09-21-15
Dear Family,
So I don't actually know if "randomness" is a
word. But it is now! And plus, the spell check didn't mark it wrong so it must
be a word. This week was pretty boring but I feel like I learned a lot! It was
kind of a long week and I was so tried by the end of it. But we get to sleep in
on Sundays since we don't have to run so that was nice.
This morning, I was reading the talk called "Truly Good
and Without Guile" by Elder Ringwood from last conference. I am trying to
finish all the talks before this conference but I don't think I'll be able to
since I'm not even halfway through. But it's okay. I know I'll get what I need
to out of them regardless. This talk was really good though. Elder Ringwood
talked about how we don't need titles or position to be worthy of the Lord. He
said the most admirable people to him are those who are truly good and without
guile. To me, I think it means to serve without expecting recognition, praise,
or anything in return. I really loved it. He talked about a mission companion
he had on his mission who never had any leadership positions and didn't know
the language very well even though he had been there for a while. He said this
missionary was one of the best missionaries he had met. He talked to his
mission president who said, "God knows how successful this missionary is
and so do I. And now you do too. who else matters?" I loved that because
it reminded me that God knows my success and my mission president does. Who
else matters?
On Monday we ate dinner with the O family (who we
saw every day this week except Friday...hence the subject line). We also had
FHE with them. We watched a Mormon Message called Strive. You should all watch
it. It's great. I love them a lot. We had an appointment that cancelled on us
so we ended up going to see Brother H. I just love him so much. He's so
great. He is one of my favorite people. It was a good day! (2 Nephi 33:7)
Tuesday we saw the O's again for lunch! We had
leftovers from dinner. We also had zone meeting to which Sister Putnam and I
were late because she had an important appointment. I learned a lot! I need to
strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon. We saw K Fl. She's
sweet. She was due on Monday but she hadn't had the baby yet and I'm not sure
if she's had her yet now either. We had dinner with Sister P and her
boys. It was fun! Then we had an appointment with the P's to which we
were also late as we usually are. We had a good lesson with them. They are
praying for answers! They weren't able to come to church yesterday because they
were in Sacramento. It was sad. But next week! I hope. We saw M and the
H's. I love them so much. They are the best. (D&C 82:10)
Wednesday was a really successful day! We saw Sister L in
the morning who has a lot of healthy problems. She is just the strongest woman
in the world though. I love her. I really look up to her. She's
H's mom. We saw L N from Cambodia. It was interesting. It's
always...interesting when we go over there. We saw Sister D. We haven't seen
her in a while. She's very sweet. We ate dinner with the H and Brother
H. It was good! We had pillows for dinner! for real, though. We
actually had pillows. Chicken pillows! They are bread with chicken inside. It
was yummy! Then we taught I T who is eight. But he doesn't know if
he wants to get baptized. His dad is a member, very active. We are trying to
help him understand why it is important. I spoke at mutual! They had a fireside
on why mutual is important and I mentioned to Sister O that I had
always just gone because my parents always sort of made me (even though I still
had free agency :) and she asked me to speak. So I did. And it was really cool
to see how that had strengthened my testimony. I really am grateful that I
went, even though it was torture at the time, haha. The spirit was really
strong. It was great. We taught H after that. He's still set for baptism
on Saturday but I'm not sure if he'll make it. He still hasn't received an
answer. We are seeing him tonight though so hopefully all will be well! (Jacob
3:1-2)
Thursday, we stopped by a few people in the morning and met
this nice old man at an elderly living apartment complex. He was nice. We have
a member who lives there but she hasn't been there for a while. We went and did
service at the Poverello house! It was fun! We cut tomatoes. You know how much
I love tomatoes....not at all. But I liked cutting them! We diced them,
actually, so now I know how to dice tomatoes. We saw the O's again for
some reason. Oh yeah! It was because she texted us and told us they were broken
into...it was scary! The kids were a little freaked out. The younger ones
anyway. So that was scary. We ate dinner with the S's. It was good. WE
had sloppy joes! I love those. We finally contacted a referral, Fabien, and he
is now an investigator! He wants to get baptized but says he isn't really a church
person. He is a part member family. His mom is in our ward. They are very
sweet./ We saw Brother H again. That was great! I really love him a lot.
He has a lot of cool stories and testimony building stories. It's awesome.
(D&C 46:30)
Friday we did service at the Poverello House again! That was
fun. this time, we made sandwiches for the sack lunches they give out. It was
good. Then we went to the Spaghetti Factory with the F. That was really
good. I really love it. We saw the D. They are the sweetest. They are
getting ready to get sealed in the temple. They want us to go with through with
them when A gets her endowments but I don't know if we can as
missionaries. I'd really like to though. 71that would be cool. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
DAD! You're getting so old ;) (Jacob 5:71)
Saturday we...saw the O's again. They got new
puppies! They are Doberman Pinchers. They are really cute. They remind me of
Duke when he was a puppy...or I guess he still probably acts like one...even
though they don't look anything like him. We had dinner with the M! We
watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with them which always makes
me cry. It was good though. I love it. (Enos 1:4,15, 26-27)
Yesterday we had some good lessons at church. The high
councilman who spoke talked about this man who wanted to sail to the South Pole
and he when he was looking for his crew, he advised in the paper that it was
going to be hard and they may not return from the adventure. He talked about
how this man sailed a long way and his goal was the get everyone back alive.
And he did! They found an island and he took the ones who were the least
exhausted to get to the nearest island which was 800 miles away, South Georgia,
or something like that. He said he could feel someone else there other than the
men who were with him. It had to be the spirit. Then in Relief Society, Sister
Howard talked about pride. I'm prideful, I've discovered. This wasn't news to
me at this point, but I am prideful. I wish I wasn't. I'm working on it. I need
to be better at being happy for other people's success. But I know God will
help me. We ate dinner with the H! It was fun. Then we contacted a
referral named J. We are goign to see her again this week. She's sixteen.
We saw the U. It was good. F is doing okay. Then we saw Brother
H again! I love him a lot. He enjoys us coming by. It's great. His
girlfriend was there so that was good. We could go in because of that. (Mosiah
2:17, Also, I learned when you love someone, it results in their conversion)
I love being a missionary. I'm so grateful for this
opportunity. They time is flying! Today marks my sixteen months...and I can't
believe I made it. I love you all! Have a great week!
Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese
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