Being cold and having colds

Hello everyone! This was an action-packed week. We started off with exchanges on Monday until Tuesday night. I stayed in Rock Hill with... Sister Hofer, from my MTC district! It was really fun. She is great. She served in Burlington, too, so we could catch up about the people thee. It was a great time. We even got to bike a little. The weather that day was beautiful too, even if it did go back to being icy cold the rest of the week. 

Wednesday was interviews, which is always good. On Thursday, Sister Heywood came down with a miserable, raging cold that we didn't want to spread, so we mostly stayed inside. But on Friday we had to go back out because we had our special zone training on Friday. It was really good. Basically we are really putting the emphasis on listening to and observing our investigators. The church is also testing out a new way of finding online referrals. We're hoping to see the uptick in investigators pretty soon, which is exciting. 

Speaking of investigators, we had another miracle on Sunday when a member from Pineville walked in with her friend, who lives in Rock Hill and is looking for a church. Well, we know the one for her! We were able to meet with her that Sunday. We can already tell the gospel will bless her life so much and we are excited to keep working with her. 

Sunday was also a stake conference that included a regional broadcast that came from Salt Lake City. Elder David A. Bednar was one of the speakers and boy was he great. He talked about repentance and how a part of it includes having real intent. Of course Jesus Christ has paid for our sins, but we really have to make the effort to turn away and try to never look back. Repentance is less of what you DO and more of what you BECOME. 

Hope y'all are having a great week! Do everything you can to keep the Spirit with you! 

Love, 

Sister Reay

"Cold" to Serve

What an amazing bike week it has been folks! And VERY cold. It's unusual for South Carolina but we've had the highs in the 30s and lows in the teens or below. I know it's not Idaho but it's still something, especially when you're riding bikes in a skirt. Thank goodness for warm leggings and cozy hats. It even SNOWED on Wednesday, though it was just little flurries too small for the camera. Wow though. Pretty neat experience for an Arizonian and Californian. 

We've had a pretty exciting week! The mission leaders went to a special training on Thursday about this new program our mission is testing out. As part of that the sister training leaders from another zone came and "observed" us for a night. Now I know how the missionaries on "The District" feel. We're going to be trained on the same thing this Friday. We are so hyped. 

The elders had a baptism scheduled for Saturday, but when we got there the heat was completely out of Church, including the water heater, so it was rescheduled for Saturday. It ended up working out great because more peolple were able to come. It was an amazing baptism service. Baptisms always are, but this one felt very special. The Spirit was so strong. I was glad I was able to be there. 

I assume most of you heard of the passing of President Thomas S. Monson, the prophet. It was pretty sad since he was "my" prophet for a long time growing up. But it just makes me remember how blessed we are to have the restored Church of Jesus Christ on the earth. There is no confusion, no uncertainty, no spiritual darkness. We just move calmly forward with faith that God will guide His church. 

Hope y'all are doing well with your New Year's resolutions. If not, there's always tomorrow! Stay warm out there!

Love,

Sister Reay 

Super neat frozen fountain

We are just too cute

Bowling with the district

New year, same great work

Happy New Year everyone! This is the first time in a long while that I have slept through New Year's Eve haha. But a curfew is a curfew even if it is a holiday. 

I know I didn't write much last week, but some great things happened that week! We had zone conference the Friday before Christmas and it was so much fun. Imagine a bunch of missionaries standing around a piano, banging elementary school percussion instruments together, and belting out "I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas" and you have a pretty good idea of how it went. Also we played NCCM Jeopardy, with gospel and NC trivia questions and the final jeopardy challenge: lassoing President Alexander. Luckily our zone leader came in clutch for that. We spent Christmas Eve with the bishop and Christmas at a member's house. Thanks for all the Christmas wishes!

We also had a Christmas Eve miracle! After church when only the elders and bishopric were there a woman drove up to the church and started talking with them. Turns out she really wanted God more in her life and was looking for a church! Since she was a single woman the elders referred her to us and we were there within the hour. We are working with her now and it is great! Miracles everyone. 

Well this week is New Year's so I might as well say a few words about making resolutions. In the mission we actually do it everyweek, except we call it "Set goals and make plans." And it gets sort of repetetive for us, but when I think about it, I really hope that it's something I can take home with me. Setting a goal, or making a resolution, is all good and well, but without a plan to put it into action it's pretty much meaningless. Anyway, I've made a couple of resolutions to work  on and I hope y'all do to! Now go out and make it a great year! 

Love,

Sister Reay 

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