11-25-13 1 full year complete. 1 full year to go!!!

The photo number 2 is our back yard.  We have a peach tree, grapes on the vine, haha. can`t wait for them to ripen up.  Should be around march... don`t know if i will be here that long.  It is heating up quick here..... man. i love the change in seasons and pretty much hate the thick of each... haha. freezing is no fun and burning just stinks. :)

What a week.  This is our service project that we did for a wonderful family in our ward.  we are building a little 10 by 10 brick room in their front yard so they can have whats called an "Almacen"  or in other words, a little store that they can sell things in.  Lots of families have them and it helps seeing as there is little income....

Well, there are many miracles happening here in 18 de mayo.  bBut there are lots of things to pray for if my companion and i want baptisms. :) we have a GREAT area, just need a little more help on the investigators as far as PROGRESS goes.  What happens here is that we find LOTS of people every day, we see miracles and we are super excited, BUT the down side is that not many of these miracles last... haha.  We are working on having more spiritual experiences so that we don`t have so many people fall through.  Specificity, in my area we have a lady named Bredinlda... she is an absolute miracle, she just needs to have more spiritual experiences on her own.  Both times we have taught her, she has shown INCREDIBLE potential, but between charlas, she loses almost everything she felt in the last charla because she has such a difficult life.  Please keep her in your prayers.  We also have Maria, Cristian, and Noelia.  Maria is the mother and she shows GREAT progress and desires to be baptized, she needs to stop smoking and needs to read the Book of Mormon for herself and PRAY about it.  She is going to set the example for her daughter and if she can do it, Cristian and Noelia are going to get baptized for sure.  Cristian and Noelia need to stop smoking as well, but that isn`t a huge problem with them i don’t think.  They do however need to get married.  They are such an amazing couple. So prepared by the Lord.  They just are missing the marriage part and they will be able to be baptized.  We have their baptismal dates for the 14th of dec.  Please keep them in your prayers.  Specifically that they will be able to come to church.  it has been almost 6 months since our area has seen a solid investigator come to church.  There hasn’t been a baptism in my district for 6 months either, so please keep everyone in your prayers.  I have our area, Me and Elder Macavilca; San Francisco. Elder Alvarez and Elder Vela; Progresso A. Hermana Herrera and Hermana Coon; Progresso B. Hermana Young and Hermana Chavez.... Please keep them in your prayers. :)  We need some help here in Uruguay and we know that the Lord is able to provide.  I have had an amazing week as far as the missionary work goes, we live in a fairly large area.  Thankfully it is not a big city like i was in last change. We have lots of ranch land and lots of poor homes.  The people here are ready to listen, just once. haha. :) we need a lot more second charlas if we are going to see more progress.

Mom, your story about seeing the hispanic family yesterday touched me deeply.  I love how in tune you are with the spirit and how ready you are to follow His promptings.  Maybe in the not so distant future, i will have an ipad with the capabilities of scyping them from here, being able to teach them in their native tongue. :)  O love to hear about the experiences you guys have as they give me even MORE strength to get out and find people here in Uruguay.

Know that you are all in my prayers and that i love each and every one of you with all i have.

Love you,

Elder Reay

11-18-13

What a wonderful week!

Can`t believe that another week has flown by. I am amazed at the power that comes through working hard and being absolutely obedient.  Thankfully there are lots of scriptures that tell us how God blesses those who are obedient.  I am enjoying the mission so much... i truly have no idea how to explain it!  haha. my companion and i lay in bed at night and just try to put things into words, but there is just no way.  I love my companion so much.  It is so amazing to be out here with him, working our tails off for the señor.  Elder Macavilca is such a choice elder and there is no doubt in my mind that God sent me here to learn something from him.  We spend the WHOLE day... EVERY day.... running from one amazing charla to the next, finding miracles on the way. ;) we are seriously BLOWN away at the way that the Lord is blessing us here in dies y ocho de mayo.  as we walk the dirt roads here, we talk about how incredible it is to be such effective tools in the lord`s hands.  There is no doubt that God has many people here waiting for our testimonies, waiting for edler Macavilca and elderReay to come and help them along the way.  There have been so many miracles here.  I wish i had more time to write in my jornal because there are just so many things taht are happening that i want to preserve for FOREVER.  I have never had another person like my companion.  He is so inspirational and full of love.  I get along with him better than i EVER did with anyone at school or work.  the relationship that elder macavilca and i have is strong, to the point that it is Godly.  There is only one that could have sent such a perfect companionship... that is God himself.  This morning as we had our closing prayer for companionship study, i invited my comp to pray in english... he is learning and knows pretty much only how to start and how to end.  In his prayer, he said only a few words in english and the rest of the prayer was in spanish.  some of the words that left his mouth in ENGLISH were: "Dear heavenly father...we thank thee... in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  but... within his heartfelt prayer, his broken english touched my heart as he said, "I thank thee for my companion"........... it was simple. it was heartfelt.  It was heard by God himself.

I love this ward.  There are so many people ready to listen to the gospel.  We have this AMAZING family named the family Iturria.  the mom reminds me so much of you mother.  She is so dedicated to Christ.  SO dedicated to her calling, her family, her husband, everything.  She loves and just keeps loving. :)  I miss you mom.  Thankfuly there are alot of people praying for me and i have people like the hermana Iturria to help me though these times away from home.  I want you to know that God is watching over me.  He is showing me what kind of man i can become and then providing the means in order to accomplish it.  There is nothing that can get in my way. Not two years, niether cuss words, nor wind nor storm... I am strong in the arm of God.

I love being district leader... I feel so accomplished each day!  I lay my head down at night, thankful for each second that i spend with the elders and sisters in my district.  I have seriously lost myself in the work.  There is no time for home sick, there is no time for lonley, there is no time to spend pondering on the bad parts of the day.  I am verifying up till 10.30 every night helping my district resolve their problems and giving them the spiritual strength they need to fight another day.  I LOVE this work and all that it does for God`s children.  I learn something new every day. There are not words to describe the joy that comes from finding another lost sheep and seeing their eyes open as they see the steep cliff they had so carelessly wondered apon.  We show them the sure path back to the pastor and help them see the danger they are truely in.  My companion and i have talked over and over, anilyzing what our lives whould be like if we had not come on our missions... It is amazing what a change in viewcan do.  We can see what our lives are now and can only immagine what it would be like without these expiriences.

I know that this is God`s work and that this is where he wants me to be.  I know that he is watching over you all back home and that there are angels helping us along the way.  God helps those who are engaged in a good cause.  Don`t forget that i am the big brother, don`t forget that i love you all, don`t forget that sharing this gospel brings the most joy we could possibly imagine.

I love you all so much!

Elder Reay

11-11-13

Mom that truly touched my heart.  I sat here in Uruguay, reading the rich words of my mother.  There is nothing that has EVER compared to this moment here.  right now.  I am in a room smaller than my bedroom back home, sitting next to my comp. with 4 out of the 8 computers occupy.  I am blown away at how even in times like these, the spirit can hit me so hard.  Mom you do an amazing job with your calling as mother and i can only imagine how happy our father is for the service that you offer as a leader in His church.  Thank you so much for helping the Girls with this family.  Helping them by your example and showing them the best way to be missionaries.  You are amazing and thanks to you and the family, i am having members here that are ready to help and ready to share the gospel with their friends.

Here in 18 de Mayo, my companion and i started with our guns a FLAIILING!  we have EXPLODED this area.  Seriously.  This area was kinda written off as dead seen as it hasn’t seen a baptism since march of this year.  We have 5 converts and all of them were baptized in jan and feb.  I have been here for 3 full days and we have DONE SOME WORK! Elder Macavilca is amazing and works harder than any of my past companions... (Sorry elder Ponce, Gardenier, Ha, and Powell)  but here, he is 100% seriously!  He and i are so ready to work and obey.  There is so many things to tell you but ether is so LITTLE time do do so.  I feel the love of the savior again as i serve with everything that i have.  

When they told me that i was going to be district leader, i didn’t know how AMAZING it was going to be!  I have 4 hermanas and 4 elders (including me).  The hermanas are exploding as well, in the 3 full days that i have been here they have found over 15  new investigators EACH companionship!  Incredible.  You will be interested to know that there is an hermana Young in my district.  Go figure no?  haha.  Also, i have hermana Coon in my district.  Remember her? She is related to the Stockbridge`s.  haha.  She is amazing and working hard!  Her spanish is quite well, working on getting all that knowledge she has in her head out of her huge smile. haha.  I am impressed at the way the Lord has prepared me for this calling.  I am truly dedicated to the lord in this work.  Before being district leader, there was lots of down time after 9 30, haha. now i am on the phone and verifying basically up till 1030!  haha.  It amazes me that there is NO time here in the mission.  There seems to be just work. :)  but that`s how i like it.  There is so much to do and so much to expect, i can`t slow down a second because if i do, I^M TOAST!  hahaha.  I love being here with the wonderful people of Uruguay.  They are very humble and i love being able to help them with just a half hour charla in the street or a good sit down in their homes as we talk to them about this grand message that can help them so greatly.  

I can`t believe that there are so many things to do.  I felt overwhelmed in the offices with things to do on my schedule and now i seem to have sped up and ADDED much more.  haha.  I love this work and i love the gospel.  There just are no words to explain the mission... experiences that just can NOT be captured here in this life.  I was touched by your stories about the baptism and how wonderful it truly was. (But mom... you’ve got to do me a favor.  Don`t expect Chelsea or JJ to write me about their experiences. haha.  They always write me but almost never about what you tell me they will.  haha.)  I am so thankful that you have all had that experience and that you are able to feel a tid bit of the joy that comes from being a missionary full time.  I can totally feel your pain mom, Thankfully i have these two years to dedicate to the Lord and not juggle the craziness of life on top of it all. :)  Thanks for being such an amazing family and for always being there for me.

Los amo con todo mi corazon!

Con amor,
Elder Reay

Chou!

Service Project:

Email from Mission President

Here is the email we received from Logan's Mission President:

Subject: New Mission Assignment for Elder Reay

Dear Reay Family,

 

I am writing to inform you that Elder Reay has finished his service in the offices of our mission and will be leaving this Wednesday.  He has served wonderfully as a financier and district leader. 

 

He will be going to an area called “18 de Mayo” as a district leader.  His companion will be Elder Macavilca from Peru.  Your son will be a wonderful asset to his area, district, and zone.  We have no doubt that miracles will occur around him through his faithful service. 

 

Thank you for sharing your son with us.  He has been an incredible servant of Jesus Christ and will continue to be an influence for good upon the other missionaries around him.  He is truly becoming a man of God.  It is apparent that he has been raised very well.

 

Sincerely,

 

Elder Jorgensen

Secretario del Presidente Newsome

Uruguay Montevideo Misión

11-1-13

This is my leupold hat that Grandpa Richard gave me many years ago. :) (Makes me sound like some old fart huh?  but i love it!)

I wear it around the office when i can. :) nice little touch of home:

You guys spoiled me with photos this week!  :)  Loved every bit of it!  OK so wish i could give you a strait answer, but President is STILL undecided if i am leaving or not.  So, i can´t tell you where i am going or anything.  Changes are this wednesday so i hope that he makes up his mind soon!  haha.  I have my bags almost completely packed because i won´t have any time seeing as it is change week.  There are so many good things about being in the office, i wouldn´t mind staying another change... I´m just ready for CHANGE ya know?  So we will see.  My companion is running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get every last detail outta me before i go, he could survive if i left but it would be pretty hard for him.  I hope that the President is going to take this to the lord.  So if you hear from me on saturday, I am still in the offices. :) Otherwise, pdays have changed to mondays.

We have been playing basketball almost everyday and i enjoy the feeling of winning. :) haha.  It is becoming quite an occurrence.. haha.  I find the feeling awfully similar to finding a new investigator..  There is a feeling that isn´t quite tangible in words, but the feeling of success is well worth the fight.  There is something about seeing the light of Christ´s illuminating words, work wonders in the lives of others.  I know that God has called me to the work and that there are much more people waiting to hear the gospel here in Uruguay.  There is nothing in this world that i would trade for the joy that comes from helping God in his grand work.  I have faith that God will put more people into my path and i have the desires necessary to find those who are not so easily placed into such a situation.  

I am SUPER excited to hear that we now have a NEW BISHOP!  Bishop Stockbridge!  Man i am just FILLED with a love for him and his family!  There are no words to describe the brief time that i spent with him.  I could tell he was good with the young men, and i knew that there would be something more coming from him.  It was such a blessing to have them move into our ward.  A young family that brought so much life and energy to the ward.  Our ward is small, and quite frankly needs some help.  Brandon Stockbridge is the one to count on.  He is called of God and i know that there is a reason for it.  It is sad that i am not able to be there to see the transition and feel of the warming testimonies, but the same thing has been happening here.  Just last month the reorganized our stake presidency and called the most AMAZING man i know in our ward.  His family is one of those "Model families" that i look at and just smile at the thought of having a family as happy as his.  He has brought much life to our dead ward, there is only room for improvement and that is what he plans to do.  i have seen him change things around and help the ward/stake prepare itself for growth.  In the next few weeks, our bishop is going to move out of the ward and our ward secretary just moved out. SO there will be some big changes here as well.  

It is so amazing to think that Brandon Stockbridge is the bishop i will return home to!  He is so young and exactly what the ward needs.  When i get home, i expect the ward attendance to bee pushing 200 and filled with young couples. :)  (The only excuse for not reaching 200 would be if they split the ward... then both wards should be 100. :)  )  

Happy to report that the insurance company got back to us and the other car was in the wrong and will be paying for all the damage.  So i feel a hundred times better about the crash. :)  haha.  

Ok, so here is just a little weird snippet that i am going to put into the email.  

     -There is this lady that works at the bank and she is what we call a "Super Snake" because she is super flirty with all the missionaries.  It is so funny to walk in and just see her like zone in on us.  haha.  Kinda weird but funny.  She always flirts with us and it is kinda the financier´s joke to have the new financier go to the bank for the first time and kinda be "Initiated" as a financier.  So the funny part is that she is now reading the book of mormon and asks us questions every time we walk into the bank.  Now she is STILL a snake, but it was funny to walk in one day and just answer a bunch of questions she had.  She was introduced to the Book of Mormon by the president of the west mission, he came in and gave her a book of mormon and now she is interested.  

      -Yesterday was elder Jorgensen´s birthdays and so we went to McDonalds as his birthday breakfast.  WHile we were there, elder Powell and i had THREE charlas with people in McDonalds.  The first was the worker who was helping/training the cashier.  She said hello in english and so i started talking to her in english.  That lead to her laughing and asking questions about missionaries.  I walked through the open door and explained to her the reason we come out on missions is because we know and hold true that families can live together after this life.  She was interested but had to get back to work.  We are working on getting her address sent to the missionaries of her ward.  Then almost immediately after that, a guy from spain had overheard us talking about the gospel, but since it was all in english, he asked us some questions to clarify what we believed.  So we had the same charla in SPANISH!  haha.  He was super closed to the idea of God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost being separate beings, and that really made it hard to teach him. We got our food and as we were walking to our table, ANOTHER man approached my companion and i and started asking us where we were from.  He is here with his wife and kids teaching rebellious kids.  He is originally from cali and speaks english so he jumped at the opportunity to talk with someone OUTSIDE of work in english.  We talked to him about the importance of families and how it is all because of Christ´s sacrifice.  He received it really well but you could tell he really just wanted to get to know us since we were from the states and really didn´t intend to strike up a religious conversation.  But he and his wife are going to go to church tomorrow in their ward.  They said they knew where a church was close to where they live, so we will see.  haha. I wrote down his name so i can keep an eye out on the weekly newsletter of all the baptisms to see if he and his family progress to be investigators.

Well.  I love you all so much!  Don´t you doubt it for a second!  Thanks for all your love and support.  Give the Stockbridges a big congratulations for me and keep our ward Growing.

Love,

Elder Reay