Sister Gray's Mission: 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