Bejamin shall ravin as a wolf

It appears that Austin has already related the chat experience of the week...But I'm going to tell my end!

Just for some background, although the visitors' center sisters are the ones that get to be on the mormon.org chat, we are only scheduled for about an hour a week. The day we went in, we actually got there later than we were scheduled but were able to get on anyways. Most of the computers in the room weren't getting internet EXCEPT the one I was on. If mine hadn't been working, we would have just gone and done other things. After we left the one I was on stopped working. On chat, we get on the server and wait for anyone to send a message. People are sorted out according to availability- there are other people waiting to help in other visitors' centers as well. I cannot stress to you how slim the chances were that James (Austin's investigator) talked to me. Not only that he got onto chat during the only hour during the week that I was there, but that I wasn't talking to someone else at the time and that his message didn't get sorted out to one of the other 30 people online at the time. The odds are absolutely ridiculous. I kind of explained that to him before we left, but not completely.
Anyways.
As soon as James got on and it said that he was from Oxford, I knew he had seen Austin. I froze. He explained that two missionaries had stopped by and he still had some questions. He asked about our belief in evolution and creation, and was overall very respectful and curious. As his questions were pretty much coming to a close, I felt like I should ask who the two missionaries were that came to see him. He said Elder Dressman and Elder Paraso! I was SO happy. I decided to explain my connection to Austin dear and he didn't believe me haha. He thought I was pulling something on him, but I can definitely see why. He kept asking what the chances of that were. I asked if he would see them again and he said he hadn't planned on it but now felt like he had to- that God was trying to tell him something. I encouraged him to meet with them again and he said he was texting him right away. We had to go at that point because we were already over our scheduled hour.
Welp. Cool. Ha! Even on different continents we work well together, Austin and I. Good on ya.

I realized during the week that pretty much everything I said in my rant last week can be encapsulated in James 1:22 and 1:26-
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
I was going to ask why it is the scriptures are always able to say things so much better than I ever can and then I realized that's a really stupid question.
But really! Do you all realize that Satan has a perfect knowledge and faith in Christ's divinity? He knows better than we do who God is! So what? As James also goes on to say in chapter 2, "faith without works is dead." So what is the difference between us and Satan? Not faith! But what we DO we faith- how we act on Christ's name. Think about THAT next time you want to do something stupid.

So yesterday was my first day giving tours at the Smith Family Farm! (Sacred Grove, log home, frame home, visitors' center) I think that's my favorite site to be at our of the four. I just love that one. It was pretty busy so I gave tours on my own. I'm so glad that I get to serve up here in this area!

Something I've been thinking about for a while now is being strong. I've talked a tad about this idea before, namely considering the character of Christ, but it kind of keeps coming back. Come what may, I don't want to be someone that people need to worry about. I know that my parents, Donna and Dan, my extended family, and my friends will always be concerned with how I'm doing because they love me, but I don't ever want people to have to WORRY about me. Does that make sense? Late at night when you're trying to get to sleep I hope no one is tossing and turning because I'm struggling. Austin shouldn't have to spend time with his fingers crossed that I'm going to make it through whatever it is that is happening or that I'm going to get along ok. It needs to be known and understood that I'm always going to be okay! When you hear that something happens I want you to be able to say, "She's a strong girl. She'll pull through just fine. I'm not worried." rather than, "She's fragile...I hope she can handle this." And the thing is for the most part it's up to me! And it's up to each of us individually! We can become the kind of people who don't waver in storms. The kind of people who can be counted on when someone needs something or when something really needs to be done. You have to be the strong one now.

Last thing for the week, I was reading in 2 Corinthians 4 and I found a few verses that really get right to the heart of what I'm doing up here in snowy New York.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.
13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.

Well, friends I don't have that much more to say. It's really more of a thinking/processing time at the moment. Everything I've written above finished processing during the week. Maybe next week the stuff that's processing right now will be finished. What am I some kind of oven? Ridiculous.
Love, love.
Bye now
Hermana Ray

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALY! I've had a package sitting on my desk for a week. The first time I went to send it, I got an AMAZING package from HER right before and then wanted to write something else so I waited, wrote a letter, put it in the package, went back, and then realized I didn't put the address on! Tried next day. They were closed! And then the next day. Lunch break! And then the next day was Sunday. I am...horrible at this. But there is something in the mail now and should get there sometime this week. Love you Al!
PPS I'm sending a picture of Sister Fetuli and me! One is from this weekend at the Sacred Grove and the other is from my first transfer with Sister Hess on the right. Sister Fetuli is a lot happier than she looks in pictures ha
PPPS Yesterday the Senior couple shooed us to the basement to hide for a good half hour because there's a man that comes every week to try and talk to the sisters who...they don't think is quite harmless. Scary! But kind of cool! Danja, danja danja.
PPPPS (This is getting out of hand) This week we were helping someone move apartments and they pulled out a candle with seashells in it and I was THROWN into seriously missing the beach. What is that?! Really it was painful. I need to be promised multiple beach trips after this is all said in done to be healed. Ow. Ow. Need. Beach. One day!

No te preocupes

Oh, hi!
This will probably not be as organized as last week. It seems my head has been going a bazillion miles a minute! Before my mission I was always thinking about something and adding to theories and whatnot, but now the material that I have to think about everything has multiplied 10 times over. For example, we spend most of our days in trailer parks because I'm on the poorer side of Shortsville. However, yesterday we walked in a more upper-middle class area. I realized something: no matter who it is, what religion they profess to practice, how much money they make or how old they are, we unfortunately share something in common. God is being put second, third, fourth, last and anywhere but first! There is no religion or faith that exempts people from getting their priorities straight...sorry! Let's think about this for a second. First, I admit that I am often harder on people who are faithful because there's much less of an excuse. But really- if you know that God lives and that we are expected to pray, do you have an excuse for not praying? If you know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God, is there any lifestyle or schedule that exempts you from reading? So often when we're talking to people they say things like, "well I believe, but I'm really too busy to read every day." By now it really kind of makes me laugh. I've said things like that, too. "I'm too tired." "It's not a big deal." "I'll read tomorrow." "I have too many other things to do." Basically what all of those things mean is: "This isn't important enough for me. I believe in a supreme creator, but what I want to do is more urgent, so I don't really care to give Him the time of day."
Ouch. Back up. Rethink?
It's just interesting to me. That's all.

Man sometimes I wish my brain would slow down for a second.
So more mission info, yeah? I love Sister Fetuli! I'm so glad she's my trainer. She's also the type that I love her more every day- once I got past a lot of the cultural differences and stuff. I'm so glad that I get the chance to learn more about Tonga and about getting over my narrow perception of life. We pretty much spend all of our time in the car going back and forth between two songs on this one cd. We are happy that way, thank you. At least for now haha but we both have a bunch of other cds so I think we'll be alright.
There are only about 90 missionaries in my mission, which is pretty dadgum tiny. Out of those 90, a whopping 30 of them are sisters! That's crazy! And it's because we have the visitors center :) I think I know almost all of the sisters who are serving here right now and they are seriously all some of the greatest people I've ever met. I am so blessed to be serving in an area with such amazing people. How lucky can I get?! Every week we also get district meeting with a smaller group and we go to lunch afterwords. It's nice to have times like that where we regroup and kind of heal from battery haha. Moderation is key. 

Ok do you all realize that in less than a week Austin will have been out for 6 months? And I've already almost been out for 3? That's crazy! The adjustments slow things down but once I get used to the swing of things the weeks start picking up speed. This week I thought a lot about how I've changed already. I'm definitely still weird and me and whatnot, but the parts of me that were selfish at times or weak are slowly being rooted out. Thank goodness for that! I know Austin and I would have been ok if we hadn't served missions, but having this time to realize that my focus should be upwards has really helped me to be better for him, for my family, and all of my friends in the future. It's really just not about me, you know? I kind of thought it was for a little while there.

I forgot to mention this last time! We ARE a blogging and internet mission. So I have a new mission blog and facebook, but its kind of like being reincarnated as a missionary. We get a bit of time every week, but its mainly just to post things that people who live around here can read and such. I'm still not sold on the idea because for the most part when I get on facebook I automatically feel like I'm wasting time that that irks me, but at least it's not very often.

Ok one last little theory thing! I've been thinking about what traits make people successful. I'm not even referring to money, but traits that lead to stability and such. I know there's that book- "7 Habits of Highly Successful People" or something, but this is kind of a different spin. I was thinking about how there are really two levels. The first level is made up of things that anyone can do- it's not a character trait, it's something that anyone can implement into their lives. I came up with 6. Successful people are organized, clean, moderate, healthy, considerate and they are planners. Now, for things that tend to be character traits that help people to naturally become more successful. When these traits are added to the first 6 things I listed, rarely do you find someone who has NOT been successful. In my limited experience, anyways. Ok so the 6 traits I came up with are: courteous, intelligent, driven, visionary, observant, and optimistic.
I think sometimes we get frustrated because we don't separate those two trains of thought. We think, "well I'm just not supposed to be successful. It's easier for them." Well, maybe they have some traits that lend them towards success. However! I'm convinced that the first set- the things that we can become on our own, without the help of a predisposition- can lead anyone there. Sure, it would take a ton of diligence, but it's definitely doable! I don't know. Maybe I'm just blowing smoke here. Any thoughts? Thanks for putting up with my rambling, ya'll :)

Ah one more thing! Amanda Fowlkes' family (Jared and Eric) are up here in the Canandaigua ward! And they're GREAT! Jared teaches gospel principles and he's great! He's the only one I've really gotten to talk to so far, though. I was stunned when he said they already had the low down on me and here I had never seen him before haha. Busted! Anyways that was a nice surprise. I love connections! Also, everyone here is stunned that I don't have an accent hahaha shows what they know about the South.

Ok well that's it for this week. Have a great one!
Love,
Hermana Ray

Ofa late

Hello all! Florida is great!!

Just kidding. I'm in the arctic. :) But really HELLO FROM NEW YORK!!! First things first, New York is COLD. Although! It appears that I am already kind of acclimating because this morning we went running in about 4 inches of snow and I only wore a hoodie and I was ok! Actually if I had worn gloves I would have been ok. Still, quite the improvement. For those of you who have known me through winter (cough Austin are you reading this) your jaws are likely on your keyboard. Well GOOD. Hmph. Look at me triumphing snow and all that. Yeah.

Also, everyone says that this is the mildest winter in the past decade. Man does God love me.

Next! My trainer! Sister Fetuli is from Tonga and is learning English. She is happy all the time! But not the annoying bouncy I-want-to-kill-you happy. Just like content. Nothing really ruffles her feathers. It's nice. My favorite thing so far is that she says "da funny fing is" all the time. It doesn't even fit the context. But it's so good! "Da funny fing is we need to go to da store." Hahahaha sorry. Love it. So you're probably all wondering how that works out with my Spanish. Since this area is not highly Spanish, I just teach hispanic investigators on my own. There are only 4 Spanish speaking sisters in the mission. President says that eventually I'll definitely be in one of those areas, but for now he feels that I should be here.

Here! Ha I didn't even tell you my first area! I'm in Shortsville. What a silly name. We spend most of our time in a town called Canandaigua. What a BOSS name. Also I live in Farmington. Less boss.

President Christianson is AMAZING. Him and his wife are absolutely wonderful. They care so much about us and they are also both really smart which I love. Our first day here we got to go to some of the sites, including the Sacred Grove, of which I think he sent a picture home. It was great.

Ok more things about New York:
-The houses here are all old and beautiful! Besides the trailer parks. There is very little development here but people always seem to be moving. Where do they move you might ask? Like...5 minutes down the road. All the time. Hopping from house to house all within the same everything. It's so strange to me! But whatever works I suppose. I'll be sending pictures of the beautiful houses before too long.
-EVERYONE smokes here. When I first heard that before I started meeting people I thought, "Very funny. I'm from North Carolina. I'll be fine." Wrong! Everyone smokes here! If I come home with lung cancer...just kidding I'll be fine.
-I can't find cracked wheat anywhere! What the what?! Here I was all excited to start my new breakfast life and no dice. Instead I have been eating oatmeal which is a sad sad substitute. No matter. Thanks for NOTHING New York.
-Never use the highway! There are tollbooths everywhere that actually charge you. In Utah there are signs saying you will get charged but no tollbooths. Not here! No no. So you always use by roads to get everywhere. Also I am starting out driving here since Sister Fetuli is aversed to driving in NY. I can't say I blame her because she's from a small island in the pacific. This white stuff doesn't agree with her background. I slid once this week but my brilliant Drivers Ed information came back to my mind and we were safe :)
-My acne se fue! Tis gone! The east coast is BRILLIANT! Kinda cool, yeah? I'm ok with that. One less thing to worry about!
-One of my investigators is from Puerto Rico (one that I teach by myself since she's Spanish) thought that I was a native Spanish speaker! She just thought I had been born in Spain since I'm pasty white and I have a "funny accent." Ha! Folks do you know what this means?! I can consider myself fluent!! Yeeeaaahhh! I slipped up one night cause I was rill tired and that's when she asked what my first language was. Before then she couldn't tell! Yes yes yes!
-The Dressmans sent me Skyline chili a while back and this week I ate it...it might just be that I miss the Dressman an INSANE amount...but it was really good! What is happening to me?!!
-Right now we only work at the Visitors Centers on weekends because it is too blasted cold and not many people come out. Therefore, we are full proslyeting right now and will switch to half and half about April or May.
-I'm going to keep my address the same my whole mission- the Perinton Halls address- because when I move they'll still be able to get it to me. That's the address of the mission home and we have meetings every week so they are great about getting everything to me. When I first got to NY I had about 6 letters and a package waiting for me. Oh happy day! I could have cried from pure joy. CRIED I tell you.

Ok if I missed anything then let me know...I'm open to questions :) I'm sure I'll have a lot more to talk about next week. Oh and I'll always be emailing on Mondays now. I've had a lot to think about of course, but it's still processing and I'm not sure how to get it down just yet. Next week I will!
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Que tengan una buena semana,

Hermana Ray

PS Da funny fing is that my companion actually says "Sisteh Ray" because that's just how it comes out due to her accent. First Elder Poirier, now my trainer. Perrrfect.

Natalie and President & Sister Christianson

Hasta ver

SO. MUCH. NEWS.

First things first! My district left me at the beginning of the week :( I did cry slightly, but only like tiny leprachaun tears. I miss them. They were top shelf. Two stayed behind however, including my old companion and Hermana Greer. Hermana Pyle has been complaining about pain in her knee so they're keeping her back. She had an MRI a few days ago and there's nothing wrong...but she says she can't climb stairs so she's staying at the MTC for physical therapy. Hermana Greer had one or two slight emotional breakdowns about a week ago so they decided to reassign her to Denver, Colorado (still Spanish speaking) to be trained and then she'll head to Paraguay. This week she's been a lot better and she now leaves the same time I do...which is...THIS MONDAY AT WAY TOO EARLY!

So starting Wednesday I have been doing Visitors' Center training! Can I just say it has been so good. Amazing, in fact! I wish I could hug all of you who are glued to the screen because it is that good. Saturday night we'll be up at Temple Square helping to give tours! Wait that's tomorrow night. Whaaaat! Stoked. But that's not even the coolest part. I'll get to that. First I want to talk about my bomb.com district. There are 8 of us total- Sisters Madsen, McNamara, Earl and I are all going to Hill Cummorah and the other three are all from Utah. Sister Poon is from Hong Kong and she is going to the Visitors Center in Oakland, California. Sister Aruwiti (said like Ah-ru-wee-sis) is from Kidipest (um spelling what has happened to you) and she is going to the Visitors Center in St. George. Sister Poulson is one of the first Sisters to serve in the Portland, Oregon Visitors Center since it opens at the end of the month, and Sister T (No way am I spelling her name) is Tongan heading to the New Zealand Visitors Center! (DAD ITS YOUR PEOPLE) They are all SO wonderful. We don't really have companions right now ha so I just switch around who I teach with. Last night I taught with Sister Poon and it was really really great. One of the best experiences I've had teaching here I think. Her English is great and although we have different styles of teaching we were able to listen to each other well and it turned out great!

Ok so I'll get to what I think is the coolest part. Go to Mormon.org. Vayan! Do you see the chat button? Chat with live missionaries? Um...that's us! The Visitors center sisters! I have now been trained and yesterday I got to start. We always chat with our companions online as well, but its just an opportunity for anyone to get on and ask questions. Obviously we get a lot of dumb people with nothing better to do than waste their time and everyone elses, but even just yesterday I got to talk with people who had legitimate questions and wanted to understand better. It's great because sometimes people are embarrassed to ask a question or they don't have much time to meet with someone. Through chat we can set up return appointments (online) as well as help them meet with the missionaries who live next to them. Yesterday I talked to someone from the Netherlands and someone in California. Because of the way they have the rotation set up and because of New Zealand, there is someone on chat 24/7. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be one of the people who does it! So if you have a friend who has a question, or if you have questions (anyone can get on and ask) then you know what to do! I'm a little nervous about some of the sisters that get on, but overall it's been really great so far. Also as a bonus, I'm allowed to chat Spanish speakers as well as English :) Woot!

Ok so I leave this Monday at 4am! Next week's email should be dazzling I would suppose. So much is happening! POR FIN! I realized that I'm really going to miss other people I've come to be close with here- two districts especially. After my district left and before I started VC training I was taken in from my homeless state from a district that came in a week after mine. There's also a random district down the hall that I've become super close to. Probably because of volleyball. Did you know that volleyball brings people together? Sometimes it makes them enemies but I'm not competitive enough for that.

One last thing! Please don't send any more dearelders. They don't print them on Saturdays or Sundays and then by Monday I'm gone so they will just trash any I get- it's not worth the money to forward them since it's a free service. Cartas, cartas! Envienme cartas, por favor! Thanks to everyone for how much support you've given me over the past 10 weeks. The MTC alone has been such a great experiences.
Miss and love many of you (Sorry but I don't know who reads my blog so the "everyone" word ain't comin)
Cheerios and cheetos!
Hermana Ray

PS. If anyone actually likes my swimming thoughts sorry I haven't had time to write them today. Next week! If you don't like them, Merry Friday!