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
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