Flooded With Blessings

Hi family and friends!

Early this week it was raining... HARD. We had a tropical storm that brought in the rain for several days, and unfortunately for Texas most that water has nowhere to go. The rocky ground doesn't absorb the water. A large part of Hidalgo flooded for a day or two but no major damage. During the flooding and storms, we were preparing for a baptism and we arrived to find dirty rainwater coming up through the drain in the font! All the drainage in the city was so backed up it was pushing water back out the drains. We plugged, scooped out the rainwater, cleaned it, and the rest of the baptismal service went without a hitch.

I swear something goes wrong every time we baptize someone, though I didn't know Satan could control municipal drainage.

We're probably allowed to do this. We'll find out later.

I also received a package from my family largely containing Halloween decorations and candy. After eating too much sugar I went to work filling the apartment with Halloween terror and completely driving away the Spirit. We have spiders, autumn leaves, zombies, caution tape and vampires. I'm pretty excited, I've always loved Halloween. Maybe we'll dress up as missionaries and get candy, or perhaps we'll stay home and let other people knock OUR door for a change. 

We got our transfer calls last night. Me and Elder Grannis will be staying together another six weeks!

I'm pretty pumped, we've gotten a lot of good things done together. Now that I've passed my halfway point, everything seems like it's slipping away too quickly. I'm still going to love every day I have left.

Elder Gray

Still Here

Fully ready to play some volleyball.

Hola ya'll,

We had the missionary leadership conference on Thursday of last week. I've always like going to those, it's like getting two Zone Conferences in one month. And who can say no to listening to President talk for 3 hours?

Much of the Conference was about the Book of Mormon again, but also he taught us about personal revelation and how to receive answers to your questions. At the end of the Conference, President ended with a prayer so powerful that when he ended, we stayed seated in stunned silence for about 30 seconds before shuffling out quietly. Probably one of the most spiritually shocking moments on my mission. 

Elder Grannis and I officially hit our year mark last Wednesday so we burned a shirt, as is the tradition.

I feel like its going by too fast. Someone slow down this crazy train.

I love you all, no matter from where you're reading this.

Elder Gray

Halfway There

Hi everyone!

This past week was awesome, stupendous, fabulous. Rained a bit, too.

During Zone Conference, President told us that as a mission, we are all going to read the Book of Mormon in 30 days. That's about 18 pages a day. The Book of Mormon is key in our teaching and conversion of investigators, so we need to properly know it and be converted ourselves. It was interesting to see all the General Conference talks about the Book of Mormon, pretty much confirming to us the importance of reading it this month. My study is going pretty well so far, I'm taking notes on things that pop out to me or new things I learn.

The Conference set up for my district!

General Conference was really good. Like always, many of the talks hit me deep and felt written just for me. I left on a mission the Tuesday after Conference, so every Conference is a personal 6-month milestone for me. This being my second Conference, I will hit my year mark on Wednesday! Hence the title. 

So much has happened in just one year, I can't recount it all. Luckily I have a year's worth of blog posts that will help. I cannot image double everything. Double the experiences. Double the knowledge. Double the conversion. I am going to be an entirely new person in a year, I can already see it. 

Here's to another great year.

Much love,

Elder Gray

Getting Real

Hi everyone!

This week was pretty regular honestly, not much has happened event-wise. I suppose I could write about what I'm learning and experiencing. 

I didn't grow up singing 'I Hope They Call Me On a Mission' in Primary, nor was it on the front of my mind during my teen years. Beforehand, my perception of a mission was that you left for some foreign country and baptized people. I knew that people could leave and come back a different person, but I didn't think much about it. 

Being out on a mission I now know that is half-true. Aside from the general missionary purpose of invited everyone to Christ, I've found is that everyone has their own 'purpose' for being there. For example, one missionary may be sent to a mission in order to find and baptized one specific person or family that no one else could have. Some are placed on a specific mission to help out their companions, other missionaries or the Mission President. Others are on missions and don't baptize a single person, but become life-long converts themselves. I think my purpose for being here at this time is largely personal.

I probably won't recognize the full effects of my mission until long after I'm home, but I know one thing: my relationship with the Savior has grown, and my personal conversion has become deep, meaningful and lasting. Although I've been able to help other people throughout my mission, there's no equal to the things I've learned through personal study and the development of my character.

I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. 

Love you all,

Elder Gray

 A tie almost as big as my heart.