July 13, 2015
Dear Family,
We had a week filled with success here! It was really great.
I learned a lot too and I can't express to you the gratitude I feel to be here
in Kings Canyon! I love this area so much and I'm so grateful for the members
and the people. I learned this week that if I hadn't come on a mission, I
wouldn't have overcome so many of the things I've overcome. I have overcome
much of my anxiety (and I will overcome it completely by the end) and I was
filled with so much thankfulness the other night when I was thinking about it.
Without this experience I wouldn't have been able to accomplish that. And
without all of your support and love and encouragement I know I wouldn't have
been able to push through my hardships.
Monday was a really unproductive day. Well, night. We
actually watched Forever Strong in our apartment while we wrote letters so that
was nice. But then we tried to go see some people but no one answered. We ended
up heart attacking the M family's home. We put it on their garage because their
house is really long and going to the door probably would've resulted in us
getting caught. It was fun though! (Helaman 3:26-27, 35; 5:6, 8, 9, 12)
On Tuesday we had a really good zone meeting. We were
trained on planning, finding, and teaching. And our missionary purpose. It was
really good! I loved it. We did a couple role plays which isn't always my
favorite thing but one of them (when we role played with Elder Harrison and
Elder Guereca, our zone leaders) was really good. I love them. Elder Harrison
was my district leader in Hanford so we're basically best friends now :) We saw
Sister D and we watched Forever Strong with her. I think she really liked it. I
fell asleep on accident so...I didn't see the whole thing. I tried really hard
though to stay awake! I felt so bad. But it's okay. She only laughed. I think
Sister Dale fell asleep too. We ate dinner with K and his family. they are so
sweet. We were late...again. It's hard to get out on time with them. K is still
progressing but still hasn't decided when he wants to get baptized. He needs a
lot of prayers. I pray every night that he will decide soon so that I can see
it. I want to be here for it and I will definitely come back for the sealing of
them. Then we saw the F’s. Brother F’s is opening up more to us and I'm really
grateful for that. We taught parts of the Restoration. It was good, I think.
sister F’s is pregnant so we are excited for them! (Helaman 5:40-41, 47)
Wednesday we saw Sister J who is a recent convert/less
active. She's super sweet. She's Native American, like F, so she's great. We
watched Meet the Mormons with her. She liked it. I forgot about some parts. I
love the last story, about the missionary, of course :) It reminded me of
leaving and it reminded me of coming home too. It was good! We went downtown
(ish) but not really. We talked to a couple really cool people. One of them was
B. He was out working on his car. he was super open and we taught him the
Restoration very briefly and then gave him the pamphlet. We will go back this
week. We also talked to an artist whose name we don't know. He offered to give
us tattoos, but I wasn't really in the mood to have a needle stuck inside me so
we declined. he was making me uncomfortable and the spirit was telling me to
leave so we left, even though Sister Putnam wasn't getting the same vibes. It's
okay though. We ate dinner with the B’s. They are really great. I love them a
lot. I hope they know hwo great they are. We then saw F and J after we went to
mutual. I absolutely love them. We found out that she prefers J though so we
are going to start referring to her as Jo. She's great. They both are. I love
them a lot. (Helaman 8:15)
Thursday was a good day. We did service for Sister O. It was
good! It went by so fast and I wish it wouldn't have. I love them a lot. Their
whole family just adores us and it makes me feel so at home. I love them. We
tried by a few people but not everyone was home. We ended up going to dinner
and that was our first lesson. Sister M is really sweet. She loves us and she
is just the sweetest lady. She is a convert and she loves the church a lot.
Then we went by the Ds' family. they are great. This is where following the
spirit comes in. We just went by to meet them and they let us in. We shared a
message after getting to know them and then they shared with us that their
daughter who was also there, A, was going through a lot right now. I won't go
into detail because it's really personal. Basically they told us they needed us
and they were glad we came to see them. It was really sweet. It made my day. I
loved it. We saw Sister J’s next and shared just a short scripture with her.
But she has a young man living with her who likes us and we think he's
interested so we are gonig to try to teach him. (Helaman 10:4-5. Quote:
"Love is spelled t-i-m-e.)
On Friday we weekly planned. It felt like it took forever
but it really didn't. It was a good planning session. We were supposed to have
an appointment with Sister Pa and her family but she got sick. So we weren't
able to go by. We did see Sister D. She's really great. Super sweet. After her
we went to see F and J and they fed us and then we watched Forever Strong with
them. They really liked it. F says we're like her daughters. J loves us too
even though she won't admit it. They are the best. (Helaman 12:23; 13:19; 14:2)
Saturday, we finally contacted K! She doesn't really
understand that we are there to invite her to come unto Christ. She's sweet
though. We talked about faith and she said she was going to use some of the
material we left her in the lesson she was teaching at her church the next day.
We taught the M family. they are great. R works five days a week and her days
off are in the middle so she hasn't been coming to church. But it's okay. She's
sweet and I think she's pretty strong. We ate dinner with the K's. Funny story
about that: While we were sharing our lesson, Sister Putnam was bearing her
testimony and in the middle of it, she...well, she tooted. (She'll kill me for
telling this story.) And she burst out laughing! And then I couldn't control my
laughter and this couple was staring at us like we were crazy--they didn't hear
it. I felt so bad afterward. I really hoped we didn't offend them. I couldn't
even look at Sister Putnam without her laughing! It was hilarious. We went to
see Brother U and his wife was home! She has been in Mexico for the last few
months. She's not a member so we are teaching her again! Then we saw the M's.
They lost a daughter about a year and a half ago so they've been through a lot.
She's great. She's always serving others. It's great. (Helaman 15:6, 7, 9, 13;
16:14; 3 Nephi 1:13-14)
Sunday was probably one of the best days of the week. We had
MCM and ward council. It was good! The P’s live in the ghetto--downtown--and
Bishop told us he would feel better if we took a man with us. It was kind of
sweet to know they worried about their sister missionaries :) We ate dinner
with J. I'm not sure what her last name is. She has a return missionary son who
is super funny. He is under the impression that Sister Putnam and I have lock
your heart problems...but we don't. We then went out with K M! She's leaving on
her mission in two weeks so we need to use her as much as possible. We took her
to see a potential who had been coming to church the last three weeks--M. She's
living with Sister H, a member. She's getting baptized on July 25!! She's so
sweet. I think she's autistic or something like that. I know she has some sort
of mental disability, but I know she needs this. I am going to talk to
President about it just to be sure but I really love her and I know she's ready
to make this commitment. She's so innocent anyway. She's so sweet. We then saw
J and F...again. They are the best. We talked about the Word of Wisdom. J
drinks beer and doesn't understand why it's bad if she's not addicted. I
honestly couldn't answer it so we committed her to pray and ask God if He
wanted her to give it up. She said she would. F needs to give up coffee but I
know she will. She said the most beautiful closing prayer. She said that we are
like her daughters and it almost made me cry. She has a seven year old
granddaughter she's adopting. S is so sweet. I just love them and I know they
will be baptized. (3 Nephi 3:12)
I absolutely love being here. I'm actually quite proud of
myself--I haven't been struggling very much here in Kings Canyon. I am just
loving it. I don't really want to leave! I love this area and these people.
Sister O is probably one of my favorites. She is so great. We went to study and
do laundry at her house this morning. She LOVES us. She's like our mom. I love
her so much.
Thank you for everything. I want
y'all to know how much I love this Gospel and my Heavenly Father. Don't ever
forget that God loves you more than you know. And He is always tehre for you.
I LOVE YOU!
Always <3,
Sister
Abigail Reese
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