She Always Makes Fun of Me for Not Eating Vegetables

Hey guys!

So this week has been interesting. It has gone by very quickly but we have not been able to leave and proselyte as much as I would like but Elder Whiting is doing great as he is learning.

This week on Monday we had a super long office meeting and I was just looking around and listening to everything and I realized how much had changed since when I had arrived to the office. It helped me realize that the office was no longer the place for me. It doesn’t effect anyone else because they know nothing different.

I also got to go proselyte with Elder Ayala who is a missionary President set apart on Sunday and he stayed with us overnight and we got to go teach this great lesson to a new investigator. Her name is Diana and she is super interested in the Book of Mormon. Elder Ayala did a great job I was very proud of him.

Then on Tuesday we taught Diana the recent convert and her kids but it was a terrible lesson because she is watching this little girl and she is the worst little girl to have in a lesson. We just kind of hurried through the points because the spirit was not there and scheduled an appointment for another day.

That is when we went and contacted higher up in our area and found the Torres family. The husband was not home but the mom and the three daughters were. She had already received all of the lessons in Ecuador from sister missionaries and she said that the sisters helped her and her husband get married in order to get baptized but they had transfers and the sisters never came back and her and her family were never baptized.

She asked if we had a Book of Mormon to give to her because she left hers in Ecuador. We gladly gave her one and we should visit them on Saturday and see how it goes. I am very excited to see what they have to say.

Wednesday we had a zone conference and it was good but President got very serious because the number of baptisms got really low and he asked us if he thought God was pleased with that. Then he told us that he knew he was not because we are not in Europe or Asia this is South America. We should be baptizing a lot more people.

Then on Thursday we went out to breakfast for President Whitesides birthday but it was a surprise that Hermana Whitesides set up. It was really fun because President always shares these great stories and I can usually get him to say some funny stuff and encourage him to keep going.

We also bought him an oscar trophy with a plaque on it that says ¨Mejor Presidente de Misión – Presidente Whitesides¨ which as you can guess says Best mission President. He thought that was really funny and Sister Whitesides loved it.

That day we also had to make an emergency run to the airport because this sister was going to Bogotá and her mom was freaking out and had never been to an airport before and we were supposed to help them anyways but they never answered their phone so I wasn’t gonna go. But then they called. So we hurried there. It took away a lot of time.

Then for my birthday the lady that cleans our house and cooks us lunch (Sister Hermencia) is like our other mom. She is like 55 years old but I always make her laugh and she always makes fun of me for not eating vegetables but she cooked me a special breakfast with just sausage and potatoes. It was fantastic.

Then Elder Sarnowski gave me one of his favorite ties which is really nice of him and I love the tie.

For lunch she made me French fries and fried chicken stuffed with ham and cheese which is one of my favorite meals she makes. Then they put on like classic Colombian music for the whole meal which was weird but it didn’t matter.

I remember my birthday last year I got a cake from like 4 people. I was so full the entire day. We had a family home evening with a member family and they gave me cake and soda and Liliana as well gave me cake. This year it wasn’t cake but it was a special breakfast and lunch and surrounded by some of my favorite people.

Last night we got to the Collazos family's house and Clara was working on a wedding dress forrr....HERSELF!! They are getting married!! On the 19th of August which means I wont be here to see their marriage or their baptism but I am so happy for them! It makes me so happy to see them progress.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I love you all so much even though I dont know who some of you are! I am part of the old crew now! 

President and Sister Whitesides were in a zone conference on my birthday all day so we didn't do anything but it is okay they are super busy and I am not entitled to anything. 

The best part of my Birthday was getting two unexpected letters from Lisseth Bravo, the girl I baptized in Pasto. The APs brought them back just in time for my birthday. She is doing great and finishing up her last year of college. Also, her younger brother is getting baptized on the 30th of this month. 

She also said that her mom still talks about the version of I Stand All Amazed that I played and that we sang as a district at her baptism. Her mom is not a member but she is a very nice person and Lisseth knows she was impacted at least a little bit by all of her family being converted. 

I bought new soccer shoes today because my old ones were starting to rip and because Elder Chacon needed new ones so I gave him my old ones before they got totally ruined. 

Anyways, thank you everyone for all your birthday wishes I appreciate it! Be safe! 

Con amor, 

Elder Reeses 

Everything Is Going Great!

Hey guys!

I have pictures to send this week but no recording I will try and do that next week!

This week was good! On Monday my companion turned 20 so the Mission President and his wife took us all out to eat to celebrate. The only problem is that every Monday at 11 we have office meeting and it usually finishes around 1 because that is when we have lunch waiting for us at home.

The difference on Monday and sometimes on other Mondays, was that there was no lunch waiting for us because they were going to take us out. Every time that we do that President just keeps going and going because there is nothing stopping him and we just keep bringing up new topics and what not and by the end we have all just decided to not bring up anything else until the next week.

We went to this restaurant called the Gringo. It is like an American restaurant that has burgers and lots of other American things. It is also the place where I tried onion rings and liked them. I put them on my burger this time. I still don’t like Jalepeño poppers though.

Elder Whiting is doing really good! He is learning a lot the only thing that is a little hard is that when he does things in his own way which isn’t wrong but just slower than the way I used to do it. I just tell him he can do it however it makes more sense to him. But deep down it slowly kills me sometimes but I know he is doing nothing wrong.

On Wednesday we had a cool experience. Elder Sarnowski got this phone call from a random guy that had found his number on the internet and he said he was right outside our office but we weren’t there. He said he wanted a blessing and that he was from Venezuela. We hurried back to the office and he was just sitting down waiting for us.

As we walked up the stairs he was very tired and walked very slowly. He spoke English as well. He was a member of the church and had all the information to give to us. We then gave him a blessing and after the blessing he started telling us a few things about his journey. He had left his house 17 days prior and walked from the border all the way to Cali. That is a very long walk.

He then told us he had not eaten in 2 full days and that he left an 8 month old son at home and his wife.

He had a friend that was going to help him but his friend left without telling him so he had no way to get home and was stuck with no job and no money.

We took him back to the house and gave him some lunch but he was so ashamed he couldn’t look us in the eyes. He really didn’t want to make us give him anything. He dished up his own plate and took a normal serving of everything. Every now and again he would stop and tell us he was very ashamed to be there.

He said that for 17 years the missionaries had come to his house to eat and now he was eating at their house. He continued to talk a little bit more and then he said ¨I have never…I have never felt so much fear of dying than today. I couldn’t stop thinking about my family and never seeing them again because I just had no way out.¨  And he started to cry.

He literally thought that his life was going to end until he looked us up somehow on the internet and got ahold of us and we called our bishop to meet with him at 6 and we sent him on his way.

He got to the meeting at 6 and now has a place to stay and is going to move forward from there.

It just got me to think about how we complain about every little thing in life. We really do. And here he was genuinely trying to not eat our food that lands on our plate everday at 1 after having walked 17 days and 2 days without eating. Just think about that the next time doesn’t go your way.

The C family is progressing really well. They know they want to get baptized but they aren’t married and they are trying to figure out a date and I am pretty sure it will be after I leave. That is kind of upsetting but at the same time not a huge deal to me. As long as they do it I will be happy!

GREAT NEWS!! Do you guys remember Amanda Guzman? The first lady I was able to baptize in the mission? I received news that she will be going to the temple to receive her endowments in a couple weeks. It was probably one of the happiest moments of my mission to receive that news. That is the goal with literally everyone and she is going.

We got the chance to teach another Venezuelan as well that already read 1^st and 2^nd Nephi. Towards the end of the lesson we asked him if he would pray to God to know if the Book of Mormon was true. He responded ¨I don’t really need to. I already know it is true.¨

That was so cool to hear. It is soooo much fun to teach someone that actually does the things we invite them to do. Because they really do start to gain a testimony and God does answer their prayers.

As for you Dad happy Fathers Day! I know it is tomorrow and I hope you get to enjoy it! Thank you for all the years of patcience and the support you have given me in all my decisions with sports, choir, scouts, church callings, and everything else that I have done. Sorry there is no skype call I didn’t make the rules! I hope you have a great day know that I love you and that you are always in my prayers!

Also, dont feel bad that my package wont arrive on time. I am happy regardless! 

Everything is going great! Transfers are on the 16th of July! I love you guys be safe! 

Con amor,

Elder Reese 

The Lord's Team Always Wins

Hey guys,

So I started training the missionary that is replacing me! His name is Elder Whiting and he is from Arizona. He was actually from the first group I received as a secretary. I have been in the office his entire mission apart from the CCM.

He is a super good missionary. I am glad he is my replacement. Teaching someone how to do all of this stuff is very tiring. At the end of transfers I was super tired because I had to do everything I normally do AND teach someone else how to do it.

The good news is that this means in 5 weeks I will definitely be leaving the office!! I will have 5 transfers left to be a normal missionary! You know that saying that goes ¨Hell hath no fury like a women scorned.¨ Well, heaven hath no fury like a missionary cooped up in an office for 9 months and finally gets out. I made references to the office like it is a zoo because I have this big window right in front of my computer and my desk and when other missionaries come in they just look at me sometimes like a caged animal. They aren’t that far off either.

This transfer I had to say goodbye to two of my best friends in the mission. One was Elder Stucki who was a secretary when I got here and the other was Elder Wright who was my companion and the assistant for 7 and a half months. They were two of the best missionaries I have ever met.

Also, this transfer all of the flights got delayed for everyone so I had to make emergency phone calls to all the families and stake leaders because everyone’s itineraries changed. That was an unexpected mess.

We made some really great progress this week with the Collazo family. They have already expressed their desires to get baptized but they aren’t married. Fernando expressed that he didn’t feel ready because he wanted to get better in a lot of things but we explained that baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost are two major tools that help us become better.

He thought about it and realized that we were right and asked us what he needed to do with his marriage. He said he was just going to have to go get it done at the notary one day and not worry about a big wedding.

The best part was when he told us he really wanted to do it so that he could get sealed to his family which is a topic we had barely talked about. We are going to go back to their house on Saturday and see what date they have chosen.

I learned that there is an Elder From Idaho Falls coming to this mission in October and also one from Eagle and one from Meridian. There is a good chance that the one from Idaho Falls still doesn’t have his call so we don’t wanna ruin that surprise!

Also, the other day we were in the office and we heard this crash and looked at the window and this dude had rolled his car basically on our porch. The car was upside down and I saw this little pink blanket on the ground so I ran down the stairs and it turned out it was some idiot that stolen a car and was the only passenger. I was very relieved to not see a child in that car.

We helped him flip the car back up in its side (before we knew it was stolen) and then he got in it and tried to start it. That is when I realized he was kind of dumb because he tried to start an engine that had been upside down. Anyways, he got arrested and they got the car of our porch.

Funny story, when we went to the airport the lady at the check in desk was a little too friendly but that is just how most the women are in this country. Then when I got all of the papers back she had left me her phone number and address. What did I do? I gave the information to the missionaries that are assigned to her area and they are going to teach her the restored gospel. The Lords team always wins.

Some of my favorite times with President Whitesides is when I can get him to start making jokes and everyone laughs and I keep making comments to encourage him to keep going and then Sister Whitesides gets mad at us both! Now sometimes President will whisper something funny to me and then tell me not to tell Sister Whitesides he did it haha

Dad as for your talk, in Preach my Gospel there are tons of things that talk about how to receive blessings from the spirit and promptings. In order to minister you HAVE to have the gift of the Holy Spirit and you HAVE to know how to act on the promptings he gives you. 

Ministering is planning to teach something and upon the arrival of your visit you change according to the needs of the people. 

Arriving to someones house that is in the middle of unpacking and you prepared a lesson on tithing and you continue to teach that lesson you are failing as a minister. You need to act. You have been baptized and confirmed in order to ¨Feed the sheep of Christ.¨ John 21:17 

Your calling in the church does not set the bar on your ability to minster. Bishop, Presidents, pianists, quorum leaders, or people without a calling are limited only by themselves. You don't have to wait for the relief society president to tell you to take dinner to your next door neighbor who just had a kid. You do it as soon as you know it needs to be done. That is your calling as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We are no longer home and visiting teacher because God trusts us as his children to not need a handicap such as a coordinator who has to nag on people and try and get them to do all their visits. Do you think my Mission President calls me and every other missionary in the morning to see who we will visit and what time and what we will teach? No! That would be stupid. He knows we are set apart to teach repentance and baptize converts. So he prays for us and gives us council and knows we will do it.

That is a little piece of ministering. 

The next transfer is the 16th of July. 

Anyways, That is all for me! Love you all! 

Elder Reese 

I Put My Dirty Socks in His Pillowcase

Hey guys!

This week was absolutely hectic!! 

I had to go to the airport 3 times and I will go a fourth fifth and sixth time this next week starting tomorrow. 

The first two times I went I just had to help people from our mission go on their mission to a different place which means they bring their stuff and documents and everything and it is pretty easy for me. 

The third time however, was a sister missionary that just got here last transfer that has a bad knee that just doesn't work. I was so busy and didn't want to go but I knew I had to. 

The whole day I couldn't really remember why I was going to the airport but then I remembered who it was. So the transport got there and Elder Sarnowski and I just got on and picked her up and went to the airport. 

After I called the travel agency to help us he came and gave her the boarding pass to use at the check in. He told her to give them that with her passport and what not. When he said the word passport I looked to the sister to ask her if she had brought it but before I spoke I realized that this time that was 100% my responsibility and that I had forgotten it. 

I didnt freak out I just started making calls. The other secretaries started trying to break into my little closet where I keep my safe and all the passports but they couldn't (I had the keys). I didn't think I would have time to go all the way there and back but I tried. 

As I was going they called and said they got in through the window outside. I told them the safe code and they came to the airport! 

She barely made it into her flight but she made it. For the last 7 months twice a day I have asked God for the strength neccesary to do my job. He has never failed me but there are times when he makes me work a little harder. 

GOOD NEWS!!! Elder Whiting is on his way here now to replace me as a secretary!!! That means that this whole next transfer I will be training him and then after it is over I get to leave!!! By the time I leave the office I will have less time in my mission than I spent in the office. Weird huh? 

My companion and I get along very well. The other day I put my dirty socks in his pillow case and he slept with them in there for 2 days. It was terribly gross. 

President and Sister Whitesides took us out to lunch today to a Mexican restaurant. I ordered these two pork chops. Sister Whitesides says I am too complicated. I told her that is how I know when people love me it is true. She just laughed and said that is true. 

Sounds like Kylie is going to have a good ol fashioned barnyard wedding. There is nothing wrong with that. 

One of my favorite Thomas S. Monson quotes is ¨Dare to be a Mormon, dare to stand alone, dare to have a purpose firm, dare to make it known.¨ Just be you don't let the people change you! 

Today this homeless lady asked me for money but I didn't have any and kept walking and she grabbed me by the arm and walked with me and wouldn't let go so I just kept walking but so did she! Finally she let go but it was weird. 

Anyways, that is about it this week it was pretty boring! Love you guys! Give Kylie a hug for me!! 

Con amor, 

Elder Reese