Monday, June 15, 2015

Successful Week, Transfers and Miracles to Come



Dear Family,

So I'm sure you're all wondering what happened to me this transfer, right? You're all just DYING to know if I am in the California Fresno Mission, where I was originally called, or if I am in the California Modesto Mission....Well, here's the answer: I will be in...drum roll please...the CALIFORNIA FRESNO MISSION!! I won't be staying in Hanford this transfer though. I am being transferred back up to Fresno. I will be in Fresno East again!!! I am going to be with Sister Putnam, whom I love a lot because I was her sister training leader, and we will be in King's Canyon. I am so excited!! I can't wait to just get up there! But I still have two more days so I need to be patient. I am really grateful that I get to go back to Fresno and serve with a sister I know really well. And I am so grateful for...just everything. I have loved serving in Hanford, but I know that I did what I was supposed to here. I found so many people to serve here. 

So on Monday, we went shopping! Sister Arruda really loves shopping so I gave in and we went shopping. After about ten minutes, though, I was done with it. We were at Ross and we ended up getting cute matching running outfits. I also got this really nice flowy shirt that is awesome for the summer. So yes, I got some stuff, but it took me about two seconds to pick it all out. We were supposed to teach T at the S's. Except Sister S forgot. So we didn't end up teaching her there. We did go to the G's and T crashed it and we ended up teaching them there. We made puzzles! You know my artistic abilities are...eh. So you can imagine what those puzzles looked like. They weren't too bad...haha. We then went to see J who I will miss a lot. I love her. I don't actually remember what we shared with her, but it was good! She's great. (Alma 25:14; 26:1, 8, 11-12, 15-16; Helaman 10:5; Psalms 5:3)

Tuesday we had district meeting. It was good! I trained on asking questions. I am terrible at that so it was a good subject for me to train on. I really actually enjoyed it. The role play could've been better but there's always something I see that I did wrong. It's okay though. It was a good training according to the missionaries who were listening. We saw E and A who live two doors down. They are so sweet. A is a former and E is her less active daughter. I love them a lot. They are super sweet. We then had an appointment with a potential and she was leaving just as we got there. So we didn't meet with her. It was really sad. We then saw Sister W. I love her a lot. She has the cutest foster kids. We then had dinner with the Ms, who we also go to do laundry on Mondays. They are the best. I really love them. Sister Ms is taking me to Fresno on Wednesday too so that will be good. We didn't really see anyone else that night but it was still a good day. (Alma 26:27-28, 30, 36-37; Luke 24:5-7)

On Wednesday we had a pretty good day. We finally saw B and K! We haven't seen them in a really long time. I missed them a lot. They are great. We talked about trials with them becasue they have a lot of things they are dealing with right now. It's really sad. We love them a lot. Then we went by the E (you remember me talking about them?) family. They are great. Sister E is super prepared. Of course, I didn't understand anything that was going on there when we went by because she doesn't speak English. But I could feel the spirit even though I didn't understand what was being said. We saw Sister R and watched Forever Strong with her. I really love that movie a lot. (Hunter referenced it last week in the email he sent me--Coach Gelwix would definitely agree with your philosophy!) We ate dinner with the Ss family. It was a week of pizza becasue the Ms fed us pizza and then the Ss fed us pizza (homemade) and then we got pizza yesterday too.They are the best family. We had dessert first which was cinnamon rolls! You know how much I love cinnamon rolls. We also saw E. I am super worried about her and her activity in the church, but I know God will help us know what she needs. She is moving in less then a month so we need to make sure the ward up there knows she's there and will embrace her and her mom. We saw a potential. He lives next to a member. He's really nice. He let us teach him a lesson and was super open to it. So hopefully we will go back. We then stopped by J and S even though they aren't actually in our ward (though they live in it).  I love them so much. I am so grateful I got to help M progress this transfer. (Alma 29:9-10, 13-15, 17)

On Thursday, we went to the Remington and it was fun. I love them a lot. I am really going to miss them. They are the best. We had an appointment with a potential...that fell through. But we will go by again. It's a family so hopefully we will be able to start teaching them. We finished watching Forever Strong with Sister R. I think she liked it a lot. It taught about change and forgiveness which everyone needs. We ate dinner with the T family (who thankfully did not serve us pizza). They are great. We only ate with Brother and Sister T but they are so funny. We helped the Gs clean the church and then went to see Sister C. We watched a new video called After the Storm (you should all now pause to watch it or watch it later). It is a really good video! I loved it! It helped me a lot. We saw Artie after that and it was inspired. She was telling us that she was wondering when she would see us. Then we went by! Yay! (Alma 30:44; Luke 24:36)

Friday we went to the soup kitchen and told them it could be our last time there. So they all gave us their information and they want to come to my farewell! I'm so happy about it! I will invite them. Not everyone was there which made me sad but it's okay. All will be well. We weekly planned and then we went to Panera for dinner since we didn't have a dinner and Sister G gave us a gift card there. I love Panera. We ran into E there so we joined her and had a good conversation with her. Then we saw T who still isn't getting baptized though we are praying for a miracle. He's the sweetest kid. I'm going to miss him a lot. He's great. Then we saw I who is great too. I love her. I wish I could see her baby! He's due in September. (Alma 31:5, 30-35; 32:6; Matthew 7:24-27; Mosiah 15:7)

On Saturday we went to the Remington again and the elders got a call! Elder Harrison is gonig to be a zone leader in Fresno East so we are going together...which will be odd. And Elder Feltner is the new district leader which I was excited about and then I found out I was leaving. We saw J's mom. She's super sweet. She's curious and open so I hope that openness turns into a desire to join the church and know for herself. We didn't really see anyone else that day except we did talk to this man who was a little buzzed and high when we talked to him. We almost witnessed a fight. It was kind of scary. We saw T after that though and showed her a video called Finding Peace After Substance Abuse and Prison. It was good for them. All day I was restless and just wanted to know what was happening. And then finally we got the call after planning. (Alma 32:13-16, 27-28, 34, 37, 41-43)

Yesterday was a good day. They announced my departure and so everyone was saying good bye. It was sad. We saw the Ws. Then we got to see R who we haven't seen for a while. he's a sweet man. Then we went to dinner with the Bs and As and H's. It was fun! They gave us pizzas on the grill. You should try it! It was actually pretty cool. Brother A told me that we did good work here and he was impressed. He wanted me to leave knowing that I had done a lot of good things here. It was nice. then we saw the Os who I love a lot. Look them up on Facebook! Wendy and David O. I want to keep in contact! Then we saw the Ms. They are great. They love us a lot. (Alma 33:11, 33 D&C 3:2, 20; 4)

I have loved serving in Hanford and I am grateful I had the opportunity. I saw so much success and I've learned so much. I am so excited to do incredible things in the last third of my mission. I know I'll do great things in King's Canyon and anywhere else I serve. 

OH I ALMOST FORGOT! Remember A and A?? THEY ARE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND!!! So hopefully I'll get to go back for that.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese

This is an excerpt from the email Abby sent Bill this week and I wanted to share it with all of you.

"The power of prayer is something that I've learned to rely on. Prayer is so much more powerful than we realize. I have relied heavily on the gift I have to pray because without it I know I wouldn't make it through my moments of distress and anxiety and sadness. It is so helpful to have that. Priesthood is something else I've come to appreciate more on my mission. Without all the patience and love and faith of the priesthood holders who have given me a blessing while I've been out, I wouldn't be able to keep pushing forward."

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