We marked one more person for baptism!! Woop, Woop!! He is 11 yrs old and we are also going to mark his mom soon too!! His dad WAS a member...Yeah...WAS. He got excommunicated, I don’t know the story, but he has been coming back to church lately so I would like to get him back into the right way of things. I think he feels like he doesn’t belong. Which in a way I can understand, but everyone can be forgiven, the Lords arms are always stretched out to all. Hopefully we can do something about it. We will have to have an interview for him with the Stake President I think it is, but so far things are good.
The kid that is getting baptized next week is named André. He is a cool kid and he gets along really well with all the people in the ward. Dad, you mentioned how I am seeming to go ABOVE the quota of missionaries in this mission, well yes I would agree also, and I AM loving it! I do love this area because of the great success we are having! It makes me so happy and feel good cuz President Torgan loves it! So he loves me haha! If getting lots of baptisms is sucking up, well I am NOT ashamed haha!! :)
We are hoping to mark 2 other people for baptism. A couple and they are really incredible, I love them! I love teaching them! They are just great people! They are so nice and they love us! So that’s always good news. When we teach them, they are very, very attentive so it makes me feel like every SECOND is so worth it! They just soak it all in! It’s quite nice, but the problem is, they live together, and are not married. Ohhhh boy,that’s never a good sign, so they either have to get married, or promise and commit to the Bishop that they will not sleep together until they do get married. Hmmmm....So I don’t know what’s going to go down. But I see GREAT potential in them! And they are giving us dinner tomorrow! Woop, Woop! So, we are praying for their progression.
A couple of not so awesome things, first of all, I burned myself TWO times this week! What the flip right? Once on my thumb that went pretty much all the way up my thumb, and another on my finger! That’s just how GHETTO our stuff is. We have one and a half hot pads, so if you are not extremely careful you get burned! Party foul eh?! The one on my thumb hurt way bad but its calming down a bit now tho, haha. That was just the party foul of the week. But get this, so yesterday we are sitting in Priesthood meeting, and there are these two guys that are sitting behind us, and they TALK, TALK, TALK the whole flipping time! So after about 5 or so minutes, it was kind of funny cuz right at the same time me and my comp turned around and stared at them, like uh, duh dudes shut up...then he was like “Oh my bad guys sorry,” so we turn back around and try to listen again, and they start talking! Again! So after a few minutes I’m just like this is ridiculous! AND not to mention the guy that was giving the lesson is a NEW guy, well pretty new, and he is shy, so I’m just like you have GOT to be joking! So I turn around and I’m like guys....stop please! Again he is like “Oh, ok sorry, did they stop? NO!! So I just kind of ignored it cuz I didn’t want to be that mean Elder person...haha, but it just made me realize, and I want to apologize to anyone who I have ever disrespected when talking or giving a lesson or anything of the sort. It just really, really bothered me and I know I have probably been that kind of disrespectful at some time, so I’m sorry.
Anyway, I hope you all have a great week, and remember to think about others. I would have to say that is my message for the week. BE RESPECTFUL!! Especially you men to your wives. I saw a guy yell at his wife the other day, and it SERIOUSLY bothered me! I didn’t feel it was my place to say something, but it bothered me a lot. So, you all, think, before you speak and get out of hand. I know I have learned a lot on my mission and one thing is respect. If everyone would just respect others this crazy horrid world would be a much better place. So we need to be the bigger ones and start that.
I am really grateful for the things that we are taught in the Gospel, and I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to be here on my mission and learn these things first hand. Thank you all for your patience with me at any time. I’m sorry to those of you I may have wronged. Most importantly, lets remember who WE ARE, and WHO and WHAT we stand for each and everyday. I am extremely grateful for my family and my friends. I couldn’t live without them! I love you all very much. Have a Great Week!! And SMILE!! Love you.
LOVE Elder Gray
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Two Baptisms AND Two New Investigators!
This week we got 2 new investigators that are just GOLDEN! The guy, husband, is pretty much ready to be dunked! He is in the prime! And his wife has some more doubts that we have to figure out, but I’m way, way excited to see the future in them! This sunday, we had stake conference, and we, the choir sang like 5 songs and it was really cool! The spirit was truly so, so strong! I love the influence that music has on the spirit and how strong you can feel the spirit thru music, it’s awesome!
This week was really good! Especially because of the 2 baptisms we had! So that of course is ALWAYS exciting! The baptism of the kid Felipe, he is 14 and a friend of a recent convert part member family. They are really cool, they have problems, but hey who doesn’t. But Felipe’s baptism went GREAT! We asked...well more like told him, haha, to have Brother Weverton baptize him. We, (well me at least) think it’s very important to have the ward members baptize the people because they will always stay there and be there in the ward. It’s a bit of a bummer cuz im pretty sure he was planning on having me baptize him, which I of course would LOVE to do but its better to have a member do it. And it’s just as awesome seeing them be baptized as actually doing it. So I loved it of course. And it was an AWESOME experience for Brother Weverton because he is kind of new, a recent convert,well kind of. He was only baptized back in like April or May I think, but he is probably one of the strongest members I know. He is 21 and getting ready to serve a mission! So it was WAY awesome to see him do the baptism. I could see how happy it made him so I was very happy to have had him do it instead of me cuz I got to see an awesome light in 2 people! I loved it.
The other baptism of the 9 yr old kid Pedro was okay. He has some water phobia or something so he was trippin out. But we got it done with and he came out happy as ever. :) His dad baptized him. Missionary work is goin! The biggest part of missionary work is the members. The members are a huge part in this work!! I never knew the importance in that before my mish. When there are members involved things always go so, so much better! And the people here are pretty good, but they still have lots of work to do and we are working with them on that, so it’s all good.
Every week in Priesthood at the beginning of the meeting, the Elders talk about anything they need or what not, so this week we talked about how ALL the members should have a Book of Mormon to give away, so we asked who has one...and about 95 percent of ‘em raised their hands, and we were like WHY??? What are you doing with it?? How long have you had it? Get RID of it! And ask us for more next week haha!! So, it was cool and I think we got the point across. I am REALLY hoping that there will be lots of people that say they need more books next week. That would be awesome, and if not, we will just get on their case about it haha!
Yesterday, Sunday, was a great meeting. It was really spiritual, especially because the choir sang. Music is huge in bringing the spirit, and I LOVE IT I tell ya! I know I can’t sing well. It’s not easy...haha, but hey everyone else is good so it makes up for me. ;) But it was great! The songs are always songs I have never heard before let alone then having to sing it in Portuguese!! Flip! I pretty much just have to listen to the person next to me and try to sing the same note as him, haha! I’m going to make my kids take voice lessons. :)
The weather here right now is great! Still kind of hot actually, which is really weird! It should be getting a bit more chilly no? Yeah, but I love it. At night it does get pretty chilly so we sleep real good now...except for the crappy beds :( Not much we can do about that though....Anyway, there is my update.
I hope you all have a great week. I’m so thankful for all of you! Thank you for your support and love for me out here on my mission serving the Lord. There are times where I just wonder what I’m doing here?! It’s a hard work, a very hard work, especially this Language. I thought that by this time of my mission I would be pretty much fluent! HA HA! No!! It’s still hard, and can get VERY frustrating, but I know that the Lord is there for me and helping me every step of the way. I don’t know what I would possibly do without the Savior in my life. For our knowledge about the truth is amazing. Im so grateful for all we have and for the truth we know. I’m so grateful for the Gospel in my life. I know that I’d be lost without it. Thank you all for your examples to me and being there for me thru all the good and bad. I love you!!!!
Love Elder Gray
This week was really good! Especially because of the 2 baptisms we had! So that of course is ALWAYS exciting! The baptism of the kid Felipe, he is 14 and a friend of a recent convert part member family. They are really cool, they have problems, but hey who doesn’t. But Felipe’s baptism went GREAT! We asked...well more like told him, haha, to have Brother Weverton baptize him. We, (well me at least) think it’s very important to have the ward members baptize the people because they will always stay there and be there in the ward. It’s a bit of a bummer cuz im pretty sure he was planning on having me baptize him, which I of course would LOVE to do but its better to have a member do it. And it’s just as awesome seeing them be baptized as actually doing it. So I loved it of course. And it was an AWESOME experience for Brother Weverton because he is kind of new, a recent convert,well kind of. He was only baptized back in like April or May I think, but he is probably one of the strongest members I know. He is 21 and getting ready to serve a mission! So it was WAY awesome to see him do the baptism. I could see how happy it made him so I was very happy to have had him do it instead of me cuz I got to see an awesome light in 2 people! I loved it.
The other baptism of the 9 yr old kid Pedro was okay. He has some water phobia or something so he was trippin out. But we got it done with and he came out happy as ever. :) His dad baptized him. Missionary work is goin! The biggest part of missionary work is the members. The members are a huge part in this work!! I never knew the importance in that before my mish. When there are members involved things always go so, so much better! And the people here are pretty good, but they still have lots of work to do and we are working with them on that, so it’s all good.
Every week in Priesthood at the beginning of the meeting, the Elders talk about anything they need or what not, so this week we talked about how ALL the members should have a Book of Mormon to give away, so we asked who has one...and about 95 percent of ‘em raised their hands, and we were like WHY??? What are you doing with it?? How long have you had it? Get RID of it! And ask us for more next week haha!! So, it was cool and I think we got the point across. I am REALLY hoping that there will be lots of people that say they need more books next week. That would be awesome, and if not, we will just get on their case about it haha!
Yesterday, Sunday, was a great meeting. It was really spiritual, especially because the choir sang. Music is huge in bringing the spirit, and I LOVE IT I tell ya! I know I can’t sing well. It’s not easy...haha, but hey everyone else is good so it makes up for me. ;) But it was great! The songs are always songs I have never heard before let alone then having to sing it in Portuguese!! Flip! I pretty much just have to listen to the person next to me and try to sing the same note as him, haha! I’m going to make my kids take voice lessons. :)
The weather here right now is great! Still kind of hot actually, which is really weird! It should be getting a bit more chilly no? Yeah, but I love it. At night it does get pretty chilly so we sleep real good now...except for the crappy beds :( Not much we can do about that though....Anyway, there is my update.
I hope you all have a great week. I’m so thankful for all of you! Thank you for your support and love for me out here on my mission serving the Lord. There are times where I just wonder what I’m doing here?! It’s a hard work, a very hard work, especially this Language. I thought that by this time of my mission I would be pretty much fluent! HA HA! No!! It’s still hard, and can get VERY frustrating, but I know that the Lord is there for me and helping me every step of the way. I don’t know what I would possibly do without the Savior in my life. For our knowledge about the truth is amazing. Im so grateful for all we have and for the truth we know. I’m so grateful for the Gospel in my life. I know that I’d be lost without it. Thank you all for your examples to me and being there for me thru all the good and bad. I love you!!!!
Love Elder Gray
Monday, October 5, 2009
Conference Time Again
I just wanted to write a little letter this week because my time is cut a bit short, so I’m just writing a quickie to my direct Family! Anyway, this week was good, Conference was great! It’s kind of hard to stay focused after a while here though because its a HUGE marathon. All we do ALL day is watch ALL of the sessions! Man, its pretty tough. But it was really, really good! I LOVED the priesthood session, I always do, it was so good! Dad I also, loved the one about fathers and sons, it was so good. I always love priesthood session, I feel like I always get so much out of it!
This transfer, my trainer is going home. It’s pretty crazy! I remember like it just wasn’t that long ago he was saying he only has 8 months left. Now he is there and going home! It’s pretty crazy how the time goes on the mish! I can’t believe I am at 11 months! TODAY!!! Wow, it’s just crazy. But then again I feel like I’m never going home ha ha! I’m not even HALF way! But close. ;)
Lately, we have a big Mosquito problem that is super, super annoying. I hate them! I think once it gets a big colder they will go down a little.
This week, hopefully tonight, we are going to mark a kid for Baptism!! Woop, Woop! Im way stoked! He seems very ready. But we’ve just got to make sure the desire is truly there. I’m really excited for him tho. Things are just going great and I will let you know next week exactly what goes down! I love you all so much! I pray for each of you every night! I am so, so lucky to have each and EVERY one of you in my life. Truly I’m almost jealous of myself. ;) haha! I love you! I know that without a doubt that the church is true. And I love it with all my heart! I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have, especially about Eternal Families! It is just so, so important to me and I’m so happy to know that we WILL live with our families forever! I love you all so much! Choose the Right! :)
Love Elder Gray
This transfer, my trainer is going home. It’s pretty crazy! I remember like it just wasn’t that long ago he was saying he only has 8 months left. Now he is there and going home! It’s pretty crazy how the time goes on the mish! I can’t believe I am at 11 months! TODAY!!! Wow, it’s just crazy. But then again I feel like I’m never going home ha ha! I’m not even HALF way! But close. ;)
Lately, we have a big Mosquito problem that is super, super annoying. I hate them! I think once it gets a big colder they will go down a little.
This week, hopefully tonight, we are going to mark a kid for Baptism!! Woop, Woop! Im way stoked! He seems very ready. But we’ve just got to make sure the desire is truly there. I’m really excited for him tho. Things are just going great and I will let you know next week exactly what goes down! I love you all so much! I pray for each of you every night! I am so, so lucky to have each and EVERY one of you in my life. Truly I’m almost jealous of myself. ;) haha! I love you! I know that without a doubt that the church is true. And I love it with all my heart! I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have, especially about Eternal Families! It is just so, so important to me and I’m so happy to know that we WILL live with our families forever! I love you all so much! Choose the Right! :)
Love Elder Gray
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