Being Happy

I have the secret! Okay, no secret. You caught me. However, I have had some personal insight lately. I have actually been meaning to write this post for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't gotten the chance (or motivation). So, even though I already posted once today, I will put this one up as well. They just didn't go together... I am actually going to be somewhat serious in this post. I have been thinking quite a bit lately about what exactly happiness means. As many before me have already concluded, there is not right answer, secret recipe or magic potion to create happiness. It is a choice, a choice that has to be made over and over again, often minute by minute. Now this is not to say that if you are not happy 100% of the time, you are failing and it is your own fault. Life is hard, and sometimes that choice to be happy is a very difficult one. There are many factors that play into our lives, and I am in no way an expert, nor do I pretend to be able to comment on them. However, in various conversations and experiences over the past couple weeks I have come to the conclusion that there are two large factors that we CAN control that contribute to happiness!

1. Faith. I know, hard right. It is hard to have faith, hope and patience when trials seem to stretch on forever and have no end. It is hard to have faith when the future is scary. It is hard to have faith when there is uncertainty. However, the knowledge that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us is comforting. Sometimes I wish he would give me a bit more of a sneak peak, but even knowing that there is a plan is helpful when it is hard to see my own plan. I just need to have a little more trust, and chose to know that it is all going to work out better than I could ever plan. To borrow a line from Bishop Edgley "Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism." It is a choice. I chose to be happy and have faith.

2. In keeping with the current season, the second secret is gratitude. Being grateful really does make a difference. We were talking about happiness in one of the group therapy sessions that I was in at clinicals. I wish I could remember who had written the article (a non-LDS affiliated article by the way) but he made an interesting point. The article said that no grateful person is unhappy and all happy people are grateful. This really struck me, and I realized exactly how true it is. When we take time to realize just how blessed we really are, the problems don't seem so big. Life really is Beautiful :) Who knew the song "Count your blessings" was right!

Random Thoughts

Thought #1: I have decided all entertainment actually has some basis in fact. During clinicals this past week we started classifying people's lives as to where they fit. I have known people who literally have lives like soap operas. This is a bit sad, but true. The majority of my friends seem to have lives like Disney movies (at their own admittance). I however, have a life like a sitcom. All of the hilarious coincidences, random happenings, and very funny awkward situations actually happen in my life. Now I know you are thinking, there is no way some of those things could ever happen in real life, it is just too much like the perfect storm. Nevertheless, that is my life. It is pretty funny. At least I always have good stories!

Thought #2: Going along with thought #1, I have also decided that I am insane. Now before you laugh that off or decide that you already knew that, hear me out. Everyone uses the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. I had an epiphany yesterday as I decided that is exactly describes dating. Now for the disclaimer, I am not against dating, I actually enjoy dating most of the time. It was just a funny though that I wanted to share... I personally seem to do the same thing over and over again with people that I am interested in, and always seem to come up with the same result....Insanity :) Now I actually have proof that I'm going just a little bit crazy!

Thought #3: Why do people who go to the gym worry about parking as close as possible. Aren't you there to exercise? So does it really matter if you have to walk an extra 20 feet? Doesn't seem to make sense to me. Oh well, the world is a funny place. Good thing we all can laugh!

Multi-Tasking

Everyone says that girls are great at multi-tasking. I would agree with that. However, I have found that my multi-tasking has a limit. Yesterday I was attempting to do an assignment while curling my hair. For those of you who have never curled your hair, it can be a dangerous practice waving that curling iron around. While in the process, I received a phone call from a friend whom I hadn't spoken to in a long time. So of course, I took the call. Well, to all of you who doubt that I could curl my hair, do my homework, and talk on the phone at the same time, you are wrong. I was successful. However, my attention was slightly distracted to everything else. So I grabbed my hairspray to make sure that the curls would stay and sprayed it on. Right about then I looked in the mirror and realized I had a problem. My hair was all of a sudden covered in white foamy stuff. After a second of confusion I looked in my hand and realized the bottle I had grabbed from underneath my counter was not the intended hair spray, but instead the scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner. Oops. Needless to say I had to start all over on my hair, and cut down the tasks I am doing at the same time. Slowly but surely I am losing my mind :)

Good Times!

I LOVE FALL! The crispness to the air that comes as it starts to cool down, the fresh feeling all around, and especially college football! It is one of my very favorite times in Utah. Although it only lasts for a very short time, I love watching the colors creep down the mountains. The steady march from Green, to yellow and red to brown is really quite stunning. Then they fall to the earth, and we get to have the fun of stepping on the crunchy leaves.




It reminds one that life is cyclic...that things are always changing, but that the change is not necessarily bad. It is interesting as well to think that something so beautiful comes from the leaves dying. Normally people think of death as a bad thing. With leaves, it is a necessary thing...that might be a challenge to the tree. However, there is always a Spring that follows the fall (after a crazy cold period of time known as Winter...) and everything comes to life again. Kinda like real life...sometimes we have challenges that seem fatal, but we can always find the beauty during that time, and eventually that passes, life goes on, and flowers come again.


So enough for my pondering thoughts at the moment.
I went hiking up Logan Canyon and here are some of the pretty pictures! I wish I had a better camera...but at least you get a bit of a feel for how it looked. I was surprised at how pretty the whole canyon was. I had never been there before, but I hope to make it back!

Beginnings and Endings

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

A true, and bittersweet statement as I am once again experiencing.

Change is a constant in life. If we never moved forward none of us would ever have made it to elementary school, to middle school, moved on to high school, college, or a job. Without change, we would all miss out on a whole lot of good things. Even with that knowledge, change is sometimes hard.

As my family begins to move to Utah I have been surprised at how sad I am about the move. I have been away from Georgia for 6 years but it is still home to me! We have been here for the past 20 years and I have lived in this house since 2nd grade. The memories that live in this house would take forever to mention. Countless Christmases, birthdays, parties, my first date-boyfriend-and subsequent break up, leaving for college, my mission call, late night conversations with my brothers, and a million other fleeting moments that will linger here unknown by the next owners of this house.

The Peachtree Corners Ward knew me as a Sunbeam, and Young Woman and a member of the Relief Society. I understand a bit of what some people must feel about me when I see the kids I used to babysit going off to college...

So now as I am looking at goodbye it doesn't actually feel real. A large part of me feels as if I am just going off to school the same as every other semester and I'll be back for Christmas. Although it won't be Christmas, I will be back eventually.

It is sad to say goodbye, but on the other hand, there is a door open for new opportunities. I am excited to see what is around this bend in the road...

32 months

It has been 32 months since my family has all been in the same room....

I am happy to say that this Friday that was changed! I came home from efy in California on Saturdsay (well really Sunday morning), Andrew returned from his mission in Las Vegas West on Tuesday, Dad and Bryan came in from Utah on Friday. So as of about 1am on Saturday, we were once again gathered around the island in our kitchen. It was so much fun!!! I had forgotten how funny my brothers are, especially when they get around each other.

I am so thankful for family! Especially mine. I feel so blessed that I have them, and convinced that I have the best family in the entire world. Thanks guys!!!!

Making Up

So I have been duly chastised for my lack of blogging in the recent months. I apologize to all those avid readers... the two that I have :)




In keeping with the theme...I will chronicle my summer adventures. I was once again working with the efy program as a health counselor. I was assigned to the California team. As a result I also HAD to go to Hawaii, part of which we just had to hang out waiting for our next session to start. As I have been told that a picture is worth a thousand words....I will post pictures. My camera speaks better than I do!


However, it was a fantastic trip. We were able to stay after for a couple days and we rented a little house across the street from the Hukilau beach. It was gorgeous weather, and the perfect break in the middle of the efy press for the summer. We were so lucky to be there. I have decided that it is a far better option to go to BYU Hawaii during the winter months. Too bad there is no nursing program.

Now in an effort to keep this from being overwhelming and boring, I am done. However, I will keep my eye out for the funny stories since i have no more big trips. Hopefully the next post will be more entertaining, but at least I have started again!

Irma Sarah Ray's Last Mission Post!

Well, perhaps she'll make a POST-mission post (I'm sure she'll make many of them actually), but this is the last one I will be making for her and while she is ON her mission. I am SO thankful for her constant example and uplifting (and often hilarious) stories she took the time to share. All I know is she has shown us all, including our Heavenly Father that she will Return With Honor. She has blessed SO many lives there and back at home.

I am also SO thankful for all of you who took time to read about and take interest in her mission, and that wrote and supported her. From one heart to another (as cheesy as that sounds), thank you so much - or danke! Y'all really made and contributed to her mission and the success she had out there. I'm sure she feels the same.

Now, enjoy her last post and get STOKED (I know I am!) to talk with her again face-to-face/via phone or internet again! Thanks again for the support you gave my best friend, and this is me signing off...
- Ridiculouslygoodlooking

"Editor Note (Sarah's Dad): Well it has been fun and quite the memorable journey for Irma Sarah and all of us. As she says all good things come to an end and this is the last "News from Portugal". It has been a wonderful experience to share with each of you the experiences that Sarah has been having serving the people of Portugal. Thank you so much for your love, support and kindness that you have shown Sarah. I hope you have enjoyed the journey as well.

From Sister (Irma) Sarah Ray

March 22, 2010

Well, unfortunately eventually all things come to an end. So bummer for all of you, there will be no more incredibly entertaining, spiritually inspiring, (junk taking up space in your inbox) editions of the Chronicles of Portugal. Sad day, I know you will all be feeling the lack very deeply. As a result I will try and make up for that at this moment:

Besides the fact that my companion has been singing "you say goodbye and I say hello" to me nonstop for the past week, we have managed to get quite a lot of work done. We found two new investigators that are super solid and Carla started answering her phone again. WOOHOO. She is back on track to be baptized and even agreed to get out a calendar and mark two visits with per week all the way until April 17th aka, baptism day. We are super pumped. We were pretty worried that she wouldn´t show up for our appointment because it was raining. (we have to teach her in the church because even though she is 35 she still lives with Mom and Mom doesn´t like the missionaries.) Of course Irmã Ebeling I and do not understand why a little thing like rain could stop anyone...especially seeing as how we had forgotten our umbrellas that day and were at that point, completely soaked head to toe. So we did a lot of praying all day that the rain would stop, and that we could teach her. As a result two miracles happened.

1. A member took pity on us, gave us new clothes to change into, umbrellas and cookies. Life doesn´t get any better.

2. Carla showed up! Even though it was raining, and was even invited to Church by the Relief Society president who happened to be in the chapel setting up for the RS birthday party!

It is amazing the way that Heavenly Father works through all of his children to answer prayers. I am continually amazed at the love that he has for us, that I am only starting to comprehend. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to concentrate, to serve, and to live the gospel in every aspect of my life. The church is true and our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can comprehend. We just need to trust in him and everything will always work out....even the impossible

Just to go out with a laugh.....

So just in case you were worried that we had found normal people, I will introduce you to someone that I will sorely miss here on the Island.

Ascenção. She used to be a nun. She is the third person who was baptized on the island and is in some unknown (but very debated and gossiped about) way very very rich. Of course she is also crazy (just like everyone else on Madeira). She has Alzheirmers and as a result some times resorts to thinking she is going to marry Jesus even though she has been married in the temple. She also has this complex that her whole family is trying to kill her to steal her money. She is convinced that her nephew has broken into her house to steal the bottom half of her dentures. So she shocked the whole ward in that she showed up for testimony meeting a while ago in her temple clothes. She was convinced that God had told her she was going to die that day and she wanted to be prepared. We have to go visit her about once a week just to make sure that she hasn´t lost her keys again and gotten locked in her apartment (yes this has ~happened before.....we got to try and talk to her through the door and tell her to call the firemen). Basically she is hilarious and she is also the source of our plague of fleas. However, as a result of this story I am proud to announce that after a week and a half of a hard battle, the sisters have come out victorious in our battle, and our apartment is bischu free.

Well, time is up, so sadly this is the end. All who have had the best intentions of writing me but never actually mailed those letters... all future correspondence can be directed to ray.sarahl@gmail.com, or

4343 Whittington Way

Norcross GA 30092

LOVE YOU ALL and thank you so much for the continued support.

The soon to be former,

Irmã Ray

Sidenote: Sarah, you will ALWAYS be "Irma Ray" in many hearts - love you bestie... :)

The last month in Portugal!

Here's another updated from our beloved Irma Ray! It took me awhile to post as I was in Switzerland last week, so I apologize. Enjoy!
- Ridiculouslygoodlooking

P.S. THERE ARE PICTURES BELOW!!! :)

"March 1, 2010

Hey hey...

Just to let you know.....in case you were following the weather here, we are fine and we are staying in areas away from our apartments because the weather is predicted to be bad again. We are safe and happy, just frustrated because we can´t do any work.....we are being held prisoners by our members who are taking care of us.... I got to clean up a lot of mud. We actually helped clean out the Funchal theater that had become completely covered in mud. I felt a little crazy spraying a huge hose inside of a theater, but in the end it looked really good. We were pretty proud of ourselves. We also organized a food and clothing drive to help the hundreds of people who have been left homeless over the past week. It was quite the interesting experience, because we really had the chance to see the good in everyone. It is amazing to see the people all come together and to see people who don´t have anything giving to the people who have even less. It has also made me realize even more what is really important in life....like family! I am now a firm believer in food storage. I always was, but now I have other reasons!

I wish i had some cool missionary story to tell you, but since we have just been cleaning that is about it. GO figure. We did get some pretty good public relations though as everyone seemed to know us by the end of the week. We even had quite a few people in church this week. Of course half of them happened to be English, so I had the opportunity to translate all the meetings and realize just how bad my English really is now. Uh oh.

Well love you lots!!!
Irmã Ray

March 8, 2010

Well, we have officially transferred over to missionary work again. I am pretty glad because I feel like someone is trying to steal my days and the harder I hold on the faster they fall through my fingers. It was a little tough with the transition because the public transportation still is not working, but it was good. We actually had the opportunity to find a bunch of new people, so we are excited. Also we managed to mark Carla for baptism. Unfortunately it will not be until after I leave, but that is okay.

We had a weird week because President and Irmã Walton were here, but while they were here they received the news that their son-in-law had passed away from cancer. So Irmã Walton is once again in the states for two weeks. It just seems like they are being hit from every side. Last transfer it was Presidents Mom who passed away. That on top of all of the craziness on the Island has really been hitting home how fast things can change and how much harder they are becoming. Signs of the times right.....luckily we are able to help a lot of people still. People are a little more open, it seems that almost everyone knew someone who lost a house, a life, who knows what in the flood. Really makes you want to be a better person always.

Love you!!

Irmã Ray

March 15, 2010

Well, this week was quite the adventure. It started off when we were able to diagnose the problem with our apartment. My companion has a fondness for all animals that also happen to be found in the street. I have put an abrupt end to this as our apartment is now infested with FLEAS. Yes, that is right. I made it all the way to the last week of my mission without getting fleas (of which I was very proud because it is common here), but apparently, there was no way to avoid it completely. Tragic story that has led to an arsenal of bug sprays and a psychotic amount of cleaning. However, I think we are starting to see a retreat in the polginhos and I hope that we have managed to evict them soon.

Speaking of cleaning, we have once again put on the jeans and t-shirts and made it into the trenches of the floods. We spent an entire day shoveling mud out of a members house, following which we adapted the Portuguese cleaning method and just pulled the hose inside and sprayed everything down. Luckily everything is Portugal is made of tile, so that is common. You just pull up all the space rugs and put about 3 inches of water on the floor and the sweep (yes, with a broom) all the water out into the street. At this point, you start all over again. After about 3 hours of squirting and sweeping we managed to discover the original floor of the house! MIRACLES!

So, what made the cleaning even more interesting is the family we are helping. Alberto (dad) used to be a professional pianist playing in the huge resorts here on the Island. The funny thing is that he is also the ward pianist. He like to take creative license as well, therefore turning every hymn into something that you would be more likely to hear on an elevator. This confuses many of the members, leading to a very out of tune congregation and a very angry chorister. (Augustino, who vaguely resembles a cross between a dwarf and a umpa-lompa, who then starts snapping his fingers at Alberto and will randomly stop the congregation and make him start over again). Not one to let people be confused by the piano playing, his wife( Adelide) has taken it as her duty to lead everyone in singing....outdone in volume and pitch problems only by her son. The entire family is a bit ...okay, completely crazy and really just makes us laugh the whole time. We had used a mop on the upstairs of their house to dry the floor, so while we were spraying out the downstairs Alberto thought it would be a good idea to use it again. As he said " how about we use that thing that does this (as he waves his arms back and forth as if he had a mop)." I. Ebeling and I could hardly contain our laughter. We figured his house hadn´t been cleaned in about 10 years, so the flood was probably the best thing that ever happened to them. Alberto was so excited to be cleaning we just couldn´t help but laugh. Sometimes the missionary life is just to crazy to be real. I think I have walked in on some crazy movie that just doesn´t make sense. I LOVE IT.

Anyway, aside from the crazies (of which there are many more here in Funchal-character sketches in the future) we managed to find some new people, teach some old ones and help too menos activos come back to church. It was a great week and this one will be even better. LOVE YOU ALL

Irmã Ray

PS Today we climbed Pico Ruivo-the highest peak on Madeira....pictures attached."


No address for Sarah will be posted as it is now too late to write anymore - I hope y'all made time to do it before!

Floods & Mudslides!

Okay - So, Sarah is fine! I know that some of you might have been worried about her if you had heard about all the flooding in Portugal, but she's okay. STILL, keep her in your prayers please as she pulls through (ands helpls thousands there pull through) this last month of her mission. I know she is working hard and really loves those people - they're blessed to have her there in this time of crisis. I also encourage anyone who would like to join me in a fast for Sarah to do so this Sunday. I know it's not fast Sunday quite yet, but I'm going to fast for her and the people of Madeira. Thanks to all for showing her the love, and her most recent update!
- Ridiculouslygoodlooking

Editor Note from Sarah's Dad: Sarah is safe, as well as all the missionaries in Madeira. Thank you all who have reached out and shown concern. We got a call early yesterday morning from the Mission President. He said that the main video footage you have been seeing on the news is the street that Sarah is on. You can see her door, if you knew where to look. Check out the following

Sarah's street is at 1:12 into the video.

"February 22, 2010

Don´t worry, I am fine. All of the missionaries on the Island are fine. President said that he already talked to you today, but we should email anyway because as of now we are at a members house and have internet, which we probably won´t have tomorrow. So here is the deal, from what we understand there is a whole lot of things showing on the news, and it looks super bad. Madeira has been hit by a series of super heavy storms that it was not prepared for. As a result all of the drainoff Ribeiras have overflowed, and flooded a large part of the city, as well as taking out a whole lot of houses in the poorer regions. We also happen to be on an island that is just mountains, so there are a whole lot of landslides and mudslides which have covered and-or taken out of the roads on the whole island. It is pretty rough in a lot of places, but we have enough water to last us a while. We didn´t have electricity for two days, and we still don´t have running water, but it will be okay. We actually live in one of the worst parts because we are right in the middle of the two main drain-rivers so we are still wtihout water, but a lot of people already have water again. We were able to shower at a members house, and if needs be we can kick the Elders out for a couple of hours- the part of Funchal where they live doesn´t have problems. They actually canceled church today and we just went around helping people try and dig out their houses or get things out of their house before it colapsed. Kinda reminded me of tornado clean up....except with a whole lot of mud and huge boulders everywhere, really you would think we were back in a third world country. It is absolutely crazy, but really an eye opening experience. We are starting to understand better some of the passages from Revelations. Today we were able to bring water to some people who didn´t have any ( I know, like anyone wants any more water after being flooded for three days and the whole island falling into the ocean), and it was actually pretty funny. No one had water, and we heard that one store was open, so we went and managed to buy 18 5-liter bottles of water. The problem then became how to move that between the two of us. Well, as I have lots pretty much all fear and shame on the mission, I asked the security guy if we could use the cart to get home and then we would bring it back. Well, the benefit of being in a little place is that he said yes. So, there we were pushing our grocery cart full of water bottles down the streets that are completely flooded with mud, trees and boulders in the rain (yup, still was raining, luckily not so bad). It was pretty funny actually- that little cart was durable, it made it all the way down the mountain (it took both of our weight to keep it from running away, but we managed.) When we got it back later it was super funny to see it in the line with the rest looking like it had lived through a war. We also were able to help evacuate a family from their house, which is going to fall into the RIbeira any second.We only have one member of the church who was injured and it was the house we were helping to try and evacuate today. Their house is the only house ruined I think, but her husband was in the hospital since half the house collapsed and he was hurt. Unfortunatley, there isn´t a whole lot we can do to help the majority of the people. They won´t leave their houses even though they are in super dangerous situations, I think they don´t believe it could happen, even though the majority of houses are trashed all around them, if they still exist. President has told us that this whole week will just be service pretty much so we are trying to help people get their lives back in order. Pray that we don´t have too much rain in the near future. It is supposed to start up again in a couple of hours, so we will see what happens. Who knew that our little island would make it to world news! I guess we are famous now! I would sent you pictures, but I don´t have my camera cord, and unfortunately, the store that had my pin drive (with all of my mission pictures on it) was wiped out, so I guess we did have a casualty. However, I will take it, becase we made it out WAY better than a lot of people. Don´t worry Mom, we are very protected, Don´t freak out, I will show you the crazy pictures and tell the crazy stories in a couple weeks. LOVE YOU SO MUCH. I don´t know if we will be able to email for a while, so know that everything is good and we are being checked on by church headquarters every couple of hours.

We are still safe, we actually lucked out yesterday in that we couldn´t get back to our apartment, so we got permission to stay with the members whos house we were in, and now can email again! It was great because we then had running water! Yay for being able to flush the toilet. Simple pleasures. It keeps on raining here, so we are doing our best to help while staying safe at the same time. Send my love to everyone there and thank them for their prayers.

Irmã Ray

February 15, 2010

Okay first things first...

Three more thank yous to people birthday cards who have been liberated from the crazy Portuguese Mail service

Rachel Weintraub

Jon

Kevin Sutterfield

I am actually super excited to be serving with Irmã Ebeling. She is super nice and a great missionary, so it will be a great way to end the mission. This week was crazy with losing Irmã Call to the Continente and getting a new irmã. Because of the flight schedules I got to hang out with the couple missionary on the island since I didn´t really have a companion for a couple hours (Irmã Call left at 6:30 and Irmã Ebeling didn´t get here until 11). It was quite the interesting experience, and one more Irmã is lucky enough to be on the island. She is super happy to not be freezing anymore. Speaking of which....WOW, 3 inches of snow in Georgia! That is incredible. How long has it been since that happened. Good thing you are getting out of town to Florida. I can´t say that anything too interesting happened this week. Sorry that my emails seem to be getting progressively lamer. I will try and remember the funny stories next week. That being said, I LOVE YOU all and I hope that everything is going well!

Irmã Ray

PS.

Wait...I remembered the funny story

This week was Carnival. Right. Well, the spectacle and parade happened to be in our area and passing as we were trying to get home. It was quite the theatrical experience, the fireworks were great, the clothing was very little and the dancing talent even less. Irmã Ebeling and I joked that we should have just joined in as both of us took Ballroom classes at BYU our skill would have out shined them for sure. There have also been people dressed up in the streets all week, and the festivities will continue with huge parades that are open to anyone who wants to march in costume. We even did our own dressing up to help out at a party the red cross threw for little old ladies who live alone. We also thought it was hilarious that one of our investigators sent her son to the costume party dressed up as an Elder. I think that means we are making progress with her. Now if she would just come to church!

LOVE YOU TONS

Irmã Ray

THANKS!"

The Best way to write Sarah is: (Ok this is a change, pay attention)

A) Since Sarah is on the Island, the best way to send anything (i.e. letters, packages, etc) through regular US mail is below. This method requires US $.98 postage for letters. (Better check this out, it should be the same as before)

Sister Sarah Ray

Rua de Ponte Nova

nº 12 5P

9000 Funchal

Madeira

Portugal

B) The alternate way is of course Dearelder that may eventually get to her.

1) On the internet go to dearelder.com website.

2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Portugal Porto and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.

3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.

4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

This site does require US $.98 Postage. You can set up an account and it will deduct the postage each time you write.

Another Week (Or Three) on the Island!

Here is another update from our beloved, Irma Ray! She seems to really be working hard (of course) and loving the work there in Madeira. I am so proud of her, as I am sure many of you are as well. Please continue to sen love her way and write her in this last month and a half of her mission. She will definitely need and love it!

- Ridiculouslygoodlooking

Sidenote: There IS a picture at the bottom... and I must say, the more selfish side of me is pretty stoked to have her home soon! Haha.... Enjoy!

"January 25, 2010

Well this weeks adventure has been trying to do missionary work without a cell phone. I had never realized how dependent we really are on modern technology until I came here. Okay, so I knew i was bad, but the mission has definitely made me appreciate running water and electricity (the bills the office didn´t pay so that it was cut in our apartment), central heating and air conditioning ( which doesn´t exist), and most recently the cell phone. We don´t actually know what happened, but our phone has taken to going on an every other day strike. It is kinda funny, we have used it to make better friends with our neighbors. Probably because we have to knock their doors and ask to use their phone to let President know. Luckily, we are getting a new phone tomorrow....or at least we hope.

We have actually finally been able to find a service project here in Funchal. As of this week we are officially part of the Red Cross of Portugal and we get to help do the clothes donations every week. The people there are really great, and even after just one week we have found a couple opportunities to share the gospel with people. No one seems to believe that we would give up our whole lives to come to a place we had never heard of and try and help people for 18 months. When you put it that way, I find it hard to believe too- but being here I know it is totally worth it!

We have also managed to strengthen our testimony of prayer this week. We took our ward mission leader and his daughter to an appointment this week. It went great until we got in the elevator to leave. Then Carlos decided that it would be really fun to start jumping up and down. He changed his mind about 3 seconds later when the elevator stopped some where between the 2nd and 3rd floor. Ooops. Needless to say they starting screaming and pushing buttons while Irmã Call and I did what we had decided would be most effective...we prayed. Shortly thereafter the elevator started again. We have decided that next time we teach with Carlos, we are taking the stairs...his daughter is coming with us. I think that about sums it up for the life is Madeira. We are having a blast and are very thankful that we are not freezing. Sorry to all of you who are. I will send sunshine your way. Have a great week and thanks for everything

Irmã Ray

February 2, 2010

First off I want to send a huge thank you to all of those who participated in overwhelming our post man. Okay, maybe not, but I was overwhelmed at the amount of birthday love. I don´t know if Dad announced over the pulpit that it was my birthday or that a new commandment was revealed that involved sending sister Ray birthday cards, but I am very grateful. Unfortunately I can not send individual thank yous, so here goes the list of those people who I would love to thank individually:

Brother and Sister Lee
Mark and Leah Geis
The Winters Family
Paige and Mike (who I am also excited to meet)
Paul
The PTC Relief Society Presidency
Brother and Sister Baltich
Bev Jones
Kathy Higginson
Brother and Sister Dean (the drawing was my favorite, how did you know my birthday wishes)
Grandma and Grandpa Crawley
Grandma and Grandpa Ray
Kevin and Janice
The Crosland clan
The Badham clan (won the funniest card award....)
The Gill-Peterson family
and especially you mom and dad!

THANK YOU to everyone. I felt quite celebrated during the entire week.

However, beside all of the love from home I think I received the best present ever in that Eva was baptized, and that our branch had two other baptisms on that day too! It was fantastic. Eva´s Mom also told us that she wanted to be baptized too. I just about died. People asking us to be baptized instead of the other way around.....something is too good to be true here. In fact, it actually was in that Diana still has to get married first, and she doesn´t want to do that. However, she will be baptized one day. Eva is adorable, we went over to see them the day before and she was just running around the house yelling about how she was going to be baptized tomorrow and then receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. IT was Hilarious! Of course then we get to the actual baptism and she was scared to go in the water because there were so many people there. So we ended up having to give her a cough drop to make her happy (thy think they are candy here...weird) and then we shut the doors of the font until she was there, and opened them at the last minute, after she had shut her eyes. Of course the second it was over she said "I want to do it again, I feel so good!" Super cute.

Well, that about sums up the week, we did a lot of teaching and a lot of laughing. I can hardly believe how much I have come to love this little island. It is fantastic and the people here are amazing. Love you all and have a great week!

Irmã Ray

February 8, 2010

Hey hey....

Well, Irmã Call´s time on the island here is up, and I am getting a new companion on Thursday.It will definitely be interesting and very different experience. My new companions name is irmã Ebeling and I think she is from Virginia. Not entirely sure....I will have to tell more next week. However, irmã Walton told me it was my job to lighten her up, so we will see how that goes.

This week was fun because President and Sister Walton were here again. We had district conference and all of the leadership was reorganized. It will be a very good thing for the island. Plus, it was a very good thing for us! Why you might ask....well Irmã Walton spent a whole day working with us (poor thing, she got some stellar lessons...seemed like all the crazies were out in force). Well, as we were dropping her off with President she said, oh don´t worry Irmãs, we will take you out to dinner. So we went out to dinner with President, irmã Walton and the 1st counselor in the mission presidency (someone from my Braga ward, so I know him pretty well). It was a lot of fun, and probably the best meal I have had. They also took us on a P-day adventure to one of the gardens we are too cheep to pay for.

We also decided that we needed to end Irmã Calls time in Madeira with a bang...which called for another themed district meeting. The theme of the week.....Madeira, obviously! See pictures. We even made the Elders so jealous that in the end they dressed up with us too! Andrew, these are you Portagaly dresses......

other than that, this week really hasn´t been to exciting. We have been teaching, finding, packing, teaching, laughing, finding, laughing, teaching....yeah, that about sums it up. Love you all!

Irmã Ray"
The Best way to write Sarah is:

A) Since Sarah is on the Island, the best way to send anything (i.e. letters, packages, etc) through regular US mail is below. This method requires US $.98 postage for letters. (Better check this out, it should be the same as before)

Sister Sarah Ray

Rua de Ponte Nova

nº 12 5P

9000 Funchal

Madeira

Portugal

B) The alternate way is of course Dearelder that may eventually get to her.

1) On the internet go to dearelder.com website.

2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Portugal Porto and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.

3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.

4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

This site does require US $.98 Postage. You can set up an account and it will deduct the postage each time you write.

Happy 24th Irma Ray!!!!!!!!!

Here's the latest from our favorite birthday girl! That's right, today IS Irma Ray's 24th Birthday, so if you haven't already be SURE and send her some love via mail/package & prayer. Let her know your thinking of her! Enjoy!
- Ridiculouslygoodlooking

Editor Note (Aka: Dad): Remember it is Sarah's Birthday on January 30th, be sure and send her your cards, letters, love and wishes. Also, bad news, the mission President has reversed the rules and she can now only email parents. Sorry to everyone else, but back to the letters, she will not be able to email any of you.

"January 11, 2010

Well, this week was just another chapter in the adventures of Irmã Call and Irmã Ray. (By the way, I am taking nominations for the film we are making). So, we have been trying to discover a way in which we could become better missionaries. Unfortunately we have not been able to figure out what we were lacking. Thankfully however, we had some inspiration this week and have discovered the solution to become completely Preach My Gospel video worthy sister missionaries. So we discovered a large sack of left over Jody dresses in our apartment, which lead to a theme inspired District Meeting. I don´t know why we didn´t think of it before! Okay, sorry to anyone who actually wears Jody dresses in their mission, but here in Portugal it is not okay. Don´t worry, we changed our clothes again before leaving the chapel. Our favorite responses are included below

Wow, I think I just went back in time 40 years

Dorky Irmãs, really Dorky

Very strange looks from the Brazilians who didn´t know if we were joking or not

WHY?!?!?!

Basically we enjoyed it, and we had some good laughs. It was our way of spicing up a very rainy and long week. However, the bright side of the rain is that we saw a whole lot of Rainbows here, and that was cool.

Irmã Call and I have decided we are up for the most unified companionship in the world award. Due to the fact that we have so much fun and work so well together. Actually more due to the fact that we can´t seem to remember who is who anymore. Irmã Call had a day that she couldn´t seem to get the you and me with the right person. Shortly following that we were contacting a woman in the street and it went something like this:

Me “I am Irmã Call….wait no, she is Irmã Call, I am Irmã Ray”

I. Call: “ I didn´t even notice that was wrong!”

Yeah, we are crazy, but ya know, life is good. We actually had Claudia and her two kids in church this week and it was fantastic. Both the kids were so excited afterwards that they already made their mom ~promise to come every week. Filipa wanted to know what she has to do to come every week. They are a stellar family, well, the dad is crazy and Claudia needs a new job but other than that it is great.

Irmã Ray

January 18, 2010

Okay, so good news for the week:

Lidia was baptized this week! It was a crazy crazy day! We showed up at her house 45 minutes before and she said
"well, Pedro thinks it would be better next week so could we do it then?"

-us (inside) ARE YOU KIDDING....DO YOU REALIZE WHAT TIME IT IS!
-us (outloud)" everything is already ready...."
then she finally said well then, lets do it. However, then she told Pedro and he kept asking why, so we talked to him and said it was already ready and Lidia finally stood up for herself and said she was going, so we went!
It was actually a really sweet experience and a beautiful end to a very hectic day.

On other news we actually managed to mark Claudia and her children for baptism (thank you Andrew for the advice on teaching her). We don´t think they will be ready for their February date, but they are determined to work towards the goal and change their lives. It is probably the biggest change I have seen anyone make on my mission and it is just a fantastic testimony to the power of the gospel. Things have happened with that family that I never thought were possible, and it doesn´t have anything to do with us that is for sure. The Lord really is preparing people!

Well, that is about all the new and exciting news for the week. Love you all and keep up the good work.

Love Irma Ray"

The Best way to write Sarah is: (Ok this is a change, pay attention)

A) Since Sarah is on the Island, the best way to send anything (i.e. letters, packages, etc) through regular US mail is below. This method requires US $.98 postage for letters. (Better check this out, it should be the same as before)

Sister Sarah Ray

Rua de Ponte Nova

nº 12 5P

9000 Funchal

Madeira

Portugal

B) The alternate way is of course Dearelder that may eventually get to her.

1) On the internet go to dearelder.com website.

2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Portugal Porto and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.

3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.

4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

This site does require US $.98 Postage. You can set up an account and it will deduct the postage each time you write.

Happy New Years from Madeira!!!

So, we're gonna start this entry with a note from Sarah's dad! Pictures are posted at the bottom of this entry - enjoy!

- Ridiculouslygoodlooking

Editor Note: Yes it is that time of year again, it is Sarah's birthday. So, in keeping with tradition, we are groveling for all to send her a birthday card for her birthday on the 30th of January. The best address is to use the one below that goes straight to Madeira. Thanks, she will love it.

"December 28, 2009

Well, this week doesn´t have a whole lot of new news seeing as how I talked to you recently, but it sure was fun! We are a bit bummed that Christmas is over because it was a great way for us to be able to contact people. Everyone would talk about Christmas, even if we had to resort to singing in the hospital in order to get anyone who would listen to our caroling. Now we are back to having to find other ways to contact people, such as asking directions( that one is my favorite seeing as how we are able to get ourselves lost quite frequently). One of Irmã Calls methods is asking people what they do for work....this one was a little awkward this week as we contacted someone whose response was that she worked a vida de noite...or life of the night. However, it means that she is always home during the day so we can teach her. It was actually a really funny experience, but we actually had a really good lesson with her and her (yeah get this) Husband and kid. I don´t know if they know what she does for work, but she had no hesitation in telling us. So we have started praying for her to find a new job, and we are teaching her family now. She also asked us to start teaching her mom and her brother- go figure.

On other news, we got transfer calls and the dynamic duo is sticking together for another transfer on the Island! We were expecting that but it was still nice to know for sure. I am pretty sure the island might explode before the end because we have so much fun together, but we also do some real hard work. It really is a great way to be finishing up my mission- just hope my last companion is this great. Lidia continues to progress and we are counting down the days to her baptism on the 9th. She is stellar and it is really cold to see how much her kids are learning too. She has a two year old boy and he is the cutest thing when he prays now. It is funny because her husband will not listen to us, but he is getting the lessons anyway because the kids always go tell him what he is doing wrong after. Kinda awkward. but kinda funny.

Anyway, time is short as always. LOVE YOU and thank you for everything you do!

Irmã Ray

"January 4, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2010- Year of Miracles

Wow, I can hardly believe that a whole year has gone by, it seems like yesterday that I arrived in Portugal, and now I am doing New Years again. However, this year was definitely a step up! Madeira once again made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the fireworks show on New Years Ever. Seeing as how it is world famous, President gave all of the Madeira missionaries permission to stay out at a members house and watch the show. Well, we were way up in the mountains so we were able to see a good portion of the island since they have fireworks from every point. I will attach some pictures...the complete opposite of Bryan´s New Years....we stayed up super late and have been super tired trying to catch up. Worth it though!

It was pretty funny and we joked about how we started the new year off right, outside of our apartment way over time, and then i got trapped outside of the elevator and Irmã Call was inside the elevator....basically New Years day was quite the adventure of mishaps, but we managed to survive. Okay so this email is just a tiny bit lame, but nothing cool happened this week, and I feel lame writing the same things over and over again. I do love you though, and missionary work is awesome. The church is true and the gospel is worth it.

Plus I am on an American keyboard right now, so it is taking forever because I keep messing things up.....wow, I´m weird now. Irmã Call has taken to pointing out the weird things that we do and how I am going to be so strange when I get home. Will you still love me???

LOVE YOU

Irmã Ray

PS - Fotos from the fireworks and our p-day trail today....it actually has been kinda cold, we are using sweaters....then we got caught in the rain without umbrellas...oops. However, I am still not covered in ice so I am counting my blessings."


The Best way to write Sarah is: (Ok this is a change, pay attention)

A) Since Sarah is on the Island, the best way to send anything (i.e. letters, packages, etc) through regular US mail is below. This method requires US $.98 postage for letters. (Better check this out, it should be the same as before)

Sister Sarah Ray

Rua de Ponte Nova

nº 12 5P

9000 Funchal

Madeira

Portugal

B) The alternate way is of course Dearelder that may eventually get to her.

1) On the internet go to dearelder.com website.

2) There is a drop down box on the right hand side down just a couple inches. Enter her mission which is Portugal Porto and then click "write a letter" just below where you select the mission.

3) On the next screen enter your return address and Sister Sarah Ray in the address line, add your email in the email box below the envelope.

4) Write your letter in the text box and then hit the "send letter" box under the text box to send it on.

This site does require US $.98 Postage. You can set up an account and it will deduct the postage each time you write.