Lots of Meetings and a Baptism

May 8, 2017

Another crazy week. 

Monday we had a Zone activity, played some basketball and other sports. We found a family of 10, 4 of which need baptism, and we had to correct disobedience at like 10 pm. Fun.

Tuesday we went to district meeting, elder Bowen—the assistant I replaced—is trial running a new format for district meeting, so we evaluated that and gave suggestions. After that meeting we went to the mission home and had a meeting with all the new missionaries and their trainers. We conducted that meeting and gave a training.

Wednesday we had Mission leadership council all day long. It was a great meeting. We are in charge of pretty much all meetings we do.

Thursday we had a Zone Leadership Meeting in Draper that we went to, then later that day started exchanges with the Draper Zone leaders. I worked with elder Arbon, an elder that came out with me from Queen Creek AZ!

Friday morn we ended exchanges, then did some stuff at the office, then headed to President's House for STL and ZL accountability meetings which took the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday morning we met with President, and in the afternoon we went back to Oquirrh lake for Beckhem's baptism!

The mission is the best. The Spirit I feel as I testify is the greatest I've felt before, I know the Gospel of Christ is on the earth in its fullness!

       Love 

  Elder Ray

Beckhem's Baptism

P-day

Busy Busy Busy!

May 1, 2017

Well this was quite a week to not have my journal. We are currently at the mission office and we've got a bit of time before our Zone activity.

So Monday night we were up pretty late finalizing things for transfers, and then Tuesday we had to be at the train station just before 8 to pick up the 5 new missionaries. That was total dejavu...  the front runner showed up right at 8 and we rushed them and their bags off the train and loaded it all up into the big mission van. The 4 elders hopped in there and took that over to the mission office, the one new sister went with Sister Lansing, and Elder Morris and I drove the truck and met them at the office, where we unloaded them and fed them a quick breakfast. 

Tuesday was probably the busiest day of my life.  We did a ton of stuff. Coordinated the interviews with the mission president and new missionaries, helped with lunch with the new and departing missionaries... we had a meeting with the trainers with the mission president and were in charge of that...  after that meeting we met with President Lansing alone and figured out which trainers would be with which new missionaries, then after that we gathered them all together for the last meeting at the office where we announced who was going to be with who, I got to conduct that which was fun. After all the new missionaries and their trainers departed, we cleaned up and then all headed over to the mission home in South Jordan for dinner with the whole mission presidency and office staff, the two departing missionaries, and us. We had a great dinner, then in the basement organized all the chairs into a circle and had a little devotional. President Lansing conducted and in this very intimate setting, all the staff and presidency gave the two departing missionaries advice for back home and bore their testimonies, then last of all the departing missionaries bore their testimonies.  It was a neat experience, pretty crazy to think it all ends soon. All of this ended at about 8:30. The office staff and presidency went home, and We cleaned everything up with the departing missionaries, and president basically said 'no curfew, just don't wake us up.'  Haha. What usually happens is you stay up all night talking. We all changed out of our dress clothes and into regular clothes and went up stairs for some treats, and President Lansing comes out of his office on the phone with a worried look on his face and pulls us into his office. A missionary in the Spanish zone was on splits with a Ward mission leader and his wife and they were driving to an appointment and got into a car wreck. They were all being ambulanced to the hospital in West Jordan. So, we ran back downstairs, got changed into dress clothes, and rushed to the ER. We got there at about 9:30, talked to the receptionist, and found out the ambulance had just arrived and that we could go back to the room in about 15 minutes, so we waited, hoping for the best, not knowing at all how he was doing. We got let into the room and ran back to see him. We were pretty worried because a few months ago he tore his ACL and had to go back to Mexico to get surgery, and he just got back to the mission a few weeks ago, then this happened. We heard over the phone that his knee got hurt, so that scared us. Turns out it was the other knee, along with his back and head that got hurt, but all is well, he is already out doing the work. We were with him in the hospital for a while, we took them back to their area and got back to President's house at about 2:00 am. 

Wednesday morning we woke up three hours later at 5:00 am to get the departing elders sent off home.  I don't remember a ton else of what happened, just that we had district meeting at 10. 

We were up doing stuff late almost every night this week, and during the day before dinner we spent meeting with Zone leaders and Sister Training Leaders to talk about the new transfer. One evening we had a lesson with a potential investigator named A.. It was such a great lesson! We get in there and she basically says 'I want to get baptized because I love the church but I just wanna learn more first.' So we pray and instantly open up to Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 and talk about the qualifications for baptism and how the lord doesn't require us to know anything, just to feel and be willing to do things. She then said that she had never heard the gospel explained that way, that her past churches always told her she needed to KNOW things, not feel things. She accepted to be baptized on May 20th, and she also came to church this Sunday!

Friday we met with our mls missionaries. We only cover 3 wards in the Sandy West stake, Elders Henley and Dutton cover the other wards, so they were there too. Elder Henley turned 25 today, so they got cake. 

Saturday morning we spent from about 10:00 to 1:00 at President Lansing's home meeting with him—the assistants meet with him every Saturday—talking about upcoming meetings such as Zone conference, Mission Leader Council, District Leader Training, etc. he shared a lot of good notes he took from this week, most of which he spent downtown at a Mission Presidents Seminar with other mission Presidents and a bunch of General Authorities.  Good stuff. 

All in all a crazy but good week. 

Don't have too much fun in the AZ heat!

       Love 

  Elder Ray

Working in the Mission Office

Visiting an Elder injured in a car accident

Elder Henley's Birthday

"In His strength I can do all things"

April 24, 2017

Well this has been a pretty crazy week. Last week before transfers usually is... and I honestly can't remember a ton of what happened, nor do I have time to write about it all. So I'll sum up the fun stuff. A few weeks ago one of the missionaries in our Zone had an idea to make a Facebook page for South Jordan missionaries to kinda help the image, since there have been some missionaries in the past who hurt it a bit. So he sent us a detailed email with a plan so we could run it by the AP's and president. Elder Rodriguez and I thought it wasn't a bad idea but with the amount of work necessary it wasn't worth it. Elder Bowen and Morris-the assistants-thought the same. So that was that. 

Saturday morning (two days ago) at about 9:15 the APs called us and said "hey, we ran the Facebook idea by President Lansing and he loved it! He has a friend who is in the social media business and we want President and his friend to meet with you and us at President's house. Can you meet us at his house at 10?" So we're like "sweet, yeah" and we got ready and headed to President Lansing's home. We get there and knock, the APs answer the door and elder Bowen says "hey, you elders ready to talk about Facebook?"  And we say yeah and then elder Morris says "we lied elders. Elder Rodriguez, your split is in the truck, you will be working with them today. Elder Ray, come with us." They pulled me into the mission home and shut the door behind us. I spent the next hour interviewing with President Lansing, then talking with them and President. We all worked on transfers until about 1, then we got longhorn steakhouse for lunch, and the AP's took me back to elder Rodriguez. They told me they'd meet me and my stuff at their house Sunday night at 8:45pm. So I found a member with a truck, packed up, and met them at their house Sunday night at 8:45. I unloaded all my stuff in their apartment, then we rushed to the mission office to do all the mission's weekly numbers, and finish transfers. We got home about 2am. 

Elder Bowen has been an assistant for 3 transfers which is the normal term for an assistant. I'm taking his spot. 

This is a humbling opportunity given by the lord, and I am honored. There are many more Zone leaders who are qualified to become Assistants, but for some reason the Lord has provided me with the opportunity. "I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things"

       Love 

-Elder Ray

Last Photo with Elder Rodriguez

Elders Ray and Rodriguez with Stake High Councilman over Missionary Work

Salt Lake City South Mission's First Annual MARCH MADNESS Teaching Tournament!

April 17, 2017

One more great week in the books of the life of Elder Ray!

Tuesday we went and evaluated a district meeting, then right after that we went and picked up our Supplies from our district leader. We snagged some chic-fil-a and then went and picked up the bikes of some elders who got too sick to bike home from district meeting and so we dropped them off at their apartment and went in to check on them, and one of them was not doing too good. So we spent a while talking to sister Lansing about what to do for him. They had a lesson set up at 4, so Elder Rodriguez went with one of them while I took the sick one to get some attention. We got back into our area after all this at about 5:40, then at 6 we went at gave 3 sisters in the zone blessings.

Wednesday we started exchanges with one of the District Leaders, I went with his companion Elder Campbell on bikes in our area. Got a nice sunburn! First time wearing short sleeves since last year.

Thursday morning we ended exchanges and then met up individually with the other two district leaders to talk about their districts, then we wrote an email to President Lansing and the Assistants to update them on the Zone.

Friday not a ton happened,  we taught a couple crazy people as usual, and gave an elder a blessing. Friday night we did a Triage exchange with a companionship who is struggling together and in their area. A Triage exchange is when the DL, his comp, and the ZLs get together and each switch companions so that every missionary who is not a leader has a leader as a companion for the exchange.

Saturday we got to proselyte in our area for almost all the day! Pretty great. Not a ton happened, but it felt good.

Sunday was Easter! Which means no Ward councils! So we just went to church all day. Not too much special, but the day had a great spirit to it. 

And today, Monday, has been great. We woke up at about 5:15 so we could be up and ready to get to the mission office in Sandy by 7:00 where we helped get ready for the final rounds of the Salt Lake City South Missions First Annual MARCH MADNESS Teaching Tournament! The Tournament started at 8:00 and went till 12. I'm beat, but it was great. First, the missionaries who got eliminated in the first round 5 weeks ago were put into a consolation bracket, and the 4 finalists from the consolation bracket competed until the winner was found. That was done two at a time in two different rooms, then after that, the entire mission gathered in the Gym where the 4 finalists from the Tournament Bracket competed, one at a time. Elder Rodriguez and I were judges along with President and Sister Lansing, and two other MLS (elderly) missionaries. Elder Rodriguez and I also got to be the 'Investigators' who the missionaries roleplayed to each round. It was a blast. Following the tournament and the announcement of the winner, we all moved to the chapel and had a brief meeting where the winners, and President and Sister Lansing bore their testimonies, we closed with a song and a prayer, then went and took a mission picture. 

Hopefully I'll have more pictures from the Tournament soon! 

Have a rad week!

Love

-Elder Ray

Elder Ray and Elder Rodriguez doing some p-day shopping at Walmart

Seth's view during their mission's "March Madness"

Life's Good

April 10, 2017

Dear everyone,

I don't even know how to start... it was a great week as usual, it's interesting how much they all blur together with how fast everything is going. I can't remember a thing unless it's in my journal...

So Monday... isn't in my journal...

Tuesday we woke up early to set up for Zone Training Meeting. The meeting went super good. We had two ex-Zone leaders and our Sister Training Leader each give trainings, they were stellar. After the meeting we all made get well soon cards for our Mission President who just had back surgery on Thursday. After the meeting we had lunch then started exchanges with the Assistants to the President, whose area is in sandy. Always a blast. At about 8:45pm our car started making some crazy noise, so we checked the oil and... no oil... so we limped it to the mission office and filled it up, then made it home by about 10pm. Ha.

Wednesday elder Morris and I woke up and headed back to the mission office in Sandy to end Exchanges. The vehicle coordinator told us after we ended exchanges to take the car to big-o to get it checked out, which we did, and they told us to take it back to the mission office because it had a ton wrong with it. Moral of the story: don't buy a Chevy Cruz. So, the assistants found a companionship who had a car in a relatively small area and gave it to us. Later that day we taught B., an inactive man who is struggling hard core physically and mentally. His body is shutting down from chemo he had during cancer a few years ago, and he relapsed on alcohol. We gave him a blessing and then taught him for a while, and when we left we took about a gallon of rum from him. Haha.

Thursday we got our car back, then we spent all morning meeting with the district leaders individually to talk about their area, companionship, and districts. After that we had lunch then got to work for a while. We split after dinner and elder Rodriguez did a baptismal interview for an investigator of one of our district leaders, and I made some visits.

Friday we had weekly planning, then after lunch we took the box of get well soon cards to our mission president. He loved it! It was a bit weird to see him in his pjs in bed, but it was cool.

Saturday was a long day, we did so much... we took a companionship of sisters some chocolate concretes from Nielsons Frozen Custard to pick em up a bit. And to skip a ton of detail in the middle of the day, that night we taught G. and A., two unbaptized grandkids of a member in our stake, and picked them up as new investigators! They wanna be baptized asap, but we felt to put them on date for April 29th. Sweet!

Sunday morning president Bishop—a member of our mission presidency—came and shadowed us for a few hours. Him and his wife came to a Ward council and a sacrament meeting with us. The rest of the sabbath was pretty normal stuff.

And today was crazy as usual... we had another round of our Missions March Madness Teaching Tournament... and this afternoon we all got together as a Zone and played some ultimate frisbee! Life's good, the church is true. Remember, "And thus we see how merciful and just are all the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi, saying:

Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord." Alma 50:19-20

       Love 

  Elder Ray

General Conference in Utah

April 3, 2017

Hello from Sunny Salt Lake City (South)! Another crazy busy week in the books.

Tuesday all day zone conference,

Wednesday all day MLC... we got to work a bit! Beckham is still solid, we pushed his baptism back to the 22nd so his family can all be there.

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal,

And Saturday and Sunday were conference! So good! We went to priesthood session on Saturday, that was cool. 

Have a good one! Love you all!
       

Love 

  -Elder Ray

At the General Priesthood Session

Elder Rodriguez and Elder Ray

3 Day Update

 March 27, 2017

Well.... I don't have a ton of time today to write, it's been a crazy past couple of days. But, life is good. Beckham is looking good to be baptized on Saturday, which will be another crazy day because I am a group leader for priesthood session, so we have to leave at like 3:00 to head downtown to see conference front row. Stoked.

This morning from 8-10 we had March Madness, then had to clean that up and take a bike to the mission office in Sandy for one of our missionaries. Now we're at waffle love gettin our waffle love on.

Scripture chapter of the day: Alma 31

Peace, fam. 

Love,

-Elder Ray

Seth on exchanges with a district leader