Monday, February 16, 2015

Abby is Lovin' It!



Email from January 19, 2015

Mom,
I'm going pretty good! I love this area so much and I love the people I am serving with and the people I get to serve. My companion is incredible and she is helping me a lot with a lot of different things. We are continually learning to work well together and how to work in  unity. But the difference between when we first were together and being together now is like night and day. It is really incredible to look back and see how much we've progressed. We did find two new investigators this week! They are great and I've met them before! The Gabler family. It's a family of three but one of the daughters didn't participate in our first lesson so we can't count her as a new investigator. But she will be! I love them so much and they remember when we met. Their names are Cathy (the mom), Catrel (13 year old), and Mariah (11 year old). they are so sweet and Catrel is going to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir next month so it'll be really cool for her! We are continually getting to know more of the members and it's really cool to be able to just love them so much. I am excited about being a sister training leader too! It's not quite like a trainer, but it's close. A trainer spends two transfers with a new missionary, and a sister training leader just goes on exchanges with the sisters under her stewardship. In this case, we have four sisters under our stewardship so we get to go on two exchanges! We're going on one tomorrow and I get to go back to Alluvial! I'm so excited! I miss everyone so much. But I was really surprised because I was thinking about it and I don't actually want to leave my area which is a really good thing because it means that I love this area as much as I loved my last!
On Monday we saw the Olsen family. They are the best. I love them with all my heart. Sister Olsen loves us all. She is the sweetest woman ever. She is the young women president and she is so incredible at it. She just lost her second counselor though to being a primary president--and they haven't replaced her. Sound familiar? It reminded me of our ward because our bishopric was always really bad about replacing people in the young women.
Tuesday we had district meeting. Sister Russell and I gave a training on working with members and then Elder Bean gave a training on commitments--extending them and keeping track of them. It was a really good training. He is a really incredible district leader and I am really glad I've gotten to see how much he has grown since we came out. I absolutely love seeing how the elders and sisters I came out with have grown-and I get to see some of them this week because we have zone conference! We ate dinner with the Humanns and the elders (Elder Cook and Elder Parkin, the assistants) that day too. It was great! Elder Cook always says something super funny at dinner and we have these inside jokes...it's really fun! I love serving with the assistants. Elder Parkin was my zone leader for two transfers too--when I was a new missionary--so I'm glad he can see how much I've changed since that time.
Wednesday, we went to the relief society presidency meeting. It was so great! the relief society presidency is so missionary minded. Sister Debenedetti (the president) told us to utilize them. And they gave us some lost sisters to visit. So far, we've visited a few and most of them have told us not to come back. It breaks my heart because they won't even open up even a little to us. I don't understand why some people don't want anything to do with the church. I just want to ask them why. It doesn't make sense to me. We ate dinner with Sister Houlihan who was less active for a really long time and she has been more active for a couple years now. Her husband isn't a member and her kids are inactive. She's so great though. I love her. She made us pigs in a blanket and they were really good. I swear, I have never had pigs in a blanket the way she made them.
On Thursday, we went over to this less active family, the Os. It was only Sister O and her daughter who were home but she let us in and we talked for a while. She is super sweet and said she wants to start coming back to church. Hopefully they will. We'll go by again to see if we can do anything for her. We saw the Olsens again Thursday as well. We spent too much time there, as usual, but it was really helpful and Sister Olsen told us she wants each of her laurels to come out with us twice a month. That will be helpful for us because if they are with us in the evening we can see people we don't know after dark and there are still a lot of members we don't know and who are home in the evening.
On Friday, we had the coolest leadership training meeting! I loved it! President Donaldson from the District 2 was there. He is the former mission president of San Diego. And then there was a Brother Tanner from Salt Lake. I loved it! They taught us a lot of things about how we can keep the work moving forward even though the mission is splitting. Sister Russell and I decided we needed to be better planners and we needed to keep a model home...not that our home is dirty but it could be better. We saw the Whites this week. they fed us dinner on Friday. I love them so much. And they had a nonmember friend there! So we played a board game called "Armor of God" and Sister White and I won. It was fun! We saw the Kennedys. They are great, but they haven't been coming to church. I don't know why. It's really sad. I really love their family.
On Saturday, we took the Shepherd sisters to lunch. they have been stuck in their apartment because one of the sisters is still recovering from a car accident. They really needed to get out. I'm glad we got to go with them. I love those sisters so much. We had a movie night on Saturday. We watched Mobsters and Mormons. It was so funny! And there was a pretty good turn out. I loved it. We had a lot of fun. It was also Sister Hamilton's birthday but she's up north so I didn't get to see or talk to her.
Yesterday we didn't have ward council so we got to sleep in! It was nice. then Sister Russell did my hair for me. I figured out a really cool thing I can do with it. I love it! I also made lunch for the elders (Elders Cook and Parkin) because they don't live in our stake and they can't go home after church to eat. So we made a big thing of pasta and heated up the alfredo sauce that I bought at Wal Mart and we all ate lunch together. the elders stood outside our apartment and we stood inside and talked. It was really great! I absolutely love these two. they are the best and super funny. We ate dinner with the Linfords. He is the young men's president. the old bishop was there too. It was great! And then we saw the Robertsons. They are the best. i love them so much. He is super knowledgeable and I just want to stay in their house and go through their library.
Their house is bigger than ours?? What?? Why? maybe I'll just go live with them after I come home...babysit for them. Take a little while off from school...yeah, probably not. But that would be fun! I can't believe Maddi and Melissa are getting married. I thought that would be me by now...and now look! I'm a missionary. But tell them congrats (even though I think their too young...I'm not their mom) and I hope everything goes well for them.
I love you and miss you but I absolutely love being a missionary. Thank you for your support! I love you!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese

PS Can you send me some vitamin D? I've been trying to get over congestion and losing my voice since Christmas...
Mom,
I'm going pretty good! I love this area so much and I love the people I am serving with and the people I get to serve. My companion is incredible and she is helping me a lot with a lot of different things. We are continually learning to work well together and how to work in unity. But the difference between when we first were together and being together now is like night and day. It is really incredible to look back and see how much we've progressed. We did find two new investigators this week! They are great and I've met them before! The G family. It's a family of three but one of the daughters didn't participate in our first lesson so we can't count her as a new investigator. But she will be! I love them so much and they remember when we met. Their names are C (the mom), C), and M, they are so sweet and C is going to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir next month so it'll be really cool for her! We are continually getting to know more of the members and it's really cool to be able to just love them so much. I am excited about being a sister training leader too! It's not quite like a trainer, but it's close. A trainer spends two transfers with a new missionary, and a sister training leader just goes on exchanges with the sisters under her stewardship. In this case, we have four sisters under our stewardship so we get to go on two exchanges! We're going on one tomorrow and I get to go back to Alluvial! I'm so excited! I miss everyone so much. But I was really surprised because I was thinking about it and I don't actually want to leave my area which is a really good thing because it means that I love this area as much as I loved my last!
On Monday we saw the Olsen family. They are the best. I love them with all my heart. Sister Olsen loves us all. She is the sweetest woman ever. She is the young women president and she is so incredible at it. She just lost her second counselor though to being a primary president--and they haven't replaced her. Sound familiar? It reminded me of our ward because our bishopric was always really bad about replacing people in the young women.
Tuesday we had district meeting. Sister Russell and I gave a training on working with members and then Elder Bean gave a training on commitments--extending them and keeping track of them. It was a really good training. He is a really incredible district leader and I am really glad I've gotten to see how much he has grown since we came out. I absolutely love seeing how the elders and sisters I came out with have grown-and I get to see some of them this week because we have zone conference! We ate dinner with the Humanns and the elders (Elder Cook and Elder Parkin, the assistants) that day too. It was great! Elder Cook always says something super funny at dinner and we have these inside jokes...it's really fun! I love serving with the assistants. Elder Parkin was my zone leader for two transfers too--when I was a new missionary--so I'm glad he can see how much I've changed since that time.
Wednesday, we went to the relief society presidency meeting. It was so great! the relief society presidency is so missionary minded. Sister Debenedetti (the president) told us to utilize them. And they gave us some lost sisters to visit. So far, we've visited a few and most of them have told us not to come back. It breaks my heart because they won't even open up even a little to us. I don't understand why some people don't want anything to do with the church. I just want to ask them why. It doesn't make sense to me. We ate dinner with Sister Houlihan who was less active for a really long time and she has been more active for a couple years now. She's so great though. I love her. She made us pigs in a blanket and they were really good. I swear, I have never had pigs in a blanket the way she made them.
On Thursday, we went over to this less active family, the Os. It was only Sister O and her daughter who were home but she let us in and we talked for a while. She is super sweet and said she wants to start coming back to church. Hopefully they will. We'll go by again to see if we can do anything for her. We saw the Olsens again Thursday as well. We spent too much time there, as usual, but it was really helpful and Sister Olsen told us she wants each of her laurels to come out with us twice a month. That will be helpful for us because if they are with us in the evening we can see people we don't know after dark and there are still a lot of members we don't know and who are home in the evening.
On Friday, we had the coolest leadership training meeting! I loved it! President Donaldson from the District 2 was there. He is the former mission president of San Diego. And then there was a Brother Tanner from Salt Lake. I loved it! They taught us a lot of things about how we can keep the work moving forward even though the mission is splitting. Sister Russell and I decided we needed to be better planners and we needed to keep a model home...not that our home is dirty but it could be better. We saw the Whites this week. they fed us dinner on Friday. I love them so much. And they had a nonmember friend there! So we played a board game called "Armor of God" and Sister White and I won. It was fun! We saw the Kennedys. They are great, I really love their family.
On Saturday, we took the Shepherd sisters to lunch. they have been stuck in their apartment because one of the sisters is still recovering from a car accident. They really needed to get out. I'm glad we got to go with them. I love those sisters so much. We had a movie night on Saturday. We watched Mobsters and Mormons. It was so funny! And there was a pretty good turn out. I loved it. We had a lot of fun. It was also Sister Hamilton's birthday but she's up north so I didn't get to see or talk to her.
Yesterday we didn't have ward council so we got to sleep in! It was nice. then Sister Russell did my hair for me. I figured out a really cool thing I can do with it. I love it! I also made lunch for the elders (Elders Cook and Parkin) because they don't live in our stake and they can't go home after church to eat. So we made a big thing of pasta and heated up the alfredo sauce that I bought at Wal Mart and we all ate lunch together. the elders stood outside our apartment and we stood inside and talked. It was really great! I absolutely love these two. they are the best and super funny. We ate dinner with the Linfords. He is the young men's president. the old bishop was there too. It was great! And then we saw the Robertsons. They are the best. i love them so much. He is super knowledgeable and I just want to stay in their house and go through their library.
Their house is bigger than ours?? What?? Why? maybe I'll just go live with them after I come home...babysit for them. Take a little while off from school...yeah, probably not. But that would be fun! I can't believe Maddi and Melissa are getting married. I thought that would be me by now...and now look! I'm a missionary. But tell them congrats and I hope everything goes well for them.
I love you and miss you but I absolutely love being a missionary. Thank you for your support! I love you!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese

PS Can you send me some vitamin D? I've been trying to get over congestion and losing my voice since Christmas...
Dad,
As much as I would like to be there to meet my new beautiful nephew, I know that there is a reason he was born while I wasn't there and I know there is a reason that I am here right now instead of there. I absolutely love being a missionary and I don't ever want to leave...but I know I'll have to eventually. I just don't think about that too much. I love Fresno and i love the people here and I love the missionaries here. I have so much charity for them. I never realized that you could have this much love for people you just met or met only a few months ago. I think it's really amazing and it has helped me to see how much love God has for each of us. The individual worth of all these people that I have met has been manifest to me because of the love I have for them. Love is a really powerful thing.

On Monday, we saw the Olsen family--the ones who knew the Gummersalls. I love this family so much. They are so amazing. And they love missionaries! They have one in Korea on a mission. They want to help missionaries as much as they can because they hope that others will help their missionary in Korea. Sister Olsen told us that every time she feeds missionaries her son is fed for that month. It's wonderful. They help us out so much. They gave Sister Russell medicine because she has been sick the last couple weeks.
On Tuesday, we had district meeting. My district is a really awesome missionary and he gave a really great training on commitments. I need to be better at being bold when I extend commitments. We saw the Olson family. Not the ones on Monday but the other ones in our ward. They are really great too. Brother Olson is really missionary minded. He wants to invite a man that he sees at the park to church. But he hasn't seen him recently yet. So he's waiting. His wife just had knee surgery. They replaced her knee so she has this gross scar on it from when it happened. They are the best. They are super sweet and I love them. We ate dinner at the Humanns again and the assistants (Elder Parkin and Elder Cook). The elders are hilarious. Elder cook always says something crazy while we are at dinner with them so it always makes me laugh.
On Wednesday, We went to the relief society presidency meeting. They are awesome and one of the members of the presidency took dinner to our new investigator! She and her family were sick. She had laryngitis and her daughters had the flu. This is a family of three we are now teaching. I met them back in July when I was here on exchanges and they remembered me! Cathy is a single mom and her daughters, Catrel and Mariah, are 11 and 13 so we can teach them too! I love them so much. I really want to help them come unto Christ. they have had three baptismal dates and all have fallen through so hopefully we are what they will need to make that commitment. We also saw the Dunmoore's. They are a family of 12 and they are the best. Sister Dunmoore is a saint and I love her so much. She was super sweet. Her daughter let us in when we went by and we talked to her for a while. Then we talked to Sister Dunmoore. They have so many kids. We saw the Hutchasons. They are the best. Sister Hutchason is so sweet. She is the compassionate serve leader and she just has so much love and charity for everyone. Brother Hutchason is a tease and he teases us a lot.
On Thursday, we went to the Bogle's for dinner. Our dinner conversation consisted of the elders talking about racing cars and bikes to which I could add nothing. When they asked us where we were from and I said Boise, Brother Bogle mentioned a track for racing that was near there...so there went the conversation again. It's okay though. I love the elders. They're great. We saw the Olsens again on Thursday. They are so great. Sister Olsen wants each of her laurels to come out with us twice a month. she's super awesome and wants to help us (as I mentioned before). We did service for a recent convert too. We were having a bad day and the we had met the assistants for lunch and they bought lunch for us. But then afterward, no one answered their door and/or they were all mean so we asked the assistants if they needed help and they finally let us help them. they took pity on us. It was great! We spread dirt for Rocio. She is the best. I love her.
On Friday, we had this awesome training by some people from missionary headquarters. It was really cool! They emphasized how awesome this mission is. It was a testimony to me that we have the best missionaries ever...and then it helped me a lot to know that I am a great missionary. God sent me to the best mission and there are high expectations here. It is really good for me to know that we are the best :) We saw the Gablers (the family we are teaching). We took dinner to them and then talked a little bit. It was great! I love them so much. I hope they get baptized soon. We taught Maddy Vaughn also. We are kind of tag teaming her with the elders. The elders think she needs what they call "sister love" so we are going to teach her too...I guess.
Saturday we ate dinner with the Zambranas. they are so awesome! We contacted a referral they gave us and she invited us back so we have a couple potentials because of them too. We took the Shepherd sisters to lunch and it was a lot of fun. I loved it. They really needed to get out too. We had a movie night at the Wilcox home. We watched Mobsters and Mormons and it was so funny! I loved it!
Sunday we got to sleep in because we didn't have ward council. It was nice. We made the elders lunch since their house is way outside our area. It was great! We talked to them for a while too. I love them so much. they have helped us out a lot. It's nice to have another set of missionaries to fall back on. We saw the Jeffery family. They are adding on to their house so it's kind of crazy but it's cool! And they are getting sealed in a few weeks so they are getting ready for that too. It'll be really neat! I'm excited for them. We saw the Freemans after dinner. Sister Freeman was just called as primary president on Sunday and she is one of my favorite people. She's so sweet. She was in young women before she was called to primary. they are awesome.
Since I am a missionary, I want to know how everything is going with your missionary work! Is Mom still posting my emails? Also, how are your family prayers? I think that's something that is really important that we have been good at in the past but off and on. And Family Home Evening too...that's important too. Anyway. Just want everyone to be uplifted spiritually!
hey, Sister Russell and I are going on a bread and desserts diet this week...we're going to test it out and see if we can do it...I don't know how it will work.
I can't wait to meet the baby! I hope all is well with him. I miss y'all but I know I'm here for a reason. And I for sure know that I am a sister training leader now for the other missionaries. I get to go back to my old area tomorrow and I'm excited! But I actually don't want to leave my area...which i didn't expect. I'm excited to help these sisters though! I love them so much.
Daddy, I love you. I am so grateful you are my dad. We went to young women's yesterday and we sat in with the laurels. they were talking about fathers. I was reminded how very lucky I am to have a dad like you. You are wonderful. I realized that when we were talking about our relationship with our fathers. I am so grateful for you and all you've taught me and done for me. Don't forget that you're still my favorite man! I love you!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese

PS Can you send me Vitamin D?

A Busy Week for Abby



 Email from January 12, 2015

Mom,
I got the pictures! They were the first thing I looked at! i'm so excited that he's finally here! I wish I could hold him, but I know God has a reason for me not being there for Brittany's first. I already love him and I'm so grateful that I have a new nephew to tell everyone about. You want to know something crazy? My companion's sister had her first baby on Friday too! Isn't that weird?? We both had sisters pregnant at the same time and they gave birth on the same day! Reese is a few hours older though. I just think it's weird. But i'm glad that you are telling him about me! He should have a picture of me, special made, to hang in his room so he knows who I am when I come home
My area is wonderful and me and my companion love each other a lot! I love her so much. At first, I struggled with her. our personalities clashed and it was hard to get along, but this week has been all about change for the both of us. I don't think I've had a week that I've changed so much in my whole mission. It's crazy how much i've seen myself change this last week. I have grown to love her so much. I didn't realize how much until President called us on Thursday. So...yeah, President called us on Thursday twice before we answered the third time. It was because our phone was on silent and we didn't realize it until later. We were waiting all day to hear from him and he finally called right before our dinner appointment! He said he had a new assignment for us and we both thought he was going to transfer us. For that split second we thought that, my only thought was how much I actually didn't want it to happen. It was really neat. But he didn't transfer either of us. He called us as sister training leaders!!! I'm so excited! It just means we are leaders in the mission now and we have two companionship's under our stewardship and one of them is the sisters in my old area! Isn't that crazy?? I may get to go back since we got on exchanges with them! I'm excited and nervous and humbled all at the same time. I'm so grateful that the Lord and President have trusted us with this.
Monday, we met the Saunders. They are great. They have triplets so they have a crazy household. they have another baby on the way too.
Tuesday we met with the Debenedettis. Crazy name right? she is the relief society president and she is super great. She loves us. her husband is not a member, surprisingly. He's nice but very quiet, apparently until you get to know him. I'm hoping we may be able to help him in some way.
Wednesday we had dinner with the McCauley's a four elders. Two of them were the assistants and the assistants were on exchanges. The way they do it, there are six missionaries in our area when they are on exchanges. So we were eating with four missionaries and a big family. We didn't really say much. Elders kind of...dominate usually. but it was good! They made really good soup. We went to the relief society activity after that. Soemone gave a really good powerpoint presentation on goal setting. It was awesome! We got the email sent to us. I loved it. We also did Zumba and Pilates. That was fun. It stretched me though. I was sore for a little while.
We saw the Echeverrias on Thursday after dinner. They are great. She just had surgery so we try to go over to cheer her up and see how she is doing. We had a really awesome companionship bonding time too. We've gotten really close this week.
Friday we saw the Whites. they are great. Sister White is so strong. i love her so much. She's feeding us dinner this week! They have geckos and a bearded dragon that they brought us....I just about peed my pants when i saw them! I jumped so high. I looked but I didn't get near them. I did have the courage to touch the dragon...even though it was terrifying! We also met with Sister Robinson. She wants us to move in with her but her granddaughter is living there with her daughter and we don't know if we want to be kept up by a baby. But she's super great and her granddaughter has a similar story to Courtney. her granddaughter is not a member and I really want to help her.
Saturday we saw the Robertsons. They are so sweet. i love them so much. he has a whole bunch of books. I just want to spend hours in his house because of the bookshelves but i can't read most of them so it would be strange if I did that.
Sunday we ate with the Alvarez family. they are sweet. They are converts of twoish years. They love missionaries. they took a picture of us and the assistants (we eat with the assistants a lot...I'm finally becoming comfortable with them!) and they told us to get closer because I guess there was a gap between Elder Cook and me...it was interesting. We can't touch them so how close can we get?
We don't have any investigators yet but we are going to get some soon! When God decides to bless us with them. I have faith that we will find those who need us soon. I know there are people that need us here and I know we have so much to give.
I love you and I'm grateful for your support and love.

always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese
PS I want Jenni James books--the Jane Austen Diaries. Also, if you're wondering, I would like a CD case for my birthday to put my bajillion CDs in. Love you!
Dad,
I'M SO EXCITED THAT BRITTANY HAD HER BABY! I was praying for it all week! I'm glad it wasn't too much sooner than Friday...then I would have had to wait longer than three days to know he was born! He's so precious. I can't wait until I can hold him...when he's a little bigger and almost a year old. But that's okay! I'll still get to hold him. He's so sweet. I love him and I am so glad all went okay, even though she was in labor for thirty plus hours. I can't imagine Mom not sleeping for 35 hours. that's crazy! Did she get there before the baby was born? Did Brittany have to be induced or was it a natural labor? Is he a crier then? Or is he a good baby? Or both?
This week was a lot better than last week. Sister Russell and I have gotten a lot closer this week than we were when we first became companions. We just got to know each other. It was pretty great! We had a total change of heart toward one another in the space of like three days. I learned to love my companion with all my heart and i'm so glad I get to spend this next transfer with her. And the best part is...WE WERE CALLED AS SISTER TRAINING LEADERS. Which means that we have two sets of companionship's under our stewardship and we are supposed to help them in any way we can. Under our stewardship are the Shepherd/Dry Creek sisters and the Alluvial/Woodward Park sisters, which means I may get to go back to my old area! I'm so excited! And I may get to be with my previous companion. It'll be great! But I need to remember that it is not my area anymore.
We saw the Kharazi's this week and Julie Laizure, a friend of theirs and a recent convert from Woodward Park, was there. We had an FHE with them and it was great. We also ate dinner with them. I didn't get to say good bye to Julie before i left so it was nice to be able to see her. And she said i'd probably see her again.
We ate dinner with this awesome family on Tuesday, the Kelloggs. they are so sweet and they have the cutest kids. She fed us sweet potatoes topped with...a lot of stuff that I don't know. I wasn't sure I wanted to know due to my pickiness so I didn't ask. they are really sweet too. I love them.
On Wednesday, we saw the Roziers. They are really sweet old people. He is in a wheelchair and they didn't used to stay for church longer than the first hour, but now they can since the time changed. We also went to the relief society activity. It was fun! There was a woman who gave a really awesome powerpoint presentation on goals and how to set them. I took lots of notes...and then lost them so I was sad, especially since I wrote some revelation down on there, but it's okay. whoever took it must have needed it more than I did. We also did zumba and pilates. It was fun! I wish I was more flexible and more...in shape. But we run very morning so that helps!
We ate dinner with the Hutchasons. They are the sweetest couple ever. I love them. they love us too. And i'm grateful for them. The members are so incredible here and I love them so much. It was hard to leave the members in my last area but when I came here I decided I was going to love all the members unconditionally. i had no preconceived notions about them so I loved them all so much and I still do.
Friday we ate with the Humanns. They have cute kids. Their sons are all so smart! We also saw the Zambranas. They are feeding us this week and she is in the relief society presidency. She is great. they gave us two referrals. Hopefully we will be able to contact them and help them in some way.
Saturday we helped at a baptism. We did a musical number. Sister Russell sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount. It sounded great. I played the melody of Come Thou Fount. It was pretty great. We at dinner with the assistants at the Wilcox home. they have the biggest house ever! And the sister used to live there! We missed out when they lived there. I wish we lived there now. they have like jacuzzi tubs and they have a home theater and they have...lots of other cool things. I got lots of ideas about my house when I get married.
Yesterday we saw the Heasley family. they are super great. their son reminds me of someone and I can't think of who it is. He looks really familiar. We also saw the Olsens who know the Gummersalls but I don't think they know that Steve passed away...I didn't know how to tell them. What would you do?
On Thursday, we got a call from President. Three times. The first two we missed because our phone was on silent so we were waiting all day to hear from him and when he finally called, we found out he had a new assignment for us...he called us as sister training leaders as I already mentioned above. I'm excited! I'm also really nervous and humbled that the Lord is trusting us with this task. Hopefully all will go well.
Hunter is one of the strongest people I know but he acts like he doesn't care. Sometimes. I don't know if you know how supportive he is when he actually does email me but it gives me a lot of strength and I'm grateful for that. I know he has a strong testimony and I know it gets tested because everyone's does. But I'm proud of who he is becoming.
I love you, Dad. thank you for being supportive of me and praying for me. I know that your prayers and Hunter's prayers and mom's and everyone's gives me strength. I love you and pray for you!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese
PS I thought of books I want you to get for me! Jenni James books...the last two I think. they are the Jane Austen diaries. You could get them for my birthday and keep them until I come home!