I’m in a new area! First and most importantly here’s my new apartment address...(not that hardly any of you write) ha ha, just playin.
Praceta João Alveres Fagunds
Lote 2 11 Dto
2580, Carregado
Portugal
Well so far, this area seems pretty good. It is for sure VERY different from Setubal. No question! Much smaller and basically pretty boring with nothing around, but its okay, it’s a cool place. There are a couple of cities that are part of our area, one that is called Alanquer or something like that, it is about a 45 or 50 min walk that I hear is quite beautiful and then another area called Azambuja, that is not in walking distance so we have to take a bus out there, but I’m excited to see those places cuz they look way sweet. My area here just in Carregado is nothing special; it’s just mostly buildings, that’s it. The people here seem very cool and are very nice. We are in a little Branch of about 30 or so people. I’m really hoping to see this place grow while I’m here.
I’m really excited to work here because its a very different place from my last area and I will be doing more finding of new investigators than I did before in Setubal. I’m excited for it cuz that’s where new members come from! There have been about 2 baptisms in the recent past but sadly they are both pretty much inactive. THAT is why it’s SO important to make sure that the person is for sure READY and you aren’t just getting the baptism for the number. I think lots of missionaries don’t quite pay attention to that. I know that it’s extremely important for that person to be READY and know that they are the elect. One girl that was just baptized I hear just doesn’t even really talk to the missionaries anymore. It’s sad really. And the other guy that was baptized just comes to church once in a while but doesn’t really have "time" anymore. Ughhh...TIME?? Gimme a break! That’s what they all say. There is no way people don’t have ANY time for the Lord. NO WAY. It’s not the fact that they don’t have time. It’s the fact that they don’t WANT to GIVE the time. I am excited to be here tho. Even tho it may be really small and not nearly as many people as there were in Setubal, I just need to keep my head up and work hard!
I am the 2nd councilor in the Branch Presidency. Weird ha ha, but I think it will be a cool and a new experience! I’m not exactly sure how it works so far and what I will exactly be doing yet, but my companion is the Secretary and he seems to like it so it’ll be pretty sweet! Its cool we get this opportunity to have a little variation and a little more to do to help out the Branch.
I had to give a talk yesterday in church for about 15 minutes. My comp said I spoke for MORE than 15 minutes. Ha ha, and I was thinking 15 minutes?? Ahhhhh, but it went really good I think, other than some tripping on the language once in a while, but that’s normal. I talked about the Book of Mormon and the importance there of and that we all need to be READING it every day. I also found lots of real good scriptures to go with it so it was good. :)
My new companion is Elder Jacques, he is a nice kid. He is very respectful to the people and stuff so that is nice unlike my last comp, I just did NOT understand that. Also, he is a CLEAN person, unlike my last 3 comps, so I’m stoked. He is from California; I don’t remember what city...not a big one. So far things are going good with us! He is kind of funny, a bit of a goober, but thats okay. ;) He is also younger, he is at about 7 or so months in the mission. He is a good hard worker too so it’s awesome! :)
So during this week, we only had 7 lessons. In Setubal I was averaging about 20 to 25 lessons a week. So it’s a small number this week. We had about 23 or so hours of finding. (tracting) Crazy! It’s good for me tho, I am enjoying it so far. There are a few things that I really want to get going better here. The Elders in the past haven’t really done a lot of marking for lessons. I have learned that marking an HOUR on the DAY is much more sufficient, so I’m hoping that I can get that going here so the things we mark will go good and we won’t have so many planned lessons fall thru. Anyway, I hope all is going great for you at home! I miss you and LOVE you all!! Have a great week!!
Love Elder Gray
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
A Lot Happening This Week!
The week just flew by again, just like I thought it would...it was really good tho! I will find out today if I get transferred, and if I do, I will be gone tomorrow, which is sad to think about cuz I really do love my area here. But I have had my share that is true. We DID have our Baptism of Ines on Saturday! Whoop! It was AWESOME, and it went SO good too, also the confirmation. I will start with the start....of the week. :)
We taught Ines on Tuesday, and we had to be just straight up with her to be SURE 100 percent that she is ready. And it went really, really well and I could tell she was for sure ready! We taught her about how important it is for her to STAY on the right path and do what’s right. I loved it. We taught her at our 1st counselor’s house with Pedro too, so it was good cuz we had two other people to help testify the importance of STAYING in the church and NOT drifting away. Sometimes it can get hard and sometimes, people start to doubt their testimonies. Its THEN, when they need to get on their knees and get back in line and ask for help. I have already seen many people who were baptized fall away from the church, whether it be 1 year later, 6 months later, or 15 yrs. later, who knows, but the fact is, NO ONE is perfect. Everyone has doubts, but it’s what we do THEN that counts. It’s the way we ACT when we are feeling doubtful. If we do NOTHING....Nothing will happen. But if you TRY and you ACT, things will happen for the better and life will be happy, happy, happy! I have NO doubt about that! I have taught many times about the importance of ACTING. And it’s just SO true. We wont get anywhere without acting. Things don’t just happen for us. We don’t become FIRM in the gospel, in the church without ACTING and making our way THERE!!! So ACT and pray! That is basically what I told her, and what I’m telling YOU. We can all improve and be better. And there is no feeling greater than when we are doing our very best. Then we had one more lesson with Ines on Thursday. We had just a couple other things to teach her like fasting and obeying the law, and just a couple things like that and it ALSO went just perfect. She was an awesome investigator, she also asked a LOT of questions, which shows me that she cares and that she really wants to know! Then, of course we had the baptism on Saturday. Right before her baptism, she still had in her nose piercing, and so I said, “hey you ought to take that out now,” and she said, “OKAY, no problem,” and she took it right out. No questions, no complaints, nadda! It was cool! I have seen lots of people all sad about taking out their piercings and stuff but she was just like “OKAY” done! It was awesome. Her friend, a member, Gerson baptized her and he did a GREAT job. It was really spiritual, and it was his first time baptizing someone and he afterward was telling me, (he is 16) how grateful he is for us teaching her and giving HIM this opportunity to baptize her. He told me how strong the spirit was after he baptized her and he was shaking cuz he felt so good. NOW THAT is what I’m talking about!! Yeah, I kind of wish I could have baptized her, its always awesome getting IN the water too, but I tell ya, that hug that he gave me afterward and those feelings that HE felt too...well it just doesn’t get much better!
So I got to see TWO people have just AMAZING experiences! I was very, very grateful for the opportunity I had to be the one to teach her and see her baptized. It was incredible. That’s what missionary work is all about. :)
So get this, funny little story...We were at dinner with Pedro’s family, and we are sitting at the dinner table eating, when the little girl, Miriam said, “I am going to marry Elder Gray!” ha ha! Everyone was like huh? That was random! She loves me, but she doesn’t like my comp now or my last one, so its funny. She is always calling me a DOLL too. She is 6 years old, so I guess I’m going to have to wait a little while, ha ha! (Jenn, it’s the little girl you talked to on Christmas.)
OH!! I almost forgot! YOU ALL WILL NOT believe THIS! I still don’t really. I, ROBBY, SANG at the baptism. WHAT!? Yeah, it was so weird! I guess I did pretty well, I know I don’t sing but Ines wanted me to sing so bad for some reason with Gerson. So Gerson and I sang "Love at Home" for the closing song. It was crazy. One thing that was pretty interesting tho, is like...I wasn’t nervous. I mean, I kind of was but not really. I thought I would choke and die cuz I NEVER sing in front of people, so it was quite the interesting experience, and it went okay I guess.
Sorry I’m going kind of out of order here, but hey I’m keeping things interesting...So on Sunday! The Confirmation of Ines was great! Pedro did it and he was super nervous, but he got thru the first part just fine and gave a GREAT blessing! It was an awesome opportunity for him. He will be leaving on his mission here in February to Belgium. He did a very good job, and we got to stand in the circle.
Also at church, it was really funny, there was a little family sitting right in front of us, and a little girl saw a little spider, and I figured she would freak out like most people do, but instead she says, "MOM! LOOK! Awww...Mom he is going to starve to death!" Ha ha ha ha!! It was so FUNNY! She said it like 5 times, she was so worried that this little spider was going to starve to death! Ha ha, I loved it. Normally people just kill em! But no, she wanted to feed the poor little guy. HA HA! So anyway, we had a great, great week! :) A great week for me to end all my time here in Setubal. At least I’m pretty sure...I will know later today. I love YOU!! Have a GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!! Miss you!
Love Elder Gray
We taught Ines on Tuesday, and we had to be just straight up with her to be SURE 100 percent that she is ready. And it went really, really well and I could tell she was for sure ready! We taught her about how important it is for her to STAY on the right path and do what’s right. I loved it. We taught her at our 1st counselor’s house with Pedro too, so it was good cuz we had two other people to help testify the importance of STAYING in the church and NOT drifting away. Sometimes it can get hard and sometimes, people start to doubt their testimonies. Its THEN, when they need to get on their knees and get back in line and ask for help. I have already seen many people who were baptized fall away from the church, whether it be 1 year later, 6 months later, or 15 yrs. later, who knows, but the fact is, NO ONE is perfect. Everyone has doubts, but it’s what we do THEN that counts. It’s the way we ACT when we are feeling doubtful. If we do NOTHING....Nothing will happen. But if you TRY and you ACT, things will happen for the better and life will be happy, happy, happy! I have NO doubt about that! I have taught many times about the importance of ACTING. And it’s just SO true. We wont get anywhere without acting. Things don’t just happen for us. We don’t become FIRM in the gospel, in the church without ACTING and making our way THERE!!! So ACT and pray! That is basically what I told her, and what I’m telling YOU. We can all improve and be better. And there is no feeling greater than when we are doing our very best. Then we had one more lesson with Ines on Thursday. We had just a couple other things to teach her like fasting and obeying the law, and just a couple things like that and it ALSO went just perfect. She was an awesome investigator, she also asked a LOT of questions, which shows me that she cares and that she really wants to know! Then, of course we had the baptism on Saturday. Right before her baptism, she still had in her nose piercing, and so I said, “hey you ought to take that out now,” and she said, “OKAY, no problem,” and she took it right out. No questions, no complaints, nadda! It was cool! I have seen lots of people all sad about taking out their piercings and stuff but she was just like “OKAY” done! It was awesome. Her friend, a member, Gerson baptized her and he did a GREAT job. It was really spiritual, and it was his first time baptizing someone and he afterward was telling me, (he is 16) how grateful he is for us teaching her and giving HIM this opportunity to baptize her. He told me how strong the spirit was after he baptized her and he was shaking cuz he felt so good. NOW THAT is what I’m talking about!! Yeah, I kind of wish I could have baptized her, its always awesome getting IN the water too, but I tell ya, that hug that he gave me afterward and those feelings that HE felt too...well it just doesn’t get much better!
So I got to see TWO people have just AMAZING experiences! I was very, very grateful for the opportunity I had to be the one to teach her and see her baptized. It was incredible. That’s what missionary work is all about. :)
So get this, funny little story...We were at dinner with Pedro’s family, and we are sitting at the dinner table eating, when the little girl, Miriam said, “I am going to marry Elder Gray!” ha ha! Everyone was like huh? That was random! She loves me, but she doesn’t like my comp now or my last one, so its funny. She is always calling me a DOLL too. She is 6 years old, so I guess I’m going to have to wait a little while, ha ha! (Jenn, it’s the little girl you talked to on Christmas.)
OH!! I almost forgot! YOU ALL WILL NOT believe THIS! I still don’t really. I, ROBBY, SANG at the baptism. WHAT!? Yeah, it was so weird! I guess I did pretty well, I know I don’t sing but Ines wanted me to sing so bad for some reason with Gerson. So Gerson and I sang "Love at Home" for the closing song. It was crazy. One thing that was pretty interesting tho, is like...I wasn’t nervous. I mean, I kind of was but not really. I thought I would choke and die cuz I NEVER sing in front of people, so it was quite the interesting experience, and it went okay I guess.
Sorry I’m going kind of out of order here, but hey I’m keeping things interesting...So on Sunday! The Confirmation of Ines was great! Pedro did it and he was super nervous, but he got thru the first part just fine and gave a GREAT blessing! It was an awesome opportunity for him. He will be leaving on his mission here in February to Belgium. He did a very good job, and we got to stand in the circle.
Also at church, it was really funny, there was a little family sitting right in front of us, and a little girl saw a little spider, and I figured she would freak out like most people do, but instead she says, "MOM! LOOK! Awww...Mom he is going to starve to death!" Ha ha ha ha!! It was so FUNNY! She said it like 5 times, she was so worried that this little spider was going to starve to death! Ha ha, I loved it. Normally people just kill em! But no, she wanted to feed the poor little guy. HA HA! So anyway, we had a great, great week! :) A great week for me to end all my time here in Setubal. At least I’m pretty sure...I will know later today. I love YOU!! Have a GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!! Miss you!
Love Elder Gray
Monday, January 11, 2010
ANOTHER BAPTISM!
This week was really good, it went by super fast! That seems to happen on occasion. I have a feeling this week will go even faster! I have pretty much planned on the fact that I will be transfered this transfer, which is next Tuesday. So I have one more week in this area. And I'm just going to try to love every single minute of it! Most of the people here know that I am probably leaving soon so our week is way, way full of stuff to do. We don't hardly have anywhere to squeeze in any thing else, so I'm excited for this week!
We have our baptism on Saturday! I dont think I have ever been so excited for a baptism in my mission. I am way stoked for this one! I think it's cuz I am the one that started teaching her, I have taught her everything, so its way cool. There are still some things we have to go over and figure out and make sure that she is FOR sure 100 percent ready. But I personally think she is very ready. We are going to have a little lesson on Tuesday with her and I am just going to have to be 100 percent straight forward with her and make sure she knows the concequences of going BACK to the "old" life. When I was getting ready for my mission, my Bishop told me something that I have never forgotten. Very simple but so true, that is to look FORWARD. To continue FORWARD and to not look back on the things of the past, only learn from them and realize what it is you will NOT go back to. So I pretty much told her that too and it just went really well. It is truly amazing to teach the Gospel. But its even more amazing to teach the Gospel with the Spirit. Without the Spirit this work would be SO much harder! I am so grateful for the Spirit that is constantly with us out here as we teach. It's especially amazing when you FEEL the Spirit and you RECOGNIZE it, that is spectacular! I feel that she is for sure ready and will be baptized, but I dont want to just baptize her for the number. I want to baptize her because she is READY and she now knows the truth and she has the true desire to be a faithful member. I see at times people that missionaries baptize just because it was easy and BAM! They are inactive. I don't want that. I want the people that I see get baptized, that are because of ME, stay. I can control the fact that I know a person is truly changed and READY for baptism. I think at times, some missionaries forget the real importance of baptism and just do it to have that NUMBER for President. It is hard not to tho, he is always breathing down our backs so to say, but its good too cuz it makes us work hard and find those ELECT!!
This last week, for P-day, we went to the Castle in Palmela that is kind of close to our house. Before the fact I just figured it would be kind of cool. But it was awesome! It rained on us like crazy! It seriously downpoured on us so so hard I couldn't believe it! In like 3 seconds there were rivers of water just going everywhere! But I think that made part of the experience. So it was really cool and lots of fun. Serving in Portugal is for sure cool when it comes to all the awesome Castles! I love em!!
Random question....Why do SO many people NOT brush their teeth at night? I have only had ONE companion that I have noticed brushes his teeth at night. I swear all my comps only brush in the morning. I dont get it! I think its gross. Eeewwww, I cant sleep without brushing...haha! Random, but it was just a thought....haha! Well I hope you all have a great week!
LOVE AND MISS YOU!
Love Elder Gray
We have our baptism on Saturday! I dont think I have ever been so excited for a baptism in my mission. I am way stoked for this one! I think it's cuz I am the one that started teaching her, I have taught her everything, so its way cool. There are still some things we have to go over and figure out and make sure that she is FOR sure 100 percent ready. But I personally think she is very ready. We are going to have a little lesson on Tuesday with her and I am just going to have to be 100 percent straight forward with her and make sure she knows the concequences of going BACK to the "old" life. When I was getting ready for my mission, my Bishop told me something that I have never forgotten. Very simple but so true, that is to look FORWARD. To continue FORWARD and to not look back on the things of the past, only learn from them and realize what it is you will NOT go back to. So I pretty much told her that too and it just went really well. It is truly amazing to teach the Gospel. But its even more amazing to teach the Gospel with the Spirit. Without the Spirit this work would be SO much harder! I am so grateful for the Spirit that is constantly with us out here as we teach. It's especially amazing when you FEEL the Spirit and you RECOGNIZE it, that is spectacular! I feel that she is for sure ready and will be baptized, but I dont want to just baptize her for the number. I want to baptize her because she is READY and she now knows the truth and she has the true desire to be a faithful member. I see at times people that missionaries baptize just because it was easy and BAM! They are inactive. I don't want that. I want the people that I see get baptized, that are because of ME, stay. I can control the fact that I know a person is truly changed and READY for baptism. I think at times, some missionaries forget the real importance of baptism and just do it to have that NUMBER for President. It is hard not to tho, he is always breathing down our backs so to say, but its good too cuz it makes us work hard and find those ELECT!!
This last week, for P-day, we went to the Castle in Palmela that is kind of close to our house. Before the fact I just figured it would be kind of cool. But it was awesome! It rained on us like crazy! It seriously downpoured on us so so hard I couldn't believe it! In like 3 seconds there were rivers of water just going everywhere! But I think that made part of the experience. So it was really cool and lots of fun. Serving in Portugal is for sure cool when it comes to all the awesome Castles! I love em!!
Random question....Why do SO many people NOT brush their teeth at night? I have only had ONE companion that I have noticed brushes his teeth at night. I swear all my comps only brush in the morning. I dont get it! I think its gross. Eeewwww, I cant sleep without brushing...haha! Random, but it was just a thought....haha! Well I hope you all have a great week!
LOVE AND MISS YOU!
Love Elder Gray
Monday, January 4, 2010
It's a NEW YEAR!
I hope you all had a great New Years! Ours was pretty good. Our ward had a huge party with music and dancing and we hung out till midnight then went home, and right as we left we saw a whole bunch of fireworks going off in the distance so it was pretty cool! But yeah that’s basically it, nothing too special, but we had fun.
This week we got a new investigator! His name is Otavio, and we taught him on Saturday night and he said that he would come to church the next day, but on Sunday, it was raining WAY hard. So he didn’t come. There were a TON of people that didn’t come to church cuz of the rain. It's pretty crazy, but they don’t have cars here like we do in the states so not every single person and their dog has their own car, so they walk everywhere they go, but when it's raining they don’t leave the house. So there were quite a few people home from church on Sunday. But, we still had 2 investigators there so I was happy to see that!! One of which is the girl Ines that we are trying to get baptized but her mom doesn’t want to allow it but we are trying! I know that if she really puts her heart to it, and really wants to be baptized she will. :) I have no doubt. It just might take a little more time than normal.
We had a lesson with our recent convert Andre that was baptized not too long ago, and we taught his mom too, she is not a member, yet. So we had dinner with them and then we left a message, and right after I get done talking, Andre was like "hey wait I have a message too!" He ran out of the room and came back with his Bible and opened up and read in Genesis and left us a little message too! It was AWESOME! I loved it! He is 11 yrs old and to see that was just awesome because he is so young but yet he is reading and loving the Bible and the book of Mormon! Talk about a great example for his mom! Way awesome! His mom, Sonia, said she would give us a date for her baptism on the 13th. The 13th is her Birthday, for some reason she has to wait till then to give us a date. hmm....ha ha, I dunno why, but when we try to mark a date for her she is like no, no I will pick the date. So we are waiting (im)patiently, haha! I hope she plans on this month….but we will see. She is totally ready she just needs to commit!!
I think I will be getting transferred here in about 2 weeks, well about 3, and I’m a bit nervous for where I will go. I would like to stay here one more, but I’m just not sure that will happen. I have been here for a long time! And I’m lucky for it! It’s a great place and the members here are awesome. But we will see. So, if you were planning on sending me mail, don’t, not to my apartment at least, unless you send it like tomorrow, in other words, Jenn and Amber...(cuz they are the only ones who write!!) Send it within this week. :) Hopefully I stay one more transfer, but I am not really counting on it. I have had my share of this awesome area, it’s probably someone else’s turn.
Things are going pretty good. Me and my comp have been sick but are feeling a bit better. I am doing better...my comp is getting worse tho. It always seems to be that way; one person gets sick for about a week and then when one starts to feel better the other gets sick. I tell ya, it’s horrible for the work!! Ahhhh...... It’s Life! Well I hope you all had a great New Years!! And I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Make 2010 the best yet!! I love you! Miss ya!!
Love Elder Gray
This week we got a new investigator! His name is Otavio, and we taught him on Saturday night and he said that he would come to church the next day, but on Sunday, it was raining WAY hard. So he didn’t come. There were a TON of people that didn’t come to church cuz of the rain. It's pretty crazy, but they don’t have cars here like we do in the states so not every single person and their dog has their own car, so they walk everywhere they go, but when it's raining they don’t leave the house. So there were quite a few people home from church on Sunday. But, we still had 2 investigators there so I was happy to see that!! One of which is the girl Ines that we are trying to get baptized but her mom doesn’t want to allow it but we are trying! I know that if she really puts her heart to it, and really wants to be baptized she will. :) I have no doubt. It just might take a little more time than normal.
We had a lesson with our recent convert Andre that was baptized not too long ago, and we taught his mom too, she is not a member, yet. So we had dinner with them and then we left a message, and right after I get done talking, Andre was like "hey wait I have a message too!" He ran out of the room and came back with his Bible and opened up and read in Genesis and left us a little message too! It was AWESOME! I loved it! He is 11 yrs old and to see that was just awesome because he is so young but yet he is reading and loving the Bible and the book of Mormon! Talk about a great example for his mom! Way awesome! His mom, Sonia, said she would give us a date for her baptism on the 13th. The 13th is her Birthday, for some reason she has to wait till then to give us a date. hmm....ha ha, I dunno why, but when we try to mark a date for her she is like no, no I will pick the date. So we are waiting (im)patiently, haha! I hope she plans on this month….but we will see. She is totally ready she just needs to commit!!
I think I will be getting transferred here in about 2 weeks, well about 3, and I’m a bit nervous for where I will go. I would like to stay here one more, but I’m just not sure that will happen. I have been here for a long time! And I’m lucky for it! It’s a great place and the members here are awesome. But we will see. So, if you were planning on sending me mail, don’t, not to my apartment at least, unless you send it like tomorrow, in other words, Jenn and Amber...(cuz they are the only ones who write!!) Send it within this week. :) Hopefully I stay one more transfer, but I am not really counting on it. I have had my share of this awesome area, it’s probably someone else’s turn.
Things are going pretty good. Me and my comp have been sick but are feeling a bit better. I am doing better...my comp is getting worse tho. It always seems to be that way; one person gets sick for about a week and then when one starts to feel better the other gets sick. I tell ya, it’s horrible for the work!! Ahhhh...... It’s Life! Well I hope you all had a great New Years!! And I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Make 2010 the best yet!! I love you! Miss ya!!
Love Elder Gray
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