Life's Rough Out Here

October 12, 2015

This week has been pretty normal. Monday night we taught a couple family night lessons to members then went by the H’s home trying to catch R (active non member) home but only caught her husband (less active member) home. Yeah kinda confusing.... Anyway we caught him in his garage building guns. Apparently he is a licensed gun manufacturer. He's got a lathe, CNC mill, and some other cool stuff in his garage that he uses to build entire guns with from start to finish. Super rad. We talked with him for a while about guns and eventually were able to turn the conversation into a somewhat spiritual message about the last days.

We did quite a bit of service for random people this week which I love doing. Wednesday we had a random exchange and I went to Elder Richardson’s area with him for the evening. We spent most of it asking members for referrals and met a lot of cool people. I am kind of glad I was there that evening because I was able to be there for another lesson with H. (who I committed to baptism last time I was there on exchanges).

J. keeps pushing off our meeting due to work so hopefully the one tonight happens. T. is progressing slowly, but still progressing. His doubts and concerns are becoming less and less of an issue and I can tell he is starting to recognize the spirit which is super exciting.

Thursday night we went to black bear diner... Friday our dinner canceled so a member brought us Costa Vida... Life's rough out here.

We met loads of people Saturday. We got the feeling we should just start knocking doors and in one circle we met like 3 less active families. In each family the moms were expressing interest in returning to church so we're gonna spend a lot of time with those families!

Yesterday was fast Sunday. All the sacrament meetings we attended were really good. A big focus of the stakes in this area has been keeping the Sabbath day holy and being reverent in sacrament, and we have seen a change. A few weeks ago I guess we promised to teach a young women's lesson and were reminded about 5 minutes before class... So we stumbled through that... Haha but it was fun. And last night we were blessed with the opportunity to finally catch R. H. home! We shared a message about general conference and she promised she would go back and watch some talks since she didn't get a chance to last weekend. And we set up a return appointment!

So it's been a cool week. It's been in the mid 70s all week which is super hot for this time of year I guess, but I love it.

Write me.
Till next week,

Love
-Elder Ray

Bomb Week

October 5, 2015

So quite a bit has happened this week, it's been pretty busy. Which is good. Monday was pday... We had a district activity. We had it in the basement of a member in the pepperwood stake which are all multi-million dollar homes. So in the basement of the basement there was a full basketball court and a full volleyball court, One floor up in the
basement there was a weight room, air hockey, pool, ping pong, and a couple other things. That was rad. Then for dinner that night a family took us to a Japanese steak house where they cook right in front of you, I've never been to one of those so that was pretty neat.

Wednesday we had exchanges, this time I went to the other area with Elder Richardson's companion Elder Goins. They serve in the pepperwood area so everyone is filthy rich. We spent most of the time going around to members getting referrals, and got to meet some cool people. Apparently the Godfreys live in that neighborhood so I got to meet the Godfrey clan which is a cool thing. If you don't know who they are... Google "Godfrey and Nitro Circus".

Wednesday night we taught a lady and her kids who is staying with her parents while her husband is traveling for work. Her husband met with some missionaries off on his travels and got baptized so her and her family got interested and started looking into it. One of her sons who is about 12 got baptized a few weeks ago and we were able to teach the first lesson to the daughter who is 11 and we committed her to baptism. That was really a neat experience.

Thursday night back with Elder Hilsberg we taught T.  All of the lessons with him are very unorthodox... But in a good way. He is very knowledgeable about the Bible so in turn he has lots of questions about the Book of Mormon and what we believe but we are seeing him slowly progress in his faith. We teach him about one topic from a lesson each time we meet but we teach it very in depth and answer lots of his questions so I know when the time comes for him to be baptized he will have perfect faith.

Saturday morning we watched conference at a member's house and they made us a fantastic breakfast. Then for the afternoon session we got to go down town and watch it in the conference center! We took a dude who is returning to activity. Well.... More like he took us. We rode with him in his 395 hp turbo WRX running on ethanol. That's fun stuff.
It was really neat to be able to be at the session where we sustained 3 new apostles of the Lord which hasn't happened in 109 years.

Sunday we fasted all day for J. to receive an answer to his prayers. After being an investigator for 25 years he had never heard of fasting.... So he committed to fast for an answer. We were supposed to meet with him Sunday night and discuss but something came up and he had to cancel. But he texted us and said the experience was eye opening and that he really wanted to talk soon, so I am really stoked for that.

Sunday morning we watched conference with a new ward mission leader and his family who are all super cool. His wife made us breakfast... Which we didn't eat. Then Sunday afternoon we watched with a different ward mission leader, whose wife made us cookies and brownies... Which we took home and are eating right now.

Did anyone else get a little uneasy at the end of president Monson's talk...?

After conference we met with an interesting family. The mom and 2 of her kids are from Africa, but came here and married a guy named A. Jr.  A.'s a really good guy and had a kid-A. the 3rd- with his new wife who is going to be baptized soon. The mom and one of the sons are baptized and pretty active. The hold up with A. Jr is that he promised his Lutheran parents that when he moved to Utah he would never become a Mormon. He is going thru a hard time right now, his mother passed a way a few days ago, so we asked if we could give him a blessing for comfort and he agreed. He was in tears at the end of the blessing and I know that the spirit really touched him. I know that we will be able to help him realize that through the gospel he will be able to spend eternity with his mother again. I think he knows the church is true, we just need to help him realize that if he converts he will be blessed immensely.

So yeah. Busy week. The weather’s been pretty cool too.

Love

-Elder Ray






"The weather's been pretty cool too."

 

Bumping into Queen Creek Friends at the Conference Center
Elder Ray with Brother Derek Arnson

 

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

Asian Food, Rain, and Spiritual Gifts

September 21, 2015

Well another week down! Not a whole lot special went on this week. We spent a lot of time trying to get referrals. Every time we have dinner with a member family we teach the first lesson and commit them to pray and ask for missionary experiences. So far that's been going great, and the members in the stake are learning how much Elder Hilsberg and I love meat. Last night we had dinner with a lady who used to own a catering business. She made us Asian food. It was probably the best Asian food I've had in my life.

We have done one service project where we helped a short lady trim her trees. Might've already told you about that one. We have three investigators right now. One has been an investigator for 25 years.... We're gonna start getting pushy cuz I feel like he's only in it for the social. So we're gonna remove the social and make it only spiritual. Another is actually slowly progressing... And the other is barely paying attention. He's kinda only doing it for his wife but we're hoping to change that.

The weather has been really nice this week. It got cold with some rain mid week but it's cleared up and is beautiful now. Today we are gonna run to the mall and get sum winter clothes since I have none. Which isn't good.

I feel like this week God really wanted me to learn about spiritual gifts for some reason. We had multiple lessons on them on Sunday and multiple people bore their testimonies on them. We met a lady who has very unique spiritual gifts, and a member’s daughter that also has very unique gifts. It is really amazing to see the things God does through his children to help others. The spirit is there for all those who seek it, that's all we gotta do!

Love,

-Elder Ray

Seth on splits with Elder Richardson from Gilbert

Elder Ray and Elder Hilberg working in the rain

First Week in the Field

September 14, 2015

Well today is my first p-day out in the field. I got here Tuesday and spent most of Tuesday at the mission home going thru orientation stuff that is specific to each mission. We also got iPads. I can't imagine doing this without them... We pretty much do everything on them from personal study to teaching. We use the scriptures on the iPads, Preach My Gospel, church videos, email, everything. Which brings me to a very awesome thing: I can check my email whenever. Everyday. So that means you all need to email me at least once a day and send me pictures and update me on how life is going in the real world since Utah is so sheltered!  

Other than it being a bit sheltered, I love Utah. I'm currently serving in Sandy in the Sandy Granite South Stake almost right at the base of.... A big mountain. It's beautiful. The weathers been pretty dang hot though. Upper 80s all week. It's rough. ;) Next week it's supposed to drop to the 70s though which will be heaven. The mountain has already started to turn red.  Everyone keeps telling me that this is the most beautiful time of the year. It is true, but idk - I still prefer AZ sunsets. We live in the basement of an elderly couple in the stake and have a decently nice kitchen and two small fridges. I've been told it's one of the nicer places in the mission. 

Our days are pretty busy. We wake up at 6 and work out for about 45 minutes every morning, then after we shower there is an hour of personal study and an hour of comp study. It's a lot. But the more I do it the more I begin to love the opportunity to sit and study the word because it brings the spirit into your day so much. After that we have 2 hours till lunch so we go and start our day. There is a huge push for member missionary work in the area so a big part of what we do is asking members for referrals, then we go meet the referrals, and then follow up with the members. Currently we have two investigators and a couple recent converts we are teaching, two of which are a 14 year old girl and her 16 year old brother. It's really cool to see how much better the gospel has made their lives even though they have only been members for a couple months. Every night we have at least one dinner with a member. Tuesday night we had 3 dinners at 3 members' houses. So you could say I'm eating well. But I refuse to gain weight.... We ride quite a bit every day and the hills are decent enough that I think I am losing weight.   

My companion, Elder Hilsburg, is pretty cool which is a blessing because I'm not sure if I could handle a bad trainer.... He has been in this area for a while so he knows lots of people which helps a lot. We are over the entire stake of 8 wards which means there's lots of people to cover, which is another blessing because there's lots to do to keep us busy. 

Well I should stop now because I could go on forever. I've still got to do lots of shopping today as well as laundry. Oh and the senior missionaries in the area are taking me and Elder Hilsburg to Raising Canes. SCORE. 

Love 

-Elder Ray

Elder Ray with President and Sister Chambers on Day One 

Elder Ray with Training Companion, Elder Hilsburg

At a member's home

Biking in Sandy, Utah

Elder Ray and Elder Hilsburg

Last Day in the MTC

September 7, 2015

Honestly I do not have much to say about this week. I feel like I just got here. This week was such a blur... Almost every day was the same. Tomorrow morning  I leave for the field at 6:05 AM and couldn't be more ready. 

Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely LOVED my time here at the MTC, but two weeks is plenty and I'm ready to start doing the Lord's work. We have had class morning and afternoon every day just like last week, which once again I learned a lot from. It is such a weird feeling to sit in class for 3 hours at a time and not get tired of it because of the spirit you feel.

There is a little tradition for each departing missionary in our zone to get a priesthood blessing the night before they leave, and this morning Elder Webster from Gilbert left with his companion Elder Clark to Jackson Mississippi. Last night was their turn for blessings and Elder Clark asked me to give him one. Before last night I had anointed a decent amount of times but never had I given a blessing for comfort. I did my best to let the spirit speak but when I finished I felt like I didn't do very well. Elder Clark then got up and hugged me, then went around the circle and hugged all those who stood in. I started to walk back to my room but Elder Clark came back to me and grabbed my hand firmly and with tears in his eyes told me that those were the exact words that were in his patriarchal blessing. I can say that that was the most spiritual moment in my life, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to act as a mouthpiece of the Lord.

I hope that I can do my best to work hard and serve the Lord for the next two years and make them the best of my life.

Love you all,

-Elder Ray

I'll try and send some pics every now and then too. First pic is of Elder Webster and me, he went to Gilbert High.

2nd pic is my comp and me.

Elder Webster and Elder Ray

Elder Ravsten and Elder Ray

Elder Ray and Brother Carver, MTC Instructor

Seth with Gilbert, AZ Area Elders

MTC Zone

Elder Ray

Six Days Into the MTC...

September 1, 2015

Well, Its been 6 Days here at the MTC and So far I love it. There is no better feeling than being able to feel the spirit from the second you wake up till the second I go to sleep. First Impressions about the MTC... Do not eat the eggs or drink the OJ and you'll be fine. In all honesty the food here isn't as good as I was told but then again preparing three meals a day for thousands of young adults doesn't sound too easy, so I'm grateful for what I get. At least the chocolate milk is good.

Every morning begins with District study before breakfast. Usually our district leader Elder Cunningham has someone give a spiritual thought, after which we go into discussion about what we've been learning. Being able to hear the testimonies of 8 other missionaries every morning is such an amazing way to start the day. 

After breakfast we have three hours of class, followed by lunch, then three more hours of class.

By the end of classes I'm getting pretty tired but the Holy Ghost tends to keep me interested. It seems that every time we teach an investigator I come up with a new question about how to teach, and then it is instantly answered the next day in class.

Last night We got to sit down and watch a lesson by David Bednar on the Character of Christ, given a few years ago on Christmas in the MTC. I must say that it completely changed my outlook of my mission. As Christ was being taken to be crucified, Peter cut off the ear of the man taking him to his death. Even with all the bad that man was doing to Christ, Christ Healed him. As Christ was dying on the cross, under immense pain, He was giving his apostles instructions to care for his mother. He was asking God to forgive the men that put him there, for they know not what they do. I know that throughout not only the remainder of my mission but for the remainder of my existence that if I can follow the example of Christ and always 'Turn my efforts outward towards others' I will find unimaginable joy and happiness while bringing others the same.

I have one more week before I take the long, rough journey to the Salt Lake City South mission, and while I can't wait to get out into the field I will definitely miss the MTC.

Love you all!

-Elder Ray

Elder Ravsten and Elder Ray, MTC Companions

MTC District

Elder Igleski and his Companion with Elder Ray & Elder Ravsten

Elder Woodard and Elder Ray at the MTC