February 18, 2012

Hey Guys,

Things are going well, I miss all the knowledge Elder Camejo had of the area but we are doing well. Elder Camejo and I left for Deo Tuesday night at 3:40 in the morning. I made it to Presidents house at 8 for fresh Cinnamon rolls and fruit salad. President gave us a training till 11:30. It was really good! He shared a video that really calmed my fears. It is from Britain's got talent. It is called Susan Boyle, Britain's got talent. Look it up it is pretty good. Then we walked from Presidents house to the temple about half a block, the longest half block I have walked in a long time.  I don´t know why I was so nervous.  14 of us were training 4 gringos and we were told there are only 3 gringos being born (new missionaries). When we got there they put us in an order and we walked out behind our kids while they had their eyes closed like I did when I was born. We then sang "Called to Serve" before our kids turned around. My kid is Elder Perez, es un capo. He is from Mendoza Argentina. A convert of a year and a half. He is the only member of his family and they did not want him to go on a mission but thankfully they are supporting him. He is 23. Elder Perez is doing really good, he teaches well. He is a little awkward sometimes but maybe I think it is just because he is new. He doesn´t know a lot about the mission. I am trying to think of when I was new. I think everyone is a little weird, he does everything I do right after I do it which is kind of funny and a little annoying but he is doing well. The only thing we really have in common is Mountain Climbing which is a first and really cool. I was excepting someone with less Spanish and was thinking I was going to do a lot of talking but he does really well and obviously speaks Spanish, sometimes I think he talks to much when he teaches but we will work it out. 

We have una señora with fecha (date) for this Saturday, she kept saying she wants to know it all before baptism but with the testimony of a member this Sunday during gospel principle class she felt prepared. The two kids with fecha (date) we had last week went on vacation but this week we finally found the mother. She can progress and wants the best for her kids. When they get back I hope to get her to church. That is always a struggle. Anyway that's about it. Super tired and a little stressed but things are going well.

Love you 

Elder Wray

P.S. Elizabeth is spoiled!

February 12, 2013

Hey Guys, 

This week went really well and lots of people came to church. Two were unexpected. They were ex investigators that kind of disappeared, but came back and one is going on the Stake youth camp out. We set up a lesson for when he comes back, I hope he has a good time. Our three with fecha (dates) are doing well. Two are younger kids that come to church with a recent convert, still trying to find his parents who are trying to separate. And the last is an older women who loves her time at church and asks lots of questions. Her biggest doubt is if she will be ready for her baptism, but she understands everything well.

I can´t believe 6 weeks have already past in Mercedes. That's right the changes are here and Elder Camejo is leaving. I don´t know what I am going to do without his Six months of knowledge about this area. I don´t know if I already told you but our area is really two areas which means I have had to learn two areas instead of one, Two big areas. We will see how things go seeing as the most exciting part is I AM TRAINING! I am super stoked. I don´t know my kid (new companion) yet so don´t ask. I am not sure if I want a gringo or Latino. I am thinking gringo but it would be nice with someone that spoke the language better then me. A lot of times I feel like Moses who needed the help or Aaron to speak. I trust President though. I was thinking of a saying last night while I couldn´t sleep that I heard a lot in Cerro, that goes something like this"Every ones mission is different, Your mission is Perfect for you." And I was thinking of how true that has been in my mission up to this point I read my Patriarchal blessing yesterday and it says that although my mission will impact the lives of the people where I am called, more importantly it will affect my life. I am so grateful for this chance I have to serve, and everything I have learned to this point. I know God will send me someone I can learn from and I hope I will be able to teach him what he needs to be a good missionary.

I head for Deo tonight at 3:30 in the morning. I'll get there at about 7:30. Then off the Presidents house for breakfast and training, then who knows what happens. We get back tomorrow night at about 10:30. Our area is doing super well I hope I can keep it going with an oro (means gold but it is the same as greeny). Can't wait.

In other news I just got the worst hair cut of my life. The guy that always does hair was closed for Carnival, other story of its own, so I had to find someone else quick seeing as my hair was so long and I am going to train. So I found this women. She supposedly has 20 years experience and her grandma taught her the science of cutting cowlick and this and that. Anyway I knew I had problems when she didn't understand that I wanted the sides cut with the clippers and the top with scissors. After a couple minutes she said oh yea I understand now most people don´t cut like that anymore but I know how to do it. Crazy lady. Then she cut me with the clippers on the back of my neck haha what an experience When she started with the top she only used the thinning scissors. When she finished I had a mushroom cut. So I had her cut it again, when she finished I asked her to cut it again. In the end it came out alright but still not that great. I think it's going to grow in weird. Anyway got to go. Pray for me and my comp. 

Love You,

Elder Wray     

P.S. I also sent letters to Ben Clark and Spencer Bunn but I don´t have much faith these two will make it. 

February 4, 2013

Hey Guys,

This week has been really good. We had 2 baptisms this week of Agustin and Florencia. They were both super excited and the baptismal service was good. It had more non members and menos activos present then active members. After the youth of the ward took Florencia to eat pizza as a form of Celebration/Mutual. Our area is doing really well, and we are working hard. This week we hope to find the friends and family that came to see the baptisms. Florencia has made a lot of friends in the ward. A recent convert a priest Baptized her. She is a little snaky but she hasn´t had the best example growing up. Now that she is starting to hang out with better friends it should be good.

Agusitn es un capo! He is a stud. He is only 8 but he has shown me how spiritual kids can be, even though he doesn´t always understand the doctrine.  In a lesson about the Plan of Salvation we were teaching the spirit world about paradise and prison.  When we said spirit prison he said what are we going to be inmates. My comp and I couldn´t stop laughing. 20 minutes later as he was saying the closing pray He said "Father the missionaries told me to ask you if it is true, so is it?". Then he waited he was silent for about 20-30 seconds then he said, "Thank you I felt it". I was stunned. He is so cool. I hope his dad helps him stay active. His dad is a member but he is kind of on the edge. Plus he doesn´t live with him. We are going to try and find his mother and grandma this week where he lives.  

Yesterday we made tacos for the Bishop and his wife. It was a little bit of cupando los medias(Sucking the Socks "Being a Suck up"). But he invited us and we wanted tacos. He bought everything and we showed up and cook. They were really good. We have to make our own refried beans, in the blender. And the bishops wife had just finished making a smoothie and there daughter came in while I was making the beans in the blender and screamed yea chocolate Ice cream. She is almost two. The bishiop said do you want to try so we gave her a little. Haha you should have seen her surprise when she put it in her mouth. She ate it but you could tell it wasn´t what she expected. I can´t wait to come home and cook for you guys. Haha! 

The Mission is going really well for me right now, We are working really hard probably harder then I have ever worked in my life, and we are having a lot of success probably more then my whole mission and we are seeing a lot of miracles, I am so thankful our Heavenly Father put me with Elder Camejo. He has taught me so much and re animated me. He isn´t my best friend and sometimes we argue but has truly helped my mission. Anyway that is about it. And dad I still have a little more then 7 months don´t jump the gun.

Love you

Elder Wray  

January 28, 2013

Hey Guys,

This week has been good. Our investigators our doing well. We are going to have 2 baptisms this week. Agustin the son of a recent convert, his father is going to baptize him. And Florencia the daughter of a menos activo, also excited for her baptism and has made friends with many of the youth in our ward. We are hoping to use the new things we learned in the assistants training this week. We are making invitations and we are going to go around with them to pass them out and hopefully find there friends a teach them.  We hope to find more people to teach this week. Embarrassing moment this week in church. Florencia who is going to get baptized on Saturday showed up with a really short dress. Like super short. I didn´t know what to do I didn´t want to send her home and I didn´t know how to tell her that her dress was to short. So I asked one of her friends in the ward to explain it to her. She did and I hope she understood. She told us she woke up late so maybe that was why but it was super embarrassing I am not sure why. 

Other then that not much is new we found a couple old women this week we almost always find old women I am not sure why maybe because they are always home. Some of them are good and I think we can baptize but I want to find some priesthood holders the ones we had dropped us. I need to set some good goals for the next few weeks.

We had interviews with President this past week which was good, Hna Heaton is so nice! I am going to miss them so much when they leave. It is super lame I will have a different mission President for the last 12 weeks of my mission. My interview with President was short as always, I think he was distracted about something else but he gave me some good advise.

This week we also had the opportunity to do service with two older Hermanas. One cutting a little bit of grass and the other fixing everything in her house. The second was more of a surprise. She is a recent convert and has about 78 years. Anyway we knocked on her door and she yelled you are the answers to my prayers. Her bed had fallen and was on only 3 legs. For three nights she had been sleeping lopsided. She called her daughter who lives 6 blocks from her house but she never came. I fixed it in a couple minutes then I fixed her phone and tv which were plugged in wrong. Haha! She was so happy. While I was fixing the tv she called her daughter and told her "don't worry about coming anymore I have 2 new children and I love them."   

This week I also made Chili. Elder Myers gave us some packets and we didn´t have lunch one day and they were siting there and smell super good so I made some. It wasn´t till I sat down to eat that I realized it was more of a cold weather food and we are in dead summer but it was super good. Elder Camejo has never had it and wants me to make it again. I improvised a little and it turned out good just wish it was more spicy. Anyway that's about it. I will send pics this next week and let you now how the baptisms went.

Love You

Elder Wray

January 21, 2012

Hey Guys,

This week was good. We had some really good lessons with our investigators some of them that looked like they might not progress have started to open up more. This week we hopefully will bring them to church. Our investigators with fecha (dates) are looking really good, reading and coming to church by themselves. With one she is not totally sure she has received an answer to her prays but this week we will hopefully be able to help her out with that. Her Baptism is the second of February. Our baptisms for this week fell one started working double shifts everyday in her job and kind of fell of the map. We will see what happens but it is going to be hard to talk to her. Our other baptism also just kind of fell of the map as well. We couldn´t talk to him this week, and the member we take to his lessons is mad at him because last Sunday he showed up to church a little late and accidentally went to the other wards meetings. The people here are a little frustrating at times I mean it is not like he was waiting at the door for him.

Our Bishop is pretty cool. I guess the best one I have had my whole mission. He is 29 and going on four years as Bishop. So he is super young and does a lot of visits. On Sunday we ate lunch with him and his family. When he found out I was a pilot he was kind of impressed, and started asking all types of questions. He wants to be one, kind of to the extent that almost everyone wants to be one. But he has read some books that I guess are about aviation. I've never heard of. Maybe you have dad. Johnathan Livingston's Seagull by Richard Bach and another by the same guy.   

Oh yea, I never told you but when I was in tres cruses the night I came up here Elder Navarro, Elder McCarney and I were in McDonald's buying Ice Cream when we saw like 5 gringos hidden in the corner speaking English. We decided to go over and talk to them. As we got closer un Uruguayo was talking to them and the guy looked at the two girls with him and said "I have no idea what he is saying". I just kind of laughed to myself thinking how dumb you feel when that happens, and it wasn´t to long ago when I was there. Anyway as it turns out. The two girls were from Toronto Canada we never found out where the others were from because Elder Navarro kind yelled no way Elder Wray is from Canada and we never got back to asking. Then when they told us they were doing a study and making there way from Argentina to Brazil and the Chile. Elder Navarro interrupted again I´m from Chile. Haha it was kind of funny really thinking back on it, it was like he was tring to impress them and get their number or something. Anyway by that point they had finished and headed out. But it was cool to find someone from Canada here.

Today we played soccer but before in the morning I tried fixing somethings around the house. I fixed this blinds curtain thing that was completely destroyed. When my comp came out of the bathroom he was like wo how did you do that. I laughed and told him with 20 minutes and a little bit of thinking. Next on my list is the spare room light doesn´t work maybe I can finish that before President comes to interviews on Wednesday and checks our house but it should be a little more tricky. This morning I also fixed 6 door handles in the chapel that had almost been completely pulled out of the doors. I don´t know why people don´t take the little bit of time to fix stuff like that. It only took like 20 minutes and now all the doors close. 

Anyway to close something that has impressed me in my mission and I will try to avoid at all costs in my own house when I get home. How quickly the spirit leaves a home when there is contention and yelling. As missionaries we try and have the spirit at all times but sometimes when you are in someones house waiting. Sometimes the people there get in arguments and sometimes yell but you really don´t even need to get to yelling before the spirit leaves. It is something I never really felt as a kid and I remember having Family Home Evenings over this but this week will struck me hard as I thought about the scripture in 3 Nephi 25 mas o menos. Anyway Have a good week got to go.

Love

Elder Wray