EM: 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

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