Face to Face - August 6, 2018

Hello my friends!

What a week! 

We had such a good week I don't even know where to begin so I guess I will just start? 

We have started a ward 40 day fast. Every day for the next 40 days someone will be fasting for missionary work in the Decatur area. It has been 5 days and boy have we seen miracles! It has been absolutely great! The very first day of the fast we recieved a call from a member saying that he had talked to a coworker about religion. He invited him to meet with us and he said Yes! So we taught him the first discussion on Wednesday. We were at a local park and it seemed like Satan just did not want to meet. There were so many distractions but the spirit can solve all of those problems. The spirit was so strong in that lesson. He accepted the book of Mormon and was excited to read it and learn more. It was such a good lesson.

Another miracle we were able to see this week was some amazing growth in a less active member. The Fort Worth Mission was announced a Facebook mission 2 weeks after I had arrived to the field. At first I was disappointed because I think Facebook is lame and I didn't like the idea of social media as a missionary. This week changed me. We have been working with a lady named Linda. She is a very closed off person but we have worked so hard to get her to open up! I talked a little about her last week. Something tremendous happened!!! We went over to visit her and help her clean her house on Friday. She sat and chatted while we cleaned. Halfway through the cleaning she began to ask questions about things that were going on at church. We told her and had a great gospel conversation afterwards. Near the end of our visit we invited her to church and she said she would come. As we were walking out of her house I decided to be bold and remind her that we love her dearly. So... As we were walking out of the dear I just yelled "bye Linda! We love you!" In which she responded "love you too". Y'ALL THAT IS BIG NEWS!!!! We were so excited. 

We immediately got into the truck and thanked Heavenly Father. We Skype her every night over Facebook messenger and read the Book of Mormon with her. She enjoys it and it is really helping her. I'm glad we have Facebook and that I have a tool to communicate with those I care for. 

The last thing I want to share with y'all is something on a more serious note. There is so much destruction, turmoil, sadness and war around us. It's encircles us in these last days. I have such a strong testimony of this restored gospel. I know without a doubt that the things which I am called to testify are true. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon EVERY DAY you have some serious repenting to do! The Book of Mormon is the true word of God along with the Bible. It is the most correct book on this world and it is filled with the most truth. You need to be filling your spiritual battery every day with the Book of Mormon. Do not simply read this book. You need to apply the scriptures to your life DAILY. Find the principle, learn the truth, apply it to your life. It isn't that hard I promise. Let me give you an example....

2 Nephi 5:16-
And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

What is the principle? Don't compare yourself. Do what you can with what you have and you will be blessed. Amazing things happen when you apply the scriptures to your life. This book will bless your life. Please please read it. It will provide protection and comfort. Read it individually, read it as a family, read it with your companion. Use it in every aspect and strive to learn more about it. I promise it will help. 

Alright my loves, I will write again soon. I enjoy and love each of you. Have a fantastic week and stay safe in the heat.

Love y'all!
Sister Gray

PICTURES:
#oneWORDtheWORD
Yes, we celebrated Harry potter birthday (S. Young loves him)
Y'ALL. I CAUGHT A LIZARD IN OUR APARTMENT
Now I am a professional LIZARD catcher. Lmk if y'all need help ;)

Cute Sister Gray 

Sister Gray and Sister Young
Happy Birthday Harry Potter

Professional lizard catcher !

Lizard Lover

Sister Gray and Young

Sister Young and Gray 

 

Blown By.....July 30, 2018

Hey y'all!

This is gonna be a super lame letter but I'm pretty sure 90% of y'all don't read it and are just here for the pictures... but, for you cool 10% I greatly appreciate y'all. 

Transfers were this past week. Sister K has been moved to Euless! She is really excited to serve there and has her work cut out. My new companion is sister Young! She is from Riverton Utah and has been out 5 months! It's weird being older than your companion in mission age. I was filling out my new calendar for the next two months. It was bittersweet seeing my one year mark on that board. It makes me feel like I just want to die a bit. Time flies I tell ya.

We went to lunch this week with a bunch of our young women. We are teaching a girl named Ava. She is 14 and has had a really rough time. Her family situation kind of stinks and she is trying to find a way to improve her relationship with Jesus Christ. So, she started coming to church with her friend! We decided to get a bunch of the girls together and go out. We had a lot of fun talking with them and being friends with them. Near the end of the meal we shared a brief message with them and we invited all of them to church. Ava approached us afterwards and said that she was really grateful that she met with us. She said that she had been praying for friends her age that were good Christian people. We happened to be an answer to her prayers (even though we are 19 and she is 14... oh well). That is such an amazing feeling. 

We have been working with a less active member for the last few months. When I first met her she did not want to talk to us AT ALL. but, her husband had passed away earlier that week and was in need of company. We stayed for a little while and tried to start a conversation. It didn't go very well, lots of awkward silences. Yet, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself we didn't need to drive 30 miles to visit I would always feel prompted to go. Now, almost 5 months later, she has committed to reading the book of Mormon with us every night. We call her every Sunday morning to invite her to church. So, yesterday, we called about an hour before church and she simply answered saying "oh good, I thought you forgot about me. I'm glad you still call. Come over later?" And hung up the phone. This is HUGE Progress! We went to visit her later that day and she finally opened up. She talked with us about her husband, her dogs, how she met the missionaries, everything. That's when we committed her to read with us. She was a little nervous about it but accepted. Now we FaceTime her everyday to read the word of God. I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON Y'ALL. Ugh, it's so good. It has such a powerful affect on others. 

Man, this gospel is so amazing. My last experience (which is part of the reason why this email isn't super long) today, the sisters in Denton lost their wallets this week and had zero money to buy food. I found out about this yesterday and was really concerned. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father what I could do to help. My answer was to look at how much money was in my account. Sister missionaries receive 150 dollars every month for food, toiletries, and all that fun stuff. When I first got to Texas, I received a very strong impression to budget my money and save as much as I could. So I did just that. It's kind of hard to budget when you only have 150 dollars (especially when you have never ever budgeted before). Over the course of 10 months I have budgeted enough to have a spare 150 dollars in my account at all times. That being said, I looked at my account and knew what I needed to do. 

So! 

We met the sisters this morning and we went shopping. As we left Wal-Mart we were walking back to the truck when we saw an older gentlemen struggling to change a flat tire. I have no clue how to change a tire folks. Yes, my dad showed me, yes, my older brothers showed me, no, I don't remember any of it. Out of impulse I ran over and asked if he needed help. He was a little confused why I was there but I ended up taking over and figuring it out. We sat and talked as we were putting the new tire on (I think it's called a doughnut?) Turns out the guy is a southern Baptist preacher and that he has preached for over 60 years. He asked me what I was doing with my missionary work and we had a great time chatting. I finished tightening the tire (the little screw things that I don't know what they are called) and he asked if I would pray with him because of my service. So here we are, huddled in a small circle in the middle of a Wal-Mart parking lot praying. It was awesome. As we walked away I felt so happy and I was glad to be a help to someone. Plus I learned how to change a tire:) life skill woohoo!


Alright y'all. Thanks for all you do. I hope y'all have a great week and you stay safe.

Love y'all. 

Sister Gray


PICTURES:


Hermana Enriquez:')
Sunsets in Texas never disappoint
It's a good thing we fly home together... otherwise I would have been a whole lot more sad
I don't like meat too much but man oh man does Texas have good ribs and brisket
Sister Young

Sister Gray and Sister Enriquez

Sunsets in Texas never dissappoint

Saying good-by to Sister Keller 

Sister Gray and Keller at the Decatur sign 

She loves her some BBQ

Sister Gray and New Companion Sister Young

Power of the Priesthood - July 23, 2018

Hello my friends!

I can't believe that another transfer has passed! Sadly, sister K is on her way out. She is off to Euless. We are pretty bummed that she is leaving but we know that the Lord needs her there. A little fun story about sister Keller and I. As transfers approached (last transfer) we were both stressed. So the night before board day (the day the AP's and President sit in front of a white board and decide who is getting transferred) sister Keller prayed to move to Decatur, and I prayed to have someone who will help me and be positive. Both of our prayers were answered. We have had such a great transfer and we are really sad to end our companionship. The nice thing is, I know that I will see sister K again. She will be flying home with me in February. 

This past transfer our zone had set a goal to ask for 500 referrals by the end of the 6 week period. At first, we were a little hesitant because we don't see as many people as other missionaries due to the size of our area. Our main source of referrals is at dinner with the members. We were reminded to have faith and expect miracles. So, we have tried our best. We figured the math out as a zone (actually Elder Gurr figured the math out, he is the brains in our zone) each companionship needed to ask for 10 referrals a week. We accepted the challenge and went to work. We held our end for the entire transfer. This past week we heard the news that in order to reach our goal we needed over 100 referrals. We were a little nervous but continued to work hard. The adversary worked really hard to prevent us. Every single dinner we had this week cancelled. Every single one. Including Sunday night. We were so stressed out but we decided to say a prayer in faith and get to work. Even though we were not able to ask referrals at our dinner appointments, we were able to ask for 53 referrals in a week. It was crazy awesome. The average was about 8 a week. We accomplished our zone goal with 553 referrals asked for. We know that the Lord provides miracles when we work hard so as a result, we received a phone call with a referral from Georgia! They were passing through Utah and decided to ask the lady working at subway if she wanted to learn about Jesus Christ. She happily accepted and we have a solid investigator named faith.

My testimony has grown so much since I have been a missionary. Something that I have grown to have a greater testimony of is the priesthood. Many of y'all know I have the worst knees in the world. So unfortunately I was walking around on Tuesday and I turned too fast and dislocated my knee. I sat on the edge of my bed and fear was the only thing present. I was so petrified that I had done something terrible that would end my missionary stay. Immediately after I dislocated it, I was able to coax it back into place. Sister Keller knelt and we offered a prayer to know more understanding and for a feeling of comfort. As soon as the prayer was over I knew that I needed to receive a blessing. I am so grateful to be a part of God's true church with his priesthood. I called a member and we met him. He gave me the most beautiful blessing. Afterwards I just sat in the chair and cried. He bent down and said "I know it's against your rules but, grandpa hug?" I just laughed and said heck yeah. A couple of days passed and my knee was back to normal. No sweeping, no floating patella, nothing. It was a huge blessing. I have a firm testimony that the priesthood is God's restored power put on the earth today. I love that no matter where you go... you can find someone who holds this power. What a blessing that is. 

Well, my cute friends and family. Stay cool. I have no sympathy for any of y'all because every single day this week was over 104 degrees. At 9 pm it  was 103. There is no escaping the heat. I love y'all so much! Have a great week! 

Love,
Sister Gray

Best district in the world
Best zone in the world
Museum
This is Crystal she is a 13 and is one of my best friends. She has a rocky life and she prayed that I would stay in Decatur so she could have some one stable. Breaks my heart but I'm glad that I am here for her:)
There are brisket shops on the side of the road so we stopped after we painted a house

Best District

Best Zone

Sister Keller and Gray at the Museum

Crystal and Sister Gray 

Sister Keller and Gray at a Roadside BBQ

Sister Keller and Sister Gray