Oh Deer.....May 21, 2018

Hello!

I feel like time needs to slow down because I can't keep up with how fast it is passing by. I don't even remember half of what happened this week due to how fast it has flown by. I guess that is just what happens though. We have had a pretty great week.

 
We started this week out with a challenge. We sat together as a zone and issued a challenge. Our mission has been struggling with finding lately, so we made a competition. We decided we were going to give away 148 Book of Mormon, out in one week. We started determined, and worked hard. We delivered our part. Sunday night we received a call from one of our zone leaders asking how many books we had given out. Sheepishly we responded with one book. A loud scream was expressed for we accomplished that goal. It was a great day. We needed one more book and we were able to pass that out. It was a goal well accomplished. 

So with that being said, we spent most of our week out tracting. We have had some pretty interesting interactions. One lady said "I'm mad at my husband, he is an atheist, yes, I will listen to your message about Jesus." It was really funny. She actually accepted a book of Mormon. The trick to successful tracting  is to be happy while you are doing it. No one wants to talk to you if you look like a miserable turkey dying in the Texas heat. Trust me. 

We had a great lesson with Donna this week. She loves the Book of Mormon! We had prayed for what to teach her and we were prompted to just show up. As we did she exclaimed that she had read 2 Nephi and it talked about baptism and answered a lot of her questions. We had a really good discussion about it and she was really excited about baptism. The following day we were asked to teach second hour in church. The lesson was on baptism. She walked in the door and saw the word "baptism" on the board. She laughed and said "super subtle Sister Gray, super subtle." We chuckled and exclaimed that it was the next lesson in the series. We had a good lesson and she is starting to realize the signs that Heavenly Father is placing in front of her. I'm very thankful for Heavenly Father.

We also had the opportunity to go and provide service for a new investigator. Let me tell you. This lady is a hoarder. I don't even know where to begin. She is the nicest lady ever. She asked us if we would help her get her house in order. Let me break it down a little. This lady has 6 cats, 8 dogs, and about 15 donkeys. She is a heavy smoker, and she smokes in the house. The whole place hasn't been cleaned out in about 12 years. I had the job of climbing the ladder (sure put the short one on it) and cleaning the ceilings from cobwebs. It was basically like swirling cotton candy. Brown, sticky, cotton candy. It was worth it when she accepted a Book of Mormon. 

I think all of you know how much I love animals. The ward here has found out this little fact. After a dinner appointment the member said "can I take you to my house? I have a surprise". We said sure and headed that way. When we pulled up, 2 dogs and a deer came pouncing to the car. We get out of the car and this deer just comes up and starts checking us out! This deer was named baby and she is freaking adorable. It was so much fun. An item has been checked off of my bucket list. Who would have thought that I would meet a deer on my mission. 

I will close with this....this week was brutally hard. The hardest I have yet to see. Yet, the only reason I made it through was the fact that I can lean on the Savior. I can lean on Him as I struggle, as I hurt, and as I battle. Sometimes I'm not leaning. Sometimes I truly am being carried. It's like that old poem "footsteps in the sand". The only way to get through life is for you to lean on the Savior. To trust in Him and to rely fully on Him. I am so grateful for Him. I'm so grateful for this gospel. I'm thankful for the things that I know and the truths we are given. 

I love all of you so much and I am thankful for everything y'all do. It means so much. I truly feel the love and support from each of you. Thank you. 

I will talk to y'all soon.

Love,
Sister Gray

Sister Gray and Baby

Baby

A bucket list checked off

Sister Gray Loves Animals 

Angels in the Cookie - May 14, 2018

Hello my loves!:)

I hope y'all had a great week, this mothers day week. It's crazy that we have made it this far! To be completely honest, I never thought I would make it this far haha. I felt incredibly blessed to see my family. Although it was heartbreaking to hang up, it's refreshing to see their bright faces as they continue to tease me 1195 miles away;). All jokes aside, it was very inspired that we see our families twice a year. It provides encouragement, peace, comfort, and a good laugh at the most needed times. 

This week we had a really good week! I want to share a cool experience we had this week with a less active member. We were driving through town when we received a call from a member I had not met yet. He asked us to meet him for lunch. We always say yes to a lunch invite;) we met up and sat around a small table talking and getting to know each other. About half way through the meal he admitted that he had no idea why he asked us to lunch. As we sat and talked he shared several different spiritual experiences. Tears were shed, the spirit was present, hearts were reminded. As we were finishing our meal the waiter brought our check, and a few fortune cookies. We continued talking and the brother said that he knew he needed to meet with us and feel the spirit. We all agreed and began to eat our cookies. We asked each other what the fortunes said. I read mine, as did sister ' Alatini. The brother picked up his fortune and started crying. He handed it to me and said "read". The fortune said, "angels are all around you bringing you good words. You must listen." Shortly before reading the fortunes we asked this brother to come back to church. To partake of the sacrament, and to feel of God's love. What a spectacular experience we were able to be apart of.

We had another amazing opportunity this week as well. We received a referral this past week to give a Book of Mormon and a Bible to a woman named Cindy. We drove to her house and knocked on the door. She opened the door and immediately let us in. We sat around a small table and began to talk. We found out that she had been going through a rough time and was looking for comfort. We gave her the Book of Mormon and began to testify how much comfort it has brought us. As we taught she listened intensely. She was entranced by the history of the Book of Mormon. We invited her to read Moroni' s promise. As she did, tears strolled down her face. After reading she said that she had finally felt peace. True peace. With the invitation to read, pray and continue to find peace was exactly what she needed. After that lesson I have continued to ponder the reason behind the Book of Mormon. Living in the Bible belt, many people go out of their way to disprove the Book of Mormon. Yet, no matter the accusation, the assumption, or the excuse, I have always known the Book of Mormon is true. I LOVE that I get to share that with others as I serve the Lord. Someone once asked me, what's my favorite part of being a missionary. I can say without a doubt that my favorite part of being a missionary is that I am set apart to teach. I am set apart to represent Christ. I am set apart to share what I know to be true, to invite others to find out for themselves. I LOVE being a missionary.

Thursday we had the opportunity to go to a lecture with Grace in Denton. It's a 5 part lecture series on Joseph Smith. She really enjoyed the first lecture. It has answered a lot of her questions (and a lot of mine to be honest). It has been really fun to learn together:) Grace also came to church and we celebrated mothers day with her. She let me call home from her house and she absolutely loved talking to my family. 

Well everybody, this was a short and sweet email but I saw most of y'all yesterday so I think that makes up for it:) I sure do love y'all!

Love,
Sister Gray

PICTURES:
Closest thing to pleasant grove I will ever get for the next 10 months
We get bored when we clean the old museum, we thought we would stage something
Grace told me that she saw this fabric and new it was for me. It is a pillow made with all of the names of Jesus Christ.

Closet thing to Pleasant Grove for awhile !

Museum Pictures

Museum Pictures 

Sweet Grace and the pillow she made for Sister Gray 

Two Sister Missionaries in a Little White Truck - May 7, 2018

Hello!

Welcome to May! I can't believe it's already here, mothers day and all. I feel like it was just Christmas but the heat tells me otherwise haha. It has finally started to warm up here in Decatur. We will be over 90 all of this week. I'm excited but also ready for fall again haha. Oh well! This week has been pretty good. We had transfers on Wednesday and I met up with sister Alatini! Sadly, sister A will be finishing her mission at the end of the transfer, she is dying. I am not ready to kill a companion! Sister A is from Oakland California and is the most laid back person I know. She is Tongan and has a killer sense of quiet humor. I'm glad I get to spend the next 6 weeks with her before she heads off to see her family.

This week some major things were revealed to me. The spirit is seriously the best teacher. Many of y'all know that I have terrible insomnia. If I'm lucky I will sleep for a couple hours a night. Lately I haven't been sleeping at all. My body was so dang angry that I wasn't sleeping. I kept praying for help and for rest but I wouldn't receive any. Finally one night, after laying awake for a good 2 hours the thought came into my head, maybe you should read your scriptures. I climbed out of bed, turned on a flashlight and read until I fell asleep. I woke up with my head on the desk, flashlight in hand, and my scriptures wide open. I had slept better that night (at my desk) than I had the rest of the week. As we drove to our lesson with Donna and Phillip I was still thinking about it. We sat down and began to teach. Halfway through the lesson Phillip stated that he has bad insomnia and is having a hard time sleeping. I asked him what he did when he woke up. He said that he gets up and watches t.v. I told him that I had been having similar problems and I was impressed to read my scriptures. I invited him to do the same. The next morning we received a text confirming that the scriptures were what he needed to sleep fully through the night. The spirit over came me and I realized that the reason I wasn't sleeping was because I needed to have the same experience Phillip needed. Now we both read our scriptures when we wake up and it helps both of us. Funny how Heavenly Father works huh?

We have had some interesting service activities lately. We helped this lady on Friday clean her house. She kind of treated us like maids though. She told us what to clean and then sat down to watch t.v. and drink coffee. We didn't quite know how to handle it. The worst part about it is, she smokes in her house. So the whole place just stinks. We left the house and we smelled just as bad. It was in our clothes. BUT, it was good service and she really needed it. Hopefully next time she will help us and not just expect us to do it haha. 

We also helped a family in our ward clean and gut a camping trailer. Afterward they invited us to dinner. Half way through dinner, Lia, the little girl asked if I liked bugs. I happily said no, no I do not. She then raced from the table and grabbed her dad's bug collection. He collects bugs and plasticizes them. I was thoroughly creeped out. Lia finally convinced me to hold some up for a picture. I hope y'all like it. I didn't. After that some of their chickens escaped and they asked if we would help wrangle them together. We laughed and joined in. Chasing chickens trying to grab them. 45 minutes later I finally caught me a chicken. I've never been more proud. We decided we would take pictures and carry on our way. 

We had two investigators at church this week. It was a different meeting, we received a new bishopric. Near the end of sacrament meeting Grace commented on how she felt as each member stood up and bore their testimony. It was amazing as we identified that as the spirit. Later on, she said that she was glad she meets with us and knows us. We are glad to be with her too, that's for sure. 

Well, that's all for this week. I'm so grateful for the chance I have to be here. I know I say this every week but the mission is the best. I have had so much fun and I have grown so much. Thank you for all of those that sent letters this week. They were much needed haha. Since this email is a little short I thought I might share with y'all a poem that was made for the Decatur missionaries.

Two sister missionaries
In a little white truck
Driving through Decatur
Praying for some luck!


Bouncing all through Bowie
And sliding through Slidell,
After Denton district meeting,
We will visit Grace Corbell!


There's an alien in Aurora,
And nothing much in Rhome,
We talk a lot to strangers
We call them on the phone.


Sometimes people feed us,
Usually they dont.
Some people forget Decatur,
I'm pretty sure I won't.

Love y'all. I will see you soon :)
Sister Gray


PICTURES:


Transfer day
Sister A and her trunky packet
Creeped out by crawlies
My very own chicken
Sister A: "it's almost like we are on a beach with this sunset. Oh wait. We are in Texas. Never mind."

Saying Good-bye to Sister Bowes

Sister A and her Trunky packet

Yucky bugs! !

Kissing a Chicken?

Sister Gray's personal chicken 

Beautiful Sunset...maybe not a beach, but beautiful

Transfers, Transfers, Transfers - April 30, 2018

6 weeks have come and gone!

I can't believe it! We received transfer news this morning. I will be staying here in Decatur. My new companion is Sister Alatini. She is pretty awesome. We had a great week this week! So many amazing opportunities. I have seen a pattern this week that has been great. I will get to that soon:) 

This email will be rather short this week because I only have like 30 minutes to write but I will try to be fast in typing! We had some pretty cool miracles happen this week. We had a large amount of time to fill on Tuesday. We felt impressed to go over a list of less actives and pray to see who we should visit. We felt prompted to go and visit a less active couple. As we pulled into their driveway I was feeling a little nervous. I'm not sure why but I was just jittery I guess. We knocked on the door and a man answered. He let us right in. His wife came and joined us and we began talking. We were sharing scripture, talking about God's love when the wife began to cry. She said that a relative had passed away that morning. They both were in tears as they sat together and mourned their relative. We were able to bare testimony of the plan of salvation and provide comfort. As we were leaving the home the wife gave us a hug and she whispered to me "you were sent by god.". It brought tears to my eyes. I am so grateful for the spirit and it's leading power. I'm also grateful for the chance that I have to bring comfort to others as they go through hard times. Im sooooo thankful for the knowledge we have and the chance we have to be with our families for forever. And I am really thankful for my can of mixed nuts that I call family:) they make me so happy and have taught me so much. 

 
We met with Donna and Phillip this week and had a great lesson with them. Donna has been really sick so it was a short lesson but it was powerful. We also met with Grace this week. She has had a cactus growing in her front yard for 10 years that has grown massive and mean. I asked her if she wanted me to remove it. She laughed and said "baby, no one can remove that thing. I've tried for years.". I took that as a challenge. Once again I endured another "slave day". I clipped all of the stems of the cactus and began digging. An hour later I removed half of it. Another hour later the "Texas weed" was retrieved. It was so big that it's remains filled an entire trash can. I felt accomplished and I impressed Grace. Later, when she had family over she was talking to them about the Mormon girls and their hard work. It was fun to help her. 

Sunday was probably the best day of the week. We started our day by attending the bishopric meeting to discuss the needs of our investigators, less actives, and people we are concerned with. Afterwards church started. As we walked into the chapel we were surprised by one of our former investigators, Mary, showed up for church. She had been having a hard time and realized that she needs God in her life. She knew exactly where to find him. We sat with her and comforted her as she explained some of the trials she is going through. Afterwards as we were leaving a member came up and said "Hi! My friend wants to see you!". That's always a good sign. That's when we met Ryan. She has been less active for years but she said that she read the entire book of Mormon in 7 weeks. She said that she wants to learn the lessons and also her boyfriend wants to as well. I'm pretty excited for it. We are meeting them for dinner this Wednesday. I think all will go well:)

I am very thankful for the growth that has happened in this area. When I first got here, we had 2 investigators. With only one progressing. Now, we have three investigators who are progressing, 2 returning less active families, and 5 new investigators who are working in progressing. I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father and the support He gives his missionaries. It's hard to be on a mission. It's frustrating, tiring, disappointing at some times, and incredibly hard. But, it's the most amazing, uplifting, hilarious, spiritual, and incredible thing I have ever done. It's also the most rewarding thing I have done. 

This week has been great. I'm excited to endure another. To start new on another transfer. I look forward to writing y'all soon. I am thankful for the support you show me. The letters, and emails each week truly help me through the hard times. It's something I look forward to.
Until next week. 

Love y'all!
Sister Gray


PICTURES
My best friend Logan
#sharethebook go look is up
Twinning at church
Dinner with the Gobers

Sister Gray and her best friend Logan

#sharethebook 

Twinning it at Church

Dinner with the Gobers

Cute Sister Missionaries
Sister Gray and Sister Bowes