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