Full-time Missionary

Missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from August 2015 to August 2017

Monday, June 20, 2016

Short Week, Hot Sauce

June 13, 2016

Well due to the short period of time between this preparation day and last pday, there's not a ton to say. On Wednesday night we taught a couple less actives, they ended up coming to church which is rewarding for us.  It's nice to know that our efforts don't always go to waste. Then we taught C. and B. Still workin on smoking... I wish C. would just stop. I know he could, then he could get baptized. 


Thursday not a whole lot happened. We went around the stake going by all the houses that have children over 8 who are not baptized, but not too many people answered. Friday after weekly planning we had lunch with the blocks, then continued to work on the list of unbaptized children. Then we had a really good lesson with A.  and S., we taught them about the plan of salvation which made a lot of sense to Adam because he couldn't see a loving God sending his children to either one heaven or hell. Saturday was great, we took C., B., and D. to temple square to try and solidify them to be sealed in the temple. B. and D. loved it, but C.surprised us. Even though he had talked to the bishop about getting the priesthood he still told all of us that he wasn't sure if he wanted it yet. And when we asked him why, the only reason was because he doesn't like giving up the time on Sunday to go to church. I hope he can just understand that a few hours a week isn't much to ask to receive eternity with your family. 


I enjoyed Saturday night very much. After dinner we went to A.'s house, a less active we are working with. Elder Kremer has had bad allergies going on all week and his nose has been completely stuffed. So get to A.'s and elder Kremer asks if he has any extremely hot spices or hot sauce he can eat to try and clear up his nose. Alan goes into the kitchen and comes out with some Ghost Pepper sauce. It's in this little eye dropper bottle, and Alan tells him to pull out the eye dropper and just touch it to his finger, then rub his finger on his tongue. So he does, and he dies. Just kidding, elder Kremer is still alive, but man it was funny. You would think he just drank a bottle of hot sauce... And you couldn't even see the sauce on his finger. That's how little he put on. So for about 5 minutes he sat there in agony, and it didn't do anything for his nose. So then in an attempt to get him to use more I tell him "maybe you should rub some on the roof of your mouth since it's closer to your nose." So he did. That was even funnier. But still,5 minutes later, nothin. Then I tell him he should put a little on his finger and rub it inside his nose. You would think at this point he would figure out I was just trying to make him miserable... But he didn't. So he stuck some in his nose and didn't stop crying for the next 10 minutes. Seriously though, constant tears streaming down his face. My cheeks were hurting dang bad at this point, then A. had an itch in his eye and starts rubbing it. Apparently he had a bit of sauce or something on his fingers just from handling the bottle, and now A. starts crying too. Me and A.'s wife can't stop laughing at this point. A. did say that his nose had cleared out from it though, and we almost got elder Kremer to put some I his eye but he backed 
out. Then I start talking again and say "well maybe you just need it to go down your throat a bit more." And so we have him put a few drops on a saltine cracker and he chomps that down. Nothin. Must have absorbed it and he didn't even feel it. So the last thing I told him to try was just trying to use the eye dropper to squirt some down his throat. So he fills up about the first 3/4" of the eye dropper and squirts it into the back of his throat. Bahaha. This kid is crazy. He literally couldn't talk his mouth hurt so bad. His face was redder than I've ever seen before. Bright cherry red. Fun stuff. 

Sunday we went to church and A. came! No one else did though which was too bad. We taught a less active Sunday night, that's about it. Now it's pday again. Gonna get hair cuts today.

Have a good week!

Love
-Elder Ray


Elder Ray and Elder Kremer at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Killer Salmon and Hospital Elders

June 8, 2016

Hey fam.
Monday was a cool day. We pretty much just hung out all day. We went bowling for a bit. After pday ended we didn't have any lessons but still found success setting up lessons and talking to people.


Tuesday we had district meeting. Our stakes high counselor over missionary work came just to watch how it goes, so he could get some ideas for our Ward mission leader trainings that will occur every other week. That night we taught C. and B., emphasizing the word of wisdom. They both have a strong desire to quit, it just seems that they lack faith in themselves. Then we taught A. and her family, who are super excited for A. and An's baptism on the 15th!

Wednesday not too much happened.

Thursday we taught a less active, J., who we are trying to help return to the temple. He's a great guy and it's been a blast teaching him, he just needs to get his dang butt to church. We had dinner that night with a super cool old couple. They used to be the mission president in some other country. They talked a ton. But man, I sure got a lot out of what they said. Something that stuck out to me was that every mission president has hospital elders, meaning elders that the mission president can trust to send any missionary that is struggling to be their companion and they will learn how to work and love it. I thought that was interesting... That night elder Kremer and I ran the Ward mission leader training almost exactly like a district meeting with role plays and everything. Of course only half the Ward mission leaders showed up, and of course they were the ones who needed the least amount of training, but it was a great meeting. Everyone had a blast and learned a ton.


Friday we had a great weekly planning session, then had lunch with elder and sister Block. They fed us some Killer Salmon. I ate probably an entire fishes worth. Then for dinner someone took us to village inn, who was having an all you can eat fish and chips night. I ate a lot of fish Friday. After dinner we taught a referral, M., and picked him up as a new investigator. Super nice guy with a thick Boston accent. He was raised Catholic and strongly believes in it but says he wants to learn more about the LDS religion. The only problem is that he believes a little to strongly in Catholicism, to the point that if anything we say contradicts what he believes, it must not be true. So we just need to get him to open up his heart a bit. That night in the apartments we saw B. headed to the pool with his fam, and we stopped to talk to him and noticed he had a fresh pack of cigs with him. Long story short he reluctantly gave those to us so we could soak them in milk for him.


Saturday, while headed up to teach C., his brother and sister in law were headed down stairs with their kid, and she -she's an inactive member, he's not a member-asked us what time church was cuz they wanted to go. We were stoked. So we told them, and then of course wouldn't miss an opportunity, we asked if we could come back that evening and share a message. So we did, and they are a great little family that seems super prepared to improve their lives. Her name is S. and his name is A.  A. accepted a baptismal date and S. was excited to come back to church. Something that we were worried about was that A. didn't look like he was doin too hot... He looked like he was gonna barf the whole time. So Sunday morning we got s text saying they weren't gonna make it cuz both A. and their kid were super sick. Dang.

Monday morning we had a new phone training, the mission switched to AT&T, and the rumors going around were that we were getting iPhones. So everyone was super excited at the meeting until they pull out basically the same phone we had before. Except it's worse cuz the software is garbage. We still haven't figured out how to use it. Ha. Right after the training we had a zone meeting. We had some good lessons Monday. We taught D. and B., who are doing so well! B. has just fit into the Ward perfectly and is loving it. We talked a lot about how we want them and C. to work towards getting sealed in the temple, and she told us that he went on his own to talk to the bishop about getting the priesthood so they could be sealed in a year. Made me so happy. Then we taught Sy. who also is doing stellar. Her family is so against the church, it's such a crappy situation for her to be in. But she is always making the best of it. We met and taught a small family that goes to the 7th day Adventist church. Literally the nicest people I've ever met. They talked a ton about grace, and how they believe that no matter what we do we are saved by grace. We are gonna bring them Brad Wilcox's talk 'his grace is sufficient'. (If you haven't read it, read it.)


Tuesday was another great day as usual, we had some juicy cheeseburgers with bacon overload for dinner, then taught N. (the Filipino lady we baptized). She is doin great as well. I am always happy to see those who get baptized recently doing so well. Then we taught A. and her fam again, it's been a blast teaching them cuz we have been doing it at their bishops house kind of like a family home evening. After that we went out with a Ward mission leader but sadly the lesson we had fell through, so we went by a referral the Spanish missionaries gave us earlier that day. They told us it was a black lady who was staying there only for a month or so, but when we showed up it was a little family that we have been trying to find for weeks. It's a mom from Guam and her son whose 14 and daughter whose 17. Originally we talked to the son on the street a few weeks ago who said he was pretty interested, but he wasn't there when we went by last night, just his mom and sister. So we taught them and the mom was captivated the whole time. The daughter was present physically but definitely not interested. We invited the mom to be baptized and she first said she already had been in her church but we taught her about the priesthood authority a bit more, the she accepted to be baptized July 2nd. He daughter accepted as well  but it was kinda just a 'sure whatever' answer so we're not too expecting of that. But the mom is awesome. We set up another appointment tonight and the mom said she would make sure her son would be there so we can pick him up and put him on date too. Super excited!


Hope all of your weeks were as good as mine was.

Love
-Elder Ray


P.S. When elder Bednar came to our mission he said something I loved. He said he hated when to close a sacrament meeting with a prayer the person gets up and says "Heavenly Father, thanks for this day, etc, please bless all those who didn't make it that they can be here next week, etc, amen" he then said that he wishes that the prayer would be like this: "Heavenly Father, we are so sad that some of thy children weren't here. Please soften their hearts, because as soon as we close this prayer we are ALL going to each go find someone who didn't make it to Sacrament meeting and bring them to the other meetings. We know that according to the faith we have thou wilt grant us success, etc, amen" He talks a lot about how we CANNOT make people objects. And neither can God. He will respect their agency. We must be the ones to invite people. So maybe don't pray for the missionaries to be successful, but pray to be led by the spirit to find someone you can invite to meet with the missionaries. And then take the opportunity that you will be given :)

Elder Ray and  New Companion, Elder Kremer

Another New Companion

May 30, 2016

Monday we got transfer calls and just as I expected I stay in West Jordan. My new companion is elder Kremer, who was one of elder Fehoko's companions when we were in the same district in draper, so I'd been on some exchanges with him before. Monday I pretty much lounged around all day while elder Fehoko finished packing.


Tuesday elder Fehoko left for the mission office for his departing day in the mission office, and elder Kremer and I went to work. Wednesday elder Fehoko began the day and a half journey to the Kingdom of Tonga, and Tina and Phil--our landlords- left for Peru for two weeks. It was a killer day. Our new district leader is from Ecuador so understanding him is more of a chore but it's doable. That night we went out with a few wards on splits and had some really good lessons. When we got home elder Kremer was super pumped. He went off for a good amount of time on how stoked he is to work hard this transfer which is great, cuz he was struggling a bit last transfer. He's only got 4 months left so he needs to push till the end! 

Thursday we got up and mowed the lawn then went and had burgers with our Ward mission leader. Had some more good lessons. Friday after weekly planning we went out to work. Remember C.S.? He spent a few weeks detoxing and is now back and says he wants to get back into the gospel! So we picked him up as a new investigator again and put him on date for the 18th. He knows he's made progress cuz of the church, and so he came to church Sunday despite having a swollen tooth that looked like he had a golf ball in his mouth. No joke.  Saturday was awesome too. Tons of miracles. Sunday was great too, C. and S. didn't come to church tho. 

This week was super good, we picked up a few more investigators and have been seeing many blessings working hard. Hard work pays off, we are already looking like we will have at least two baptisms this transfer.

Happy summer everyone. Hope you're enjoying the heat.

Love
-Elder Ray

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Ultimate Frisbee, Salad, and Baptisms

May 23, 2016

We had a fun pday to start the week off right--always a necessity. Played some ultimate frisbee. That night not much happened... All our lessons canceled. But of course to make up for it the lord put many people in our path who we were able to talk to.


Tuesday was pretty good. Picked up two new investigators--one of which is a girl we have been trying to get baptized forever. She is on date for June 15th now. We had real time correlation (where we split up and go on visits with Ward mission leaders and talk about what's going on in the ward) Tuesday night, and we have one Ward mission leader that is really slackin at his calling (don't slack at your calling) but he found a guy to go out with us for the night. This dude was crazy. He dominated all the lessons... Haha. We had appointments with two of our newer less than solid investigators and we just get in there and he instantly starts talking about whatever he wants and trying to tell his conversion story to try and convert them. While telling jokes to try and make them laugh. He was THAT kind of a guy. Haha. Luckily the investigators said we can come back, and we will NOT be bringing him again.

Wednesday we ate lunch with a Ward mission leader like we always do. He never fails to satisfy. In fact he was the one, out of all my 19 years of my parents trying-sorry Mom- to get me to enjoy salads. That night K. got interviewed for baptism and is ready to go!


Thursday was pretty lame, I don't think a single person answered the door. Haha. But that night we had a meeting with the high counselor over missionary work and all the Ward mission leaders. Only half of them showed up tho. Pretty disappointing. But it was a good meeting nonetheless, and this stake is well on its way to running very smoothly in the missionary efforts.


Friday, after weekly planning elder Fehoko had a Temple trip at the Salt lake Temple with all the missionaries going home this transfer. Our ride was supposed to pick him up at 11:30, but he got lost. And has no cell phone. So at 11:50 we called the District Leader and had him come pick us up, he got into the Trax station the same time as the train and barely made it. Haha. Then I went to elder and sister block's house to have lunch and correlate as usual, and make baptism programs for K. and T.'s Baptism. When I was done there, I had a kid who is getting ready to serve a mission be my companion for a few hours while we waited for elder Fehoko to get back. We went out and worked, it was a cool experience for him.


Saturday was great. Right after studies we went to have breakfast with our Stake President, which is awesome. He is really involved with the work and always wants to help in any way he can, and it makes a huge difference. After that we worked a bit then went to lunch with Tina and Philippe since elder Fehoko is goin home. Then K. and T. got baptized! This was the last baptism of someone elder Brink took part in teaching, he was able to come back for it and T. (K.'s 8yo bro) asked him to baptize him. K. asked me to baptize her so I got to do that. Due to the circumstances of the mom's health being a burn victim and all, she would not have been able to come to the confirmation had it been Sunday. So we were able to get permission to confirm K. with her brother right after the baptism. Which is not an easy thing to get permission for, it comes from pretty high up. Right after the baptism we got a call from a random lady... When I answered she just said 'oh my goodness, I've been trying to get ahold of missionaries for about 10 days now!' She is not a member and said she just doesn't feel right at the churches she has been going to and she wants to learn more about the LDS church. Long story short I taught her a bit about the restoration over the phone and told her that she feels the way she does at those churches because they do not have the fullness of the gospel. I invited her to baptism, she accepted, and so I put her on date for June 11th. Sadly she does not live in our area, she lives just barely outside of our mission (yet in West Jordan still, haha) but I was able to get her in contact with the missionaries in her area and she is getting taught by them now. Little miracles everywhere. I'm sure those missionaries were excited when I called and said "hey, I'm from the south mission, I have someone in your area that wants to get baptized on June 11th and wants to meet with you tonight." Ha.


Sunday was good too. Good week all in all. We realized that in order to hit a goal that the mission sets-standards of excellence-we needed to have one more lesson with a member present. So we spent a bit of time thinking of who we could teach that wasn't a member that would have a member in the house, and a family came to mind that was exactly that, the wife wasn't a member but the husband was. So we went over and shared a message, picked her up as a new investigator, and set up a return appointment. She doesn't seem all that interested right now but miracles happen, and even if nothing comes of it, the lord helped us achieve our goal. All in all we found 5 new investigators this week. Pretty good.


Today is elder Fehoko's last Pday of his mission. Gonna miss him a ton. It's been a blast with him, his spirit is so strong and he's always laughing, either at you or himself. Tomorrow I will have a new companion, and he will be in the mission home getting ready to leave, Wednesday he flies to LAX, then to New Zealand, then to Tonga. 19 hours of total flight time, plus about 12 hours of layovers. I'm grateful it's an hour flight home when it's my time.

Love
-Elder Ray



T., Elder Ray, Elder Brink, K., and Elder Fehoko


Elder ?, Elder Ray, Elder Fehoko, and Elder Brink


Ultimate Frisbee on P-Day

End of mission shopping for Elder Fehoko


Wednesday, May 18, 2016

"It's time to leave, guys."

May 16, 2016

It was a great week. Monday started with a hike (sprint) up Bells Canyon. We wanted to get to the top to see the waterfall but wanted to be able to get back to work on time... So we ran up and down. I'm barely recovering. But it was a blast.

Tuesday we taught E. which went really well, then visited a cool less active-H.-that wants to start coming back so he can baptize his son when he turns 8 in August.

Wednesday was a killer day, we taught K. and T. and found out their mom just got moved to a rehabilitation center so she will be able to leave for a few hours to come to the baptism. So K. and T. are getting baptized this Saturday! Then we taught B. and D. We talked a lot about desire and how sacred the covenants we make at baptism are. She really understood and told us she had repented and truly did feel sorry for drinking. It was a really spiritual lesson and at the end we asked her to pray and ask if she should be baptized on the 14th or not. During the prayer we all had a really good feeling that she was ready for the 14th. 

Thursday after lunch we started exchanges, I stayed in my area and the DL elder Stout came here with me. We taught E. about tithing which she seemed a little nervous about... And then just as we were finishing up she said she didn't feel well and needed to leave, and she left. The relief society president who has been in on lots of lessons and has been reading the Book of Mormon with her on her own time said that E. had expressed some concern over tithing and not being able to pay it. I think tithing will be a big struggle for her. Later that evening we were in the apartments and I was trying to think of someone new who was not a member who we could go by, and I remembered a lady-C.- we had talked to who was super nice and said come by any time. So we went by, and taught her and her husband S. She wasn't ready to accept a baptismal date but they both seemed prepared to progress. They had been attending with his parents every now and then and she was eager to learn, and they expressed desire to one day be sealed together for eternity! We are teaching them again on Wednesday and we will see how it goes! Then we taught D. and B., and because we had elder Stout there we had him interview one of them while I taught the other. Both passed and he said that the interview he had with B. was the most spiritual interview he had ever done, just another confirmation she is ready. 

Friday was a little hectic but it was good. We taught B., C., and D. one last time before they were baptized, it went great. Saturday morning, B. and D. were baptized! I was able to baptize D., and their neighbors son, Hunter, who had come to a lot of lessons and is just getting ready to submit his mission papers was able to baptize B. which was awesome for him! It was such an awesome baptismal service. The rest of the day we didn't teach anyone, all our appointments fell through. But we talked to a ton of people, as per the usual on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Sunday was kinda disappointing. E. didn't show up for church, and neither we nor the relief society president have been able to get ahold of her since the last lesson.  Because she didn't come we will have to move the baptism again but more importantly we need to make sure she isn't afraid of any of the new principles of the gospel. But on the contrary, D. and B. got confirmed members of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints and received the gift of the Holy Ghost! B.'s husband C. even came to church and stayed the whole time. Sunday night We got a text from B. saying he even confessed to enjoy it! Haha. The rest of the day was kinda crazy. Haha, we went to the apartment where Br., an investigator we picked up a couple weeks ago lives with her less active dad L. and less active recently baptized brother J. Br. wasn't there, she had already left to go back to her mom's, but we asked if we could come in and share a message. L. said sure, then mumbled something else and walked back into his room, leaving us with J. who is about 16. So we shared a little message with J. about the importance of having the gospel in our lives to catch us when we fall, and then asked him what some things were that he could do to build up that safety net. We taught him that he needs to attend church so he can keep his covenants, and just as we invited him to church L. walks out of his room and goes "alright, time to leave" haha and so we get up and ask if we can share a prayer before we leave and he just says "it's time to leave, guys" so we start walking out the door and I hold out my hand to shake his before we leave and he just says it again "it's time to leave." Hahaha. So we left. We couldn't stop laughing about it the rest of the night because it's not too often someone kindly invites you in then makes you leave like that. Crazy dude haha. 

Hope all your weeks are just as crazy!
Love
-Elder Ray


Elder Fehoko, B., Hunter, D., Elder Ray, and Elder Brink



Hiking Bell's Canyon


The meaning of this TBD...

Elders, Ray, Fehoko, Brink, and ??

Monday, May 2, 2016

Bingham Creek Rules

May 2, 2016

I love this area so much.
Monday night we taught A., who is living with his girlfriend. We taught him about the plan that God has for him, and that Heavenly Father wants him to have an eternal family. We taught him that by living with his girlfriend he was breaking the commandments of God and might not receive an answer to his prayers till they stop living together. They said they would discuss it together, hopefully tonight we can get some good news from that.

Tuesday we taught N., who did great and was still looking good for Saturday. Wednesday we took E. a large print bible. She didn't have time to meet because all her extended family is in town for a funeral, but she was very excited to get another book of scripture she can read. She is struggling with her life right now, and the gospel is what she needs, and she knows it. We taught a couple less actives , then taught N. again. We had found out on the Sunday before that she wanted to get baptized, and Wednesday she told us what helped her make that decision. She had taken our invitation and was praying about a date to be baptized. She works at a restaurant as a waitress, and at a calm time of the day, a group of guys were seated in an area that was not currently in use due to the calm time of day. She thought it was weird... But went over and did her job anyway. She started talking to them, and it turns out all three of them were returned missionaries that served where she was from in the Philippines. They told her that if she found what she believes to be the true religion, why wait, don't postpone salvation. So she decided to get baptized as soon as possible.

Thursday we started exchanges, and elder A., the District leader's companion, came to my area with me. It was a good day, we talked to a lot of people. Thursday night N. got interviewed for baptism and we showed her the font and told her and her husband R. everything that would happen. Then we taught D. B. and C.. D. and B. are doing great. B. has stopped drinking alcohol, coffee, and smoking cigarettes. They are both looking solid for the 14th! C. does not have the priesthood yet so he won't be able to baptize them but we want to get them all to the point at which they can be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity 

Friday we ended exchanges early so we could get back together for weekly planning. After planning we had lunch with our MLS couple, then put together the baptismal Program for N.'s baptism. Then we taught N. about a couple more things to get her completely ready, which she was! Friday night we swung by a less active who apparently has a a non member daughter that lives with him every other weekend. We taught her and put her on date. Not sure how solid she will be just because she is one of those people with an "I don't know" "I don't care" attitudes about everything. But we do our best to teach her.

Saturday N. got baptized! It was neat to see not only her joy but the joy of her husband R. in coming back to the gospel and being able to perform that ordinance for her. It was also great to see all the ward members that showed up to support them. It's such an important thing. After dinner we taught KD and T. They have now been taught everything and we are just still waiting to get news in whether or not the mom can leave the new hospital to come to the baptism. After that we went to B.'s house to share a message but when we got there he said they didn't have time for a message cuz he had a friend over, but he asked if we could leave them with a prayer. We said we could but we wanted to share a quick video with them first. We shared a video and then found out that B.'s friend C. wasn't a member. So we taught him a bit about the restoration, invited him to be baptized, set a date, and invited him to come to church. He said he would if B. went, and B. said he would like to go.

Sunday N. was confirmed a member and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. We weren't able to make it to B.'s Ward because of the confirmation, but we had texted the ward mission leader and told him to look out for B. and C. He texted us after church and said that B. never showed up, but C. came on his own and stayed for all three hours! Impressive. We taught him Sunday night and he said he loved the feeling there and that's why he stayed the whole time. He said he had been to a bunch of different churches, but only in the LDS church had he felt the spirit, and not just feelings of 'excitement' with the pastor shouting at you and with rock bands playing. We finished teaching him about the restoration, and he said he believes it and they it makes sense. He's at a time in his life where he needs the gospel to change his life and turn it in the right direction. Elaine didn't make it to church. We are always disappointed when that happens, cuz we will have to push the date back to the 21st. All in all it was a good day and a stellar week.


Hope erryone has a good one.

Love
-Elder Ray

Elder Fehoko and Seth, Richard, Nancy, Elder Manarin who got to help
teach Nancy cuz he speaks Tagalog, and Elder Brink got to come to the
baptism because he taught her once.

We Have Seen Miracles...

April 25, 2016

It's been a pretty good week. We have seen miracles, the Lord has helped us as we strive to achieve a hefty goal. Tuesday after district meeting we went to a meeting with the missionary technology department that we were invited to a couple weeks ago. We were the first of about 5 companionships that got to see a new app that they are working on to make our proselyting and planning more efficient. It was really neat to see this team of guys and all the hard work they put in to help the work of salvation. I can't think of a cooler job to have than the one they do (except maybe missionary work itself).


Wednesday elder Fehoko broke his bike. His legs are too big... He sheared the spindle between the cranks in half. Luckily our landlords are awesome enough to risk letting him ride theirs for the last 4 weeks of his mission.


Thursday we walked most of the day because we hadn't got the bike yet, and we taught C., a less active whose wife is due to have a baby in a couple months. The bishop wants C. to be able to bless the baby when she is born, and we are going to try and help get him there. The lesson with him went really well, we talked and got to know him, and set the expectation that we will meet with him once a week and he needs to do what we ask to get to the point at which he can meet with the bishop. He's got a lot to do... He opened up to us and told us the
reason he is unable to bless his baby at the moment-on top of being inactive-is that he robbed a bank. Wow. Haha, he is the nicest guy ever, you couldn't have guessed. I'm excited to be working with him and ultimately want him to get to where he can be sealed to his wife.


Friday we had a font side  lesson with E. and set the time for her baptism to 12:00 on the 14th, and she is so excited to take this step in her life. Last week we taught her about the word of wisdom and she agreed to live it, she's doing great! Hasn't slipped up yet! We swung by N. and were able to teach her a lesson and re-invite her to baptism. We told her to pray and ask God if she should get baptized April 23rd, April 30th, May 7, or May 14. She said she would!


Saturday it rained all day, and we didn't teach any lessons. But it was still good! We tried hard to find more people to teach, and met lots of potential.


Sunday morning we split, I went to Ward council with a ward Mission leader and elder Fehoko went to church with a different ward mission leader to be with E. She stayed for sacrament but wasn't feeling good so she was going to leave after that, but the bishop offered a priesthood blessing, to which she accepted. So elder Fehoko and the bishop gave her a blessing and were able to teach her about the priesthood a bit before she went home. During priesthood meeting, N.'s husband sat down next to us and said that N. prayed and got an answer and wants to get baptized this Saturday! Such a great miracle.  After that we went to a different sacrament meeting, and C. kept his word and came to church! That is always the best. After that we taught KD and got great news that her mom, who we were waiting for to get out of the hospital so she can be at KDs baptism, got transferred to a different hospital  which should allow her to come to the baptism! So she should be getting baptized soon. We had an awesome lesson with D. B. and C., in which they agreed to stop drinking coffee, beer, and smoking so they can be baptized the 14th! It is very exciting to see the people you are working with progress so well. The lord really has prepared so many people to progress in the gospel in this area.


Hope everyone has a killer week!

Love
-Elder Ray



BBQ'ing


Elder Fehoko