Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! I don't have much time to email today but I wanted y'all to know I'm still alive. This is a wonderful time of year. I am so thankful for the birth of our Savior. 

Love,

Sister Reay 

Our district picture

You better bee-lieve it

Hello everyone from good ol' Gastonia! We're having zone activity today for Christmas and it is super fun. I'll attach some pictures after. 

This week was really good! We got on bike week halfway through but we are doing well. It is much nicer to bike in cold weather than in hot, especially since we get to wear leggings. 

This week we had a combined district meeting/zone meeting in Gastonia and had a grand time. This is actually the first time we had a district meeting here so it was fun to get to know everyone! We also announced that we would be changing our name from the Gastonia Gas-tank to the Gastonia Hive. Pretty exciting and also that will explain the bee-themed clothing. 

Something really hard happened in the area this week and while I was looking up things in connection with it I found this really powerful quote from Joseph B. Wirthlin that I wanted to share:

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross...
I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.
But the doom of that day did not endure.
The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind...
Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. 

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come." 

We had a pretty crazy miracle this week! We had just finished companion study and we were scheduled to do 12 week training and then go visit a Bible referral we had recently recieved. But as we sat down, I felt really antsy, like we should go out NOW. So we got our bikes all ready and went down to visit the referral. She opened the door, and we had practiced with me introducing the Book of Mormon, but at the last moment it just felt wrong and I quickly introduced #lighttheworld instead. She thanked us, and we left and went around the corner to look up any people nearby. I was doubting myself and wondering if I was just a bad trainer or something when we saw this sort of sketchy-looking person walking down the street. Well, we're missionaries, so Sister Heywood says hello. The woman says hi back, and then says, "I know you!" She tells us her name and we were like "What!" She was a Bible referral that we had met with before and we had dropped literally two days before because we couldn't contact her! And there she was, just walking down this little side street at just the right time. Miracles do happen. 

That's about it! Love y'all! 

Love,

Sister Reay 

I thought it was supposed to be WARMER down south

Gooooood morning everyone... from Rock Hill, South Carolina! What a fun place to be on a crisp winter morning. As you may expect a lot happened this week!

On Tuesday after Book of Mormon class our investigator S had his baptismal interview. Unsurprisingly it went great! He is just golden. We also waited up that night for transfer calls, since transfers will be on Thursday instead of Tuesday from now on. Sadly, as we expected, the Provington trio was split up.  Such a sad day, but also happy because we get to try new things! Sister Berthelson was sent up to Summerfield, and Weddington was whitewashed with elders (!). 

To make a long story short, I am now in Rock Hill with the talented and lovely Sister Heywood from San Bernadino, California! To make a short story long, we packed up on Thursday and somehow managed to fit three people and two sets of luggage into one car. We had a little moment of panic when we were all ready and got in the car only to get a low battery notification. After a few tries, though, we got it started, and our car supervisor told us to just drive up and leave the car running so they could take it in for a new battery. So we made it to the Hilliard building just barely late. 

Finally we are at the Hilliard building and I meet Sister Heywood. We are chatting a little with the senior missionaries when Sis. Heywood sees a picture of the new missionaries coming in and says, "Aw, that was just me!" I was a little startled and asked how long she had been out, and it turns out she has only been out one transfer, which means she is still in training! So, surprise! I am split-training! And no one remembered to tell me haha. Oh well. I will try to be a good step-mother. And Sister Heywood is great. 

Rock Hill is a great place! We have just been whizzing around this week trying to get everything done. The members are great. The area is great. But boy was it COLD this week! We had highs in the forties and lows below freezing. For a couple of days it was pretty drizzly outside and it got cold enough that the rain turned into something like snow, even though it didn't stick. But on Sunday we went out to go to ward council and the car was all frozen over. That is a time when it does NOT pay to have an Arizonian and Californian as companions, because we had no idea what to do. But finally we got most of the ice off the windshield and there was almost no ice on the road, so we were only a couple minutes late. 

But I can't forget Saturday because S was baptized!!!!! I don't have any pictures because Sis. Hardy took them but believe me it was great. We got to go because I had helped teach him and we weren't too far away. It was weird to see everyone in the Providence ward again though. 

South Carolina is a great place. I have definitely gained a testimony that the Lord puts us in places we need to be, so I am looking forward to a great transfer!

My new address is:

139 E Main St. Apt. 49

Rock Hill, SC 29730

Love y'all!

Sister Reay

Last sisters' call in Charlotte South

Sister Heywood 

New Address!

I have been transferred to Rock Hill! 

My new address is:

139 East Main St Apt. 49

Rock Hill SC 29730

Love,

Sister Reay 

Spreading Christmas Cheer and Pine Needles

Hello everyone! What a festive and fun-filled week I have had! 

Tuesday night we hoped to go over to the mission home to have a lesson with S (who is getting baptized on Saturday!) but he wasn't able to make it last-minute. We still were able to see President and Sister Alexander though, which is always nice.

On Wednesday our zone all met at the stake center and had our district meetings there. Afterward we stayed for a couple hours to help set up for the Nativity Festival, which is a huge event they put on at the church every year with a live nativity, a bunch of international nativity sets, and musical performances. Mostly we just set up chairs. Every padded chair in the whole building had to be moved to the cultural hall. And there were a lot of them. Then we helped set up Christmas trees and string lights. It took a while but it would have taken way longer if all the missionaries hadn't been there to help. 

On Thursday we ended up setting up Chriistmas decorations again, this time at the mission home! The Alexanders were going to have some neighbors over for Light the World but with transfers coming up they had pretty much zero time to decorate. Provington to the rescue. It was super fun to set everything up and decorate the tree with Sister Alexander. We didn't see President Alexander much, but he did come out to say hello and goodbye. 

Friday and Saturday were the days of the Nativity Festival, though we only got to go on Saturday night. It was PACKED. Later on someone told us there were about 600 people the first night and 1600 the second, and about half of them weren't members. Our zone did the last musical performance. We sang "Away ina Manger," "Oh Come all ye Faithful," and "Angels We have Heard on High." Sister Hardy rocked it on the violin. It went a lot better than our first practice would have suggested.

Soooo I accidentally pressed send instead of attach so here I am now again. 

Sunday was another crazy day of running in between meetings and two church services, though this is the last time we will do it probably. We also had the adventure of subbing for a primary class of five-year-olds. There were only five of them and three of us but there was still a lot of "reining in" to do. To quote an actual conversation. 

Me: We show respect for Heavenly Father by speaking his name reverently. 

Child: *raises hand*

Me: Yes? 

Child:....... Sometimes, I eat a salad with carrots! 

Well, not sure how much we taught them, but it was fun anyway. 

That was about our week! Hope everyone is having a great Christmas season! And don't forget to #lighttheworld!

Love,

Sister Reay

Singing in the festival

The sisters

Thankful for my birth

First of all I just realized that when I sent my address I should have put an Apt. 822 on it. I think I got all the packages that were sent because they were delivered to the office, but if anyone sent a card to that address, it might be coming right back at you. Maybe you could save it for next year I guess.  My address will probably be changing after December 7th so if you're planning on sending anything you might want to wait until after that. 

Anyway, it was a great week! Things really picked up around Thursday as you might imagine. We had dinner with the R family in Providence. It was a little different from the normal adult-to-child ratio I'm used to, since it was the parents, their four kids, and three cousins, and then us. And we don't count as adults yet. It was absolutely delicious though. Afterward they came with us to carol to some members in the area that the bishop had suggested to us. Just goes to show that as soon as Thanksgiving ends, Christmas begins. 

The next day was my birthday, as some of you may have noticed. Shout-out to anyone who sent some birthday wishes despite not being able to post on my timeline. You rock. I had a birthday brownie in the morning, which made for a great breakfast, but also a cake that night too. We also got a new investigator that night which is the best birthday present of them all. 

That night also we had the sister training leaders over for a "blitz" on our area, where we have two companionships in the same area that can split up to cover more ground. We did that on Saturday. It was good fun and we found another investigator as a bonus. 

Sunday was exciting because not only did the Providence investigator S come to church, but we were able to put him on date for baptism! It is especially exciting because he was going to move to Detroit but didn't and now he can be baptized here where all his new church friends are! Also President and Sister Alexander came to our ward! Normally they are off visiting other wards but this is the actual ward that the mission home is in. It was fun to see them. Plus they got to meet S and President Alexander had a really good conversation with him. 

This week we have obviously been talking a lot about things we are greatful for. I wanted to put out there how grateful I am to be a member of Jesus Christ's church on the earth. It truly gives me "peace in this life" that I have seen lacking in so many people that do not have this knowledge. I am also so thankful that I get to be out sharing this message. 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is gearing up for a wonderful, Christ-centered Christmas season. And don't forget to #lighttheworld! 

Shoutout also to the brother who was born eighteen years ago today. Welcome to adulthood. 

Love,

Sister Reay 

Zone activity with the smallest cutest dogs to walk the earth

Brownie cake (Thank you family!)

Cake from the Sister Training Leaders! 

Thanksgiving Dinner

"Everyone knows the church is true"

Hello everyone! Wow what a busy week it has been. But a great one as well!

At a member teaching appointment this week a girl was telling us how she had prayed to know if the church was true and her five-year-old brother piped up incredulously, "EVERYONE knows the church is true!" Haha, I wish little buddy. I wish. Also in the Primary program last week a little boy got up to say his part and said, "I can choose to follow Jesus Christ by... by... I can't." And sat down. Got to love kids. 

This week we started out by helping the Monteleones move the Monroe elders from a pretty gross townhouse into a new apartment. A lot of the work we had to do was just cleaning. That took quite a while but it was good to help out. I am getting pretty good at moving people in and out at this point. 

Friday was zone conference, which is always a highlight. We discussed the new initiative that is rolling out in January. We are focusing on teaching shorter, simpler lessons and not overloading people with everything at once. It was a really good conference. We also closed up our Christlike attributes Book of Mormon read. Right now I've started reading and highlighting every time it mentions a name of a member of the Godhead. That's a lot of highlighting, let me tell you. 

Sunday was crazy again because of all the church we had to go to. It was great though! A lot of the talks were on gratitude, as you might expect the week before Thanksgiving. It was so good to listen to. We really have so much to be thankful for. That night the missionaries were also invited to watch the young single adult Face2Face event with Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard. That was phenomenal. It was so great to get advice from such experienced leaders. One thing I took away from it is that our 'spiritual' life and our 'worldly' life shouldn't be kept separate. We should shouldn't pray once in the morning and forget about God the rest of the day. After all, God is in the details of our lives, and we can turn to him all throughout the day. It made me think of something President Alexander said at zone conference. He said that some missionaries thought of the mission as something apart from their lives- "Once I'm done with my mission, I can get on with my life." But that's not true. He reminded us that our mission was a part of our lives, and we had to continue on with that in mind. I am definitely striving to integrate the things I am learning so deeply into my life that they will be a part of me when I return. 

Well, stepping off the soap box, I guess. Take time to look at the Face2Face though. It was amazing. 

Love,

Sister Reay 

P.S. I know y'all are just dying to shower me with gifts, but my address might change after December 7, so keep that in mind. Love y'all!

#treatyoself because our zone reached one of our goals

Back to Nature

Good quiet misty morning here in Provington (as I have cleverly decided to call our area). It has been pretty cold and damp this week but I am loving it because it means getting my cozy clothes out and having the apartment full of that 'heater' smell. 

Other great stuff happened this week! It was a little sad, but the Matthews sisters moved to a new apartment. They will be missed, but we have two  bathrooms now, so that's nice. Though now that we moved our desks into their old bedroom, we have no furniture in the living room except for a kitchen chair that we moved in there. 

We went to the Providence district meeting, but my district met in the same building, so I got to see them anyway. It was a good time. 

On Friday we had some calls to do while we were out, as well as a training to prepare, so we stopped at a nature preserve to have some nice scenery. We also found out that Sister Hardy knows a thing or two about plants. And by a thing or two I mean everything. We had a good time out there. 

Saturday we went on exchanges, which is pretty different because we went to different wards on Sunday! I got to go with Sister Sauvé to Sharon, which was pretty funny because I've been there before and some members recognized me. I missed seeing two investigators come to the Providence ward though, which was a bummer. 

Our did on Sunday night was pretty exciting because the member had about six frogs, two bearded dragons, a dozen fish and an axolotl so I was thrilled. They also fed us venison chili which I had never had before. It was really tasty. Overall a very interesting experience. 

The training we're doing is about finding and using your gifts and talents. It's based a little on John C. Pingree's talk in the last general conference. I would encourage everyone to read it! I am learning that everyone has talents, great or small, that they can use to serve others. Instead of wasting time comparing your weaknesses to everyone elses' strengths, or wishing you had this or that talent, develop on the gifts you already have! We were all made unique for a reason. If you're not sure what your gifts are, ask Heavenly Father! After all, he was the one that gave them to us. 

Hope everyone has a great, fun-filled week like I had! 

Love, 

Sister Reay 

12715 Vinings Creek Dr 

Matthews NC 28105

Bearded dragon

Axolotl (bet most of you didn't know that one)

Basic summary of our companionship

Sisters activity at a trampoline park with ropes course

Aaaand I'm back to sending tree pictures

I have some sad news this week. Sister Rohde had to return home for a medical problem. She is a fantastic missionary and I will miss her dearly, but I know that she will be faithful to the Lord wherever she goes. I learned a lot from her!

So I have spent the last few days with the Providence sisters! We will probably remain this way until the end of the transfer, so I'm all moved in now. Trio life is going to be exciting! Also there is currently another set of sisters in the apartment, so we have five people and two bathrooms. Which wouldn't be a problem if we weren't all on the same showering schedule.

Other things that happened this week: We had Halloween! We weren't allowed to go door to door and we were discouraged from driving, so we did some online work. No one came to our door since we got back from dinner late, so now we have a giant bag of Dum-dums to ourselves. We shared some with the elders at district meeting, so that was good, but we still have way too many for my well-being. 

Sunday was interesting because we're covering both wards now, so we went to church twice! We had meetings before and after, too, so we were there from 9:30-4. It was pretty intense. It'm glad that we're close by, though, so we can manage the Providence and Weddington areas. We're still working on the specifics, though, like where we will go to district meeting and how we will report numbers. But we'll work it out somehow. 

We also had a family home evening with the Providence ward bishop on Sunday night and a few other members of the ward. We had a great discussion on prayer and how important it is to pay attention and be serious about our prayers, because we are actually talking to our Heavenly Father! Also they had a cute puppy which made it even better. 

Things are getting beautiful out here in North Carolina so I thought I might as well bombard you with fall pictures so you can feel the excitement too. I love this weather. We also had daylight savings this week, which is a bummer because it gets darker earlier but also we got an extra hour of sleep which is wonderful. 

Hope everyone else is doing great and gearing up for the holidays! Great things are coming!

Love,

Sister Reay 

So my address right now is:

12715 Vinings Creek Dr. 

Matthews, NC 28105

But if you're sending something to me and worried about it getting here (*cough* birthday cards *cough*) you can always send it to the mission office:

3020 Hilliard Dr. 

Charlotte, NC 28205

Shhhhh! It's a secret!

Marissa's birthday is November 24th - Black Friday this year.  I am sure she would love to get some mail.  Right now she is in a suburb of Charlotte and two sets of Elders are in her ward.  She told us that she can get packages easily if they are sent to the mission office.  The address is  Sister Marissa Reay NC Charlotte Mission 3020 Hilliard Dr Charlotte NC 28205  or you can send them to her apartment on Royce - address above. Her letter address is the Salvia address.  o or you or r you can

Surprise! It's scarf weather

So just yesterday we had a high of 58 and it got to about freezing last night. We're glad we turned the heater on. It's a little funny for an Arizonian like myself because this pretty much feels like Christmas weather to me, and it's not quite Halloween yet! Haha, I will be breaking out the long sleeves and sweaters anyway. 

This week was pretty much wonderful because I got to meet the amazing and talented Sister Rohde, my new companion! She is so great and her testimony is so deep. We will be doing great things together. We're back at it again in Weddington!

This week was a little crazy but good. On Thursday Sister Rohde had a doctor's appointment back up in Hickory (whoops) so we got to drive up there. Good bonding time. And Sister Reay didn't die driving on the freeway for the first time in forever, which is an extra blessing. 

On Friday we got to meet the new district at district meeting, which is always fun. Two of the elders from out district went home this last transfer and we sish them the best!

Saturday was the ward Trunk-or-Treat, which we used for our dinner that night. So fun and so cute. A couple of the senior couples in the office live in Weddington so they came too. One of them came up to us and said, "Guess what I came dressed up as?" *pause* "A cupholder." (He was holding his grandsons' drinks haha ). On Sunday there were some great talks, as always! They all centered on having an eternal perspective, and it ended up being neat because all the talks were so different, yet on the same subject. One of the youth speakers shared a story I'd like to share too:

There once was a wise old man that lived in a little house with an acre of land and one son and one horse who helped him work it, and that was how they made their living. One day the corral got left open, and the horse escaped and ran away. All his friends and neighbors came and said, "Oh, that's awful. Your only horse ran away!"

The wise man said, "Well, I don't know if it's bad, or if it's good." But his neighbors all assured him it was bad. 

Within a few days the horse got tired and came back to the corral- along with nine other wild horses that followed it. "Isn't that wonderful!" the neighbors said now. "You have ten horses!"

"Well," the old man said, "I don't know if it's good, or bad." But they all insisted it was good. 

The next day his son was in the corral trying to tame one of the wild horses. It reared up and came down hard, breaking the young man's leg. "Oh, isn't it terrible!" their neighbors lamented. "Your only son can't help you with the farm."

"Well," the old man said, "I don't know if it's bad, or if it's good." But everyone else said it was bad. 

Soon a war broke out in the land, and their country gathered up all the able-bodied young men and sent them to battle, where many died. But because of his broken leg, the man's son was left at home. 

The story could go on and on, probably, but the point is we can't just look at things from our limited, "here-and-now" perspective. Heavenly Father has a plan for us, and it will all work out in the end. 

That's all for now! Hope y'all have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Reay 

Pictures:

Road trippin'

#bookofmormonchallenge 

"Me gustan tus pajaritos"

Hello hello everyone!

Anyway, due to some pre-transfer madness and a lot of different things going on that are too long to explain, I spent this last week in a trio with the Sister Training Leaders in Sharon! There were some crazy times for sure, but I am so glad I got to be here and learn from them. Good stuff. 

Tuesday started off with zone conference!!! So exciting. We talked a lot about the new planning guidelines that came out last transfer. Planning is now more focused on the people we teach and what their individual needs are. It's a bit of a change but it's so good! Also we got our SMART PHONES! It is so exciting. It's especially great because we can use the internet while we're out and about, so we can Skype members into lessons, download videos to show people, and sync Areabook on the road. Also we can use emojis 

This week was just crazy with exchanges, since I'm with the STLs. I stayed in Sharon the whole time, but they went on three exchanges! What a wild life. They were all super fun. We went with Sister Hardy for the first one. She is just the sweetest. Then we exchanged with the Gastonia STLs, and I got to meet Sister Payne! She is great and also hilarious! Finally we went with Sister Vonasek, who is going home tomorrow  She is such a powerful missionary. It was great to learn from her. 

We had so many good lessons this week. My favorites were with M and her kids, W and P. They are an adorable family and so eager to learn. Their lessons are completely in Spanish, though, since M doesn't speak much English. I wish I had studied  Spanish more now. I could understand most of what they talked about, but I could only say things like "Hello," "Nice to meet you," and, "I like your birds." Not super useful things, but oh well. We have Sister Garcia.

Also, we got transfer news! I am staying in Weddington and I'm getting Sister Rohde from Hickory! I am so excited for this transfer. It's going to be great!

Love,

Sister Reay 

Picture: El pajarito

Exchanges: Part II

Good afternoon everyone! The weather is beautiful and wet here in North Carolina, and we are enjoying it immensely. I am looking forward to fall. 

This week was wonderful, in part because it was ZONE WEEK! Nothing like getting a spiritual pump-up over Messenger every day.  It made me so excited for zone conference tomorrow!

We also had exchanges again this week! I got to stay in Weddington with the one and only Sister Johnson. She was a great teacher and we had so much fun together! We had a long night knocking, and just when we were getting exhausted, we had a wonderful part-member family let us in to share a message. Such a blessing!

District meeting was also phenomenal. We talked about general conference and ended up discussing President Nelson's talk about the Book of Mormon. The best takeaway I had was that we could SAY we could choose the Book of Mormon over rubies and diamonds, like Pres. Nelson said, but we only truly accept the worth of it if we open it, read it, and follow its teachings. Something to ponder. 

Also this week I found out that our nearest Walmart is in South Carolina! We had to stop by there, so I have now visited three states on my mission. If I ever serve in Tennessee I'll have hit all four. 

Yesterday Sister Vincent and I both got the opportunity to speak in church! Luckily they gave us a day's notice so we could prepare haha. We spoke about self-reliance, and I tied it in to how becoming self-reliant helps youth prepare for missionary work. It went really well! Such an important topic. 

Well, not much going on this wonderful P-day. I think I will take a nap after this :) Hope to hear from y'all!

Love, 

Sister Reay

It Feels Less Humid When It Rains

Hello everyone from the end of a triumphant bike week!

It was a pretty great week. On Tuesday we were a little cautious because we were still shaking off the stomach flu, but we were able to do our volunteer work. Wednesday was district meeting. It was pretty crazy because we ended up having the zone leaders, the assistants, and the zone leaders from Hickory all there with us, in addition to the five companionships we already have. It was a good time. 

We did pretty ordinary things on Thursday and Friday. We biked a lot of places. I am getting a lot better at it! The weather cooled down a little, but it still doesn't feel like fall quite yet. Saturday we started out biking to an old folk's home to do service. By the time we got out it was raining pretty hard, but we didn't really have any other options, so we just rode back. It was actually really fun, even though I couldn't wear my glesses so I was slightly less than half blind. Anyway, it cooled the weather down a little, which was a huge plus. We also got giant pizza with a member. 

Sunday was wonderful, as usual. It was fast and testimony meeting, so it was wonderful to hear all the strong testimonies from members of this ward! We got the last of our biking done and got to visit some members that just came back from the hospital. They were doing better! 

Today we had zone activity! We carved pumpkins and played Mafia. It was pretty fun. We have a great zone.

We have some errands to run, so I'll let y'all go for now. Love ya!

Love,

Sister Reay 

Our zone pumpkins! Ours is second from the left with the cardinal and mission initials

GIANT pizza 

"It's Like the Superbowl for Missionaries"

Happy Monday my friends!

It has been a marvelous week, as usual. Lots of missionary work got done. We did a lot in preparation for general conference this weekend! It was a good way to invite people to learn more. It's not every day that you get to hear from the prophet and apostles, after all!

We had a pretty powerful experience this week when we knocked on the door of a Catholic woman. She was very interested in what we do as missionaries and we talked for a while about that. She told us that she had been very firm in her faith in God in the past, but that her faith was now faltering a little. Of course we said, "The Book of Mormon can help with that!" And it really can! The Book of Mormon has always brought me great peace and comfort and amazing spiritual strength. I would highly reccommend it :)

We had so many fun dinners with members this week. It is so great to be in their homes.  Sister Vincent and I are really working on helping them invite their friends to church activities- because to invite is to succeed!

On Friday we were exploring new finding techniques and we decided to visit a park in the area we were visiting that day. It turned out to be a nice little nature preserve that was beautiful but unfortunately had no people in it. We did see a neat snake though. 

Saturday kicked off GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! We watched the first session at the church and the second at a member's house. It was a blast. We are so lucky to have the technology that allows us to see this, anywhere in the world!

Sunday would have been just as great except Sister Vincent and I both woke up with some sort of stomach bug and basically had to stay in bed all day. Not fun. Luckily we have our neighbor's wifi so we could listen to general conference from there. Those messages were so powerful! We will have to listen to them again because I was a little out of it haha. Don't worry, we are both feeling better today! 

Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Reay 

El evangelio en español

Hola everyone! This week was pretty exciting. We were kind of all over the place. On Wednesday we went up to Sharon with the Sister training leaders to hwlp them film these little Book of Mormon videos which turned out to be pretty neat. We also went out finding with them while we were up there and randomly found a woman whose best friend was LDS and who had visited the church before! She spoke mostly Spanish, so when at first it was just me and Sister Johnson, things were a little slow going. Luckily Sister Garcia came in clutch with her bilingual talents. It was a huge miracle. 

Friday we had interviews with President and Sister Alexander. It was wonderful. Also we recieved positive confirmation that at zone conferences this transfer we will be recieving.... smartphones! We are a little excited, especially since the current weddington phone is a flip phone. We get to keep our tablets for now, too. 

We also went on exchanges just after that, so I stayed in Weddington with Sister Garcia. We had a great time. We got to celebrate the end of the Stop Smoking problem with the member we met with last week, and he has successfully quit! We are so happy for him.

Saturday we did a lot of finding and exchanged back before going to... WOMEN'S CONFERENCE! If anyone didn't get the chance to listen, I would strongly encourage that you did. The speakers talked a lot about how we should realize our worth as children of an all-powerful God. It was so uplifting!

On Sunday we had the chance to go with the youth to a little program called Prepare the Way that they've been doing in a few different areas. Basically the youth go around with a survey that asks if people are interested in gospel topics and whether they want the missionaries from. We did it in Waxhaw to get our youth trained and got like 7 referrals for the missionaries there! Though, as one of the leaders mentioned, we might have done better if we hadn't gone while the Panthers were losing. We are super excited to try it in our area!

I am looking forward to watching general conference this next weekend! Stay tuned!

Love,

Sister Reay

Pictures: Sisters' activity at the mall today!

Charlotte or Bust

Hello everyone, from the Weddington area!!!

This week started off with a bang. Sister Lowry and I had to get the apartment completely empty of all food, trash, and personal items before we left in the morning, so we were pretty much in a mad rush. It was also raining pretty good all morning, which didn't exactly help. Luckily the elders came by to take some of the food and also took our bags upon bags of trash to the dumpster. Such blessings. We got off all right and made it to Charlotte in time, where happily the skies were clear while we unloaded. 

I saw Sister Lowry off and met my new companion, Sister Vincent! She is amazing and a wonderful missionary. I love her already!

So here I am in Weddington! It is a beautiful area. It is especially nice because it has a lot of sidewalks to bike on, which is great, since we are in a carshare now. Luckily this area is smaller than any of my other areas have been. 

We knocked a lot of doors this week. We had a great night on Saturday. Sister Alexander texted us out of the blue and asked if she could come out with us. She is an amazing and sweet woman. We got to visit so many places and meet a few people that we wouldn't be able to otherwise. We are so blessed to have her. 

We had a lot of member dinners and on Sunday I got to meet the ward. They are great! It is about as big as my ward back home, which is different, but also wonderful. We sort of got roped into teaching the deacons, which was so fun! They are a good bunch.  

Weddington is an exciting place. I am so blessed to be serving here. 

My new address is:

10410 Salvia St #102

Charlotte, NC 28277

My address for packages is:

7000 Royce Ct

Charlotte, NC 28277

I hope to hear from y'all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Reay

Pictures:

Sis. Lowry and I packing out

Sunday breakfast after an early ward council. We are such healthy eaters. :)

9-11-2017 Hurricanes and Other Freak Accidents

So this might be just a tad bit short. I am in a rush, for reasons to follow. 

This week was good and fun. We did some good work. I saw some great missionary work when Sister Lowry literally flagged someone down on the street and struck up a conversation, and we got a new investigator. 

On Thursday a new investigator stood us up at the park where we were supposed to meet. But we met some members there from out of the area, and they gave us popcorn. So that was a blessing. 

We finally got to meet again with M and D, the investigators with the puppies. The lesson was great. The puppies were fat. 

Transfer calls were delayed from their usual time Saturday night to what ended up being Monday morning, probably in part because of the hurricane that just barely dodged us and how that would affect the incoming missionaries. So, as it turns out, our sisters area is being closed. So we have to get our apartment ready to be emptied and we have to get ready to leave to Charlotte tomorrow. Sister Lowry will be "pinkwashing" Albemarle (sisters taking over an elders area). She will do great!

I will be going to... Weddington! It is in Charlotte. I've heard it's a great area and I am so excited!

Thanks for all the Book of Mormon scriptures! Here in our mission we know the word of God is more powerful than anything else!

I will give y'all my address as soon as possible!

Love,

Sister Reay

9-4-2017 Time To Stock Up On Bread and Milk

Dearest fam,

The rain we got this week was apparently from the tail end of Harvey. That looked pretty wicked. Also apparently we may or may not be nearish to another hurricane, which means everyone will buy out bread, milk, and eggs from the stores. They were running pretty low on gallons of water when we went today. They tell us it shouldn't be too bad, though. Just rainy. Anyway, if y'all could tell us a little more about that, it would be great. 

We tried to follow up with a dude we met by the library and his address was literally the sketchiest place I have been yet. Luckily Sister Lowry gave me one of her pepper sprays so we felt safe. He wasn't home and we definitely were not going back, so we called the elders to ask if they would take him. They asked where he was, and when we told them, they said, "Yeah, never go there again." So we will avoid it from now on. 

Sister Lowry unfortunately got Dear Janed last week so her emotional state is not the greatest. I mean she has been doing great and hasn't cried or anything but it's a little distracting for her, understandably. So we are dealing with it. 

And yeah, send me your favorite/most effective Book of Mormon scriptures! I want to mark them so I can use them. 

Please pray for David, since he is pondering baptism. Also pray for the elders' investigator Vicki. As of Sunday she had gone three days without smoking. She is just so great. 

Hope yxall have a great week! We will try to stay dry haha. 

Love,

Sister Reay 

A few more selfies from our new friends

The boy I think was called Peanut. He was the one who tried to make off with the flashlight.