Imagine This....

80,000 Missionaries calling home yesterday!

Yes, crazy to think right. . even crazier! I WAS ONE OF THEM!!! =)

Oh my dearest family, It was so great to see your faces and hear your voices!  I was definitely in a better state of mind than the last time. =)  Which was really great! I love you but I am not coming home for another year. So sorry! =)

Well, I don't really know what to say because I told a lot of it to you yesterday. . just my thoughts and things. I can't believe how much you all have changed and not changed too. It is just weird knowing that we are all changing so much. .. for the better! You all make me laugh and really I was just crying because I was just so darn happy to see all of you!  I was freaking out all morning. =)

Funny story after the phone calls:

So Hermana Johnson. . sweet, hilarious, Hermana Johnson has a cat named Queen Kong. haha. and she has been having a feeling her cat has passed on for a while, at Christmas it never made the screen and she was just like I think it is dead. So she is like I am only making one request to my family when I Skype and that is that they put Kong on the screen. .

So I come down from skyping and Hermana Johnson looks at me and just says, "Kong is dead". Oh goodness, it was hilarious. . Apparently Kong died last SEPTEMBER!!! =) Two months after she leaves. So Hermana Johnson first off hates cats so it is just funny she has a cat and second off the only time she cried her whole phone call (minus saying goodbye) was when Kong was pronounced "teaching the spirits in kitty heaven" haha. Yes, it was hilarious. Then she also started tearing again at the apartment about it when Hermana Newman said "Only dogs go to heaven". . let's just say it was a hilarious moment. =) (the other funny part is I am trying to not laugh in the library while writing this and then Hermana Newman is like "what are you laughing about" then all I say is Kong and she has to come over and read it and so do that other Hermana’s).

This past week wasn't all that magnificent. . the anticipation of the phone call, not having luck tracting.. . yeah it wasn't too wonderful. But that is all right. We made it through. Our numbers weren't good so good thing numbers don't mean a whole lot! =)

But we did have the chance to talk to a Less Active that we haven't been able to reach since January. She was outside doing yard work and we saw her outside so we pull the car over, say a prayer, go over to talk to her and then she starts talking to us a little. Then what really got to her was we offered to help and she was like "you are in dresses" and we just look at each other and are like "dresses can be washed" haha. So that touched her heart a whole lot and she ended up inviting us in to share a message with her. We have a return appointment for Wednesday night so we will see how that goes.

The other remarkable story was that of Iris that I told you over Skype. But the powerful spirit that was present in that lesson was AMAZING! She was just awoken with the shock that she isn't prepared for the second coming. It was really powerful.

This sweet old lady realizing she isn't prepared. . it was great to have the spirit testify to her that she needs to change. Now we just need to wait and see if she does! =)

Edilberta was sick yesterday. . so she didn't have the chance to come to church. But our sweet Elders Quorum President and then the Elders went and took her all the roses that weren't passed out in the meeting and gave her a blessing! They are the greatest! She really was touched by that.

And as you guessed, I got a Rose and chocolate for being a "future mother". haha. Oh goodness! The Spanish can get to my heart real quick. The other crazy thing is that all the other Hermanas I live with have vowed off candy and soda. . yep they are crazy! I was all for the chocolate, and heaven knows I can't live without my Dr. Pepper. They all see my addiction each day. ;) They all just start laughing when I walk towards the fridge for my Dr. Pepper. =) But at least I am happy.
I also may have teared up a little last night. We came back to the apartment to finish studies after the phone calls and Hermana Camps was having a really hard time. And so of course we are trying to help her through it, cause we all know how the first phone call is, so we are talking and she says "you know when you just want a hug from your mom and no one can give you that hug besides her" and I said "yeah I get that. . . or when you want a sip of her Diet Coke". =)

This week we also tried to translate for people twice,

first off we were trying to translate for an investigator but she couldn't drive her car and we can't take her in our car so it was at a standstill and she ended up inviting us in and oh my goodness she just SPILLS her whole life out to us. That is still one thing I do not understand. . I have literally met this lady 2 times before this and she just spills her whole life to us. . how she wants to go back to Mexico even if she lives in poverty there it is still better and all this stuff. . it just amazed me all the things she told us. . There was a LOT more. . it is just crazy to me that because we wear a bade with the Saviors name they have an immediate trust in you. It sure makes things easier as a missionary to know their life concerns but it also is a little too informative at times.

Another fun translation was at a work place for a member. We just had the chance to translate for her because she wanted a raise and to bring up some concerns. .

One thing that amazes me is the way we treat people still. . as a government and just as people. We have so much disrespect for people and it just saddens me. I can't believe too the amount they are paid for the things they do. It just makes my heart break that these people are working so hard to have and provide a better life for their families and they are here trying to earn money and are working hard and are being taken advantage of in so many ways. It just breaks my heart. But then too I can see that a lot of it is the language barrier. It is hard to understand the concerns of the people if you can't communicate with them.

That is one thing I also thought was funny on our phone call. . how during my testimony I was saying how I have the best family and I was thanking you for your examples and then all of you have no idea what is going on besides Collin. haha. and he is like "de nada". =) I thought that was hilarious. Good times. .

 I don't have that much more to write you about. . . it is hard to think of things to say when I just talked to you yesterday. .

I can say that I am enjoying reading the scriptures. I am reading them as the mission then also continuing where I was reading before we started as a mission. Hermana Newman and I get a bunch of kicks out of the scriptures. . . or at least I do and she just thinks I am crazy half the time. =) Like this morning I was thinking how hilarious it is that the only time Laman and Lemuel didn't complain about going back is when they go to get their wives. . isn't that just funny? I got a kick out of it. Don't worry I also learned some other great things, more spiritual things! But Hermana Newman was like Hermana Gray, I don't think the scriptures are intended to be funny, and I just said, if they weren't intended to be funny than God wouldn't have put that in there because I think it is hilarious. (the best is about Shiz in Ether, I still get a kick out of it all the time). But I really do love the scriptures. I have realized that more and more on my mission. The chance we have to have the words of God directly in front of our faces is incredible! We should study them each and every day! Especially since the world is just getting more and more evil.

Well my dearest family, I love you all so much! It was so wonderful to see your bright shining faces on the computer screen! =) I can't believe we haven't been together for 6 months but I know that time will just continue to fly by! A year will go by so quickly and then as I read in the scriptures this morning, "and when we (I Hermana Gray) had returned to the tent of my father (my home in Lehi), behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted." 1 Nephi 5:7

One thing I noticed as we talked was how happy our family was, I know that is partly because I am here in the service of the Lord, that we wouldn't be as happy without this in our lives, the blessings we receive from this (not the fact that I am gone and that I brought a lot of contention to the family or anything) but the fact that we receive so many blessings from Heavenly Father because of missionary service!
I challenge all of you to join in on reading the Book of Mormon with the mission here. I know as you do that you will be more unified with me, that you will grow closer to your Heavenly Father and learn more about the Atonement in your life. It will be a sacrifice but 6-7 (3 front and back) pages a day isn't a lot to sacrifice to the Lord for all he has given you. We can grow more united as a family!

I love you all, Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Gray

Stay safe and don't have too much fun without me! =)

Hello Family!

So I forgot to mention this on the Skype call yesterday,

We have begun reading the Book of Mormon as a mission. . we started on Saturday. We will read 6-7 pages (so basically 3 pages front and back) a day.
If you would like to join in you are more than welcome! It puts us finishing at about the end of July. =) (8 weeks).

We were also challenged to choose an attribute of Christ that we would like to focus on and become better at. Then we are also supposed to look at all the examples of the atonement used in the scriptures! =)

I would like to challenge each of you to join in with us as a mission. I am sorry I forgot to mention it yesterday so you are already behind! But we are only to Nephi chapter 8 today! So feel free to catch up quickly and join in on the fun!

I love you, so great to see you and hear your voices!

Tj and Meg-I was sad you weren't there but happy that you were at church! :) I love and miss your cute little family!

Love you all,

Hermana Gray