8/24/15
Dear Family,
This week was really great! I love being here and I love
Kings Canyon. There is so much potential here and it is great to see the fruits
of the labors. I just love being here so much!
Monday we went golfing! It was great. I'm getting okay at
it...when we're just hitting balls way out yonder. We also putted for like two
seconds. I was okay at that. But not great. We taught the Ounesavaths the Plan
of Salvation...and it wasn't the best lesson in the world. I think it was
because we were over confident and thought we could do it with our eyes
closed...so that was humbling. Then we taught I A. He is a sweet
kid. He's a recent convert. He's nine. It was late. But we taught the
Restoration. It was really fun! (1 Nephi 7:17)
Tuesday, we didn't have a lot of productivity in the morning
but we stopped by Sister L and it was just in time. She had four extra
kids in her house and they were crazy!! So we got them to sit down for about
fifteen minutes so we could teach them a lesson. It was good even though I
wanted to kill the kids. But I was stern with them but not rude. I think. Haha.
It was fun! We found a new investigator! Her name is J. She isn't super
solid but she is a new one. She's open which is awesome. She has a boyfriend
who is also really open. We taught P at the Ounesavaths. I love him. He's
such a sweet old man. I haven't taught someone with that
many years on them before. But he's great. We had dinner with the M. They
have a son in Alluvial and I totally know him! He served a mission in the Idaho
Boise Mission. It is great! We saw the C: H, U, A, and
K. We taught them part of a lesson. K wants to be baptized but she is
really busy with soccer. She plays defense mostly! I want to see one of her
games...it MIGHT be legit if she's an investigator haha. We saw the R
family. they are great. We taught them the Restoration and I think Sister R
really appreciated us teaching her kids. It was really cool. Then we taught
M. She's sweet too. We saw Brother H and it was great that we
stopped by because he told us he might have cancer...which is really sad. But
he's so optimistic about it. (1 Ne 8:12; Jacob 5:75)
Wednesday was zone conference. I won't spend too much time
on it but I loved it! It was probably the best zone conference I've been to. If
you have a chance, read "Cast Not Away Therefore Thy Confidence," by
Elder Holland. It changed my life. Seriously. I loved it. From that I learned
not to fear. I learned that when we make a decision and it feels right, we
should stick with it even when we start to doubt because that doubt comes from
Satan, not from God. It was really powerful. Something that I've been working
on is being more selfless. I learned the key to that is to be more grateful. I
thought that was really interesting that Sister Clark talked about that because
I really needed to hear that. I have so much to learn in the next few months. I
don't know how I'm going to learn all that I feel I need to. But I know if I do
my part, God will help me learn what He wants me to learn. OH YEAH GUESS WHAT
TOO!! We had car checks and Sister Putnam and I got THIRD PLACE! It was on my
mission bucket list! So that was pretty cool. Also, remember J? I taught
him when I was in Shepherd for four days almost a year ago--last September. I was with
Sister Bennion and Sister Monson. Well, he's getting baptized on Saturday! It's
exciting! I won't go but it's still cool. We saw the P. they fed us dinner.
It was great! They made spaghetti :) We also talked to this creepy old man who
was hitting on us. Except I didn't know until we were in the car. Yeah...it was
a little creepy and I hope I never see him again. (1 Nephi 9:6)
On Thursday, we did service for Sister Ounesavath! It was so
fun. I absolutely love her. She's the sweetest. We washed her windows and I had
a really good conversation with her. She's so sweet and so strong. We saw the
F afterward. I love them. They are great. He's opening up more and more.
She's due in, like, three weeks. We ate dinner with the G family. they
are sweet. Then we saw A M after forever and a day. She's sweet. I
really love her. She told us stories. AND she has a whole bunch of books in her
family room! I wanted to read them :P (1 Nephi 10:17; 11:22)
Friday we saw Sister Ji and taught her the Restoration.
She's so sweet. I really love her. Then we saw J again. But she forgot we
were coming so we set up another appointment for tomorrow. We taught P
again and we committed him to be baptized on August 29!! We weren't planning on
it but at zone conference, we both felt like we should baptize him in August.
He was going to be our power of one in September but we didn't think it was
right to postpone salvation just because we wanted to reach the power of one in
September. God will provide as we take steps of faith. We ate dinner with the
P They feed us good food! It's sometime Cambodian. I ate with chopsticks!
I sort of had it figured out. It was fun! We didn't teach anyone else though we
dropped by a few people. Most were busy though. (1 Nephi 11:33; 12:10-11)
Saturday we went to the grape vineyard! It was SO FUN! I
felt so accomplished and experience. Except...and this may not surprise any of
you...I cut myself with a knife I was using. And I just about panicked because
there was blood and I didn't like it. But Sister Ounesavath calmed me down and
told me to go wash it off and get a bandaid. So I did. the guy who gave it to
me made a joke about how I only have 9 left so be careful. And I was. But I
absolutely LOVE the vineyard. I wish I had appreciated the orchard more because
it is similar, I think, except we are picking and not cutting bundles of
grapes. So remind me of that next time I complain about the orchard. We went to
the Ounesavaths for lunch. the youth were there so that was fun. Then we taught
the M. We found out some of her concerns--R's. It was really sad. I
love her so much but she doesn't have a very firm testimony. It's sad. We ate
with the D. I believe with all my heart that I knew them before. They
seem to have attached themselves to us and I don't know why. But they really
love us. And we love them. We saw Fs and J. F still won't give up
coffee. But we're trying. (Nothing...we didn't study today...)
Sunday was good! Only one investigator came to church but
that's okay. P is great. Bishop made a comment in ward council about how
great we are so that made my day. We taught the lesson in Gospel Principles. It
was good. WE taught about Jesus Christ. Then we were goign to teach the
miamaids about chastity but then we ended up combining with the laurels. Sister
Haroldsen taught. We taught P at the church afterward and taught him the
rest of the commandments so he's ready for baptism! Then we ate dinner with the
Hamiltons. They are great. We taught the P next and I am just filled
with so much love for them. We talked about baptism and went over the baptismal
interview questions to show them what they need to know to be baptized. I think
it helped them a lot. And they just love us coming over. It's so sweet. They
have changed a lot and opened up a lot. I love them. (D&C 130:2)
I just love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for it.
I know my Savior lives and loves me and I know that what I'm doing is the best
thing I could be doing. I love all of you and I'm grateful for your support.
Always <3,
Sister Abigail Reese
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