Tracting and Teaching and Roaches...Oh My!

Hola familia!!

How's Utah? I hope life is going great!

Things in Texas are great! At least I'm trying to make them be haha

So to tell you more about my companion Sister Cecil, she is from Orem, Utah she just turned 20 and she has been out for 9 months.

To answer your question mom our plan for sharing the missionary message with our ward members is pretty slow to begin. We called about 30 people in our ward on Thursday to schedule a time to come by and only 4 answered and accepted a meeting and the rest we left a message but they haven't called us back. It's been a little dissappointing. We even had a couple ward members call us back and say they weren't interested or they were too busy...

Well luckily we've been able to share it with a few members so far and they've committed to complete a goal so we plan to call them this week to see how it went.

I really hope we can get this ward to understand the importance of sharing the gospel. I want to be able to show them that it is a blessing and opportunity, not a burden.

I pray every night that the Lord will soften the hearts of these members and that we can build their trust.

We spent a lot of time tracting this week. No luck.

We feel so strongly that the key to this area is the members but we haven't had any luck there either so we resort to a lot of tracting and contacting. It will take time with the members but we're doing all we can to show them that we are good and trustworthy missionaries. Sometimes it's frustrating BUT I refuse to let it get me down. We're trying to help the members and we're doing what we can to find outside of that. Maybe the Lord just needs me to show him that I will not only endure but work and wear out my life for His work even while enduring.

This week we were able to meet with all our investigators though!!

Dorisette is doing well. Her heart has really softened. We talked a lot about the Priesthood and how it was restored. She was very intrigued by the fact that Peter, James, and John are the ones who restored it, but she was also worried because she believed that no one other than Christ will be resurrected until Christ comes again and that those who die don't remember anything about their former life so therefore "how would peter know what he was doing?" Towards the end of our lesson she wasn't so much worried about that though but she does really want to study the preisthood because she recognizes that if there is indeed this authority restored she needs to be a part of it!

I love the discussions we have with Dorisette because we're able to use the Bible a lot AND to show her how it goes hand in hand with the Book of Mormon. It's funny because right before I left Bryan I felt very prompted to read the New Testament again and I'm seeing why now. It seems like everytime I see Dorisette she has a question about our church that I can answer through the New Testament and Christ's teachings which mean more to her than anything because she trusts the Bible more that anything else. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has always been strong but I have truly developed a great love and stong testimony of the Bible since I've been here.

We also met with Velma this week. She has met with missionaries on and off since 2008. She is a tough one! She wants to know everything about the church before she even begins praying about it or come to church! Hopefully we can help her understand that she can pray while she's learning but so far she refuses to which is a pretty big set back. But everyone learns differently and she still wants to meet with us so we're doing what we can for her. We talked about the Restoration and she enjoyed it and had great questions. Her issue though is that she doesn't understand why God would appear to Joseph Smith if he can't dwell in unclean places. She understands that Christ would come but doesn't think that God the Father would.

We explained to her that it is important that He appeared along with Christ because we were able to know and restore the truth that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two seperate beings. We encouraged her to think for herself about why God would also appear.

The investigators we have here in Tomball are tough investigators! They ask the hard questions but to be honest I love it! It really makes me think and know even more certainly that this gospel is true. Of that I have no doubt.

We also met with Rosa she is a new investigator that they found right before I got here so we're still in the beginnings with her but she is wonderful. She thinks our beliefs are so interesting!

Then we have Velma. She is just meeting with us to understand what we believe. Her son is friends with a boy in our ward and he always comes home asking her questions about the Mormon church and she wants to be able to answer them.

We haven't been able to officially meet with Shelly again but we talked to here the other day and got to know her a little better which was good. Hopefully we'll catch her this week!

This week I went on exchanges with the White Oak sisters so I was back in my first area! It was so weird! We even had a meeting with Sister Ruhlman so I got to see her again! She has been going to church still which makes me so happy! Apparantly I dodged a bullet only being there for 6 weeks though because i guess the transfer after i left the apartment got infested with roaches and they've been multiplying ever since! The apartment people have come and sprayed a bunch but it hasn't done much of anything. So when we got there the whole place was crawling with roaches! SO GROSS! poor sisters...

Anyways mission life is hard but it's the best! I've learned a lot since I've been in this area.

The gospel is so wonderful and I love being able to share it!

Love y'all lots!

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven

Family Dear,

 

Hello!! How it going? Can you believe it's 2014 cause I can't!

 

Anyways life is good here in Tomball! Things are starting to get better each day and I'm starting to figure things out here.

We've come up with a plan to encourage our ward to do missionary work. To help them out we made a dvd of the hastening the work videos that we will show them and we also created a list of missionary oriented goals that we will have them look at. Then we will ask them to pick one of those goals and commit them to accomplish them within the week. We're going to encourage them by calling them and following up. I'm really excited to start doing it! There are enough goals on that list that we can continue to come back again and again and have them set a new goal. Some of them are easier like "Pray for the missionaries in the Tomball ward and pray for their investigators by name daily." and some are a little more challenging like 'Invite a friend to take the missionary discussions" So our plan is to start out by getting them to do the small things so that the big things will be easier for them in time! We're really excited about getting this going so I hope the members will step up and accept the challenge!

 

It has been a great week!

We weren't able to meet with Dorisette this week but we have a lesson scheduled with her today so hopefully it will go well!

 

So I don't think I've ever told you this but I think the Holy Ghosts favorite song is "Praise to the Man" and here's why...

So at one point we had about 15 minutes before an appointment and we knew if we showed up early it would be fine. Plus it was raining so that sounded like a much better plan than anything else.

But the spirit likes to do this thing to me every time there is something that I don't really want to do that I know I should do. I always hear the spirit say "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven" and I know what I have to do.

So we decided to just go out in the pouring rain and knock a few doors with the time we had instead of going early to our appointment.

Every time I've listened to that line from the spirit I've followed it and something miraculous always happens!

Well this time was no different! We started knocking doors and no one answered so we came up to the last house thinking it would be the same result but this woman answered the door and we introduced ourselves and started talking to her. She goes to church but she had never heard about our church before so we asked her if we could come by and share more with her and she said yes! Her name is Shelly and she is an ER nurse so I got to talk to her about nursing for a few minutes which was fun!

I'm so grateful for those promptings that come. Sacrifice truly does brings forth the blessings of heaven!

 

We taught Kaylee the Plan of Salvation this week. She really enjoyed it. It doesn't look like her Mom is going to soften up anytime soon but we keep teaching her and praying for her.

 

So as Sister Training Leader I get to go on exchanged with all the sisters in my zone so this week we swapped with the Lakewood Sisters. I went to their area with Sister Murphy and she is awesome! It's a bike area so I was really excited to ride a bike for the day. Unfortunately Sister Murphy's companion is really tall so I couldn't fit on her bike. So to avoid any kind of embarrassing or deadly accident we decided to be on foot for the day! I love days when we can just walk around and talk to everyone you see! The worst trap as a missionary is the car and I love every opportunity I get to step out of the cage... oh uh I mean car... and talk to everyone I see!

We had some great miracles that day! We were able to find 2 new investigators simply by walking up to them and talking to them!

The biggest miracle happened as we started tracting though. We were walking down a random street and we couldn't see anyone outside so we just decided to start knocking doors. About halfway down the street a woman answered the door and we introduced ourselves. Soon after she told us that her husband was a member of the church but he hadn't been active. She then informed us that her husband had just recently died 2 days before Christmas. My heart broke for this woman. We were able to talk to her for and time and at the end she asked if we would pray with her and her family so she grabbed her 2 young children and she asked me to offer the prayer. She made it clear that she wasn't interested in joining the church but we were able to share with her that families are eternal and she said we could come back and visit with them again. It was one of those amazing moments when you know the Lord sent you there for a purpose. He loves that family so much and he wanted to send them some comfort and he allowed us to provide some of it!

It was incredible!

 

I love being a missionary so much! It is the best thing ever!

 

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

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

Change Is Hard!

1/6/13

 

Hola family!!

 

How's life in Utah! How was new years? I hope one of your new years resolutions had to do with sharing the gospel! :)

 

Well I've officially left Bryan. My new companion is Sister Cecil and she has been out for 8 months. I'm serving as the Sister Training Leader for the Cypress Zone which has 7 sets of sisters. I'm now serving in the Tomball ward and my new area is just across the freeway from Parkway (my second area). It is in the same stake as the White Oak ward (my first area) and it's very different from Bryan.

I've realized more than ever what a great ward the Bryan ward is! They didn't have 14 baptisms in the last year for no reason. It was because the Missionaries AND the ward members were being obedient and doing what the Lord and the Prophet has asked them to do.

It's been hard for me not to compare Tomball to Bryan and I'm doing my best not to.

Tomball has had 1 baptism in the last 2 years and the members are nice and some are really welcoming but a lot of the members we've visited so far you can sense that we're a burden on them and they don't really want us there.

It's hard too because the missionaries here have gotten really relaxed and have sort of lost that sense of urgency that is essential to productive missionary work. It's a little overwhelming to see all the changes that need to happen here if we are to do what the Lord expects of us. I wish I could just fix this place up in one night and get it going but I know it's going to be a long process and I'm learning that wonderful lesson of patience again. My favorite :)

The first place I can think to start is earning the trust of the members and challenging them to do missionary work.

 

Sorry to sound so doom and gloom! I promise I'm doing well! Everyday has been hard because I get homesick for Bryan BUT everyday also gets better and better. I remember when I first came to Bryan I felt the same way! I wanted to go back to the Parkway ward! It's so funny now because I remember when I first got to Bryan I would plead with the Lord every night to help me learn to love Bryan and now I'm doing the same in Tomball. I already know what the outcome will be! I know by the time I leave Tomball I will be sad to leave it. I learned to love Bryan just as much if not more than Parkway and I know it will be the same here too.

I haven't quite figured out yet why the Lord placed me here but I'm determined to find out.

 

It was hard to say goodbye to all those people that I've come to love so much. I'll never forget them.

 

So now for the good stuff!!

Let me tell you about our investigators!

 

First we have Kaylee! She is 14 years old and she is darling. Her sister became a member of the church a couple years ago and is currently serving her mission in Canada. No one else in Kaylee's family are members of the church.

The Sisters have been teaching her for a couple months now and she wants to get baptized but her mother said she's too young but we're still continuing to teach her. She comes to church and to the mutual activities every week.

I know miracles are going to happen with that family though! I can feel it! Her mother speaks only Spanish so we can't really communicate with her much but we had dinner with them at a members home and i think she felt the wonderful spirit there.

 

Our other progressing investigator is Dorisette. She has been taking the discussions for a few months and I guess at first she was really progressing and then one day things changed and she was really skeptical. She believes that the Bible is the only word of God. Sister Cecil told me before I met her that one reason they think she stopped progressing is because of the influence of her husband. Both Dorisette and her husband are Seventh Day Adventists.

Well that is what I knew of her before I met her so I wasn't sure what our visit would be like. The sisters had been having her read a couple chapters in the Book of Mormon and the discussing it with her during the lessons so that's what we had planned to do.

Well she let us in and we sat at her table and I got to know her a little bit. Before long her husband Haldeen (whom the sisters had never met before) walked in and decided to sit down for the lesson. Think made me and Sister Cecil so nervous because I was expecting him to try and bible bash and tell us everything wrong about our religion. We started talking about the Book of Mormon and it's origin and history and he did have A LOT of questions that I didn't think we'd be able to answer.

A miracle happened though. I prayed so hard as we sat there that the Lord would put the words in our mouths to answer his questions and He did just that. I could literally feel the power of the spirit work through me as we spoke and taught about the Book of Mormon. As we began to talk about his questions I felt strongly off the bat that we should begin by bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon and what it meant to us. So I did just that and when I finished Haldeen said "I'm very touched by what you said and so I would like for you to tell me more about that book." And the discussion got going from there. Every concern and question he had was answered through the power of the spirit working through us! He asked some very logical questions that we don't get asked much and he is very intelligent when it comes to the history of Christianity and the Bible. He agreed with a lot of what we shared and he is very intrigued by the Book of Mormon. We challenged him to read it with his wife and pray and ask God if it is true and he said he would.

It was such a wonderful experience and I had one of those precious moments that come every once in a while where as we sat there with this wonderful couple I could envision them getting baptized, coming to church, and being sealed in the temple. It will all be in their own time though. I just hope we can get them a little closer to it!

 

Change is hard but such a good thing. It makes me rely on the Lord more fully and truly search out what He would have me do. I hope I can leave this area better than I found it and accomplish what the Lord would have me accomplish.

 

I love you all and I hope all is going well back home!

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

PS my new address is:

 11743 Northpointe Blvd #627

Tomball TX 77377

Young Women's activity

 Sister Weaver and Abby at the temple for the first time

 Me and my girls...Abby and Shelbs

 Sister Weaver and me

 Transfer meeting (last pic with my comps)

 

Adios Bryan!

12/30/13

Hello family!

 

It was so good to see you on Christmas!

 

Well we got the sad news last night... I'm getting transferred out of Bryan. We were all really sad about that. I was really hoping to stay in Bryan which I've come to love so much and to stay with my two wonderful companions whom I love so much. But all good things must come to an end right? Well except eternal families etc. :)

 

Anyways I still think that the hardest part about a mission is leaving the people and the area's that you come to love but if there's one reoccurring theme throughout my mission it's that the Lord sends us where we need to be and I know I'll end up loving my new area just as much as I've loved every single one of my old areas.

It makes me laugh when I think about how I first felt about coming to Bryan. I was so sad to leave Parkway and I remember just pleading with the Lord in my prayers that I would learn to love Bryan and be able to move forward and now here I am so sad to leave Bryan behind! But I'm ready for whatever comes and wherever they send me! I just wish I could take Sister Davis and Sister Funk with me! They will do awesome though! I can't wait to see what miracles the Lord works through them in Bryan!

 

Shelby's been out of town so we haven't seen her but I got to say goodbye to her before she left. Still no word from her Aunt but once they get back from their vacation we're going... or I guess Sister Funk and Sister Davis are going to go try and visit with her and hopefully help ease some of her concerns.

 

We saw so many miracles this week and there are so many coming! I just wish I could stay here to see them but I know I'm needed elsewhere.

We taught the "first powerful lesson" to our new investigator Brenda and it was great. She is this quiet, humble, beautiful black woman and she is amazing. She was looking for truth and stumbled across Mormon.org and after looking over the website she requested a visit from some missionaries and we were the lucky ones that got to visit her. The lesson went well. She is very sincere. At the end of our lessons we always ask the investigator to pray and she was really hesitant at first. She wouldn't pray. We didn't want to pressure her but the spirit told us to keep encouraging her to say the prayer. It's really important that the investigator is able to pray after the lesson because we can share our testimonies with them and pray for them all we want but they won't find out the truth until they ask God themselves. If they're willing to pray in that moment we know they will be more willing to pray outside of our visits. And not only that but it wasn't that we wanted her to pray to check something off our teaching list, but we knew that the Lord wanted to hear from her. It was a chance for her to rebuild that relationship with her Father in Heaven.

She finally agreed to pray and she said such a simple, sincere, powerful prayer. She accepted and soft baptismal commitment. We asked if we could set a date but she wants to wait. She is excited to meet with us again.

It was really neat getting to sit in that lesson with Brenda and my two amazing companions who I've come to love so much. Our teaching flowed so well together and we knew it was the spirit working through us. I have loved being able to train because I get to see these new missionaries grow. Sister Funk and Sister Davis have become such incredible teachers. I get so into what their saying that sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm helping them teach too.  They have beautiful testimonies and I'm so grateful for the chance that I had to learn from them. Really and truly each Sister I've had the privilege to train has truly trained me.

 

We also have two other new investigators that we're looking forward to working with. Pam and Geraldine.

Pam has investigated in that past but she's really going through some struggles. She has cancer, is taking care of her grandson because her daughter is in jail, and is trying to move so she is just trying to cope with all of that right now.

Geraldine is awesome! She is this loud, excited, and again beautiful black woman! She was so excited to talk to us. She has already decided that she's putting us on the calendar twice a month so we can have some time for "Jesus talk."  I think the Sister will have some great stories from her.

 

We also saw many miracles come from our meetings with the less-actives.

Miriam is one of our less-actives that we recently re-activated and she has been faithfully coming to church! This past Sunday she even brought her non-member boyfriend to church. It is so wonderful to see the changes she's made in her life. It isn't easy for her to say the least. She has a lot of things and worries demanding her time but she's made the effort to come to church a priority.

 

We also met with Belinda again this week. She and her husband joined the church a while back and her husband has become pretty anti. They haven't been active in years but we recently started teaching her the discussions again. All she wants is to be sealed in the temple and have an eternal family but because her husband struggles with the church she knows it's far out of reach. She really opened up to us this past week and told us everything she's feeling and going through. She was reduced to tears. The whole time she was talking I just kept praying that we would know what the Lord wanted her to hear. That he would help us know what he would say to her if he were sitting next to her. It's an amazing thing to be a representative of Christ because he can't be here with her physically but he sent us there to be with her in his place so we have the right to receive inspiration to know what the Savior would have us do. It was incredible to see how the Lord worked through us. We knew what to say because the spirit provided us with the words. Actually let me change that we didn't know what to say but the Spirit provided us with the words. We were able to promise her that if she would come to church, read her scriptures, and pray the Lord would soften her husbands heart and she would be able to receive the blessings she desires. We promised her that if she relied on the Lord he would allow miracles to happen in her life that she thought were never possible.

Yesterday she texted us and said that she talked to her husband about coming to church and she said he was much more open. I wish I could convey to you what a miracle this was. He even was the one who woke her up so they could get to church. This was a complete 360 for this man. I can't wait to see the miracles that come from her faithfulness. I know if she does what the Lord has asked she truly will be blessed and one day her and her husband and children will be sealed in the Temple. I know it.

 

There are so many other wonderful miracles happening here I wish I had the time to tell it all. I'm so grateful for the people of Bryan Texas and all that I was able to learn from them. I love my mission and there's nowhere else I'd rather be and nothing else I'd rather be doing.

 

Hope you all have a happy New Year! Thank you for all of your love and support!

 

Love, Sister Gregson 

 

Me and Shelbs

 Me with Sister Briano, the BEST old lady there ever was in Bryan



Christmas Breakfast

 

Merry Christmas!

12/21/13

Hey family!!

So President Pingree gave us permission to write today because on Monday we have our Christmas conference in Houston so Christmas Eve is our P-day and of course the library will be closed.

 

I got the packages and even though they've been burning a hole in our apartment floor I have held strong and not opened them yet.

 

For Christmas we will be able to Skype! We're eating breakfast at a members home at 8:30 and then skyping afterwards so it should be later in the morning. I'll call the home phone before hand so we can get everything set up!

 

I had a really neat opportunity this week. President Pingree called an emergency MLC (mission leadership council) on Tuesday and because I'm a sister training leader I had the chance to go. MLC is a meeting with President Pingree and all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. Usually we have them at the first of every month down in Houston so we weren't expecting another one until January.

When we got started President told us that he has had a very strong impression from the Lord that as a mission we are doing well but that the Lord expects much more. He went on to tell us that he called us together as leaders of this mission because he needed our help to figure out a plan and set goals for our mission so that we can meet the Lord's expectations. What and incredible example of humility. He wanted our help and input. Before we started he had all of us kneel down in prayer together (there were about 40 of us) and he said the most pure. humble, powerful prayer that I have ever heard in my life. It immediately brought the spirit into our meeting. I could feel the power of faith in that group of missionaries as we all knelt together pleading with the Lord. It is an experience I will never forget.

For the next two hours we discussed what we could do as a mission and it was incredible how the spirit worked through us and how we were all unified in what our concerns and ideas were. It was miracle. Impressions came that we knew came straight from the Spirit of the Lord. By the end we had a solid plan set for our mission. A lot of the things we're changing are going to be hard. Really hard. It's going to push everybody and cause them to give their all and much more, but in my opinion that's how I knew it was the Lord's plan for our mission. I can't even describe the thoughts and feelings I had as I sat in that council but it was a very powerful thing to experience. Good things are coming. The Lord expects more of his missionaries now and we need to meet his expectations. And the neat thing I witnessed in that meeting is that we all want to meet his expectations. We all want to be the missionaries the Lord needs and expects us to be.   

 

 

As far as the mission is going it's great as always!

There are some ups and downs but it's the best.

As far as the downs go we think we're going to have to drop Mary. We tried twice this week to set up a church tour and both times she cancelled. She really wants to be baptized but she hasn't found the faith to overcome her anxiety and there's no way I can blame her for that. It is a hard thing to overcome. I hope someday she will be able to come to church and I'm very grateful for the chance I've had to work with her. We aren't sure yet what the next step is with her but one thing I know is that she's not our investigator she's the Lord's and He will know what she needs. Whenever we consider dropping someone it's never and instant "oh we're done, see ya!" it's a prayerful process to make sure we've done all that the Lord needed us to do for her. Perhaps in the next life when she is perfect and no anxiety can hold her back she will be ready to accept the gospel more fully.

 

Lafraya is going through a lot right now so we haven't been able to meet with her but we keep her in our prayers.

 

Shelby is doing great! Still no word on Aunt Darla giving her permission though. Her new baptismal date is January 25th. We pray everyday that her Aunt's heart will be softened. When we had our lesson with her this last week we asked her, "If Aunt Darla tells you that you can't get baptized does that mean that the church isn't true?" Of course she knew the answer was no. So we talked to her a lot about how she's found the truth and she needs to hold fast to it even if she can't get baptized anytime soon. I have no worries for her future though. She is a wonderful girl and I'm so grateful that she was exposed to the church at such a young age. When I think about her life and what it would be given her family circumstances I know she is going to need this gospel to help her stay away from falling into the same trap her parents fell into. She will be able to look back at this time in her life and remember the things that we and this church have been able to share with her.

 

We've seen so many blessings lately! Referrals are coming from no where everyday! People are being prepared.

I'm amazed everyday by the people we get to talk to. Its amazing to think that there are hundreds of people I've met since coming out here that I wouldn't have been able to meet If I hadn't come on a mission.

Some times our visits with others are brief and sometimes we talk to them for hours. Sometimes they want to learn more, sometimes they slam the door in our faces. But each person I've met has had and impact on my life. I learn from their life experiences. I learn that every though someone has another religion or church they can still have incredible faith in the Savior. And yes I even learn from the people that slam the door in my face because I realize what kind of person I want to be. What a blessing it is to be able to represent the Savior in this small portion of His vineyard. I love the people of Bryan Texas.

 

Hope all is well in SLC!

 

Love you lots!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

12/16/13

Hello family!

 

Ok mom to answer your questions I don't know if the packages have gotten here yet but I'll let you know! And I'll try my best not to open them until Christmas but I can't promise anything :)

Also I'm not sure exactly what time we'll be calling you on Christmas but we will be able to skype! We're going to a members home for breakfast and then we'll all be skyping our families afterward so it will probably be late morning early afternoon sometime! I'll let you know when I know more!

 

Life in Bryan is great!! I can't believe this transfer is coming to a close! I am really worried that I'm out of Bryan this time around. I hope that I can at least stay one more transfer (of course I say that every transfer) and I really hope I can stay with both Sister Davis and Sister Funk. We all love each other so much and we work so well together.

 

This week has been one full of miracles! 

We had our ward Christmas party and we had many of the less-actives come that haven't stepped into a church building in years!! It was so good to see them there. The ward really reached out to them and made them feel welcome and loved. I hope they felt the spirit when they walked back into the church. It's where they belong.

 

We made some good progress with Mary. It's been so long since we've seen her but we were able to meet with her this week and we had a really good discussion about the importance of coming to church. She still wants to be baptized and her goal is her original date of January 11th. Again the biggest difficulty will be overcoming her anxiety. We talked to her about trying to do a church tour again and she said she felt comfortable with it so I'm praying it will ease her anxiety.

 

Unfortunately Shelby's Aunt hasn't given permission yet. Every time Shelby tries to bring it up her aunt says "we'll talk about it later." So no baptism for Shelby this week but like I've said before I'm not worried because someday even if it's after she's 18 I know Shelby will get baptized. She's felt the spirit and she knows this church is true. I think it may be the only truly stable thing in her life. She's recognized the comfort and peace that come with this gospel.

 

Our new investigator is Katy! She goes to medical school with some of the younger couples in our ward and one day she walked up to them and said "Why are Mormons so darn (she said something other than darn but it felt wrong tying the real word out so you get the idea)  happy all the time?" Anyways she watched a session of conference with them and she's even come to church a couple times. We got to know her pretty well because we helped set up some stuff for the ward Christmas party and she was there helping too. Well last night we had our first discussion with her at the members home and it was really neat. She has a Catholic background and she is truly and sincerely looking into the church. She has a lot of questions and in my opinion those are the best kind of investigators because you know they truly want to know what this gospel is all about. We're planning to teach her the next discussion this week. Unfortunately she is moving to Austin at the end of December, but, fortunately she is already planning on going to a ward there in Austin and looking up the missionaries!! There are truly people out there who are prepared.

 

We started doing service at a school for adults that a member of our ward is over. It's for adults who are learning English and working to get their GED. It's been really neat because it allows us to work with people in a way other than knocking on doors when they don't really want to talk to us. We have the opportunity to serve them and as they get to know us they ask us questions about the church. We're excited about this opportunity and I know there is someone there that needs this gospel.

 

In other great news Abby went to the temple for the first time on Saturday! It was also the first time Sister Weaver (her mother) had been since she was 15 year old! They took 40 family names!! Abby got baptized for her grandmother. I am so happy for them! I love them so much and to see how happy they were in church yesterday was priceless.

It was pretty neat because I've gotten really close with the youth here, especially the Young Women. The other night we were at the church building and one of the Young Women got her first temple recommend and she was so happy that she had tears in her eyes as she walked out of the Bishops office and hugged her mother. It was a good reminder to me of how precious a temple recommend really is. There are many things we members of the church take for granted but to see how much joy was in this young woman's face when she realized she was worthy to go to the temple for the first time was a truly incredible experience.

 

We've also been in a lot of broken homes this week and it breaks my heart to see how Satan has ruined so many families. There are broken families everywhere you turn out here. We were visiting a members home this week and her husband is a drug addict. He spends all their money on drugs and every month they are struggling to get by. We were able to have a prayer with them before we left their home and her young 8 year old son offered the prayer. In that prayer he said "Please help my daddy to stop doing drugs." It made me so sad for this young boy. At 8 years old her should not have to pray for something like that.

Since I've been in Bryan I see homes like this everywhere. Every single one of the youth I've taught have struggles just like this. Abby's biological father struggles with drugs, Shelby is separated from her parents because of their drug addiction, Jaelynn's mother was in jail because of her drug abuse, and Tony's family is spilt apart because of some poor choices his father made. It is normal out here to hear about these family situations. This world needs the gospel now more than ever. I'm so grateful for the gospel and the comfort and peace it brings. Even though these youth have had these struggles they can find the love, hope, and stability within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

How grateful I am to have the truth and to have the great opportunity to share it with others.

 

I hope all is well at home!

Love you all!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love Sister Gregson

Missionary Work is the BEST

12/9/13

Family Dear,

 

How goes it?

Sounds like you're getting awesome weather up there! I am really jealous! One of the members of our ward has a daughter in Provo and she sent her mother a picture of the snow covered streets leading up to campus. I could have stared at that picture all day! I miss snow!

It's freezing down here right now but all we get is the frozen rain. It's the weirdest thing. It's like frozen raindrops pelting you. I don't enjoy it very much but I'm counting my blessings that I'm not on a bike right now. The roads freeze over really fast here and when they do they close the bridges. Our area covers both sides of the bridges so we have to be careful at night not to be on the wrong side or we're stranded.

 

This week has been a good one! We taught Shelby the Plan of Salvation and she loved it. She wants to get baptized so badly. She is a rock star. She reads the Book of Mormon almost every day. She has already downloaded every possible LDS app on her phone and she always wants to offer the prayers. At our last lesson she said the dinner prayer, the opening prayer, AND the closing prayer. I love her prayers because their so innocent and sincere. I can already see this girl serving a mission. Her enthusiasm for the gospel is so fun to see.

We've set a date with her and she wants to be baptized on the 21st of December. The only thing we need to go on with that date is permission from her Aunt who is her legal guardian. We're praying hard that she'll say yes but I have no fear for Shelby if she happens to say no because I know that that won't deter her one bit. She has found the truth and she's running with it.

 

Missionary work is the best.

 

This week our stake had a Christmas community program. Our church and 3 other churches (Presbyterian, Catholic, and Methodist) put on a Christmas program of musical numbers. It was hosted at our Stake Center and it was so neat. They decorated the church beautifully and there were so many people of different faiths who came to celebrate Christ. The spirit there was amazing. It was really cool to have the community come together and worship together despite differences in beliefs. There are so many good God fearing people our here and we all want to do the same thing - follow our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Being a missionary at this time of year is incredible. People seem to be so much more accepting. It is the prime time of year for member missionary work too. Our ward has really stepped up and headed the prophets call to preach the gospel. They have really taken advantage of all this season brings. We had many members bring friends to the community program, and this past Sunday our ward had their Christmas program and many members invited friends to come. We've already had many members come up to us and tell us that they are bringing a non-member friend to our ward Christmas party and they want to be sure and introduce us to them.

As a companionship we've prepared a short 30 min Christmas message that our members can invite their friends to hear and last week we had the Bishop announce it to the members. We've already got a few people who are planning on it!

Every week one or two of our members will come up to us and tell us about how they invited their friend to listen to a message or come to church etc. and the amazing thing is that many of their friends have said yes and many have said no. But no matter the response the members are so excited about it and they feel good because they know they did what they have been asked by our Heavenly Father to do. You never know what effect the invitation will have in the future.

 

Last week in young women's the challenge was given to the girls to do some member missionary work. On Wednesday they invited us to come to mutual and 3 of the girls had invited their non-member friends to the activity! It's incredible to see how fired up about missionary work everyone is. What an incredible time to be a missionary

 

We had another really neat thing happen in our ward this week. We have this beautiful young couple in our ward who are recent converts and they are pregnant with their first baby. Unfortunately this past week they lost the baby and when that happened they posted on Facebook that they wanted nothing to do with the Mormon church or any other church for that matter. The ward really stepped up and showed their love and care. That very day members of our ward went to their home ministered to this young couple. It was a testimony to me of the importance of the ward family and truly being a Zion people united in our hearts. This past Sunday the couple returned to church heart-broken but with the love and support of every member of our ward. It brings tears to my eyes to be able to see the goodness in people and how they've fulfilled their baptismal covenant to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. There is a lot of bad in this world yes, but there is SO much good.

 

I'm so Thankful for this time of year. It puts a special feeling of love into everyone's hearts. I wish it could be that way all year long.

I have been reflecting again and again on how grateful I am for the gift and birth of the Savior. There have been many sacred moments in my morning studies as I've thought about the Savior and what he means to me. He is the greatest gift of all.

 

I love you guys and I hope you know how grateful I am for all of you and your support and prayers!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

Dollar store Christmas décor

Building gingerbread houses on p-day

 

The finished project

 

 My girls! Abby (right) and Shelby (left)

 

 Temple trip

Our first meal, without a member, as a trio. We tried to make our own enchiladas and it actually worked out pretty well

 

Happy December

12/2/13

Hola familia!

 

How are you? I hope you Thanksgiving was wonderful! We got not one but two thanksgiving meals so we were definitely stuffed to the brim but it was all so good. Of course nothing compares to your stuffing mom.

 

We've seen miracle after miracle this past week! I love being in a trio so much! There is so much power! I love Sister Funk and Sister Davis! We work hard, laugh hard, and do so well together! I love these girls like my own sisters and I'm so grateful that I get the chance to work with them. I really hope I get more than one transfer with these two.

 

I have some grate stories to share from this past week!

On Wednesday the AP's had to drop off Sister Funk's bed and when they left I shut and locked the door as usual. We always lock the door because our door is broken and doesn't stay shut if it's not locked. Now our door has two dead bolts and when I locked the top one it broke. So we were literally locked inside our apartment and couldn't get out! It was so frustrating because we had so much planned for that afternoon and here we were stuck in our apartment. Luckily we had the number for the main office so they said they would send the maintenance man over. We don't have any windows on our bottom floor so I ran upstairs to the window and luckily the AP's were still there so they tried to get the lock off the door but it wasn't budging. It was pretty embarrassing but it was so funny and we couldn't help but laugh.

If there's one thing I've learned as a missionary it's that everything happens for a reason so I knew God locked us in there for one reason or another so I was determined to talk to our maintenance man about the gospel. His name is Manuel and he had to climb over the fence and come through our back door to set us free. As he was fixing the lock I started to talk to him and he asked about the church. We were able to share a little with him and invite him to come to church! It was awesome! Now we see him everywhere! He is so cool and I hope one of these days he'll bring his family to church.

 

Then as if that wasn't enough the next day we got a flat tire! Welcome to the mission Sister Funk!

Despite these set backs though we had such a wonderful week!

 

On Monday we started teaching Shelby. She is Abby's friend from school and is also 12 years old! Isn't that awesome!? Abby has only been a member of the church for 2 months and she's already invited a friend to take the discussions! Shelby is so great! She has come to church 2 times already and she told us the other day that she read and prayed about the Book of Mormon and she believes it's true! It's been so amazing to serve here in Bryan because the majority of the people I've taught since being here have been under the age of 17. They're still rowdy rambunctious teenagers but when we start talking about the gospel with them it's amazing how calm and mature they can be in that moment. They know what we're sharing is important and it's amazing to see the look on their faces when they realize their divine heritage and what the Lord has in store for them. If there's one way to describe Shelby it would be enthusiastic. She gets so excited to learn about the gospel and she loves it so much. Before we started teaching her she would always make sure she was at Abby's house every Monday night because she knew we would be at their house teaching Abby a lesson. I feel that it is such a privilege to work with these youth who are searching for the truth. I can't describe what it means to me that the Lord has let me work with his young men and women to share the gospel with them. I can see already how valiant they will be in the gospel and what strength they will add to the church as they grow older and receive callings and marry in the temple. I honestly can't put into words how grateful I am for these amazing youth. All of them have had such difficult lives and to see the look of pure joy on their faces when they realize that there is someone who has felt their pain and loves them is priceless. Both of Shelby's parents struggle with addictions to drugs and because of that she lives with her Aunt. And yet she is such a happy young woman. She doesn't let it get her down. I think that's partly why the gospel already means so much to her. It is something she can find peace and comfort in. It's amazing to me how prepared for this gospel these youth are. I love them so much and I am so glad I have the chance to work with them now and to see how the gospel will play a part in the rest of their lives. I feel as though God is preparing a new and stronger army through these youth and I have the wonderful blessing of working with these future armies of Helaman!

 

Abby is doing so well. She invited Shelby to take the discussions and then at church on Sunday not only did she bring Shelby but she also invited a boy their age who lives next door. His name is Damon. Because we teach Shelby at Abby's house we have Abby help us out with the teaching. It is wonderful to watch her share the gospel with her friend. Abby is a great example to me.

 

There are so many wonderful things happening right now in Bryan and it's not just because we are being obedient missionaries but it's also because our ward are being obedient member missionaries and doing what the Lord has called them to do. Missionaries cannot do this work alone. It would be impossible. Members are essential.

 

Yesterday we had another chance to teach the Restoration. We get to teach the Restoration a lot but this time I felt the spirit so strongly. I hear this lesson time and time again and yet every time we share it with someone else there is something new that I learn. I'm so grateful for this gospel. It is so hard for me to put into words what it means to me and what being a missionary means to me. It is the greatest blessing of my life to be out here serving the Lord. I love my savior so much. There is nowhere else I'd rather be.

 

I love you all and hope you have some happy holidays!

 

What tracting in Bryan looks like

 

A scripture chart we made for Abby. She loves JB so that's why the lyrics are there

 

My new comps and me

 

Thanksgiving with the Lewis family

 

Trio

11/25/13

Family Dear,

Ok calm down I'm fine! Y'all worry way too much :) When you're a missionary the last thing you're worried about is being sick. I just had a bad cold and my ear was doing weird things so the doctor gave me some medicine for the ear and that's what made me feel nauseated. All is well and I've not died yet so we're good.

 

So I never thought I'd say these words but TEXAS IS FREEZING! It has been so cold lately! Because of the humidity the cold it so immediate here and it goes right to the bones! So for all you who are wondering yes it gets cold in Texas.

 

So I have a lot to fill you in on this week!

It has been such an incredible one!

 

First off Last Monday night Sister Davis and I got a call from the AP's asking us if we would trio train! Of course we accepted! Our new companion is Sister Funk and she just barley graduated high school and turned 19! She's from Twin Falls Idaho and she is awesome! I love my companions so much and being in a trio is so much fun and also so powerful! The Elders in our ward are also trio training so we now have 6 missionaries serving in our ward!!!

This transfer we only had 12 missionaries come out and 8 of them were sisters! Sister Pingree said the groups coming in will probably start to be smaller like this from now on.

Did I tell you? I probably did but it's just so cool! We now have more Sisters in our mission than Elders! When I came out in March there were only 13!!!! Now we have 130+!

 

Like I said before there are miracles coming and we're starting so see so many! Our ward is incredible they have really taken the counsel from the prophet and from our leaders to go out and do missionary work. We've had so many members come to us and tell us stories of inviting their friends to learn more about the gospel. Not all of them had a successful response but I know they will be blessed for being faithful to God and keeping his commandment and they were still so excited to be a part of the work. We've also had people who have had success in inviting their friends. We've received a couple referrals. This past week at church we had 10 non-members attend church. Most of them were visiting with a member of our ward who had invited them! It almost brought tears to my eyes to see the faith of these dear saints in Bryan whom I have come to love so much. They are doing things right!

We had a dinner with the Goddard family this past week and they invited a non-member friend named Amy and she goes to school with Brother Goddard. At the end Sister Goddard exercised her faith and invited Amy to take the discussions. Amy said no because she just doesn't have the time for it right now. But it was incredible to see Sister Goddard keep her covenants and trust in the promises of God. It wasn't awkward or anything Amy just simply wasn't ready.

 

Guess who came to church?! Morgan Skinner!!! We were thrilled to see her there! On Monday we wanted to do something more for her so we got her some flowers and chocolate and left that along with President Monson's talk from this last conference on her door step. Then on Sunday she walked through the chapel doors and Sister Davis and I just about passed out from happiness! She even brought her boyfriend who is not a member of the church. I'm not sure exactly how many years it's been since she's been to church but I know it has been quite some time! She gave us a big hug after sacrament meeting. I'm so grateful the Lord led us to her that day.

 

Mary is struggling unfortunately. Her anxiety is getting the best of her. She panicked and ended up not doing the church tour we had planned. I'm not really sure what's going to happen with her. She is so afraid she won't come to church and I don't know that she ever will come. We're kind of stuck with what to do with her. I may not know what Mary needs right now but luckily my fourth companion is the Lord and He knows exactly what she needs so hopefully we'll be able to figure it out. Even if Mary can't overcome her anxiety in this life I know that after this life she will be perfect and that anxiety will be gone and she will be able to accept the gospel with no fear.

 

We had another great miracle this week! I'm not certain if I've told you about Lafraya before but I'll tell you again if I did. Lafraya was given to Sister Hutchings and I when we first got to Bryan. She is probably one of the hardest people to meet with. She is always gone and when you have an appointment set up she usually ends up not being there. Well every once in a while we catch her home and leave a message with her and give her a chapter to read in the Book of Mormon and she always reads it. Well on Friday morning we went to visit her and we got to talking about the Book of Mormon and she said "Well I'm about to say this... I know it's true" WHAT?! She went on to say that a few weeks earlier she was sitting there and all the sudden it just hit her that The Book of Mormon and the Bible go together. They both testify of Christ and with both of them we DO have the fullness of the Gospel. She recognized that there are answers that she can't find in the Bible that can be found in the Book of Mormon. As she was bearing her testimony of the Book of Mormon (to the surprise of us) she began to get very emotional and explained that she had never felt this feeling before. She explained it as true and pure joy. She kept saying that she just felt so much joy.

Now Lafraya has had a very difficult life and there are a lot of things she's going to have to change before she gets baptized but one of her struggles in the past has been her addiction to drugs.  As she was telling us about the feelings she was having she said to us "this is the kind of feeling I was so desperate for that I turned to drugs. But let me tell you drugs get you nowhere close to this feeling I have right now." She went on to explain that this is what she's been searching for her entire life.

Well we all three were just sitting there in complete shock! I kept thinking "is this really happening?" I LOVE moments like that on your mission when you come across those people who are so prepared and find the truth without you even knowing it! It's like the greatest slap in the face ever! I really wish I could go back and watch the look on our three faces.

She wants to meet with us again this week and she really wants to start coming to church. She even said to us that now that she's found this she knows the adversary is going to be working hard on her but I believe she's strong enough to overcome.

I've always known that Lafraya was well prepared. Even before I met her she had pinned the Articles of Faith to her wall so she could show all her friends that we really aren't a cult and that we're good people. She basically already is a missionary for our church. I can't wait to see what's in store for her.

 

Miracles are happening here! I love my companions and I love this gospel. I realized the other day that this week is my 9th month mark. It makes me really sad. I need it to slow down! I have loved my mission so much and I think you might have to drag me home because I've decided I'm not coming back.

I hope all is well at home and that you all have a great Thanksgiving!

 

The Kingdom of God or Nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson

Did You Get That Cat Yet?

11/18/13

Did you get the cat yet? :)

 

Hello family!

How are y'all doing?

 

Things in Houston are good!

Transfer calls happened last night and I get to stay in Bryan with Sister Davis!! We we're so happy! That means I get to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with the good people of Bryan whom I've come to love so much!

 

We've had a pretty good week but things have been slow and it really gets frustrating. The Lord has really wanted me to learn about patience these past few weeks. We've been struggling to find new investigators which is something that I've never found hard to do but lately it has been so difficult. We've had to drop most of our investigators which is also a bummer. BUT what is so wonderful is that despite the lack of new investigators and progressing investigators we still have one and that one is so precious to us. 

It's Mary! She is doing really well. I think I've told you that her biggest difficulty is coming to church. She has really bad anxiety being in closed areas. It is even difficult for her to be in her own home. Because of this she is nervous about coming to church. She believes it to be true and she wants to be baptized (January 11th is the day by the way) but she just has such terrible anxiety. I know all to well how crippling anxiety can be to a person. A few weeks ago we had Brother Lowe come to a lesson and give her a Priesthood blessing and I know and she knows that it helped. This past week the lesson we had was actually in her home! Normally we sit outside because of her anxiety. She told us since the blessing she has spent much more time inside and she doesn't get as nervous and she accounts that to the blessing. The Priesthood is the best!

Even though we don't have a lot of investigators right now I want to be sure and take care of the one that the Lord has given to us. She is amazing and I know the Lord loves her so much.

 

We had a really neat miracle this week. It happened when we went to visit Morgan (one of our inactive members). We've been struggling to meet with her ever since I got to this area and we decided to drop in to see her the other night. As soon as she opened the door she said "You guys always have the best timing" and tears started streaming down her face. She didn't go into detail about what was wrong but she said that moments before she had prayed for the first time in years. She was so grateful that we had come. I'm not sure what is going on and we didn't want to pry but she was really struggling. In her struggle she decided to pray and then we came. I know that the Lord needed her to know that He knows and loves her so much. She was so grateful we came. I'm so grateful that he allowed us to be instruments in His hands in that moment. It was a testimony to me that the Lord was aware that Morgan needed to feel His love, and also that the Lord was aware of Sister Davis and I's pleas to be where He needed us to be.

The other amazing thing about this story is that during our dinner break before we went to see Morgan I was feeling so sick. I've been sick the past few weeks and the Doctor put me on a prescription that makes me really tired and nauseous. I was sitting there all through dinner contemplating asking Sister Davis if we could stay in for the night. But as I sat there I knew that the best cure for my illness would be to go out and work and so the Spirit helped me to make the right choice that night, and that's when we went to Morgan's.

Satan wouldn't have wanted Morgan to know that the Lord heard her prayer and he definitely came close to stopping us from going there. But the awesome thing is that righteousness is always more powerful than wickedness and I'm so glad that the spirit prompted me to do the right thing.  

 

I shouldn't say things are slow because there truly have been many miracles. We had stake conference this week and it was all about "The Work of Salvation." It was such a wonderful meeting and the spirit was so strong! Our stake Presidency is incredible! President Pingree and Sister Pingree came to speak and all 43 missionaries in our stake provided the choir for the meeting! We've already seen blessings from it! A couple members have been inviting us to meet their friends to share the gospel with them! The Lord truly is hastening His work and it is such a thrilling thing to be a part of!

Whenever things get slower like this I always know there are great things coming and I'm trying my best to prepare for them!

 

I'm so grateful to be a missionary and I feel so privileged to be one of the Lords "authorized representatives." I just can't believe sometimes how incredible it is that I have this chance to represent the Lord.

 

I love you all and I hope all is well!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson 

Dear Mom, Go Back to the Farm and GET THAT CAT!!!!!!

Family Dear,

 

Hello from Texas! How are you all doing?

Mom you need to go back to the farm and get that cat! You don't have much time left to replace me and name a cat after my area so you better go back and get it! :) Also lets be honest all Tilly is really good for is food storage anyways.

 

So how is life in Utah? I'm really jealous you get to enjoy the fall colors. There are a few trees here and there in Texas that change colors and every time Sister Davis and I see one we get really excited.

 

This week has been a slow one. We're having to drop a couple of our investigators which is always heart breaking but necessary. We also had a lot of our appointments canceled which can be really frustrating too. But despite it all there is always work to be done and you don't have to look far to keep going about doing the work. Whenever things slow down like this on the mission I know there are good things coming, and we're already starting to see some of those things come.

 

I wanted to tell you more about Abby because she is amazing! She wanted us to go to her "Evening of Excellence" this past week so we were able to go and hear about the work she's been doing with personal progress and I was so amazed by her. You would never guess that she is a recent convert. She is incredible. She gets it. She is only 12 and she understands what this gospel means to her better than most youth who grow up in the church. I can't wait to see what will come of her life because I know she will do great things for this gospel. She is a wonderful addition to the Kingdom of Heaven.

This week we've been talking about her going to the temple for the first time and she is so excited. She is already planning on doing the baptism for her deceased great-grandmother and she is thrilled to do it. I know it will be such a neat experience for her.

Her Grandparents have been in town this last week and we were able to have dinner with them. They have been inactive in the church since Abby's mother was young. Abby has already been such a great example to her family. Her grandparents have found a house in Bryan and they are planning to move out here in February. This is the first time they've gone to church in years and they are planning on moving here and being an active part of the Bryan ward.

I love this family like they are my own and I am so happy to see the joy that the gospel has brought to them. Miracles are happening with this family and now because of Abby choice to be baptized not only are her family here on earth changing their lives for the better but her ancestor who have passed on will be able to accept the gospel too.

 

I'm so grateful for the blessing of serving a mission. I honestly think I'm learning more from the people I serve than they are learning from me. Everyone is so unique and different and they all go through different trials and testing. But one thing we all have in common is our Father in Heaven and our elder brother Jesus Christ. Many people we meet with seek our counsel and the answer to their struggles is always turning to the Savior and applying the Atonement. This gospel is the greatest and most important thing in our lives. It is the only thing that can help us joyfully endure life, and spiritually refine us.

 

I wish I had more time to write more but know that all is well and I'm really happy!

 

I love you all so much!

Hope all is well!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

Love, Sister Gregson 

 

PS Mum, I wasn't joking about that cat...

 

Another Texas rainbow

 

A picture of Sister Davis with Garfield, the Lewis's rooster 

 

It's Autumn Time

11/4/13

Family Dear,

 

How are you?! Happy Halloween! It wasn't quite the same without you. Will someone please send me pictures of all the kids?

 

Life in Texas is grand as ever! It's been a crazy but wonderful week! It's starting to get cooler here in Texas! And guess what? I found the one tree in Texas that changed colors in the fall! It's outside Walmart. I may or may not look over at it every time we pass it. I miss those beautiful colors!

 

We had some really wonderful experiences this week particularly on Sunday. Yesterday during fast and testimony meeting Tony leaned over and asked me if he could go bear his testimony so of course I told him yes! He went up there and shared the most wonderful testimony. There is nothing more sweet that having the chance to hear one of your recent converts stand and testify. 

Also this week we talked to Abby about missionary work and we gave her the challenge to do some form of missionary work and this week she brought her non-member friend to church! She has only been a member for a short time and she's already sharing what she knows at such a young age! I admire her so much. Her parents have made the goal to be sealed in the temple for Dec. 2014 and they'll be getting sealed in the Brigham City temple and they want me to be there! I can't wait for that day! 

 

Mary is doing well. I was not able to be at the lesson with her this past week because I was on exchanges but Sister Davis and Hermana Gutierrez taught her and they said the lesson went well. She knows it's true it's just a matter of getting her to church despite her health issues. Brother Lowe came to the lesson and gave her a priesthood blessing.

 

There is so much more I want to say but I don't have time! Know that I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for all of your incredible examples. Please go out and share the gospel in some way. It is vital that we do this. It is the most important thing! I wish I had realized how important it was a long time ago but I'm grateful to know now.

 

I love you all so much!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

A Gospel of Miracles

10/28/13

Family Dear!

 

How are you? I got your notes the other day and it was good to hear from all of you. I hope all is well at home!

 

This week has been an incredible one full of miracles. I realize I say that every week but the gospel of Jesus Christ truly is a gospel of miracles!

 

We were able to meet with Mary 3 times this week and she is incredible! She believes it's true already. Of course we still encouraged her to pray about it :) We taught her the first powerful lesson as well. What's amazing to me is that we teach the lessons so many times over and over again but each lesson for each person is always different. The spirit always knows what needs to be said specifically to each person. It is a testimony to me that Heavenly Father really does know each and every one of us individually. We have scheduled her baptism for Nov. 23rd!

Sister Davis is an incredible teacher. She teaches from the heart like a seasoned missionary. It's because of that that I know she is out her for the right reasons and that she has come very prepared. I'm so grateful to have the great opportunity to serve with her.

 

Erica's baptism has to be postponed because we haven't been able to meet with her lately. She is working a lot of hours to try and pay the bills and she's had to shut her phone off so that she can save up some money. It seems like whenever we find those extremely prepared children of God something happens to stop their progress, something keeps us from being able to meet with them. More and more I'm realizing that this really is a war with the adversary. He is a good fighter I'll give him that, but God will always be a better one. Even if Erica won't be able to meet with us again any time soon I know she's felt the spirit and I know someday she will accept it. I love being on the Lords side because I don't have to worry about failure. When we walk and fight with Him we cannot lose. 

 

Another miracle here in Bryan has to do with a referral we received the other day. We've gone to visit this referral twice now and they haven't been home but we know there's a reason we've been sent there and I'll tell you why. The first time we went to visit them they weren't home but there was a man sitting outside and we started talking to him. He asked "what church are you from" and we told him about the church. He then said "oh yeah I'm a member of that church" so of course we asked him more. Turns out he joined the church 3 years ago and had recently moved to Bryan. He didn't know where the church was so we were able to give him the address! The Lord really does know where all of his sheep are.

Then we went to visit this referral a second time and still they weren't there but on the way out there was another man outside we started talking to. He had alcohol in his hand and we could tell he was in bad shape. He asked us if we would pray for him. We started talking to him more and he told us what was going on. He is going through some really difficult things in his life right now and he's been pretty low. I knew as we stood there that we needed to give him a Book of Mormon and so we did. I know if he reads that book he will find the peace and joy he so desperately needs. When we handed it to him he said "well I am Baptist." You see the thing about Baptist churches in Texas is that they teach anti-Mormon classes so they are very cautious with us and are always very hesitant to even look at the Book of Mormon. But we told him it was a gift from us and that he would find the peace he needed from it. He thanked us and then told us that nothing happens by accident. He knew that God has sent us there to talk with him.

Whenever I have the chance to talk with these people it's as if I can see the savior standing there with his arm around them. They are so low and humbled and they need his love and care so badly. I see the Savior with everyone we talk to. He is there standing with them and he is so much closer to them than they know. Being on a mission has given me a small glimpse of seeing others as the Savior sees them, of loving others as the Savior loves them, and of caring for them as the Savior would care for them. It's like I've been given a new set of eyes to see through. I love it.

So I don't know what will come of this referral when we finally get to meet them but I know the Lord sent us there for a reason.

 

There are so many more wonderful things I could write about this week but I spare you and only make you read that much! :)

 

I love you all so much! The Savior is closer to you and more aware of you than you know!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

PS so funny story! This week we went to visit the Williams family and their 31-year old daughter Tocarra was there. After a while she asked where I was from and I told her Holladay. She then said "Ok I know some people from there! Do you know the Gregson's or the Knights?" I thought she was joking at first but then I realized she didn't know my last name was Gregson. Anyways turns out she was at LDSBC with Mike and Jeff! Then to make it even better she told me Mike dated the McConnell's daughter and the McConnells are one of my favorite families in the ward! I couldn't believe it! Their daughter is the one that got stuck in the window! I told them on Sunday and they got a good laugh out of it. Mike I hope you treated that girl well! :)

The best part is that Tocarra remembered Dad. She loves him so much even though she didn't know him really well. She talked about how funny and outgoing he was. What's neat about that is that I remember Mike telling his story from his mission about how a man that knew Dad started talking to him and told him how much he loved Dad. Well since day one of my mission I've been hoping that somewhere along the way I'd meet someone who knew and loved Dad and could tell me something more about him. Well Tocarra was the one! It was so fun to make that connection.

The Great Life

10/21/13

There was a BYU game in Houston and nobody told me!? Of course it's probably for the better because it would have been really tempting to be a disobedient missionary and go watch the game.

 

Anyways...

 

Dearest family,

 

How are you? How is the beautiful fall weather? It is getting cold in Texas! Plus it's been really rainy. It probably wouldn't seem freezing if I were visiting from Utah but now that I'm used to the blazing heat it feels so cold here.

 

Things down here in Texas are great! This week was one full of ups and downs but that's how most weeks on the mission go. The week started out awesome. I went down to Houston for training since I'm now one of the sister training leaders. President Pingree and the AP's are the ones that did the training. I love being able to sit and listen to counsel from President Pingree. I admire him so much! I wish he could just counsel me through the rest of my life. 

 

That same day we also had the chance to go to the temple. We didn't get to go last transfer because the temple was being cleaned and it felt so good to be back there! 12 weeks was way too long to go without the temple. It makes me so grateful to have the opportunity to go so often.

 

We had another lesson with Erica this week. We taught her the Plan of Salvation - my favorite one to teach! She is so incredible. She told us that since we started visiting her she has already recognized a feeling of peace that wasn't ever there before. She said that when we are there in her home she feels that peace even stronger and that it's like all that worry and burden is lifted. It just goes to show you what the spirit can do in our lives! Another thing she also said was how much she appreciated the love we express to her. And I really do love her so much! I think it probably weirds out a lot of our new investigators because I always openly express how much I love them and yet I hardly know them, but it's so easy to love them.

 

We're still working with Rosemary, she is a toughie. She doesn't really have a desire to find out if this is true and if God is there because she feels happy and content with her life. She doesn't feel like she could be happier than she is right now. Oh how I just wish i could show her that there is SO much more happiness just waiting for her. I'm learning a lot with this one. It's so true that the most difficult investigators become your greatest learning experiences because it really makes you stretch yourself.

 

We starting teaching Mari again. I don't remember if i told you about her but she was one that Sister Hutchings and I knocked into a few weeks back and she is 28 so we had to give her to the Elders serving in the singles ward. Well I guess they didn't click with her and she didn't really open up to them so they gave her back to us! This past week we taught her the Plan of Salvation. She thought is was really cool! She too is a tough one though. She is very logical and scientific she isn't one to rely on faith. I asked her if she felt she could know if what we were teaching her was true and she said "no." So our challenge for her this week was to pray. She was pretty hesitant about it but she said she would try.

 

We visited Charles and Mary again this week and they are doing well. Before we left Mary said "Sister Gregson one of these Sunday's I'm going to surprise you." I told her I would have a heart attack if she came, that's how happy I'd be. She got a good laugh out of that. I can't wait for that Sunday!

Charles had a friend over that he knows from AA. His name is Josh and it wasn't hard to tell that he's had a hard life. He told us he has been off the drugs and alcohol for 3 days. I asked him what made him want to turn his life around and he bore his soul to us. It was incredible. He has had such a difficult life and has been through so much at such a young age just like Charles. What I have loved about listening to Charles and Josh is that they both turned their life around because they knew God had more in store for them. And through all they've been through they have both recognized that the one person that was there with them the whole way is Jesus Christ.

I have had the opportunity to serve and teach many people who have struggled with these kind of addictions since I've been on my mission and I feel so much love for them. They have overcome so much and they want so badly to change and what's incredible is that they CAN change and it's all because of Christ. I'm always reminded of what I learned early on in my mission and that is that Christ sees us for what we can become. He always has hope and faith in us.

 

Our new investigator is Mary and she is really cool. She is an older woman and is a former investigator. The missionaries first found her in 2012 so we decided to go back and see her. We asked her if she would be interested in letting us re-teach her the discussions and she agreed! She is amazing! She told us that when the Elders came last year and told her about the tea and coffee she lost all desire to ever drink it again so she already follows the word of wisdom! Thank you Elders!

 

Anyways life is great here in Bryan! I feel so good. I love what I do! I love the people I get to meet. "Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot!"

 

Love you all!

 

The Kingdom of God or nothing!

 

Love, Sister Gregson

 

 My new companion

This is what a rainbow looks like in Texas

 

Tammy Sue came to the Temple!

 

 My Future Dog

Sister Hutchings last night- Dinner with the Teegardens

 

Beautiful Texas