Better Alternatives from the Lord

September 28, 2015

This week has been pretty great. It seemed that nearly anything we planned fell through but the Lord always provided us with a better alternative. I think the best thing we are doing right now is letting the members know that hey, there are missionaries in Utah, and they need your help! 

On Wednesday we had zone conference. It was a solid 9 hour long meeting.... It wasn't bad like I thought it would be. It was awesome to hear so much directly from the mission president, his wife, and the AP's. The topic of the zone conf was kind of centered around faith and receiving miracles which is something me and Elder Hilsberg have been focusing on lately. We learned a lot of good stuff that is gonna help us out.

Later that day we had a lesson scheduled with a Japanese foreign exchange student named M. When we got there and started teaching we could tell it was going to be rough because we were having a hard time understanding each other. Not long after that though there was a knock on the door and in walked in C. A., a guy that got back from a Japanese mission a month ago. Apparently the stake president called him and told him he should come see M. With him there we were able to teach M. nearly all the discussions in one sitting because of the amount of questions he had. It all made such good sense to him too, even C. told us that he was the most golden Japanese investigator he had ever met. He was leaving for home in a few days but he committed to go to church in Japan and find the missionaries and I am sure he will! C. got his contact information so it will be cool to hear how he is doing. M. should be coming back in a few weeks so if I don't get transferred this transfer I will be able to meet with him again. Having C. there was definitely an answer to our prayers for a miracle.

On Thursday night we had two appointments set up at the same time so we were going to split up, Elder Hilsberg was going with recently released bishop Farrington to teach T. and I was going to go with recently re activated K. to J. But, both cancelled. So bishop Farrington went home and K. came with Elder Hilsberg and me to a struggling members house. When we got there K. seemed to connect with this member as if they've been friends their whole lives. We were able to talk to him and answer a lot of questions and ease concerns. So even though our plans fell through, we were able to do something that may have been more important. Even if it didn't do much for the struggling member it definitely increased K.’s testimony. He just got his temple recommend and is going through the temple in Kentucky to get his endowments. 

Lots of little things like that have been happening. Utah is super cool. It's been a bit warm still but I'm stoked for snow. The other day we met a nice lady in the ward and without even straying from the conversation she pulled a $20 out of her pocket and stuck it in my shirt pocket...... I guess that's a pretty common thing here. So it'll go into the general ward mission fund which is what we have been told to do by president Chambers. We got to be outside during most of last night’s eclipse. Some people were disappointed the world didn't end. Apparently a few people had survival trailers and equipment just for the occasion...

Well that's it for this week. Hope you all are enjoying life!

Love,

-Elder Ray

Elder Hilsberg and Elder Ray

Elder Hilsberg and Elder Ray

Selfie of Elder Ray