Three blisters and a sunburn and I feel great!

Hey everyone!

We had a bit of a hectic week, but most of it wasn't exciting, so I'll spare you the details. Suffice to say that a lot of missionary work was involved.

Tuesday we did the usual things and had dinnerwith a memberfamily, where we had a lot of fun with their kids. We also had a great Book of Mormon class. On Wednesday we had district meeting with donuts and the zone leaders. It was a good time. Afterward we drove a very long while to get to a doctor's appointment. That took up a lot of the day, but I did meet a nice young man who had been in a dirt bike accident and talked to him and his parents a little. 

We don't havethe car this week, so webiked, bused, and walked quite a bit. Hydration was key, since it was pretty hot out. Luckily I only forgot to sunscreen a couple places. 

Saturday was really fun. We went with the elders and a member to help out at the stables where she worked. We cleaned stalls, cleared a field, painted, and helped put up a fence. Also we got to pet the horses, which was my favorite part. The owners, who are nonmembers, were very grateful. That night we went for another lesson with M. He is doing so well! 

We are looking forward to a great week (one that includes air-conditioned travel). Keep those prayers coming! 

Love,

Sister Reay 

I don't currently have pictures from the stables, so here are some fishing pictures from Monday. :)

Who Knew Fish Liked Pepperoni?

Sooooo I composed and sent a group email like an hour ago, but apparently it vanished. So here is the highlight version. 

We had two visits with M. Both times we brought the recent convert Brother Shue, and they really hit it off, which was great. The elders came the second time because Brother Shue was being their taxi for the day. He is progressing really well.

We had a low-key fourth of July, had lunch with a member family, and did service for another member. 

We tracted in sketchy places and found really nice people. Who invited us back. Also some nearby members invited us to dinner. We are so blessed. 

We rode the bus and met a very chatty Pentacostal man. 

Today we went fishing with Brother Shue and the elders and didn't have much luck until we started using leftover Little Caesars. They were just little ones, but at least we got something. 

Pray for bike week!

Love,

Sister Reay 

Pictures 

-Nice day for fishing

-New friends during service

In other news, I saw a raccoon this week

On Tuesday we met with E, a recent convert in the other ward, who was visiting her aunt in our area. She is only 10 and super sweet. We also met a less-active member's non-member husband. He had a sweet red '78 pickup that he had fixed up, so we talked about that for a while. He was a funny guy. We also had a great Book of Mormon class. 

We started off Wednesday with district meeting and took some great district pictures at the end. Later in the evening we met with an old Baptist lady at an assisted living facility. She couldn't really hear us, but luckily we were outside so we could shout. She gave us a nice long Baptist prayer and some spirituals at the end, which was very interesting and pretty neat. 

Thursday was great because we had interviews. I got to do some family-oriented roleplays with Sister Alexander and had a good talk with President Alexander. Afterward, our ride, Sister Brown,got us pizza. We also went on exchanges! I went back to Burlington with Sister Hickenlooper. We had a great lesson that evening with our investigator D, who I haven't been able to meet because of school until now. We had a great lesson, even though it was a little awkward teaching someone our own age the Law of Chastity. ;)

Friday was full of rain on and off all afternoon. Fortunately we had the car, so it didn't bother us much. We got to visit Sister T, who just had major surgery but is so sweet. We also had dinner with the R family. The highlight of Saturday was when we met with our investigator M and committed him to a baptism date!

On Sunday, both M and D came to church! That was the first time for me, and I'm so excited to see them progress. 

Love y'all! Have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Reay 

Pictures:

-Attempting district picture 

-Another attempt

-Actual district picture

-Fun at interviews

Burlington: Apparently it's the home of the coat factory

Hola everyone!

This week has been absolutely fantastic as I've gotten to know Burlington! On Monday I had one last dinner with the H family, and it was really sad to say goodbye. But Tuesday was super exciting! We drove down to the Hilliard building so I could meet up with Sister Mabey and Sister Christiansen could get her new trainee! I wish her the best. The ride back to Burlington was pretty long, but we got there. It's a really nice place! I love it already!

On Wednesday we visited a Bible referral with a member, volunteered at the library, and then..... went biking! I am in a tri-share again! It's not as bad as I remembered it, despite nearly swearing to death. It's a lot nicer when it's cloudy out. But I'm actually really glad for the exercise. 

On Thursday we spent most of the day helping the Burlington Elders, Elder Hull and Elder VonSosen, move into a new apartment because their old one was sketchy and full of mildew. The senior couple over housing, the Monteleones, were there to organize it all. They took us and the elders to lunch and because it went so late they took us to dinner too. So nice! 

Friday was district meeting. We are with the Burlington elders and the Gibsonville elders, Elder Hall and Elder Gwilliam (no, not a typo, that is actually his name).  We also have the zone leaders, but they weren't there. Elders Gwilliam and VonSosen are both brand-new trainees, which is super fun! They are doing great. We biked around for a while and then had dinner with a member, Sister M. She was super sweet. We went to her house after to study the Doctrine and Covenants, since she's a convert and wants to learn more about it. 

Saturday's service cancelled on us, so we did a lot of finding on our bikes. We did get to go to lunch with a member, Brother S, who told us his crazy conversion study. Long story short, miracles do happen. Anyway, it got really cloudy in the afternoon and we biked home to meet our dinner appointment about five minutes before it started pouring buckets #blessed. We visited a Bible referral with the member, and she and her husband seemed pretty interested, so we'll see how that goes. 

Yesterday was fun. I got to meet many members of this wonderful ward. We went to dinmer at the B's house. It was so fun. Sister B made some fancy pizza that I liked even though it had onions on it. Then we went with her to help the Gibsonville eldersmove one of their investigators who had just been evicted. That went late, but with everyone helping, it was way faster than it could have been. 

All in all it has been a great and exiting week! 

My new address is:

790 Boone Station Dr. Apt. A

Burlington, NC 27215

Love, 

Sister Reay 

Pictures! 

-Goodbye to Sister Christiansen 

-Goodbye to the H Family

-It's a cow

-Riding the bus

-Biking selfie

-Burlington water tower 

-Dinner with the Monteleones

Burlington: Apparently it's more than a coat factory

Hello everyone! 

This week was fantastic and full of a lot more service. Tuesday we did our normal service at White Oak and visited Granny. Then we studied and planned out visiting some part-member families on our lists. We went to dinner with the Ts and some of their friends and had a great time before going finding in the area. Not much luck, but no effort is wasted! 

We had a wonderfully spiritual district meeting on Wednesday and went over the things that struck us most from zone conference. Afterwards we helped Elder Every fulfill his high priest group cleaning assignment at the church. In the evening we had correlation before we went out finding again. I caught a firefly for the first time. It was a little less magical than people make it seem, but still! 

On Thursday we helped Brother T and the elders clear some trees from a lot that was recently bought by Habitat for Humanity. Unfortunately we aren't allowed to use chainsaws, so we carried the branches to the side of the road and put the logs in a pile for firewood. Some of those logs were h e a v y. It was a good workout. We had to shower before White Oak. We had dinner with the Ss that night at the pizza buffet. Also in the evening a drunk man on a bike helped back the car. Good times. 

Our weekly planning got pushed to Friday because of our lumberjacking. That afternoon two people missed their follow-up visit. But that's okay, because while we were out we ran into a couple of cute little girls at an apartment complex. When we told them we taught people about Jesus, they immediately told us where they lived and took us to meet their aunt, and she was happy to talk to us even when we said Mormons. Kids give the best referrals. 

Friday we went to help clean the final things from the Brophy's house before carpeting was put in. Then we went around Kings Mountain and visited a few less-active members and our investigator M. She is pretty stressed, so we shared some verses of comfort from the Book of Mormon. 

On our way back we got a call from... President Alexander! And Sister Christiansen is going to be training! I am so excited for her. She is going to be a fantastic trainer. I'm so sad I only had one transfer with her tho9ugh!

Anyway, I will be going to Burlington, which is near Greensboro. It's pretty much the opposite corner of the mission. I will miss Shelby and the people here so much, but I'm excited for a new adventure! My new companion will be Sister Mabey, and I've heard she is great. I'm doing a lot of packing today and leaving tomorrow. Such a bittersweet feeling. 

Love (from Shelby for the last time),

Sister Reay 

Elders and Sisters Moving Co.

Hello everyone! This has been a great week!

We kicked off Monday evening helping the T family pack their pod for moving to Utah. Its really sad to see them go! Tuesday we did our normal bingo and went tracting in some sketchy parts of Shelby, where we were able to talk to some nice people and even get some return appointments! Fun times. I am getting a lot of practice on my door approach. 

Wednesday was zone conference in Charlotte, which is always fantastic. We heard from President and Sister Alexander, and Sister Christiansen and I were part of a double quartet that performed a song called Take Time to be Holy. It was great. Then we had a training by the Assistants that included arts and crafts, tools, and the Batman theme song. Good times. We split into individual zones after lunch and had a great time learning about planning. That was in Charlotte though, so it pretty much took our whole day. 

Thursday we went up with the Elders to help the B family move. It is definitely easier the more people you have. We really ought to start a business on the side because we are getting really good at packing boxes and moving furniture. That evening we had a little miracle. We were out tracting after dinner and no one was interested or home. Finally at 8:50 we knocked on one last door, and what did we find? Someone who set a return appointment! Yay! Miracles do happen folks. 

Friday brought weekly planning, more sketchy apartments, and another return appointment. Saturday we went with Sister H to visit the recent convert M and Granny. Then we went back up to help the Bs move more things out of their house. By this point I think I have gained some new muscle. It was hard work, but we had a good time. 

Sunday was great, as usual. We had lunch with the C family after church. They are such a great family! It was a wonderful Sabbath. Today we had a Hawaiian-themed zone activity at the park, complete with a food truck. It's always fun to be around other missionaries. 

Transfer calls come this Saturday, so stay tuned! 

Love, 

Sister Reay

Mosquitoes: 4 Sister Reay: 0

Good morning everyone! 

This was a great week in Shelby. We spent the first couple of days trying to burn off the extra miles we had left, so we got to visit a lot of people that were waaaaay out in our area. We weren't able to see a lot of people, but it was scenic anyway. I also got to see fireflies while we were driving, which was pretty neat. Tuesday was Granny's 88th birthday, so we went and visited her after bingo. It was so fun! 

On Thursday I was mostly just really confused that it was June. We also had the Sister Training leaders over for weekly planning, which was fun except for the fact that our air conditioning was broken. I know, I know, we live a rough life. Its fixed now. Sister Christiansen also finally got to meet our good old friend Bill.  

We were trying to meet our goal for new investigators this week, so that meant we had to go out and knock some doors! Not everyone was interested, but they were mostly all polite (we did have a short stand-off with a toothless pit bull before we decided that no one was home). It's pretty humid out still, and there were a few mosquitos, as I soon discovered when we came home. But we had some success! At one apartment complex we met a few kids that showed off their moves, as well as a man whose grandma had attended our church. Then we were able to share the Because of Him message with one woman, and she said we made her night and invited us back. Yay! 

On Saturday we were able to meet with M and D again, finally! It was a great lesson. We went over the Restoration again, and when M talked about her struggles, Sister Christiansen was able to share Mosiah 3:5 with her. M loved it and said it applied perfectly to her struggles. We are so excited to keep teaching them! 

Sunday was wonderful of course. We had a really powerful testimony meeting. At one point, because of a promise they jad made to their leadr at the beginning of the month, all the young men got up to bear their testimonies. They were each short, simple, and very powerful. You could tell they knew what they were saying was true. So lesson learned: even if it seems small, share your testimony! You never know who might need it. 

We are looking forward to zone conference and a lot of good things this week! Keep praying! 

Love, 

Sister Reay 

Pictures:

Finding formers in the woods

Memorial day shakes

Granny on her birthday!