I AM SOOOOO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE I CAN’T EVEN EXPRESS MYSELF.

Hello all!
Well I just finished writing a whole email to you all and it got erased, so sorry that this one might be a little bit shorter. I hope that this email finds you all happy! Well we still live in our house without water but we are hoping to move this week. But now we are just used to it. Ha ha it’s like we are out in the campo or something. Well it rained once last week and with it came the humidity. It feels like July again! But hey I am sweating up a storm and loving the mission. We are teaching some wonderful people. I love being in this area too because there are a lot of Haitians and they are just so humble and wonderful. We teach an English class every Saturday as well and that’s fun. So there are a lot of things going on. The ward here is a little more difficult though. They aren’t as into the work or into any activities for that matter so we are trying to help the bishop to change a few things.
On a different note, I AM SOOOOO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE I CAN’T EVEN EXPRESS MYSELF. I hope that it will always be this way! Ha ha next conference I want to go! It is going to be a blast and I just know that we are going to hear a lot about the conditions of the world and maybe something about preparing ourselves a lot. I am excited to know what the Lord has to tell us about all of these crisis’s that are happening.
Well today was special because we went to Gazcue and all of the Hermana´s (except 2) from our mission got together and we made 2 big cards for the Whitaker’s .(they work in the mission home.) We all wanted to say our goodbyes because they are leaving soon. They are going home the 7th of April. We are all going to miss them sooo much, the mission won’t be the same. I am including a picture. I miss you all and I am sorry that I can’t write more. Next week I will definitely be better.
Hermana Reay

I take pleasure in infirmities!

Is today really the 21st? In 3 months from today my family will arrive here to the heat and humidity that is the DR!!! Yay!
This last week has been very trying. ( But also great.) There are so many wonderful investigators that we have in this area, they all just eat up the gospel. I know that it is just what they need and they will always stay firm. They just have obstacles and can’t be baptized. It’s difficult. Almost all of them can’t be baptized because they need to get married but for odd reasons they can’t. But I know that they all will get there, they are wonderful and help my testimony to grow. It’s amazing when you are in Relief Society and the people that are commenting are your investigators, that are smarter than the members! Haha I love it!
Our baptism that we had on Saturday fell through and it was really sad. My companion was REALLY sad, but afterwards we decided that all things happen for a reason and that we need to love all the moments that we have because they are the moments that make us strong. Just like it says in 2 Corinthians 12:10; "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." I know that I have a bigger purpose here than I can see at times, and I am grateful for all of the lessons that we have because I think that sometimes I learn more than the investigators do. I learn so much from them as well and I know that through teaching them and hearing their comments, my testimony is strengthened every day!
I can’t believe about all of the disasters that are going on. I was really sad to hear that a lot of the missionaries were sent home that were serving in Japan. It would be weird to just have the last couple months of your mission randomly end. We know that it was for a reason and I am just glad that they are all ok. But it would be harder to just have to leave your mission because it was literally dissolved.
I love being with Hermana Bradley. I love being able to express myself completely and we are working hard! There is a lot of work here to do and I just hope that we can help to make a difference. We are just hoping that we can move this week because we are a little tired of living without water. 5 weeks have already passed in this house without water, and now the apartment building started robbing light from the apartment building across the street. It’s all a little sketchy. But we will survive.
I love you all so much. I am so grateful for you and for your prayers, I am so grateful that I am from Utah where the church is strong and that I learned the things I did from all of you to make me who I am. Thanks for everything.
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay

I always love reading Ether 12:27.

Dear Friends and Family,
This week was a lot better than last week. We still haven’t resolved the problem in the house with the water and all. But we are going to see what we can do this week. Elder Marte (the elder in the office) is really helping us out. It is really uncomfortable to live without water, but we are managing. We still have to go take buckets of water and get them filled out of the ground. It’s super weird. (and it always have bugs and floaties in it). But that is the mission.
We had a Conference this last week and it was really great. I always get a boost from conferences. We learned a lot about using the spirit in all of our lessons because really the Holy Ghost is the teacher and not us. We also learned about how we need to focus more of the people and think about their feelings. If they feel comfortable with us and if they feel loved, that their Heavenly Father loves them even more. It was funny because this is something that is really hard for some of the Elders. They can’t open up with the people, it’s just a get in and get out lesson. As opposed to the sisters, just becoming everyone’s best friend. Haha.
Things are great with Hermana Bradley, sometimes I think that we have too much fun together. It’s nice to have someone to relate to, that is from the same country and understands why the trials aren’t easy to deal with. We had an activity with the Whitakers, where we make the sea shell frames and it was great. The people absolutely love doing those frames, and I know that the Whitakers really are going to be missed when they leave. They leave on April 7th and I think that the mission might fall apart for that month while we wait for their replacements. What are we going to do without them.?
I don’t really have much else to say other than this mission is really, really hard. Right now I can’t believe at all that it is the best two years (or 18 months) but I know that after I get home, I will always look back with a smile and a lot of love for the DR. I know that I will be grateful for the hard things that I had to go through and the hard people that I had to deal with. They are all shaping me into the person I am and will be. But I know that there are blessings when we endure and when we put all of our trust in the Lord. I always love reading Ether 12:27. He will make our weaknesses our strengths, if we have faith and humble ourselves before Him. He really understands all that we are going through and he understands all of our pains, and sufferings, and trials. I really know that He is always with me and than I can turn to Him at any time- I know that this message is one of the most important and that is why it’s so important to be steadfast and endure and share it with all the people you meet, so they can have the opportunity to enjoy the blessings that come from the atonement of Christ. I really am grateful to be a missionary and to be here in the DR. I am also really grateful that I have people like you rooting for me back home and that I have a lot of open arms to come home to. Thanks for your love and your prayers, they are very much needed. I love you all.
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay

It has been an interesting week!

Hey, hey,
How are you all? It has been an interesting week, it feels like I haven’t written in 2 weeks because so much has happened. First of all I am in a new area with a new companion. I love her; Hermana Bradley. She is from SLC so that’s fun, I get to speak English again. And we have a lot in common. I think that it makes me a little bit trunkier. The best part is that we have a great area. It’s HUGE. And there is so much potential. I think that we are going to have a lot of baptisms this transfer. I am hoping that she stays with me for at least two. I think that I will end my mission here. Another interesting tidbit is that when you all come here you will be stayin in my stake and it’s really not that far away from me! Ahhhhh, oh well I guess I might just have to see a few of you roaming the streets. Haha well I got really sick as well and that put a little bit of a damper on the work, but I am fine again and this next week we are going to put all of our efforts into the work. < I just wanted to tell you a funny story....(I don’t have much inspiration today) we went to teach a reference that a member gave us, and the lady was super nice. So we sit there and she was like where are you two from? My companion tells her that we are from the same country and that she should guess...well do you want to know what she said? JAPAN...uhhhh, haha. Then her next guess was Spain, and a few other random places. I don’t understand. But oh well, apparently we are Japanese! Gotta love Dominicans. I miss you all and I am sorry I didn’t have anything to share this week. Keep me in your prayers.
Love you
Hermana Reay

So many wonderful moments!!!

Wow,
I really don’t know how to describe how I feel right now. SO MANY things have happened over the last week, so many wonderful moments, difficult moments, and spiritual moments. First of all I want to tell you about the baptism. It really was special. The President and his wife came... and Caterin shared her testimony at the end which was amazing! I think that she has a stronger testimony than most members; the President was so impressed that he recorded it and said that he is going to put it on a video that he is making. Caterin and Luis are going to build a great family in the gospel. I know that they will be strong and hopefully in a year I can return and see them go through the temple. They had a lot of help from the ward, they threw them a small reception on Friday, and it was great. They were so happy. Everything was white and pink and Caterin was in heaven, she kept telling us that we have helped make her dreams come true.
Well we were completely exhausted after everything, and yesterday I found out that I am getting transferred. I am so happy that I get to end my time here in Mendoza with them married and baptized. I will really miss my companion and the people here in this area, they are such great people. Hermana Garcia is really having a hard time. We got really close, and she is really sentimental, so I hope that she will be ok, because she hasn’t stopped crying. I will always be so grateful for the 3 transfers that I have had with her because I have learned so much and I have felt really loved. But I am happy for the change of area and really excited to be with Hermana Bradley. She is American! She is so funny, I know her a little bit and we are excited to be companions! I hear that her area is great, so I am excited to see how it goes. I am pretty sure that I will end my mission there, in Los Frailes. It’s right on the beach and in Santo Domingo still. I know that I need this change to help me to endure and be a better missionary. Sometimes we get so accustomed to the area and the people that we get a little lazy. So I know that I need this. I am happy to be here and I cant believe that I only have 3 transfers left, it really blows my mind. I am so happy to be here, and to be able to meet all of these wonderful people. Caterin is like a sister to me and so is Hermana Garcia. I know that they are people that I will always hold close to my heart. I love you all and hope that you are happy!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
(I will send pictures of the wedding and baptism to come next week. Sorry)