Hey everyone, 

With the month of October coming to a close the weather has changed quite a bit. It dropped like 40 degrees, now averaging in the 50's most mornings. Because my body has completely adjusted to Texas summers, 50 degrees feels like it's about to freeze. I'll probably have a rough time when I get back home.

Everything in moderation.

Nothing much has happened this past week. Last P-day we picked up a compressed bundle of ties weighing 100 pounds! And it was free! The majority was trash but it was still fun to open up my first bundle like that.

Today I'm about to go up to McAllen for a 2-day leadership conference. I heard we are playing paintball, I'll be sure to get some pics.

Love you all!

The Spanish Week

Hi everyone,

This week my companion and I completed one week of speaking only Spanish among ourselves. After hearing how there is a sister in our mission speaking Spanish 24/7 with her companion we thought that would be a good idea and gave it a shot. We've both learned a ton, the constant practice helps us to speak a lot more fluently. Our goal now is to do the entire transfer in Spanish. Only 5 more weeks to go!

100% safe method of moving fridges

I also finished my read-through of the Book of Mormon this week. When I finished, I prayed and asked if it was true. The prayer I had was one of the best I've ever experienced. The answer I received was the same as all the other times I prayed. It's true. All of it.

Much love,

Elder Gray

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