October 15, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

So, funny story about the age change. Ja, the eternal investigator who has been going to church and seminary for a year but who doesn´t want to get baptized, went into conference praying and fasting for a definite answer so that she could make the choice and get baptized. She had said, when she turned 18 two months ago, that if the mission age for woman was lowered to 19 she would get baptized to be able to serve as soon as she graduated. Guess what the first thing she heard from the conference was!

We found a less-active member named J this week. Actually, I met him several months ago in an interchange in another area. It was raining a lot, and a family of less-active members had pity on us and let us in the door to dry off. One of their sons, who was there visiting, lives in our ward, and he gave me his address. We went by this last week, and he told us a pretty amazing story. He was baptized thirty years ago, and went inactive as a young man, about age 16. He has now not gone to church for 20 years. But he said that all the circumstances in his life, from the possible lung cancer that was detected in his lungs from smoking to the way he has been feeling about his life, makes him believe that Right Now is the moment for him to make it back to church. It was pretty neat.

Y stopped reading the Book of Mormon for about a week, for about the same reason I used to not read it for a week before my mission--I got busy, or just didn´t think about it, or when I had the free time I did something else. When we went by to share a bit with her, the difference was obvious. She was irritated by her children´s behavior, frustrated by her life situation, sick and tired of working, and just wanting it all to go away. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon for a few minutes, and then passed by the next day. The difference was like night and day--where she had felt stress and frustration before, she was feeling peace and happiness then. We talked about Lehi´s dream, and how the iron rod is the only way to get to the tree of life, to help her understand this pattern in her own life. It was definitely a good reminder of how much the little things really matter.

Do you remember E and C? C is the inactive daughter of the 2nd counselor in the bishopbric, E is her very catholic husband. I met them towards the beginning of my time here in El Mirador, but they got lost for a few months while going on vacation and redoing a wall in their house. We visited them for the first time in a long while this week and shared about the Restoration, talking about the church that Christ formed while on the earth and Joseph Smith´s vision when he asked which was the true church. It was really powerful lesson, and I´m excited to keep sharing with them.

We met a sister with a really sad story yesterday. She joined the church in Colombia, then came over here to Chile to get married to the missionary who baptized her. We didn´t ask for details of the story, but she made some really bad decisions at one point in time, was divorced, and got to the point where she felt like she was all alone in the whole world with her 2 children (she couldn´t even go back to Colombia because her ex-husband needs to keep seeing the kids). Right now she is almost to the point of getting out of her hard situation, she is reasonably within months of having her life how it should be, but I could see in her eyes and hear in her voice how difficult it has been to pull herself out of what she did. We are going to try to help her get her life back together, and I am going to always remember that the choices of a few moments can have pretty big consequences.

Last story, one that left me absolutely amazed by how great the spirit is. We were with the A family yesterday, recent converts who stopped going to church because they felt guilty for having made a few mistakes. Pure, beautiful revelation reminded me of a scripture passage I had read earlier in the week, in 2nd Nephi 26:25-28. (It says, in the words I can remember in English, "Has he commanded anyone to leave the synagogue, or the house of worship? Behold, I say onto ye, no.") When we started sharing from this passage, we all felt the spirit confirm it. The family decided to go back to church.

I feel so privileged to be the Lord´s servant, to be able to be an instrument that the Holy Ghost can use to touch somebody´s heart. I love my mission, every single minute of it.

Viviendo el sueño,

Elder Jason Ray

October 8, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

Wow, what a week. Luckily I have more time for writing this week than I had last week (less paperwork for the zone), so I´ll try to get all my ideas written down well. I particularly want to talk a bit about General Conference.

We met an inactive member named M this week, an 18 year old kid who was baptized a few years ago. He is the only member of his family, and after a while he stopped going to church because of pressure from his family and from the world at large. The story of our running into him this week was really incredible--a few weeks ago someone mentioned him to us, saying that it would be good for us to go by. A few days later we ran into a member who knew where he lived, but he wasn´t home that day. This Monday, an appointment in the same neighborhood fell through and we went by to see if he was home. He was, and whats more he was planning out his 18th birthday celebrations. As we started sharing with him, it became very clear from the spirit that we had been sent there kind of as a warning, letting him know that he shouldn´t do anything against the commandments for his birthday or it could go badly. The spirit was so strong while we were teaching, there were several moments that I was absolutely possitive that the words we were speaking weren´t ours at all. End story: He told us this weekend that he hardly celebrated his birthday at all, he´s perfectly fine, and went to the first session of general conference.

We also went by D and her family, including her boyfriend A and her daughter B. We had shared with them before, and I had felt like God wanted us to help the family. I thought God´s idea was to help D and A get married so that A could get baptized (D and her three children were already members). That hadn´t come to pass quite as I had imagined it, and so I thought that we just needed to give the family time. But then D and B (12) came to the ward activity, and we decided we needed to give it another try. Whats more, in the ward activity, God gave me a different perspective about what we could do for this family. We were there to help B to be an active member of the church during the crucial teenage years. When we mentioned this to D, she agreed immediately and said that she would start going to church with her daughter. This was a good reminder for me that I need to submit my own will to God´s, in ever situation.

I, the gate-man we found several weeks ago, is so incredible. He came to General Conference this week, two sessions, and we shared quite a bit during the week as well. He loves talking about faith, and has readily noticed that his own faith is growing as he talks with us and reads the Book of Mormon. Actually, he had to leave early during the last session to get to his job on time, but when he heard that the next talk was going to be on faith, he stayed another 15 minutes to hear it! Knowing him has helped me to strengthen my faith, as well, to know that God has prepared many people to receive the restored gospel.

Randomly funny story--we went by to see O, a recent convert, but he wasn´t home. We started talking to his mother in law, who told us that he had been assaulted earlier that week (luckily he was running with nothing but his clothing, not even a set of keys, so they didn´t take anything and he is fine now). The funny part was how the robbers assaulted him--they threw green, hard avocados!

Y is doing great. Her birthday was this last week (31), and she had a little party and invited us to stop by. When we got there we realized that everybody she had invited were members of the church--J, who baptized her, the Elders Quorum President and his wife, who directs the music in sacrament meeting, and a really nice brother who helped her to get her printer working again during the 2 weeks that her cyber was shut down. She really truly already looks like she has been a member of the church her whole life.

We had a great zone council on Friday. President Kähnlein has the goal of putting the whole mission, letter for letter, in line with Preach My Gospel, the missionary guide revealed by the prophet. We are going to make some changes this month, and he gave us a little "heads up" for the next months as well, letting us know in advance that there will be a few more changes coming. One of the things that I really liked from the council was a quote from Brother Gallardo, the new mission secretary. "Las metas se cumplen." (Goals get achieved). It made me think about my goals, my desires, and how hard I work to make my goals reality.

Last but not least--Conference. I feel like I was priveleged to participate in an absolute spiritual feast, like I have been showered with bits of revelation and guidance for my mission and my life. What a conference. A few highlights:

The new mission age rule, that young men can leave at age 18 and young women at age 19. Wow, talk about a surprise! I feel like one of the fundamental parts of reality has been shaken and turned on its head, but you better believe I am excited. I am sure that this will result in more missionaries, both men and women, who are ready and willing to give of their lives in the service of God. I am proud to be living in this great time.

Questions answered. I took a list of questions into the conference, things that I have been wondering about, mostly questions about how to improve my service as a missionary. There were a few moments (especially during Elder Perkin´s and Elder Holland´s talks) where I felt like God was speaking directly to me, telling me what I needed to do. I felt like my whole mind was illuminated, it was incredible.

I also had an idea during Elder Eyring´s talk in the Priesthood Session. He talked about the things that he does to help his sons to understand and grasp their true potential, even though sometimes it was difficult for them to see it. I decided that I should do something similar (but, granted, a bit smaller in scope) for the missionaries in my zone. Today I bought some nice paper, that I will use to write an apt scripture and an inspiring message to every Elder in the zone, trying to help them see what they can do or become.

I am so grateful that there is a living prophet on the earth today, that we have apostles, and 70, and all the authority and organization that Christ established. How incredibly blessed and privileged we are to live in these days.

Viviendo el sueño,

Elder Jason Ray

P.S. My sister Rachel signed her letter to me this week "I´m a Mormon, I know it, I live it, I love it." Life really does rock :D

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

September 24, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have 8 minutes to write, so I´ll get typing.

A miracle that has happened here in my mission is that I no longer have stagefright. I remember in a talent show in my first year of BYU, I froze up so bad while singing that I had to stop for 30 seconds to catch my breath. But, a few months ago, I had the thought that the only reason I still had stage fright was because that was how I thought of myself--I´m Elder Ray and have stage fright when I sing. So I decided that instead of fear, it was exileration. Now, I´ve been singing every Sunday in sacrament meeting for about two months, and I feel fantastic every time I do it. What a blessing that is!

I had the great change to do interchanges with Elder Bessey and Elder West, two missionaries who are just starting out, this week. It was really incredible--I could see myself in them, a testimony of the truth of the gospel burning bright, behind young, innocent eyes strained to understand what the Chilean people is saying. It also made me realize how far off I was when I first got here and thought that the zone leaders were super human. I believe that they are missionaries just as powerful and effective as I am, because they know just as I do that this work is true. And in the eternal scheme of things, 1 year of experience isn´t much. It was a humbling thought.

We had a lesson with C this week that pretty much marked our time sharing with him. He really opened up and asked us all of his deep, hidden questions. We shared with him from the scriptures and, more than anything, our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and the things that we felt that helped us to know that it is true. The spirit was so strong when he got down on his knees and asked God if the book was true, it was incredible. He is leaving town for a month now, but I¨m excited to see what he has learned and felt when he gets back.

This week was the celebration of the Chilean Independence Day, el 18 de septiembre. I think Chileans really know how to throw an independence party--three days of dancing, eating BBQ, and throwing flags from every possible location. Quite a blast.

We talked to Y more at length about her baptism. She told us that, when she was confirmed and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost, she could feel/see/sense the darkness leaving her as a light, clean, pureness entered in. She said that for the next two days, she was hardly aware of anything that happened, she was so content and happy with life. What a blessing it has been to know her, and to have been a small, small part in her conversion.

This work is true. I know it with all my heart.

Viviendo el sueño,

Elder Jason Ray

September 17, 2012

Jason's zone

The baptism this week

Dear Mom and Dad,

Good week! It ended with an amazing baptism and confirmation, but we´ll get to that last :D

This week the bishop asked us to go visit a guy named DL. He was baptized years ago in Australia, but his records didn´t exist, so he asked us to go figure out what DL knew so that they could get a new record created. We also got to meet his wife, RL, who got baptized about a year ago when they moved here to Chile. Really interesting family. DL found the church while he was traveling all over the world, he wasn´t just in Australia but also in Japan, China, Asia, Europe, the US, and then back to Chile. He had kind of forgotten about God while he was traveling, but when he got back to Chile he decided to find the nearest chapel, and showed up one day with his wife (she´s also Chilean), RL, who liked it and then got baptized.

Talking to the mamita, the sister who we pay to wash our clothes (now that is charity in action!), we decided to go visit one of her neighbors, P. The mamita (whose name is P, what a coincidence) said that she had passed through some hard times and could really use some help from God. It turned out that she was already a member of the church, although she hadn´t been in 20 years, but her boyfriend was also incredibly eager to learn more about God and to follow him. He was also very insistent that they learn together as a family, it was really a beautiful thing to see.

Here in El Mirador, there are a lot of apartment complexes that have gatemen. Usually we just tell the gateman which apartment we are going to, but this week we ended up talking to one of them for a good 20 minutes (in the end we never made it to the apartment we were going to, it was funny). He told as about his goals, his dreams, and also the hard life he has had. He showed us his hands at one point--they were scarred and marked from years and years of hard work for his family. When we shared with him that he could find peace, rest, new life, and even eternal life in God, he started crying. It was really a sweet moment, and made me think about all the other people that are ready to hear our message, that maybe I haven´t looked at and considered talking to before.

We had a really huge blessing this week--Elder Viñas, from the 70, came to give a couple mission conferences. He talked to the leaders of the mission about how we should avoid needless and useless traditions that take our time and attention away from missionary work, and he talked about the level of dedication and preparation that we should help people to achieve before they are baptized. The really amazing part was after the conference. Elder Viñas wanted to talk to a couple of random missionaries to get a feel for how the mission was doing. President Kähnlein chose my companion and I as 2 of the 4, so I got to have an interview with a general authority. The spirit was really strong, two things that he said stuck out in my mind. 1) Help people to feel the spirit so that they will want to act, and 2) use the Atonement as my big motivation. Using the atonement, I can motivate myself to do about anything.

So, last up, Y was baptized and confirmed this weekend. She is absolutely glowing with light now, it is so incredible to see the change that has taken place in her, how happy and excited she is, how much faith and confidence she has in the Lord, how much commitment she has to keep moving forward. I had the privilege to confirm her and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost on her, and the spirit moved me to say some pretty incredible things (not that I can remember most of them now, but I think they were meant more for her than for me).

So now, time to get back to work. I love you all,

Viviendo el sueño,

Elder Jason Ray

September 11, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

This will be a short letter since I hardly have any time at all. But, this was a crazy week, so I´ll type fast.

We found a couple named J and D knocking doors one day. We had a really powerful lesson answering all their questions from the scriptures, they said that they would read the Book of Mormon to find out if they needed to get married and baptized.

We also found a man named W walking along the street yesterday--he was walking in the same direction as us, after we started talking he invited us to come in and share. It turns out that he really wants to start believing in God, change his life, and get baptized. It was incredible how God led us right to this man who is so ready, so prepared!

Y smoked last sunday, We asked her how she was doing on Wednesday and she started to cry as she told us about it. She then went off alone to say a prayer and ask God for forgiveness. It was incredible, she came back about 10 minutes later absolutely changed, she said that she knew God had forgiven her and would help her to not fall again. She passed her baptismal interview, and is so excited for this saturday that it just makes my day every time we go by.

We went to a baptismal service in the ward next door of a sister named J. She found the missionaries through a friend, asked for the friend to set up a visit, and immediately changed everything necessary in her life to be able to get baptized. The room was so full that the 6 missionaries who were there had to wait out in the hall and just listen to the prayer.

C, who went to church last week, gave up alcohol, coffee, and tea right away. He is also commited to follow God for life. Really great guy.

Now comes the crazy part. Thursday morning Elder B got a call telling him to pack his bag, since he was going to leave on Friday morning. He is now up farther north. Y and J were quite sad to see him go--I was too.

Elder S came down from Illapel, the zone where Elder B was sent, for three days before going home. He was an amazing example of how to finish a mission honorably. I could tell that he had worked hard for two years, that he was dedicated and commited and that he would work miracles in his family and friends once he got home. I had heard about Elder S ever since I was in Quintero, my second ward. He started his mission there, it was quite the privelege to be with him at the end.

I am now with Elder G. He has been a missionary for 6 months now, he came in with Elder S, my son (mission language--the elder I trained). We are super excited to be together, we get along fantastically and have already begun to see miracles.

And my time is already up! I´ll send some pictures of everyone involved next week.

Viviendo el sueño,

Elder Jason Ray

September 3, 2012

Dear Mom and Dad,

To start off: Mom, I think I found your favorite scripture.

"...we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore..." (1 Nephi 17:6)

Other slightly silly news: Thank you so much for the birthday backage. I was so happy to see the church movies, and almost moved to tears by all the wonderful family photos (and everybody is amazed to see how small the kids used to be!) The 3x5 cards, clown-style balloons, and party hat were great additions as well. My companion and the other two Elders that lived with us especially loved the balloons :D

So. To (slightly, but not by much) more serious matters.
We started teaching a lady named F (raspberry) with her 9 year old grandson, I, this week. She is a really nice lady, life (and her family) haven´t treated her as nicely as perhaps she deserved, but she is very excited to share with us now. The rest of her family (except her grandson) is pretty apathetic towards us, but we decided to try pulling everybody in a little bit more by making brownies in their house and giving them to everyone (thanks for the mix, it was delicious!) She has felt the spirit several times and says that she wants to go to church, but she is nervous to start off because of delicate health. This next week we are going to focus a lot on the promises of physical and emotional help that come through Christ´s atonement.
L and B are doing pretty fantastically as well. We found out that they are living together unmarried, which is pretty common here in Chile (in the states marriage and divorce have become almost casual matters, here the state tends to favor single parents and divorces are lengthy and uncomfortable, so a lot of people just live together to "avoid all the hassle."). But, they loved church on Sunday and are all pretty decided now on getting baptized, so the next step is to help them understand that God wants them to be married, too. There was an interesting moment during the week when B told us a couple of things that helped us to understand that she didn´t really understand the Restoration, how Joseph Smith saw the father and the son and received the legitimate authority from God. We came back the next day and taught a really simple, scripturally-based lesson about the restoration, and then within the few days break we had before the next lesson, the Spirit had done all the rest and she said she already knew it was true. Wow, they really are a great family.
I went to the ward next door this week, and got to know an investigator named ML. She had shared withed missionaries years and years ago, but one day she just showed up to church at 10:00 in the morning, stayed for all three hours, and then told the missionaries that she would like them to come by. She is really a fantastic example that it is God that directs this work, and His spirit is the key factor.
We´ve been sharing with a young naval marine named C for the last few weeks. He is a really good guy, hard worker, and recognizes that he needs to let God more into his life. He came to church for the first time this Sunday, loved it, and is set to keep coming from now on. The last time we were in his house, he talked about how every time we go by he feels peace and joy in his heart, and how he wants to have that feeling more. I really love the simple and sweet manifestations of the spirit, like the peace and joy, that people just don´t feel and don´t understand away from the church. Because that same spirit, make every moment so much sweeter, every day tells me again and again that this work is true.
We had lunch this week with the V family. They are also marines, he is retired and she is still working at the front desk in the naval hospital. They had been inactive for several years, and just started coming back to church a few months ago. They talked about how they noticed the difference when they weren´t going to church, how their family was less united, there was less love in their home, things didn´t work out quite as well or move foreward quite like they wanted. We decided to go share with them for a few weeks to help their 8 year old grandson to get ready for baptism, and to help them get back into the flow of living the Gospel.
Finally, Y. She is doing so great, she has so sincerely and completely chagned her life and every day I thank God for leading us to her. She even started sharing the gospel with her mother, who started out pretty touchy but has been softened a little bit by her daughter´s earnestness. She is so excited for her baptism, and you can tell the difference that the Gospel has made in her life when you talk to her.
So, that is what´s up in EM right now. We are still working hard to find people, and I hope to keep filling these letters with miraculous stories in the weeks to come.
Viviendo el sueño,
Elder Jason Ray