Hey familia,
Wow my new companion Elder Pearson is incredible. He´s such an obedient missionary and is so reliant on the Spirit that he is just a powerful missionary. He´s actually the nephew of President and Hna Pace haha his mom is the younger sister of Hna Pace so it´s pretty fun. I´m not sure if you know his parents mom and dad? His dad is in the Area Presidency in New Zealand. So yeah, you can get a pretty good sense of what kind of missionary he his. He´s bringing me back my old missionary spirit that i used to have earlier on in my mission. I´m loving it.
I´m so sorry to hear about Nick Sterling. He was a great kid. I didn´t know him too well but i had hung out with him a couple of times. I hope his family takes this trial as a time to grow closer to God and closer as a family. It´s such a blessing to have the gospel in our lives and know the plan he has for us.
In our district meeting this last week, Elder Thimmig, our new district leader, invited all of us to invite at least one person a day to be baptized. The first day, we invited a contact to be baptized but were´nt able to get his info. The next day, friday, we invited a man in a visit to be baptized who was a reference from a recent convert. He said yes, but he didn´t accept a date. Then on saturday, as we were praying and testifying right before going out to proselyte in the morning, we had the strong impression that there was somebody that day that was ready to accept the baptismal invitation and that we would set a fecha. As we went throughout the day, we only had one visit with Luz Marina, our recent convert, and nothing else. We went passing by old investigators and contacting people but we werent finding the right opportunity to invite someone to be baptized. The day was coming to an end and we were going to have one more visit with a less active lady, so i decided that we would have to invite another contact on the way home to be baptized after the visit. As we entered in to the less active´s home, out of nowhere there was another lady there who had just barely moved in with the MA. We met her and got her to agree to listen to our message. We did a lesson 0 and invited her to be baptized. She said yes and accepted the date to be baptized on the 20th of april!! We had to set the fecha for a little later because she´s going to be going back to Portugal for semana santa to be with her family in a week. Her name is Eva from Africa, but when she was little she moved to Portugal with her family. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English, and i think some other language. She is so humble and so willing to learn more about the restored gospel. She came to church yesterday with her little 3 year old daughter and loved it. It was a big testimony to me that God knows what our goals are and if we have the faith and our focused on helping people come to Him through baptism, He places people in our path.
Well dont have more to say except that time is going by way too quick. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Elder Reeves
Monday, March 25, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bilbao week 13 - New comp
Hello fam!!
Such good news to hear everythings going well with Brett and fam. You continue in my prayers. Everything here in Bilbao is amazing as always and today is actually TRANSFERS!! Good news... im staying!!! Elder Prieto left this morning to go to Martorell, a small city about an hour away from Barç. He´s going to be district leader down there in the Hospitalet zone! He´ll do great. My new companion is Elder Pearson!! He´s been out for about 10 months i think and is actually the nephew of Pte. and Hna Pace! Haha crazy huh? But he´s such a good missionary so i´m really excited to work with him. He´s been serving in Zaragoza as district leader so i´ll be training him how to be zone leader. He´ll be getting in tonight at 10. I´ll let you know a little bit more about him next week after i get to know him.
2 weeks ago we lost the fecha that we had set with Dora, Wber(16) and Mikel(11) (the wife and kids of a less active, also named Wber, that we´ve been teaching for the last couple of months) for this last weekend because they had said that they didn´t feel prepared and they wanted more time to learn more before baptism. The baptism of Luz Marina was going to be that weekend, the 9th, so we promised them that if they came to the baptism they would receive their answer that they need to be baptized. They got there a little late to the baptism but all 3 showed up! They were able to see Luz Marina get baptized and then bare her strong testimony of how she knew the church was true. Then after the baptism, Dora went up to her to congratulate her and she told her that she was also wanting to prepare for baptism. Luz Marina told her that it was the most happy moment of her life and that Dora and her family shouldn´t wait to be baptized. It was perfect. We had a Noche de Hogar with them and another family that sunday but for some reason it didn´t feel right to ask them about baptism right then. But last thursday we went to visit them again. They had read all of their reading assignments and kept all of their commitments. After talking about their reading, we asked them about the baptism of Luz Marina and how they felt seeing it. Dora said that when she saw how happy Luz Marina was, she had the same desire to be baptized. She said she felt like she was ready to be baptized and that she wanted to make the step. Just as we were about to invite her again to be baptized she said, "I dont want to be baptized until Wber and Mikel are ready to be baptized too. But Wber doesn´t feel prepared yet." We spent the next couple of minutes talking to Wber about how he can prepare better for baptism. In the end we weren´t able to set another date but the miracle was that Dora has now felt that need and truly wants to be baptized to follow Jesus Christ and change her life. We´re working with Wber so that he feels that answer that he needs to be baptized so that all 3 of them can enter into the pathway of God. The dad, Wber, is still pretty hard hearted and doesnt want to come back but we´re hoping that having all of them join the fold of God that they´ll all start progressing as a family. I love the spirit that is felt in baptisms and we´ve been able to see that it helps so much for other investigators to feel that they are prepared to make that same step.
Mom and dad, those plans sound good. I really have no preference as to how long we´re in each city or where we go just as long as we get to see the people that i want to see. Thanks for everything. Love you all
Elder Reeves
Such good news to hear everythings going well with Brett and fam. You continue in my prayers. Everything here in Bilbao is amazing as always and today is actually TRANSFERS!! Good news... im staying!!! Elder Prieto left this morning to go to Martorell, a small city about an hour away from Barç. He´s going to be district leader down there in the Hospitalet zone! He´ll do great. My new companion is Elder Pearson!! He´s been out for about 10 months i think and is actually the nephew of Pte. and Hna Pace! Haha crazy huh? But he´s such a good missionary so i´m really excited to work with him. He´s been serving in Zaragoza as district leader so i´ll be training him how to be zone leader. He´ll be getting in tonight at 10. I´ll let you know a little bit more about him next week after i get to know him.
2 weeks ago we lost the fecha that we had set with Dora, Wber(16) and Mikel(11) (the wife and kids of a less active, also named Wber, that we´ve been teaching for the last couple of months) for this last weekend because they had said that they didn´t feel prepared and they wanted more time to learn more before baptism. The baptism of Luz Marina was going to be that weekend, the 9th, so we promised them that if they came to the baptism they would receive their answer that they need to be baptized. They got there a little late to the baptism but all 3 showed up! They were able to see Luz Marina get baptized and then bare her strong testimony of how she knew the church was true. Then after the baptism, Dora went up to her to congratulate her and she told her that she was also wanting to prepare for baptism. Luz Marina told her that it was the most happy moment of her life and that Dora and her family shouldn´t wait to be baptized. It was perfect. We had a Noche de Hogar with them and another family that sunday but for some reason it didn´t feel right to ask them about baptism right then. But last thursday we went to visit them again. They had read all of their reading assignments and kept all of their commitments. After talking about their reading, we asked them about the baptism of Luz Marina and how they felt seeing it. Dora said that when she saw how happy Luz Marina was, she had the same desire to be baptized. She said she felt like she was ready to be baptized and that she wanted to make the step. Just as we were about to invite her again to be baptized she said, "I dont want to be baptized until Wber and Mikel are ready to be baptized too. But Wber doesn´t feel prepared yet." We spent the next couple of minutes talking to Wber about how he can prepare better for baptism. In the end we weren´t able to set another date but the miracle was that Dora has now felt that need and truly wants to be baptized to follow Jesus Christ and change her life. We´re working with Wber so that he feels that answer that he needs to be baptized so that all 3 of them can enter into the pathway of God. The dad, Wber, is still pretty hard hearted and doesnt want to come back but we´re hoping that having all of them join the fold of God that they´ll all start progressing as a family. I love the spirit that is felt in baptisms and we´ve been able to see that it helps so much for other investigators to feel that they are prepared to make that same step.
Mom and dad, those plans sound good. I really have no preference as to how long we´re in each city or where we go just as long as we get to see the people that i want to see. Thanks for everything. Love you all
Elder Reeves
Monday, March 11, 2013
Bilbao week 12 - Luz Marina´s baptism
Hola mi familia,
Wow those are some nice battle scares, Brett. Hope everything has turned out well and that the recovery´s going good. Still praying for you and the fam every day. Thanks for your example and your always positive attitude.
The baptism of Luz Marina was incredible. I wanna share the whole story of her conversion. About a year ago, her daughter Angelica and her husband Alex were baptized with their son Daniel by Elder Pericle and Elder Johnson. They also started teaching Luz Marina at that time but she was pretty hard hearted and loved to argue about doctrines because she´s been a jehovas witness her whole life. So she didnt progress for a while. Then in November the missionaries started teaching her again. This time she was a little bit more open and she started to read in the Book of Mormon and come to know for herself. Elder Prieto and Elder Olson worked with her towards a baptismal date and she progressed well. She had the baptismal interview the week of her baptism and passed it easily. But then the day before her baptism (ihad forgotten about this part) she got sick and had to go to the hospital. Elder Prieto and Elder Olson tried to visit her and help her but she said it would be better that they didn´t come by. Then the week after that, her mom got really sick back in Colombia and was dying. So obviously Luz Marina had to go back to her country to be with her mom before she died. Being with her mom while she died i think was what really made her realize that there´s more to life and that God truly has a plan for us. She was gone for two months and then came back to Bilbao in February. We invited her to come to our baptism of Susana and John and she came! She loved it and we were able to meet with her right after the baptism. We talked to her about baptism and asked her if she wanted to keep preparing. She was pretty closed off to the idea but said she wanted to keep coming to church and keep investigating so we just left it at that. She came to church that sunday and we met with her the following saturday. We taught her the plan of salvation and focused a lot on the importance of baptism. As she felt the spirit and she came to realize that her mom still lives and that she can be with her again, she felt that need to be baptized. We set the fecha for the 9th of march. She kept coming to church, she read in the scriptures, in Jesus the Christ, and in the Liahona of the last general conference. As she continued to read and pray she gained a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that we have living prophets and apostles today. She came to know that this is the church of Jesus Christ, the only true church over the face of the earth. On saturday she was baptized and yesterday was confirmed. After her confirmation she said that she had never felt the Spirit so strongly before in her life. It was the happiest ive ever seen someone be after being baptized. She was so ready and so willing to do God´s will and enter into His pathway. It was a great baptism.
Dont have very much more time fam so gotta get going. Miracles happen.
Love you, Elder Reeves
Wow those are some nice battle scares, Brett. Hope everything has turned out well and that the recovery´s going good. Still praying for you and the fam every day. Thanks for your example and your always positive attitude.
The baptism of Luz Marina was incredible. I wanna share the whole story of her conversion. About a year ago, her daughter Angelica and her husband Alex were baptized with their son Daniel by Elder Pericle and Elder Johnson. They also started teaching Luz Marina at that time but she was pretty hard hearted and loved to argue about doctrines because she´s been a jehovas witness her whole life. So she didnt progress for a while. Then in November the missionaries started teaching her again. This time she was a little bit more open and she started to read in the Book of Mormon and come to know for herself. Elder Prieto and Elder Olson worked with her towards a baptismal date and she progressed well. She had the baptismal interview the week of her baptism and passed it easily. But then the day before her baptism (ihad forgotten about this part) she got sick and had to go to the hospital. Elder Prieto and Elder Olson tried to visit her and help her but she said it would be better that they didn´t come by. Then the week after that, her mom got really sick back in Colombia and was dying. So obviously Luz Marina had to go back to her country to be with her mom before she died. Being with her mom while she died i think was what really made her realize that there´s more to life and that God truly has a plan for us. She was gone for two months and then came back to Bilbao in February. We invited her to come to our baptism of Susana and John and she came! She loved it and we were able to meet with her right after the baptism. We talked to her about baptism and asked her if she wanted to keep preparing. She was pretty closed off to the idea but said she wanted to keep coming to church and keep investigating so we just left it at that. She came to church that sunday and we met with her the following saturday. We taught her the plan of salvation and focused a lot on the importance of baptism. As she felt the spirit and she came to realize that her mom still lives and that she can be with her again, she felt that need to be baptized. We set the fecha for the 9th of march. She kept coming to church, she read in the scriptures, in Jesus the Christ, and in the Liahona of the last general conference. As she continued to read and pray she gained a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that we have living prophets and apostles today. She came to know that this is the church of Jesus Christ, the only true church over the face of the earth. On saturday she was baptized and yesterday was confirmed. After her confirmation she said that she had never felt the Spirit so strongly before in her life. It was the happiest ive ever seen someone be after being baptized. She was so ready and so willing to do God´s will and enter into His pathway. It was a great baptism.
Dont have very much more time fam so gotta get going. Miracles happen.
Love you, Elder Reeves
Monday, March 4, 2013
Bilbao week 11 - Paola receives her answer
Familia,
I´m also praying and fasting for you Brett and for the whole family. Hope everything goes well this week. Keep me updated.
Well everything here in Bilbao is great as always. It was snowing a week ago and yesterday it got up to about 25 degrees celcius (not sure how much that is in farenheit but it felt great.) Here comes the springtime! Yesterday was also a huge miracle with our investigator Paola. She´s the friend of our recent convert Yara (youngest sister of the 3). We have been teaching Paola for about a month and a half now and before she had a date to be baptized. But because she wasn´t sure about it and we hadnt been focusing really on her needs instead of just teaching the lessons, she got scared off. We lost contact with her for about 2 weeks and then 2 sundays ago, she showed up to church with Yara. She loved church and we were super happy because it was the first time she came. We tried to visit her last week but it didnt work out. Then yesterday we called her before church and she said, "yes im coming! I´ll be there at 10" She came and loved it again. We met with her right after church for about 10 minutes and just talked about how she´s felt coming to church. She asked us, "what does it mean when i feel happy but at the same time i want to cry but i just feel so peaceful?" Seriously, it was a question almost too goot do be true. Just like Luz Marina that i talked about in the last email. We talked about the Spirit and how it teaches us the truth of all things. We then asked her, "so do you believe this is the church of Jesus Christ?" She said yes and that she had now received her answer. We set a date for her again for the 16th. Just another testimony to me that this is the Lord´s work. He is preparing the way so that all of His children get the chance to accept the gospel. We are in the "hastening" and the second harvest. Love it.
Luz Marina wasn´t able to go to church yesterday because she got sick but we´ve been fasting and praying with her so that everything goes well this week and that the baptism will be an incredible service. They announced the baptism yesterday in church and the whole ward is excited for her. Especially Alex and Angelica, her daughter and son in law.
The church is true. The Lord´s work continues pressing forward. Love life. Aguuuuuur
Elder Reevers
I´m also praying and fasting for you Brett and for the whole family. Hope everything goes well this week. Keep me updated.
Well everything here in Bilbao is great as always. It was snowing a week ago and yesterday it got up to about 25 degrees celcius (not sure how much that is in farenheit but it felt great.) Here comes the springtime! Yesterday was also a huge miracle with our investigator Paola. She´s the friend of our recent convert Yara (youngest sister of the 3). We have been teaching Paola for about a month and a half now and before she had a date to be baptized. But because she wasn´t sure about it and we hadnt been focusing really on her needs instead of just teaching the lessons, she got scared off. We lost contact with her for about 2 weeks and then 2 sundays ago, she showed up to church with Yara. She loved church and we were super happy because it was the first time she came. We tried to visit her last week but it didnt work out. Then yesterday we called her before church and she said, "yes im coming! I´ll be there at 10" She came and loved it again. We met with her right after church for about 10 minutes and just talked about how she´s felt coming to church. She asked us, "what does it mean when i feel happy but at the same time i want to cry but i just feel so peaceful?" Seriously, it was a question almost too goot do be true. Just like Luz Marina that i talked about in the last email. We talked about the Spirit and how it teaches us the truth of all things. We then asked her, "so do you believe this is the church of Jesus Christ?" She said yes and that she had now received her answer. We set a date for her again for the 16th. Just another testimony to me that this is the Lord´s work. He is preparing the way so that all of His children get the chance to accept the gospel. We are in the "hastening" and the second harvest. Love it.
Luz Marina wasn´t able to go to church yesterday because she got sick but we´ve been fasting and praying with her so that everything goes well this week and that the baptism will be an incredible service. They announced the baptism yesterday in church and the whole ward is excited for her. Especially Alex and Angelica, her daughter and son in law.
The church is true. The Lord´s work continues pressing forward. Love life. Aguuuuuur
Elder Reevers
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