There Was A Donkey That Looked Like Bugs Bunny

Hey guys, 

So this week was pretty great. Mom is gonna be mad because we had the Christmas conference and I didn't take a single picture. I didn't take my camera out of my bag. Others took pics though! 

Regarding what I want to do when I get home - I would be happy to help you finish the upstairs and also just kind of see my options. I don't want to do that for too long but I have no plans to get home running to college because I can't, haha. I would actually appreciate it if you guys could reach out to some old soccer friends for me and see if there will be any indoor teams I can join.

I am totally fine with the white Hyundai. It has a hitch on it which makes it more useful to me. And it is AWD. 

We have 3 investigators who will be getting baptized before the end of the month. They are doing great. Also at the moment we are contacting 20 people or more during the day everyday right now as a goal and I really like it because it opens up a lot of options. Obviously not everyone will make it to the end but some will. 

The Christmas conference was good because we got to watch Coco!! The Disney movie. It was a great movie! I realize that you guys have all seen it and moved on but I dont get to watch movies like you do so it was special! 

We did a Jeopardy separated by zone and there were 5 zones in total. Who`s zone won? Thats right MINE! I was so happy about that! My zone is like a little family. We were the only zone that sat together at lunch and I didn't even tell everyone to. I sat down at a table and everyone sat down there and we just had a great lunch. I love em all. 

This week we also had a Christmas dinner in our ward and Elder Saavedra and I helped the ward out a lot and it is pretty cool. I have really connected with the members in this ward and I hope president leaves me here for my last transfer. The bishop and his family are really good at giving the example which is great. 

In the ward Christmas dinner we watched the primary do the nativity and there was a donkey that looked like bugs bunny and a lamb that looked like a cloud it was pretty funny haha but it was good. The best part though was when they opened the curtains and a full on mariachi was on stage! Then they offered their hats for pictures and I stood up pretty quick because everyone else was embarrassed. The only problem is that after my brave act of going first I put the hat on the wrong way 3 times so I still ended up looking kinda dumb, hahaha.

Also, I didnt get my package. What is the tracking number? 

Anyways, that is all for this week! Love you! 

Con amor,

Elder Reese 

PS Mom did you get pictures this Sunday sent to your Facebook? From Omaira Millan?

 

Me Rambling English Words Under My Breath

Hey guys, 

So this week was great!! The FHE's started and my ward is doing great! My Bishop is really good at what he does. 

You know you can tell someone is called of God if you just pay attention. He is a convert of about 16 years. He did not serve a mission but that has not slowed him down. One of the most interesting things I have seen in the mission is what the Gospel requires. It is not time, it is dedication. You can be a baptized member from 8 to 100 and that will not get you a spot with God. You have to ACT. And God always chooses his servants that have the ability to act. 

I met an English teacher this week in a FHE and he did NOT speak English. It was SOOO uncomfortable because he kept talking to me in English and I couldn't understand him so I didn't know how to respond him but the son of the member family was his student so I didn't want them to know he didn't speak very good English. The result? Me mumbling random English words under my breath that would require the gift of tongues to translate. It was fun. 

We had interviews as well and they went well. President thanked me for all the work I had done with my companion (who is a great missionary) and with the zone. He said all the new missionaries said that I was always good to them. It was an interview like all the rest. At the end he said that he was just going to pretend like this wasn't one of the last ones haha. 

This week was also Candle Day here in Colombia which I will try and send pictures of (No pictures yet). It is a strange holiday, but oh well.

Probably the coolest part of my week was the temple dedication in Barranquilla here in Colombia. Elder Oaks did the dedication but there are always talks before. One thing that Elder Oaks said while they were putting mortar on the corner stone was when he invited 2 kids from the crowd to participate saying ¨This temple will be here for this rising generation to use it up until the coming of the Lord.¨ I am going to let you translate that how you see fit but I know what I think.

Anyways, thank you for everything! I love you all! Have a great week and let me know about the Skype call! 

Con amor, 

Elder Reese 

PS I haven't gotten my package yet!

I Have Enough Women In My Family...

Hey guys,

So I miss snow. It is crazy for me to think that basically nobody here has ever even touched snow. Ever. Snow is useful for a lot of things. It makes driving a car a lot more fun. It is like God putting life on expert mode. It also creates a softer landing while doing whatever activity. 

Here they are listening to Christmas music but it is not very different from the music they listen to all year round. It just mentions Jesus a lot more. I miss my Christmas music. 

So my Bishop got ahead of the game and scheduled all of the FHEs this month and we will start with the first one tonight at his house. The Church has honestly given us a great way to use Light the World and it will just require a little work!! I am so excited. 

I have not gotten my package yet but I am not worried about it. It will get here when it gets here and I won't open it until Christmas. Might have my comp look through it and fish out my hair gel though haha

So this week we had a mission wide conference which has not happened since April of 2017 when I had literally less than a week in the mission field. When President asked those who were there to raise their hands there were only 10 of us. It was a sad moment. I am basically like old news now. 

It was really cool though. President gave a very strong testimony about temples. He worked in the Salt Lake temple for years and he said that he has had experiences that can only be experienced in the temple. But he was so firm about it. It was awesome. 

I also realized that basically all of the sisters don't like me because I avoid them like a plague. I have none in my zone and I just don't really see the need to talk to them. There are a lot of missionaries that are a little tooo friendly with the sisters. That is weird. So basically all they see is me having to boss everyone around because President asks me to. I have enough women in my family to worry about why add on more problems? 

BSU usually chokes when it comes down to it. It is sad? Hey when is the superbowl? I hope I make it. With my luck it will be the Sunday before I come home. 

I asked Presidents permission to do bumper cars with my zone and he said yes so today we did. It was so much fun. We looked like little children and screamed and laughed it was awesome. I will try and attach a homemade go pro video and a pic! 

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great start to their Christmas season! I love you all and wish you the best! 

Con amor,

Elder Reese