Week 75

We had a great week this past week! 

It started with a wonderful Zone Conference! As in, we were all so much more spiritually enlightened. Especially from the talks of President and Sister Maurer. Helping us to get further how we can be the best missionaries we can be, and even after, how we can be the best we can be. The way it goes with conferences is you find out a topic and have to prepare a talk and at random they will pick someone to talk, so you really want to be ready in a sense. Sooooooo Last time I was picked was last year at Mission Tour... where right as I got to the pulpit my scriptures broke and I said "Well this blows!" Soooooo, I made up for that time! Hahah, Becoming a preach my gospel missionary was the topic and I studied good on it! Me and another Elder who is leaving were asked to talk and it was great!  

We witnessed a wonderful miracle this week! We have an investigator, Kim, and she was first introduced to the missionaries in June. We have continued teaching her with all our might! She would tell us how she knows it to be true, she would keep her commitments and come to church as often as she could. But, she was still always wasn't ready for her date she would say. So this last week we had an e-pif-o-ny (sorry I don't remember how to spell that one). Go over the interview questions with her. She didn't understand fully some of them, but that evening she prayed. With all energy of heart to know if this really is right.... The next day at church, her and her cousin who is also our investigator said they had a surprise to tell us at the lesson with them later in the evening! I already knew what they meant and I couldn't hold back my emotions!! I grabbed both of them with my arms and gave them the biggest squeeze!! I kept saying over and over how happy I was for them! And I can only imagine it is just how Heavenly Father must feel as well! Their new date is now the 20th of September. I wish I could stay to witness it and keep teaching, but I know the Lords plan is always better than our own.

I love you all and hope this story may help you recognize Him more in your lives. I am working on seeing the daily miracles and how much He really is a part of our everyday lives. LOVES YOUS

SISTER BRAY............ FOREVER

Week 74

Hello Everybody! Hope y'all had a great week! Mine was great too :) We had amazing experiences with following the Spirit that I would love to share with y'all....

So last Monday, we went to contact a potential that is the neighbor of our part member family. The lesson was alright, but you could also just tell that she was not ready to come closer to the Savior because of worldly things. We made a return appointment and she actually ended up punting us.. but we will try again this week! BUT! For the spiritual story... So as we were leaving we decided to visit a member family  that is super active. The Sister didn't come to church and her son said that she a had a really bad stomach ache. When they let us in, it really was bad. Pains since Friday! We asked what she felt about getting a blessing and she said right away call the Elders! We had training the next day, so all the Elders were in Sogod sleeping in the ZLs apartment, so we start calling all of them and no answers. For just 5 minutes though. Then they came over and totally helped the Sister... gave her some humor and a wonderful blessing! We were started to head home as we past another investigators house. And this investigator really isn't progressing either. Sister Stoehr never told me why, but for some reason we stopped. I told Sister Kaun that we needed to go back to that investigator. We did and we prepare to be punted from all that Sister Stoehr had said... but she let us in! We started talking with her and doing follow up on her lessons with the past sisters, then it happened. She opened up! All of it out on the table. She didn't tell the sisters her concerns before, she just kept denying them to come in. I know it was the Spirit that led us back there to help that sister resolve her concerns about the restoration and the importance of prophets and especially that of Joseph Smith.

As the week  continued we also had an amazing experience teaching our other investigator who has date. She really wants to get a BIG answer that it is true and that it is right. All that she is doing, but her friends keep getting in the way of the spirit. Them saying "Why are you changing?" "you were already baptized.. why are you doing it again?" "Who are you" sort of things.... And it has really torn down her spirits and her searching. She neglected her reading but still kept asking for an answer. We didn’t know where else to go with the lesson. We had just told her about us needing to do things to receive answers to our prayers and as I started going through my bag I saw it! A letter that Sister Stoehr told me to give to Kim. I give it to her and say "maybe this will help". There in the middle of all the bisaya was English with BOLD letters..."DON'T LET PEOPLE SCARE YOU AWAY FROM DOING WHATS RIGHT!"..... answer truly to her and our prayers. She has got back into her reading and is doing so good! Her date is moved to the next week though because of a vacation she had over Sunday, but we are still so happy for her!!! :)

Well, that was the really cool highlights of the week! hope y'all had great ones too! LOVES YOUS

SISTA BRAY............ FOR-EV-VERRRR

Here's a pic. me and the kids in the hood

Week 73

Hello errabody!

This week was pretty cool! So the batch going home this week had to go up to Manila to get our fingerprints for our visas. So that was a fun adventure. Luckily we had 3 Elders who were "maroonon" in tagalog! Hahah basically saved our lives! If we didn't have them it would've been bad! WE also realized how much we were assigned to the right mission. AS IN! Manila is just not us at all! It is far from region 8. It is all city slickers and such with tall buildings everywhere. We had no idea what to do with ourselves. It was so crazy. And there were so many foreigners! Like not just white people! We met people from Kenya, Nigeria, Europe places, a Filipino soccer team, oh my goodness! We did so much finding it was awesome! In the airport and emigration building it rocked! AND... we had Wendy's! Ya, mos def not region 8! It was so goooooood! Ya we dropped a lot a pesos for it :)

But there is something that I really want to share with you all that happened this week! So I hope you all remember the story I shared about bro sanchez and his seeing the kingdoms of glory. Well We have focused as well on his sister. And her especially. She is amazing like her brother, she just has problems coming to church because of her asaua. He is pretty rude and won't let her. She let us know though in a lesson on wed that she will busy for the next 2 weeks with her niece's baptism in the catholic church. But when we got back on sat we planned to visit her that evening(we completely forgot what she had said). And its a good thing we did actually! The lesson was basically just QandA she had a lot, but at the end she said she wanted to share something she experienced. And I don't know what it is about this family, but they must be really in tune with the spirit! She had this dream the day after our last lesson with her-so Thurs. In the dream she said she was looking for something. She was walking around everywhere and then she came to this place where there was this big giant tall cross and she said there were many other crosses there too. and then out of nowhere she said that there came this big ocean that split the way. and on the other side there I was. Me all alone on this place. She ended up going to where I was. She doesn't remember what I said to her or what happened after that, but she does remember how she felt... Peace, love, joy, and warm. If that's not the spirit testifying to her that our message is true I don't know what is! We expressed to her about it, that we couldn't desifer dreams but from what she said, seemed pretty clear what the spirit was saying!

Well I gotta go! I love you all so much! I out some pictures from the activity earlier! We went to the tallest bridge in the Philippines! AGAS-AGAS BRIDGE!

Sister Bray.......FOR-EV-ERRR

Week 72

Hello everybody :)

This week has been great! We had transfers too... and we have a new way of doing them.... total surprise! Before, you would find out where an who your new comp is, if the ZLs were going you would find that out too and all of it basically! Well..... Now you don't find out until you get to a transfer point and you don't know until then as well who your companion is. Sooo while Sister Stoehr left and transferred, I worked with a member here, Rishyll, who I absolutely love! She talks all the time about her daughter and how amazing she is and told me over and over again how grateful she is to have moved back and to be active again after 13 years! We had a blast! And then around 5pm I met my new companion! SISTER KAUN! She is from Vanuatu, it's by Fiji and she is amazing! I am follow up training-seems to be the theme of my mission! I am step mother to so many sisters here and Cebu East :) She is great though! As in, she is so humble and so kind! AN her testimony the same! She is amazing! Her first area was in Carigara, so Waray2x and this is her first Cebuano Area, so we have been doing lots of language studies :) she is picking it up great though!

WE didn't really witness any cool miracles this week. Some of our investigators have a great time understanding it all, but the accepting and doing part has become harder for them. But, we still keep trying to help em out. One of our returning yesterday said he thinks that all churches are true, as long as its God, its good. He isn't really sure if it is true I guess. And it was kinda random too, because he had just shared how he knew it was true... It was a big 180 for us. But we gave him some assignment and asked him to pray if this is the true church. We hope he listens closely and gets his answer.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001&cid=HPTH073114368

I was just emailing a friend from home, who told me a fellow beetdigger had past away this past week. I thought to myself, just look on LDS.org you still have time until you need to get off. And I saw this on the front web page.... I'm not sure if this true story video will help those who are grieving the loss of Harry Robbins, but it might just help someone looking for an answer to their prayers or even an add to their testimony. I know that God the Father lives and that He truly does love each and every one of us. That he sent us here to learn, sometimes through trials, but I know, that every time, we come out stronger than we did going in them. I know this gospel is real and that it does bless every person that will listen to it... I am grateful to be on the Lords errand and to share it and to be apart of someone time in receiving that light. I know it is true.. I know it is real.. and I know that it will give you all you ever wanted. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

SISTER BRAY............FOREVER!

Week 71

So this week was pretty cool we had a bunch of new experiences and new things occur!

So to start it off, most missions in the US and I guess depends where else, basta, they can skype and they Facebook to teach. So we finally got a chance to do anything remotely close to that! We went to a potential investigator which was a return appt. we go there and they are busy making casava cakes that they sell which are the best things in the world! We sat down and started talking story with the Lola and then the son comes and is skyping someone on his iPhone(what the what?!) and has a tablet in the other(WHAT?!?) So he tells the person he is on the skype with that 2 white girls are here talking bisaya and that they gotta hear it! Ends up to be his sister who lives in New Zealand! She has lived there for 20+ years. We just started getting to know her and talked to her in Bisaya and such and then she told us she is in Aukland! DING DING DING! my batch is from there and it is horrie az there! But they gotta a church! So I asked if she had met other missionaries like us there before.... YUP! They taught her before and she had a Book of Mormon! They stopped visiting her after she had a surgery 3 years back! SO. Moral of the story, we had a chance to share through skype, but more importantly, we found out why we kept needing to go back to the Tenio Family. Because there was someone in their family ready, just not in the here sense. We got her information and everything and are so excited for the missionaries that will be teaching her and her family real soon! I took a picture while she picked up her phone... I couldn't pass the moment to say that we did missionary work through skype :)

So another cool thing! We had a movie night on Sat. We invited everyone! And they invited their friends and then they invited more! But, it rained! Buckets so we texted all that we invited and they were sad that they couldn't make it because of the rain. But those that made it enjoyed it and had so many great questions. We watched the Joseph Smith Movie and it was so great! I will attach pictures

Another thing... I found out where I am dying. Sister Stoehr had to go up to Tacloban on for her training meeting(she receives her first daughter this week). So she got all the dirt out of the APs.... I will be the taking over my last area, so the other part of Sogod, and my area right now! I was meant to be here for some reason :) Hahah, Weird that as of this week I will only have 6 weeks left. But I am gonna go out hard! Especially getting so much area now! As in, it is massive now! My last cycle will be wicked awesome! I just know it ! And I hope that whoever my comp is will do the same! Work Hard. Pray hard.

Well love you all!

SISTER BRAY........ FOREVER AND EVER!!

Week 70

Hello Everybody...

Well, I realized I haven't ever shared any real personal experiences with you guys. I have shared ways how me and my companion have been able to help others spiritually, but not really ever about myself and the spirit helping me spiritually.. so her it goes!

For the last month I have been getting serious feelings.... about extending. I knew already when I started my mission that I would want to extend, I would want to serve the Lord forever... and wear a name tag while doing it :) Well, about a month ago these feeling were becoming stronger. The more the branch and zone would bring up me dying and going home soon, the more I refused. The more I hated it. The more worried it made me feel as well. Was I really ready to go home? Go back to Babylon? Had I really become all that the Father wanted me to be? Have I done all that I could have done with the time He has given me? I was mixed... was it my own fear of going home or the spirit telling me I had more to do. Throughout the 4 weeks I prayed about it constantly, I fasted, seeked the guidance of the prophets, and then emails President Maurer the week of zone interviews telling him how I had been feeling the past 4 weeks. I would get mino impressions of what I should be doing. You should go home.. but then something would happen and I would say no! I need to stay. I mean you can take 2 days of getting punted either way! Hahah, so on the day of interviews I knew.. I would finally get my answer! I would know what to do. This was also our first time meeting our new President and his wife, but I knew without a doubt, he would give me the answer I needed! And sure enough I did. It started off with the APs training involving the talk by Elder Holland The Miracle of a Mission. (I invite you all to read it!) They gave us such great advice on how to truly become and do all we are meant to do (partially an answer). Then as they were closing... Elder Santiago from Hawaii who has been such a great friend since I first got here said something along the lines of this: "Near the end of your mission, in your last 2 cycles, you are allowed an extension. No one really knows this. You are allowed to extend up to 30days. Whether to see someone get baptized or you truly know you have work still to do. Think about this, you can extend. And maybe you can extend again, and again, and again, and again, We would ALL love that, we really would. To be a missionary for forever and not have to go back. But, eventually, you will need to go back.. Your parents will run out of money. Your niece and nephews you haven't met will miss you, Sooner or later you will have to stop. you will have to go home. Your time is up. If you have done all that you can to give your all to the Lord, in the time HE has given you, just go home. GO. HOME. Your time is up." BOOM! Answer! And not even the way I expected it, but I am so much grateful it did come this way! In my interview later with President it was even more reassured.. it is time to go home. As much as it still hurts, I know that I am needed to stop at some point. I can't wear a tag forever(but I can share the gospel forever! holler!) So I am gonna give it my all this last bi tI got! If I pass out at the airport.. hahah sorry :)

OK I only got a little bit of time to share one last story... His name is Tatay Bernardo! He is the best thing ever! He is a less active member that we have been teaching for 4 weeks and has progressed amazingly! I talked about him in an email like a month ago, Tatay Benny. Well in this last lesson with him.. the whole time he just bore testimony to us. The power and will of God for us to find him and bring him back. He admitted he was shy, that was the only reason he didn't go back. He was shy. He just needed someone to reach out to him. We both could not have felt any better after that lesson with him. This Sunday he would have been officially a returned member, but due to the fact we has a baguio (typhoon) he didn't make it to church. A lot of people didn't But, we still love him and know he will progress!

Sorry the weekly update is shorter rather than the personal story but I hope it helps y'all in some way! LOVE YOUS!

Sister Bray....... FOREVER

Here is a pic of Tatay Bernardo and our Zone with the new Mission President Maurer and his wife! They have the greatest accents!

Week 69

Well just like the subject to this email... this week was full of down and ups! WE had a lot of investigators drop us basically. Sister Ralph, my last companion, always would warn about that, the good and blessings will come and then wait for the trial, you'll see how much your faith has truly grown. Well.... We had a 2 full days of being punted and no one wanting us. Never has that happened in my whole mission. No lessons and no one wanting to listen, It was very humbling. Sometimes we foreigners feel celebrity with how many people want to talk to us. So understanding that missionary work is actually hard work was humbling and took me off my high horse.

But we did have two really good ups, one I forgot to include in last weeks that has carried over to this week. Tatay Cosme! He is one of our investigators and is amazing! He has completely changed his life. No more problems with the Word of Wisdom and has no made it consecutively to church! But it gets better... He is a missionary! He invites all his friends to listen to us! And it gets better... He shares with them what he learns from us!! Scriptures and all! So in honor of his valiant service we took my Elder name tag and had to take a picture to document him and his killer missionary skills!

The other big high light is the baptism of sister Wendelyn on Saturday! She is amazing! Her parents are both members, but went less active. Her mother is now a returning member and her dad is over in Saudi for work. Most pinoys go there for work, because they have more jobs there. Her brothers are usually all out and about, but we are starting to focus on them too, Lemwel, Sherwin, and Louie. Our lesson with Wendelyn before her baptism was great! I wasn't her first missionary, but from what Sister Stoehr has told me she was so shy at the begining. In the lesson she opened up and told us all the changes that have happened in her life since she had started coming to church and hearing the lessons. She smiles more and laughs more, she doesn't do chores or work at school grudgingly anymore, she is more patient and willing to sacrifice, she is more confident in herself and knowing she is a Daughter of God..... Gah, I love missionary work!!!! :)

I have gotten a lot more emails recently form people who have gotten their calls and others who have just shared their testimonies... thank you so much! You are all amazing and will LOVE the field! Your desire to serve Him will not go unnoticed and you will surely see His hand in the work. I love my mission and don't want it to end... It is really the greatest thing I have ever done and I am sure you will feel the same way about yours!

Sister Bray..... FOREVER!!