Wow it was so great to talk to the fam yesterday! I really miss all of your voices, and it seems like it’s been forever but then when I hear you all again, it’s like I talk to you all the time. I love hearing about all the things that are going on at home, and the exciting plans for the trip to the DR. We are going to have a blast. The craziest news that I heard is that Nathan and Sarah are getting married, and NO ONE TOLD ME!!! And that it is going to be before I get home... :( oh well I am super happy for you guys!
Well...I FINALLY MOVED!!! WE HAVE RUNNING WATER! Can you believe it? I almost can’t! It’s so great. And the house is clean and bug free as of now. It’s brand new and we are the first to be in it! This last week, not much has happened because we have been a bit sick. (Welcome to my mission) But we have been pushing through it. There isn’t really time to take a sick day. But the great news is that we have been able to find A LOT of new investigators. We have some great ones, they just can’t get baptized for marriage problems, but the Lord has really blessed us. It’s fun to teach lessons when you know that the people can progress. We went to an appointment the other day and we started talking about blessings, and I asked her, Leslie, what the greatest blessing in her life has been, and she explained a story to us about her grandma, and her death and how it was really hard for her. She got really sick, and she still doesn’t remember what happened in those days, it was just too much of a shock for her to know that her grandma wasn’t here anymore, and she didn’t know where she was. So I changed the whole lesson and we taught the plan of Salvation, and she just loved it. It was fun to see her excitement to know that she could be with her grandma again. I love that lesson because above all others it has helped me the most in my mission. Life isn’t easy. We pass through so many trials, and sometimes we just don’t want to deal with them, but it’s all worth it because if we do our part, we will receive the greatest reward: eternal life, with our families and loved ones.
I know that this is the true gospel, and the only true happiness that we can have in this life. We need to stay strong and faithful, because the Lord is always with us.
Love you all so much!
Hermana Reay
Monday, May 9, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
It's May!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PORTER! I can’t believe my favorite nephew in the world is turning 4! Wow! How time flies! Well today has already been such a wonderful day! We came to Gazcue so we could go to the mission office for some things that we need. And I was able to see a lot of people from the ward. They were having an activity at the church! I got to see the Bishop! He was an amazing Bishop, and....JUAN PABLO!!! It seriously made my day. (I´ll send a pic) He was soooo happy, and it just really helped me to remember that I have made such wonderful friends here on the mission that have changed their lives around so much for the Savior. Juan Pablo was there early because he had an interview with the stake president, because they just called him to be the President of the Single Adults in the stake! Can you believe it? I love to here when the people I taught and saw baptized are still strong and happy. Also I was able to talk to Caterin and Luis last night. Hermana Garcia called me to tell me that they are doing so great. That Luis is still changing and that you can see it in his face. He is participating a lot in the classes at church and he paid his tithing’s and fast offerings and he is just awesome. And Brian, he blessed the sacrament yesterday! I love that they are all still progressing. I really do love this work.
This last week was a little hard, but we made it through. And we really did receive a lot of blessings. In church we had 5 new investigators that had never been before. We have decided to clean our investigator pool again, because the people just aren’t showing us their desires to change. But we have already found 12 new investigators so we will keep working with them and keep finding new people. We taught the mom of a member, and she pretty much just yelled at us the whole time, and she said that we weren’t aloud to say anything about the Book of Mormom because she isn’t having that in her house. But then she would ask us questions, and I know that she was feeling the spirit and knew that it was starting to make sense to her, so then she would freak out and tell us that we could only talk about the Bible. It was interesting, and I was just grateful that she´s not my mom! I hope that one day she will understand and gain a testimony because her daughter is the best!
I have been reading in my Journal from the beginning of my mission and it really has been helping me because in the beginning I was sooo excited to be a missionary and everything was so spiritual to me, and I don’t know if it’s that now I am just more used to everything, but I have felt that I am not as excited. So it has really helped me to change my perspective to how I was in the beginning. We are FINALLY going to move this week, which has us really excited. I am telling the truth this time for reals! We even have the keys to the new house. We just have to wait for them to connect the lights. I am so happy that they finally got Bin Laden I think that a lot of people will be able to sleep better at night. I just have to say that I am SOOOOOOOOO excited to talk to my family this week! It is going to be the best! Oh and Dave is coming home so soon! Ahhh! Give him a big hug for me! Love you all. I hope that all is well on your end. Thanks for everything.
Con amor,
Hermana Reay
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Hello from the dripping hot Dominican Republic!!!
Hello from the dripping hot Dominican Republic!!!
How are you all? Well I had an interesting week. Holy Week like I told you . And instead of remembering Christ here, they like to drench the streets in beer. It smelled really good. Haha JK. But it was good. I started it out by having a root canal. That was my first one! It HURT!!! And it made me have some serious head pains. But we made it through and now I feel soooo much better. But it did worry me because all of the people I told about my tooth told me that they too had had a root canal before and they all ended up having to just get the tooth pulled because it was too painful! Uhhhhh.....I hope that doesn’t happen to me. Oh Dominican dentistry!
This week I read a really good talk by Quentin L. Cook that I really liked. It helped me to focus a little better because being the Semana Santa it was a little hard. Everyone was drinking and swimming in their blow up pools, and almost all of the appointments that we had fell through. But we didn’t loose the spirit. I want to share a few quotes from the talk... "Our obligation is to love and teach and never give up." "Even though our journey may be fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious." It was a really good talk, and I so conveniently forgot the name of it, but I know that although sometimes it is hard to press forward, it’s worth it because the Lord truly blesses you.
We received our blessing for having such a hard week yesterday. On Tuesday we contacted a lady that said that we could come back to her house Sunday, so we passed by and she wasn’t there but her 2 daughters were. They are twins, and they said that they had been waiting for us all week, and were so excited as soon as their mom told them that the Mormon Missionaries were going to be passing by. They have 2 LDS friends at school and have always wanted to learn more. They said that their dad has always wanted to go to the church but they have never known the schedule and whenever they pass by it’s always locked. So they were really excited. I know that it was a blessing because they have such a thirst for the knowledge, and that is where it truly starts. I know that I am where I am supposed to be, and that I can never give up. I love you all so much!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
How are you all? Well I had an interesting week. Holy Week like I told you . And instead of remembering Christ here, they like to drench the streets in beer. It smelled really good. Haha JK. But it was good. I started it out by having a root canal. That was my first one! It HURT!!! And it made me have some serious head pains. But we made it through and now I feel soooo much better. But it did worry me because all of the people I told about my tooth told me that they too had had a root canal before and they all ended up having to just get the tooth pulled because it was too painful! Uhhhhh.....I hope that doesn’t happen to me. Oh Dominican dentistry!
This week I read a really good talk by Quentin L. Cook that I really liked. It helped me to focus a little better because being the Semana Santa it was a little hard. Everyone was drinking and swimming in their blow up pools, and almost all of the appointments that we had fell through. But we didn’t loose the spirit. I want to share a few quotes from the talk... "Our obligation is to love and teach and never give up." "Even though our journey may be fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious." It was a really good talk, and I so conveniently forgot the name of it, but I know that although sometimes it is hard to press forward, it’s worth it because the Lord truly blesses you.
We received our blessing for having such a hard week yesterday. On Tuesday we contacted a lady that said that we could come back to her house Sunday, so we passed by and she wasn’t there but her 2 daughters were. They are twins, and they said that they had been waiting for us all week, and were so excited as soon as their mom told them that the Mormon Missionaries were going to be passing by. They have 2 LDS friends at school and have always wanted to learn more. They said that their dad has always wanted to go to the church but they have never known the schedule and whenever they pass by it’s always locked. So they were really excited. I know that it was a blessing because they have such a thirst for the knowledge, and that is where it truly starts. I know that I am where I am supposed to be, and that I can never give up. I love you all so much!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
Monday, April 18, 2011
This week is Holy week!! Enjoy?
Hello to all who read my blog,
This week is Holy week, or Semana Santa, here in the DR. Although we were talking to a member yesterday, and he was telling us that the people here just use it as vacation time. They really don’t do anything that applies the Savior more in their lives because they either put out their swimming pools in the street, sleep, go to the beach, or DRINK! Yeah it’s kinda interesting. But maybe with our special message we can help some of that to change. I am so grateful that I have had commandments in my life that keep me grounded and that I know that this is a time of year to think of Jesus Christ. Really the sacrifice that he made for us, we can’t even understand. I know that He has an infinite Love, and that everything that He did in the last week of His life is so significant, and teaches us things that we need to apply in our lives today. I have such a testimony of Him and know that if we always put Him first in our lives, and follow in His path we will always have happiness, peace, and joy.
We are teaching a boy named Jeeter, he is really great. He is 11 years old, his sister and his grandpa are members. Well he goes to church every week and we thought that he was a member, but he isn’t. He loves primary and he has so many friends at church. We have shared with him at his house just a couple times now, but last Sunday he came up to us with his "Faith in God" booklet, and told us that he wanted to invite us over for a Family Home Evening so that he could pass a few things off in his booklet to finish it before he turns 12. He is adorable, so we went over there, and he taught the whole lesson, and he really has such a strong testimony. I know that he will be a great member, and definitely a future missionary. I gave him a sticker that says "future missionary" and he put it in his Book of Mormon, (which he is already reading like crazy) and he was so excited. His sister lives with his grandpa in a different ward, but he comes every week on his bike by himself. I wish that everyone could exercise the faith and show the dedication that Jeeter shows, and he is only 11.
I am so grateful for all of the examples that I have in the people here that I am meeting. I know that if they continue to be great examples for those around them, they can help in the growing of the Church here in the Dominican Republic.
I am still freaking out a little bit, that I only have one more transfer after this, but we are living it up every minute! I love you all so much and hope that you are happy! Oh and happy birthday to Lois Lee this week! 1 years old, and I haven’t known one minute of it! But I´ll be there soon!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
This week is Holy week, or Semana Santa, here in the DR. Although we were talking to a member yesterday, and he was telling us that the people here just use it as vacation time. They really don’t do anything that applies the Savior more in their lives because they either put out their swimming pools in the street, sleep, go to the beach, or DRINK! Yeah it’s kinda interesting. But maybe with our special message we can help some of that to change. I am so grateful that I have had commandments in my life that keep me grounded and that I know that this is a time of year to think of Jesus Christ. Really the sacrifice that he made for us, we can’t even understand. I know that He has an infinite Love, and that everything that He did in the last week of His life is so significant, and teaches us things that we need to apply in our lives today. I have such a testimony of Him and know that if we always put Him first in our lives, and follow in His path we will always have happiness, peace, and joy.
We are teaching a boy named Jeeter, he is really great. He is 11 years old, his sister and his grandpa are members. Well he goes to church every week and we thought that he was a member, but he isn’t. He loves primary and he has so many friends at church. We have shared with him at his house just a couple times now, but last Sunday he came up to us with his "Faith in God" booklet, and told us that he wanted to invite us over for a Family Home Evening so that he could pass a few things off in his booklet to finish it before he turns 12. He is adorable, so we went over there, and he taught the whole lesson, and he really has such a strong testimony. I know that he will be a great member, and definitely a future missionary. I gave him a sticker that says "future missionary" and he put it in his Book of Mormon, (which he is already reading like crazy) and he was so excited. His sister lives with his grandpa in a different ward, but he comes every week on his bike by himself. I wish that everyone could exercise the faith and show the dedication that Jeeter shows, and he is only 11.
I am so grateful for all of the examples that I have in the people here that I am meeting. I know that if they continue to be great examples for those around them, they can help in the growing of the Church here in the Dominican Republic.
I am still freaking out a little bit, that I only have one more transfer after this, but we are living it up every minute! I love you all so much and hope that you are happy! Oh and happy birthday to Lois Lee this week! 1 years old, and I haven’t known one minute of it! But I´ll be there soon!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
Monday, April 11, 2011
I absolutely loved it!!!!
Hello Everyone!
Today we had transfers again, I can’t believe how fast the time is going, this last transfer seemed like it lasted a day, and I absolutely loved it. Well I am going to be staying in the same area with the same companion. I couldn’t be happier to be staying with Hermana Bradley for the next transfer, she is such a wonderful missionary and I am learning so much from her every day. Today was hard because she lost her camera card from the whole first part of her mission, I feel really bad, but she will get over it and have a really positive attitude I just know it.
Well something that made me really happy was that yesterday at church we had a lot of investigators and the reason why was because we had two families there. It was great. We are teaching 2 families of 5 and they are both wonderful. Yaritza and her husband Suare need to get married and at first it was really hard to teach him. But the Lord has given us a lot of blessings with him. He is now home every time that we pass by, and he went to general conference and loved it. Now he has an excitement for the gospel and it makes us so happy because Yaritza couldn’t be more ready for baptism. She is always bearing her testimony and she just reads and reads. They are great. We are just hoping that they will be able to get married soon, so that in a year’s time they will be able to go to the temple and have their family sealed. They have 3 beautiful children, and I know that the gospel would just bless their lives immensely.
Well on another note, we are preparing Evelyn for her baptism, she is excited. AND oh my goodness there are just soooo many people that we are teaching we just don’t even have time. And yesterday we recieved 6 references, it’s crazy. I am hoping that all of our hard work and the seeds that we planted last transfer, will all blossom during this transfer and we can see more people come to the waters of baptism. We just want to make sure that they are ready, and that they understand the blessings that baptism will bring to their lives. I have changed my teachings a lot these last couple weeks, because I want the people to realize the blessings that they can receive from the gospel, and that this is the only way to have eternal life so we are putting that into our lessons a lot.
I am so grateful for the gospel. I don’t know what I would do without it in my life. I just know that the greatest gifts all come from God, and the only true happiness that we can find is in the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it and I love Him. I love you all as well and am thankful for you all! Thanks for all that you do.
Con amor,
Hermana Reay
(p.s. Today we went to the beach!!!! Well we didn’t really go there, we just saw it and snapped a quick pic or 2, I had to take one by the swan because this IS my idea of fun! ;) (it didn’[t work) Oh an there is one from when we went to the caves last week. Sorry the computer is SO SLOW, so I am not going to upload more. Love you)
Monday, April 4, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!!! Love you so much!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!!! Love you so much!
Today for your birthday we went to the 3 ojos as a Zone. They are caves that are in the ground that are really cool. We totally felt like we were in Harry Potter! Ha ha. We had a really good time, and it was fun because I think that we were able to grow closer as a Zone as well. We really have great Zone Leaders, and our District Leader is great as well. The bus also let us out on the side of the ocean today so we snapped a few pics and were able to smell the salt in the breeze!
Well I loved conference. We were running around for a lot of it trying to get it in French for some of our investigators, and then when we sat down to watch it in English it didn't work either, but in the end we got it all figured out and we were able to watch the afternoon sessions for both days. I am excited to get the Liahona to read the talks over again. I felt that I was really able to apply a lot of their teachings in my own life, and to apply them to our investigators. I was glad that they talked a lot about marriage and the importance of it, because a lot of our investigators need to get married. I hope that they were thinking of those things as well, and that the talks will help them to accept the Gospel in their lives. I especially liked when Elder Holland said, "For all of you who are members, and all of you who will be..." Because if they were listening with open hearts, There is no way that they didnt feel the spirit.
I also wanted to tell you about a cool experience that we had. Last week we taught Evelyn. She is a reference from a member, and when we first met her, she wasn't really receptive, but now she is amazing, and a lot of it has to do with when we taught her the Plan of Salvation. This lesson was definitely guided by the spirit because in the beginning, I asked her one simple question about a picture frame that I saw on the wall, and then she started into the story of her family. Her mother and Father were killed in a car accident when she was 21 and she is the oldest in the family with 5 kids, and she is the only girl. Her youngest brother was 9. She had a really hard time, and within that first year, 4 other people from her family passed away. She got really emotional, and we could tell that she is still struggling with this. so we taught her the Plan of Salvation and she just ate it right up. She loved it and she was asking all the perfect questions, and she told us that she knew right then that this has to be true. She is great. She accepted a date to be baptized and she came to church and she is just happy, her life is changing a lot, and I know that she will be a wonderful sister in the church. She is going to invite all of her family as well to listen to us, and I know that it will be the start of something wonderful.
I love being able to teach all of the gospel doctrines and principles to the people who really need them and that have a hard life without them. I am just so grateful to my family and for the knowledge of the gospel that I have always had because I couldnt imagine living all this time like she has without knowing of the possiblity of being able to see her family again. Time seems to be flying and I can't believe that this transfer will end next week, this exact day in 2 transfers I will see my family. It blows my mind. But I do want you all to know I love my mission. I love the missionary things that I get to do. I love teaching the people and I love being able to talk of Christ, and invite others to come unto Him. I love that I am learning so much, not only about the Gospel but about myself as well. I know that I will forever be grateful that I served a mission. Love you all!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
Today for your birthday we went to the 3 ojos as a Zone. They are caves that are in the ground that are really cool. We totally felt like we were in Harry Potter! Ha ha. We had a really good time, and it was fun because I think that we were able to grow closer as a Zone as well. We really have great Zone Leaders, and our District Leader is great as well. The bus also let us out on the side of the ocean today so we snapped a few pics and were able to smell the salt in the breeze!
Well I loved conference. We were running around for a lot of it trying to get it in French for some of our investigators, and then when we sat down to watch it in English it didn't work either, but in the end we got it all figured out and we were able to watch the afternoon sessions for both days. I am excited to get the Liahona to read the talks over again. I felt that I was really able to apply a lot of their teachings in my own life, and to apply them to our investigators. I was glad that they talked a lot about marriage and the importance of it, because a lot of our investigators need to get married. I hope that they were thinking of those things as well, and that the talks will help them to accept the Gospel in their lives. I especially liked when Elder Holland said, "For all of you who are members, and all of you who will be..." Because if they were listening with open hearts, There is no way that they didnt feel the spirit.
I also wanted to tell you about a cool experience that we had. Last week we taught Evelyn. She is a reference from a member, and when we first met her, she wasn't really receptive, but now she is amazing, and a lot of it has to do with when we taught her the Plan of Salvation. This lesson was definitely guided by the spirit because in the beginning, I asked her one simple question about a picture frame that I saw on the wall, and then she started into the story of her family. Her mother and Father were killed in a car accident when she was 21 and she is the oldest in the family with 5 kids, and she is the only girl. Her youngest brother was 9. She had a really hard time, and within that first year, 4 other people from her family passed away. She got really emotional, and we could tell that she is still struggling with this. so we taught her the Plan of Salvation and she just ate it right up. She loved it and she was asking all the perfect questions, and she told us that she knew right then that this has to be true. She is great. She accepted a date to be baptized and she came to church and she is just happy, her life is changing a lot, and I know that she will be a wonderful sister in the church. She is going to invite all of her family as well to listen to us, and I know that it will be the start of something wonderful.
I love being able to teach all of the gospel doctrines and principles to the people who really need them and that have a hard life without them. I am just so grateful to my family and for the knowledge of the gospel that I have always had because I couldnt imagine living all this time like she has without knowing of the possiblity of being able to see her family again. Time seems to be flying and I can't believe that this transfer will end next week, this exact day in 2 transfers I will see my family. It blows my mind. But I do want you all to know I love my mission. I love the missionary things that I get to do. I love teaching the people and I love being able to talk of Christ, and invite others to come unto Him. I love that I am learning so much, not only about the Gospel but about myself as well. I know that I will forever be grateful that I served a mission. Love you all!
Con Amor,
Hermana Reay
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