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