Time to Go

Hello all! It's been a pretty good week here in Jonesboro, which is

good because it was also my last! I was told I am going to Memphis.

It'll be my first big city area in my whole mission. We'll see how

that goes!

Anyhow, the week in review:

Monday we didn't do a whole lot. We played Settlers of Catan for a

bit, which was pretty fun. Then we went to the Rs for dinner.

The guy from South Africa was there again, so it was really enjoyable.

Since it was my last week, I got pictures with them and stuff. I had

gotten an ASU yearbook for free a few weeks before, so I had them sign

it. One of the better ideas I have had in the mission for sure :P

Tuesday we had district meeting and then exchanges again! I ended up

with Elder Zickella in my area. The exchange went well. We went out to

Bay to see Q, but he wasn't home so we looked around the

neighborhood and found some more people to talk to. We also had a

really friendly German shepherd follow us around the place the entire

time. After that we went to conversations, but no one was there either

so we went to go see B, a recent convert. She was studying for

a test so we helped her with some algebra. After all that, we went to

Bro. M's house to help him move. Then we ran to the G's

house for dinner, which was good. After that we tried seeing some

people but they weren't home. We did find some new ones though!

Wednesday we got off of exchanges and went out to D's house. At

least we tried to get out to D's house. We were on bikes, and it was SUPER hot outside, so we made it about halfway and just about died of dehydration. So we went and saw some other people who were closer by. We met with one of the volunteers from Conversations, because his friend from California who is a Mormon came to visit. We had a pretty good lesson with him, we will see where that goes! Anyway, then we went to the S house for dinner. After that, we went out teaching with Bro. S and met a great family the other elders told us to visit. Then we walked around and tried to find people, but no dice. 

Thursday we started off by going to visit T! She is doing well, but she wasn't able to make it to church at all because she works so much. Hopefully her schedule can change! Anyway, then we went to Conversations, and said goodbye to people, had a paper airplane war, and took a LOT of selfies. #myfacehurts :P Then we went around Little Mexico for a bit, went and got a cupcake from the Rs and headed to the Ss for dinner. They just got 2 new kittens and 2 old dogs to take care of, and they were pretty entertaining.

Friday  we headed out to Bay and visited with the S family. It was a really good lesson, we talked about a LOT. Then we went back to Jonesboro due to a really bad storm cell that was blowing through, but it pulled an AZ and disappeared on the way there. So we biked up north for a bit until Elder Hernandez' bike tire went flat in 10 seconds. Then we walked to the R's house for dinner, which was really good.  When we came back out, his tire didn't have a hole and held air perfectly well (#milagro) so we could make it out to D's house and have a quick lesson with him. It was on the way back from there that the storm came back and got us pretty wet. It let up literally as we were pulling into the parking lot where our car was. It was fun though. 

Saturday was pretty good too! The weather was the best it's been in weeks, the wind was actually cool! :P It made it really nice to walk around most of the day, which is what we did. We had dinner with the Ls, which was delicious. They gave me a Phoenix Suns shirt (woo) and we had a good time. Then we practiced our song for sacrament meeting! After that we ran to the Gs house to see how they were doing. 

Sunday was good. The song went wonderfully, which was good since we had practiced a grand total of like 10 minutes that week. Afterwards, I said bye to everyone in the ward and stuff. After church, we went to a lot of people, but we only got into a few doors. One of them is B and her family. They're super cool, so we will see what happens with them! After that, we had dinner with the Os, which was really fun. I get along really well with that family. Then, we went on exchanges again! Elder Hernandez and Elder Croft were on the list to go to the temple today, so they went to the office last night, and Zickella and I are here for today! 

To finish, cool story from last night. We got to meet some really cool people. We had along discussion out on their porch while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. The husband admitted afterwards he had been trying to ask us questions to get something that we believe that is just not agreeable with his personal beliefs, and he couldn't do it. Funny thing about us, our beliefs really aren't that weird. We're Christian. We follow Christ. We use and believe very strongly in the Bible. When it comes down to it, whatever your religion is, we're pretty similar. One reason I love being a missionary, I get to explain that to people who have been hearing a LOT of misinformation about what we believe. It's great to be able to clear things up. 

Anyway, that was my LAST week! Tuning in next time from Memphis, TN!

The end is near....maybe.

Hello! Hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend, and that not everyone got ties and power tools. :P

This week was pretty good! We didn't find oodles of people like last week, but we did a lot of good stuff! Monday we had a FHE at the R house with all the young single adults (yes, we were invited) and had a good lesson there about missionary work and all the awesomeness it is. 

Tuesday we had district meeting, and then did exchanges! Elder Croft came to my area, and we had a  pretty good day. We met a college kid named K that had met the missionaries in Conway and gave them her info. We had a good talk, played with some kittens (her cat randomly had 7) and then moved on. We went to Conversations, and had fun drawing pictures of each other. Then we went out to Q's house, and had a good lesson with him and his family. After that we went to the A family to have dinner, and I had quite possibly the best barbecue I have ever had in my life. Then we went over to the G's house.  They are recent converts who recently moved here. We went over and got to know them better, and had a great talk. 

Wednesday we got off exchanges at Five Guys (its the only fast food Zickella can eat) and then went about our day. We saw D and met a few people, but that was really it. OH and we had dinner with the S's again. They told us a lot about their mission and all they did. They served in California in a foreign-speaking ward. 

Thursday was also fairly uneventful teaching-wise. A lot of the people that we met last week weren't home, so it kinda killed it. We did get to see T again and read in the Book of Mormon with her! Also we got back in contact with F and N, who we stopped teaching a while ago because they weren't keeping any commitments. Well, now they want us to come back! Anyway, we grabbed a quick dinner and then went to basketball. It was fun, we had some more new people show up. I did jam my pinkie though. It still hurts. but eh it was still great. 

Friday we planned a lot of walking around. It also happened to rain for most of the day. I guess a tropical storm or something hit Texas? Whatever it was, we got that on Friday. It was still good though. I found out my umbrella isn't really that waterproof now, and we met some cool people, which is great! Then we had dinner at the R. They had a family friend over, this guy from South Africa who had been a teacher at ASU. He was a RIOT. New phrase I will forever use for food: "Well! that went down faster than a homesick mole!" Say that in a British-ish accent. It was fantastic. But he lives in Boston, so I'll have to have Sister Alexander find him. :P

Saturday we had planned out pretty well. We had Bro. A go with us to visit with D. That went extrememly well! They got along, and he learned a lot. Then we went out with the Ms to go see some people,  but they weren't home so we went to see T instead. She told us she wouldn't be able to make it to church this week, but next week for sure! Then we tried Q, but he wasn't home. 

Sunday started off pretty stressful. All of us missionaries were going to do a special musical number with about 20 minutes of practice. Not my favorite thing to do. Luckily, there were a lot of speakers scheduled so we got pushed to next week. After church they had a going away party for some members who had lived here for 30+ years, and then President Wakolo came up and did interviews with us. I guess he figured out how long I've been up here! When I confirmed I'd been here 7.5 months (I know, right? time flies), he said, "Well, I'd say it's time to go, wouldn't you?"  I didn't want to admit it, but all of a sudden I agreed. So yeah, barring any random last minute change, this is my last week in Jonesboro! It's nice, usually I wouldn't get this much warning. So if you have letters/packages/stuff you want to send, send it to the mission address:

Elder Andrew Reay 

905 Kierre Drive

North Little Rock, AR 72116

Or just send it after I send my new address. 

Anyway, the rest of the day was all right. We got to talk to this one guy we had found at the beginning of the transfer, and he was pretty cool. He kept calling me "Guerro" (which is the equivalent of the slang "Cracker" in Spanish) instead of my name. I get it a lot though. #gingerprobs Then we had dinner at the Bs, which was fantastic. 

And thus begins my last week in Jonesboro! I'll keep working hard, though.  Love you guys a TON!

Elder Reay and Elder Reay - one mind and one heart

All the Awesome People!

This was an AMAZING week! A lot of awesome stuff happened!

So Monday we went out with Bro. S to go visit some people. We saw the H family, who we had met a few weeks back. They are a really sweet family, they all get along really well. They had had some concerns about us because missionaries claiming to be LDS had stopped by before, and basically lied the whole time. Apparently, we don't believe in God or anything like that. So, we set things straight with them and had a good lesson. 

Tuesday we went to Conversations class, and we found out that they were doing Floor Hockey for it. We didn't do much, mostly sat on the sidelines and talked to people. But we did get a few good selfies, which was awesome. :P then we went and saw the Ms. Bro. M really opened up to us, and he wants to get back into church now!  Then we had dinner with the S, and had to rush off to Bay and go see Q. We had a good lesson with him and his siblings, and watched the Restoration video with them. 

Wednesday we decided that we needed a lot more people to teach, because we were running out of people who were interested! So we walked around for a good minute. And find people we did! We talked to this awesome kid named D who is really cool and stuff. He told us to go visit one of his friends who was going through a bad time. Then we ran into a guy who had been taught before, C. He seems pretty cool. They're building a second floor onto their house currently, so it's crazy over there. Then we talked/ate with the O family, which was super delicious. They always offer us food or something when we come over! After that, we had dinner with the
L family, which was also delicious. Then we walked around some more, and met this cool lady named B who we are going to see on Tuesday. 

Thursday we went to Conversations again. It was pretty chill, we mostly sat around and talked, like we normally do. We met some more of the Japanese students. One of the teachers taught them to say Hola, so when we came in they all yelled it. It was funny. We met a lot more cool people in an area I had never gone before, and it turned out there were a lot of Hispanics there! Then we tried some more people, got to talk with K for a bit, which was nice, and then went to basketball. We had to leave right before it started to go give a blessing to Sis. S, who was in the hospital. Then we got a call from Bro. L, needing some help lifting some heavy stuff. By the time we got back, no one was at the church, so we went home. 

Friday we went to Little Rock! Elder Kopishke from the Seventy came down to visit with us. It was a great meeting. The way he does his visits is awesome! He doesn't come with anything prepared. He gives us a minute to think of some questions we have had, then he speaks for a bit, and turns the rest of the time over to us. We ask questions about anything, and then he helps us find the answer in the scriptures and stuff. I learned a ton from it, and it was great! We got back to Jonesboro about 7: 30, so we didn't have much time. We met a referral from Conway named K who is really cool, then we saw D. Things are really going well with him in all aspects of his life now, which he attributes to what he's been learning from our lessons. 

Saturday was another round of "How much Sweat Can You Have?" We did a lot of walking again, and met even MORE new people! We are really getting blessed with so many people who are interested in our message. We got to see D, a guy we had been teaching who we hadn't seen in a LONG time. When we left there, this kid ran up to us and said, "Hey! You should go talk to my dad, he has one of those Jesus pictures you guys have." (we have a lot of little cards with His picture on it that we give people.) Anyway, his dad wasn't home, but his mom was! They are a really awesome family, and they are really open too! We talked for a while, and it was great. Then we met with D again, and then went to some less active members we had met a few weeks ago, the Ks, and shared a video with them. Actually, I'm gonna look that video up. It's REALLY good. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MiF_HKoFr4 . It's called "Our Eternal Life." It talks about a lot, but mainly where we came from, why we're here, and where are we going. It's only like 3 minutes. WATCH IT. 

Sunday was pretty standard. I did the Spanish translating for the service. I've been doing it for the past 3 months or so, and it seems to help my Spanish. Also it really seems to raise my stress level for the entire hour. But it's all good. After church, we went to look for more people. We met this super cool dude named D. He has a really strong testimony, and you can see it. Then we did some more snooping around, and found some more people. We met 3 brothers from Honduras, one of which had arrived here the day before. Then we had dinner with the C family, and went to go see T. 

And that was our week! I will send some pictures in a sec, and maybe a video if it'll send! Love you guys!

Missionary Work in the Digital Age... Weird stuff.

Hello everyone! It's been another nutso week down here in Arkansas! A lot of random stuff happened and it all turned out amazing! 

On Tuesday we went to the English classes again, only to find out that the students from Mexico were still flying in, and wouldn't get there until that night, when they'd have a "fiesta" for them. Either way, we met T, a girl from Japan here to study communications to work for a news station. She's pretty funny. Anyway then we went and saw D for a bit, tried some other people, and went to the welcome party. It was fun! A lot of the ESL students were there, and we got to meet the Mexicans. They all are very friendly and excited to be here! 

Wednesday was the big day!! We drove down to Searcy and had a good meeting. And got our Ipads!!! The digital age has officially begun! I have to admit, it's taking a little getting used to. I mean, for those of you who remember me before the mission, I didn't even have a cell phone. So naturally I'm still in the "how do I tablet" phase. I can really see how good this will be, though! If I can make a plug for one app in particular, it's called LDS Pamphlets. If any of you are familiar with our teaching stuff, we use pamphlets a LOT in our teaching. It's an easy way to give out a summary of what we believe, etc. Anyway, now there's an app for that! It's free, and it's really cool and interactive and stuff. It's also free. So if you've ever wanted to get the Reader's Digest version of what we believe, download it! 

ok, so anyway, back to the week. That night we went to Q's house to get the baptismal service prepped up.  Thursday we went to conversations class again, which went well. It was super hot outside so we were grateful for the A.C.! After that, we went to get the oil changed on the car. That took a while, but considering we didn't want our car to die it was worth it. Then we had dinner with the Rs again, which was delicious as usual. 

Friday we had to get everything ready for the baptism! We got the program all set, got refreshments, stressed out (maybe that was just me) and basically scrambled. We did get to drop by and see some people though! D is still going strong, but couldn't come to church due to a doctor's appointment. T has been working a TON, and then she went on vacation, so we haven't seen her in a week or so. 

Saturday was the baptism! Through a lot of craziness, like Q's ride to the church dropping out, the font filling really fast with cold water, and a lot of other stuff, but in the end it was an amazing experience! I attached a picture. 

Sunday Q got confirmed, and it was great! Then we went out with a member to go visit some people, but couldn't really get anyone at home. Then we went to the Ss' for dinner, which was delicious and Latino. Then, we went to visit some people who turned out to not be home, so we went across the street to talk to a Hispanic lady outside. After talking with her for a bit, her godfather came out, who happened to be a Catholic deacon. I'm really glad that I have a Hispanic companion, he is a lot less awkward talking with everyone. It turned out to be a very good discussion! Then we went over to the Bs, and ended up helping their daughter build her gardening table, since the mom wasn't able to let us in at the moment. 

And that was our week! Today started of great! And by great I mean... not so great... On the way here to do email... we kinda.... got into a little fender bender. Not our fault. Some guy was trying to back up on a road (no idea why) and didn't see us, so he rammed into us while we were turning. No one was hurt or anything, but the car got pretty banged up! It's still driveable though, so we will use it up until we can get an appointment with the body shop. Great start to the week! 

Anyhoo, hope to hear from you guys! Write a letter, we missionaries LOVE those! 

The Entire Spanish Speaking Zone of the ALRM

Rescued Kitten - Now  at the Shelter

Q-s Baptism!!!

Mission 2.0

Hello from Little Rock, everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous week! I sure did! Let's see how much I remember, though.

Monday we went to the mall to see how the prices were on dress shirts (not worth it) but we ran into an investigator I had in Conway who we thought we had lost because he moved to Jonesboro! We just ran into him in the bathroom, isn't that weird? Anyhoo, that night we got a "bad weather so get inside quick" text, so the other elders came over to our apartment since its on the bottom floor and safer. We had some cake rolls (thanks Aunt Patty!) and got a game of Risk going that the box said would be faster than the classic version. Well, without any of us realizing it it took about 3 hours for us to reach the point where we were too tired to continue. Up until yesterday it was still on our table, but we took a picture and put it away for later. I still dominate Australia though, so I'm pleased. 

Tuesday I turned 20. That was weird. It's behind me now though. We had a pretty normal day. We did Q's baptismal interview! He turned up on Monday after going to help his cousin with some stuff. we are set to do the service this coming Saturday!! Then we went to the Os for dinner, since their son in law also had a birthday the same day. It was an awesome party, and we got to meet a lot of their family and friends.

Wednesday we went to Little Rock for a special conference. Elder Zwick from the Seventy came down to tell us how to use our new I-pads. 

Yeah. 

I- pads. 

I-PADS. 

I-PADS.

I-PADS.

Yep, the digital age has officially started! We are getting them this Wednesday. It won't be all at once, but once it's all established we will be on Facebook too! So if you have any questions about the church or missionary work or anything, just message me once that happens! We are all extremely excited. So yeah, that was really fun! Then we came back, had dinner at the Rs house, then went out to go visit some of the young men with some other young men. All in all a great day. 

Thursday... man, what did we do Thursday? Well, I remember we did a LOT of biking. We found some new people that  speak Spanish, which is nice!  Also we played basketball, which is really getting popular. We had enough people to do a tournament with four teams, which is a big improvement! 

Friday included a lot more biking. Also it absolutely DUMPED rain on us for the 300 yard stretch of Main Street that has no shelter whatsoever. It stopped as soon as we got to the church to hide from it. We had dinner with the R brothers at Sam's Club. Those two are really entertaining. Their sense of humor is wonderful. 

Saturday got really weird really fast. We went and visited some peope close to us, ALMOST got soaked again (#umbrellasrock) and then went with F to go see some people. We were walking past a less-active member's house when his mom came out. She asked us if we could help her to take out a kitten that had hid behind a stove in the abandoned apartment attached to their house. We did. It was a three week ish old kitten that was abandoned. We thought we had the mom outside, but she flipped out when we brought the kitten over so we decided it wasn't. We volunteered to take it to the animal shelter. It wasn't until afterwards that we found out the shelter was closed until Monday. So long story short...

Yeah, we had a cat in our laundry room. Admittedly, not the best decision we've made, but it WAS really really adorable and fun for a bit. It's in the shelter now, so if anyone feels like going to Jonesboro to adopt a kitten, feel free :P BUt the rest of Saturday we worked with a list of potential investigators we found deep in the apartment. Not a whole lot of success with getting them at home yet, but we'll keep it up! 

Sunday was great too! It was the Vivint guys' last Sunday here before they went to Little Rock, so that was sad. But we had a good service, and then we went out teaching with Bro. Solis, and saw a few people. Then we had dinner at the B's (which they apparently sent a picture  of us home to my mom so it may be on the blog) and then saw T! We finally caught her at home, and we got caught up with her schedule. 

And that was my week! I may or may not see y'all on Facebook this week, but keep in touch anyways! I'd love to hear what you're up to! Email or write, with the Ipad I'll be able to see all of it. Writing would be legit though. Letters are fun :)

--

Llamado a Servir,

Andrew Reay