Chapter 25: Magnolias and Blue Shirts

Hey hey everyone!! Hope y'all have been doing fantastic! We're going to jump right into it! 

Tuesday evening Sister Noel and I went to the young men's activity for our ward. They were doing a whole "mission prep need to know" activity. Shirt ironing, tying ties, eating wonky foods, scripture study, exercise, etc. The 2nd Counselor asked us to come in and talk about some of the things we do as missionaries. It was so much fun! I literally love talking to youth about going on a mission!! 

Wednesday kinda sucked. It was long, I didn't feel effective with our time, or satisfied with the work we did. So I was kinda in an off mood all the day. Except for this cool finding experience! We were on our way to a lesson and we pass by a street another one of our friends lives on. Sister Noel had the bing to go stop by right then, so we did. The lady we had been teaching wasn't there, but Matthew,(who we had met before, but didnt have a shirt on this time), was there and another guy. They were working on Matthew's truck when we started talking with them. Matthew was more focused on the truck, but his friend Alex started asking us lots of questions! It was awesome! We gave him a Book of Mormon and started talking about it with him. At this point Matthew runs inside, we keep talking with Alex, and Matthew comes back out not too much later with a glasses and a button down blue shirt on and his Book of Mormon in hand. Haha it was sweet. That was definitely the highlight of my day.

Wednesday night we exchanged with the stl's. Sister Allred and Sister Hess came to Nexton with me!! Ahhhh!!!! It was sooooo good!! I love them both so so much! Then on Thursday we had some absolutely amazing lessons!

Sis Hess, Sis Allred, Sis Ray

We had a lesson with Jason and helped him with some of his concerns and reset his baptism date for May 13th! We're so excited for him and he feels much better about the date in May. 

We also had a lesson with our friend Sandra on the Plan of Salvation. It was so good! I love Sandra so much. She calls Sister Noel and I her angels. A lot of people actually do. I'm not arguing, it's really sweet and endearing. I love getting to help people come closer to Jesus Christ and remind them that God loves and is aware of them. 

And!! FFFATEST miracle of that day is we saw the Calderons outside and got a chance to talk with them! Then! They invited us over for dinner on Sunday!

Saturday we met our friend Nicole! She's a member referal the stl's got, but she lives in our area so they passed her off to us. And guess what!!?? She's on date for Baptism on April 30th!!!! She's literally so prepared and ready for this! It's amazing! This week is for sure cram time with getting her lessons done and Chad's, but I know we'll be able to do it.

Sis Ray, Nicole, Sis Noel

Sunday was hecka busy! We went straight from church to this "spirited brunch" thing downtown. It's where a bunch of faiths get together and share food specific to their culture and talk about their religions. Someone in the Stake had a booth and asked if we and some other missionaries would like to come. So we went as a district and talked with lots of people. It was fun. Reminded me of being at one of my mom's events. Then as we were leaving we all went to this pentecostal church building to look inside. The building itself was big and had beautiful structures and stained glass, but the feeling inside was off. We didn't stay very long because Sister Noel and I had a 4:30 dinner to get to. Remember how I mentioned that the Calderons invited us over for dinner? Well, we already had members sign up to feed us that night, but we weren't about to say no to the Calderons, so we had double dinner. First one with the members at 4:30 and the second one with the Calderons at 6:30. 

We also invited a member family to come with us to the Calderons. They turned our to be the perfect people to invite!! Brother Hunt speaks Portuguese and Spanish, and they both had such good connections with the Calderons. Plus all the kids got along!! 

District @ the pentecostal church

After dinner, (which was Puerto Rican deliciousness), we had a little lesson with Jenifer where we helped her with some of her concerns and figured out more of where she's at. We are so excited for her! And for her family! I love getting to work with them! 

And during the lesson Luis said to me he loves it when we come over to teach the kids! And that he knows I want to go into science after my mission, but he sees the way I work with his kids and said I should be a teacher. Which is literally something I've been trying to decide! And I'm really lost honestly. I love love physics and space, and I absolutely love working with kids and teaching them. On my mission I've really been flipping back between the two and I just have no idea which one I want to focus on. 

So if you have any advice on deciding a career, other than "don't worry about it; you've got time", please send it my way. It would be greatly appreciated!

My thought this week is on having faith. There have been a few moments this week where I was lacking in faith and I noticed how that affected my mood and my stress levels. And when I repented and asked Heavenly Father to help me have more faith and to trust, I noticed a change. Everything we do is built on the base of faith. Our faith is through which we see miracles and blessings. It's what gives us the strength to carry on through the difficult times of trial and doubt. So if you're struggling with faith, I invite you to pray and read the Book of Mormon. Look for the the word faith and mark it as you read. I've been doing that and it's helped me be more aware of all the examples and blessings of faith. I know that as you do this you will find more joy and strength in your life. Trust God. He's got you. 

Have a most wonderful week! If y'all would pray for our friends Chad and Nicole this week, that would be amazing. They're both getting baptized this Sunday!!

Stay strong everyone. I love you, God loves you. And to quote my Dad, "KTF, Keep the Faith".

With Love Always, 

Sister Ray

Pics:

The Magnolias 

Sweet lady we said a prayer with