Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Bean Bag Basketball

Abby's email from April 13, 2015




Dear Family,

This week was actually really good. It was a hard weekend, but the rest of the week was awesome. We have a baptism coming up AND another investigator accepted the invitation and wants to work toward it! I'll give more details in here :)

On Monday, we taught T at the Robisons' home. They are super awesome and I love them so much. They are a great fellowship. We taught about prayer and scripture study and it was a really good lesson. It was only T though; her son, H, wasn't with her. It was okay though. It was an awesome lesson. Then we saw another investigator (who we actually dropped this week). She is struggling a lot and really isn't ready to accept the gospel, even though we know it's what would help her the most. Then we saw the H family. Z is a recent convert. He's super great. We taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really great!

Tuesday, we had zone meeting. It was really good. I loved it. All the trainings given were awesome. I loved them. We went on exchanges on Tuesday as well. I was with Sister Neira in Corcoran! It's a small little town like thirty minutes from Hanford. It was a lot of fun. I love Sister Neira and she is an awesome missionary. I know she will do great things in her mission. They have a lot of baptismal dates and are doing great! I was able to talk a little bit about some things I have been struggling with, and it helped a lot. Hopefully, I will continue to get over all these things.

Wednesday before we exchanged back, we got to go to this emergency aid place and give out food to the poor and needy. It was really awesome. I gave out Popsicles. It was really sweet. And humbling. Some of those people really did need the food and it was really sad to see. I wished we could help a little more. Then we had lunch and exchanged back. We ate dinner with the Obersts. So we had a salad and some crackers and a smoothie. It was actually really good but it was weird. And it was filling. Maybe I should try veganism? Haha, just kidding. I wouldn't be able to do it. Then we got to see  a recent convert. We helped her clean a little bit because they have a baby on the way and she needs to get everything ready for him. We then read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with her. It was really awesome! She is great and super solid. I love her. Then Sister Arruda had the feeling that we should go see T. So we did. She had just gotten home and she let us in for a little bit. We started with a prayer and she told us a story about how a man once told her that she would be a tool in God's hands. As she was talking, I thought of a scripture I had just read the day before when I was fasting. Alma 17:11. It's about being an instrument in the hands of God. So I shared that with her and she started to cry. Sister Arruda then started talking about that and then she invited her for baptism! AND SHE SAID YES! Now, we just need to set a date with her. It was the best lesson I've been in since I got here. It was really awesome.

Thursday, we got to go to the nursing home again and it was a blast. They beat us at beanbag baseball 35 to 14. It was sad. But it was fun anyway! Then we got to go to lunch with the leaders in our zone because they invited us. It was really yummy! I got a burger. We then saw the H family. They were awesome. They let us in and were super awesome. I love them. We saw E and set a date with her! It was for April 18 but we had to reset it yesterday because she couldn't do it then. So now it's for the 19th of April. I'm so excited!! I mean, I didn't teach her forever, but I taught her enough that I love her so much. It's going to be awesome! I can't wait. Then we saw the Greens. I love them soooo much. They are an awesome family and they love us. Sister Green took us to Fresno for Special Opps. Also, HAPPY THREE MONTHS TO REESE!!

So Friday we went to the soup kitchen and got to serve there. It was so fun. I love serving them. Then we weekly planned for an hour and then Sister Green came and got us to take us to Fresno. Special opps means we got to have a youth for the weekend. We got Sister Cleveland and she was set apart to be a missionary for three days! It was really great. She's super sweet. And I got to go back to Fresno for a couple hours which means I got to see Sister Smith and Sister Putnam and Sister West and the other Sister Smith and I got to see Elder Bean too!! It was great. I miss them all so much. I'm really trying hard to love being here in Hanford despite the fact they are all there. President told me I need to decide to not let the changes affect me so much...because it really has been a struggle. I hate it. So we got to see J one last time with Sister Cleveland. She invited HER to be baptized but SHE isn't ready. It's sad.

Saturday we went to the Remington again. It was fun! They beat us again, by one point. then we had interviews with president. It was really helpful. He gave me a blessing and said I was at the crescendo of my mission and now is the time to sprint to the finish line. I'm really grateful for that. We saw A for dinner and then we went to the adult session of stake conference. Elders Baxter and Packer of the Seventy were there. I met Elder Packer but not the other one. Elder Baxter was from Scotland. It was pretty cool! It was a really good session. I loved it and took lots of notes. Then we saw J. She's sweet. She loves the Book of Mormon. She is a recent convert who needs to come to church. she's great.

Sunday we had stake conference and we had TWO INVESTIGATORS COME. T and E. It was great. And it was a good conference because it emphasized the need to be baptized. The released the stake president. It was President Evans (weird right?) and the new one is President Andersen who is in our ward. After stake conference we found out we didn't need to go back to Fresno, and I was really sad about that. I had a hard time accepting it. I really wanted to go back. I hope I get to serve there again one day, but I'm trying not to focus on that. We saw the L family. They are great. B is so solid. Then we saw a sweet nine year old. His dad won't let him be baptized. It's sad. Then we saw Sister W. She has a lot of struggles so I shared what I was struggling with that day. Then we dropped Sister Cleveland off. It was sad. then we had dinner with the Gages who are great. And then we saw E and reset her date! It was a good day!

We did lock ourselves out of our apartment so the zone leaders, Elders Benites and Allred had to break in for us. It was pretty hilarious. They climbed through the window. It was great. Then they gave me a blessing which I also really needed.

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for you! Can you send me one of my composition notebooks?? I'm almost finished with the one I have and I need a new one! I LOVE YOU!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese 

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