Mom and dad in Australia huh? Feel free to keep an open bed for me when I´m back, Jon and Leah. How long are you going to be visiting there? What other trips have happened this summer? Oh by the way I just got the wedding invitation for Jaclyn´s wedding. It said my attendance to the sealing would be appreciated... Hopefully I can be there in spirit. But CONGRATS jack!
So a little bit more about us here in Barç. We live in a 4 man piso with Elder Salmon and Elder Haikola. Elder Salmon is from Alabama and he´s training Elder Haikola, quite the large Fin. Yes, he´s from Finland and he´s probably about 6´ 5 and just has no fear about anyone. I´ve tried some pretty weird candy that he brought from Finland. They´re the best though. It´s so much fun living with them. Our ward is a big ward and we meet in the nicest stake center I think i´ve ever seen. I´ve heard that it´s actually the most expensive church building in Europe, minus the temples. Our bishop is a new bishop from about 4 months ago and we´re really focusing on trying to help the bishop and strengthen the ward and the members. I love our ward.This week was definitely a humbling week though. I think Elder Keeler and I came into this area probably a little prideful thinking that we were going to do so amazing and expecting to just see huge numbers from the very beginning. We have for sure had to rely on the Lord a lot this last week. We had pretty much our whole week set up from making phone calls and talking to different members. One visit after the other just kept falling through. I´ve been taught over and over again that this really is not my work, it´s His. All we have to do is do our best and be obedient and have the Lord and His angels do the rest. Every thing that we pass through in this life is for our good and our benefit. It makes me think of the analogy of the beautiful garden bush that was flourishing and growing big thinking that nothing could stop it, until the gardener cuts down its branches and brings it back low to the ground. The bush thinks at first "why would you do this to me? I was growing so big and was so beautiful but now you´ve cut me down." The bush didn´t understand that after being cut down, its roots would grow deeper and it would grow back stronger and even more beautiful than ever. After passing through "the trial" it tells the gardener, "Thank you for loving me so much as to cut me down." Sometimes I forget about the perfect knowledge that God has and His plan that He has for us. He gives us our trials so that we can be even stronger and more beautiful than before. It´s not very fun in the moment, but it´s the best thing that could´ve happened in the end.
The good news is that we still have incredibly prepared people that we´re teaching. Verónica isn´t progressing right now because she found work and she´s been gone for about the last 5 days (typicle trap of Satan. Happens to almost every investigator at some point because it´s so hard to find work and then the first thing they find they take.) and Cristi came to church but left right before we took sacrament because she was stressed and was tired trying to keep track of her 3 year old son. But we know that everything will work out and that they´ll be back progressing and going strong. We´re praying A LOT.
Another miracle is that Patricio, the dad of our miracle family back in Hospitalet, got baptized on Saturday!!! It made me so happy for him and for his family. The children are progressing too but just slower and the mom is being a little hard right now. But I have faith that they´ll all be baptized really soon.
Love you all,
Elder Reeves
Monday, July 23, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Another small miracle
Quick little thing i remembered. 2 track coaches from BYU visited our ward this last sunday because there´s some kind of race here in Barcelona. They both served here in Spain. We started talking and I told them about my 2 years running. They were shocked/kinda mad that I hadn´t ran my first year at BYU. They told me that they would be waiting for me when I got back from my mission. Haha we´ll see how that goes. Loves
Elder Reeves
Elder Reeves
Barcelona week 2 - Miracles everywhere
Good morning fam!
Thanks so much nieces and nephews! Did you make that picture just for me or was it some one else´s birthday and it just worked out that way? Haha either way i loved it. It just throws me off every time I see how big they´re getting.
I love my companion Elder Keeler. He´s an incredible missionary. He has so much love for the work, the missionaries, and especially for the people that we´re teaching. He´s got a fire that is just super contagious. He´s always looking for more opportunities to find the elect and to bring them the gospel. I´ve already learned a ton from him. He´s from Spring Texas that´s just right outside of Houston. He graduated in the same year as me, but instead of going to college he just went straight out onto the mission. He´ll be finishing up in October, so i´ll most likely be his last companion. Oh by the way mom and dad, Elder Keeler´s best friend that lives just 3 streets down from him back in Texas is Elder Stephenson who is serving in Riverside! I´m pretty positive i never met them but apparently they used to do everything together.It was Friday morning and Elder Keeler and I really felt strongly in our companionship study that we needed to look for more opportunities to serve. We prayed in every prayer that day for opportunities and we were constantly looking for them throughout the day. There wasn´t a huge change really on Friday, just a couple times being able to help people with their suitcases exiting out the metro or other little things - but we felt like we did everything we could that day to find those opportunities. Saturday morning as we were studying again, we got a phone call from out Elder´s quorum president, Tomás. He said, "Elders, there´s a lady that has been living in our piso for the last couple of months who needs help moving out to her new piso. Can you come and help us?" We went up there and met this lady, Cristi, who´s from Peru. She´s in the process of getting divorced and has a 3 year old son. When we arrived, she was SO grateful. We helped take all of her boxes and suitcases to her new piso and by the end of helping her, we had met her good friends, Joel and Neomí, that lived close by her new piso, and another couple, Mario and Alejandra, that live in her new one. We were able to teach Mario and Alejandra and we have another visit for this Friday. We´re hoping to be able to visit soon with Joel and Neomí to teach them the gospel. Just from the simple act of praying and searching for these opportunities to serve, the Lord blessed us with this HUGE miracle. All these people are so prepared and so open to receive the gospel. Pray for them! I know God answers prayers. I know He wants us to find those who are prepared for the gospel so that they too can receive these blessings.
We have another lady named Verónica that went to the baptism of her friend Julia 2 weeks ago in the Barcelona 1 ward with her husband Enrique. They loved it! They´re from Peru and also have a 3 year old son. We finally were able to meet with Verónica yesterday (Enrique was working) and we taught her about baptism. She accepted a date to be baptized on August 11!! We´re just hoping and praying that she and Enrique are married. We´re going to find out in our visit tomorrow. Pray for them!
There´s also another baptism of a girl in the ward named Evelyn. She´s been a member pretty much her whole life but, sadly, her register in the church system got lost or just never put in. So she´s getting baptized again hopefully this weekend! If not, then it will be next weekend. Pray for her and for her family, who a lot of them aren´t members, so that they may be open and receptive to the gospel.
This area is incredible and the Lord is just POURING out His blessings on us. I really have seen how exact obedience brings blessings. I´ve always strived to be exactly obedient but Elder Keeler and I are really focusing on doing every little thing right the best way we can so that we can have an assuraty (sorry not sure how thats spelled) that God will bless us and keep continue pouring His blessings upon us.
I love you all so much. Thanks for the pictures and for your support.
Elder Reeves
Thanks so much nieces and nephews! Did you make that picture just for me or was it some one else´s birthday and it just worked out that way? Haha either way i loved it. It just throws me off every time I see how big they´re getting.
I love my companion Elder Keeler. He´s an incredible missionary. He has so much love for the work, the missionaries, and especially for the people that we´re teaching. He´s got a fire that is just super contagious. He´s always looking for more opportunities to find the elect and to bring them the gospel. I´ve already learned a ton from him. He´s from Spring Texas that´s just right outside of Houston. He graduated in the same year as me, but instead of going to college he just went straight out onto the mission. He´ll be finishing up in October, so i´ll most likely be his last companion. Oh by the way mom and dad, Elder Keeler´s best friend that lives just 3 streets down from him back in Texas is Elder Stephenson who is serving in Riverside! I´m pretty positive i never met them but apparently they used to do everything together.It was Friday morning and Elder Keeler and I really felt strongly in our companionship study that we needed to look for more opportunities to serve. We prayed in every prayer that day for opportunities and we were constantly looking for them throughout the day. There wasn´t a huge change really on Friday, just a couple times being able to help people with their suitcases exiting out the metro or other little things - but we felt like we did everything we could that day to find those opportunities. Saturday morning as we were studying again, we got a phone call from out Elder´s quorum president, Tomás. He said, "Elders, there´s a lady that has been living in our piso for the last couple of months who needs help moving out to her new piso. Can you come and help us?" We went up there and met this lady, Cristi, who´s from Peru. She´s in the process of getting divorced and has a 3 year old son. When we arrived, she was SO grateful. We helped take all of her boxes and suitcases to her new piso and by the end of helping her, we had met her good friends, Joel and Neomí, that lived close by her new piso, and another couple, Mario and Alejandra, that live in her new one. We were able to teach Mario and Alejandra and we have another visit for this Friday. We´re hoping to be able to visit soon with Joel and Neomí to teach them the gospel. Just from the simple act of praying and searching for these opportunities to serve, the Lord blessed us with this HUGE miracle. All these people are so prepared and so open to receive the gospel. Pray for them! I know God answers prayers. I know He wants us to find those who are prepared for the gospel so that they too can receive these blessings.
We have another lady named Verónica that went to the baptism of her friend Julia 2 weeks ago in the Barcelona 1 ward with her husband Enrique. They loved it! They´re from Peru and also have a 3 year old son. We finally were able to meet with Verónica yesterday (Enrique was working) and we taught her about baptism. She accepted a date to be baptized on August 11!! We´re just hoping and praying that she and Enrique are married. We´re going to find out in our visit tomorrow. Pray for them!
There´s also another baptism of a girl in the ward named Evelyn. She´s been a member pretty much her whole life but, sadly, her register in the church system got lost or just never put in. So she´s getting baptized again hopefully this weekend! If not, then it will be next weekend. Pray for her and for her family, who a lot of them aren´t members, so that they may be open and receptive to the gospel.
This area is incredible and the Lord is just POURING out His blessings on us. I really have seen how exact obedience brings blessings. I´ve always strived to be exactly obedient but Elder Keeler and I are really focusing on doing every little thing right the best way we can so that we can have an assuraty (sorry not sure how thats spelled) that God will bless us and keep continue pouring His blessings upon us.
I love you all so much. Thanks for the pictures and for your support.
Elder Reeves
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Barcelona week 1 - 1 month too much
Well... so you heard the news, eh? It was a pretty big shock to me. I feel pretty inadequate and humbled to serve with President and Hermana Pace, especially to be able to help them get to know and adjust themselves to the mission. I just feel like the Lord relys on me a TON and I dont rely enough on Him. That´s definitely something that I´m coming to recognize and something that I´m working on changing. So this is what happened...
Friday morning last week, Elder Littlefield and i had just left piso to go out teaching in the morning. As we were arriving to the metro our phone rang. Elder Littlefield answered and it happened to be Elder Keeler, my current companion, and he said, "I´m calling on behalf of President Pace. He wants both of you to come into the office at 2:00." He hung up and then told me what happened. I thought, "oh no. I think one of us is getting transferred." I thought of the fact that Elder Middleton was leaving and that there would have to be a new ayudante and I immediately felt ok because I knew Elder Littlefield is perfect for that. But then I realized he only has 3 transfers left and the fear came back to me. After teaching in the morning, we went to the office. There were 2 other missionaries from our district that were there, Elder Greep (who has one transfer left) and Swenson (has 2 transfers more than me in the mission). President first called in Elder Greep who, afterwards, walked out silent. He wouldn´t tell me what happened so I just waited patiently... somewhat. Then Elder Swenson walked out after his interview and he said, "I cant believe we´re both going to the islands!" Their companionship has been serving in our zone but they both got transferred out and are going to 2 different areas on the islands. Big change for them. Then President called in Elder Littlefield. He was in there longer than the other 2 Elders so I was starting to wonder what was going on. I still had an uneasy feeling that Elder Littlefield or I would be Ayudante and I just prayed that the Lord would help me feel that whatever was going to happen was His will. Elder Littlefield walked out and President called me in for last. We sat down and the first thing he did was pull out a 25 anniversary book of the Madrid mission back in 1998, i think was the year. He flipped open to a page of him and it had his picture when he was a missionary, his info, some miracle experience, and then a picture of his family back in 1998. It was super neat. Then he flipped to another page. It was the page of Uncle Robert Reeves. It also had his picture when he was a missionary, his miracle experience, and then a picture of their family with all of our cousins. After reading the miracle experience, he started to get choked up and he turned to me and said, "your uncle was my first zone leader when I got to the mission. Every time I was with him or even just looked at him, I wanted to be a better missionary. He made a huge difference in my mission. I have seen that same quality in you. And I dont think it was a coincidence that we went out together my first night here in Spain. So, I would be honored and would love to be able to work with a Reeves again with you as my ayudante. Can you do that for me?" I sat there for a couple of seconds in silence amazed at the love that I felt from President Pace at that moment. I of course answered yes.
Even though I only had one month out of the office, i feel like ive learned the most in these last 6 weeks with Elder Littlefield than I have in my whole mission. I seriously and soooo grateful for that chance I had to serve in Hospitalet. I love Hospitalet. Its been amazing to see how the Lord has been preparing me for this. I still feel WAY inadequate and that I need to step it up a ton more but I honestly feel the support and preparation that God has given me. I´m excited to be able to work with President and Hermana Pace. They are so incredible. Every day they impress me more and more. There are some changes and there are some different focuses but i´m just going to embrace them. I know that President Pace is called of God. I know that he was prepared to serve here at this time and i´m just lucky to be able to follow him around and see him receive revelation for this mission.
I love my mission fam. It´s going way to fast. Oh by the way, Elder Keeler and I are being whitewashed into Barcelona 3. It´s the 3rd ward here in Barcelona and 2 other Elders were taken out and we´re being put in. There is another companionship with us here too. We´re way excited and we know Heavenly Father has been preparing so many people, especially families. We´re going to see tons of miracles here. Love you all. Pray for me. Pray that I can sleep. We´ve gotten like 6 hours of sleep in the past 2 nights. Haha good welcome to the ayudante life!
Elder Reeves
Friday morning last week, Elder Littlefield and i had just left piso to go out teaching in the morning. As we were arriving to the metro our phone rang. Elder Littlefield answered and it happened to be Elder Keeler, my current companion, and he said, "I´m calling on behalf of President Pace. He wants both of you to come into the office at 2:00." He hung up and then told me what happened. I thought, "oh no. I think one of us is getting transferred." I thought of the fact that Elder Middleton was leaving and that there would have to be a new ayudante and I immediately felt ok because I knew Elder Littlefield is perfect for that. But then I realized he only has 3 transfers left and the fear came back to me. After teaching in the morning, we went to the office. There were 2 other missionaries from our district that were there, Elder Greep (who has one transfer left) and Swenson (has 2 transfers more than me in the mission). President first called in Elder Greep who, afterwards, walked out silent. He wouldn´t tell me what happened so I just waited patiently... somewhat. Then Elder Swenson walked out after his interview and he said, "I cant believe we´re both going to the islands!" Their companionship has been serving in our zone but they both got transferred out and are going to 2 different areas on the islands. Big change for them. Then President called in Elder Littlefield. He was in there longer than the other 2 Elders so I was starting to wonder what was going on. I still had an uneasy feeling that Elder Littlefield or I would be Ayudante and I just prayed that the Lord would help me feel that whatever was going to happen was His will. Elder Littlefield walked out and President called me in for last. We sat down and the first thing he did was pull out a 25 anniversary book of the Madrid mission back in 1998, i think was the year. He flipped open to a page of him and it had his picture when he was a missionary, his info, some miracle experience, and then a picture of his family back in 1998. It was super neat. Then he flipped to another page. It was the page of Uncle Robert Reeves. It also had his picture when he was a missionary, his miracle experience, and then a picture of their family with all of our cousins. After reading the miracle experience, he started to get choked up and he turned to me and said, "your uncle was my first zone leader when I got to the mission. Every time I was with him or even just looked at him, I wanted to be a better missionary. He made a huge difference in my mission. I have seen that same quality in you. And I dont think it was a coincidence that we went out together my first night here in Spain. So, I would be honored and would love to be able to work with a Reeves again with you as my ayudante. Can you do that for me?" I sat there for a couple of seconds in silence amazed at the love that I felt from President Pace at that moment. I of course answered yes.
Even though I only had one month out of the office, i feel like ive learned the most in these last 6 weeks with Elder Littlefield than I have in my whole mission. I seriously and soooo grateful for that chance I had to serve in Hospitalet. I love Hospitalet. Its been amazing to see how the Lord has been preparing me for this. I still feel WAY inadequate and that I need to step it up a ton more but I honestly feel the support and preparation that God has given me. I´m excited to be able to work with President and Hermana Pace. They are so incredible. Every day they impress me more and more. There are some changes and there are some different focuses but i´m just going to embrace them. I know that President Pace is called of God. I know that he was prepared to serve here at this time and i´m just lucky to be able to follow him around and see him receive revelation for this mission.
I love my mission fam. It´s going way to fast. Oh by the way, Elder Keeler and I are being whitewashed into Barcelona 3. It´s the 3rd ward here in Barcelona and 2 other Elders were taken out and we´re being put in. There is another companionship with us here too. We´re way excited and we know Heavenly Father has been preparing so many people, especially families. We´re going to see tons of miracles here. Love you all. Pray for me. Pray that I can sleep. We´ve gotten like 6 hours of sleep in the past 2 nights. Haha good welcome to the ayudante life!
Elder Reeves
Monday, July 2, 2012
Hospitalet week 5 - La Familia Alvarado
Bon día family
That´s so weird that Valerie is already done. I remember thinking when she left, "wow, when she goes home, i´ll have a year in the mission." I´m pretty sure that was just 2 days ago when I said that. That´s how fast time has gone. it´s been such a blessing being able to serve side by side with you Val. Thanks for your experiences and for your testimonies. I´ll just keep goin with Emily by my side.
Going out with President Pace was so much fun. I love the Paces so much. They say hi by the way, mom and dad. It´s weird to think they were just with you a week ago. Anyway the miracle i wanted to share was actually from the visit we had with President Pace and the family Alvarado. The Alvarados were a reference from a member and they came to church last week for the farewell of the member´s son who was leaving on a mission to the Dominican Republic. The whole family came: Patricio (padre) Nancy (madre) Patricio (hijo 18 years old) and Antoni (hijo 12 years old). They loved it and agreed to meet with us that night in the house of the member that invited them to church. That night we taught them the restoration and invited them to read and to pray. We lost contact with them for a couple of days because they went to Valencia where they had been living, but then brought all of their things and moved in with another member, Jonni Ocaña. We found out about them coming to live with Jonni and we set up to visit them on Friday night. When we got to their house, the 2 sons were just leaving to take their dog on a walk but they reassured us that they were coming back. After eating a little bit and Patricio and Antoni coming back, we started with a song and prayer. We asked them if they had read and prayed and they said they werent able to because of all the moving that had to do in the last couple of days. Immediately we opened up the Book of Mormon and said we were going to read with them. We taught them about baptism and read 2 Nephi 31. Elder Littlefield invited them to be baptized but they were a little hesitant. We pulled out our baptism plan and told them that we would set a date as a goal and if they felt like they weren´t ready by that day we could move it. They agreed and are preparing for the 21 of July to be baptized as a family. President Pace testified throughout the visit and promised incredible blessings for them as a family. The spirit was so strong. They came to church again this last Sunday and Patricio the father even got up and bore his testimony in front of everyone. He testified of how God can really change lives and how he´s starting to enter into the path of God with his family. It was incredible. I love being part of God´s plan in helping families become eternal.
This Lord´s work is a work for families and the Gospel is what every family in this world needs. The Savior suffered and died so that we can be with our families together forever. Let´s all show our love and gratitude for what He did by helping other families receive what our family has. Love you all like I love my mission.
Elder Reeves
That´s so weird that Valerie is already done. I remember thinking when she left, "wow, when she goes home, i´ll have a year in the mission." I´m pretty sure that was just 2 days ago when I said that. That´s how fast time has gone. it´s been such a blessing being able to serve side by side with you Val. Thanks for your experiences and for your testimonies. I´ll just keep goin with Emily by my side.
Going out with President Pace was so much fun. I love the Paces so much. They say hi by the way, mom and dad. It´s weird to think they were just with you a week ago. Anyway the miracle i wanted to share was actually from the visit we had with President Pace and the family Alvarado. The Alvarados were a reference from a member and they came to church last week for the farewell of the member´s son who was leaving on a mission to the Dominican Republic. The whole family came: Patricio (padre) Nancy (madre) Patricio (hijo 18 years old) and Antoni (hijo 12 years old). They loved it and agreed to meet with us that night in the house of the member that invited them to church. That night we taught them the restoration and invited them to read and to pray. We lost contact with them for a couple of days because they went to Valencia where they had been living, but then brought all of their things and moved in with another member, Jonni Ocaña. We found out about them coming to live with Jonni and we set up to visit them on Friday night. When we got to their house, the 2 sons were just leaving to take their dog on a walk but they reassured us that they were coming back. After eating a little bit and Patricio and Antoni coming back, we started with a song and prayer. We asked them if they had read and prayed and they said they werent able to because of all the moving that had to do in the last couple of days. Immediately we opened up the Book of Mormon and said we were going to read with them. We taught them about baptism and read 2 Nephi 31. Elder Littlefield invited them to be baptized but they were a little hesitant. We pulled out our baptism plan and told them that we would set a date as a goal and if they felt like they weren´t ready by that day we could move it. They agreed and are preparing for the 21 of July to be baptized as a family. President Pace testified throughout the visit and promised incredible blessings for them as a family. The spirit was so strong. They came to church again this last Sunday and Patricio the father even got up and bore his testimony in front of everyone. He testified of how God can really change lives and how he´s starting to enter into the path of God with his family. It was incredible. I love being part of God´s plan in helping families become eternal.
This Lord´s work is a work for families and the Gospel is what every family in this world needs. The Savior suffered and died so that we can be with our families together forever. Let´s all show our love and gratitude for what He did by helping other families receive what our family has. Love you all like I love my mission.
Elder Reeves
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