Wow. Let me tell you, this week was CRAZY! I mean missionary work wise it was kinda not the best because we can't get in contact with a lot of the people we are teaching and many of them are sick, out of town, or just MIA. I hate it when people have lives and do other things than meet with us haha! But anyways, I'm gonna tell you about both car accidents I was in this week because I can. Anyways, the first one wasn't that bad. We were at a stop sign behind someone and the person in front of us pulled out a bit to turn right, but realized they couldn't make it, so they backed up and ended up hitting us. Then they drove off. We called the police, nobody was hurt, the cars weren't damaged and they caught the guy. Everything was fine. That was the first accident.
Last night, there was a devotional in Louisville that we went to. One of the members of our ward picked us and Erin up for it. It was a SUPER good devotional, the spirit was very strong there, and the messages were fantastic. I know that God watches out for his children and that he cares about us. On the way home, it was raining and we were going about 65 down an empty freeway. The back end of our car started to fishtail and we hydroplaned. Our car did a full 360 and slid off the side of the road sideways. We hit a ditch straight on and bounced back up, went about 85 more feet and slammed into a tree, knocking it over. The airbags deployed at some point during that whole fiasco. We quickly unbuckled our seatbelts and got out of the car into the rain. Elder Mill's door wouldn't open so he had to climb out the back door. We got everyone out, Erin blacked out for a little on the grass and we made sure everyone was alright. I ripped my suit pants and a couple of buttons were ripped off my shirt. My ukulele that I was holding was still good and still in tune, so that's good haha. But the car was totaled. It is a legitimate miracle that none of us were hurt (well Erin did go to the ER and now has a neck brace and a pretty gnarly seat belt burn) but there were so many things that could have happened to us. The car could've flipped over, there weren't any serious injuries, we are all back home now and just a little sore. I'd say that's pretty good for what happened. There is no way that we could have all been that safe unless God was watching out for us. We were all wearing our seat belts and nobody else was on the road that we could have hit. God knows us and cares for us. He protected us and gave us peace. During the spin out and all the bumps and things that happened, there was a BUNCH of stuff going through my head. I felt peace. Because of my Patriarchal blessing I knew I would be alright and that I would return home safe. I was also freaking out a bit because it kind of didn't seem like it was real and I was like, "was that it? we went through all of this and nothing bad has happened yet." And then we hit the tree and it was over. We were fine. Well. That's my rant today about the crash. Our mission nurse will follow up with us every day this week to make sure we don't have any lasting injuries. Just a headache, some dizziness and a couple bruises. Good mission story haha!
Anyways, this week with Elder Mills has been super good. Still having problems with people we are teaching, but that's every missionary's problem. But, I do want to share a quick story. Hailey, one of the people we are teaching who is 12, went to girl's camp this week. When we met with them last she said she was had never felt the power of God in her life and she didn't know that he was there. Well, at girls camp, they had a testimony meeting and she was the first one to bear her testimony and during it she said something along the lines of, "I don't know why I feel like crying, but I feel so happy." And she was able to recognize the power of the Holy Ghost. The End. Thanks for all of you that actually read all this. I love you all!
Love, Elder Ray
159 Baker drive, apt 310 Shelbyville KY 40065
 |
| Pictures of the car |
 |
| Us with soda after our first accident |
 |
| Me in my suit after the accident last night |
 |
| Elder Ashmead and me with a horse |
 |
| Elder Mills and I matching |