elder Hutchison who both can't play the ukulele but managed to play a song. All together it was an amazing Monday but resulted in no emailing time.

Wednesday both me and Sister Gorley were put out of our comfort zones as we helped the young women's presidency set up for their young women's in excellence program. There were flowers, tablecloths, lanterns, candles, fancy clothes, and lights that all needed to be set up. What initially was supposed to take an hour to set up took us over two hours. Overall it was a good experience and it increased my knowledge on how to overdress a table.

Friday we ran around all day with our heads spinning. We were in lessons back to back. I don't think we have ever been more busy. Earlier in the week we tracted into a cute young mom who let us into her home. We were having our first discussion and she had lots of questions. One thing you need to know about Texas, Specifically in the Lewisville area. There is SOO much anti. When we first started the lesson things were going great. The spirit was strong, she was crying, I was crying, Sister Gorley was choked up (she is a rock, shows no emotion. It's hilarious) all was well until we brought up Joseph Smith. As soon as we said his name she whipped out a book larger than a phonebook that was filled with false ideas about Joseph Smith. The rest of the lesson was spent bearing testimony that the only way for her to know if Joseph Smith was true was to pray for herself. She promised she would and then she offered the most sincere prayer I have ever heard. I was touched by her. She made us treats to take with us and gave us a handmade card. She showed so much love for us it was incredible to see.

After her lesson we had 6 other lessons we needed to go to. All were great lessons filled with promising investigators. The highlight of our day was meeting with Jesse. I'm not sure if I have talked about Jesse before but, Jesse is turning 9 in December and his mom is a less active member and his dad wants nothing to do with the church. Jesse decided he wanted to come to church so we have been teaching him the lessons. We had our last lesson with him on Friday and he told us that he has met with the bishop and is getting baptized in December. We aren't sure if it will be a convert baptism but we don't really care. Jesse is our baptism. We have been able to watch his testimony grow and seen him grow as a person. We are so excited for him.

Saturday night we received a phone call from our bishop begging us to speak on Sunday. Obviously we said yes and began preparing. We both were given the topic "becoming a disciple of Christ". Many of you already know this but I HATE speaking in church. It's literally the worst activity. Anyway, as I stood to talk, my hands were shaking, I was hardly Breathing and I knew that this was going to end bad. I stood at the pulpit and couldn't speak. As I looked around the congregation I saw a familiar face with a comforting smile. I saw Joseph Peterson, the youngest Peterson child who is only 2. He stood on his dad's lap, with the biggest grin, waving to me. I see Joseph every single day (We live with the Petersons in a small apartment next to their home) everyday he will smile, wave, and give me a high five. It's something I look forward to each day. But, on Sunday as I stood at the pulpit, frozen, I saw his face and I saw his excitement that his friend, was standing at the stand about to give a talk. That smile and that wave gave me enough courage that I was able to give one of the best talks I have ever given.

I am really excited for Thanksgiving this week. Not because of the turkey, not because of the pie, but for the opportunity I have to be thankful to others. We have so many families that want to feed the missionaries that we will be starting "dinner" at 1 and ending it at 8 (pray that we don't explode). With 6 families to be visited in that time frame. Each are willing to bring us into their family traditions, letting us meet their families and truly making it feel like home. I have a challenge for y'all. As you enter into this thanksgiving week, go invite someone. Not everyone has the opportunity to have a home cooked meal each day. Not everyone has family they can spend time with. Invite. Them. In. No one should be alone for the holidays. As you do this you will see how blessed you are and you can experience the true feeling of being thankful. Let me know if any of you accomplish this challenge, I would love to hear your experience.

I truly love all of you and I hope that you have a great thanksgiving.

Love,
Sister Gray

PICTURES:
The treats that Missy gave us
A sister breakfast party in Denton
Our Malibu on Malibu drive
Sister Gorley surprised me with A pomegranate:')