The Lord's Representatives

July 25, 2016

Dear Family,

On Wednesday I went on an exchange with Elder Smith in Hampton (I know, classic name, right). He is awesome though. We helped a member in the KV ward push hay bales out from the top floor of his barn, it was sweet.

On Thursday we traveled to Fredericton for a unexpected zone conference, we usually only have one a transfer but President Pratt thought that what he wanted us to be trained on couldn't wait. Afterward I was like, I have been craving Subway all week, let's go get some for lunch, but just then the zone leaders announced that we were all having Subway provided by the mission. Prayers came true, haha.

One day we were walking downtown, the busy streets, and this guy (his name is Paul) looks at us and asks, "Are you Jesus?" I don't know if he was kidding or not or if he was all there at first but we told him that we were representatives of him. Then he asked us about the church and how he could join. He was standing there holding a cigarette and when he asked us how to join in my mind I was thinking, tell him about having Faith in Jesus Christ and baptism, but I guess that's not what the spirit wanted. I found myself talking about the word of wisdom and how in order to join Christ's church, we need to do what God wants us to, which included keeping our bodies clean from those things like smoking and drinking. It seemed to interest him and we are going to meet with him this week.

In many of the areas that I have served in we usually teach in the home, which is ideal, but here in Saint John I feel like we teach just as many lessons in the park and on the street as we do in homes. And it is awesome.

Recently a group of Filipino people started coming to the church on Saturday nights to practice volleyball, and now us missionaries and some of the members go and play with them. They are not members but we are working on that. Why not have fun while doing missionary work , am I right?

Love You!
Love Elder Ray

Highest I've seen it so far, and with the humidity, it feels sticky.

Investigators and Less Actives

July 18, 2016

Dear Family,

On Thursday we visited Amy, who apparently is a less active member, but there are no church records for her and she has always been in Saint John. So it was a miracle that we ran into her on the street. She attends another church right now but wants to go back to church and see if that's what she wants to do again. It was funny because we asked her what she liked about her church and I think she said more about what she didn't like than what she did. Then we asked her what she liked about the LDS church and she talked about the family feel and a lot of other things. She said, "Uh, every time you come over you just get me talking about what I miss, dang it." Haha I think whatever we're doing is working, the spirit definitely testified to her what she could change and how it will bless her and her family. We hope to see her at church this Sunday.

We met with our solid investigator Karen on Friday and taught her the Plan of Salvation, she had a lot of good questions, mostly about Adam and Eve. She had a concern about being intimidated, really by just not knowing enough, and wants to learn more before she picks a date for baptism. I shared how I was baptized when I was eight and asked her if she thought I knew everything by then. Of course not, it comes over time by learning and study. We talked about how it comes by Faith in Jesus Christ and we promised her that if you picks a date, a goal to work towards, that she will be ready by then. She is going to pray about it and we are going to see what happens in our next lesson. But she did come to church on Sunday, which was really awesome.

We met with quite a few Less Actives this week and some are progressing more than others but hey, everyone is on a different level, we just need to help them "level up."

Now, I've heard a lot about Pokemon Go, and what's funny is you can just about point out who is playing it. In a way it helps us out as missionaries because we are starting to see more people outside to talk to, haha.

"Be strong, live the Gospel even if others around you aren't living it at all." -Elder Holland

Love You!

Love Elder Ray

Welcome to Saint John!

Filled the bathtub so you could see what the
water looks like here, pretty green eh.

Crazy Lemonade Stand

July 11, 2016

Dear Family,

On Thursday we had the Hampton Elders, Elder Smith and Elder Johnson, spend the day in Saint John with us on exchanges. Elder Smith has only been out for three months and is training Elder Johnson, who has been out like three weeks. I went with Elder Johnson and we went to teach our investigator, Karen. We resolved her concern about tithing very well and she is not really worried about it any more. We then taught the Restoration and she remembers it from missionaries taught her like twenty years ago. One thing Elder Johnson needed to do as part of his training for the week was to invite someone to be baptized, and he did. It was at the perfect moment too it's crazy how the spirit works. Karen said yes, that she would, but a little down the road, so she didn't commit to a date yet but we do have a yes!

The four of us did a lemonade stand down at the square and as usual we met some crazies, just like we do everyday. But the stories that I have won't be put into words, sorry. I'll save them for when I get home, and some I may never tell. Haha.

Games night on Friday with the ward got intense, it was so competitive, which made it so fun. I even took a video to prove it to you. We had a couple of investigators there so I'm sure they think we are all crazy now, haha.

From talking to people on the street, we ran into two different less actives that aren't on the Saint John records, probably in another ward or branch so we'll have to find them. But one of them, Amy, was totally fine with us coming over and she has a non-member friend/boyfriend/husband (don't know yet) so hopefully, depending on where this goes, we can teach him too. Then the other lady, Ida, we met her in the square. She was sitting on a bench reading a book, and you always feel a little awkward interrupting. At first when we introduced ourselves I thought she was going to throw her book at us, she didn't look very pleased to see us. When I asked her name she didn't say anything. But when I asked her what she did for work she opened up and talked about it for like a half hour and basically told us her whole life story, and we just stood their and listened. By the end, she gave us her name, number, and said that she has her lunch breaks their everyday and that we could talk with her again. The change from just one question and just listening to her made all the difference, it was awesome.

For fourth of July we went hiking as a group and it was so beautiful. Then for dinner we went fishing with some members to try to catch some grub, but nobody got even a bite. So we did sausages over the fire instead. Great Holiday!

Have a great week!

Love You!

Love Elder Ray

 

We were playing What are the odds while doing a lemonade stand,
if you don't know what that is then ask someone.
But I lost and I had to go over and ask if I could wear this guys mad hatter hat.

Fourth of July Hike!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Planning and Scheduling

July 4, 2016

Dear Family,

On Tuesday our zone had a training and we talked a lot about the difference between planning and scheduling. It got me thinking more about what we do as missionaries and the differences it makes when we are planning specifics than just scheduling things into our weeks. It definitely relates to everyday life, are we planning things to work out in our lives or are we just scheduling and hoping that it works out?

Thursday we taught a new investigator Karen. She had once met with missionaries in the past and "practiced Mormonism" for about five months but decided against it when she found out about tithing. We found her on the street, well, she kind of found us. We were walking by and she called out, "Hi Elders." Coming from someone we had never met before, we stopped to talk. She told us that she would always say hi to the missionaries when she saw them but they wouldn't stop to talk, they would just say hi back and then keep on going. She said we were the first ones to stop and talk with her in a few years. Crazy! And she said that she wants to come back to church. What's even crazier is that we said hi but almost kept walking... we would have been like all the past missionaries and miss that opportunity, but for some reason things worked out the way they did. God really does place those people in our path, we just need to keep our open for when it happens.

Friday was Canada Day! Thinking it being a holiday that people would be home we tried to stop by many people but not one answered. Where is everyone? So we went downtown and I feel like the whole town was there, there were so many people it was actually a little overwhelming, like, crap, who do we talk to? It was insanely busy, but that's where everyone was. Kind of felt like I was in New York for a minute, haha. Also I feel like holidays are the days where people want to talk to you the least, it was kind of fun but just like last Canada Day, the work was hard.

We had a full schedule and an awesome looking day on Saturday... and then the weather ruined it. For some reason when it rains all day people have a less desire to meet. Lesson after lesson after lesson cancelled and pretty soon our day was empty. So we ended up knocking in the rain... I looked like a drowned rat by the end. But hey we got a potential investigator from it so maybe that's where God wanted us at the time.

That moment when you have two solid investigators planning on coming to church and one cancels, and the other one is not to be heard from. It makes me wonder, were they planning on coming to church or were they scheduling to? Haha. That's the worst, it always gets your hopes up. But hey, church is every week so there are infinite tries to get to church.

It was a great week but we will "plan" on having an even greater one this week.

Be not Afraid, Only Believe.

Love You's!

Love Elder Ray

That Saint John Life!