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. 

8-28-2017 Adventures Near and Far

This week, as we come to the end of the month, we are trying to make the best use of our many miles, so we went on some fun long drives to the far parts of the area. We mostly ran into members who politely told us they no longer wanted anything to do with us, which was a little sad. But it was quite scenic. 

Things picked up later in the week. On Friday, we had zone conference, which is always excellent! We practiced a lot letting the Book of Mormon speak for itself. Because, well, no matter how eloquent we are, we can't quite match the prophets. It really reinforced my testimony that if some one reads the Book of Mormon, really reads it, there can be bo doubt that it is the word of God. 

After zone conference we went on exchanges, and I got to go to Greensboro with Sister Miller! They teach only young single adults, so their area is freakishly enormous. The first night we got to teach a young man from the Congo. He was in therocess of learning English as a third language, so it was a bit of a challenge to teach him, but he has amazing faith. The next morning we saw a young woman who had an amazing testimony. I almost wish I could stay to teach them!We exchanged back after lunch and went back to work. 

On Sunday we had a mission president's fireside, the first one I have been able to come to. The missionaries sang songs and gave short, powerful statements about the Restoration. Then some recent converts bore their testimonies, and President Alexander talkedd a lot about some of the same things we discussed in zone conference. It was very powerful. D also came to church that day, which is exciting!

Today we went to the Greensboro Science Center again, this time with oir district. Also super fun! The weather has been great this week. Unfortunately, summer is not done yet, but it's a start!

Love,

Sister Reay 

790 Boone Station Dr. Apt. A

Burlington NC 27215

The tiger took a swim

HUGE turtle

Our district

Singing at the fireside

It was a little humid earlier this week...

8-21-17 Finding Puppies .... And Also Investigators!

Happy Monday everyone!

This week was a pretty exciting one. We worked pretty hard at getting to know more of the members. On Tuesday we spent some time with a couple of older sisters in the ward that are best friends. One of them gave us a ton of fabric and the other offered to teach us to sew, so we really lucked out. 

The highlight of the week was when I snuggled an eight-day-old Akita mix puppy on my lap for about half an hour while we taught the Restoration to a Bible referral and her boyfriend. It was a little hard to stay focused, but oh my goodness. The puppies were so cute and fat and soft! We got to meet the momma, too (once we had put the puppies back). Also the lesson was great. We were able to clear up some misconceptions (the boyfriend thought we were a "nice cult") and teach the doctrine. We are excited to come back and see how the puppies (er... investigators) are progressing. 

On Sunday we had a church open house tour. Unfortunately, not many people came... If something like that ever happens in your own area, remember, inviting people never hurt anyone! It's the members that really have the best contact with people. A person is probably more willing to accept an invitation from a friend or even acquaintance than they are from a well-dressed pair of strangers :D

It was a good week of missionary work! We are very excited to keep working with our investigators and help them toward baptism. 

Love y'all! Hope to hear from you!

Love,

Sister Reay 

8-14-17 Crossin' the State Line

Hello everyone! Currently I'm writing this from the fancy lobby of a very fancy car fixed while we get a diagnostic run on the car's system. It makes me feel not-very-fancy. 

But this week was phenomenal! Sister Lowry and I are having a geat time and seeing miracles, including 5 new investigators, which was a huge blessing! 

We started off on Tuesday by goingmup to Danville, Virginia, to help the housing coordinators move the Danville elders. We think Sister Monteleone just likes to have other sisters for company. That took all day, but it was fun! It was a good thing, to, because their old place was a little nasty. Virginia was a nice place, though. 

On Wednesday we had district meeting with our temporary trio of zone leaders, which was super fun. We missionaried around quite a bit until Friday, when we finally had another lesson with our investigator D! It was a wonderful lesson, and we really got to know where he is. We are excited to see him continue to progress. We also met again with the Bible referrals from way back, H and G, who asked us a lot of questions comparing the Bible to the Book of Mormon. I think we got it all sorted out in the end. 

We started new member discussions with M on Saturday! He is so good and surprises us every day with how much he knows. He is such an inspiration. 

I studied humility for a training this week and learned some things. I've come to understand humility as an acknowledgement of our own inadequacies and a trust in God's power. Pride, on the other hand, is trust in our own powers and strength. It takes humility for God to bless us. Pride keeps us from accepting those blessings. 

Anyway, that's just a few random thoughts. Today we had game day as a zone and Sister Lowry and I went to the Greensboro Science Center as well. So much fun! 

Hope to hear from y'all!

Love,

Sister Reay 

Our stellar district

The Virginia state line

Dinner with a member

A two-headed turtle! What!

New Companion, Old Bike

Good afternoon y'all! Great things are happening!

First off this week, I sent Sister Mabey home! She was so sad to leave, and it was sad to leave her, but she is going on to great things! 

I also picked up my new companion, Sister Lowry! She has been out for about a year now. We packed up her luggage and strapped her bike to the rack on a very helpful member's car. But apparently, the bike wanted to be free, so it decided to make its escape... in the far left lane of a four-lane freeway. By the time we got back to it it was beyond salvageable. R.I.P. The good news is, Sister Mabey left her bike behind, so we have a spare! Miracles do happen. 

We were on bike week this week, and the weather wasn't too bad, so we puttered around the area and talked to a lot of people. Sister Lowry is very good at finding, so I am learning a lot! 

On Friday we had interviews. We talked a lot about how to use the Book of Mormon more effectively in our teaching, which is going to be one of the focus areas of the mission this transfer. 

Something we are doing as a mission for the next few months is reading the Book of Mormon while highlihting the Christlike attributes found in Preach my Gospel: faith, hope, charity and love, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility, diligence and obedience. It's really interesting to study not only where it talks about people who have these qualities, but also what happens to people who do NOT have these qualities. I am enjoying it immensely.

My address for the next six weeks is still:

790 Boone Station Dr. Apt. A

Burlington, NC 27215

I really hope to hear from y'all!

Love,

Sister Reay 

-Ready to go with Sister Mabey and Elder VonSosen

-The bike at a safe distance

-Bus stop selfie

Yaaaaaayy!!!!!

This week was phenomenal! In summary.... M was baptized!

It was a pretty exciting day. And a little nerve-wracking. It took a little bit of unexpected work to put it all together.

SISTER REAY'S FIRST BAPTISM

9:20 Sister Reay and Sister Mabey begin driving the church to prepare for the baptism at 11. 

9:23 Sister Reay and Sister Mabey recieve a call from concerned member claiming that it takes two hours, not one, to fill the font. 

9:25 Sister Reay and Sister Mabey arrive at the church and unlock the font, only to find that the font is littered with dirt. Not just dust, but actual clumps of dirt. 

9:26 Sister Mabey bravely does battle with a broom against dirt and many spiders while Sister Reay attempts to fill the mop bucket. 

9:30 Sister Reay brings the full mop bucket to Sister Mabey, who has swept up most of the dirt. Sister Mabey begins to mop. 

9:40 Elder Hull and Elder VonSosen arrive to help. Elder Hull assists with mopping the font steps. 

9:45 The font is fully mopped and the faucet turned on, full blast. It appears as though it will fill on time. 

9:50 Just in case, the elders begin a bucket brigade from the janitor's closet. 

10:20 The font is filling pretty well, so the bucket brigade is stopped. 

10:27 M arrives, calming our fears (the fears that plague every missionary) that he wouldn't show up. 

10:30 Paperwork is filled out, baptism clothes are on. The elders explain how baptism is performed. 

10:42 Sister Hofer, who was from the companionship that found M, arrived with Sister Stearns to give her talk. 

10:45 The font is pretty well filled, so we turn it off. We discover that the drain has a slow leak. We turn the faucet on really low to combat it. 

10:50 The ward mission leader arrives with the programs. We correct the errors and changes in the program. Elder Hall and Elder Gwilliam arrive. 

10:55 We retreat to the Relief Society room. Prelude music starts. Members arrive. All is well. 

On Sunday M was confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. It has been so amazing to see him progress and come closer to Christ. We are so proud of him! Baptism is his first step toward eternal life. He is amazing! 

Things are so good here! Transfers are coming tomorrow. Sister Mabey is going home. I am so sad to lose her, but I know she will do great wherever she is! Elder VonSosen is also being transferred and will be missed. 

Keep those prayers coming! Great things are happening!