A Year of Light - January 2, 2018

Happy New year! Officially 2018.

This week has been filled with adventures, lame parties, and amazing experiences. To start off I am going to be very blunt. This has been the hardest/lamest week ever. It has been very hard to stay positive with all of the trials and hard aches that have happened this week. There has been lots of disappointments, lots of sorrow, and there was a lot to learn.

Christmas day was an amazing experience. I have heard a lot of people say "Christmas as a missionary is truly the best". I have to agree with that. The day started out with the opening of Christmas gifts. We gathered together as a companionship and took turns opening presents. Most of the ward members here knew that transfers were coming and how hard of a transition it was going to be so they spoiled us with gifts. After our present adventures, we spent the morning with the petersons opening gifts, playing with new toys, and overall just having a fun time. We spent the rest of the afternoon with the Penningtons. They were in need of new family pictures and asked me if I would take them for them. It was freezing outside and the wind was crazy. After the whole thing we got maybe 2 pictures with everyone smiling, eyes opened, with no hair in their mouths. It was a miracle haha. As always, talking with the family was great. It was interesting that just last Christmas I was sitting at home talking with Cooper who was only half way through his mission. It felt weird to be on the other side of the computer screen.

Due to Christmas being on Monday, Tuesday was our p day last week (and this week). It was nice to relax after the holidays and stay inside during the freezing cold weather. We spent the day with our zone playing basketball. Most of you already know that I am pretty terrible at basketball and extremely clumsy. During the middle of a game of knockout I shot the ball, hit the rim, and it went flying. Trying to save myself from "getting out" I ran after my ball and tripped on the gym floor. I slid into the wall/door of the gym and gained a pretty righteous bruise on my wrist. At first it didn't look bad.... but then as the days passed it almost looks like I was abused haha. Sister Bergeron (mission nurse) called after seeing a photo asking a series of questions to see if it was seriously injured. Near the end of the conversation she merely just laughed at me and told me to stop playing basketball. Little does she know that I won that game of knockout 👊👍.

Wednesday was spent finding. All day. This week has been the coldest week as well. It has been misting, freezing, and humid, all at the same time. The only nice thing about finding out in the cold is the fact that people will listen to you. After being shut down from our door approach we were walking back to our car and the same lady came out and yelled to us to come back. She made it very clear that she didn't want to talk about Christ but then proceeded to hand us hand warmers and told us to stay warm. That is the definition of a Texas Christian.

Thursday was... interesting. Basically it was a giant trial. One bad thing happened after another. Something that I learned this week is that every trial we receive we can learn from. We have been really struggling this week as we have been finding investigators but as we continue to work hard and diligently we are being rewarded. It has helped me to become a better person and a better missionary. I am learning to be grateful for my trials and I am loving the experiences I am having. Even if they are difficult. I am learning to find joy in the little things.

This week has been hard, long, cold, and frustrating. But I know that I am supposed to be working hard in this part of my life. I know that I am doing everything I can to be an effective missionary and I know that God realizes that. Heavenly father is there, he loves each of us. He wants us to be happy, he wants us to succeed.

I am excited to be a missionary for the whole year of 2018. I am excited to start this journey and give my all as I continue through my mission. Most missionaries call this year, the year of
Have a great week everyone. I love y all!
Love,
Sister Gray


PICTURES
Temple day
Freezing little Smurf (someone said we looked like smurfs)
Me jumping into the new year
My slightly broken wrist part 1
My slightly broken wrist part 2
Fav kiddos

Dallas Temple

Temple Day

Jumping into 2018

Maybe broken wrist day 1

Day 2



Favorite kids !