Houston We Have a Baptism!

Hey family! How's life?

I can't believe that schools already starting up again! We have college students EVERYWHERE now here in college town.

 

Tomorrow is my 6 month mark... what?! It has gone by WAY too fast I just need it to slow down a little. Transfers is this week and I can't believe I've been in Bryan for 6 weeks already! I'm pretty sure Sis Hutchings and I will stay here together at least for another 6 weeks so we can finish her training! She is doing great! Every week she improves so much! She has really started to open her mouth and I know she will be so blessed for being so courageous!

 

Life is Texas is great as usual! We've been so blessed this week!

 

Jaelynn and Tony both came to the mutual activity this week so we had the opportunity to go with them! They loved it! The ward has done such and incredible job of helping them feel welcome and invited! It's amazing to see how the youth have really stepped up! They are going to be such great missionaries.

 

We had a really great lesson with Jaelynn this week. Like I've said before she is a young girl who has been through much more than she should have at that age. She has had a hard life. This past week we gave her the talk by President Uchtdorf called "Your Happily Ever After" This is one of my favorite talks. I remember when he gave it I felt like he was speaking directly to me. I know it is the perfect counsel for Jaelynn as well and I can't wait to go back and see what she thought as she read it. I love this girl so much. She is such a loved daughter of God . He loves her so much. I feel His love for her literally serge through me every time we meet with her. Every day God helps me feel his love as we meet with the wonderful people of Texas.

 

Emily and Tony came to sacrament meeting on Sunday and they had their interviews on Saturday so they will be getting baptized on the 31st! I am so happy for them! They are so incredible. They are some of the most humble faithful people I've met on my mission so far. They put all their trust in the Lord and they want so badly to serve him in any way that they can.

 

Charles is doing really well. We had the coolest miracle on Monday night when we saw him and Mary. He still doesn't believe the church is true so we were still praying for a way to help him. He told us he had been really sick for weeks now and hadn't been able to go to work because of it. He's been in a lot of pain. Well of course when we heard that our first question for him was if he would want a Priesthood blessing. He was pretty hesitant, but as we explained it to him little more he said if we sent the Elders over they could give him one.

 

Well as we sat there I felt that we needed to get the Elders there that night, right then and there. So I asked Charles if we could call the Elders and have them come over.

 

He said not tonight maybe another night. I told him I felt strongly that he should get one tonight but he didn't want one. That didn't sit to well with me, but I didn't want to press it so we continued on with our lesson. They whole time all I could think was "This blessing needs to happen tonight" But I felt helpless about it because I didn't want to pressure Charles into it.

 

Well about 15 minutes later there was this knock on the door and Charles looked through the peep hole. I wish you could have seen the look of shock on his and Mary's face when he said "It's the Elders!" I could have given those Elders a hug I was so excited (but don't worry I didn't). Well to make this story short Charles got a blessing and it was incredible! The spirit was so strong and I was praying so hard that he would feel it. I know he felt something because of the look on his face after the Elders left.

 

The Elders told us later that they were at a light about to turn right when Elder Field randomly said "turn left." After a minute they decided to stop by Mary and Charles's  place.

Coincidence? I think not! Miracle? Without a doubt.

 

Mari is doing really well, because she is 25 we are handing her over to the Elders in the singles ward. It's sort of sad that we won't get to teach her, but the Elders are awesome and I know they'll take good care of her and for some reason or another they are the missionaries that are supposed to be teaching Mari.

 

Life is so good! I just feel so blessed. This gospel is incredible and every day I feel more and more grateful that I was able to grow up in this church. It has blessed my life in more ways than even I know. It blessed the lives of so many people who are searching for the truth. I love that what I'm sharing with people is true, pure, perfect happiness. I know this gospel is true. It is the greatest most important part of my life and I love sharing that with others.

 

I love you all so much! Thank you for the support!

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

Temple Trip

 

 Cool clouds

 

 Us with the Bryan Ward Elders at the Temple



 

 Sister Htching and I with Elder Field,who is leaving the Bryan Ward



The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

Hey Family!

 

How's life?

 

Life is great in Texas!

This week was amazing! We had the great opportunity to go to the Temple again and it was so wonderful! I love feeling completely consumed in the peacefulness of the Temple.

 

We saw many great miracles this week!

We have a new investigator named Mari. She is so great! When we went up to her door we were originally expecting to talk with a less active in our ward, but Mari is the one who opened the door and informed us that the less active member had moved. Well we weren't going to give up that easy so we decided to introduce her to the Book of Mormon. After we got to talk to her for a time we asked if we could come back and tell her more and she agreed. Well this week we had the chance to go back and teach her the Restoration and it was incredible. She hasn't had much background with religion. She says that she's not sure there is a God, but she is not comfortable saying there isn't a God. She sees God as someone that created us but doesn't interfere with our lives, he just kind of watches on the sidelines. What's wonderful about God is that he isn't one to watch from the sidelines. He is very much involved in our day to day lives. He loves us and helps us and protects us. Every day! She is darling and I can't wait to go back and share more with her!

 

Unfortunately Emili and Tony didn't come to church yesterday. They accidentally slept through it. (tony set the alarm for 8 pm instead of 8 am, poor kid). We called and called and they didn't wake up until noon. We were so bummed because in order for them to be baptized they need to have come to church at least 3 time and they've only been twice so we had to bump their baptism to the 31st of August. Now they are more determined than ever to be baptized. They were pretty sad when they heard we had to change the date, but they are so strong and so amazing. I just can't imagine the joy that Heavenly Father feels when his children are baptized because its the first step they take that gets them closer to returning to live with Him. If Emili and Tony endure to the end Heavenly Father gets two of His children back! I bet that makes Him so happy.

 

Jaelynn is doing great! We re-taught her the Restoration this week and before we left we gave her the Young Women's theme and challenged her to read and say out loud every morning "I'm a daughter of Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him." She is such and incredible girl. The gospel just makes sense to her. As we taught her she said "Why don't more people know about this?" My only thought is that Satan is good at what he does, he can deceive people in so many ways, but you know what? Heavenly Father is even better. He will always win. Nothing can stop His work from progressing. I am so grateful to be out here helping more people to know about this great truth!  

 

I love being in Bryan. Every day there is a moment where I know that this is where I'm supposed to be right now. We had a really tender moment with a member yesterday. She is one of my favorite members in Bryan. She was recently reactivated and has really had a hard life. Yesterday we went to visit her because something pretty tragic happened to her this past weekend. We talked to her for a time and had decided beforehand that we would sing 'Be still my Soul' to her. She loved it. Before we left she mentioned how grateful she was that we had come into her life at this time. She feels like we're some of her best friends. In every area there are those people you meet that you feel as though you have always known, and were meant to meet. She is one of those people. It always amazes me how much love I feel for people even when I've only known them for a short time. I think it is one of the greatest blessings of being a missionary. I have learned so much about loving others. It is key to missionary work, and to life as a child of God.

 

I'm so grateful for all of you! I love you all so much and I hope you are all doing well!

Don't forget that having this gospel in our lives is living with the best life we could ever know! I know that is true! I see it every day in the people I meet.

God loves you and so do I!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

Life Is Good!

Hey family!

How's life? I can't believe that the summer is almost over! You'll never believe it but I've almost made it through my first Texas summer! It's really hasn't been too bad this year though.

I can't believe Josh is turning 7! Tell him Happy Birthday from Aunty Em and that I love him to pieces!

 

Oh and yes I got the package thank you lots!

 

I can't believe how many miracles we've seen lately...

This week was incredible! Emili and Tony are doing so well! They are still planning to be baptized on Aug. 24th. This past week they came to a baptism we had at the ward and they loved it. They recognized the spirit. They are so sensitive to the spirit and it has really helped them through their process of conversion.

 

We talked to them a lot about Temples this week and the work we do for the dead. Emili lost her mother a few years back and it really caused her a lot of pain in her life. When we told her that someday she can be baptized for her mother and be sealed to her she got really excited and said "That's what my mother wants." They are incredible and I love them so much! I am so grateful to have been able to come to this area and have the chance to meet with them every week.

 

We also had exchanges this week and some amazing things happened! We went to visit Mary - one of our less actives in the ward. The last time we went to see her she was very stubborn about coming to church. Sister Hutchings and I pretty much felt like there was no way we could get her back, but Mary has a grandson living with her whose name is Charles. Now Charles is a really cool guy, he has had a very hard life (drugs, alcohol, jail, you name it) but a few years back he decided to turn it all around. He was the one who originally let the missionaries in the door, but it was his grandmother Mary that joined. Charles doesn't believe in the Mormon faith. He has taken the lessons plenty of times, but he doesn't believe it's true. Since we started visiting Mary we knew that part of the reason we were there was for Charles. Well this past week we went to visit and I've been thinking long and hard about how we could get Mary to church. As we sat there talking to her it hit me "we need to talk to her about family history work" So I asked her if she'd ever done her families work. She said no. I asked her if she had ever wanted to... She said "well I don't know" We explained how she had family waiting for her to do their work and all the sudden her heart completely softened.

 

Charles was sitting with us as we talked to Mary about this so we turned to him and asked him what his thoughts were on temple work. He said he didn't believe it. Well we decided to teach him the plan of salvation. He's been taught it before so he knew pretty much the whole Plan. After we finished we asked him "what about the plan seems wrong to you?" He didn't have an answer. We asked him if he'd ever prayed to know if the things he'd been taught were true and his response was no. So we committed him to pray and he accepted.

I hope he will! We're going to go see him again this week.

It was so incredible. I wish I could explain what a miracle it was that Mary and Charles opened up to us like this.

 

Our other investigator is Jaelynn. She is amazing. She is 14 years old and she has had a very hard life. Right now she lives with her Grandmother who is less-active. This past week we had the chance to teach her the Plan of Salvation as well. She has such great faith and everything we've taught her so far has made so much sense to her. One of my favorite things to talk about when teaching about the Plan of Salvation (especially to youth) is that they are sons and daughters of God. To have the chance to tell them that God is their Father and that He loves them is such an incredible opportunity. I often think about the Young Women theme that says "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love Him" There are a lot of people (Jaelynn included) who don't feel loved. What a wonderful thing it is to know that God loves us. What a wonderful thing it is to know that Christ thought we were worth giving His life for. And what a wonderful thing it is to share that with the children of God who don't know it.

 

Life is so good.

I love it. I know I say this every time but I love being a missionary. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now than right here in the heat of Bryan, Texas. It's hard, but it's worth it.

 

I love you all so much and I hope all is well at home!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

Look where I tracted!!

 

My new trainee

 

 Joan

 

 My and my firstborn

Last picture with Sister Schellhous

 

3 generations! (That's Sister Schellhous' firstborn)

Eric and Vida

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the Drought Comes the Storm

Family Dear,

 

How are you! Of course Chelsea was the one who got to meet Jimmer...

I look forward to hearing if she gets a golden spot on Grandma and Grandpa's fridge.

 

Life is so good.

 

This week was a crazy week.

It started out really rough. Every appointment fell through and no one was home and I could tell that Sister Hutchings was getting really discouraged. As a trainer whenever something goes wrong you feel like it's all your fault so I was trying really hard to find people we could talk to and teach. It was one of those weeks when you question your ability as a missionary and as a trainer, but whenever there is a rough spot there are always miracles that come after!

Without fail! God is so good to us! And I always remember what Dad said "Enjoy the Difficult"

 

After a very rough 2 days we had Zone Conference so we had the great opportunity to hear from President Pingree and he always says the right things. The spirit was so strong that day and it always feels so good to be in the presence of so many missionaries. We had to drive down to Tomball (my last area) for the conference and it's about an hour and half drive. But the drive is so lovely, it's all through the country so there are green fields full of blue bonnets! I got to see my old Zone and Sister Schellhous. It was so good to seen them all again, but it was so hard to leave them.

 

That night is when all the miracles began. During our conference the AP's talked about how when we receive a referral who isn't interested the Lord still sent us to them for a reason. Either there is someone on their street or someone they know who is prepared for the gospel. We that night a family we had planned to visit wasn't home so we said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to tell us where we needed to be. I had gotten a pretty strong impression so I asked Sister Hutchings if she had had any promptings. She was pretty hesitant so I told her what mine was. A few weeks prior President Pingree had given us a referral named Alicia. She seemed interested at first but has been avoiding us since. My impression was to go and visit her next door neighbor. We'd never seen him or talked to him, but because of what the AP's shared I knew that's where we needed to try. When I told that to Sister Hutchings she looked shocked and told me she had had the exact same impression. So of course we went straight there! His name is Rufino and when he opened the door he was so excited to see us, but the only problem was that he spoke Spanish. Luckily a few weeks ago Elder Myers had given Sister Schellhous and I a Spanish door approach that we could use so I was able to ask him if he would be interested in having the Spanish Missionaries come teach him more about Christ. He was so happy to accept!
 

It was such an amazing experience. I don't know how things will pan out with him, but it was a testimony to me that not only do our leaders receive revelation for our mission, but that when we act on what we learn the Lord blesses us. Also that as a companionship you truly receive inspiration for your specific area and it's important to recognize your companions thoughts as promptings from the spirit.

 

There are many other blessings we saw this week but the last one I will share it about Emili and Tony. We were finally able to meet with them again this past week and we had the great opportunity to set a baptismal date with them for August 24th. They were so happy when we asked them to be baptized on that date. Every time I have the privilege of asking that question I get that feeling of insignificance compared to what the Lord allows me to do as a missionary. That probably doesn't make sense so let me explain. There is great weight and significance in asking someone to be baptized. It's not just getting baptized, it's starting on that path that leads you to live with Heavenly Father again. As an imperfect daughter of God what right to I have to ask such an incredible question to someone? Truly I feel I don't have the right, but what is amazing is that the Lord allows us to do it anyways. He puts His trust in us, and allows us to participate in His great work. I can't express how truly grateful I am that he has allowed me to be a missionary and to help aid in his work. What I love about Heavenly Father is that he sees us for what we can become.

 

I feel so incredibly blessed to be here. I have fallen in love with the people here  and every day I feel so blessed to have met each and every one of them.

 

I love you all so much. I love this Gospel. I love Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. The gospel it true.

 

The kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love Sister Gregson

 

Beautiful Texas! 

 

Hello Bryan Texas!

July 29, 2013

 

Hey family! What's up?

 

It's amazing how fast the time flies! I can't believe I've been on my mission for 5 months! Every day goes by faster and faster and I really wish I could slow it down somehow!

 

Things are going well. As I said last week we've really been praying hard to know how the Lord needs us to work in this area specifically and we're starting to figure it out. Right now we do a lot of less active work. Our ward list is huge so we've basically been going through it doing what we call a ward cleansing. Basically we're figuring out who is a member, who is less active, and who has moved because since the ward is so huge nobody really knows... crazy right?

Along with that though we knew we also needed to be finding people so we started to knock on 3 doors for every door on the ward list that didn't answer. We've been able to meet a lot of great people that way both members and non-members.

 

Now for the awesome experience we had this week! So Sister Hutchings is awesome! She is such a great missionary, but her biggest fear is talking to people. I've been really praying to know how best to help her overcome these fears because she truly is amazing and I know once she opens her mouth she'll realize she doesn't need to fear because the Lord will speak through her. For every door approach i ask her if she'll do the talking and she says declines a lot (she gets really nervous). I kept thinking and thinking of ways to help her out, and so I've been making her practice teach a lot during our companion studies (which she hates, but she tolerates it:) ) Well the other morning to her dislike I had her practice handing out a Book of Mormon. Well here comes the cool part...

So we went to visit a member on the ward list and they ended up not being home so of course we went to knock on 3 doors. The first door we came to as we walked up I asked Sister Hutchings if she would do the talking. She said no so I decided to say "well I'm not going to say anything" (just so you know we love each other and she has a great sense of humor so I joke with her all the time that I'm just not going to talk, but this time I meant it!) So we knock and this woman (Gaila) answers the door. I waited but Sister Hutchings just stood there (not out of stubbornness, but just out of fear). I could see that she didn't feel comfortable talking so to avoid an awkward situation i just went ahead and began introducing ourselves. What followed was amazing! I got through about 1 sentence and then i lost my voice!!! Completely gone! So Sister Hutchings immediately picked up where I left off (like a pro) and began talking to this woman. Then Gaila said "I have to leave but do y'all have any literature I could read" Well my voice was still gone, but Sister Hutchings knew what to do. She pulled out a Book of Mormon and introduced it to her and bore her testimony of it! Gaila was really excited about it. She said "I need to know more about Christ so I'll add this book to my studies." It was so cool! I was so proud of Sister Hutchings! The whole time I kept thinking "the lord works in mysterious ways" It really was like Heavenly Father was saying "Sister Gregson be quiet, Sister Hutchings needs to do this!" and so he took away my voice! It was the coolest experience.

Right after we walked away from that house I got my voice back.

 

Sister Hutchings and I had a good laugh about it, but we also recognized what a blessing it was. When we talked afterwards I asked her how she felt and she mentioned that it wasn't as hard as she thought. I know we both needed that experience! She's been trying harder to open her mouth and she is so incredible. She is a much better missionary that she gives herself credit for.

 

Things get better and better with each day that goes by. It didn't take long for me to really truly recognize that this area is where I need to be right now. We've met a lot of less actives that I love so much already. The ward is incredible. They have been so welcoming to us. They keep us well fed, and well taken care of.

 

I'm so grateful to be here. This gospel means more to me that I ever thought possible. With each new area I've had to regain my courage to open my mouth and be bold in sharing the gospel and it has really helped me to grow and come to know my Savior and Father in Heaven on a much deeper level. I was reading some scriptures on courage today and one of the passages simply said, "Be of good courage, and do it." I'm realizing more and more that courage is simply knowing that God is constant and keeps his promises. We don't always see clearly the path he has created for us, but he walks arm and arm with us down that path and we don't need to fear where it takes us because he is the one that can see the full path. He is the one that is leading us down it. And if it's the path that he has created then is can only bring goodness and blessings into our lives.

 

I love you all so much!

Keep fighting the good fight!

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

White Wash Training AGAIN?!? Aye Carrumba!

July 22, 2013

 

Well so you've heard the news... I'm white wash training again! What?!

 

It has been an exciting, sad, crazy, overwhelming (in a good way) week!

 

Sister Schellhous and I were certain that one of us would leave so we were really sad the whole week. Then on Tuesday night we got the news that I'd be leaving the area. There were definitely tears shed. Not that I'm wasn't willing to go where the Lord wants me to be but because I was so sad to leave my ward, my investigators, and Sister Schellhous. I have loved the Parkway ward so much and Sister Schellhous has become one of my closest friends. I have love each of our investigators so much and it is so hard to leave them, but luckily on Wednesday night I got to say goodbye to most of them. I know they will accept this gospel someday (hopefully soon!) They are amazing people that I feel as though I've always known. I feel so blessed to have had them be a part of my life even if it was only for a short time.

 

As hard as it may be I know this is part of the Lords plan for me. I know that the new Sister in the Parkway area is needed for a reason and she is going to help our investigators so much! Sister Schellhous was nervous to train but she is so ready. She is one of the best missionaries I've ever met.

 

My new companion is Sister Hutchings from St. George Utah. She's 20 years old. She is great! She's a little shy, but there's no better cure for shyness than going on a mission!

 

As you know my new area is College Station, home of the big college campus! It's pretty exciting around here. This area is completely different from Parkway! It's HUGE! And the missionaries here call it the exile of the mission because it's the farthest away. It was an hour and a half drive from my previous area. I'm now serving in the Bryan 1st family ward (Bryan is the city). So far the ward seems really missionary oriented and they told us they've been praying for Sisters for a long time now. I feel unworthy to be an answer to their prayers but I know the Lord is going to help us. I hope I can fulfill this calling the way the Lord needs me too.

 

The ward has about 600 members but on average only 214 attend so there is A LOT of reactivating to be done. I'm starting to realize that each area is different. We've said a lot of prayers asking Heavenly Father how he wants us to specifically fulfill our work here. I keep thinking of the scripture that says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and He shall direct they paths" I definitely need his direction right now so I'm trying to put all my trust in Him.

 

Right now we've only got a couple investigators. First there's Tony and Emili. Tony is 17 and Emili is his mother. They are great! They've been taking the discussions for about a year now and then they moved to our area so we got them as a referral. Yesterday we talked to them about baptism and they really want to be baptized. The missionaries that have taught them previously have prepared them well.

 

And our new investigator is Alicia. She is actually a referral from President Pingree and we're planning to start teaching her this week!

 

That's all I have to report for this area so far! I'm so grateful for the experiences I had while in the Parkway area, and for the people I met. It was a really hard place to leave. Some of my fondest memories of my mission will be from that area and with those people. I'm looking forward now and trying to really focus on this area. I want to keep working hard. I am grateful to be here and it's always humbling to be in the position of a trainer. Sister Hutchings is a great missionary and I can't wait to watch her grow!

This gospel is amazing. I love it more that I can express. I love being out here and serving the Lord! Everyday I feel complete and pure joy. It is a privilege to serve my Heavenly Father, and His son Jesus Christ. I hope and pray I can become the missionary the Lord wants me to be.

 

I love you all so much! Thank you for your words of encouragement and for all the prayers!

 

I hope all is well back in SLC!

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

PS here's my new address...

Riverstone Apartments #46

2301 Broadmoor Drive

Bryan, TX 77802

 

PS I forgot my camera cord so you won't get pics until next week.

There is a pic of Sister Hutchings and I on the Mission blog though!

 

Don't Go Over There, They Have Black Licorice

July 15, 2013

Hola family!

 

How is life? I am so excited for Mike and Alisha! Finally the boys are coming!

Life has been so good here in Texas!

 

We've seen so many blessings this week!

 

This first is Este Jean. Este Jean is a former investigator from back in 2009. Last week we were looking through our area book and saw her teaching record so we decided to stop by her home and visit her. She welcomed us right in and we got to sit and chat with her for a bit. She mentioned that she believed that Joseph Smith had seen God the Father and Jesus Christ, but "I just couldn't give up my coffee and tea." So our first lesson with her we talked a little but about the Word of Wisdom and what she had gotten from the previous missionaries is that we didn't drink those things because we believe they mess up our brains. So we were able to reteach it to her. It was really cool because once we explained that a big part of following the WoW is obedience her entire outlook on it changed. We don't always know why the Lord gives us a commandment, but we do our best to be obedient to it. Once we explained it that way she was like "Well yeah, you've got to obey God's commandments!"

Then this past week we met with her again and the spirit was so powerful. Este Jean is so prepared! After we shared the first vision with her she said, "I feel tingly" we asked her what she thought that meant and she said "truth." It was incredible!

 

I love her so much and she's one of those investigators that from the get go i knew I was supposed to meet her. She is hilarious. You would LOVE her sense of humor! At one point we were talking about the good and the bad in the world and she was talking about being an example to her family who aren't Christians and she said "It's like i leave a little trail of chocolate kisses for them to follow that lead towards Christ." and then she said talking about the bad "Don't go over there they have black licorice, come over here to the good side we've got chocolate." I thought her analogy was spot on because I'm not much of a fan of black licorice myself. I doubt dad liked it much though.

 

One of my other favorite experiences from this week was the lesson we had with Eric and Vida. We finally were able to finish teaching them the rest of the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was so strong during the lesson and as I sat there I felt this immense peace that I only feel when I'm in the temple. It was so powerful. Eric and Vida are so prepared for this gospel. They have such great faith and I know they've felt the spirit in their home as we've gone to teach them. They too are one of those investigators that I feel like I've always known and loved.

 

I'm so grateful that I have the chance to be out here doing this work. The gospel is the best. We have transfers coming up this week and I'm not really sure what will happen. If I had my way Sister Schellhous and I would stay here in this area forever. She is the most incredible companion and I can't imagine being with anyone else. Plus our investigators right now are really progressing and I have grown to love them so much. It will be hard to leave them if I have to go. But of course the Lord knows better than I do where I need to be.

 

I feel so immensely blessed to be out here doing this work. Everyday is a joy. Missionary work is such a privilege and everyday I'm more and more amazed that Heavenly Father would allow us to be so blessed as to be able to serve missions. He is too good to us.

 

I love you all so much and I hope all is well at home!

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

Sister Schellhous

Sister Schellhous and me

 

 For YW's we made cookies and delivered them to some investigators.

 

God Bless Texas...Oh Yeah, and the USA!

July 8, 2013

Hola Familia!

 

How was your 4th? I was thinking about how I was going to miss the Holiday fireworks this year but the great thing about Texas is that you don't need to even leave your front porch to see a full on firework show. Either the big fireworks aren't illegal here or everybody breaks the law (heck it's Texas so who cares I guess)! Our whole neighborhood was lit up until about 2 in the morning. It literally sounded like we were in a war zone all night! It was so fun. The entire horizon was full of fireworks!

 

It's been an incredible week for Sister Schellhous and I. We've really seen how the Lord keeps His promises. We had a meeting with President Pingree and he taught us all about the difference between man's ways and God's ways. In missionary work you set a lot of goals that seem pretty impossible, but he talked about how with the Lord nothing is impossible, if they are the goals set by the Lord they will be accomplished as long as we do our part. We've been really prayerful about our goal setting this week and we've seen this promise fulfilled. We've been trying to get outside of the car more so we'll park in one side of the area and walk to appointments or just around and contact the people we see on the street. One of our goals was to open our mouths and talk to EVERYONE that we saw and it was amazing how when we started doing that we met so many great people. We've gotten a lot of new investigators just by getting out of the car and walking and we feel so blessed. The Lord truly places people in our path when we do everything we can to find them.

 

One of our new investigators is Loushay. She is incredible! She is an 18 year old that we found while tracting and she is very wise and mature for her age. She has a great love for Jesus Christ and she loves him so much, she just lights up when she talks about how he has blessed her life. We are really looking forward to talking more with her about the gospel!

 

Our other new investigator is Darlene and she is awesome! It's amazing because we go in expecting to teach, but we come our learning just as much from them as we hope they learn from us. Darlene has been through a lot in her life and she recognized early on that even when everyone and everything around you fails you the Lord NEVER does. Everyday I'm amazed at how lucky I am to have the chance to meet these people. They open up so willingly and let us into their lives. Everyone goes through struggles in life and everyone needs the Lord. There are so many good people in Texas who love the Lord so much and I feel blessed to hear their testimonies as well as share mine.

I feel so lucky to be able to share my testimony with others every day. It feels so good. This gospel is so wonderful and i love it so much. I love being a missionary so much and I know I say that all the time but it seems like the longer I'm out here I love it more and more and I'm so grateful that the Lord has allowed me to do this work and to be here in Texas with such great missionaries and such a great mission president.

I can't even put it into words, It's just wonderful.

 

Now for an update on Joan...

When we went to visit her this past week she told us that she wanted to get baptized, but she wanted to be baptized in her church. She mentioned that the last time she went to her church it just felt like going home. Well Sister Schellhous and I were heartbroken. It was really neat though as we both sat there listening to her we both had the impression that instead of convincing her to change her mind we just needed to listen to her. As I sat there I wasn't sure what to say, but I remembered a quote from Elder Holland that I'd read in PMG that morning that says, "When we listen with love we won't need to wonder what to say." And so we sat and listened to her. It was amazing. She opened up to us more than she ever had before. After we had been there for a time i had the thought "well we're dropping Joan, what do we do now?" and Joan decided to show us some pictures of her husband and family who have passed on and I had the strongest impression that we needed to keep visiting her because her family needed us to. When I mentioned it to Sister Schellhous afterwards she had had the same feeling as we looked at the pictures of Joan and her husband. I think Joan was worried about telling us that she wanted to get baptized into her church because she really loves us coming and seeing her, but we told her we would still come and visit with her because we love her. She was worried that she would have to give us the BoM back but we told her of course she could keep it. I think in her heart she knows that it's true and I hope that someday she'll be ready to accept it.

 

There are so many other things that I wish I had time to say! We have been so truly blessed and I can't thank the Lord enough for every minute I get to be here.

 

I love you all and I hope you have a great day!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

 

This picture right here just goes to show you how great my zone is! :)

This was our July BBQ we got to play some ultimate frisbee so we all look kind of sweaty, but isn't it a sharp group? I love them so much!