October 1, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

This week was pretty special for several reasons, but one of the biggest is that President Kähnlein, our mission President, accompanied us this Thursday. It was an incredible day, his testimony of the church was incredible and made me think a lot more about everything that the church has been for me in my life, how it has always given me stability, peace, a sense of belonging, and opportunities to feel the spirit. I also admired a lot the way that he shared the gospel. It wasn´t stressed, faked, pretended, or anything of the style--rather, I always felt like he was having a good, meaningful conversation with a good friend, and like he was sharing something that he really knew would help other people to be happier.

One of these lessons was with C, who we met while she was out on a walk with her three kids. She invited us to come by another day. We went by and shared a bit about the Book of Mormon, then, when we went by with President K., talked a lot about the church and how great it would be for her, her kids, and her husband. At the end of the lesson she mentioned that she works with children, and that if she ends up joining the church she would love to work the the children in the church.

We also taught J, who has been investigating the church (including going to seminary and institute) for a year now. We have tried everything we could think of in these last few months to help her to get the courage to accept the answer that she has received from the Holy Ghost and to be baptized; President K. came, and she explained to him that she still felt uncertain and wasn´t sure if she should be baptized. He related his own conversion story, how he, too, didn´t know everything when he was baptized, but that he continued learning and progressing afterwards with the help of the Holy Ghost. Then he said something like this: "God knows where he is sending his servants, and I¨m sure he sent me here today to talk to you. Literally, you are here with the highest mission authority in this part of the world, and I am inviting you and imploring you to accept the answer that you have received, to move forward, and to be baptized." She accepted, we are now working towards the 20th.

We had lunch we the sister that organizes our lunches for us, Hermana S. Her husband has been inactive for quite some time. He is a character--he is Italian and suffered a motorbike accident a few years ago, with the result that he talks and acts like a really friendly Jack Sparrow-type pirate. We talked all during lunch, and his past, how he got to know his wife, and his testimony of the Book of Mormon. We invited him to come back to church at the end, drawing on his entire life´s experience to help him see that it was the right thing to do. President K. then invited him to General Conference this next weekend, saying that any questions he had would be answered there. At the end he agreed to go, but with the condition that Pres. K. would give him 10 dollars if his questions weren´t answered. :D

R and her two kids were another miracle. We knocked there door while looking at names on a list of less-active members, and R said that we got there in the exact moment that she had been needed something to help her out. They all came to church sunday, and R excitedly signed her family up on the list to clean the chapel in a few more weeks. Such a great experience.

I is another great story. We met him because he works at the gate in an apartment complex--we came over and introduced ourselves to him, then started sharing the gospel. He came to church this sunday, just beaming and full of light, and introduced himself to the whole world, just like we did every week. It is incredible to see how just a few days with the light of the spirit can change a life.

Last off--Y looks like she has been a member her whole life. The way she acts, talks, walks around the chapel, helps people out, is just incredible. I am so blessed to have been a part of her conversion experience, to have been a tool in God´s hands in that way.

Viviendo el sueño,

Elder Jason Ray