Staying in Shallotte!! :)

I guess I have about five minutes to write but I just really don't feel a need to write about my week. Maybe my priorities are out of whack but I just wonder why I spend time writing these haha. I guess it's something I've struggled with my whole mission.

Knitting went well. I'm terrible at it. Anything I don't learn quickly doesn't go very well for me. ;) haha

Umm... Sister M is great. She gave me a back tickle when I was feeling sad yesterday.

We finally got to teach a lot this week! 21 lessons! It was fantastic. We are working on trying to get more of the members to come out with us to lesson and really the only thing holding us back is that we get so busy we don't set up time to call people and then how are we supposed to have them come with us if they don't even know we have lessons.

One of our main returning less actives, B, moved to a different county, we'll say.We don't get to teach him for a long while and I'm really sad about it but the Lord has comforted us and let us know that he will be okay up there in Columbus county.

I felt like Sister M and I taught really well in Zone training. It was a pretty neat instruction. We taught about conversion from head to heart. We compared the conversion story of Alma the Younger to my dad's story and it was really fun teaching.

We had this member there (he drove a set of Elders) and he is super passionate about missionary work. I think he converted a few years ago and he just LOVES missionaries. He doesn't even live in our mission boundaries and yet he will drive missionaries to transfers whenever they need a ride. He came to the Zone training and he was really supportive of our district and of our teaching!

He also told me my dad must have been a rock star to get into Davidson College in North Carolina! haha :)

Another highlight of the week was that a young mother, M, expressed A LOT of questions and concerns about the church to us when she took us out to dinner one night. She self-proscribed that she should take the lessons again because she really doesn't know if she has a testimony. It was a miracle! She wants to come back to church, as long as she can find out for herself if the Church is true. It has been amazing teaching her. Her openness and honesty has been so wonderful. I absolutely love teaching her. :)

There are so many amazing things happening in Shallotte. I'm so glad I get to stay here for my last transfer. It's going to be an exciting next 6 weeks.

I absolutely love the Lord and His Church and I'm working on having even more love than I already do for these people here in North Carolina.

Each day is a day to improve and better ourselves. Each day we can repent and become more like the Savior. Each day we can offer ourselves the gift Christ has already given to us. The gift of being freed from guilt and sin. The gift to be enabled to do things that we never thought we could before. 

Heavenly Father is so aware of all of our needs. He has answered so many of my prayers this week in a miraculous way. It is so humbling to see Him work miracles in my life. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Keep the faith and share the gospel. You now what they say... "Every member a missionary!"

Sister K Ray

This week in Shallotte!

Us with our Christmas cookies :)

Honestly. I have to write another email to all those people who may actually read this email? hahaha jk jk missionaries aren't supposed to have a bad attitude.

Monday- We walked around Wal-mart and I got a new shirt haha. We also taught M and B a lesson about setting goals for the new year. They have wonderful Christ-centered goals and I know they can accomplish them! Living the word of wisdom and becoming closer to a temple recommend are both on their minds so I would say that was a good start. We got to see our ward missionary, Sis. S, practice her songs for the ward talent show for NYE (that we didn't get to go to because of curfew... oh well) and it was really fun. She sang "My girls" about her daughters and a few others. It was really sweet.

Christmas Day making blankets!

Tuesday- We had our weekly accounting call with our district leader. We have a really great district leader right now. It's interesting that all my district leaders but one have all been brand new district leaders at first. It has been fun to see how different people can be! We taught, and did a lot of contacting in stores because we haven't been able to find as many people during the day. It was amazing who the Lord put in our path way because we had righteous desires! :)

Wednesday- District meeting. Great as usual. We got to see a LA//PM family, N & T and their foster kids. We love them so much and they are sooooooooooooooo funny. :) We had a huge NYE dinner at the Little's with apple pie and cheeseburgers. :)

Blowing bubbles at the Wilmington Sisters' apartment!

Thursday- Non-Proselyting. We went to Wilmington and spent some time with the sisters there. It was such a blast. We made waffles for dinner and it was so much fun. 

Friday- We taught a lot and did service at the Little's thrift store and it was a blast of a day. We ended the day celebrating a birthday of one of our favorite youth girls in the ward!!

OKAY> THAT'S ENOUGH NOW! WE are going to have pizza and learn to knit at our favorite British non members house. hahaha We're so pumped.

This week definitely strengthened my testimony in the fact that if we have a desire to do good, we can do it! We saw the harder we worked, the more we wanted to work, the more results we saw. It was amazing what a little prayer and a lot of faith did for us!

Christmas Day with M.

I love serving in Shallotte with Sister M. Our idea of misisonary work have been molded so differently by our experiences, but we have been able to find a great blend together and we work really well together. We are looking forward to the next 6 weeks together (hopefully.... I really don't want to get transferred... but then again... it could be exciting.) But I'll let y'all know next week. :)

Thank you for any little effort you put forth to live the gospel. Keep praying for your families and the things that matter most to you. Focus on the Savior and you will be much happier. Read the Book of Mormon and your days will be filled with added light and clarity. I promise that's true! Try it out.

Love ya lots. Can't wait to hear from everyone next week. Oh wait, yes I can! We have lots of lives to touch in the meantime! Yupp. I'm a total sister missionary! and I love it! :)))))

SISTER RAY YO YO YO

The week of Christmas!!

Christmas Eve selfie

Woah woah woah. I kind of need to write my group email! What to say, what to say!!!

Well, I had a wonderful week. I blew bubbles on Monday, ate at Chick Fil A on Tuesday, on Wednesday I got new PJ's, on Thursday I ate gizzard gravy, on Friday I drove to Knightdale, on Saturday I cracked a walnut to find money inside and on Sunday I cooked pork chops. Oh wow. That has a lot to do about food. Whoops. haha What else did we do? 

We taught!  The number of lessons is starting to peak up again so that's really good. The new year is going to be great and everything should work out swell! Hehe

I went on exchange to Wilmington with one my favorite sisters! We came out from the MTC together and have served in the same zone almost our whole missions. We talked and talked and talked and it was the perfect little Christmas present. It was lovely. :)

The missionaries in this mission are so faithful! We had a leadership meeting in Knightdale on Friday and seeing and hearing their testimonies strengthened me so much.

A departing missionary said, "The Lord really loves His representatives." I know that is true! I am so blessed. :)

So that pretty much sums up my week! Sounds fun, am I right?!

Our Christmas cards-we are so loved!!

Well. I got to Skype my family and that was excellent as you can imagine. We taught a lot of less-active and active member lessons this week and it was such a treat. The scriptures we most commonly shared were in Alma 7:10-13. :) READ THEM! They are great. :)

What else?

I guess I had so much time to ponder on how much I love the Lord this week. It is amazing the Christ would condescend to earth so that we could be saved. His life is full of light and love. His life shows us the way back to our Heavenly Father. :)

Christmas Eve breakfast for lunch :)

I spent more time this week writing back to all my lovely friends and family who wrote so sorry this is shorter this week.

I really appreciate all the kind words in email, letter, or package form. I'm so grateful for all the people who do so much for me!

Being on a mission is so great! Especially at Christmas time! :)

Christmas Eve was probably my favorite. We went to the K's house and it was just lovely. We had spaghetti and salad. They told us we could stay as long as we wanted and Sister m played piano and it was great.

I found David Archie's FB webcast things on lds.org and Sis M and I have been LOVING IT! GO David! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

"Food Week"

OH MY GOODNESS THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!!! :))))

But, we will call it "food week" because in the last 10 days, we have been offered two meals a day every day. Boy did we feel sick! And loved! haha so yesterday we didn't have anyone feeding us and it was a nice treat to be able to pick whatever we could eat. haha I LOVE SHALLOTTE!!! :) A few of those meals were also due to the fact that we had missionary meetings in Raleigh and stuff like that.

Moving on...

I wrote this the other day and I really feel like this is what I should share this week. It is kind of a reflection on my mission thus far.

Also, people at this library do not know how to whisper... LOL...

"So goes your mission, so goes your life." From one of my sister training leaders in a district meeting

If that is true, I am absolutely looking forward to to my post-mission life. I've realized and learned so many important things on my mission and it''s hard to relay just what they have meant to me. I share some thoughts in hope that the Spirit will be able to touch your hearts as you read this.

William Palmer, who traveled as a pioneer in the Martin & Willie Handcart company, said the following, "Did you ever hear of a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism. [We] came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities."

He goes on to say, "Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then, nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay and I am thankful I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company."

In no way am I saying that mission is as hard as crossing the plains (but then again, who am I to compare trials?) But either way, the principle is true... I would not trade the heartache I have felt on my mission for anything because that is when I have truly come to know the love and care Heavenly Father has for me.

A sister I serve with once said that her first area and her tiny place they lived in is sacred to her. Because that is where she came to know the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. How special to call your mission sacred to you. And I completely agree.

In a letter, my dad said I would soon be at at time in my mission where it would be hard to ignore how little time I have left. I am definitely at that time. He also mentioned how he trusted the Holy Ghost would soon direct my thoughts back to what I could do now for the area and for the people here. I would be inspired about how to focus on the work and enjoy my service as a full-time missionary. That is also true. He said he can still remember the last few months of his mission fondly, but now it's all a memory. That reminded me of a scripture my trainer shared with me. It is  Jacob 7:26. "...passed way like as it were unto a dream..." And I don't doubt that is how I will feel about my mission when I return home... (But for now, I still have a lot of work to do!!!! :))

I am so lucky to still be on my mission and absolutely loving what I am doing. I have been reassured time and time again that I am doing exactly what I have been called to do.

Many times a missionary will feel remorse and wonder if they have accomplished all the Lord wanted them to. It is hard not to get trapped in "supposedly impressive statistics." (Elder Bednar) 

I went on exchange this week and it got confirmed to me (again) that I have done what was supposed to be done on my mission thus far. No, I'm not done yet, but I can trust that I will be guided by the Spirit to feel that way tin two months as well.

President Bernhisel shared a scripture at Zone Conference this past week that really helped me feel even more confident in that fact. It was an answer to an unsaid prayer of mine. He read Alma 26:31. The fruits of labor has been many! I especially love how that can be manifested through the love I have towards others.

At this time, I have truly experienced the Doctrine and Covenants 18 experience (what President calls it), in a way. Although we are hoping and praying for M to get baptized in January, at this time time, I have only helped one person enter into the waters of baptism. (D&C 18:15) I found "the one" (Elder Bednar). But in a whole other sense, I have helped numerous people repent, change their ways, and come closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that brings me exceedingly great joy!!!

I have experienced the Ether 12:27 experience . Weaknesses of mine have been uncovered and overcome (and still working on some of them). I have experienced the Alma 17 experience in reuniting with my fellow missionary friends after long journeys away. Second only to my excitement to see and spend time with my family, I am looking forward so much to have that same experience with my returned missionary friends as well as my friends back home who are still living and loving the gospel. 

What to say, what to say, today, from Sister Ray...

Well, this week went well. I think that's how I start out all my emails.

Sister Kriz & a favorite Sister leader of hers

We had a sisters's conference in Raleigh and it was amazing seeing all the sisters that I have served with in the past. It kinda felt a little empty with some of my favorites already home, but luckily I still had a lot that I loved out there too.

The conference was spirit-filled and the lunch was delicious and beautifully decorated! It was a blast! :) They even had an acoustic guitar player strumming as we ate. haha. Then they said, chocolate cake or banana pudding and gave us our dessert. Then they came back around and said, Krispy Kreme donut or chocolate covered peanuts for your take home dessert? haha They spoiled us like crazy.

Apparently most of the women preparing the food were missionary moms, which made sense when we saw the lil lil tears in their eyes as we sang "Called to Serve" in thanks for the wonderful meal. The Spirit was so strong in that room. It was amazing to be a part of.

Elders as Wise Men at Shallotte Christmas Party

We also had our Christmas party for the ward on Friday. It was a hit! So well-decorated, such good food, and the best part... So many people came! Less active members, investigators, friends of members and so forth! #GetThemInTheBuilding I just made that hashtag up and it's kind of dumb but just go with it. Anyway... it was a lovely event and it was so fun talking with everyone! :) 

We didn't teach as much as usual, which was kind of a bummer for me, I talked myself through it. haha I do a lot of that these days. 

Decorations for the Shallotte Ward Christmas Party

We did have a very powerful lesson with a less active member named Bro. L about the Atonement. I loved bearing my testimony that Christ truly did suffer and die for us. And not only that, but that He lives again today. Bro L. is probably my favorite person to teach here in Shallotte. He just makes you feel better while you are there and rejuvenated before you leave! And...  it is not spiritually exhausting to teach him at all! He's so intelligent and he just gets the gospel! He's 80 years old and I just absolutely adore going to his home and teaching him the gospel.

Admittedly, we haven't been using our new and returning member form as much as we should be, but we have used it with him and is wonderful! He wants to make it back to church every Sunday and eventually to the temple! He came for the first time last week and it was fantastic! I was sooooooo happy he came! :))))

What other miracles did we see this week? Well, I saw a miracle at how well Sis M and I get along. It's so fun! Our teaching styles are very different, but at least we get along really well so we can work through it easily. With Sis. B we taught so well together that I forgot that could be a challenge to overcome! All of my companions have been so different and I'm so grateful that the Lord placed them in my path exactly when I needed them! :) It has been a miracle to see how Heavenly Father plays such a big part in our lives, if we let him.

I'm so grateful for my call as a missionary. I think I say that every week. But honestly, I only have a few more months that I can say that.

As for now, I can say that I absolutely love being a full-time missionary. I am a representative of the Savior Jesus Christ! What could be better than that!? I have learned what the word discipleship means, even if I fall short in living up to the gracious and holy calling that I have. It's amazing that each one of us can overcome our weaknesses through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I absolutely love the people here. Missionaries say that all the time. And that is because it is true! I love North Carolina so much and the people here often help me to keep going when the days feel darker than they should.

I hope everyone is taking the time to reflect on their personal relationship with Jesus Christ this season. Give as He would! Love as He would! :))))

Love ya lots.

This week--Starting off December right!!

This week has been incredible! And stressful, and crazy, and full of laughs. Tuesday we drove up to transfers and I said farewell to my lil companion. So weird. A person is a part of your every waking moment and then they get shipped away and you usually have no idea when the next time you will see them is! Luckily I will get to see Sister B at the Sister's conference on Thursday. I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends! So I already knew who my companion was going to be because President sent out an email to a few of us the day before. So that relaxed me a little. It was definitely weird saying goodbye to so many departing missionaries! I have served with a LOT of them and I just hated (and loved) to see them go! It's just such a weird concept!

Sister M is my new companion! She is from Idaho! Woo! Potatoes! Shout out to Amelia! I mean Sister Knuth. Anyway, she has 7 siblings and grew up part time on a farm! Woo! Haha. She's great. We laugh so much and we are running outside every morning. It has been a big adjustment but we are loving it. Our first planning session was a crack up. We are sooooo different! But it's okay and we are finding out what matters to each other and it has been getting better each and every day! I felt the Spirit so strongly those first couple days together and that really assured me that we were supposed to be together. We are ready for a lot of miracles to happen. She turned 20 in October and did a year of college in Idaho before she came on her mission. She has a very interesting family background and she is open about sharing with me... so it's great! She loves the Lord so much and she is filled with sooooo much faith! I need some more of that!

I told her on the way home how long I've been on my mission and she didn't know I only had two transfers left. Thinking about that now... I wonder how long I could have kept that from her... hahahha jk jk jk, I would never. But that would be pretty funny! I'd be like, I'm getting transferred, and she would ask how I already knew and I would say... well... I'm going HOME! hahahhaha jk jk it would come out way before that at Zone meetings when we have to bear our testimony and all of that stuff. Just a funny note to think about.

Okay so this week was crazy!!! We were in a parade, we taught a lot, I had a headache like all week because I'm so high-strung and I wanted her first week here to be perfect haha. Well, she does love the area and we are super blessed to be here but I really need to settle down a little.

More on the parade... We were in the town of Shallotte parade with the ward's float! We walked (/ran) behind it and handed out so many pass-along cards! It was such a blast. The Elders in our district came as well and it was a really fun time. We were almost too late and so we were sprinting by all the floats trying to catch ours so that we could still make the parade. I was sooooo frantic and I'm surprised Sis. M still likes me after how stressed I was. LOL. Struggle.

It was such a blessing to see the light and joy in people's faces as we gave them pass along cards depicting the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. It was fantastic. Just hearing parents say, "This is the real reason we celebrate" was fantastic. I heard one girl say, "That's my church!" and I had never seen her before so I made sure to figure out her name. Turns out she lives in South Carolina but it was funny that my instant missionary reaction was already wanting to reactivate her! haha Lawlz. I love this lifestyle.

One of the Elders looked a little ridiculous as one of the three wise men, with a tiara on his head. Hahaha, so funny. He said, "I will do anything for the church!" It was hilarious. As will I! I have promised that I will do my very best in building up the kingdom of God on earth and I am so happy to do it. I absolutely love to serve and minister to the people here in North Carolina. I love teaching the gospel and I love how much the Atonement of Jesus Christ enables me to do. I am such a better person because of my knowledge of the gospel. :)

What else happened this week? :)

Sister M has had a lot of "firsts" this week! First time bearing her testimony in sacrament meeting! First time being a parade! First time seeing the ocean (well, that will come after we finish emails)! It has been so fun to spend time with her and get to know her more. She is a great listener and she really laughs at my lifeeeeeeeeeee. In a good way. Sometimes I'm a mess haha.

We had zone training this week and it was incredible. Our zone leader made a comment about how we could receive revelation if we wanted to! I didn't lack faith, but I just hadn't thought about it specifically for that day! Revelation came! It was amazing. They taught about how to have faith in planning. I came away so much more faith-filled and wanting to include the Lord more than just my own logic. Sister M walked away feeling like she needed to be more logical and diligent in her planning. It made us meet right in the middle for our day-before planning struggle! Not even together 24 hours in our companionship and we were already being led by the Spirit to change our ways and adjust to meet in the middle.

Another amazing and "small" tender mercy happened last night. We had to send in our weekly key indicators before we watched the Christmas devotional at 8pm. We were sitting outside a member's house trying to frantically count them up so that we could send them in on time. We got them all ready and we sent them. In that moment, I realized that Sister B had previously told me that we do not get service past a certain area in the country. We were DEFINITELY past that area. As soon as I made that known to Sister M, the text had sent off. I was surprised, but proceeded to attempt to send a quick reply to another text before we walked in. The service went to absolutely no bars in a blink of an eye. This event had such a profound impact on my night.

We walked into the house and sat down for the devotional. As I pondered what happened, I realized how Heavenly Father was SOOOOO mindful of us in that moment. We had just come from an extremely stressful lesson and travelled to the next home with about 5 minutes to spare. We couldn't have pulled over before the "dead zone" and sent in our numbers, even if I had thought about it. Which I didn't. The phone had just enough service to send one lil text, in one in lil instant, for one lil missionary companionship that was trying to be obedient to their leaders. The Lord provided a way! And not only did He make it possible... but the Spirit helped me to understand how aware God was of me in that instant.

Heavenly Father doesn't just help us get done what we need to get done. Yes, He does do that, but He does so much more! He makes things lighter, He makes things happier, He makes us realize how much good we have around us.

I'm so grateful for the experiences I have every day to build my faith in a loving Heavenly Father above and also in His Son Jesus Christ.

The Christmas devotional was amazing and I am so grateful for the organization of the Church as well as the gospel that is taught within in. If you haven't watched, you should! :) It's amazing.

I love my calling. I love the Lord. I love and my friends and I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas season. :)

THANKSGIVING WAS A HOOT!

Sis Kriz & Sis B at Lake Tabor

Seriously! It was so much fun! :)))))

We went to Nikuna (out of our area) to go with a family from the ward's extended family. It was seriously such a blast. Going into uncharted territories! Woo! It was seriously so fun.

Before that though, we went to the D's and made tie blankets and had a lil breakfast. We told Sister D the pumpkin story to help her through her almost breakdown about how the blanket fuzz was breaking off haha. Classic. The things we learn and apply on our missions! ;) 

Umm... what else? After that was when we went to Nikuna.  We had a wonderful Southern Thanksgiving. Butter beans, gravy with gizzards, chicken bog, dressing (aka STUFFING), turkey, ham, etc, etc. It was so good! :) haha All week I had been talking about all I wanted for dessert was pecan pie and guess what they had! Yup! Pecan pie. I think Bro. D and I were the only ones to even touch it though. haha Anywayyyyy...

Later we went to the Bishop's house for a second round. We just kinda sampled there food and we got some longed for mashed potatoes and mac n cheese! haha gotta love it. Holidays can be so great as missionaries. We definitely were well-loved, and well taken care of and I trust the same will be true of Christmas and New Year's.

One of my friends in the mission calls Thanksgiving "practice Christmas" hahaha too funny. 

Hmmm... what else?

On the note of Christmas, spread the word that I do not need or want any candy or stuff like that! And I'm good with socks and scarves as well. Not saying that to be a brat or ungrateful, I just sort of have a money complex and I really don't want people spending their money on me, especially when I am trying to eat healthy so my tummy can feel better and I can feel healthier! And I already have a lot of socks and I'm really particular about what kind of scarves I like haha. I know, I know, but seriously I just had to write it ... But... life goes on if and when that happens... I'll be fine and I will still express gratitude to all who gave me such nice sentiments! :)

This week was super crazy busy with Thanksgiving, a meeting up near Raleigh, and Sister B getting ready to transfer. We had such a fun last week together. She is so funny and makes me laugh a lot. She is such a wonderful listener and she is incredible to teach with. I will definitely miss her!

I'm excited for the new challenges and opportunities that are ahead! :)

What did we teach about this week? Mostly... Jesus Christ! What else is there?! 

So I was reflecting on how I only have two transfers left in the mission. My "One Sentence Mission Advice" paper came to mind. I thought I would relay them on here and talk about how much I absolutely love being a missionary.

"Share your natural and kind personality." Dad

"Love and obedience are essential."

"Be your best, but don't beat yourself up when you're not perfect." Jenn

"Look for the positive in every situation."

"Assume everyone you meet is going through something really difficult." Julieann

"You are called to sere, so serve others." Kevin

"Have fun." Ken

These words have meant so much to me throughout my time on my mission! I have looked at them from time to time and they are some of the most important and valuable things I could ever hear. 

I asked myself who I wanted to become by the end of my mission, this is what I have come up with: "A true disciple of Christ who is happy and willing to share the gospel constantly. One who will sacrifice anything and consecrate everything, who is focused, and filled with charity for companions, missionaries, ward members, and investigators."

WOO! I love representing the Savior. Even though I fall short every day. The amazing part is that His gospel supplies an unending supply of hope through the power or repentance. I have a sincere testimony that we are  able to change and improve through the Atonement of Christ.