Nice back yard Carrie!! It looks sooo good. It´ll be fun to watch Caden become an NBA star with that basketball hoop. Wow time is flying. This next week is transfers again and it´s going to be the BIG one. 21 viejos going home. We´ll see how it turns out. It´s President and Hermana Hinckley´s last transfer so we want it to be perfect for them. President and Hermana Pace will be coming on June 29th.. craaazy!The miracle I saw this last week is the power of testimony and the scriptures. Elder Garces and I went to one of our Filipino visits and we knew that a member was going to invite some non-member friends. When we got there, there were 5 Filipinos friends and 3 other members. As we started teaching, we tried hard to keep everyone attentive and listening, but that´s something REALLY hard to do with a group that big. Many questions were brought up and we found ourselves listening to a big argument about why God would let His children suffer if He loves us. It was getting time to leave so we calmed everyone down and we told them we were going to read a scripture and then have to go. As soon as we started reading the scripture, the room went completely silent and we were able to bare our testimonies and bring the Spirit back strong for a minute. We ended with a prayer and just left them with the Spirit. I dont know if we´ve had any impact on those investigators but like it says in 2 Nephi 33, we brought the Spirit UNTO their hearts, and it´s up to them to let that Spirit INTO their hearts.
Things are going great here in the mission. I´ve finally gotten to the point in the office where I´m not so stressed out every day to where I wanna just break down and cry... haha it´s never happened but there´s been a lot of stressful times. It´s just taken me almost 6 months to finally get into the rhythm of it. Thanks for everything fam. Love you more than ever. Til next week
Elder Reeves
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Oficina week 23 - Conversion of Nelys
Thanks for Sunday everyone!! That was super fun. I dont have a lot of time and i just wanted to write you the story of Nelys who got baptized this last weekend.
I already wrote about this first part but here is the whole conversion. Nelys is from Honduras and just got here to Spain like 2 months ago. She left her 5 kids in Honduras in hopes to find a better life here. She moved in with her friend Aida who´s a member. She immediately started coming to church with Aida and knew she needed to start a new life with God. After coming to church for about a month we were finally able to have a visit with her. We met with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. The next visit she stood us up because she had an interview for a job offer. We called her the next day (Tuesday) but she didn´t answer. So we called Aida and asked her how she was doing. She said, "Elders good news! Nelys wants to get baptized! We´re thinking about her getting baptized this weekend!" We kinda sat there on the phone in shock for a couple seconds and then finally said, "alright! But we´re going to have to teach her everything before Saturday!" We met with her the next day (wednesday) and we asked her why she wants to get baptized. She said that she´s never been baptized and it´s something she knows she has to do. Then she shared with us a dream that she had. In the dream she was at home on a Sunday and she knew she had to go to church. Elder Garces and I pulled up to the house in a big van and started calling for her. We were telling her to come down and to come to church with us. She was surprised that we would come and care for her enough to pick her up and take her with us. She said she felt good and happy and got in the car and came to church with us. After she woke up she decided that that was a sign from God and that she needed to get baptized. We taught her all that we could but she still wasn´t ready for that weekend. We kept teaching her through the next week and she was completely ready to be baptized. On Thursday she had her interview and then on Saturday she got baptized. Nelys was a miracle and was so prepared by God.
Love you fam. Have a good week!
Elder Reeves
I already wrote about this first part but here is the whole conversion. Nelys is from Honduras and just got here to Spain like 2 months ago. She left her 5 kids in Honduras in hopes to find a better life here. She moved in with her friend Aida who´s a member. She immediately started coming to church with Aida and knew she needed to start a new life with God. After coming to church for about a month we were finally able to have a visit with her. We met with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. The next visit she stood us up because she had an interview for a job offer. We called her the next day (Tuesday) but she didn´t answer. So we called Aida and asked her how she was doing. She said, "Elders good news! Nelys wants to get baptized! We´re thinking about her getting baptized this weekend!" We kinda sat there on the phone in shock for a couple seconds and then finally said, "alright! But we´re going to have to teach her everything before Saturday!" We met with her the next day (wednesday) and we asked her why she wants to get baptized. She said that she´s never been baptized and it´s something she knows she has to do. Then she shared with us a dream that she had. In the dream she was at home on a Sunday and she knew she had to go to church. Elder Garces and I pulled up to the house in a big van and started calling for her. We were telling her to come down and to come to church with us. She was surprised that we would come and care for her enough to pick her up and take her with us. She said she felt good and happy and got in the car and came to church with us. After she woke up she decided that that was a sign from God and that she needed to get baptized. We taught her all that we could but she still wasn´t ready for that weekend. We kept teaching her through the next week and she was completely ready to be baptized. On Thursday she had her interview and then on Saturday she got baptized. Nelys was a miracle and was so prepared by God.
Love you fam. Have a good week!
Elder Reeves
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Oficina week 22 - Yep! Still here
Sorry fam i didn´t write last week because I ran out of time. Dont worry... I´m still here in the office!! I´m almost 100% positive I´m going to be here for when President and Hermana Pace get here. So that means I probably have at least 2 months left in the office! Not what I expected but it will be fun to be here as the office staff for the new mission president.
Mom and Dad i´ll be calling at 5 on Sunday Spain time so it will be 8 in the morning there in Arizona. Does that work for you two?A miracle we´ve seen is with Nely. Nely has been coming to church for the past month with her member friend Aida. They were friends in Honduras and Nely just barely moved here to Spain and immediately started coming to church with Aida. We´ve been trying to meet with them for the past month but for work reasons and other problems we´ve never been able to meet with her. 2 sundays ago, we decided we had to teach her while we were with her. So we pulled her out of class and had a short lesson about baptism and the Book of Mormon. She said she´s never been baptized before and wants to prepare. We weren´t able to set a fecha with her because we got kicked out of the room from the primary, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and a return visit. That visit, she fired us because she had an interview for work. We called Aida that night and asked her what happened with Nely and she said, "Elders good news! Nely wants to be baptized this weekend!" We visited her the next day, Wednesday, and set up a conversion plan. We felt like we couldn´t teach her what she needed to learn in 3 days so we pushed it for this week. She´s preparing to be baptized this Saturday.
Love you all so much. Send me some pics of the mancation. We´ll talk on Sunday!
Elder Reeves
Mom and Dad i´ll be calling at 5 on Sunday Spain time so it will be 8 in the morning there in Arizona. Does that work for you two?A miracle we´ve seen is with Nely. Nely has been coming to church for the past month with her member friend Aida. They were friends in Honduras and Nely just barely moved here to Spain and immediately started coming to church with Aida. We´ve been trying to meet with them for the past month but for work reasons and other problems we´ve never been able to meet with her. 2 sundays ago, we decided we had to teach her while we were with her. So we pulled her out of class and had a short lesson about baptism and the Book of Mormon. She said she´s never been baptized before and wants to prepare. We weren´t able to set a fecha with her because we got kicked out of the room from the primary, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and a return visit. That visit, she fired us because she had an interview for work. We called Aida that night and asked her what happened with Nely and she said, "Elders good news! Nely wants to be baptized this weekend!" We visited her the next day, Wednesday, and set up a conversion plan. We felt like we couldn´t teach her what she needed to learn in 3 days so we pushed it for this week. She´s preparing to be baptized this Saturday.
Love you all so much. Send me some pics of the mancation. We´ll talk on Sunday!
Elder Reeves
Monday, May 7, 2012
Your Nephew: email from Uncle Robert
A friend of ours (Fred Siaosi) sent me this. He just happened to be in Barcelona on business with his wife (pictured) and went to Church on Sunday. While there he told the Elders that he was from Carlsbad and Ryan said, " My uncle lives there". Haha.
Robert Sheffield
Robert Sheffield
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Oficina week 20 - Surprise visit
Congrats Jess on the 3rd bebe!! I´ll be praying for you and your fam. That pool is lookin nice and really tempting. Good thing I dont like swimming anymore!
So I was here writing my emails when in walked this lady that looked SO familiar. It took me about 5 seconds until she finally said, "I´m looking for an Elder Reeves!" And then i thought, "wait... is that really Matt Clegg´s mom here in Barcelona??" Haha weirdest feeling ever!! So yeah i just spent like 20 minutes talking to Sister Clegg! Too bad Brother Clegg was in a meeting so he wasn´t able to come. She told me a lot of good things that are happening in Bountiful. That really was such a crazy experience. I love the Cleggs and I love my life here in the mission and back home. I feel bad because Matt wrote me a letter a couple months ago and I haven´t written him back yet. Dont worry i´m doing it today!!Wow I cant believe I´ve hit 20 weeks here in the office. Things have been going crazy here in the mission. The mission has grown so much that every area in the mission is open right now. The last area that was closed was La Seu/Andorra and we got Elder Krasnoselsky and Elder Morrison up there last weekend. It´s been so amazing being able to buy pisos and help open up the areas in the mission. Elder Garces and I are still working hard but having to balance a lot of office work too. We found this new Filipina lady this last week. We were at church this last sunday and I was talking to Marlon, another Filipino member. We started talking about his menos-activo brother and then he said, "actually there is a less-active member that you can go visit. Her name is Nining." That night we didn´t have a set visit so we passed by their house. There was Nining and another lady named Abegail. Nining said, "Thank you so much for coming! I had been praying that you would come over." and even started tearing up. Abegail is the niece of another member Aurora who´s in the Philippines right now. We didn´t have a man with us so we pulled out some chairs and taught them through the door. Abegail has been to church before but hasn´t had contact with the missionaries for about 3 years. We just started teaching immediately about baptism. Abegail loved it and is set to be baptized for the 5th of May. She´s doing great and we have another visit with her tonight. Pray for her!!
Fam I always say this but i cant say it enough... I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Keep staying close to the Spirit and listen to that guidance daily. Til next week. Oh yeah I just realized we´re going to be skyping again in a couple of weeks. Crazy. So i´ll see you then.
Elder Reeves
So I was here writing my emails when in walked this lady that looked SO familiar. It took me about 5 seconds until she finally said, "I´m looking for an Elder Reeves!" And then i thought, "wait... is that really Matt Clegg´s mom here in Barcelona??" Haha weirdest feeling ever!! So yeah i just spent like 20 minutes talking to Sister Clegg! Too bad Brother Clegg was in a meeting so he wasn´t able to come. She told me a lot of good things that are happening in Bountiful. That really was such a crazy experience. I love the Cleggs and I love my life here in the mission and back home. I feel bad because Matt wrote me a letter a couple months ago and I haven´t written him back yet. Dont worry i´m doing it today!!Wow I cant believe I´ve hit 20 weeks here in the office. Things have been going crazy here in the mission. The mission has grown so much that every area in the mission is open right now. The last area that was closed was La Seu/Andorra and we got Elder Krasnoselsky and Elder Morrison up there last weekend. It´s been so amazing being able to buy pisos and help open up the areas in the mission. Elder Garces and I are still working hard but having to balance a lot of office work too. We found this new Filipina lady this last week. We were at church this last sunday and I was talking to Marlon, another Filipino member. We started talking about his menos-activo brother and then he said, "actually there is a less-active member that you can go visit. Her name is Nining." That night we didn´t have a set visit so we passed by their house. There was Nining and another lady named Abegail. Nining said, "Thank you so much for coming! I had been praying that you would come over." and even started tearing up. Abegail is the niece of another member Aurora who´s in the Philippines right now. We didn´t have a man with us so we pulled out some chairs and taught them through the door. Abegail has been to church before but hasn´t had contact with the missionaries for about 3 years. We just started teaching immediately about baptism. Abegail loved it and is set to be baptized for the 5th of May. She´s doing great and we have another visit with her tonight. Pray for her!!
Fam I always say this but i cant say it enough... I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Keep staying close to the Spirit and listen to that guidance daily. Til next week. Oh yeah I just realized we´re going to be skyping again in a couple of weeks. Crazy. So i´ll see you then.
Elder Reeves
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Oficina week 19 -
Bon día my fam,
Mom you sound super busy!!! But that´s good you´re learning more Spanish. If you ever have some extra plane tickets to Asia again when I´m back, don´t be shy to ask me. And it´s only 5 years? I thought it would be at least 10! Have they always had the assignment for only 5 years?
Tuesday was transfers! 12 new missionaries came in and only 3 left. Next transfer is going to be even more insane. There´s going to be 21 missionaries that are going home and 17 are coming... We´re already making plans on how we´re going to do it. Because the mission is growing so much, President is going to send missionaries up to Andorra where I went to a couple of times. It´s the only area in the mission right now that isn´t open. Elder Krasnoselsky and Elder Morrison are going up there!! I´ve been working on getting a piso up there and it´s still in process. President just told me about it about a week and a half ago so i´ve been trying to get it done quick. Hopefully they´ll be up there this weekend.
I love being with Elder Garces. We think alike and know what we have to do and we just do it. I hope I don´t get transferred soon because we know the Lord is starting to pour out blessings upon us and our area and we´re going to have success. This last week we´ve seen a ton of miracles. We had a lot of goals set up and we knew if we worked our hardest and did our part, the Lord would make up for the rest. Saturday morning we started with 6 lessons for the week just because of a busy week in the office and we didn´t take as much time to plan out our days during the week. Sunday night we ended with 20 lessons. Obviously it´s not about numbers, but the more lessons we´re teaching, the more people are progressing. I know that the Lord blessed us with those opportunities because He knew we would be willing to do it. We were dead tired at the end of the weekend but it was the best feeling ever knowing that we were well used by in the Lord´s hands.
The reality of this gospel becomes more and more true for me every day. The companionship of the Spirit is real. We are entitled to the guidance of the Lord if we are worthy and willing to do His will. Pray for our investigators. Pray for our area. I love you all
Elder Reeves
Mom you sound super busy!!! But that´s good you´re learning more Spanish. If you ever have some extra plane tickets to Asia again when I´m back, don´t be shy to ask me. And it´s only 5 years? I thought it would be at least 10! Have they always had the assignment for only 5 years?
Tuesday was transfers! 12 new missionaries came in and only 3 left. Next transfer is going to be even more insane. There´s going to be 21 missionaries that are going home and 17 are coming... We´re already making plans on how we´re going to do it. Because the mission is growing so much, President is going to send missionaries up to Andorra where I went to a couple of times. It´s the only area in the mission right now that isn´t open. Elder Krasnoselsky and Elder Morrison are going up there!! I´ve been working on getting a piso up there and it´s still in process. President just told me about it about a week and a half ago so i´ve been trying to get it done quick. Hopefully they´ll be up there this weekend.
I love being with Elder Garces. We think alike and know what we have to do and we just do it. I hope I don´t get transferred soon because we know the Lord is starting to pour out blessings upon us and our area and we´re going to have success. This last week we´ve seen a ton of miracles. We had a lot of goals set up and we knew if we worked our hardest and did our part, the Lord would make up for the rest. Saturday morning we started with 6 lessons for the week just because of a busy week in the office and we didn´t take as much time to plan out our days during the week. Sunday night we ended with 20 lessons. Obviously it´s not about numbers, but the more lessons we´re teaching, the more people are progressing. I know that the Lord blessed us with those opportunities because He knew we would be willing to do it. We were dead tired at the end of the weekend but it was the best feeling ever knowing that we were well used by in the Lord´s hands.
The reality of this gospel becomes more and more true for me every day. The companionship of the Spirit is real. We are entitled to the guidance of the Lord if we are worthy and willing to do His will. Pray for our investigators. Pray for our area. I love you all
Elder Reeves
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