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