Witness Received

Hey hey hey! Man I am writing this email with tears in my eyes... This is gonna be a tough one. I cannot believe that it is finally almost time to hang up the white shirts (at least until church on Sunday), take off the badge, and retire the title of Elder Obray (the third of course). I have a lot to say so this is going to be a novel. Like usual, I would not be offended if you took it in pieces and took your time reading this one. I really don't know where to start, so I guess I will start with some key events that took place this week. 

First off, my man IM got baptized yesterday! It was a great day, he is the man. He is a really serious guy, but we sure have seen a change in his countenance since he started coming to church. He even told us a joke today which is quite the big step. The baptism went well. He is going to be a great member of the church, and he is excited to work with the missionaries to help his family come to church and make the same covenants that he made. 

We picked up my replacement from his area this week. His name is Elder Schoenfeld and he is a stud. I have no doubt that I am leaving the mission in good hands. He and Elder Wood are going to be a great companionship that I know will continue to change the mission and hopefully correct all the mistakes I have made while serving in the office for the last six months.

The majority of the week was spent transfer planning and getting things ready to go for this week. I have been able to take a little bit of a back seat and watch my two companions take care of business. It has been nice, it has given me a glimpse of what relaxing really feels like. I have missed it.

As I sat in church today, I had the sacrament passed to me by the one and only SF. Close by him was my man NB dressed in a suit passing the sacrament, sitting next to me was my new friend IM, and sitting in the pews close by was my man SS. I am so grateful for all of these amazing men that I have been able to teach in the last little while. I feel like a proud father whenever they make a comment during priesthood or bless the sacrament for the first time. I am so grateful that I have been trusted with just a few of Heavenly Father's children in the past little while. 

We had the departing temple trip this last week as well. It was my fourth time being a part of that temple trip, but this time was much more special for me. As I sat in the celestial room in the temple, I was reading in 2 Timothy 4:6-7 (6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.), which is a favorite of mine and a scripture that I have looked forward to reading in the temple for a while now. As I read that scripture I asked in my mind if my offering was accepted by Heavenly Father. I felt a feeling that I haven't really felt before, I felt so much peace and so much joy as I reflected on the past two years of my life as a missionary. Although my mission has been far from perfect, and there were times when I am sure if I asked, I would get the soft rebuke that I needed to work harder or that I needed to change my attitude, but as I look back on the sum of my mission, the Lord has made known to me that He has accepted my offering. I cannot tell you how sweet of a feeling that truly is. 

I am so grateful for the privilege that I have had to serve her in Iowa. It has by far been the hardest experience of my life (yep harder than BYU soccer camp). I have experienced some of the lowest points of my life while serving, but I have also experienced some of the highest points of my life. I have grown so much and am a changed person as a result of the call to serve. I am a firm believer that God is in even the smallest details of our lives. His plan is so perfect. When I received a call to serve in Iowa you know how disappointed I was. For a season I doubted that His plan was perfect. My favorite scripture as you know is Ether 12:6 which talks about receiving a witness after the trial of your faith. I am so grateful to report, two years later, that I have received that witness. I have no doubt that Iowa is the place that I was supposed to serve. Iowa will forever be sacred ground to me. God lives, Jesus Christ lives and I know that the call to serve in Iowa was directly from Him. 

When I think about leaving the good ole land of Iowa, I get really sad honestly. But I am so excited to be reunited with my favorite people on the planet. I am so thrilled to be able to finally hug Jen again, and pick up my nephew for the first time. It has been a long long time coming, and it is finally here. I cannot wait to see you. Mom we did it! Thank you all for your support over the last two years, I couldn't have done it without you guys. You are my best friends and I am so grateful to be stuck with you guys for eternity. I hope you don't mind me sticking around. There sure are good things to come. 

It feels so good to say that I will see you in a couple of days. I love you! Take it easy. 

For the final time,

Elder Obray III

Cute little selfie for the road.

Los Tajones y yo 

The man himself. All ready to get in the water.

Feed My Sheep

Hey Hey Hey! Man it was a great week here in the promised land. We had a super busy week, but those are always good, right? The weeks are getting better and better these days, but I am starting to get pretty sad no lie. I will talk some more about that stuff here in a bit. Just know that all is well. Let's get right to it! 

This week was zone conference week. It always makes for a pretty stressful couple of days that make me really appreciate my bed more. We started at zone conference in Des Moines on Tuesday, headed to Iowa City for the New Trainers meeting and exchanges in Davenport on Wednesday, zone conference in D Port on Thursday, then traveled back over to Iowa CIty for the concluding zone conference. We had a killer zone conference this week. You always leave zone conference with a renewed fire to get work done and lay it all out there. Elder Wood and I gave our final training together... We have given like 7 together, so it was pretty sad to conclude that last one. I sure love that guy, I haven't really talked about our relationship too much but we are best pals. It is pretty weird being with someone 24/7 for this long, I feel like we are turning into the same human. We are going to try to add him to our apartment for second semester. Good things to come man. 

We trained on finding the elect.  It went well. We talked a lot about sacrificing temporal comforts to show our love to Jesus Christ. We talked about my guy Peter being asked three times if he loved Jesus Christ and the response every time being something along the lines of "feed my sheep." I have talked about it a lot on my mission, but we show God our love by showing His children love and helping them remember the things they may have forgotten. We also talked a lot about being personable with people and door step approaches and things. We put together a list of tips called the "Finding Fruit Snacks." They were a hit. We thought it was catchy. :)

At zone conference, I got to give my departing testimony. That was pretty weird.  At my first zone conference when everyone was going home I remember thinking that I am never going to do that. Two years seemed like an eternity. It went well and to my surprise, I didn't even cry. I was pumped about that, I have become pretty soft out here, physically and emotionally. 

After zone conference on Friday, we took a trip down to Nauvoo to watch the pageant. Man it is so cool. I am so excited to bring you guys out here to it. I have a ton of gratitude for the early saints of the church and the sacrifices they made to bring forth the gospel. We got a picture with the guy who played Heber C. Kimball. That guy baptized like 1500 people on his first mission to England, almost as many as Elder Wood and I here in Iowa. He is a legend. 

In other news, our friend I is entering the waters of baptism this Saturday. He is the man, I sure love LIberia. He is a stud, he knows the bible really well so all of our lessons are an adventure. He is really great though, he will make a great member of the church. He told us yesterday, "Elders, the reason I ask so many questions is because when I go back to Liberia, I will have to share with everyone the gospel I have received, and I don't want to lead anyone astray!" That dude is a scholar. He will be my final baptism, which is a happy and sad thing. I have been blessed to teach so many amazing people. I sure do love the people of the Iowa (and Liberia of course). 

Well, that is about it for the week. Pretty wild to me that I am headed into my last full week as a missionary. Good stuff for sure though. I am blessed to say that I don't have any regrets. I am eternally grateful for the privilege it has been to serve her in Iowa. We will get into all of that stuff next week. 

Love you all! 

The real softy,

Elder Obray

Learning to be more domestic. I can now bake bread thanks to Sister B.

Interesting picture, but I thought it was cute.

My pal 

The legend himself, Heber C. Kimball

Rejoice Evermore

Hey Hey Hey! How about that? Another week is in the books. I say this every week, but I really can't believe how fast they are going by these days. I feel like that classic Kenny Chesney song is becoming reality. Don't blink or I will miss the end of my mission! Yikes!

This week was a good one of course. We spent the whole week in our area which isn't really that common, so it was a blessing and a half. We set a goal at the beginning of the week to be hooked up with 20 new people to teach, and God hooked it up even more and helped us find 23! Can't complain though, we found some real cool people and also some people who aren't so cool, but it is all part of the process I guess. We had some exchanges in our area with some stud ZLs from around the mission as well. One of which I go home with, and the other will most likely be my replacement here in the next couple of weeks. Pretty weird to think that I have been at this whole AP think for almost six months. It is about time I get subbed out! 

A couple updates on the people. I haven't mentioned this man before, but we are teaching this guy I. Of course he is from my favorite place on the planet and he is doing super good. He is looking to get baptized on the 11th of August, so I sure hope it goes through, nothing better than helping someone enter the waters of baptism on my very last week as a full time missionary. Other news is that we started teaching my guy SS's daughter who just moved here from New Jersey. I love that man. He is such a legend. She is also looking to be baptized on the 11th so it will be a big day for sure. We are pumped though. Gotta love Africa! We have also been teaching this guy named J. He is dating a returned missionary from Colorado here doing summer sales. He is a stud is and is super jacked. We have taught him a few times and will hopefully be getting dipped in September. It is a pretty weird thing right now because most of the people we are teaching have dates for after I get home. It was kind of like that moment when every movie that was advertised came out after I left on my mission. Similar to importance too I guess. :)

The ward I am serving in is pretty scarce on the young men to help out with the sacrament, so it isn't uncommon for us to get called on to help out. Today I had the amazing experience to stand shoulder to shoulder with S2 and S3 and pass the sacrament with them. It was a really tender experience for me and I felt a whole lot of joy as I watched them exercise their priesthood. Also today, my man NB went in for his temple recommend interview and priesthood interview. Right after his interview, his wife EB had hers. Man I sure love that family. We are going to try to squeeze in a temple date before I take off. Fingers crossed that it works out! 

Man I sure love being a missionary. I am really going to miss it when it is over.

Have a great week! Love you all.

Soon to be subbed out,

Elder Obray

My man, S hooked me up with a sweet African get up. He told me that this is what the prophets in his country wear. Hmm.

Feel the Burn

Hey Hey Hey! It was another great week in the IDMM. Things are really good these days. I am glad to hear that Trek was a success. I expected nothing less. It is also good to hear that it is was pretty tough. That is one of the things that I have been a little bit bummed about my trek. I felt like it was way too easy. Doing hard things is the good stuff. How else would we grow? This email is most likely going to be pretty short because not too much happened this week. We had a ton of administration stuff to do this week. Like always I will do my best to keep it lively. Lets get right to it. 

A pretty crazy day this week was my final mission leadership council of my mission. It was my ninth time being in that meeting and I really can't believe that I won't ever go to one of those again. Elder Wood and I prepared a training on having a burning desire in missionary work. We titled it "Feel the Burn" gotta love it. I shared some of my favorite track quotes in the training. You know that "Your altitude determines your altitude" made an appearance. In preach my gospel, it talks about the best way to increase your desire to do missionary work and to share the gospel is to study the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When we learn more about the sacrifice that He made for us, it becomes easier for us to make the daily sacrifices that bring the joy that only His Atonement can supply.

The next few days following MLC were spent helping people get situated after the transfer. We spent the majority of a couple of days stocking apartments and helping missionaries get settled. Bringing out the moving skills again. 

We had a cool little experience on Friday. The Stake asked us to help them with some of their youth conference, so we got to prepare a small training for some of the youth preparing to serve missions. It was a good time. It feels like just yesterday I was in their shoes. That is such an exciting time. 

A couple of updates, my man SF is doing awesome. He passed the sacrament today and even gave a short talk in sacrament meeting last week. TP got his patriarchal blessing a few weeks ago and is doing great. NB and EB have interviews with our bishop next week to get their temple recommends. Thinking about all of the amazing experiences from my mission truly "makes my heart swell" :) I am forever changed because of the privileged it has been to spend a couple years in Iowa serving my Savior. I love Him and am grateful for every minute that I have to represent Him. 

Love you! Have a great week!

The Elder with a swollen heart (shout out to Jen)

So It Begins...

Hey hey!  I am pretty sentimental today to be honest. This week marks the beginning of my last transfer as a full time missionary. I guess we need to make this one the best one yet right? I am stoked to hear that trek is this week! I feel like you guys started working on trek when I started my mission. Crazy that it is finally here. I have no doubt that this will be the best one yet. You will have to give me the run down next week after a nap and a nice cold Diet Coke of course. I am sure that those Diet Cokes are packed and ready to go already.

We had a great week this week and of course it was crazy busy. We had a bunch go down so I will get right to it. 

This week was transfers and you guessed it. I am staying right where I am for the last one. We spent the majority of the week coordinating all of the transportation, calling missionaries, solving problems and helping missionaries. The good life. Transfer week is always really stressful. There is a lot on the line for most of the missionaries. I remember as a young missionary being super nervous to find out where I was headed next and who with. It really adds a lot of pressure when you are responsible to help decide what happens to these missionaries for the next six weeks of their lives. Luckily, President is super inspired and makes most of the calls! That man is a legend. 

Wednesday is always a fun day. We picked up all of the new missionaries from the airport. We had a decent sized group this time with thirteen new young missionaries. It is always the coolest thing to see how excited they are and how ready they are to hit the streets. I also met my great grandson for the first time. Yep, I lived to see the day when the fruit of my loins (well kind of...) reached four generations serving at the same time. What a blessing. Because we were hanging out with the new missionaries, our Fourth of July was super lame. Its all good though, I'll be home for the next one. Wahoo! 

Thursday and Friday were also real good days. Thursday is the big day when transfers happen so Elder Wood and I were cruising around all over the place making sure things went smoothly. Luckily it was a successful one with only a few minor hiccups. We then spent the rest of the day helping the departing missionaries get ready to take off. It was a tough group to send home. Some of my best pals were in that group, like Elder Sampson and Elder Butterfield, Elder Hadfield, Elder McCain and others. The mission is really going to be weird for the next little while. All of those guys will be at my homecoming though so I am pumped to introduce you to them! They are studs and I am really going to miss them. Only said see you later though... 

From what you might have seen, we spent Saturday morning ripping out drywall and tearing out carpet. It was great day. Funny thing was, when we showed up to the church to meet our groups, I was assigned to a group with a bunch of members from the Ames 1st ward! It was so killer! Including Bishop Cannon. We laughed that it was a flood that brought us together almost a year and a half ago after his flood in his basement. Good times for sure! I guess I can now officially call myself an Obray after working with drywall all day. Good stuff!

This email is longer than I meant it to be so I will cut it off there! I love you guys!

Have a great week!

The Flood Cleaner Upper,

Elder Obray

Yep.

Bishop Cannon. Possibly one of my future professors at USU. 

Just Floating Away

Hey Hey Hey! Man what another great week. I feel like this week was incredibly quick, but looking back it feels like I emailed you guys like two months ago. We were super busy this week and all kinds of good stuff went down, so I will waste no time and get right to it. 

First of all my man N got dipped in the water yesterday! We are so pumped for him. He is the man. From what they told us, the baptism in Texas was a success. My friend M didn't end up getting baptized... She was really nervous about getting in the water before hand, but we thought it would be alright. No worries though, she has all kinds of time to get baptized. She is the coolest little girl. We are so pumped for that family. It has been a really amazing experience teaching them. We are looking forward to many years ahead of good friendship. They are definitely a family that I will have to visit whenever I am traveling through the Midwest! 

The departing temple trip was this week as well. It is always a good experience to sit down in the temple and think about holy things haha. The temple is a place of so much peace and I am so grateful for all of the amazing things that happen in temples. Hoorah for a temple in L Town!

Instead of traveling back to Des Moines after the temple trip, Elder Wood and I drove even farther into Illinois to meet all of the missionaries coming from the Chicago West mission. We held a short zone conference and met all of the great missionaries we are getting. It is going to be a little wild getting everyone moved over and acclimated to a new mission, but they were awesome missionaries and I am excited to serve with them for the home stretch of my mission.

The rest of the week was spent transfer planning. It is always a fun week to spend a lot of time with the Badgers. They are the coolest people around. I am really going to miss them when I go home. Never fear though, I have already discussed snapchatting Sister Badger to keep her updated. I am so grateful that I have had the privileged of serving close by them for so long. They are amazing. It is crazy to me that I am headed into my last transfer as a full time missionary. Yep..

Last thing, last night, we working on some stuff for transfers when we started getting phone calls from missionaries who were stranded in their cars. There was a huge storm yesterday which flooded a lot of the major streets here in Des Moines. Elder Wood and I got in our trusty vehicle, the van Shaylee, and hit the road. We spent the next few hours trying to help missionaries get back to their apartment and trying to help other people get their cars out of the road. We finally crawled into bed last night around 1. Man I was so tired, but it was quite the adventure. I only took one picture though.... Hopefully you will forgive me. It was a pretty cool experience though! Gotta love the Midwestern rain storms! 

That is about it this week. I hope things are going well back home. I will see you all in a few weeks! Love you

Just Floating Along... Literally

Elder Obray

The Pursuit of Happiness

Hello hello! What a week here in the promised land. I am really having a hard time thinking of ways that I can keep these emails exciting. I feel like after about 94 of these emails, I am running out of creativity. It was a wild week though, so hopefully it will be a good one. Oh I'm about to dive in!

We had zone conference this week... It is always a pretty stressful week filled with long car rides and long days in meetings. It was successful though. We had great conferences and I felt the spirit for sure. I had a lot of those Walter Mitty moments driving to Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Iowa City. The next time I make that trip to all of our zone conferences, I will only have a couple weeks left as a full time missionary. Ahh can't think about that too much or it gets me in the feels. I have really been impressed with how pretty Iowa is lately. Man I am so excited for you guys to see it someday. Something about the hills of corn and the sunset. It is definitely a different kind of beautiful, but I sure like it. 

We spent Wednesday on exchanges with some stud missionaries in Manchester, Iowa. Yep that place is booming with life. My companion for the day, Elder Broby, and I knocked a couple towns. One called Coggin and the other called Ryan. I am pretty sure they had the population of our cul-de-sac, but it was a fun experience. 

Update on the coolest investigators on the planet. The Bw are all set for their baptism this weekend. Their baptism is this Saturday and we couldn't be more stoked for them. M (the eight year old) gave us "tickets" this week for being the best missionaries in the world. She is the cutest. We went over the baptism interview questions with them this week and she knows her doctrine too. We are so pumped for them. Definitely feeling real grateful for the privilege that it has been to teach them. 

Today at church, I saw my girl E in the hallway. She is doing really good as well. She is so much happier than she was when we first started teaching her. Whenever I see her she always tell me how blessed she is. She is the greatest. I love that family as well. Man I am getting all sentimental already.. This is no good. 

Elder Wood and I trained on finding happiness in the work. There are a lot of missionaries in the mission who I feel are just going through the motions until their time is up. We really stressed that the time of missionary service is a time to enjoy. My big one liner for the training was "Called to Serve not Called to Survive." I know that I have had some of the happiest times on my mission. The Lord's work is a happy work that is for sure. 

On a super happy note. I found my camera this week! Someone turned it into the Stake Offices after the last zone conferences and it has just been chilling there. How about that? 

Have a great week! I love you!

You can still call me Walter,

Elder Obray

Yep.

Matching at zone conference. We planned it.

This little man got lost today at church. Elder Wood captured this super candid picture.

Three Cheers for Three Steves

Happy Father's day Poppa! You are the man. I am incredibly grateful for a dad like you. Some of the best times were spent with you and mom at the movies or post basketball game talks and track meet pep talks or days on the golf course. Words will never be able to describe how grateful I am to have two amazing parents who are my best pals. Thank you for your incredible example of what a father should be like. I will do my best to follow that example throughout my life as a father, brother, son and a man. You are the man Bob. Man I am so grateful for all of you guys. I can't wait to give you all a hug in a little while. 

Man the weeks are getting better and better. I was talking with President Badger the other day and I told him that I feel like the highlights of my mission have been happening recently. The book ends of my mission have proven to be the times when I have grown the most and have experienced the highest moments of my mission. The great thing is I still have 61 more days to have more killer experiences. I can't wait for all the good stuff in store.

On that note, I think that my mission is complete. I don't know if I could ask for anything else while I am here. It is official. S the third has entered the waters of baptism and I couldn't be more excited. He came up from the water and had tears streaming down his face. He is the man. He has made so many changes in his life and he has definitely been prepared for this for a long time. If I haven't shared the story about how we started teaching him, remind me to next week. Answers to prayers for sure. Unfortunately, we haven't found another S yet. But hope is not lost. We won't be able to do too much more finding this transfer, but I know there is another prepared S waiting for a tall scrawny high jumping missionary to knock on his door. 

We had a really cool experience this week with some of my favorite people. The Bs are doing so well. They are such a great family and I'm real excited for them. My man N came to church today with a white shirt and tie. Looking like a high priest. After our lesson this week, we were all just joking around and N was talking about all of the other missionaries that he has shut down in the past. He then talked about how if it had been any other missionaries, he probably would have told them the same thing. He then said something along the lines of, "Because you guys are the way you are, I decided it was worth a shot". Man that is what every missionary wants to hear. Remember what I said about high points of my mission? I am so grateful to teach this great family. 

I am sorry that my emails are getting shorter, actually I am sure that is probably a good thing. I used to write some novels... Have a great week this week! 

I love you! :)

A grateful missionary,

Elder Obray

The man himself, S the III

He told us his name was Jolly Sun Dog. Respect.

The Bs, the coolest people ever

Pig Farms and Empty Gas Tanks

Like every other week, it is a good week to be a missionary. We had some cute experiences this week that I am excited to share. I really can't believe that it has already been a year since Grandpa passed away... It seems like yesterday that I was sitting in our house in Cedar Rapids reading his obituary. I am forever grateful that I got to grow up with a grandpa like him. He was an example of hard work and love that I will strive to emulate in my own life. Larry is the man. 

I will start this email with an explanation for the subject line. Elder Wood and I were cruising back from Waterloo, Iowa. We had to clean out an apartment there and we checked out their district meeting while we were there. On the way back, we were about an hour north of Des Moines traveling between the booming cities of Ellsworth and Jewell, Iowa. I looked down at our gas gauge and it said that we had 18 miles left in our tank, and that the closest gas station was about 9 miles away. I got a phone call from President Badger which distracted me and I didn't even think about the trailer of furniture we were pulling and how much more gas you need to use so long story short, we ran out of gas at the mid way point between two gas stations. Luckily we ran out of gas right next to an off ramp, but instead of coasting right into a gas station like we did that one time on our way to a soccer tournament, we coasted into the next best thing. A pig farm. Unfortunately the pig guy wasn't very much help, so we began our 5 mile trek to the closest gas station. After about a half mile, we came upon the only house within sight and of course, perfect timing, a woman on a cart came cruising from her backyard. She luckily had a 5 gallon tank of gas and gratefully she hooked us up. Man I was so grateful. She was my hero. She saved the day. Of course we didn't have much to give her in return, but she graciously accepted a Book of Mormon. Who knows? Maybe she will get baptized someday. Fingers crossed!

In other news, our investigator family that I have talked about a little bit, the Bs, are doing so great. The husband is hilarious and he is taking all of the right steps to get baptized here in the next few weeks. We are a little bummed though because they told us that they are going to be traveling down to Texas to be baptized... the wife has family down there so they decided to take a short trip down there for the service. I mean I am not that upset, but I would definitely love to be there. Who knows? Maybe Pres will approve the road trip. haha yeah right! We are stoked for them though. They are such an awesome family and we are stoked for them. 

In other news, my man S the third is getting baptized this weekend. He is the man. We had some really spiritual lessons this week and we are super pumped to help him take this step. He has told us many times that he knows that this is the right church and this is the right time. He is the man. We need to find a new S now. The hunt is on!

I really don't have too much else to report on this week. Just livin the dream out here. Today marks 22 months as a missionary so that is pretty wild. I got an email this week about "my plan" which is basically a training you do in the last six weeks of your mission. Things are heating up a little bit. I don't know what to think haha. 

Have a great week this week. Luv u lots

Future father of a son named Steve,

Elder Obray

We got a new ride this week. Embracing the soccer dad theme from last week.

Steadfast and Immovable

Hey Hey Hey! It was yet another great week here in the Capital. I am at that point in my mission where I am just cruisin, doing what I can to baptize people. I was reading my journal the other day and I always get all sentimental about my mission. I will forever be grateful for all of the good times I have had and also for all of the rougher times I have had. Missions truly are the coolest thing. I am grateful that I have had the privilege of serving one.

I really don't have too much to report on this week. MLC was Tuesday and that is always a day that gives me stomach trouble. It went well though. Elder Wood and I trained on serving with integrity. Mosiah 5 hits it right on the head when it says that we should be steadfast and immovable, ALWAYS abounding in good works... It isn't just when we are around our mission President, or church leaders, but our attitude towards the gospel and our works should be the same in all things. We felt like it went well. It is always good to hear from missionaries that it was a good training and that it helped them. 

Elder Wood and I conducted some exchanges this week in our area, and I got to serve with my old comp Elder Anderson for the day. He is a Zone Leader close by. It was cool to serve with him again. He has changed a lot since we served together more than a year ago. He is still a punk, but he has become a good missionary. We had a good time pounding some pavement and all that jazz. 

Update on S the third. He is doing great. He announced today in Elders Quorum that he is getting baptized on the 16th. We concur. He is an interesting fella for sure, but he has a sincere desire to put his old life behind him and start fresh. Baptism is the best way I can think of to do that. 

A big emphasis in our training was avoiding complacency. It is really easy to think that my faith is strong enough, or my testimony is strong enough, or my current efforts in my calling is enough, but I have always thought that if we are not progressing, we are digressing. True conversion is a lifelong pursuit, not a destination.

Sorry this email is lame, I commit to having a killer email for you all next week. Take it easy!

Love you

Pavement pounder,

Elder Obray

Add caption

Preparing for the future. "Super Dad"

Miracles Dude

Whats up fam fam? Man what a week. Transfer week is always a wild one, but there were some super killer experiences this week that I am excited to report. Super pumped that you guys got the boat out already. Bummer to hear that J Dog took a hit. It reminds me of that one time we were playing volleyball as a family and I kicked the volleyball and totally wrecked mom in the face. Yikes. There is nothing worse than physically hurting your momma (or momma in law). It has definitely taken a turn for the worse here in DM. The temperature shot right up this week and I feel like I am living in a sauna. It is so crazy. We were helping some members move a play ground thing yesterday and I felt like I was swimming in my slacks. No bueno. All part of the experience though right?

The first miracle to report was in the office. On Monday morning during our staff meeting, President Badger informed us that our mission secretary, Sister Martin was diagnosed with cancer and would be returning back home. We were so bummed to hear it. She is the greatest lady. They caught it pretty early, so it shouldn't be too bad fortunately. That being said, we needed someone to replace her and Elder Martin. We were kind of scrambling for some ideas on who could fill the job, when President said, "I have faith that someone will be here in the office tomorrow to do the job, I don't know who it will be, but someone will be here." Pretty wild right? It gets even better, before the meeting was over, President got a call from a nearby stake president who said that he had people he called, and that they would be in the office for training the next day! So crazy! It was one of those, man this church thing is so true. Definitely an experience that I won't forget any time soon. 

Transfers went just swimmingly this week. It is always good to know that everyone made it safely to their new area and that you didn't mess too many things up. The morning of transfers, President informed us of some surprises that complicated things a little, but it all worked out. Good stuff for sure. Elder Wood and I are staying together... Good stuff, we are best pals, it is always the best to be doing the best work with a buddy. 

We saw another super cool miracle finding this week. We have still been on a major hunt for a prepared family, unfortunately the family I talked about a few weeks ago is struggling a little bit, so we set out to find a different one. We felt impressed to stop by a family that we had never heard of. When we got there, we found a single mother of two who is more than excited to see us, weird, that never happens. As we talked, she started to cry and told us how much she needed a change in her life. She told us that as soon as we left she called her very active parents in Minnesota and they have been praying for this day to come for a while. The prayers of the faithful right? She and her two teenage kids came to church today and are progressing so well. We are pumped for them. We are also working with that other awesome family I talked about last week, they also came to church and are already talking about their baptism in July. The Lord is looking out for us for sure. My man St the third is also looking really good to be baptized in a couple weeks. Blessings on blessings on blessings.

Gotta love being a missionary.

Thats about it for this week. We went bowling again with President Badger and Sister Badger, they were a little embarrassed when I started crying over the 50 that I bowled, but all is well. Haha just kidding, I think I have actually gotten better. I bowled a 174 a while back. No more messing around!

Love you guys! 

Elder Obray

This is Sister Badger's phone. She said that we are definitely the "LDS tools." We agree.

The Martins before they headed back to Tennessee.

Lost but Not Forgotten

Hey Hey Hey! Right? Super dramatic/cheesy subject line. To be honest I am starting to run out of creative things to write in my emails. It was the best to talk to you guys last week. Man I miss you so much. The Badgers had a couple of their daughters here in town for a couple of days and it sure made me miss just sitting around the table laughing with you guys. Some of the best memories were spent in our living room or on our deck after Sunday dinner. Crazy those are getting pretty close! I am definitely grateful that you guys are the ones that are stuck with me forever. I love you.

 We had a killer week this week with a bunch of wild spiritual experiences. So lets get moving.

First things first, we spent a lot of time this week planning transfers... It is a really cool experience. The Badgers really love the missionaries. Transfers are really cool, looking back, I am really grateful for all of my companions, I learned something from every single one. A few times that "something" was patience lol but I needed it.

Second, the subject line isn't that dramatic, but I am definitely bummed about it. I left my camera at a zone conference last week and it hasn't shown up. I haven't backed up my pictures since I was with Elder Milligan so I probably lost like 500 pictures... Sad deal. I left it at a church, so I don't feel like it could have gone very far, but the missionaries in the area have looked for it already. I hope it turns up.

We had a really cool experience on Monday. We finished P Day and were out and about trying to find someone to baptize, when Elder Wood said "Man I wonder how the..." before he could finish, I turned the car around and we were on the road to a part member family's house. Same wave length. She is a less active member and her husband is not a member and they have a daughter who isn't a member either. When we got there, we knocked on the door like five times because we could hear them right inside the room and wouldn't take no for an answer. Luckily they invited us in and we started teaching them the gospel. They are an awesome family. She opened up about some things in her life and the spirit was there. It was great. We will be back every Monday until they are sealed together as a family lol.

Another fun miracle happened with my dude S the third. He is the man. We taught him one really short lesson at a baptism last Saturday. We had a lesson on Friday with him and he told us that he had already quit drinking coffee and tea, and that he was working on quitting smoking. He is super prepared. I think I am morally obligated to name one of my kids Steve now. Something special about that name. He is looking to get baptized next month.

We had some other really great people show up that we are really excited to work with. Gotta love being a missionary.

Things are good these days. Can't complain, Elder Wood and I set some lofty goals for the next couple of transfers, so expect miracles every week from now until August 17th! Have a great week this week I love you!

The Steve Baptizer

Elder Obray

Cute sunset pic in front of a huge city

This wall painting looks just like President Badger

The man himself. We matched for one of the zone conferences. Didn't even plan it.

"You Guys are in Eddyville!"

Whats up gang? It has been a good week here in the promised land. From what I hear, everyone in the family has been going on some pretty wild adventures recently. Jonathan and LIndsay going to Hawaii, Trevor and Maddie going to the Philippines, and Bob and Jen heading over to Fiji? Sounds like life is a dream back home in the 801. I can honestly say that the adventures that we had this week are comparable to the tropical locations that you have been hitting up. We ventured into some equally paradise-like places here in Iowa/Illinois. Haha honestly though, this week was kind of a downer so don't expect too much from this email. But lets get to it anyway. 

Elder Wood and I are beginning to feel like truck drivers. I feel like by the end of my mission, I will have traveled through every city in Iowa. We have been listening to so many talks haha. This week we traveled up to Marshall Town, Iowa to clean out yet another apartment. Man I am getting strong though all we do is lift heavy things and load trailers. Gotta love it. The next day, we did the same thing, but had to travel a lot further. We went over to a place called Quincy, Illinois. Side story, this city is one of the cities that helped out the saints back in the days of Old Nauvoo. It was like a four hour drive, so we left early in the morning, attended a district meeting and lunch there, moved an apartment and then drove all the way back to Des Moines. Made for about eight hours on the road. What a dream come true. On the way home, we were driving through a pretty intense storm, the thunder here is pretty incredible, I highly recommend being in Iowa for a storm, it rolls across the entire sky. Pretty epic. Anyway, we were in the middle of a crazy storm and we ran out of gas, so we stopped in the bountiful city of Eddyville. I felt like I was in the Wizard of Oz, but the cashier at the only gas station in miles assured us were will in Eddyville. I think it was equivalent in grandeur to Fiji.

Pretty soon, I will know this place like a native. Good stuff.

We conducted another exchange this week with some ZL's from Davenport. It was a good time. Because we don't spend too much time in our area, it is always a treat to get out and do missionary work. I always forget how great it is to get out and teach people about the gospel. We ran into some great people that we are really excited to work with. Hopefully they turn out well. We need some people to teach! Which is a bummer, because this week kind of marked the last full week we have in our area this transfer, this upcoming week we will be having all of our zone conferences, the following week is the departing temple trip and transfer planning, then transfers are upon us. One eternal round right? Gotta love it. 

Some exciting news is that my girl D went to the temple yesterday and did baptisms for the dead! I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it, but the ZLs there said that she loved it and was so happy when she told them about it. The Des Moines ward goes to the Omaha, Nebraska temple which means that none of us could go with her, but I am stoked for the day that I can come back here and take all of my African friends to the temple. It is going to be lit. Pure joy when you see RCs taking more steps to conversion.

Last stop on today's email. While on exchanges, Elder Pearce and I went to visit my man S. Have I ever mentioned how cool that man is? When we got there, his brother (who has been a little combative with us in the past) was sitting on the couch. He had a lot of questions about why the Book of Mormon was necessary and I was able to sit back and listen to my man S testify of the power of the Book of Mormon, and explain perfectly why it is so important. That man is going to be a Bishop here soon. I can't wait for you guys to meet him. Prepare yourself though, he feeds us African food every time we go over so get ready. 

I really don't have too much to report on this week. Life these days is very different than it was a few months ago, but I love it. 

Have a great week! Love you.

The Iowa Native,

Elder Obray 

You know I need to attach a picture with little African boys.

The people in this building immediately became interested in the gospel.

Friends at Stake Conference

No Such Thing as Coincidence

What do you know? It was another killer week here in the promised land of Des Moines. It was one of those weeks that make you feel grateful to be a missionary. Sounds like my week might not have been as good as my brothers though. Super cool you were able to go to the Philippines and get in contact with some of your RCs. I am sure Maddie had a killer time in those conversations haha, a little bit like me when we knock on a hispanic person's door. I just step back and let Elder Wood do the work, I know how you feel Maddie, speaking another language is overrated!  First things first though. I think I cried when I read Bob's email saying that we are going to be in Powell together as a family in just a few months. That and the fact that the city of Des Moines has been packed with track teams from all over the country competing in the Drake Relays this week have made me a little excited to get off the plane in a few months, but just a little, don't you worry, there is still all kinds of work to be done here. The word trunky will not be used. :) Lets get to it.

First up, my man S continues to bring joy into my life. He is the coolest guy on the planet. He is doing so great and is preparing to go do some baptisms with his reactivated wife. Today was an awesome day because S received the Aaronic priesthood! What a blessing. S asked me to be the voice in the blessing and with some gentle persuasion, I agreed. There aren't many cooler things than laying your hands on the head of a recent convert and helping them receive the priesthood. Speaking of, remember my guy T who I taught in East Moline? He went to the temple a few weeks ago and has received the priesthood! He has come a long way. The gospel is the coolest.

Saturday was a cool day, we had to opportunity to knock on doors of course, but this time for a different purpose. The Red Cross was in town and was installing smoke alarms in under privileged neighborhoods. It was a cool experience. People were more than willing to tell us that they didn't want to become a mormon, but when we told them we would give them free smoke alarms, they were our best friends. Haha what an experience. 

We also got to go over to Cedar Rapids again this week for a district meeting and to help another companionship move. Have I mentioned that we drive a Chevy Silverado around? It is a pretty sweet ride. We have the only vehicle in the mission capable of pulling a trailer so we get to help everyone move. Gotta love it. I will make sure to get a picture with my girl "Brenda" this week. She might just drink more gas than Heather haha. 

We had a super cool experience this week. Elder Wood and I have really been praying to find a family to teach. We think it would be the best way to cap off the mission. This week, we think we found them. Last week in Ward Council, we were talking about families that we could reach out to. Someone said a name, and I immediately knew that they were the family we needed to visit. On Tuesday on exchanges with Elder Davidson, a ZL in the Fairfield zone, we stopped by. At first, the less active father was on a conference call and couldn't talk too long but he invited us back a couple days later. When Elder Wood and I went back, we had a killer experience.  He let us right in for some lunch and we talked. He later opened up that the night before we came over that first time, he had been thinking about the church and felt the need to go back. Coincidence? I think not!  He expressed how excited he was to see us when we knocked on his door the next day. He is the only member in his family, so we cannot wait to go back and teach his wife and his five kids. Keep them in your prayers, but I am confident that this family will be sealed in the temple some day. 

Not too much else to report on this week. I am grateful this week, like all other weeks, to be a missionary. There is no happier work on the planet. These truly are times never to be forgotten. I love you. 

Have a great week,

The Mormon with the Smoke Alarms,

Elder Obray

We were too late, this house needed a smoke alarm.

Missionaries in yellow (Mormon Helping Hands)