Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Temple, A Crazy Pentecostal and a Cancer-Ridden Member

Dear Family,



This week was pretty good! There were some hard moments, but I have been getting really good at coping with my anxiety and my homesickness. I am kind of tired of having to deal with it so hopefully that will motivate me to overcome it while I'm here. 

On Monday, we had our preparation day, of course, and we ate lunch with Elder and Sister Fanning! They are super awesome. I love them. And then we were able to see the Dillon family. that lesson was kind of...not super great. We didn't really know what we were doing and it was hard to figure out where we were going with it. But we did it and we did taught them and they said they enjoyed it! So hopefully that's true. then we taught T. She didn't bring her kids becasue they came to church on Sunday....but we are trying to help her understand that that doens't matter. Getting anything gospel related will help them in the long run. We went to see sister Carter afterward. She's super sweet. I didn't really know her all that well but she is so loving and kind and I didn't really expect that. Shows me not to judge people on sight. I think I gave you the scriptures for the day but just in case: 3 Nephi 15:9, 27:13; James 5:8; and 2 Thessalonians 1:4. I can't remember what they say...but they are good!

On Tuesday we had zone meeting, after which I felt like crap. We also had Sister Roemmich, a travel trainer, with us from Monday to Tuesday and she's super obedient and made us feel like crud because we weren't doing every little thing right. But I have been working on it this week. We talked about obedience and correction at zone meeting which I am trying to be better at (correction). It's hard. then we taught J. Oh yeah! I handed out a Book of Mormon to a man on the street. It was cool. He at first wasn't very open but then we started asking him about him and he told us some stuff and we found out he liked to read so I offered the Book of Mormon! It was really neat! J's lesson was good. She's so prepared and ready for baptism. OH YEAH! Remember when Laurie Hall told us about someone she knew here in the California Fresno Mission? He's in my zone now! Elder Villanueva. I got a picture with him! It's the one with the Book of Mormon! We ate dinner with the Andersons. they are great. He's the new stake president but he wasn't there. He was at work. We taught C S. We found his mom through a media referral and we taught her before then we went back and he came and talked to us! He was trying to preach at us though...so I was bold and stated our purpose. But then I got really frustrated and a little worked up...it wasn't too great. But we did go back later. We saw E. She is really awesome but she doesn't come to church as often as she should...we're working on it. The scriptures for today are Mosiah 12:1 and Matthew 7:24-25. I'm reading in Mosiah right now and it's great!

Wednesday, we contacted a referral named S L. She requested a Book of Mormon because the Church of Christ, where she attends, apparently used to use it. I think it's the old RLDS church or FLDS church or something like that. So we're going to go back after Memorial Day and see her. She's sweet. Then we saw Sister Ramirez. I love her. She's so great. We did a little bit of the Christlike Attribute Activity in Preach My Gospel. It was fun! Then we saw S. She's so sweet. I love her so much. She's super pregnant though and she needs a lot of help. She's due in July! We saw T. She's great. I love her. She always makes us feel better. Then we saw J whom I also love a lot. Her sister moved across from us! I'm excited. Scriptures: Luke 18:29-30 and Mosiah 14:7.

On Thursday, we went to the Remington again. It was just Sister Arruda and I so it wasn't as fun, but it was still good! They beat us...again. We need practice. We saw I. She's struggling a lot. I don't know what to do for her. She doesn't have the desire to read or pray and it's so sad. She was baptized in June last year and she loved it then. I don't know what happened. We also stopped by H S again. We hadn't set up a return appointment so we went by. The lesson was going really well. She was in the kitchen so we were just teaching her son. But then I asked a question that she didn't like and she came storming out and started yelling at me. I kept my mouth shut because the spirit was totally gone so there was no way what I was going to say was by the spirit. But thankfully my companion stood up for me and told her we were offended because she was saying we didn't love God. And she just kept yelling and told us that she didn't want to enemy coming into her home so we could just go. So we got up and left. It was really sad to see how closed off she was. She would be the crazy Pentecostal. We ate dinner with the Milnes at Superior Dairy which is really yummy. I loved it. I love them too. they are so sweet. We also saw M. She is really struggling but she has a baptismal date for May 23. We know she can do it! We've been praying for her. Scriptures: Mosiah 16:9, 18:1

On Friday, we went to the soup kitchen. I love them so much. They are super great. We did drinks so it was good. there were too many people there though ;/ So there wasn't a lot of work to do. But it was still good! We saw J too. We are almost done with her lessons. I'm sad to see it happen because I love her and she's so fun to teach. We ate dinner with Sister Ramirez. We read some scriptures with her and helped her understand them. Then we saw Sister W. She's sweet but she has some health issues. We also saw E and A whom I love. they are so great. A gave me a cross stitched cross. Remember when I was able to cross stitch? Scripture: Mosiah 21:14-15 (and 16).

Saturday was kind of a long day. No one answered their doors. We went to the Remington again and then we were just going from door to door after taht. It was difficult. We ate dinner with the Lopez family. I love those two a lot. We talked about Ammon in Alma 17 and how he served first and then he was able to share the gospel. You should read it! The story of Ammon is incredible. I'm almost there in my Book of Mormon reading. Then we were able to see T and that was it. She's great though. She made us feel lots better. Scriptures: Mosiah 21:24; Ruth 1:16; and D&C 59:23.

Sunday we had church which was alright. We found out on Sunday that a member we both love has cancer in her stomach and it's spread. She told us with tears in her eyes and I just cried. I was kind of angry at first but then realized God has a plan. We saw J again. We have one more lesson to teach her and that's it. I'm excited for her baptism! We met her nephew who just came home from his mission on Thursday and he was kind of awkward at first but he's not so much now. We also saw the member who has cancer. She is so great and motivating and sweet. We ate dinner with the Gage family. they are awesome too. I love them. Then we saw J and S. M's mom and stepdad. She wasn't feeling up to talking to anyone which was depressing so we just gave her a hug and then talked to them. I love her family so much. they aren't even in our ward! Scriptures: Mosiah 23:21-22, 24:14-15 and Matthew 25:21

Monday was long too. We had a district meeting and I had to reschedule my dentist appointment for today which kind of stinks. I don't like it. I think I have a cavity though so I'm going today. I'm not sure we'll have time to get everything done. We did see J again on Monday. She's so sweet. I love her so much. then we saw B C who is less active. But she was really nice and she talked to us for a while on her porch. She said we could come by anytime. She loves missionaries. We ate dinner with the Sopps. Brother Sopp is pretty cool. He talked about crazy things on his mission! It was great. We saw M. She actually was up when we went by. She was feeling better and still wants to be baptized. she thinks. She's great! Scripture: Mosiah 26:20.

Today we went to the temple. And I had a really awesome experience: When we were leaving the Celestial Room, I didn't feel quite satisfied with the answers to my questions I wanted, but the worker standing by the door reached out as I passed. She gave me a hug and whispered, "I don't know why but I felt prompted to give you a hug and tell you that Heavenly Father loves you." I cried on the way back to the dressing room because I really did need that even though I didn't know why. I want you all to know that it's true for you too. God loves you.

I love you all so much! I feel your prayers. I need them. Haev a great week!

Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese

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