The Most Correct Book

February 15, 2016

This week started off with a bang! After pday ended Monday, we decided to swing by D.'s house. He and his girlfriend have been super busy with meetings and running Texas Roadhouse so we haven't been able to meet with them but when we knocked, he answered and invited us in without hesitation. We were able to teach D., his girlfriend C., and one of his daughters, N.. So that is two new investigators! We have another lesson setup on Thursday and they plan on coming to church this weekend as well.

We were able to take M., who we have been working with for a while and is now almost 2 months sober, to temple square this week as well. We mainly went for the new first vision video in the church history museum which was rad but also walked around a bit. It has been so awesome to see his spirit slowly returning to him as he has started doing what's right again.

We had a lesson with J., in which we planned on dropping him due to his lack of progression. But, we were prompted to not drop him and realized that he has been prepared by the Lord. We came to that decision when we started being really bold with him, calling him to repentance and while he wasn't accepting commitments other than reading the Book of Mormon, he was not getting offended. A sure sign he is prepared. We helped break down many walls that were holding him back. He is getting closer and closer!

We spoke in one of our wards yesterday on the Book of Mormon. I covered the what and the why of the Book of Mormon and elder Brogan covered the How and the when, to really stress the importance of the book. It really was a book written and brought forth in these days for our benefit. These scriptures are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17.)

We read in 3rd Nephi chapter 21 that the Book of Mormon will be the tool used to gather Israel. Verses 5 and 6 say that 'when these works and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity; if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.

It is true. We know the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on the earth and that we will grow nearer to our father in Heaven by reading it than by reading any other book. So just read it!

Hope everyone has an awesome week!

Love
-Elder Ray

ps - We found some couches to furnish our apartment!

Elder Brogan

Coordination, Lessons, and Making an Impact

February 8, 2016

This week we have spent a lot of time trying to get the efforts of the wards and stake coordinated to be most efficient in our missionary work. It has been really cool to see it all come together. We had exchanges with the zone leaders this week, I ended up going to the YSA stake with elder Kim for this exchange. It was fun being with an old companion again!


We were able to have another lesson with J., in which we were able to realize the Holy Ghost has testified to him that the Book of Mormon is true, but something still is holding him back. With the help of the member that attended the lesson with us that has know J. for awhile, we were able to figure out that Jeff's main concern is his family, who are all active members of the Catholic religion. For our next lesson we plan on helping him to understand 3 Nephi 13:33-34 and having the faith to 'seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness.'


We were also able to meet with D., another of our investigators. We committed him to come to church and he said he would since he had work off (which never happens... The dude is so busy between a full time day job, weekend truck driving job, and flight school...) but he didn't show up which is too bad.


K.-less active- broke his bike again so I fixed it for him, and we will probably help him move since he is planning on it. Anyways it felt like a successful week, we were able to make an impact in a number of people's lives which is what we ultimately try to do as representatives of Jesus Christ.


Have a great week!

Love
-Elder Ray

The Draper Zone

Great Gatsby

February 1, 2016

It has been a productive week. We have spent a lot of time trying to get real time correlation visits set up with each ward each week, and it's finally coming together. We know that when we get the stake's missionary work organized and united, miracles will happen.


We have still been trying to meet with D. and his family but haven't had much luck. Working in the restaurant business is time consuming, and they have been out of town for a bit so we still haven't gotten anywhere with them.


We went on exchanges on Tuesday/Wednesday, I went to the Draper Meadows Stake with elder Fehoko. Being on foot is so much different than being in a car. In a way it is better because it is way easier to talk to everyone you see but it takes so much more time to cover any distance. While there I was able to help teach two of his investigators, both of which were baptized on Saturday.

We were finally able to set up another lesson with J., and found a member to come who is going to become (if J. accepts) his Book of Mormon reading mentor. J. isn't progressing and isn't willing to come to church at this time so we will have him read the BOM to gain his testimony.


Our 9yo investigator Ashlyn is doing great, she is learning really well and loves when we come every Sunday night. It will be a really neat experience for the whole family when she is able to be baptized and sealed as a family when the adoption process is complete.

This area is always full of interesting people. We knocked on one of the huge houses at the top of our stake to find they were members and a great family, but they told us about their neighbor a little bit... A single man living alone (his mansion is big enough for 200 people to comfortably live in) in this castle, who is very nice but no one rarely sees him. He pays for the water for most of the people on the street and did free landscaping for his neighbors when they built their homes. They described him as the 'Great Gatsby'. Needless to say we knocked and no one answered, but it would be cool to meet him and share the gospel with him!


Saturday while driving to a bishop's house we saw a man outside snow blowing his sidewalks. Only, he didn't have a snow blower, he only had a leaf blower that barely ran... We looked at all the progress he had made and it was the equivalent of trying to sweep the snow off your sidewalk with the butt end of a broomstick. So, we stopped and asked if we could help him. He told us to ask 'him' and pointed to a guy in his late 20s early 30s smoking on the doorstep. When we asked him, after about 20 seconds without a reply--which gave us time to realize with how red his eyes were and brown his index and middle fingers were, he was blazed out of his mind--he told us he would grab the shovels. So, we shoveled their entire driveway and sidewalks. When we were done we asked if we could share a message but they said they were already members, attended church every week, and needed to hit up the dollar menu at McDs. I guess we will have to catch them another time.

Lots of interesting things this past week for sure.

Love
-Elder Ray

Draper zone after the world wide broadcast

Draper Temple during a little snow storm:

"Just a bit of fun"

Half the Twelve

January 25, 2015

This was a pretty neat week. Tuesday ended with a blizzard while we were out making visits with one of our wards, but I can't complain because I actually thought it was fun. 

Wednesday morning there was a worldwide Missionary broadcast put on by the general authorities. Every missionary in the world got to view it, but we got to view it in person! In attendance were Elders Bednar, Oaks, Nelson, Anderson, Renland, and Stevenson from the quorum of the 12 apostles as well as the presidency of the 70. It was really cool to get trained by them and hear them speak to us. I also got to see Elder Tyler Beckman, a buddy from back home who is serving in the Salt Lake City East mission. 

We met a woman this week who used to be a Relief Society President in one of our wards that has gone inactive. Anti-LDS, actually... She claimed that once she gained new knowledge from other sources she decided the church was bad. She failed to ask God what she should do though because she decided he doesn't exist and that any good feelings we get from prayer are from our own heads. Then she called me a liar for saying the Book of Mormon was the word of God... So we moved on - haha.

We had a bit of a weird experience at an old Native American woman's home... 

Then got the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting Sunday, talking about faith and how it relates to missionary work using Elder Anderson's talk Faith is not by Chance, but by Choice. The young couple came to church again. The girl said that she just got a promotion at work that pays way more and doesn't require her to work Sundays. The Lord's hand is definitely there. K. came to church again!!! We have a lesson set upon Wednesday.  We will have to figure out how to teach it since it's all designed for families... But we will figure it out.

After church we shoveled the driveway of a family we share messages with which only took about an hour since it wasn't the biggest house on the street. It had snowed about 8 inches over Saturday night and on Sunday, so everything is white again despite the somewhat warm 32 degree weather right now.
Love you all, have a great week!

Love
-Elder Ray

A couple things Elder Ray loves...

Elder Ray and Elder Beckman at the
Worldwide Missionary Broadcast

"He wants the best for us..."

January 18, 2016

Well, the first week of this transfer is over! It was great. My new Companion is Elder Brogan. He's from Benson, Arizona so he's pretty cool just naturally. Most AZ people are... We spent this whole week working hard, meeting all the leadership, and shaping the area to what we want it to be. We were able to meet with our stake president, president Holmes, who as it turns out the brother of my stake president back home. Small world.

Wednesday we got a text from an inactive guy --K.--I met a couple weeks ago saying that he wants to start taking lessons from us, which is really cool because he is gay but still believes in the church. And is a direct descendant of a recent prophet. We got a referral from a member that turned out to be J Beibs ex-manager, and yes it's the biggest house I've ever seen... I tried taking picture of it but it wouldn't fit the whole thing so I quit. Our appointment with D. and his fam fell through cuz they had family unexpectedly come to town, but he fed us Texas Roadhouse again and we set up another time for tonight. So we are friends again.


K. came to all three hours of church yesterday which was a huge step for him, but we were surprised at how many people he knew which is great that he had friends that will be there for him. Earlier in the week we taught a couple that was just married a couple months ago but have gone inactive because of financial struggles and having to work. We taught very simply yet boldly how important it is to put our trust in the lord and have faith that if we do what he asks, he will provide. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." we invited them to on their own time together ask God what choice they should make come Sunday. They came to church.

It is so awesome to have a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers. He wants the best for us, which isn't always what we think is best. But if we have faith in him, he will provide. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

Elder Brogan ALMOST caught a deer.

Love
-Elder Ray

Subway,16 oz. Rib-eyes, and Peaches

January 11, 2016

Last week of the transfer! It was a pretty good week... Started Monday with going to a teriyaki grill with elder Kim and right when we were about to pay, a member came up and payed for us. Then we went bowling as a district which was a lot of fun to be able to get out and do something...normal...

Tuesday we had a zone training meeting and elder Kim and I gave a killer training on having the faith to find people to teach. Tuesday night we had a lesson with J. (our investigator who we have been thinking about dropping since he's been taught everything but isn't really progressing) and he really felt the spirit while we read the Book of Mormon so we are gonna get him set up with a reading mentor who can help him progress that way.

Wednesday we decided to hit up subway for lunch since some members gave us subway gift cards for Christmas. But once again, before we could pay, despite telling him we had gift cards, a member paid for us. That night we taught G. but we didn't teach much since his grandma had a bunch of her day care kids over and it was way too hectic. So we are gonna try and move the lessons to a more spiritual environment like a church or a members house next time. We also saw M. again, he told us he's been sober for 8 days now! He is doin great. He got a haircut and shaved his beard, and also cleaned his
apartment-which was absolutely filthy. 

Thursday it snowed most of the day. We worked hard all day contacting referrals without luck. Then finally someone answered. This dude's name is D. We talked on his doorstep for a couple minutes and found out he is a returned missionary who hasn't been to church since he got home about 25 years ago. We really hit it off with him and he invited him in, and while talking more to him and his girlfriend we figured out that between his kids from a previous marriage, and his girlfriend and her kids from a previous marriage, there are 7 non members in the house. D. seemed receptive about coming back to church and his girlfriend seemed supportive. We hope to go back tonight and teach the whole fam. Thursday's work payed off!

Friday we decided to hit up subway again. And: before we could check out, a member paid for us. Despite telling him we had gift cards. Ha. AND, while we were eating, a lady bought two more subway gift cards and gave them to us... So we started with one gift card each, and have eaten at subway twice, and now have two gift cards. Rad. 

While working Friday we met a lot of people who were very against the church. Lots of people seem to not like that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a works based faith. They prefer not having to do anything and being saved by grace. Ok.

Saturday we went to Texas Roadhouse since D. is the owner and he invited us to come get a meal, on him, and missionaries can't say no to free food so of course we went. We each got a 16oz rib-eye. Elder Kim only finished about 1/3rd of his but shoot. I ate the whole thing. I was stuffed the rest of the day.

Sunday we taught a mission prep class which was a lot of fun. We did some role plays which are funny to do with people hat haven't been doing them for months like I have.

Transfers are tomorrow! We got part of the transfer news. Elder Kim is transferred:/ he's actually my new zone leader now. But we haven't been told who my new companion is yet... Hopefully we find out soon... But it's nice to know I'm staying for a number of reasons, one being that I get to stay in a car through another cold month and a half.

All in all a killer week. I got Peaches by the Presidents of the United States of America stuck in elder Kim's head so he's been singin it all week haha.

Hope everyone has an awesome week!

Love
-Elder Ray

Elder Ray and Elder Kim at a Family Home Evening

Elder Ray with his District

Bowling on P-day

Seth with his Comp 

Selfie :)

Christmas and Miracles

December 28, 2015

Well besides being away from home, Christmas season on the mission is pretty great. At least in my area. Tuesday night we went on splits with ward missionaries and the ward mission leader. We call it Real Time Correlation, where we correlate about what is going on in the ward while we work at the same time. This was something suggested and brought to us by our mission president. We are seeing some amazing miracles as we implement this in each ward. Tuesday night while doing this I was able to get into the home of an inactive woman and her unbaptized kid who missionaries have been trying to get in with for months. The mom has been known to be very rude to missionaries, but we were able to get in, share a Christmas message in which even the mom felt the spirit, and then set up an appointment to start teaching the son the lessons! There are miracles in following the counsel of the mission president.


Wednesday/Thursday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I went to their area which is the YSA stake that covers most of Draper. I learned a whole lot during that exchange. A lot about how to show the Lord we are willing to work for miracles. Using what Elder Kim and I learned we have seen much more success in our OYMS, seeing many people prepared to receive a message about the restored gospel. 

Thursday night we went to maybe 3 or 4 Christmas parties. All of which fed us too much food. Christmas Day was very similar in that we ate too much and members were way too generous. 

Saturday we saw a guy out shoveling his driveway and went and offered to help. He politely declined but then we started talking to him and figured out he just moved in from Arkansas a couple months ago and knows nearly nothing about the Church. He accepted a Book of Mormon and wants to come to church!


Little things like that have been happening a lot lately, it's great to see the Lord is trusting us with people who are prepared.


But yeah. It's been a great week. Happy New Years!

Love
-Elder Ray

Elder Ray and Elder Kim Sporting Matching Christmas PJ's

Elder Ray at a Ward Member's Christmas Eve Party

Elder Kim and Elder Ray Getting Spoiled by Members

Seth and his district

More from District 1

District 1 Enjoying P-day

Draper Zone