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

Officially Joined - April 23, 2018

Hey y'all!

I hope you have had a GREAT week. This week has been the lamest week ever my goodness. But, all is well in Zion. A few cool miracles have occurred this week that I would like to share.

 
This past week something I have been praying for is how to get more involved with the youth of this ward. The youth here are...interesting. They are more closed off than the youth I usually work with. I have really been struggling. My answer came in a totally unexpected way. We attend mutual every week and encourage the youth to bring their friends. This past week was a combined activity, which we were very excited for. Nothing beats having all of the youth together. We didn't know what the activity was until we showed up. We started opening exercises, and they herded us outside. Once outside I knew exactly what we were going to do. Water Volleyball. I was so excited. We were all given towels and split into teams. At first the kids were a little uneasy about two sister missionaries playing (in skirts). After we hit a couple of miamaids with a balloon.... all fears were melted away. We all had fun playing and laughing at each other. Near the end of the activity, the war began. Everyone was dashing for balloons and throwing them at each other. This is where we decided it would be best we "sat out". That idea was shot down quite quickly. A priest, deacon, and beehive, chased us. Finally we were surrounded and the war was unleashed. We drove home very wet that night. 

The next Sunday we were assigned to give a presentation to all of the youth. Afterwards many of the youth came up and showed us the pictures they had taken of us and shared with their friends. We laughed at how ridiculous we looked and explained that they were doing missionary work! They were proud of themselves for the achievements they had while embarrassing their missionaries. They said that we have officially joined the Decatur ward. I take that as a success. My prayer was definitely answered. We have made HUGE progress with this ward. They have started to trust us more. Trust is everything in missionary work. 

This weekend we helped Grace with her yard. She had a knee replacement a while back and hasn't been able to keep up her yard. So she had us do it. (I finally thought I would escape "slave day"....boy was I wrong!). We spent most of the day weeding, fluffing dirt, trimming tree branches, and spreading dirt. It took us a good couple of hours. As we were bagging all of the weeds (4 big black bag fulls) every time it would get near the top I would climb on the bag and push it down. Grace thought it was hilarious. She said she needed a picture to send to her daughter. After we finished with service we sat down and read from the book of Mormon. I LOVE THAT BOOK. Oh my goodness. It's 10 out of 10. Grace is building her testimony, slowly but surely. I have a firm belief that she will be baptized within the next year (seems forever away but really it's close). Grace joined us at church and she was very interactive. She had lots of questions, and comments. We were so grateful she came.
We also had a great lesson with Donna this past week! We had planned to invite her to baptisms because she has grown so much! She fed us dinner and we sat down for the lesson. As we continued to go we both felt that we should wait to invite her. Immediately afterwards she said with a firmness in her voice "I know I will be baptized. I know it's true. I'm ready. I just need to wait a little bit longer.". At first I was a little disappointed, but then I realized that I am on the Lords errand and He is in charge. He has a plan for Donna and He knows what will help her best. Im confident in that.

 
We received a bunch of rain this week. I LOVE the rain. It makes me so happy. We spent as much time as we could outside in our rain jackets, and umbrellas. It was fantastic. Im thankful for the rain. Alright well I know this letter is pretty lame but it's all I got haha. I will talk to y'all soon. Mothers day is just around the corner, and so are transfers. Geez another 6 weeks have passed, I'm old! We live next to a movie theater and we pass by it every day. Every day we look at the showings to see what's playing. I don't know any of them. I have officially been out long enough to be out of the world. Its fantastic. I love it:) until next week!

 Love y'all!
Sister Gray:)


Pictures!
Helping grace outside
Grace said we needed to take "serious farmer" picture
The picture we sent to graces daughter
Rainy day pictures
The face we made when our dinner appointment cancelled as we pulled up in the driveway
Water volley ball

Professional garbage stomper !

Helping Grace

Sister Gray and Grace

Serious Farmer Picture !
Sister Bowes and Sister Gray

Rainy Days 

Beautiful Sister Gray 

Rainy Texas Days

Sad Sister Faces

Youth Water-volleyball activity

Gluten Free? - April 16, 2018

Hello again!

Another week is gone. Again I will state how fast this transfer has been. We are more than half way done with this transfer. Let's jump right in!

This past week has been crazy busy. We spent most of our days driving around to less active members homes. We only are able to visit with a few of them due to the amount of time it takes to get anywhere in this area. But, it's a good use of our time during the day. It's exhausting though. The weather in Texas is so irritating sometimes. It I'll be 90 degrees one day and 30 the next. It's annoying. We spent most of Tuesday out in Bowie (pronounced booey). We visited atleast 8 houses and no one was home. Slightly discouraging but that's ok. It just means we have to go back:)

Wednesday we had an a amazing district meeting. We were given a training on Facebook. A lot of missionaries (me included) have had a really hard time finding ways to fulfill missionary work while using Facebook. A lot of the time we simply look at it as a distraction, a waste of time, or a tool that can be used against us by the adversary. As we sat in this meeting an elder made a comment that has stuck with me all week. He said "you wouldn't throw away the Liahona would you? Facebook is given to missionaries as a tool to help further the work. So don't bash it, deny it, or take it for granted.". We are given tools to help others. Social media is a tool that when used correctly can help others. I invite each of you to do one thing this week to do good with social media. Share a scripture, a quote, or even your testimony. I promise you that there is someone reading that needs to hear it.

Thursday we had an amazing lesson with our investigator Donna. She is progressing towards her baptism and is starting to grow her own testimony. She was telling us that she has noticed satan is trying to prevent her from coming to church. She realizes that it must mean something if satan is trying SOOO HARD. I was in a way thankful that the trails have raised for her to see that. She wants to come to church, she wants to partake of the sacrament, she wants to come closer to Christ. Her budding testimony has definitely grown my testimony.

Friday I left Decatur and headed for Weatherford for exchanges. I had the opportunity to go on exchange with Sister Kapp. She is the bomb. I absolutely love her. To start the exchange out, our car didn't start. Our battery had died, and we just sat and laughed. The lady next door said she would jump our car. We spent the next 3 hours at another car shop waiting to see what the problem was. Afterward we went and provided service at a donation center, hit panda for lunch, and went straight to a lesson. Half way through the lesson the investigators phone goes off informing us that we were in a tornado watch. We simply laughed and carried on with the lesson. It was a really really good exchange. I learned a lot from Sister Kapp who will be dying in three weeks and returning to Layton Utah. I'm really sad to see her go.

Saturday was quite the day. We received a visit from the office elders who brought us new beds! Yay! I was so excited. We were able to chat with them for a little while. I served with Elder Mitchell in Lewisville so we had fun telling old stories from that area. Afterwards we left for dinner. We had a good dinner and good conversation. Near the end of the meal she pulls out a box of cupcakes and says "I heard one of you is gluten free, so I bought you a special cupcake." Me and Sister Bowes were sooo confused. We looked at each other and shrugged. Turns out there is a rumor that I am gluten free. Not cool whoever started that. I LOVE bread, cookies, and crackers, too much to be gluten free. So I sat and ate my cupcake wondering how to tell the ward I'm not haha. After dinner we left to an appointment. As soon as we sat down I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I couldn't breathe, talk, move, smile, anything. I just sat there paralyzed. About 10 minutes into the attack I turn to my companion and say "hey we need to go". She shook her head and continued to talk. Another 20 minutes passed and I started to feel a little better. We got into the car after the appointment and I punched sister Bowes and told her what happened. She laughed and apologized. Turns out the cupcake had pumpkin in it and I had an allergic reaction. It was pretty bad. Note to self, allergy to pumpkin has increased since I have been out.

We had a good week here in Decatur. The work is improving slowly but surely. I am grateful for the people I work with and I am thankful for the experiences I have had. I hope y'all have a safe, happy, spring filled week.

Love y'all.
Sister Gray


BLUE BONNETS ARE IN SEASON!!!

Sister Bowes, and Thomson were in my district in the MTC.

Sister Bowes said she was irritated so I told her I could help her feel better. So I sat on her. It worked😂😂

Blue Bonnets are out!!!

Sister Bowes and Sister Thomson

Sister Bowes being sat on! ! 

Sister Gray and Sister Bowes

A Hug From Home - April 9, 2018

Hello!

I can't believe another week has passed. They aren't kidding when they say "the days are long but the weeks are short!". I believe that with all of my heart. Amazing things have happened this week. Things that have truly built my testimony. So let's dive on in!

We had an eventful week of service this week. We were involved in a program that provides food for those who can not afford produce. When we first arrived we were like a fish out of water. Every single person there was either a pastor, married to a pastor, or training to be a pastor. People were still very welcoming to us, which was good, but it was still a little strange. But, as the program started and people began to come down the line, all of the differences in religion melted away as we all worked together to help our neighbors. It was cool to experience the tension slip away as we all served. There was so much food to give out, I can't even describe it. I wish I had gotten a picture but I was unable to:( we handed out atleast 500 bags of green onions and grapes.

So. Much. Food.

We also had the opportunity to help a less active woman in the ward move. When we first asked her if she needed help her immediate response was a resounding NO. She did not need any help from anyone. As the weeks carried on, we got a text asking if we could come over the next day. Of course we smiled and said yes:) we packed her entire food storage, pantry, and cupboards. All within the course of 3 hours. As we sat and worked hard she was so happy she had set her pride aside and asked for help. As a reward she said "I know y'all aren't from here so I thought I would get you a souvenir. I bought you Bucky's shirts!".(a Texas "must see" famous gas station) I was sooo excited! I have collected sooo many tee shirts since I have been out. People know I like them so they just send me them haha. It's great.

Another super cool thing that happened this week was Grace came to church! Yay! Missionaries have tried to get her to church for almost 2 years and she finally came! She said she enjoyed it and was looking forward to the next service. Our hope is that she will come and feel the spirit and have a desire to continue coming. We read the Book of Mormon with her everyday and she is praying to know that it is true. She has the faith to pray and she has a desire to know. Now we just wait to see when she gets her answer:).

The main thing I want to talk to y'all about was the most amazing miracle that has happened this week. Ever since Easter I have been feeling sort of down. Not anything too serious. I was just missing my family. The normal missionary feeling that we have:) in fact, on Easter Sunday we had breakfast with a recent convert and less active who have been trying to come back to church. As we sat at the table Charlie asked me what the hardest thing about a mission is. I told her that the hardest thing is to be away from those you love the most. She then asked me how I handled it. I told her... that's a good question! I still have no idea! Im not very good at it, but I'm trying." She smiled, gave me a hug and said "your family is proud of you." It made me happy:).

This week, was Charlie and Erik's wedding. Since we have been working with them, they asked us to attend their ceremony and reception. We of course said yes. It was on my "missionary bucket list" to attend a wedding. Why? Go and watch the district and you would understand (all my missionary friends will understand). The big day came and we were so excited. Texas is like Utah and the weather will change in a blink. Friday we had 80 degree weather and Saturday we had 31 degree weather. It was a little chilly for an outside wedding. The ceremony began and it was beautiful.

Afterwards, the mother of the bride rushed over to me and asked if I was from Utah. I laughed and said yes thinking she was going to make a joke. She didn't. She simply said with tears in her eyes "I met your mom.". My heart skipped a beat and I laughed saying "of course you did.". She then began to tell me the story. As she was driving from Arizona to Texas to attend her daughter's wedding, there was a massive traffic jam in Utah. Which left several cars stuck on the highway for several hours. People began to get out of their cars and talk. "This lady came and talked to me asking me where we were going. I told her that I was headed to Texas.". My mom (being the proud missionary mom she is) began to explain that she had a daughter serving there, and that she was transferred to the Decatur area. Charlie's mom thought "that's weird, that's where Charlie lives." She gave my mom a hug and was on her way. With tears in our eyes she leans in to give me a hug and said "this is from your mom". We sat and hugged each other and cried.

Why? Because for the first time in 7 months I hugged my mom. It was as if her arms were wrapped around me. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life than in that moment. Days before, I sat on my bed asking Heavenly Father if He really needed me out in the field. If He was truly aware of how tired, and homesick I was. As I hugged Charlie's mom, the spirit testified to me, that our Heavenly Father knows. He knows our struggles, He knows our hardships, He knows our heart aches. And He cares. He cares about your feelings, He cares what you think. He is willing to help you if you will be patient. He will help us in ways that we didn't even know were possible. I didn't know I needed a hug from my mom but I did. I needed that boost.

If I learn anything on this mission I hope that it is the love Heavenly Father has for all of his children. One of my favorite quotes is from Elder Holland:

"Think the best, hope the best, and have faith in the future."

Have faith that Heavenly Father knows your future. When I figured that out, my life became a whole lot easier, and a whole lot happier. I sure do love this gospel. I love the opportunity I have. I love my family and I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Love y'all,

Sister Gray

Pictures:
The eighter from decatur: some weird guy that was good at gambling. That's what that means apparently.

Grace was scared we were a cult so we sent her this picture and told her we were. She had a good laugh.

Our Bucky tee shirts

Charlie on her wedding day

Charlies mom.

Welcome to Decatur

Eighter from Decatur

Does this look like a cult to you?  

Bucky Beaver Shirts

Sister Gray, Charlie, and Sister Bowes

Charlie's mom

This is the traffic jam that Sister Gray was talking about,
her mom and little sister Cassidy sat in it for 3 1/2 hours
and that's where they met Charlie's mom and family. 
This world gets really small with the Lord's hand in it.  

Easter Sunday - April 2, 2018

Happy Easter friends!

I cant believe another holiday has come to pass. My one and only Easter as a missionary has passed and I am super sad about it:( holidays are weird for missionaries. I don't quite like them haha. BUT. I love Easter so that makes up for it. 

This week has been filled with information and changes. 

We had zone conference this week. It was held at my old building in Highland village. It was so weird to be back to my old area. It was freaky actually. I still remember everything. We had a huge zone conference with three zones. The Lewisville zone, the alliance zone, and the Denton zone. I have served in each one of these zones. It was fun to see almost everyone I have served with. President gave some amazing training and has asked us to adapt to many new changes. It will be a hard but good change. 

The highlight of this week was obviously general conference. It's crazy to think that last general conference I was at the MTC. Watching it in those horrible plastic chairs. I would much rather watch it with investigators:) Saturday morning we were invited to a break fast with a family in the ward. We watched the Saturday morning session with them and I was particularly amazed with the talk given by Brian K. Taylor. I was deeply moved by his message about the love of God. We truly are all children of God, we have a Father who loves us. It's perfect. 

We watched the Sunday afternoon session with the Milstead family. Donna is investigating the church right now and loves missionaries. She said "I'm glad I watched this, it answered a lot of the questions I have." It was an answer to our prayers. Afterwards they prepared a HUGE fried turkey dinner with all of the fixings. It is by far the best turkey I have ever had (sorry mom). I told brother Milstead that he is welcomed in Utah anytime, and we would have a turkey ready whenever he comes haha. We watched the Saturday session with a less active member who is trying to obtain the priesthood again. We are helping him along the way. We watched the Sunday morning session with a less active family and the evening session with grace, another investigator. I feel blessed to have people to teach and people to help. 

I am so thankful our prophet and the inspiration he has. I am so happy that we are receiving 7 new temples. Especially in Russia. The work of the church is increasing. Missionaries are flooding the world. The truth will come to every ear soon. This church is true. The Lord lives. This is His gospel. I am blessed to have the chance to share it. 

I hope everyone has a great spring, and a great week. Much love!:)

Love y'all.
Sister Gray


Pictures:
We won the clean car award at zone conference
This little girl runs up and says "hey! You're the new missionary! I have a surprise for you. Come outside." We follow her outside and BOOM she smashes an egg filled with confetti on my head. "Welcome to the ward.". I guess I am accepted here haha.

Clean Car Award

Confetti Heads !

Decatur.... land of the 9 towns - March 26, 2018

Hello my friends!

How are y'all doing? I hope everyone has enjoyed this past week. I know I have. I guess I will give further explanation on my new area haha. I have been transferred to the second biggest area in the mission. Decatur! Decatur is a super country area that is frankly ENORMOUS. Oh my goodness. I don't even know how to explain it to you. I will draw it out on a map and send it. Let me give you an example... our appartment complex is in the middle of the area. One of our less active members lives an hour and 45 minutes away. With no traffic. And that is from the middle of the area. Man oh man it's big. Decatur covers 9 towns, and is filled with true blue Texans. It's hilarious. There are also a bunch of old people and not too many people my age. It's a totally different crowd than what I have dealt with in the past.

My "new" companion is sister Bowes. Fun story... shortly after I had received my call, I saw on Instagram that sister Bowes was called to the same mission, departing on the same day. I decided it would be fun to message her and say hi. We started messaging and became close friends three months prior to our departure as missionaries. Not only did we talk before our missions, but we also served in the same MTC district. I was pretty pumped when I found out we would be serving together again. We received transfers news Sunday night (when you are called to a leadership position you find out on Sunday) and Sister Booth has been called to serve as a trainer which meant that I was being moved. The zone leaders called shortly after President did and asked if we had heard anything. When we told of the news, they asked where I thought I would go. I told them "Decatur seems like it would be fun, plus I would get to see sister Bowes again!". Later that night I had a dream that I would serve here. The next morning the elders called to confirm my dream. When they asked how I knew I told them I had a dream. There was a long pause and elder Adams (being the sarcastic booger he is) simply said "woah, Lehi". It was a funny experience. 

I spent the rest of Sunday night packing. Monday we spent one last day together as a zone. The Alliance zone has by far been my favorite zone. It was all fun and games and we all got along great. We played volleyball, told jokes, and ate pizza. Overall it was a great time. 

Tuesday we spent most of the day providing service at an orchard in Roanoke. We loved doing service there. We were able to interact with other people, get our hands dirty, and do hard work. I'm surprised by how much I miss hard physical labor. We never get to do that as sister missionaries. My task for that day was loading and unloading long wooden beams onto an old tractor. Little fun fact about texas... We have fire ants. Another fun fact... fire ants like long wooden beams. I didn't know that. The beams that we were moving were quite heavy and awkwardly long. In order to move them I would prop them over my shoulder and walk the short distance to the tractor and throw them on. Half way through the job was the first series of bites (several ants will wait and bite all at the same time, they are little Satan's I tell ya) The bites hurt but I only had a few more beams to load so I continued on. After I had finished the job I looked at my legs to see them COVERED in bites. Fire ant bites are interesting, they bubble up and form a yellow welt that will stay anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. 

If any of you have ever seen the movie ratatouille, there is a scene where Remi bites the other dude (I can't remember his name) all of over the back and stomach. That's basically what I look like haha. Little ant bites all over my back and tummy. Pray they don't scar:) it was a good experience.
Wednesday was transfer day. I spent all morning at a church in Hurst waiting for my ride to show up. It was fun to see all of the transferring missionaries and also the departing missionaries. It's sad to think that I knew a lot of the departing missionaries. It makes me feel like an old missionary.

I made my way to Decatur and spent the first day learning about the area. We went contacting and had dinner back at the apartment. There wasn't much food here when I came (the sisters didn't have time to go shopping on monday) so we basically played iron chef with the limited items we had. It was a fun experience. 

I have really started to connect with the members here in Decatur. We attended mutual Wednesday night to meet the youth and we played games with them. On Sunday a sister came up and said "ohhh you are the new Sister! My daughter came home Wednesday and said that she really likes you! She wants me to sign up to feed y'all!" It totally made my day. This ward is really small (even though we cover half of Texas) so our youth program is dwindling. It's almost as if we are serving in a branch. So to build that relationship with the youth will be extremely productive. 

I have really enjoyed my time here. I am still adjusting. This area is a new breed of people and I am trying to get used to it. I have served in some if the richest parts of the mission and now I am in a very humble area. The atmosphere is different but good. We had dinner with a lady on Friday and she had 11 cats. 11. Cats. My allergies are literally dying here. It's really fun. I'm learning a lot. I am adjusting well I guess. 

I want to close with a cool story. In this area we have A LOT of less active members. We are currently working with a man who has a desire to go back to the temple. Glen is having some problems though. He has started to smoke again. We met with him yesterday and talked about the things we can do to help him. He expressed that he wants us to continue to check up on him and he said anytime he had a desire to smoke he would call us. As we were leaving our meeting, he saw that I was wearing 3 rings. My CTR ring and 2 rings from home. He asked me if I liked rings and I told him that I love them. He said to sit down and wait. He came back and measured one of my fingers and walked away. He came back 3 minutes later with a ring that he made me out of a spoon. He was so excited to give me it. I put it on my finger and told him that I was super excited. He looked happy and I told him I would wear it every day. He said "if you wear that ring everyday, I will stop smoking". I told him he had a deal. 

The members here are generous and love to help. They love missionaries and love to help us in anything we do. I am thankful for the chance I have to serve here.
Well, I love y'all and will talk to you soon:)

Love,
Sister Gray



PICTURES:
What an ant bite looks like after 1 week ( I have about 30 more on my torso....dont freak mom, they are just bites!)
Free ice cream day at dairy queen
Matching comp shirts
Best zone ever
Me and Sister Bowes:) we found "y'all need Jesus" shirts and couldn't resist
Glens ring

Fire Ant Bite

Ice Cream

Matching Comp. Shirts

Best Zone Ever

All you need is Jesus!

Glen's ring

The pink outline is Sister Gray's area
the yellow are her other 2 areas. 
Decatur is by far the largest area in her mission.