Dear Mom,

As I am writing this letter, I am on the plane home from England.  We just took off from the Heathrow Airport about an hour or so ago, and we have about 7 1/2 hours to go until we get to Atlanta.  It was pretty emotional leaving.  As the plane took off, I just started to cry.  I knew I was leaving a piece of my heart there in the United Kingdom.  It was quite a shock to my system, I guess you could say.  But as we were flying west from London, I was able to spot what I am pretty sure was Bristol, The Prince of Wales Bridge, Cardiff, and Rhossili.  And then I watched the greenland fade in the distance.  What comforts me is knowing that I will be able to give you a big hug soon.  

It is hard to believe that it has been two years.  It has gone by quick, but also it has been a long time.  It has been your mission too, not just mine.  You have been my #1 supporter the whole time.  You have had to make sacrifices as well.  I just want you to know that I love you, Mom.  And I am so grateful for all that you have done for me over these last two years and my whole life.  I do not know where I would be without you.  As you know, there were times in my mission, especially at the start, where I was struggling.  You did everything you could to help strengthen me and to have the inspiration to keep going.  You shared my experiences with others, sent my emails, talked to me on preparation days, rejoiced with me, and made sure that I had everything that I needed.  I also learned as a missionary that there was a lot of things that you did for me back home that you could not do anymore.  I had to learn how to cook, clean, do laundry, and provide for myself.  And that made me realize how many things I took for granted.  And I am sorry for not appreciating these things more.  

Mom, I know things have not always been easy.  We have had our tough times in our own lives and in our family.  Things have not always been perfect.  But we have always gotten through it.  I just want you to know that you are such a strong woman, and you are a good Mother.  I know that you were sent here to Earth to be a mother, and there is nothing else that you could have done with your life that would have been of greater worth.  It is the most noble role that anyone could have.  And I just lucked out to have you as a mom.  I remember as a young kid when Dad was going through some of his challenges, I was pretty upset because I had not seen him in a while.  I was crying and throwing a bit of a fit and you just rocked me in the rocking chair until I was settled.  From the time I was 7-years old until I was 18-years old you were always there at my football and basketball games.  You made us breakfast every morning and drove us to school.  When I was depressed about my acne in High School, you gave me a hug and then took me to a dermatologist.  When I wanted to do dumb things, you didn't let me.  I just cannot thank you enough, Mom, for all that you have done for me.  Know that I love you and that I am always here for you.  And I know that our Heavenly Father loves you too and that he is always there for you.  

I am happy to be home.  I am excited for all of the memories that we will be able to make as a family.  And one day, I hope I can take you to the United Kingdom.  We can visit all of the good places in England, Wales, and Scotland.  Also, Ireland as well if you want to.  

Love you so much, Mom.

Love

Your son, Jake.

Letter of Recommendation from President Hughes

 June 11, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

Jake Jaremy Wray has served for two years as a full-time missionary in the England Birmingham Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  As such, he has paid his own expenses and has been completely dedicated to the work as a missionary.  These duties involve community service, teaching, and assisting Church growth in England and Wales.  An intensive study program has also been followed during this time.  He has completely dedicated his time to this voluntary work.

I am very well acquainted with Jake, and I have observed him during his missionary service.  I want you to know that he is reputable, responsible, and fully capable of fulfilling personal commitments.  He has received training in communication skills and teaching, and he is well-disciplined in study and personal habits.  In addition, I know him to be honest, dependable, hard-working, obedient to rules, and of the highest moral character.

He will be a credit to your organization in any aspect.  I highly recommend him.

If I can provide you with any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

President David J. Hughes

England Birmingham Mission

Areas, Assignments, and Companions

Elder Jake Jaremy Wray

England Birmingham Mission

14 Aug 2019, Junior Companion JC, Washford, Kyle J. Cribbs (DT).

05 Nov 2019, District Leader Trainer DLT, St. Austell, N/A.

06 Nov 2019, District Leader Trainer DLT, St. Austell, Levente G. Kozma (JC).

28 Jan 2020, Zone Leader ZL, Cornwall, Carter B. Fellows (ZL1).

10 March 2020, Zone Leader ZL, Cornwall, Kade T. Anderson (ZL1).

09 Jun 2020, Zone Leader ZL, Cornwall, Kade T. Anderson (ZL1), Joshua A. Lewis (JC).

18 Aug 2020, Zone Leader ZLL, Cardiff A, N/A.

29 Sep 2020, Zone Leader Lead ZLL, Rhiwbina, Ming S. Tang (ZL2).

05 Jan 2021, Zone Leader Lead ZLL, Rhiwbina, N/A.

08 Jan 2021, Zone Leader Lead ZLL, Rhiwbina, Ming S. Tang (ZL2).

29 Jan 2021, Zone Leader Lead ZLL, Cheltenham, James G. Crawford (ZL2), Joseph R. Ford (DL).

31 Jan 2021, Zone Leader Lead ZLL, Cheltenham, James G. Crawford (ZL2).

06 Apr 2021, Junior Companion JC, Poole A, Jared A. Bachelder (DL).

11 May 2021, Senior Companion SC, Poole A, Gideon J. Holt (JC).

Well everyone... the time has about come! My mission here in the U.K. is coming to an end. But it's been great! I'll forever be grateful for my mission and everyone I've met here. It's changed my life forever. 

This past week we were able to see our friend, Lee, get baptized. It was one of the best experiences of my whole mission, and I'm super grateful to have been able to be there for it. Lee has been such a great example of humility and faith to me. He told us recently that he had met missionaries on the streets a few years ago but had lost contact soon after. He wanted to get in touch with them again,  but he wasn't sure how to go about it. Then a few months ago he saw a missionary ad on Facebook and requested to meet with the missionaries. Elder Bachelder and I met with him last transfer, and he was just looking for a church to join, and he wanted to get baptized. After transfers, Elder Holt and I were able to start teaching him the lessons. We taught all the lessons, he was interviewed, and then baptized this last Saturday. 

It was a testimony to me that God is preparing people to receive the gospel. I'm just super happy for him, and I can't wait to see how he continues to progress in the gospel. 

God is good! Thank you all for your support! I love you all! I know that God lives and that this is His work, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I've had to serve Him here in "the green and pleasant land". Speak to you all soon!

Elder Wray

Pics:

- Lee's baptism

- A few goodbye pictures with some good friends

- Xin, a lady who Elder Tang and I taught in Cardiff awhile back was also baptized this last Saturday. She had been searching for truth for a long time, so it was great to hear that she had chosen to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ.

- Elder Holt and I also taught the husband of a lady in our ward. He's not a member of the church, but was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. He really wants to know now what the gospel is all about and wants to be sealed to His wife. I'm excited to hear how his journey goes.

Hello hello! 

This past week has been good! We did a lot of service for some elderly ladyies in our ward. We did a lot of garden work. Some of them also needed help with technology getting their Zoom accounts and what not sorted out. So Elder Holt was able to help them out with that. He's a bit more qualified with that kind of stuff than me haha! 

We also had a couple great lessons with Lee. We taught him most of the commandments. He's a really humble guy. It's pretty difficult to accept the commandments sometimes, probably especially when you've never heard of them before and when a lot of it goes against the culture. But it was really awesome to see how willing Lee was to follow them and accept them. He understood the importance of them and was pretty prepared to accept them. If everything goes to plan his baptism will be this Saturday which is really exciting! 

We also taught this man named John this last week. He was referred to us by some members in our ward. John is their neighbor, and they invited him to come to church with him. He came a couple times, and then agreed to meet with the us. We were able to teach him the restoration in the members home. It was really an ideal situation! It was awesome though. He said he already knows that the Book of Mormon and the Church is true. 

There seems to be so much potential in this area. I'm kind of sad that I won't get to see some of it unfold, but that's alright. I'm really grateful for the time that I've had in this area. It's been great. 

It's also hard to believe that this week will be my last full week as a missionary. It's really weird to say. But it's been one incredible journey. And I hope to finish it off strong. I'll always love and cherish the memories and relationships that I've made here. And I'm grateful for all the support that I've had from family and friends along the way. Love you all! 

Also, fun fact: President Joe Biden was in our zone this past week! He was in one of my old areas at the G7 Summit in St. Ives. We were thinking of going and stalking him, but we decided not to haha. Just kidding!

Elder Wray

Pics:

- We had a meeting in Newton Abbott this past week. It was good to see some friends!

Hello everyone! 

This week was really really good! I had my last zone conference ever as a missionary, but it was a great one for sure! It was the first time since before Covid that we had all of the south zones there. So we had a lot of missionaries there which was great! It was also President and Sister Hughes' last zone conference as well. The entire zone conference was based off of the tree of life vision from the Book of Mormon. We were encouraged to hold to the rod and the word of God which is Jesus Christ. It was really good! I'm going to miss President and Sister Hughes so much! They will always be very special people to me. It was also so great to be reunited with so many of my good missionary friends. 

We also got to do some street contacting for the first time since before Covid. It was pretty weird to be back out on the high streets, but it was nice! We aren't as bold in approaching people as we once were, but we're just trying to get to talk to people in normal and natural ways. So it's been good! 

We also got to do some service with a returning member in our ward. He's a really nice guy. Afterwards, we went to a pond and fed some birds which was pretty fun! The pigeons would just land right on our hands. It reminded me of the bird lady from Home Alone 2 haha. 

On Sunday we taught our friend, Lee, right before church. It was awesome! We invited him to be baptized on June 19th, and he said yes! He's a legend! So hopefully everything will go well, and we'll be able to do what we need to do to help prepare him for that. I've really come to love Lee, and he really is such a Christlike man! He works as a Carer which I think is so cool! And he loves it! He just goes around helping and serving people who can't take care of themselves. He's just a good guy! But anyways, I hope you all have an awesome week!

Elder Wray

Pics:

It was a happy week:)

Hello everyone! 

I hope you all have had a great couple of weeks! Things have been going well over here. We've continued teaching our friend, Lee. He's a really good guy. He's enjoyed coming to church the last few weeks. We are hoping to invite him to be baptized this upcoming week, so hopefully that all goes well. We were also able to teach Rubey and Riley this week. They are adopted children of a member in our ward. They are planning to get baptized in a few weeks which will be good! 

We were also able to go to a driving range at a golf course this last week with the youth in the ward. That was pretty fun! It's been awhile since I've been golfing! The instructor there was really good, and he gave me some good tips on how to hit the ball more straight. 

Our first in person district council in a long time happened a little over a week ago. That was pretty sweet! Our district is awesome! I'm grateful to have a few weeks left as a missionary, and I hope to make the most of it. It's been a great time. I love the gospel and I love being able to share it with others. Have a good week everyone!

Elder Wray

Pics:

- Exchanges with the good lad from Idaho

- And Bournemouth!