Coming Home

​dearest family,

 

gosh I can't believe this is the last day to email!

I have a feeling I'm going to come home and be really weird so just don't make too much fun of me ok? :)

To be honest I've been in complete denial for the entire transfer and especially this past week. I'm just expecting to get transferred to a new area and continue on with my mission (I wish). It didn't really sink in until Sunday when i had to say goodbye to everyone. It's going to be hard to leave all of this.

 

Well this week has been a crazy week so I have a lot to update you on!

So we told Keith last Sunday that he had to get permission to be baptized and that it probably wasn't going to happen on the 26th like we had planned and he was absolutely devastated to the point of tears.

So as I said in my last email we weren't expecting to have his baptism last week.

Well... here's the crazy part,

So on Thursday night at 10:20 just as we were about to head to bed we get a call from the mission president who says "I got permission for Keith to be baptized, his baptism is this Saturday right?" our response was "well he hasn't even been interviewed" to which he said "well set up and interview with the District Leader and make it happen" and that's what we did.

It was too late to start making the phone calls we needed to throw this baptism together so last minute but we got right to it the next day and guess what?! Keith got baptized on Saturday night!

It was such a special experience for the entire ward I think. The spirit was so strong and I know that Keith is such a great addition to this church. He's ready to take on the world now! It was amazing how everything just fell right into place for the whole thing,. That to me was a miracle and Heavenly Fathers way us assuring us that this was right. I am so grateful to Him for letting me have the chance to end my mission in that way and have the priviledge of seeing Keith be baptized.

He got confirmed on Sunday and so now we're just working to get him to the temple to do baptisms. He's done quite a bit of family history with one of the members so he already has people to do work for.

The ward has done such and incredible job taking care of him and helping him feel like part of the family.

 

I am so grateful for the privilege I've had to serve as a missionary in the Texas Houston Mission. I have loved every minute of it and it has changed my life forever and for the better. I've said this before but I cannot adequately express how much I have loved my mission, how much it has changed me, all that I have learned, and how much I love this gospel.

I know with all my heart that this church is true and was fully restored. I'm am so glad I could have this chance to share that testimony with the wonderful people of Texas and watch them as they change their lives for the better.  

This gospel truly is the most precious thing that we could ever have in our lives.

 

I love you all and I am so grateful for all of you support, love, letters, and prayers!

See you soon... that us unless I can somehow convince President Mortinsen to let me stay a couple more transfers... :)

 

Love you!

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

The Best 18 Months FOR My Life!

7/21/14

​Dearest family,

 

how are y'all doing?

 

Well this week has been crazy but good!

 

We've been working hard to invite 25 people everyday, some days we reach it and other days we come close but we are trying as hard as we can!

One day we were able to invite 39 people! That was a huge miracle for us! We've had more opportunities to hand out Book of Mormons and at least teach people some of the basics of what we believe. We still don't have any new investigators but I hope that many seeds were planted.

 

We had a really good lesson with Keith this week on eternal families and temple work. He has already started doing family history with one of the members so we were excited to share with him why it's so important.

He had a really neat experience this week at work. He was working in the rock yard and he got to thinking about the church and all the things we've taught him and he told us that all the sudden he just had this really powerful spiritual confirmation that everything that we were teaching him was true. He said that it was so strong that he cried for about an hour and a half straight! He attended a baptism for another set of missionaries this week with us and he is so excited to get baptized. He wanted to jump in right there and then with the person getting baptized. Unfortunately Keith probably won't be getting baptized this coming Saturday because of some of the things in his past. Our mission president has to get special permission for him to be baptized and then hopefully interview him this week. I'm sad that I won't get to be there for his baptism but I'm just grateful I got to meet him and work with him and I know he'll be taken care of.

 

Kaylee is doing great as usual! She just started Alma! We're also going to start helping her with her personal progress because she really wants to finish it.

 

I can't believe this is my last week. Where did the time go?

I'm sad to come home but I know that there are good things to come.

I have loved my mission more that I know how to express and it has changed me in ways I cannot explain. I know I have said this before but it's so true, deciding to serve a mission was the best decision I've ever made in my life up to this point and these past 18 months have been the best 18 months for my life. This gospel is so wonderful and it gives us so much hope. This church is true and we are so fortunate to have it in our lives.

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for all of your love, prayers and support!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love,

Sister Gregson

25 a Day!

dear family,

 

How are you?

Yes I want to stay at the airport and wait for Alex! Sounds like fun to me!

 

This week has been such a wonderful week!

 

We met with Keith multiple times this week and he is doing as amazing as usual! He loves this gospel so much and he's so ready for baptism. He not only started reading in the Book of Mormon but he's also tackling D&C, JSH, and The Pearl of Great Price. He told us he just can't seem to put them down. His love and enthusiasm for this gospel is inspiring. Not only that but he is such a great missionary too! Everytime someone asks him why he's so happy he tells them it's because of the Mormons. He always says "if you want to be happy I have two people I'd like to introduce to you." He came to church again and fits right in. Most the members don't even realize he's an investigator until we tell them over dinner. They all think he just moved into the ward. He's still planning to be baptized on the 26th!

 

We met with Rosa this week! FINALLY! It feels like it's been forever since we've seen her! We watched the "Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration" video and she really enjoyed it. She had no idea what the early church members went through. She still is hesistant to come to church but we'll just keep inviting her.

 

Kaylee is doing great! She's going to hopefully start going to seminary next year if she gets the OK from her mom. I think it will be so good for her!

 

We had two exchanges this week and they went really well! I love working with all these amazing sister missionaries! I've had so many opportunities this week to teach and share my testimony and I'm so grateful for that.

Gosh I just have so much I could share that I don't even know what to say.

 

We had interviews with President Mortensen and he's truly is amazing! I'm so excited for the short time I have to spend with him. In each of out individual interviews he committed us to invite at least 25 people every day. Sister Quist and I have had to get really creative in order to accomplish that. For us on average we are able to invite maybe 5 people a day. Now that it's hot no one is outside and when we tract typically for every 25 houses you might have 1 or 2 people that answer the door. We don't have any parks in our area or huge shopping centers so that just leaves us with the neighborhoods. Well I knew the 25 would be hard but I also know from President Pingree that nothing is too hard for the Lord. That is something he instilled in us. So we knew if that was the standard that the Lord would help us accomplish it. Like I said we've had to get really creative. We talk to Everyone we see on the streets and in the neighborhoods just like before but we've had to do more things to get that 25. For example we've started going into some of the stores like Payless and the Dollar Store and we'll just stand in an isle and when someone comes looking for something we'll strike up a conversation with them and then invite them. It's actually worked pretty well and we haven't been kicked out of any of the stores yet :) We also look for more opportunities while we're at the gas station and places like that. It's been really fun to challenge ourselves to do things a little differently.

 

I don't know if you've heard about the Stay family or not but they are an LDS family that was murdered last week here in Houston. All 6 family members were killed except their daughter Cassidy. They are not in my area but are close by. It has been a very devastating thing for those members and for the missionaries that served in their ward so I just wanted to ask you to keep Cassidy, the ward, and Sister Lambright and her companion in your prayers.

 

How grateful I am for this gospel and that we know that there is life after this and that we can be with our families forever. It is wonderful to know that even when tragedy hits we can still have hope and it's all because of our loving Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. We need to share this hope with the world. We just can't keep it to ourselves. The world is in desperate need of this hope.

 

Sorry to end on such a sad note but know that things are going well here! I'm still in denial that i'm coming home soon. In fact I think i'll just stay here if that's ok...

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

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

God Bless America and God Bless Texas!

Hello family!

How is life in SLC?

Happy fourth by the way!

We had a pretty good day here! The Howards fed us breakfast and the Crandalls fed us dinner and in between we did our regular missionary work.

When we got in for the night we grabbed ourselves some Bluebell ice cream and sat on our balcony to watch the fireworks. Still as epic as ever. God bless Texas.

The entire horizon as far as you can see fills up with illegal fireworks and they go all night long. It's pretty spectacular. The great thing about Texans too is that they do fireworks the night before and night after the fourth as well so we've still been seeing fireworks every night since.

I truly am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and I am so grateful that this country was foreordained to be the place that provided the opportunity for the gospel to be restored.

 

We got to meet the Mortinsen's this week. They are the most adorible family. They have 4 daughters and 2 sons. Their oldest child just left for her mission and their youngest is 5. They are amazing. I think we all fell in love with them instantly. He reminds me a lot of President Pingree. He is just as enthusiastic, kind, loving, humorous, and speaks powerfully just the way that president pingree did. I prayed before we met him that I would be able to recieve a spiritual confirmation that he is truly called of God to lead us at this time. I was worried that it would be hard for me to accept him right away but really I had no problem at all. About halfway through a lesson he was teaching us i had to remind myself that this was the first time we'd met him because it felt as though we'd always known him and he'd always been here. I think that was the Lord's way of confirming to me that President Mortinsen truly has been called of God to be here at this time. I am so grateful for the time I got with the Pingrees and i'm so grateful for this short time I will have to learn from President and Sister Mortinsen.

He shared some things with us that really stuck out to me. One missionary asked him "How do you define what a successful missionary is." In response he first turned us to Preach my Gospel chapter 1 and then he said "You know you are a successful missionary when you are doing all that you can to reach your individual divine potential." It has nothing to do with the amount of baptisms you have. I love that. He also said, "Anyone can serve a mission, that's the easy part, but not everyone who serves a mission becomes a missionary."

He has such a powerful spirit about him just like President Pingree and I am so excited to get to know him.

 

 

We had two lessons with Keith this week! We taught him about tithing and fast offerings. We knew beforehand that this might be difficult for Keith because he isn't finacially sound right now and we weren't sure how he would react. But as always his faith blew me away. After the lesson he was ready to go to the church, get a slip, and pay that 10 percent. We told him is was something he didn't have to do until after he was baptized so he decided he's going to start setting the 10 percent aside now so that when he's baptized he can pay it.

He told us that he had talked to his biological father and his father started bashing the church and questioning Joseph Smith, but Keith stood strong and defended the church. We told him that Satan was going to try and do everything within his power to stop Keith from being baptized and Keith understood that he needs to stay strong. He's been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and we also gave him a conference Ensign to read. He came to church on Sunday and even fasted with us. Working with him has been a good reminder to me of how blessed we are to have this gospel and how important it is to accept and gladly follow the commandments of the Lord. The commandments are a priviledge to know and follow.

 

Kaylee is doing well! Sunday was such a good day. I knew it was my last fast sunday as a missionary so I got up to bear my testimony and as I sat on the stand to wait my turn I saw Kaylee stand up and walk to the front! She bore her testimony and let me tell you it was the most beautiful testimony I have ever heard. She talked about how much this church has changed her life, how much she loved being at the temple, how she knows right now her parents don't understand but that someday she will be baptized. She also told us how grateful she was for us. She always refers to us as "my missionaries." I was so amazed. She is incredible. It was such a blessing to be able to hear her bear her testimony. I can't wait for the day when I hear that Kaylee is getting baptized! That will be a good day.

 

This gospel is the most wonderful thing in the world and it is true! It ALWAYS changes us for the better. It helps us become our best selves and helps us reach our divine potential.

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love,

Sister Gregson

Temple session with the Pingrees

 

 Do any of these people look familiar?

 

 Temple

 

Bittersweet

June 30, 2014

​

Dearest family,

 

How are you? Good I hope.

 

Well this week was a bitter sweet week here in the Texas Houston Mission.

So first I'll start with the bitter.

As you know it was President Pingree's last week as our mission president. We all had the wonderful opportunity to do a session with him and sister pingree in the Temple. And the temple president and his wife came to officiate. It was a really special day and I could feel the spirit more powerful than ever as I sat in the temple with so many missionaries and President and Sister Pingree. Being together with them really felt like heaven. After the session we met in a conference room in the temple and the temple president talked to us about the endowment. It was an incredible experience. Then we got to hear President and Sister Pingree give their last testimony to us and as we walked out of the room we each got to hug them both. It was a day that I'll never forget and I'm so grateful for them. They have changed me in so many ways and helped me to be a much better daughter of God than I was before. The have changed my life for forever.

We haven't met our new mission president yet but we will on Wednesday. I'm sure he will be great. Mom I got the details of their homecoming for you! it will be July 13th @ 9 AM and sister pingree couldn't remember the exact address but it is near 3900 south and 2250 east near Olympus.

 

Now for the sweet!

 

We had another lesson with Keith this week! Last week he had mentioned that he knew we couldn't drink coffee and that smoking was out so we decided to talk to him about the Work of Wisdom so he could understand why. Before we even started the lesson he told us that he had quit smoking. One day he reached for the pack and then he decided in that moment he was done and hasn't picked up a cigarette since! The spirit has really been helping him. He also said that since he learned we didn't drink coffee that it's started to taste different to him. At first he thought that it was just a bad batch but he said every time he drinks it now it tastes gross to him! I couldn't believe it, well actually I could believe it because the Lord has been helping him so much and he has been so prepared! Well we taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he was very accepting of it. He's already decided to stop drinking coffee. He came to church and we were able to set a baptism date with him for the 26th of July! He even called us on the 27th to make sure that we were aware that it was the anniversary of Joseph Smiths martyrdom. We were so amazed! He has been an answer to 6 months worth of prayers. Tonight we're going to watch the hour long Joseph Smith film with him. He's really excited to see it and I think he'll really enjoy it.

 

We finally were able to have a lesson with Robin today! This morning we went over and taught her the restoration!  It went really well. She has had a really hard life but she is the strongest most chirst-like woman I've ever met. She is always doing something for someone else. We're really excited to work with her.

 

The lesson with Kaylee at the temple was really good! We were able to sit with her on the grounds and talk to her about the temple. We even got to take her inside to the waiting room. She wants so badly to be baptized and be able to enter the temple. I know Heavenly Father knows the desires of her heart and that one day it will happen for her.

 

The Lord has been leading us to a lot of people lately who are willing to listen to what we have to say and there is nothing like the feeling of being able to testify to someone about the restored gospel.

I wish I had more time to tell you about all the experiences we've been having lately. We are really seeing some wonderful miracles happen. The miracles that I've been praying so hard for for so long.

It's amazing to look back and see how much I struggled when i first got to this area and all the seemingly impossible mountains we had to climb and now to be able to see these blessings come is such a blessing.

I know that if we continue to go and do as the Lord has commanded even when the blessings are far off, and even when we don't see immediate results, the Lord will bless us even more.

I am so grateful for my mission. I seriously wish I could be a missionary in the Texas Houston Mission for the rest of my life.

 

I love you all so much!

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

The Greatest Blessing

Howdy y'all!

 

How are you?

I can't believe that Alex is coming home the same day! That is crazy!

Mom did you get my flight plans? cause they haven't sent them to me yet... which when i think about it i'm actually ok with that.

 Happy Birthday Dan! I would have sent you your very own personalized email but I realized I don't actually have your email so... yeah. But I hope you have the best birthday ever and I love you!

 

This week was a really great week!

Keith came to church again! He's just as enthusiastic as ever about the gospel. He called us this past week to tell us that he was at the store buying a white shirt and tie and he wanted to know if short sleeves were ok explaining to us that "this is texas and i can't find any longsleeves anywhere." We had multiple lessons with him this week. During the first one we showed him "The Restoration video" and he loved it. When it was over he was so disappointed because he wanted it to keep going. He even said "is there a series on this? cause if there isn't they need to make one." We told him we'd show him the hour version about Joseph Smiths life and he was so excited. He keeps asking us about it. He had some amazing insights after watching that video though. He was amazed because he said to us "Joseph Smith was just a man." He could relate to him in many ways. At the end he told us that he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet. As we sat with him for that lesson he just couldn't stop thanking us. It was really humbling. Sometimes we forget just how wonderful the gospel is and how blessed we are to have it. He's been reading in the Book of Mormon everyday. He even marks the verses that really stand out to him. He told us that since he started to come to church and read the Book of Mormon he's not as tempted as he was before. He just amazes me. 

Last night we taught him the Plan of Salvation and he really enjoyed that lesson as well. He accepted a baptismal committment. We haven't set a date yet but we will be soon. He's going to have to give up smoking and coffee but he already told us he's ready to quit the smoking, it's the coffee he doesn't want to give up. He's been really nervous to pray because he's never actually prayed his entire life. He's had "talks" with God but never really prayed. Well last night he said the closing prayer and it was the most simple powerful prayer. 

 

We also had a lesson with Rosa this week. We wanted to just focus on resolving her concerns. Turns out we were right about whats keeping her from coming to church. Not only is Catholicism her culture but she is very concerned about what her family and church friends and pastor would think. For her it would just be easier to learn about our church but just keep attending her church. We were bold but loving as we explained to her that if she wants to really know the truth she needs to come to church. We made sure she knew that we weren't trying to prove the catholic church wrong, we're just adding to what she already knows. She understands this but her fear is greater than her faith in what we've taught. She's still reading in the Book of Mormon and praying. We asked her how she felt when she goes to church and she even said "sometimes I feel the spirit and other times I don't." Then she turned it on us and asked how we felt when we go to church. The spirit was strong as we explained to her what church meant to us and I am so grateful to know that I can ALWAYS count on the spirit to be there when I go to church. I know that someday Rosa will realize that this is true but I'm not certain that will happen any time soon. We may be dropping her but for now we're praying really hard to know what she needs. 

 

Kaylee is doing great! She's been coming to church and is still reading in the Book of Mormon. This week the YW are doing a temple trip so while they are doing baptisms we will be there with Kaylee on the grounds teaching her about temples. I think it will be a really great experience for her. 

 

I'm just so grateful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to share my testimony everyday. This church is the greatest blessing the world could have!

 

I love you! Thanks for all your prayers!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson 

Workin' hard

Hey family!

 

Well another day of transfer calls has come and gone and it's official I'll be finishing my mission in Tomball with Sister Quist.

Tell mike and alisha I met Karen Riley and she is really awesome! and thanks for the package! You guys are the best!

Also Chelsea's friend Trevor took us to lunch!

 

We had a really good week! Things are starting to pick up and I hope it stays that way!

Kaylee is doing good. We asked her about talking to her mom about baptism and she told us that her mother said that she would like for her to wait until she's 18. I'm not really sure if that's true or if Kaylee is just really afraid to ask her mom but I don't think anything is going to progress as far as baptism until her older sister Esmerelda gets home from her mission.

Rosa is doing great, still hasn't come to church though.

 

We got 2 new investigators this week!

The first one is Lisa! She is this beautiful asian woman and when we told her who we were and that we wanted to share a message with her her immediate response was "YES! I am very interested. I'm busy now but please come back. I'm very interested."

Those kind of responses are the best! I love finding people who are already searching for truth, their hearts are always so humble and ready. She's going to be out of town on a buisness trip so we won't get to see her until the 28th but I'm really excited to share the gospel with her!

Then there's Keith. I may have told you about Keith before I'm not sure... but we met him at the beginning of the transfer so about 5 weeks ago. We knocked into him and he was really nice. He is an older, big, tall, spiritual guy who has had a really rough life. He's tried many different religions but never really felt at home in any of them. Well we have had brief short lessons with him every now and again since we met him but we never had a chance to just sit down and share with him any of the discussions because he's been so busy. Well we finally were able to meet with him on Saturday! We were able to have the lesson in a members home and we taught him the restoration. The spirit was powerful and he definitely felt it. He is so ready. At the end of the lesson he couldn't stop thanking us. He even tried to hug me which was really weird and awkward by the way... haha (don't worry I dodged him). He told us that his heart was so full. He called us later that day just to let us know that he felt so good all day and wasn't really sure what was going on but he knew it felt good (and also to apologize for trying to hug me). It was so funny!

We invited him to church and guess what?! He came! He asked to get off work early so he could come. He loved it. He asked questions in sunday school and even made some great comments. During the lesson he talked about how ever since we showed up on his door he's felt so good. He even volunteered to help the elders quorum with a service project. And after church we found him helping the teacher put away the materials he was using. It was as if he'd been here for years.

I am so excited to work with him more. I can't wait to see his testimony grow. I'm so grateful that we were able to find him.

 

Robin's family is still in town so we haven't been able to see her.

We saw travis again and he's still interested it's just a matter of actually finding a time to meet.

 

We're still working hard and hopefully we'll keep seeing miracles big and small.

It's hard to think that soon i won't be a missionary with a black name tag. I've been reflecting a lot on my mission and what i've learned and the person i've become. I am really going to miss it.

It has been one of my greatest joys in life to have the priviledge and opportuinity to serve the Lord here in the Texas Houston Mission.

This church truly is the only true and living church of that I have no doubt.

 

Love you all!

The Kindgom of God or nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

Even When Things Are Hard I Still Feel Really Happy!

Howdy y'all!

 

How's life in good old SLC?

I don't have too much to report on this week. It was a pretty slow week because it was the first week of summer. We weren't able to meet with Kaylee so no updates on her. Robin's family ended up staying longer than expected so we haven't been able to get back in with her. Travis and his wife haven't been home lately we think they might be out of town. And most of our appointments fell through this week.

We were able to meet with Rosa though! We took her to the family history center and got her started on her family history work and she loved it! I think she would have stayed there all day if she didn't have other obligations. We planning on taking her back again sometime soon. We invited her to church but she said she probably wouldn't come and she didn't. I'm praying so hard that she will be able to overcome whatever it is that keeping her from jumping into this gospel.

 

We were out tracting and contacting a lot this week but still no new takers. I'm getting so tired. I just want to teach SO badly. I want to help these people but we seem to be at a stand still. We just got a new ward mission leader and he is really on fire so hopefully that will help give the work a push. We're really trying to work with the members on sharing the gospel and hopefully they will be willing to invite their friends to learn more.

I'm not going to lie it was a really discouraging week. This whole transfer has been pretty tough. We're working so hard but we're not seeing much success. We hear about all the miracles happening on other areas and sometimes it hard not to compare and wonder what it is that we're doing wrong. Then I start thinking well maybe I'm not worthy of recieving those kind of miracles and then you get even more discouraged. That's how satans works on you out here. That coupled with the humidity and blazing heat are enough to make you want to just give up. But don't worry guys we're not giving up. I just can't do it, I can't give up. I can't give satan that kind of victory even though sometimes it's pretty tempting. I'm trying so hard to make you and Heavenly Father proud and work until the very end. Sometimes I just want to yell at everyone I see grab them by the ears and say "THIS IS IMPORTANT, I'M TIRED, AND YOU'RE GOING TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!" But that probably wouldn't be very effective when I think about it. Anyways We're just going to keep trying. When things get hard I always go back to what Joseph Smith says in the "Prophet of the Restoration" video. Lyman asks him "how do we endure well Joseph?" and he says "We trust in God and we go on." So that's what Sister Quist and I will do, we'll just keep going on and on until my shoes fall apart more than they already have. :) I'll try not to yell at anyone.

 

You know the weirdest part about missionary work is even when things are hard you still feel really happy and I do! I'm discouraged yes, but I still feel really happy. I love being a missionary!

 

I hope all is well at home! Thank you for all your prayers! They really have helped so much!

I love you!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

Teaching in Tomball

​Hello Family!

 

How are you?

I can't believe that Mckenna is going to Manchester!!! It's about time they got one of the Richards clan back over there!!  

Things are great in Texas as always! It's really hot and humid though. I don't think I've stopped sweating at any point this whole week. We've been out in the sun doing a lot of tracting and contacting but don't worry mom I'm drinking plenty of water!

 

So here's the latest with Kaylee. As you know we're still waiting on permission from her mom to get baptized. Well her mother speaks only spanish but she works as the same school as the young mens president in out ward (who is amazing). Anyways he knows Kaylees mom pretty well and he served a spanish speaking mission so he is able to talk to her almost everyday. Well in ward counsel he offered to talk to Kaylee's mom about Kaylee getting baptized and so he did. A miracle happened! She said if baptism is what Kaylee wants then she will support her! But the only barrier is that her husband (kaylee's step-father) is very much against the church. But of course she has the final say in the matter. So on Thursday we had a lesson with Kaylee and we committed her to talk to her mom about baptism again. She said she would and we knew she was nervous so we had her pratice on us. I could tell she was nervous so we asked her what fears she had and she burst into tears. She opened up to us and said that she is afraid of how her step-father will react. He is the only father that she has ever known and she feels like she has never been able to do anything that makes him proud. He fights with her about the church a lot. This has brought a lot of sorrow to Kaylee. She doesn't really feel like he loves her very much. Well if there's one thing I've felt very strongly since knowing Kaylee it's that her Father in Heaven is VERY proud of her. He loves her SO much and she is doing so much good. Her step-father may not understand how incredible she is now but someday he will know the truth and he will see. We told her these things and promised her that the Lord knew everything she was going through and that he would never leave her. I hate that she feels this way! She is too amazing to be treated like that, but I know this trial will make her even stronger. We invited her to pray about talking to her mom and we told her we would support her in whatever she decides to do. She was able to come to church on Sunday and we'll be meeting with her again on Tuesday.

 

We had a really great lesson with Rosa too! We watched the Restoration video and it really helped her understand more about Joseph Smith and where the Book of Mormon came from. She has some really great questions afterwards. She really has been so impressed by members of our church and she recognized that the church is good. We asked her if she believed that what we've taught her is true and she said there's nothing she's heard that seems wrong. She sees that the fruits of this church are so wonderful and I believe she knows it's true, she just has to recognize it for herself. She is SO close!

 

Robin was not able to come to church unfortunately because she had some family last minute come to visit. Hopefully we can get her next week!

 

We've been finding people to share the gospel with but we're still having a hard time finding people that want to make time to learn more. It gets pretty frustrating sometimes because our desire to share, teach, and testify is so great. And it is a good desire! I wish more than anything that we could just teach all of the Texans in Tomball. But even if our desires are good and righteous desires that doesn't mean it will happen. And even though it can be hard I'm grateful for that because it has taught me so much about patience, trust, diligence, and hard work. I have faith that even if we aren't finding new investigators seeds are being planted in the hearts of those we do get to talk to. And I still believe there are people in this area who are prepared we've just got to keep searching for them. For as long as I'm here I'm determined to find them.

 

I hope that all is well back home!

I love you all!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

"Hope is believing and EXPECTING that something will occur."

Dear Family,

 

How are you?

Good I hope!

 

Things have been going great! We're finding a lot of people who are interested! We've got about 10 people we've been able to find in the last few weeks who want to meet with us and learn more. The only problem is that all of these people have the same issue... they are all so busy! It's crazy. We're finding people just fine, we're just struggling to get them to become progressing investigators because they are so busy with so many other things. That is one way that Satan is really working on the people in this area. They have so many things demanding their time that they can't make time for us. But we're praying hard that miracles will happen and things will open up in all of their schedules.

 

Rosa is doing great, Kaylee is doing great! I don't have too much to update you on about them but they are amazing as usual!

 

We were able to see Robin again last night! We talked to her about the apostasy and she totally agrees with it. She's planning on coming to church not this week but the next. She's pretty busy too so it's hard to sit down and share a full discussion with her but we're sharing it with her bit by bit.

 

It's been a good week but you always have those days that can be rough. You have those days when everyone you plan to see including your back-ups end up not being home or cancelling on you.

At the beginning of the week I was studying 'hope' in preach my gospel and one line really struck me, it says,"[hope] is believing and expecting that something will occur." It was the 'expecting' that really hit me. As a set apart representative of the Lord I have the right to expect the Lord to place prepared people in our path if I'm worthy, obedient, and I seek His guidance. Well with that perspective I was determined to just expect that the Lord was going to lead us where we needed to go and He would give us people to teach and talk to. And He has!

At one point we were having one of those days when everything falls through. We were at a total loss of what to do so we pulled over and said a prayer. I received an impression that we should tract a specific street. This street was one that a referral we received lived on but the address ended up being wrong. We got a phone number for this referral but he ended up not being interested anyways. Well in Preach my gospel it says about referrals that "perhaps you have been led to this person because someone else in the home or neighborhood is ready for the gospel." So I knew that we could expect someone on that street to be one of the elect of the Lord. We received that referral for a reason and we were determined to find out why.

Well the second door we knocked on Travis answered the door and we offered to share a message with him about the restored gospel. Well he accepted and said he had time right then to talk. Moments like that always make me laugh because the look of shock on our faces that someone actually said yes was priceless. Sometimes people say yes and all I can think is "what? really? are you sure?" and then I look at my companion and our faces seem to say "ok now what?" haha

So we started talking to him about the Book of Mormon and briefly taught him the restoration. It was amazing! He said we could come back and that he thought his wife would be interested as well! It was amazing!

 

We've also been tracting a lot this past week and we had a really cool experience. One day while we were tracting we kn0cked on a door and this young man opened. He was probably about 15 years old. We asked him if we could share a quick message with him about the Book of Mormon and he said yes. We've started introducing the Book of Mormon using the pictures in the front of the book and so we did that with him. We were able to give him a copy and invite him to read and pray.

Then at the house next door we had another young man open. He was probably 16 and he also said yes to hearing a message about the Book of Mormon. We also invited him to read and pray. It is amazing to me how open and receptive the youth are! They are so incredible. I could see the light in these young men's eyes as we testified of Christ. I hope that they will read and pray about the Book of Mormon and that someday they will want to know even more. I honestly think the youth are the key to sharing the gospel. The youth in our ward are so good about doing that. They are fearless. They invite their friends to church and mutual and talk to them often about their beliefs. They amaze me!

 

Oh and an update on Sister Hardy, she's doing well they did the procedure on Tuesday. She said that they did find a stone and they got it out. Right now she's just recovering. No news yet on if she is going to come back out.

 

I hope all is going well back home! I love you all so much!

 The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

What Of Now?

5-12-14
Dearest family,

 

It was SO good to see your beautiful faces yesterday!

crazy to think there is snow up there! We're getting hot and humid down here YAY

 

I don't really know what to say since I just talked to you yesterday but I'll fill you in on a couple more things that happened.

 

We finished teaching Rosa the plan of Salvation and it was incredible! She was so intrigued by the spirit world and doing work for the dead. She never knew what happened to us after we die so for her it was new but it made sense to her. We showed her many scriptures and that really helped her. She was so fascinated because she kept saying "It's all right here and I never knew." We committed her to pray about it and promised her she would find the truth. She shared a neat experience with us that she had recently. Her daughter graduated last week and Rosa went to visit her. It was kind of a last minute rush to get everything done so she could graduate and Rosa told us that at one point she said a prayer with her daughter the way that we taught her. I was so glad to hear that! Rosa has come such a long way! She prays so beautifully! We invited her to church this week but she did not come. It's still the whole "but I'm catholic" thing. It's tradition and culture and it's hard for her to do anything else. Her faith is growing though and I'm so grateful to have the chance to help her with that.

 

We've seen so many blessings lately. The spirit has really been guiding us these past couple weeks. Whenever something falls through or we end up with an open time slot we pull over say a prayer and without fail the Lord always has somewhere for us to be. We've really been going through the old records in our area book and we've been able to find some really amazing potential investigators! We've been tracting a lot which in the summer is actually really great (even though i'm melting) because people have a lot more sympathy for you. They'll give you water and sometimes let you inside. It helps us have a chance to talk to people more. We're seeing so many small miracles lately. The Lord has really been placing us in the right places at exactly the right time. It's incredible!

 

We got a new investigator this week! Her name is Janica. She used to talk to the sisters a little but just got to be too busy. Well we talked to her for a bit and we were able to set up an appointment with her for this week! Hopefully I'll have more to update you on about her for next week!

 

Like I told you we dropped Dorisette last week but she actually called on Wednesday and wants us to come for a lesson this Wednesday. We'll see if there's anything more we can do for her.

 

We're meeting with Kevin our other new investigator today.

 

And that's about all my brain will bring to memory today.

 

Here's a funny story for ya.

So we were out tracting/contacting and we were walking past this pond. Well about maybe 40 yards from us were these ducks. Now the thing you have to understand is that every time we see ducks Sister Quist always warns me that almost every duck she has passed on her mission has started to chase her. Well none had started to chase us yet so we just laughed about it. Well now back to these ducks at this pond. The minute they saw us they bee lined/waddled towards us as fast as they could. It was the funniest looking think I've ever seen. Sister Quist started to freak out. I was just standing there in shock wondering if these ducks were really coming to chase us. Well they were. I just kind of stood there and they came up to me and just sort of started nipping at my skirt. Not very intimidating but really funny. So we just sort of power walked down the street and after a while they got too tired to attack us anymore. So i can't say that I've been chased by a dog yet but I have been chased by a duck.

 

Well it really was so good to see y'all yesterday! I love you so much and I'm so grateful for you!

I'm sad to be coming up on the end of my mission but I promise I'll work as hard as I can!

I have loved my mission so much and I wouldn't trade this time for anything.

This gospel is true! We are so blessed to know the truth.

I wanted to share this quote that I read the other day about our pre-earth life. I can't remember which prophet said it but I love it!

 

"I was there! The Prophet Joseph said I was there on that glorious day when the Father called all of his children into the great council. What a vast throng that must have been. The memory of that day is gone, obscured by the veil. But surely it must have been a time of great rejoicing, of overwhelming emotion. How did I feel, I wonder, when I watched Lucifer, son of the morning, step forward. “Here am I,” he said. “Send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind.” Everyone? Could that be possible? “One soul shall not be lost,” he boasted; then he added the condition for such a feat. “Surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. "What my reaction was to such terrible audacity I cannot help but wonder. And what thoughts filled my heart when our Eldest Brother stepped forward with marked contrast in attitude and bearing. “Father, thy will be done,” he said. And the condition for this? “The glory be thine forever.” I was there and saw it all; and, according to the Prophet, I sanctioned it. I sanctioned the choosing and appointing of Jehovah as our Savior. When the rebellion erupted under Lucifer’s urging, how valiant was I in my stand? Did I sanction the Savior with heart as well as voice? The apostle John says the battle was won by the blood of the Lamb  and the word of their (the followers of Christ) testimony. Was my own testimony a weapon of power? Oh, how I long to remember, to pierce the veil and see myself in those premortal days. But wait. I stand now in the present. What of this day? Do I sanction my Savior here? The war is not yet over but merely moved to mortal battlegrounds. What of the weapon of testimony here? Do I wield it with power in His cause? Of what worth is previous valiance if I falter here? He is God, the Son of God. I sanctioned his appointment then. What of now?"

 

I love this quote! I've wondered that same thing so many times- what was I like in the pre mortal life and how strong was my testimony then? Well what does that matter if it isn't strong now, if I'm not valiant now?

 

Love you!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

Welcome to Texas

 

Happy Cinco de Mayo

​Family Dear,

How'r ya'll?

How is the beautiful Utah weather?

I love this time of year in Texas because all the magnolia trees are blooming and the bluebells are out!

It's been another crazy but great week.

Things are finally starting to settle and I think we're about back to normal missionary life!

We saw a lot of wonderful miracles this week!

On Monday night we took Rosa on a church tour and she loved it! Sister Howard and Esther were able to be there too and they helped us a lot! Rosa thought it was so facinating. She got especially excited when we showed her the family search center! We're already planning on taking her in there to get started on her family history. We were able to take her from room to room and tell her about our meetings . The best part was when we took her into the sacrament meeting room. It's amazing to do church tours because when you walk into the sacrament meeting room immediately you feel the spirit. It's like this giant wave of the spirit just washes over. It is so tangible in that room. I know that Rosa felt it too. It's always a good reminder to me of how sacred the sacrament is. Sometimes it's hard to feel that when there's all these kids screaming or your anxious to see if your investigator will show up but the sacrament meeting truly is one of the most sacred meetings in our church.

It was so good to take her on a tour because now I think she will feel more comfortable coming. Something that really hit me as we told her about our church is how we truly try to emulate the savior by focusing on the "one". It's amazing to think that the Bishop and other presidency leaders know all the names of the people they serve. They try to help and love people on such and individual level and that's how it should be. That's how the Savior served and that's how we serve.

Kaylee is doing great as usual! She's made it to 2 nephi chapter 9 now. We're getting into the Isaiah chapters but she is determined to continue to read on. She's not letting that slow her down. Her thirst for truth and her diligence is so inspiring to me.

I had two exchanges for this past week. Normally I like to spread them out but with Sister Hardy being to sick they all got pushed back to the last week in the transfer. The exchange was awesome though! I got to serve with my old companion Sister Davis for 24 hours and it was so good to be with her again! We saw so many miracles. Sometimes Heavenly Father likes to reserve the best miracles for exchanges. We were doing some tracting and we knocked into a woman named Camille! She is amazing! She is christian and has strong faith in God. We were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon and we invited her to read it. She was actually really excited. She has a good friend from Puerto Rico that is a member of the church and she really admires him. She said she would start reading the Book of Mormon that night. Unfortunately she and her family are about to move to Florida in the next week or so but hopefully we'll get some missionaries to her over there!

We had a lesson with Dorisette. She wasn't able to read in the Book of Mormon this week. It was pretty disappointing. Well we decided to read with her instead of teach the lesson we had planned so we began to talk to her a little about the background of the chapter we were going to read and we got on the topic of why the Book of Mormon is necessary. She told us it is hard for her to understand why we need it because from reading the Bible she already knows without a doubt that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. She doesn't feel as though she needs "more". It made me so sad because I know there IS so much more that she could learn, feel, and know. We shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon with her and she could see the sincerity and because of that she recognizes that the Book of Mormon is more important that she is now able to comprehend. I knew we were kind of at a stand still with Dorisette and that now was the time the Lord wanted us to drop her. It's what we have been praying and fasting about for the last 2 weeks and it didn't feel right until that very moment.  I asked her the question "what more can we do for you Dorisette?" her response was that she needed us to "continue to pray that I will be able to read the book and that I will recieve a witness that it is true." She said she would continue to pray and to read. She told us that for her it will take time and that answers have never been immediate for her. It was a good reminder to me that testimony and conversion is not and event or and instant outcome, it is a process and it's different for everybody. Dorisette believes that she will one day know about the truth of the Book of Mormon and she truly is trying, but we all recognized that it would take her some time. At the end of our discussion she said that closing prayer and it was so beautiful. I know someday she will be able to find her answer. At the end she gave me a big hug it was hard knowing that we weren't going to see her much anymore. I don't think either one of us really wanted to stop our lessons but we both knew for some reason that it is what was necesary and what is best for her progression. I just hope I did everything for her that the Lord needed me to do.

One of the great tender mercies of this week is that we had dinner with the laurel class and they made us homemade cafe rio! haha I can't tell you how many times in a week (as ridiculous as it is to admit) i think "boy i wish i could eat some cafe rio right now."

We also got to teach a lesson in Young Womens about missionary work which was really fun! We have some incredible young women and they are some of the best missionaries I've ever seen! For the month of May they are going to be "missionaries" They get a companion and they will be assigned to a family in our ward who they will teach the discussions to as if they were investigators! I am so excited for them to do this! It will be a really neat experience for them and for the ward members too!

So they just barely changed the Tomball ward boundaries and sadly Patricia is no longer in our area so we had to give her to other missionaries but the Lord knows best. I hope she'll be able to find the truth she's looking for.

Here's an entertaining story for ya. After church yesterday we were talking to the Bishop in his office and at one point my purse fell on the floor and just about everything fell out... doofus. Well i thought I got everything back in it so we then went to mission prep. Every sunday we go to mission prep and help the youth with their teaching. Well after mission prep we walk out to the car and I'm fishing through my bag for the keys and they are nowhere to be found. As we walk up to the car I notice that our phone is sitting on the arm rest in the center of the car. Ah man. So we go back into the church building to knock on the Bishops door and there's no answer and it's locked. We left our car keys in the locked office and our phone is sitting in the locked car. Luckily we had a member there with a phone and to make a long story short a few hours later we got our keys back. I can't help but laugh because I feel like it was the perfect and only appropriate way to end this crazy transfer. I'm certain a few people in heaven were laughing at us.

Anyways the transfer is over and as far as we know it looks like Sister Quist will be staying here! It's crazy to think that I'm probably going to end my mission in Tomball but I'm just trying not to think about those things.

As far as an update on Sister Hardy she is doing well. She got home on Monday of last week and she has her procedure scheduled for the 7th of May!

Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers!

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

Lets Do This

Family Dear,

 

How are y'all doing?

Good I hope!

 

It's been another crazy week here in Tomball.

Sister Hardy was in pain all week. It wasn't as bad as last Friday when we took her to the ER but it was bad enough that she was just miserable. Luckily they prescribed her some pain medication so that helped but it would knock her out for up to 6 hours. It was good though because she needed the rest. She was in too much pain to go out and work. The ward was incredible they set up splits for us so someone would come and watch Sis Hardy and I was able to go out and do work with the members.

We saw the doctor on Wednesday and because she was still in pain they were certain that it wasn't a passed stone. What they think now is that there is scar tissue in the gall duct and that is what is causing the pain and inflammation. In order to fix that they would need to do that endoscopic ultrasound and put in a temporary stint. Well it's a really high risk procedure and it's rare and expensive so they want to be sure that's what it is before they go in. So they drew her blood Wednesday and scheduled us to come back in in two weeks and have more blood drawn so they could continue to monitor her liver enzymes.

Basically it would have been a lot of waiting with poor sister hardy in pain. The mission doctor told us that if she would indeed need that procedure than sister hardy would be sent home.

After the end of this week we knew we couldn't continue on the way things were going and that the best thing would be for Sister Hardy to get home and get better. It was a hard decision for Sister Hardy but she has been so strong and gracious through this whole thing. She is an incredible missionary and I know she's served the mission the Lord intended for her to serve. We both felt a lot of peace about the possibility of her going home.

Well Saturday night we had stake conference and after the conference sister hardy talked to President and he felt at peace about the decision too. So on Sunday after stake conference President Pingree took my companion away. It was so hard to see her go. I feel so blessed to have been able to be her companion for these short 5 weeks.

Transfers is next week so right now Sister Quist is my temporary companion until transfers. She's amazing and I'm excited to work with her for this week!

 

Even amidst all this we still saw so many blessings and miracles.

We were able to see Robin again!

She told us that after we met with her that next Tuesday she took her daughter to dance class and found out that ALL the dance moms are Mormon! What?! Haha I couldn't believe it and neither could Robin. Heavenly Fathers hand in this was so obvious! She told them that she had met us and we'd given her a Book of Mormon and all the moms were so excited. Robin was telling us how they told her all about wards and conference etc. Anyways basically the Lord is preparing Robin. She's planning on coming to church next week with her family! I'm so excited to see what happens with her!

We also got to visit Carolynn millers family again. Her husband was busy but we met her darling 16 year old daughter. Her name is Brittney and she wants to be there when we share about eternal families with her dad.

 

We also got to meet with Kaylee and she's doing as great as always. She has loved reading the Book of Mormon.

 

Other than that the week was mostly spent in doctors offices and in the apartment. We needed to get Sister Hardy better. Her health was the most important thing this week.

 

I miss sister hardy but I know she's where she is supposed to be.

 

The ward has been so incredible through all of this. They have gone above and beyond to make sure that sister hardy was taken care of.

 

There was one thing I wanted to share with you from our Stake Conference. One thing that was said by a recent convert about hastening the work was "The Lord is hastening His work and the work will hasten with or without us. Are we helping the work move along or are we just a spectator watching the miracles around us and not taking part in this great work? Let's do this. Let's get out and work. We need to fight alongside the Lord."

I loved her words! As covenant children of God we were not meant to sit and watch. We were meant to go and do. We must assist the Lord in the hastening His work in order to reach our full potential and become like Him.

Start small and pray hard.

 

Thank you for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for Sister Hardy!

 

I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

A Visit to the ER

4/21/14

Dearest family,

 

How are you?!

I am SO excited for McKenna! and Berk! They are going to be some amazing missionaries!

Boy oh boy has this been a crazy week!

 

So remember how last week I said it was getting hot? Well that morning it was SO hot and humid and by the time we left the computer lab and walked outside it had rained and gone down to 55 degrees. It was cold!? What? Weather here is so weird. But I'm totally ok with it cooling down because it pushed back summer a bit.

It's warmed up now and it's back in the 80's but it's been really nice.

 

We've seen a lot of miracles this week! First was Patricia. She is one of our new investigators. We've been trying to meet with her for the past... mmm... probably about 8 weeks. She is a hair dresser and she works from home and the only day she has off is Tuesdays so we tried her on Tuesday. Well she let us right in but she was in the middle of doing someone's hair! I felt so bad! I was worried that this woman would be upset that we were intruding on her hair appointment but she was really nice. Well Patricia continued to work on her hair and talk to us and after a time she said "Jill (the woman's whose hair she was working on) is a member of your church!" Oh my it was so awesome! Jill lives closer to Houston. She's actually not even in our mission but she happened to come get her hair done at Patricia's on the day we stop by?! Amazing! God is so good. Well Patricia started sharing more with us about her life. Basically she's really prepared for the gospel. Many things have happened to her since she last met with the missionaries that have had a profound effect on her and changed her perspective. She asked us questions about our missions and our beliefs - All while dyeing  Jill's hair and wrapping it in tinfoil (i was a little worried by the end that Jill's hair would turn out to be some outrageous color but Patricia can do that stuff with her eyes closed obviously). We taught her a very brief overview of the restoration and Jill helped. Patricia said it was more believable to her now than it was before when the missionaries shared it. All this going on while Jill's hair is still being wrapped in tinfoil. Definitely the most interesting set up I've been in when teaching the Restoration. '

Well to make a long story short Patricia wants us to come back next week and share more. She requested that we bring the Restoration video because she really wants to see it. haha

I can't wait to see her again. She is amazing and so prepared. She has been surrounded by members recently and she recognizes that because of that God is trying to tell her she needs to learn more.

 

We also met with Rosa this week and we had an absolutely incredible lesson with her. The spirit is always so strong with Rosa. We taught her about the Fall, our purpose, and the Atonement. Rosa felt the spirit. This is the first time in her life that she's been taught these things with the full truth. She didn't have a full understanding of why we need the Savior and what it was that He did for us. It has been really eye-opening for her. She thought it was very profound and there where moments where we sat in sacred silence as she pondered on something that we would share. It felt so good to bear testimony of the Savior. Sister Howard and Sister Hardy also bore powerful testimony of Him and Rosa was just in awe. She really wants to be better at following Christ more fully in her life. This next week we will be going on a church tour with her and I can't wait for her to feel the spirit there!

After the lesson Rosa said the closing prayer. It was the first time she prayed out loud the way we'd taught her and she said the most beautiful and sincere prayer. I love her so much.

We were also able to share the because of Him video with her and she loved it.

 

Kaylee is doing awesome! She was able to go to youth conference this week and that was a huge miracle in itself. Well out here for youth conference they did what they call Moroni's Quest. It was a three day camping thing kind of like trek only what they do is reenact the stories of the Book of Mormon. This was perfect for Kaylee since we just started reading the Book of Mormon with her. They even had a part where during a dance all the sudden the lights cut out and they heard thunder and then Christ appeared to the youth just like in the Book of Mormon. They all got to see and touch the prints in His hands. I am so excited to hear Kaylee's experience there. It sounded like an incredible Youth Conference.

 

Well now for the crazy part of the week.

On Friday morning Sister Hardy started having some pain in her upper back and stomach. It lasted for a short time though and by 10 she was fine and we were out the door headed for an appointment. Well once we got in that house the pain hit again but worse this time. She was having shortness of breath and she got really pale and shaky. The woman we were visiting was so kind. She had Sis hardy lay down and took good care of her. She threw up and was in a lot of pain. Well we just had her lie there for a few hours while this woman - Kathy, took care of her. Then she was fine again but we just took her home to rest. Well she slept for a couple hours and then was good to go again. (See this is the problem with missionaries we are stubborn and even when stuff like this happens we still try to go out and work and it's not usually a good idea but we can't help it! It's the Lord's work!) So we had a service project that night. Nothing too crazy just helping serve food at a stake activity. Well when we got there Sister Hardy was still feeling fine but we asked Bro Wake to give her a blessing and he did. Well she started feeling weak so she sat down and then the pain started to return. One of the members of our ward is a paramedic and he came and checked her vitals and everything was alright there but she was still in a lot of pain. She couldn't hardly move out of the chair. Well the ward members helped me get her to the car and I got her home and in bed. We knew we needed to take her to the doctors so we were calling sister Pingree to get the ok. Sister Hardy got in a hot bath and was doing alright but when she got out she started throwing up again and was just pale as a sheet. She was shaking and was in so much pain she was almost delusional. Finally I got a hold of sister Pingree and she agreed that we needed to get her to the ER. I was so scared. She was literally writhing in pain. The ward knew what was going on and almost immediately after I got off the phone with sister Pingree Bro and sis Williams called and said they wanted to come with us to the ER. I was so relieved. Well I drove like a crazy woman to the ER while poor sis hardy was just crying out in pain. We got to the ER with the Williams and waited and waited. Finally they got us back there to run some tests and they got some pain medication in her. They ran some tests and did an ultrasound. At about 1 am the Williams had to leave. I was so grateful they came, it was such a tender mercy. Then at 4am they finally got us a room. I was so tired but I had gotten my second wind so I couldn't sleep plus I was worried. My first all-nighter as a missionary wasn't all that fun I'm not gonna lie. Well Saturday was just a waiting day. We were waiting for the Doctor to come tell us the results of the ultrasound. The ward has been so good to us though. Sister Williams came to visit at the hospital and left us with her tablet so we could watch Mormon messages and Bible videos. Sister hardy was on a clear liquid diet but the ward brought me breakfast lunch and dinner. Finally at 4pm the doctor came  and told us the ultra sound was inconclusive and that they would need to do an MRI. So at 7pm she went in for the MRI and sis Williams went with sis hardy and sis sowers took me home to shower and get stuff for sis hardy and me. Like I said the ward has been SO SO good to us. They have helped us SO much! That night in the hospital we had a room full of members joking and laughing. It reminded me so much of when the whole family came to visit me in the hospital and we were so loud.

Well the next day  - Easter Sunday (the ward members also brought us an Easter basket) was our last day in the hospital. We found out that sis hardy had had a stone in her gall duct. They believe she passed it but they need to do one last procedure - endoscopic ultrasound- to make sure there is no further problems. They sent us home with medicine and the procedure will be on Wednesday morning.

So like I said it's been a crazy week and I'm exhausted. I feel so tired but my body won't sleep. Hopefully we'll be able to get back in the groove of things and go out to work. We're not going to push it though I want to make sure sis hardy gets her rest. Plus even if we wanted to go out and work right away I literally think the ward would chain us to the wall in our apartment.

 

So with that experience we saw a lot of miracles! We were able to talk to a lot of people in the hospital about the church and what we do as missionaries!

The ward prayed for us and has done so much for us I can't even name all the things they've done.

 

I wanted to share one last experience that I had.

So like I said Easter morning we were in the hospital. Sister hardy was asleep and so I took some time to study the resurrection of the Savior. It was such an amazing experience to be in a hospital on Easter. I was in a place where birth and death happen on a daily basis. A place where there is a lot of fear, a place where a lot of peoples bodies are failing them or causing them despair and pain. A place where hope can be hard to find. Being there and studying about the Savior's resurrection was a powerful sacred experience for me. I read the words in John "in the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." And he did. I felt the spirit reconfirm that to me so strongly. Christ lives. He lives! I know it. He died for us and now He lives for us. Because of Him we can have hope. Because of Him all those people in that hospital will live again and will have perfect and healthy bodies. I cannot express to you the love I have for my Savior. I feel so grateful to have this chance to serve as one of His representatives, to be a witness of Him, and to have this hope in my life. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us and because of him we all can be healed, whole, and live eternally with our Father in Heaven.

I'm sure you've all seen that "Because of Him" video on the church website and if you haven't watch it. We've been sharing it with as many people as we can.

 

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!

 

He lives!

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

 

Hospital pics- So you can see that Sister Hardy is alive!

 

Pics with Missionaries

 Beautiful Texas

 Shelby got BAPTIZED!!!