I smell BAPTISM!

So i'm just going to jump right out and say it: WE HAVE BAPTISMS COMING UP!!! WOOOO!!!

The dates are with our top 3 investigators, S., S. and L. They should all be baptized on October 18th. I'm soooo excited right now, it's not even funny! They are all so prepared.

Anyway, the rest of my week! Elder Zwick was AMAZING. I learned so much, and he is such a powerful speaker. Also, we got General Authority confirmation that WE GET IPADS IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER. Holla. But yeah, he and his wife are super cool. They also speak fluent spanish and Portuguese. He talked with me for a bit, all in spanish. There's too much to say from him, so I will probably copy my notes and send them home. 

Other than that it was a pretty normal week. I was on exchanges with Elder Wells on Wednesday, and it was great to speak english for a bit. Also, we had yet ANOTHER new hispanic member arrive at church without warning on Sunday. His name is Hno. E, and he is super funny. 

Ok, sorry I can't write much today, but we have a lot planned still. Have a good week, y'all!

--

Llamado a Servir,

Andrew Reay

wait, investigators come to CHURCH?

I am sending this one out to a lot of people. How are y'all doing?

Well, this week hasn't really had a whole lot of lessons or anything like that, but it doesn't matter because we have three REALLY cool investigators. First off, there is L., the kid I talked about last week. We had an awesome lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and he understood everything perfectly! sometimes even when we didn't even talk about it yet! Also there is a Honduran family, a mother and daughter. S. (the mom) has a sister who is a member, and she has a TON of questions. Her daughter, S., got here a few months ago form Honduras. Her dad is dead. She is the sweetest little girl ever! We were talking with her mom for the second time, and she came home from school, gave us both hugs, ran inside and came out with her Book of Mormon and Jehovah's Witness "Bible". All three have the desire to be baptized, its just a matter of time! 

But anyway, that's about all for this week! Elder Zwick of the Seventy is comingtomorrow, so that should be great! Have a good week!

Mom Note:
So, I told him that this was not quite enough information and this was the reply I got:

Ok, mom! Well, let me think... We spent three days helping a member family move in, because they are super old and can't lift.... We went out with a lot of members this week, which was nice...  I don't really know, not a lot happened this week, Like I said. We hardly saw people aside from our three main investigators. Although something to add, we have had to translate S's homework for her because she cannot speak English at all and she is in 3rd grade. How about this: What questions do you have about what's going on over here? I can get more direction that way.

Mom again:
He didn't send any more.  Sorry.  But, he sounds like he is doing well and working hard.  I think he may have more limited time to write.  It's all good.  

The Leaves, They Are A' Changin'

Last night, it hit me that i left for my mission in the end of winter. Now the leaves are changing colors, I need a blanket, and fall is right around the corner! It's true what they say, the days take years and the weeks take seconds. I have no idea what happened to seven months.

but let's set aside the fact that this mission is going WAY too fast, and move on to the awesome week we had! Well, we had to say goodbye to Elder Fiso, who has been sent to Jackson Tennesee, which was sad.  But other than that it was great! We found this cool lady, Sandra, who just moved here from Honduras with her 8 year old daughter. both of them have a TON of questions, and they are all good ones, which is really nice. Also, Luis is progressing nicely. We had a good lesson with him and taught him about the Book of Mormon, and he is reading it currently. ALSO we knocked into this lady named Abish. those of you who have read the book of Mormon may remember that name as the one servant of Lamoni who was already Christian  before Ammon and all that. Granted, she isn't a member- her grandparents are and they gave her that name- but hey, we can't wait to go over and tell her the stroy behind her name. 

This weekend was also stake conference, so we went down to Little Rock Saturdayand Sunday. It was a really good conference, and really funny too. I would recommend you look up "My life as a Turkey" online. Good story. And no, I won't tell you anything else about it. 

so yeah, that was my week! I'm ready to buckle down for another 5 weeks in Conway!

A Selfie - so you know what I look like

Last Picture of the Conway 1st Ward District

R. one of our Hispanic members- He is really funny and cool and he loves the missionaries.

Transfers are really starting to bug me!

So, I had been told by my trustworthy district leader that I was out. So, I figured I would finish packing over the weekend, so i wouldn't have to be running around on Monday. 

So guess what happened?

Nothing. 

So yeah, I am still here in Conway! I will have spent over a quarter of my mission here! I'm super excited! None of the other missionaries in our ward are going anywhere, so it's #conway1st4lyfe over here. 

So, this week! It was pretty average, with everyone at school it's kind of slow in the afternoons. One highlight is that we found a really cool investigator! His name is Luis, and he is one of our other investigators' kids. We started talking to him one day, and invited him to church. He said yes, and then HE ACTUALLY CAME. He's 17, super athletic, really smart, and is also very open to learn. I am really excited to see where he goes. 

But anyway, transfers are really the highlight. I am here for the next 1.5 months at least, and I am so ready! Also, weather tidbit: We will be hitting the 40s and 50s this week. I SURVIVED SUMMER! 

New Pic!

This is from my most favorite member in Arkansas -

Cool shades!

An Actual Letter!!! "From Some Spanish Speaking White Guy" in Arkansas as the return address said

This is the text (with one mom comment) from the letter that Andrew sent this week:

Hola Familia!

So to start, sorry for not emailing.  We, as a district, decided our P-days were really boring, and so we went to thrift stores and flea markets.  It was all right, we found some random stuff.  I bought this antique key that they had in a bin of cheap antiques, and I'm going to tell everyone that asks that it opens the wardrobe to Narnia. :p (mom note: yes, he is still pretty nerdy and I didn't just make that up and that is one of the many reasons why we love him.) :)

We had a pretty good week! Lab results came back normal, which is good. Tuesday, at district meeting, Elder Fiso introduced "#goHAM" day.  "HAM" is an acronym that means "hard as a missionary."  We were challenged to talk with literally every last person we saw that day.  So, Wednesday became "#goHAM" day.  (hashtags are a bit of a fad in the mish right now.)  It was super hot, so there really wasn't anyone to #goHAM on.  However, when we did talk to people, what normally would be a doorstep conversation turned into a discussion indoors.  We found a lot of cool people.

Thursday was pretty normal, we went out with our newly married member friend, B. C. (he's from Alaska & got here in July, very much dislikes the weather.)  Friday, we got a lot of people to volleyball - have I even mentioned?  We play volleyball with the other missionaries and our Hispanic members/investigators. It's fun.  Saturday we went to one of the Conway 1st kid's baptism, and it was full!

Sunday was all right, not many people came to church.  The V. family is taking the temple prep classes though!

So, that's about what happened this week.  I hope everyone is having fun at school, and NOT having to go to Boy's Choir!  That must be really weird.  Hope to hear from everyone next week! I love y'all!

Elder Reay

Short and Sweet....with more to come (hopefully :) )

Ok, so I am really sorry but I spent all day outside of the church, so we have no time to email anybody. I promise you will get a letter this week, I will wrie it tonight. Hope you are all doing well, and enjoy your Labor Day! Also Happy Birthday Mom! I love you a lot!