I Almost Shot Myself

Hey guys,

Good news!! DIANA AND HER KIDS GOT BAPTIZED TODAY!!! WOOHOO!! So we had to push the date forward once because her kids weren’t quite ready but today they got baptized but they will get confirmed tomorrow which is just as important. I will let you guys know how that goes next week!

Hunter and Taylor are off to Seattle it sounds like. I hope they behave themselves. I feel older everytime something happens in peoples lives at home. I remember their first tryouts in soccer as freshmen.

I love the way all of the Apostles speak. They are all different but they all hit home. 

What cell phone do you have now? I cant even remember what phones exist. Mine is called an alcatel one touch if you want to look it up. (Not sure where that came from!)

Way to go Reese! (My grandson is learning how to go potty!) Sometimes you almost loose control of your potty training abilities as a missionary. A missionary told me a story about his Dad that only gave him one word of advice at the airport when he left. 

(I'm so sorry about this next story!) His dad was a pretty serious guy but when he hugged him goodbye all he said was ¨Never trust a fart.¨ 

This Elder didn't understand until one day in a lesson he let out a silent fart and it came out wet. Then he just chuckled and understood what his dad was talking about. 

One of my other investigators attended the baptism today and I know that her and her husband and her daughter are going to get baptized. They just had a baby like 4 months ago and she is adorable. 

Take some pictures at Kylies (Hunter's cousin) wedding for me! I wish I was there to support her.

I like that BiMart (One of his dad's FAVORITE stores) is closer now. I hated going before because it was so far but now I can deal with that.

This week while the APs were gone we found a roman candle in a closet and it was pretty old. I didn't think it would actually work so I lit it. Turns out the fire comes out from the same end as the wick. Who knew? I almost shot myself. The worst part was that it was super loud and bright and there were 30 of them. Also, at this point all the other secretaries that agreed to be a part of it had fled. In a panicked state I broke it in half hoping they wouldn't come out anymore. I was wrong.

They just started coming out by fives. Eventually they stopped and we all learned a lesson. 

Anyways, that is it for this week! Love you guys.

Elder Reese

Have You Ever Eaten Spaghetti with Rice?

Hey guys,

I hope everyone had a good Mothers Day!! 

It was so good to see everybody. I didn't expect so many people to be there but I am glad they were.

 It seems weird to think about Hunter and Taylor graduating (family friends)! 

The ward split seems like a good change. It is no different than having transfers in the mission. They are directed by God just the same.

I had no idea that the church was pulling out of scouts. That makes me sad. That was one of the best parts of being a young man in the church. I hope that the church can find some sort of curriculum to make up for it. 

Mom should start taking Duke on walks he would love it!(Duke would end up taking Mom on a walk instead) Mom wouldn't but hey he is going to get fat! I saw Kameron chasing Duke around in the skype call. He is a cute little boy.  

Yea the time just keeps counting down I don't know what to do about it. I have gone to the airport probably over 30 times here in the office and I have never once had a desire to get on one and go home. God still has plenty of things for me to do here. 

I am glad Grandma and Grandpa will have their laundry room upstairs. I wish I was there to help with the project. 

You will be great at your new calling Mom! You have a degree in being a secretary so it will be super easy!

Costa Rica and Colombia are very different.(I met an Elder who was getting ready to go to Costa Rica) Costa Ricans are very relaxed people. There is also a lot of very pretty beach in Costa Rica. 

As for your story Mom, (I asked Hunter to give me a story I could tell in church tomorrow) I want to talk about why President Nelson has focused on Ministering instead of Home and Visiting teaching. 

I was privileged to meet Fabio Viosotis when I first started my mission. His house was actually the first house I ever visited as a missionary in the field. He had been investigating the Church for more than 3 years and went to church every Sunday but still could not make the decision to get baptized. The missionaries just retaught him the lessons over and over and over. 

My companion one day asked him how he was doing with reading his Book of Mormon. He said he only read it while he was with us but read the Bible every night. 

My companion smiled and said okay well lets keep reading then. Every time we visited him we read the Book of Mormon and left a part of it for him to read. We didnt talk about the Plan of Salvation or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about the Book of Mormon because that is what he needed. 

Later we had a very powerful family home evening with some members and there was a video played where Jeffrey R, Holland testifies of the Book of Mormon. 

When we went by his house the next week his daughter was full of happiness when she told us he had started reading the Book of Mormon all by himself. 

Two weeks after he scheduled his own baptism and was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

There are plenty other stories that I could share about ministering. That is just something that I have learned here on my mission. 

As for my mission in total. It is the best mission there is. Colombians are the happiest people that exist. They don't complain about what they don't have they just smile for what they do have. 

There have been few times that I have been mistreated by the people here. The food is great. There is rice with every meal. The other day the lady that gives us lunch made spaghetti with a side of rice. Have you ever eaten spaghetti with rice? Me either. I just ate spaghetti to avoid the weight of all of that. 

I love Colombians. I love being here. I love my family but I am happy to love them from a distance for now. I love all of the people in my new ward as well. Que Dios les bendiga! 

There ya go mom! 

Diana and her 2 kids will be getting baptized this Saturday!! WOOOHOOO!! 

Anyways, that is it for today! I love you guys!! 

Con amor, 

Elder Reese

Mother's Day Weekend

Hey Guys,

Don't be surprised if I don't write much today because I will be skyping tomorrow at 4 o'clock your time! 

I have a new baby nephew!! Woohoo! He is healthy and happy and that makes me happy so all is well! Madelyn has not seemed to realize the disadvantages to being the oldest yet so better to keep it that way! 

I am glad to hear that things are getting done at Grandma and Grandpas house! I am very excited to talk to everyone tomorrow!

By the way I got my package! Thank you all for everything!! 

Ricky (One of Hunter's best friends) is going into the Air Force in a couple of months and he is super excited. He will go to basic training in San Antonio Texas. 

I love my new companion he is one of the best! We are really focusing on baptism in every lesson now to figure out the people that are ready for us. 

 If we had Iphones we would get robbed so fast it would be more like the church starting a charity for thieves in Colombia.

Anyways, I will talk to you tomorrow! Love you! 

Elder Reese

It Rained So Hard That Nobody Came To Church

Hey guys,

No I did not get my package yet and I dont know why! I have been waiting for it but sometimes the south american mailing systems really are terrible.

I hope Dad had fun fishing this week and that he caught some good stuff! I was actually talking about fishing this week with this guy that always takes us to the airport and he said he would love to do it. It takes patience though! 

That is a weird split. (We just got assigned to a new ward with new boundaries) The ward is probably really small. I dont know very many people there either. Doesnt Pierce Yeakley get home pretty soon? That is not a very high number of missionaries! (Our new ward only has two missionaries out in the field). That means that when I get home it will be a new year and we shouldnt have church at 1 which is good news! 

Do you guys know what you are going to do with the house? What you are going to add on and where? (We have decided to add to on to our house to make it bigger)

I did hear about Gretchen and I am very happy that everything is okay! I am excited to meet the little guy! 

I will have some baptisms coming up it is just that this Sunday it rained SOOOO hard that nobody came to church. So the people that were going to get baptized could not because they didnt attend church. 

Elder Godoy is going to be a part of the Presidency of the Seventy but he wont start until August. 

It sounds like Reese is growing up all the time. Dad says he can talk a lot better now which is great. He wants to mow the lawn now but when he is older he is going to hate it. I remember I mowed the lawn for Adam once and I just had no desire to mow the top part cause it takes forever so I skipped it and hoped he didnt notice. He noticed because it was soooo obvious. Mans gotta try! 

I am excited to talk to all the family members that I will be able to see next Sunday! I love you all please be safe! Everything else is in my voice recording! 

Con amor,

Elder Reese