Letter #11

Hola mi familia! como andan?

 

Mi vida aqui en el CCM es igual de todas otras semanas. :P Yo no puedo esparar salir!

 

The travel office told us that we could be leaving tomorrow (friday), if they get our visas today at lunch or during dinner.... So ill have about 3ish hours to pack my life up to move to argentina for 2 years!

 

So family, i could be calling you friday.... idk when though, just be prepared.

 

How is everyone doing?

 

I heard dad got 3 new suits, and a nice new red  tie :) boo yeah.

 

How's the ward? is there anything i can do for you all?

 

This week has been the same, the only thing that really changes is the stuff that i study. Right now im studying the miracles of Jesus Christ.  Its amazing that he could heal leprosy, give the blind sight, heal the lame, etc. But i am even more amazed at how he could change so many hardened hearts to him.  I think that is the greatest miracle of all. All our bodies will become perfect during the resurrection. That is a promise and a gift given from the Father through Jesus Christ. But even though Christ suffered through EVERYTHING, and descended below all that even if we got to our lowest he could still raise us up, we still have the CHOICE to change our hearts and repent. I know that us missionaries help cause miracles every day throught he Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love seeing the light ignite in my investigators eyes when they realize that the spirit is testifying the truth of what we're teaching. Even though there are many languages throughout the world, the spirit still can speak them all and testify in them all. My MTC spanish is horrible and I am not ever going to be fluent in spanish, but I know that the Spirit will testify of the words that I am speaking.

 

We learned a lot about the spirit in one of our workshops this week. It was about how the spirit testifies. there was a part of the workshop where they showed a video of a lot of different people testifying in their native tongue. I was amazed at how the spirit testified to me when a lady was testifying in cambodian. I do not know anything that she said, but i do know that what she said was true.

 

Then later in the workshop we talked about how the restoration is the most important thing that we can teach.  IT IS WHAT SETS US APART FROM OTHER CHURCHES. just think, other churches have hymns, believe in christ, believe in god, teach about families, have good morals, have good youth programs, give aid to places in the world that are in need, teach children how to be good people, etc. Some have almost everything that we do. The thing that we have that sets us apart is the knowledge that christ's church, that was set up when he was on the earth, has been RESTORED. we have the same power now, that there we in his time. We can be cleansed through baptism because the priesthood authority has been RESTORED, THROUGH joseph smith.

 

Antoher thing that impressed me this week is how important the commandments are. THEY ARE COMMANDMENTS. read the scriptures, pray, be obedient, go to church, pay tithing, fast, the law of chastity, word of wisdom etc. I can't stress how important keeping these commandments are. Mosiah 2:41 is a promise FROM GOD that we have when we keep the commandments.

 

I also received some amazing letters this week!! Us missionaries love receiving letters! so even if you feel the slightest prompting to write one of the missionaries, DO IT!

I love you all and I hope that everything is going well for you, I hope you can get a copy of the Ensign and read throught the conference talks again.

 

Los Amo,

Abrazos!

 

Elder Gray

Letter #10

FAmily!

 

How are you all doing? It was nice to call home this week and talk to my mom about the news I received.

 

If you didn't hear, I not going to Argentina this week because we didn't receive our Visas.... :P I was super mad when I found out because I am so excited to get out of here!!! I can not wait to teach real peopel the gospel.

 

It was nice to talk it over with my mom. And im glad she answered the phone, even though she didn't know the number calling. haha. Im sorry family at home, but i could not wait any longer to call home.  The Good news (Gospel) that came from the bad news: I was super mad that I wasn't leaving today. (I am supposed to be on a plane right now). but when i was reading in one of my personal studies right after the call I read in DC 11:16-22. (please read that now) I am super excited to see the stuff that God still has to teach me here. I know everything happens for a reason, and when somethign happens in your life that is unexspected, please look at it as a blessing, look at it as a way God can teach you something.

 

I also learned this week how cool my ancestors are. I found out that my grandma has written an article in the Ensign. That my 4Great Grandpa was one of the first Jewish converts and that he taught pres. Smith German and Hebrew, and that I am related to David, and lots of other cool people. I hope you all will take the time to go to the familysearch website that the church has set up and search and learn about your ancestors.

 

I AM SO EXCITED to go to Argentina. I can't wait to give the Argentines what they have been waiting for their entire life.

 

In one of my classes we were talking about how to contact people. some of the elders were having a hard time doing it without it turning awkward. But I on the otherhand was doing really well, and they asked me how I did it.

 

I honestly dont know how I did it.  But i look at it as though I have the greatest message in the world that can save families, can help us all to return to god, it can help us recover from any hole that we have dug, no matter how deep, it is the happiest message in the world that we can give. And that is true, the message I have to share is amazing. It can change anyones heart, and I know it can because it has changed mine while I have grown up and its made an even bigger impact on my life here!

 

I love you all and can't wait to hear from you!!

 

Keep up the letters :)

 

Elder Gray

Letter #8

Family!
Guess what!?!?!?......................................(me giving you time to think)................................................................................................
I got my travel plans! I'm headed to Argentina! I leave November 3rd at 8 am! My flight leaves at 11:10 am (flight 1972) headed to Atlanta GA. I get there at about 4:50pm (GA time). My district Pres said that I can call you! So Mom, Thursday, Nov. 3, at about 2:30ish-3:30ish, stop your life completely and wait to answer your cell phone. You better Pick Up! The Pres said I can talk for as long as I want with you guys. . . And I have a 3 hour lay-over until I leave at 7:50pm from Atlanta, GA, on my 13 hour flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina on flight 101. So I need 2 things:
1. To get a call card from you guys.... The elders said you can get them at the store and they look like gift cards. I guess they pay by the minute or something. So just get one for as long as you want to talk to me! -up to 3 hours.
2. Promise you'll pick up!
Oh.... and a third to Dad: I won't get bald on my mission because of a promise I found in DC9:12-14. (: Yeah Buddy. And you have the same promise too!
I LOVE YOU ALL AND I CANT WAIT TO HEAR YOU.
Love,
Elder Gris
P.s. these flights are Delta.... so good seats!

Letter #7

Hello everyone!

 

Here are some things that have happened this week: Jose's baptism is on saturday, and Ellie is coming to it! Ellie wants to see how it is actually performed and now we can teach her more about it when we are done. Happy Late Birthday Cassie!! I will try to get you a nice mtc shirt,.... but there is a lot of choices. ill pick one that i think you'll like.

 

It's always nice to hear your sister enjoying seminary. Seminary was the biggest blessing in my high school life. I LOVED IT! cassie, you should tell all the teachers i say hello!

 

We've had a couple of things happen this week that were pretty funny.  During one lesson this week, I was trying to tell the story of Joseph Smith and how he wanted to know the truth, and so he studied it out in the Bible. But when I was supposed to tell him he read, "Santiago 1:5" (santiago is james in spanish), I told him to read James 1:5 (with the best spanish accent i could)..... yeah, he looked at me and said, "James?" hahah it was awesome.....

 

Another thing that happened was when we were talking with Ellie. She lives with her boyfriend and so we're trying to tell her that she needs to get married or sepereated to get baptized.  So she said that they have the certificate, they just need to get to the court.  So elder sands said, "Tocare Moses y usted ahora!" which means I will touch you and Moses Right Now! She then gave him the weirdest look and then started to laugh, while i was looking at him with a puzzled face.... then he realized his mistake and resaid his sentence. it was awesome!

 

elder Scott caem and talked to us this tuesday! It was awesome to hear from him. he spoke to us about the spirit and how to recognize it, use it, and live by it.  He also told us to keep a Elder _______'s Book of Revelation with us so whenver we have the spirit guide us, we can right down our inspirations so we don't forget. But REALLY COOL STORY! Elder Bate and I get to go together because elder sands and elder lindsley like to be in the choir. so we don't and so we just do a split.  so elder bate and i go to the devotional and we're sitting on probably the 8 or 9th row (behind the senior missionaries). then there were two seats that didn't fill up on the front row, right next to where the people who are speaking walk in. so i asked the usher if those seats were taken and he said that they weren't.......We sprinted as fast as we could to get to those seats! I think elder bate might have pushed a kid over (joke). but yes, there we were, on the front row, right next to where Elder Scott walked in.  and something else really cool.  After his talk, he beared his testimony and while he was bearing it, he stopped for about 10 seconds, looked down at me, and said, "I love you".... then he sat there for 10ish more seconds and continued bearing his testimony.

 

Im so excited for you tiff! I can't wait to hear the great experiences you have had in the temple!! Just remember that you can go more than once so dont kill your brain in there. haha :D

 

Yo se que los apostoles nos aman.  Yo se que guardan los mandamientos de Dios y que oran sobre los miembros todos los dias.  La iglesia de jesucristo de los santo de los ultimos dias es verdadera. Yo lo se. Jesucristo es nuestro salvador y nuestro hermano. nos ama muy mucho. sin la expiacion, no podemos volver con a Dios. Digo estas cosas en el nombre de Jesucristo amen. 

 

Elder Gris :)

Letter #6

Hola mi familia y mis amigos y algunas personas!

 

Como estan? como fue sus semanas?

 

The mtc isstillgood.(sorry, the space bar isn't working well) i see elder rasmussen a lot and i have only taken 3 pictures with himbecfause i never have my camera on me!! :P but yeah, i see him a lot and he tells me stories of what happened before he left. its always nice to see him here becuase it reminds me of how great of friends i've had and im so greatful for the influence they have had on me. I thought it was cool how my mom never cared which one of my freinds i was hanging out with because she trusted my friends so much.

 

Mom, its always nice to hear from the most important woman in my life. I wish i could get on the computer an hour before i usually do so i can instant message you. haha Your dear elder was amazing! it was so funny to hear the story of the party because i could picture your voice when you said, "sunday, wow....." haha then to hear about how dad is usually being dad, telling you the wrong dates and such, it made me laugh and then my district gave me a funny look and i had to explain 19 years of your relationship with wrong dates. haha it was awesome.  im glad the ward parties are still flowing and the ward is doing good. i wish i coul've came to the ward campout!! i was so excited to go to it but then they changed the date..... :P

 

Espanol is iendo poco a poco. aprendiamos sobre preterito y imperfecto y otros grammatica cosas. MUCHAS COSAS. pienso que mi cabeza iendo to explode!! pero, esta bien. TRC is one of my favorite times here at the MTc. TRC is when we get together with members and kinda give them a home teaching lesson to lighten up their lives. its fun because they are so amazingly quick at spanish and its humbling to see how much more i have to go... and i can look back to 5 weeks ago and see how far i ahve come.

 

So.... spiritual time, i guess.. haah. lately ive been reading with one of my investigators, jose. he wants to read the whole bom before he gets baptized next saturday. i was like, "sweet! sounds like a good idea." so we're in Jacob right now and I LOVE IT! I LOVE JACOB. i am so impressed at how humble his words are and how amazing his words are.  he reminds me of Elder holland and the style he has when he speaks. He speaks harshly, but is a nice way. i love it.  For example, in the beginning of Jacob 2 it says, " and ye yourselves know that i have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but i this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the welfare of you souls than i have hitherto been.....; but behold, hearken ye unto me, and know that by the help of the allpowerful creator of heaven and earth i can tell you converning your thoughts, how that ye are beginning to labor in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto God. yea it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my makedr, that i must testify unto you conecerning the wickedness of your hearts.".... such brutal honesty, i love it. it really reminds me of elder hollands talk during priesthood (if you haven't seen it yet, please watch it) when he says that he is sorry that he has to be so harsh but it is the only way to get it through our heads sometimes.  I love how jacob is so kind and caring and thoughtful about the women. somewhere (can't find it right now) he talks about how you need to be thoughtful and loving to the women in our lives. nevermind its at the end of Jacob 2

 

And then, just like elder holland always has, jacob gives a great one liner in jacob 6:12 "o be wise; what can i say more?"  I am s greatful that jacob was born in the wilderness, and never had the great prosperous life that his other borthers had in jerusalem.  because of this poverty, and watching his brothers, laman and lemuel, grow to be pride ful in their riches of the world, this is probably why he counsels so much about being wactful of your pride and putting the lord first. (jacob 2:18-19)

 

Estoy muy agredecido por las scrituras. yo se que estan aqui para nosotros y para nuestro benefit.  yo se que si lee en las scrituras diariamente, puede recibir muchas revaliciones de nuestro padre celestial.

 

other things: sister beck came to speak t us about the blessings of the temple!!! so good. and elder bate has put me on this new workout plan and i can already see my six pack coming in :) boom. so mom, i know how you feel. ahah i hate pushups. uh..... if you could send me some sandals that would be great!!

 

I hope everyone is doing well! I wish i could give you all an abrazo ahora! Se amo Muy Mucho!!

 

Nos Vemos,

 

Elder Gris

Pictures

These are pictures Collin sent us from the MTC. The captions below the pictures are what Collin had written on the back of the photo. 

Provo Temple

In front of the temple

Hey! Everybody! Come see how good I look! -Zane would understand

Elder Sands and I, First Day

We did this for funniness . . . We aren't gay, I swear.

Sam H. Smith statue

Relt wanted to try on the legendary boot

The tree smells like cream soda!

My study desk

Me and Elder Parker Dennis. Basically a BYU roomate

The Boot

Standard of Truth

I thought it was cool

Top: Me, Sands, Bowman, Potrie, Adair, Tourtallot, Bate, Lindsley  Bottom: Jaruis, Relt, Pickett    District 44A

   

Me, Sands, Relt re-enacting the T-shirts

I get special privileges because of my boot. 

Our Classroom

Elder Sands studying. . . me goofing off!

I was really hungry that day.

Letter #5

Mom!! ( and everyone else )

 

I can't believe you said i looked gay in that picture i sent you.... you know that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and since you married dad, he can't be gay, so therefore, i can't be gay either. and yes, i did know exactly what you would say about that picture ahah.

 

Im sorry to hear about your shoulder mom :(. ill keep you in my prayers like always, but thank you for letting me be aware of it.  I miss salsa... the salsa they have here is so gross.  and the beef that they have ehere isn't any better. (hopefully its amazing in argentina)

 

Wow.... one month gone already. i can't believe it. only 23 months left to go then ill be seeing you in the SLC airport remeniscing about the good times i had in argentina.  The main thing i've learned this month is that there is many miracles that can happen through being obedient. i am grateful that my district is so obedeient and wakes up on time. if it were up to me, as my mom knows, id sleep forever!!  i konw that obedience brings blessings, but that exact obedience brings miracles!!

 

I loved conference!  the way we did it is just like any devotional.  all the elders y hermanas pack into the gym and sit and listen for 2 hours. then we go to lunch, and come back for another 2 hours. then go to dinner, then go to priesthood in the gym while the hermanas go to the relief society session in a smaller room.

 

Its kinda cool to think that the next time ill be listening to the prophet of God is in Argentina!!!! :)

 

my thoughts about coneference:  How amazing is it that we get to hear the words of our prophets and apostles. we are so blessed.  My favorite talks were: Elder scott's about receiving revelation through the scriptures and how the scriptures can bless our lives. i also liked how he mentioned Cordoba.... i thought that was cool :)  I loved hearing about the new temples taht were going to be beuilt. PROVO!!! another temple in provo!! i can't believe it.  I also loved elder holland's talk on missionary work! i love how abrupt and straitforward he is.  sometimes it really is the only way to get it through our heads. and i also liked pres monson's talk about being morally clean. also i liked pres eyering's talk about us all "having the same charge". Sister dalton's talk was also inspiring and i can't wait to have a family of my own after my missiion.

 

We had chad lewis come give a devotional to us. it was really good!!  he said to let you light shine!! everyone has a light and everyone should share it.

 

other than that ive just been diong the same thing here at the mtc.

 

OH!! i saw elder rasmussen yesterday!! :) he looks good. haha im so glad that i have the influence of good friends who all want to serve missions. i miss being able to talk to them about anything i want and anything at all.

 

Our investigator jose really wanted to be baptised but he was afraid of what his father (Catholic Priest) and his family would think. his familiy is deep into the cahtolic religion and its more of a tradition now than a faith.  We shared with him the story of nephi and how he was scared to go and get the plates from laban.  we shared nephi 3:5-7 and told him that the lord would always give him a way and that he should not be afraid.  long story short he committed to baptism that lesson.  I hope this success continues when i got to argentina.

 

thank you so much for your letters of encouragement and your packages! the packages are delicious :) and my district thinks so too.

 

Only less than one month left until im at the airport calling home to say hi and that im about to leave! i can't wait to hear your voices. ( i think we get to call you )( and i think we get to call you from argentina.)

 

All is well here!

 

well im hungry and lunch starts in 6 minutes!! so Adios! Nos vemos!

 

yo se que mi salvador es Jesucristo. y yo se que puedo ser tambien el si yo suigo los mandamientos que Dios ha envio al la tierra!

Letter #4

Hello family! / Creepy stalkers on the blog... haha jk

Que pasa? Nothing is going on here, just the usual.

We did get to hear from Elder Allen. he is the big head honcho in charge of the mission funds or something like that. he was really funny and talked about our desire to serve missions. one thing he said that i really liked was, "Get lost in your mission, for it is the best place to be lost, and the only place to truly find yourself." he also said, "let your mission go through you, dont let you go through your mission."

we also heard from elder clarke who talked about our desire to serve missions as well. there were a lot of things i liked about his talk. he said that we should never take our name tag for granted adn taht we should be proud to wear the name elder. because there are only a few amount of people IN THE WORLD who get to wear it. included among these people are prophets, apostles, and us missionaries.  he also talked about our missions that we will be serving when we leave the mtc.  he read a story that touched my heart and it was something like this:  there was a missionary where i was serving who came into my office after 2 days of getting to Chile. i asked him why he needed to see me and he said that he wanted to go home. "I hate the climate, i hate my companion, i hate my bed, and i hate the food. i want to go home." i pleaded with him to stay for a month. he said, "i'll give you 2 weeks." after those two weeks he came back to my office wanting to see me urgently. he came in and i asked how his two weeks went. this is what he said, "I can't stand having my shirt stick to my back because of how much im sweating, the climate is terrible. I cant stand my companion. I can't stand having to sleep in the dirt covered bed that they give me. I can't stand the beans, rice, tortillas, and sauces that they feed me..... but i met this family, who has less than what i have, who doesn't have very many clothes, whose bed is the dirt, and who barely has enough to eat.  then we taught them about the companion that we all have, Jesus Christ, and the love he has for all of us.  President, after these two weeks, this family is the reason that i want to stay."  that story touched me so deeply, and even remembering it now i can feel the spirit and im starting to tear up.  I know it will be hard to adjust to argentina, but i know it will be easy to find people who are looking for the companionship of Christ.  He is my favorite companion that i have had so far in my mission and i know that he lives.  I can't wait to see him again, when i can kneel down and kiss his feet for all that he has done for the world.

That story reminds me of a poem that Elder Ireland's uncle wrote. I think i posted it on facebook under my "notes" section. if someone wants to print that poem off and send it to me that would be great. :) and also my farewell talk too. i want to get that story of the index cards.  and any other inspirational stories, quotes, pictures etc. please send them my way!

The MTC is an amazing place. i love it so much. i can't wait to hear about all the wonderful experiences that my friends will have here. congrats to zack for his call! and ill be seeing elder rasmussen soon! i can't wait to hear where elder Downey, Bruin, Holmstead, and sister Holmstead head off to.

A mission is the best choice i have ever made in my life. even though it has only been 4 weeks (who's counting) i know that i am quickly turning from a boy into a man. i have loved every minute of it.

Im sorry to hear that Utah crushed the Cougars...................................... NOT!!!! take it dad :) the cougs finally got what they deserved haha. but i hope byu finds their rhythym because they need it ;).

Tell the ward that i have them in my prayers and that today's trials, become tomorrow's testimonies. stay strong, and love every minute that you have the gospel, becuase there are many others who would take your place in an instant. consider yourself blessed that you have heard the gospel in this life. i know i am.

Thank you mom for being such a great example to me. i love you SOOOOOOOOOOO much. i want to relate myself to a stripling warrior, who was taught the knowledge of the gospel by their mothers. i am so strong in the gospel because of my family. I love the examples that everyone has set for me.

things i need from everyone:

PICTURES!

Things i need from home:

some bathing shoes.... (flip flops, sandals... whatever) the bathroom floors are kinda sick. haha

por favor, recordar todos las cosas eso Dio ha bendicido ustedes con. ustedes estan bendicido muy mucho! ( sorry for the poor spanish, im kinda out of it right now. the smell of bleach is putting me into another world.... haha )

"Adios! Nos Vemos!" -Hermana Andrade

"Abrazo"-Elder Morin

Te Amo,

Elder Gris

Letter #3

I actually did get your letter!! jsut that the bookstore/mailroom was being switched to a diffrernt buliding so all the mail was delayed for 2 days!! thanks for the package!! i was actually murmuring to my district about why i never get any packages.... elder bate came out of the mailroom with all of our letters and everyone got something except for me. and i was like ahhh..... maybe tomorrow... but in my mind i was sad. then i got up to my room and started reading el libro de mormon. then there was a knock at my door and a worker at the MTC asked if there was an elder gray in the room... i was like.... yeah? porque? then he gave me the REALLY HEAVY box of goodies that you all sent me :) thanks so much!!! i love it. the root beer is already gone and my district loved the cookies. haha.

its weird how god answers your prayers. one day i was having a bad day because i couldn't understand what our investigator was saying. so after i was jsut reading the scriptures and i prayed that the lord could show me a scripture that would make me laugh. then i just opened my scriptures to a random page and viola!! Acts 10:36..... read it and you'll figure out why........ :)

yo se que dios respuesta nosotros oracianes. el oir nosotros preguntas y ayuda nos con todos.

my p day is always thursday here at the mtc. idk aobut in the mission field and we had elder nelson come talk to us about hte new ensign/liahona that is coming out!!! :) its a blessing to see 2 apostles in the two-three weeks that i have been here. im a lucky missionary.

they gave me a walking boot.... and when i taught my first investigator i thought it was a real investigator... then later i was walking into class and "luis" greeted me at the door. i was like, "hola luis!! como esta??" and just introduced himself as hermano richards and said that he is our other teacher. :P what a punk. so the "investigators" that we have are our teachers. they just use identities iof the investigators that they had on their missions.

and the spanish is coming along well. except we have this thing called trc.... and we go talk to real members who speak spanish... and that made me realize how much i dont know spanish... hahaa we met maria and she is from mexico. she has three missionary sons that all served in mexico.

thanks for your letters!!

i can't wait to see you all again.

my time is up on the comp so im going to the bookstore to print off some pictures to send you!! :)

adios!!

elder gris

Letter #2

Hola!

How is everyone doing? I haven't received an email yet so i dont know how you're doing!! psh.... some family... haha jk. i did get a letter from cassie, marci, and tj though! its always nice receiving letters! :D

everything here is going swell. we've taught Luis 4 more dicussions and he committed to be baptized nov 5!!! its amazing how the spirit can speak through you and afterwards you have no idea what you said. so now our last couple of lessons are going to be about preparing for baptism. its gonna be awesome! me and elder sands learned great studying habits that help us prepare a ton for teaching the investigators. luckily right now we only have to worry about one, but i can't wait for the challenge of having 3 or 4 in a week or so. but sometimes during our lessons it gets frustrating, because we can understand everything he is saying, but i dont know how to say el respuestas back to him. :/

Elder Ballard came and talked to us missionaries on tuesday. its crazy to think that i was only 8 rows away from an APOSTLE of jesus christ. the spirit was so strong. he talked about how to prepare to teach the people and not the lessons.  he also told a story about when woodruff wilson (i think) went on his mission to england and the first day he got there they went to a huge park in england. there was a podium in the corner where people were listening to some missionaries preach about the gospel. then the mission president said that there would only be time for two more elders to say some thing and they only have 2 minutes to speak. so thinking that out of the 20 elders there, he would not be picked, he didn't prepare his mind at all.  then the mission president called one elder who had been there for a long time and he talked about loads of stuff. then the mission president told elder wilson that he would be going. elder wilson started freaking out about what he was going to say. then the mission president told him to just "preach the gospel". elder wilson went on the podium and said everything he knew about the gospel in two minutes.... it was a disaster. the lesson of the story was to keep the gospel simple, and to prepared to teach.

That can always apply when we teach. El Evangelio is for Todos a las personas!!! It is for everyone!! (2 nep 26:33) that is why the gospel is so great. there is not one person who is not included in the atonement, resurrection, etc. IT IS FOR EVERYONE. but our duty as missionaries to to find out how the gospel that applies to everyone can be taught personally to those who are looking for something specific.

It is amazing to think it has already been a week! Time is flying by so fast! only 103 more weeks until i get to see your smiling faces! ... well usually smiling faces :).

My ankle is fine! i have to be in a walking boot for three more weeks and the after that ill start my rehab. hopefully it doesn't take to long because i want to get some soccer in before i leave!!! I need to show the elders here how to play :D. its just annoying watching all mi distrito jugar volleyball y futbol, and all i get to do is stroke some J's.... but the good news is i have improved my free throws :) it doesn't hurt that much until i start walking fast on it... my ankle just isn't strong enough yet.

Something interesting actually came up. My departure date is Nov 3.... and Elder Sands' departure date is Nov 7.... i dont know that is going to work out but whatever.

OH! some things i do need from home are: 2 pairs of shorts (preferrably the ones i made from pajama pants :)), some more t-shirts, cookies, brownies, candy, PICTURES!, and to know how everyone is doing.

El espanol es venido muy bien! yo soy palabras este yo no comprehendar ayer. (idk if that sentence makes sense). yo gracias por la oportunidad al servir la mision! es muy bien aprendo el evangelio. es muy bien aprendo las verbas.

yo se que el don de lenguas es verdadero!

I would LOVE to hear about your lives!!  you don't know how great it is to get some thing in the mail from home.

and if you ever have a bad day, remember DyC 122:7-9.

Abrazo

Te Amamos,

Elder Gris

Sorry for the spanish in some places... i am starting to forget english :/

!Hola!

Collin's first email home:

Hola mi madre, padre, y familia!

Im just doing my laundry right now so i have some time to write you.  first of all, im alive and i am breathing... My companion is named Elder Sands. he is from burke, virginia and he's been a member for 1 year 2 months! he's such a great example to me and im glad that i have him.  There are 5 companeros en mi distrito. Elder Gries (gray) and Elder Sands, Elder Bate and Elder Lindsley, Elder Relf and Elder Pickett, Elder Harvees (Jarvis) and Elder Bowman. We have tres hermanas en nos distritos, hermana t, hermana adair, y hermana potrie. Elder Bate, Lindsley, Hermana adair, potrie, and myself are going to Cordoba. Elder Sands and hermana t are going to Rosario, Argentina. the other four elders are headed to el reuplica dominicana en tres weeks!

Elder Sands is from Burke, Virginia. Elder Bate (the DL) is from Springville, Elder Lindsley is from Holiday, Elder Relf is from Sandy, Elder Pickett is from Bountiful, Elder Jarvis is from St. Geezy, Elder Bowman is from Soda Springs Idaho. Hermana T is from Kansas, Hermana Potrie is from British Columbia, Canada, Hermana Adair is from Gilbert, Arizona.

ElderSands went to The University of Virginia for a year studying engineering. He is 19 and his birthday is in april. he is very good at learning spanish and makes teaching the lesson easy.

We started teaching our investigator Luis the second day here.... and no not in english, en Espanol!! He did not know one word of english, and we only knkew a couple words of spanish so it was hard to communicate.  but i think he was a set up investigator because he was so  inviting and understanding.  actually during our first lesson we were talking about his family and the stuff he is going through and i knew every word he was saying. its crazy! I now know that the gift of tongues is not a myth, i know for a fact that it is true. nowhere else in the world can young boys come and learn a new language and turn into a man when they leave. the spirit is so strong here and i know this is what i am supposed to be doing.

It is actually getting hard to communicate with you on this because i am starting to turn into a fluent gringo! the first day we learned probably 200 words and we can pray and testify in spanish already.... and that was only 2 days!! now im on day number quatro and i feel like im starting to lose english.

The MTC schedule is like this:

630: awaken, get ready for the day

7:00: personal/companionship study  (It says personal study for every single study session so we use some of them for comp study.)

8:breakfast

9:class en espanol

12 lunc

1:class en espanol (some teaching investigators)

4: language study

5:dinner

6:study

8:gym

9:plan

9:30:get ready for bed/personal time

10:15 quiet time

10:30 lights out.

The schedule changes around every day so stuff is at different times

The comps call me the baby/Elder Gries because i sleep like a baby and Gries is how you say Gray en espanol.

yo soy que la iglesia de jesucristo de los santo de los ultimas dias es verdadero. yo soy que el don de lenguas is verdadero. yo soy que Dios amor nos, y tu hijo, jesucristo amor nos, y expiacion es por nos. yo soy que al propheta thomas s monson es a verdadero propheta y jose smith es verdadero. yo soy que el Libro de mormon es la parabla de Dios. en el nombre de jesucristo amen.

I love you all and i hope i can hear from you!!

If you dont have my address, you can go to dearelder.com and type in my name and mission (cordoba), and my mtc mailbox # (374) and the MTC will give whatever you type to me for free! I'd love to hear from you!

Thank you for all the support!

Elder Gries

Missionary Training Center

 Collin is officially in the MTC!! He is doing so well and is enjoying MTC life so much. Here is a few pictures of the drop-off.

Unloading his suitcases from the car for the curb-side drop-off.

Peace out! See you in two years