More important is what you felt, not so much what you heard

Howdy yall,
So I guess I will start with business first so I don’t forget.  I did
receive that Reliv package on Tuesday last week.  This apartment complex
is great with packages so you won't need to worry about sending anything
here.  I really appreciate it.  Thanks!  I received those 3 shirts that
you sent me a couple months ago.  Thanks for those.  I received that
package last week.  That was a great package.  I love all the candy
especially the big gummy hand   I haven’t ever seen one of those
before.  And don’t worry about sending the audio BOM stuff.  It’s more
fun to read than listen to anyways.  That’s pretty sweet about the new
bishopric.  I don’t know most of them too well but it will be fun to get
to know them later on.  I will miss having Bishop Allred though.  He is
a really nice guy that loves everyone and tries to help them the best he
can.  He is an awesome, humble guy.  The Bishop here in Buda ward is
pretty neat too.  He loves to fish and works for the Texas Wildlife
Magazine.  He is really humble too.  We have a great ward here.  They
are ready to help in any way they can.  I am excited for the future
here.

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Snow of the quorum
of the 70 at our zone meeting.  We had 3½ zones there so it was pretty
big.  He started off by having his wife share her testimony.  He then
got up and told us not to take very many notes because we aren’t going
to go and read them later on.  But he did tell us to take notes on what
the spirit prompted us to write.  Then we basically had a big discussion
for the next three hours.  I felt the spirit very strong the whole time. 
We talked about the spirit and its importance.  Here are some things
that I took from it:
-More important is what you felt, not so much what you heard.
-Revelation is remembering.
-If we don’t make that connection with the Holy Ghost, we can’t help
others connect.
-We must have the spirit of revelation at all times and in all things;
if we don’t, we can’t function the way God wants us to.
-It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Holy Ghost speaking directly to us
or if it’s our own thoughts.  If we are living the way we are supposed
to, there shouldn’t be a difference.
-Am I helping someone because I’m supposed to or because I really care
about that person and their welfare?
-We are bringing people unto Christ, not into the church.  Therefore we
need to help everyone we can even if they are already a member.  The way
we can help them is to help them feel the spirit.  We can do that by
inviting them into our homes, sharing our testimonies, and many other
ways.  When they feel the spirit, it will prompt them to act.

It was really awesome.  I am so glad I was able to participate in that
conference.

We are teaching a couple people right now.  LaTosha is pretty awesome. 
She accepted the Word of Wisdom and really wants to change.  We are
working with the 14 year old teenager still.  Not much new with her. 
Other than those two we are doing a lot of finding with moderate
success.  There are a lot of potentials in the area book that we have
started to visit.  So far not too much success with that part but we'll
keep pushin along.  The work with the ward is getting better too.  There
have been some good missionaries and some bad ones in the past so right
now it’s a matter of gaining their trust.  Elder Best is like me in some
ways.  He doesn’t like to argue (for the most part) so that is nice when
we have difficult people.  I still love it here.  It has been in the
60’s and 70’s here.  I am getting too acclimatized to Texas because that
felt a little chilly to me.  I am going to die when I come home in the
dead of winter.  Maybe I’ll just stand in front of the freezer my last
month during studies ;)  That’s cool that it snowed there.  I miss snow.

Elder Best and I got permission to go to our ward trunk or treat
activity last Wednesday.  We dressed up as missionaries :)  We couldn’t
pass out candy so we passed out pass-along cards.  It was lots of fun.

Have fun and stay close to the Lord.  I love you all more than I can
express.

Love,
Elder Gray