Family,
Alright im just going to jump into this whirlwind of a story and let all of you know the biggest miracles that have happened in my mission so far... This is going to be going all over the place because there are so many little details so just hold onto your seats for a little bit.
It all started this last Sunday (16th) when i was praying right before going to bed and i was thinking about what God was wanting me to do in the last full week of my mission. I really wasn´t even thinking too much about baptisms but just what God expected of me the last week and then a thought came into my head "Teresa".
Quick side note: Teresa is the mom of Zulema (17 years old) that should have been baptized with her son Gabriel (12 years old) when Zulema got baptized last month. They didn´t get baptized because the ex husband was against the idea and said that if they got baptized he would never visit them again and he would stop help paying for rent and for food. We were pretty bummed about it but felt good that they could be baptized in the future. They´ve been coming to church for the last weeks but we´ve had terrible communication with them and had only visited them maybe 2 times within 3 weeks and they were the worst visits ever because the family has been going through some really hard times.
Alright now back to Sunday the 16th. So after that thought came to my mind i knew we had to go visit Teresa and her family. The next morning the 17th i looked at our agenda and we had visits all in the afternoon after preparation day and there werent any open hours to visit Teresa. As we went through the day, we called the people we had set up visits with and one of them cancelled on us. When they cancelled, i looked at Elder Pearson and said, "we have to visit Teresa". We called them and she answered excited to talk to us and said that we could come over that night. Elder Pearson and i talked for a litte bit about what we wanted to share with them and we decided that we were just going to focus the whole lesson on baptism. We got there to there house and they were happy to see us and be together. Teresa told us that the weekend before (friday andsaturday the 14th and 15th) she had gone with her kids to a couple of church activities that the members had invited her to. This was a huge miracle because on saturday it was a stake activity and everyone was going to Vitoria but she didnt have the money to go. She had called her ex husband and explained to him that she wanted to go, so he put some more money in her bank account just so she could go with Zulema. Big change of heart from the dad who before didnt want anything to do with the church. As we then taught about baptism, Teresa expressed her desire to be baptized but that she was afraid, this time not because of the ex husband, but because she was afraid to not be able to keep the commandments after baptism. We talked about how nobody is perfect even after baptism and we promised her that God would help her. We left the house with a visit set for the next day and the invitation for her and Gabriel to pray about baptism and what God wanted them to do.
Tuesday the 18th. We called the Bishop and asked him to come to the visit and he was happy to come. We told the Bishop about Teresa´s desire to be baptized and that we were going to try to set a date for them. After singing and praying to start the lesson, we immediately asked them how they felt when the prayed about baptism. Both of them said that they felt like it was what God wanted them to do but Teresa was still afraid of messing up after baptism. The bishop just took control and told her that it was okay, we just try to do our best but that she needed the blessings of baptism in her life right now. It was a powerful testimony and the spirit was strong. We then invited them to be baptized for that weekend the 22nd. Teresa said, "THIS weekend??" pause..... "vale!" (okay) We were so excited and were amazed at the changes that had taken place and that God had guided us to them and to help them be baptized that weekend.
Wednesday the 19th. Everything was good and everyone was happy. We stopped by Teresa´s house in the morning and had planned to teach about the word of wisdom and tithing because we felt like those were 2 things that were the hardest for her. When we got there, we felt like we needed to make sure everything was alright with Gabriel getting baptized without the permission of his father. Instead of going over the word of wisdom and tithing we just talked about how it would be good for Gabriel to call his dad and ask for permission or at least let him know that he was getting baptized. We had to leave really fast because we were going to do an exchange with the Vitoria Elders and we had to catch a bus. So we left her without going over the commandments but told her to read over the interview questions with Gabriel so that they would be ready. We were just praying that everything would be alright for the interview.
Thursday the 20th. We had to travel the whole day because Elder Pearson and i had to get back together after the exchange and we had some other baptismal interviews that we had to do in the Zone, one in Vitoria and the other in Logroño. We got back to Bilbao at about 7:30 but we still didnt have time to visit Teresa because we had to set up the chapel for the Zone conference that we were going to have the next day. So we just called Teresa to make sure that everything was alright and it seemed like it was so we told her, "ok we´ll see you tomorrow for the interview!"
Friday the 21st. We went with our district leader Elder Thimmig and his comp Elder Frederich to go do the interview for Teresa and Gabriel. Teresa started and everything sounded like it was going well in the other room. But as Elder Thimmig got to the tithing question, she wasnt willing to pay it. She had thought that it was okay to not pay tithing until you had enough to pay it. She was worried about her econimic situation and that she wouldnt be able to pay for the house and for food and take care of her 2 kids. She came out of the interview furious finding out that she couldnt be baptized the next day. We sat down with her and talked about tithing and she wouldnt have it. She said that God understood her situation and that she didnt need to pay it until she got a better job. She didnt even stay in the room for the last prayer she was so mad that she just walked out of the room. We finished with a prayer with Zulema and Gabriel and were devestated.
Saturday the 22nd. We didnt even think about calling Teresa because we knew that she needed her space and we didnt want her to feel like she was being pressured. We had invited her to another activity that we were having that night in the church but of course she didnt show up and neither did Zulema or Gabriel. I thought i was never going to see her again.
Sunday the 23rd. Teresa and Gabriel didnt show up to church. Normal. Zulema miraculously showed up like 20 minutes late. She didnt talk to us though. We shook her hand and she just went to her classes. But, here´s where the miracles started happening again. Some members found out about what happened and they decided that they were going to call Teresa and invite her to another activity of collecting old clothes for the poor that was going to happen that night at 6 in the church. We had no idea that the members had called her and invited her. We went to the activity because we had a lot of left clothes in our piso that we were going to donate. Right before going out to the activity, Elder Pearson brought up the idea that we should fast just for Teresa and Gabriel. We started the fast and then headed out to the church. When we got there, there was Teresa helping out with all the clothes. We were shocked. We went up to her and started talking to her. She seemed a little happier but we could tell that she was still upset about not being baptized so we didnt bring it up. After the activity, Bishop decided to drive some women of the ward home to their separate houses. Teresa went with them as well. Of course our Bishop being the amazing man that he is, talked to Teresa while in the car and explained to her the need of her paying her tithing and being baptized (we had no idea this was all happening by the way). At about 8:00 the bishop called us and said, "Elders, i need you to call your district leader and tell him that we need a baptismal interview for a baptism that we´ll be having on tuesday at 8:00. Im here with Teresa and she´s accepted to pay tithing." I was speechless and didnt know what to say to the Bishop. I just kind of laughed and said are you kidding me? He said that he was serious and that she and Gabriel needed to be interviewed again so that they could be baptized before i left this wednesday to Barcelona.
Today. We had the baptismal interviews this morning and they´re all ready to go to be baptized tomorrow at 8:00. It all happened because the members and the Bishop stepped in and took over. Biggest miracles that i´ve seen in my mission.
Love you family. Dad, mom, Jon and Leah, i´ll see you soon.
Elder Reeves
Monday, June 24, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Bilbao week 26 - Fasting and Prayer
Buenos días familia,
We have been contacting a lot and finding through our own efforts for the last couple of weeks and this week things just started falling into place. But i think it´s all coming together right now because of the prayers that we´ve been doing in the morning at 10:00 and because of fasting. We started to pray as a mission at 10:00 every morning to pray for 1000 new investigators in this month of June. And Elder Pearson loves fasting. There´s been times when we´ve gotten to visits after eating at mediodía and the investigator will offer us food and drinks and i´ll say, "yeah i´d love some!" Then i turn to my companion and he says "no thanks, im ok." and i realize that he´s fasting again. Well i decided that it´s not fair for my companion that he´s fasting and im not supporting him in those fasts so these last 2 weeks we´ve done a couple of fasts together and miracles have started to happen. We´ve found a new family and other people who are prepared and willing to listen to the gospel. It´s incredible.
I´m pretty sad because the new family that we had found a couple of weeks ago, Melina and her daughters Yoselin, Candi, and Ainoah, have been really hard to get in contact with. Ever since the dad Victor arrived, they started working a lot and it´s been impossible to visit them. They were going to come to an activity this last friday in the church but ended up not showing up. It´s that fine line that we have to play to try to be persistant but not overbearing. I´m praying a lot that this week we´ll be able to get things going again.
One of the new investigators that we found this week is Shiva from Nepal! (it´s crazy how many different people we teach from different countries) He was a contact on the street and has been brought up Hindu. He´s been here in Spain for the last 5 years and speaks really good spanish. For the last couple of months he started going to an Evangelical church and looking for God. Since there arent very many Hindus here, he´s started being more open and looking for answers. We taught him for the first time yesterday and he´s so good, so humble and just willing to learn. He understands a little bit about Jesus Christ but not much, so it was a little hard and different teaching him. He doesnt understand exactly what baptism is but he knows that if he gets baptized that he´s telling God that he wants to follow him. So we set a fecha and told him that we´re going to help him to find out if God is really there and how he can follow God in his life. He accepted and is excited to learn. We have a couple of visits set up for this week so we´ll see how it goes.
Love you all. Happy fathers day to all the fathers in the family. Dad, i´ve written you a personal email.
Elder Reeves
Here´s some pics of the last concilio
We have been contacting a lot and finding through our own efforts for the last couple of weeks and this week things just started falling into place. But i think it´s all coming together right now because of the prayers that we´ve been doing in the morning at 10:00 and because of fasting. We started to pray as a mission at 10:00 every morning to pray for 1000 new investigators in this month of June. And Elder Pearson loves fasting. There´s been times when we´ve gotten to visits after eating at mediodía and the investigator will offer us food and drinks and i´ll say, "yeah i´d love some!" Then i turn to my companion and he says "no thanks, im ok." and i realize that he´s fasting again. Well i decided that it´s not fair for my companion that he´s fasting and im not supporting him in those fasts so these last 2 weeks we´ve done a couple of fasts together and miracles have started to happen. We´ve found a new family and other people who are prepared and willing to listen to the gospel. It´s incredible.
I´m pretty sad because the new family that we had found a couple of weeks ago, Melina and her daughters Yoselin, Candi, and Ainoah, have been really hard to get in contact with. Ever since the dad Victor arrived, they started working a lot and it´s been impossible to visit them. They were going to come to an activity this last friday in the church but ended up not showing up. It´s that fine line that we have to play to try to be persistant but not overbearing. I´m praying a lot that this week we´ll be able to get things going again.
One of the new investigators that we found this week is Shiva from Nepal! (it´s crazy how many different people we teach from different countries) He was a contact on the street and has been brought up Hindu. He´s been here in Spain for the last 5 years and speaks really good spanish. For the last couple of months he started going to an Evangelical church and looking for God. Since there arent very many Hindus here, he´s started being more open and looking for answers. We taught him for the first time yesterday and he´s so good, so humble and just willing to learn. He understands a little bit about Jesus Christ but not much, so it was a little hard and different teaching him. He doesnt understand exactly what baptism is but he knows that if he gets baptized that he´s telling God that he wants to follow him. So we set a fecha and told him that we´re going to help him to find out if God is really there and how he can follow God in his life. He accepted and is excited to learn. We have a couple of visits set up for this week so we´ll see how it goes.
Love you all. Happy fathers day to all the fathers in the family. Dad, i´ve written you a personal email.
Elder Reeves
Here´s some pics of the last concilio
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Bilbao week 25 - Opening our mouths
Jon and Leah moving to London eh?? Sounds awesome. You´ll have to visit my good friend Sam Middleton. We lived together for 3 transfers here on the mission. He´s been home for almost a year now. He´s been fighting a lot of the anti mormon stuff that´s been going on there because of the Book of Mormon plays on broadway. I dont know if its still blowing up right now but a couple of months ago he said it was pretty bad.
Well the sun has finally come out in Bilbao!! We were wearing our winter coats until about a week ago. The temperature is finally going up and Bilbao is greener than ever.
A lot of miracles have been happening in the last couple of days just from opening our mouths to people. First off, Freddy got baptized. Freddy is a huge miracle man that we contacted in the street about a month and a half ago. He was there with his wife and his two little kids. They lived in the sisters area so we passed their info to them and they started teaching them. Now the dad, Freddy just got baptized this last weekend. It always feels good to know that even though its not one of your personal baptisms, that you were able to help another child of God enter into his pathway. They are from Argentina. The mom and the kids moved to Mallorca to work for a month but they´ll be coming back soon and the mom hopefully will be baptized when they get back. Another miracle was a mom that we passed while we were crossing a street who was pushing a stroller and walking with her older daughter at her side. We were already at the other side of the street when of course my companion followed the spirit and said, we have to go talk to that family. We went back across the street and talked to them. The daughter, Alejandra, who´s 17 years old was baptized when she was 9 back in Bolivia but stopped going to church because they moved here to spain. She was baptized with her grandma and 2 of her cousins. Her mom, Marisol, never was baptized. We got their info and set up a day to visit them for another day. Yesterday we went to their house and visited them. Marisol was really excited and loved having us over. Alejandra remembered a little bit about what the missionaries had taught her but not a lot. We taught them a lot about how we can become eternal families through the restored church of Jesus Christ. Marisol didnt except a fecha right then but she said that she wants to be baptized. The dad was working at the time but we´re hoping to be able to meet with him soon and get him going as well. We´ve been finding other prepared people as well just from opening our mouths and talking to the whole world.
Melina and her family were´nt able to come to church this last sunday so they dont have the fecha to be baptized anymore. We´ve been trying to visit them but it´s been a little hard because the dad Victor just got back from Bolivia and they´ve been pretty busy with that and work. We´re hoping that we´ll be able to pass by for a little bit tonight and meet Victor and get them back on date to be baptized. Keep praying for them.
Teresa, Zulema, and Gabriel are going through some hard times as well so keep them in your prayers. Thanks for all of your support and your love. Love you all
Elder Reeves
Well the sun has finally come out in Bilbao!! We were wearing our winter coats until about a week ago. The temperature is finally going up and Bilbao is greener than ever.
A lot of miracles have been happening in the last couple of days just from opening our mouths to people. First off, Freddy got baptized. Freddy is a huge miracle man that we contacted in the street about a month and a half ago. He was there with his wife and his two little kids. They lived in the sisters area so we passed their info to them and they started teaching them. Now the dad, Freddy just got baptized this last weekend. It always feels good to know that even though its not one of your personal baptisms, that you were able to help another child of God enter into his pathway. They are from Argentina. The mom and the kids moved to Mallorca to work for a month but they´ll be coming back soon and the mom hopefully will be baptized when they get back. Another miracle was a mom that we passed while we were crossing a street who was pushing a stroller and walking with her older daughter at her side. We were already at the other side of the street when of course my companion followed the spirit and said, we have to go talk to that family. We went back across the street and talked to them. The daughter, Alejandra, who´s 17 years old was baptized when she was 9 back in Bolivia but stopped going to church because they moved here to spain. She was baptized with her grandma and 2 of her cousins. Her mom, Marisol, never was baptized. We got their info and set up a day to visit them for another day. Yesterday we went to their house and visited them. Marisol was really excited and loved having us over. Alejandra remembered a little bit about what the missionaries had taught her but not a lot. We taught them a lot about how we can become eternal families through the restored church of Jesus Christ. Marisol didnt except a fecha right then but she said that she wants to be baptized. The dad was working at the time but we´re hoping to be able to meet with him soon and get him going as well. We´ve been finding other prepared people as well just from opening our mouths and talking to the whole world.
Melina and her family were´nt able to come to church this last sunday so they dont have the fecha to be baptized anymore. We´ve been trying to visit them but it´s been a little hard because the dad Victor just got back from Bolivia and they´ve been pretty busy with that and work. We´re hoping that we´ll be able to pass by for a little bit tonight and meet Victor and get them back on date to be baptized. Keep praying for them.
Teresa, Zulema, and Gabriel are going through some hard times as well so keep them in your prayers. Thanks for all of your support and your love. Love you all
Elder Reeves
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Bilbao week 24 - Being taught by trials
Kaixo mi familia,
Theres a nice mix of Vasco with some Español for you all. Kaixo means hello. I only know like 5 words in Vasco. It´s a crazy language!! They only speak it in the lost little towns around Bilbao. Every once in a while you´ll hear someone in the metro or in the street speaking it.
This last week our district leader in district meeting taught us about trials of our faith and how sometimes we should pray for trials so that we can learn whatever God wants us to learn and to become His children that He wants us to be. Well right after we did that, the week became one of those trials. Haha everything we had set up, all the new people we were finding and talking to, etc, everything fell through. It was awesome. But i loved it because i knew that the Lord was just giving us another chance to grow and to become stronger. We did still have miracles happen during the week though. One of them is a new family that we´ve found. A couple of weeks ago we found an old teaching record in the area book that was back from 2005. It was a small Bolivian family (the parents and 2 little daughters) that had been taught only twice. For a couple of weeks we were trying to set up visits with them but it just wasnt working out so we ended up passing by their house one day. When we got there, only the oldest 14 year old daughter Yoselin (who in the teaching record used to be 7 years old) was there at home. She let us into the building and we went up and taught her a quick lesson through the door because we didnt have another man with us to go in. We set up another time to come by hoping that we would be able to get in contact with her mom and teach the whole family together. When we called the mom a couple of days later, she said, "My daughter Yoselin said that you stopped by and she´s been reading the pamphlet that you gave her and she´s been praying every day! I´ve never seen her like this!! We'd love to have you over!" It was 2 sundays ago that we had this first visit with the whole family and they all accepted the invitation to be baptized. This last week we taught them a couple of times and they came to church for the first time this sunday. They´re progressing so well. The mom´s name is Melina, their old daughter Yoselin, the next 12 year old daughter Candy, and the youngest 7 year old daughter named Ainoah. Another miracle is that the dad, Victor, is in Bolivia right now but he gets back this week. So we´re hoping and praying that he gets here ready to accept the gospel and can be baptized with his family. I know it´s not a coincidence that i´m staying another 2 weeks in the mission. When i found out that i was going to extend, i felt strongly that there was another family that i had to find for those last couple of weeks. Well, i think we´ve found them. Pray for them and for the dad that they all can be baptized this month.
So yesterday we just had the last concilio that i´m ever going to go to as a zone leader. We´ll probably be going to the next concilio in July when you´re here mom, dad, jon and leah. It was a really great meeting though. President had us 3 zone leaders that are going home (me, Elder Kane, and Elder Tirado) get up and bear our testimonies and to share what we´ve learned while we´ve been on the mission. I was doing good and got about half way through my testimony and then i started talking about how each missionary just needs to fall in love with the mission in every way. Then it just hit me and the tears came flying out. haha im not a big cryer but sometimes it hits me hard. But i realized how much i truly love the mission and the people here in Spain. I really cant put in words how much i´ve learned on the mission. I´m going to miss it. But i´ve still got this whole month left so im going to go out fighting.
Love you familia. Thanks for your examples and your love.
Elder Reeves
Theres a nice mix of Vasco with some Español for you all. Kaixo means hello. I only know like 5 words in Vasco. It´s a crazy language!! They only speak it in the lost little towns around Bilbao. Every once in a while you´ll hear someone in the metro or in the street speaking it.
This last week our district leader in district meeting taught us about trials of our faith and how sometimes we should pray for trials so that we can learn whatever God wants us to learn and to become His children that He wants us to be. Well right after we did that, the week became one of those trials. Haha everything we had set up, all the new people we were finding and talking to, etc, everything fell through. It was awesome. But i loved it because i knew that the Lord was just giving us another chance to grow and to become stronger. We did still have miracles happen during the week though. One of them is a new family that we´ve found. A couple of weeks ago we found an old teaching record in the area book that was back from 2005. It was a small Bolivian family (the parents and 2 little daughters) that had been taught only twice. For a couple of weeks we were trying to set up visits with them but it just wasnt working out so we ended up passing by their house one day. When we got there, only the oldest 14 year old daughter Yoselin (who in the teaching record used to be 7 years old) was there at home. She let us into the building and we went up and taught her a quick lesson through the door because we didnt have another man with us to go in. We set up another time to come by hoping that we would be able to get in contact with her mom and teach the whole family together. When we called the mom a couple of days later, she said, "My daughter Yoselin said that you stopped by and she´s been reading the pamphlet that you gave her and she´s been praying every day! I´ve never seen her like this!! We'd love to have you over!" It was 2 sundays ago that we had this first visit with the whole family and they all accepted the invitation to be baptized. This last week we taught them a couple of times and they came to church for the first time this sunday. They´re progressing so well. The mom´s name is Melina, their old daughter Yoselin, the next 12 year old daughter Candy, and the youngest 7 year old daughter named Ainoah. Another miracle is that the dad, Victor, is in Bolivia right now but he gets back this week. So we´re hoping and praying that he gets here ready to accept the gospel and can be baptized with his family. I know it´s not a coincidence that i´m staying another 2 weeks in the mission. When i found out that i was going to extend, i felt strongly that there was another family that i had to find for those last couple of weeks. Well, i think we´ve found them. Pray for them and for the dad that they all can be baptized this month.
So yesterday we just had the last concilio that i´m ever going to go to as a zone leader. We´ll probably be going to the next concilio in July when you´re here mom, dad, jon and leah. It was a really great meeting though. President had us 3 zone leaders that are going home (me, Elder Kane, and Elder Tirado) get up and bear our testimonies and to share what we´ve learned while we´ve been on the mission. I was doing good and got about half way through my testimony and then i started talking about how each missionary just needs to fall in love with the mission in every way. Then it just hit me and the tears came flying out. haha im not a big cryer but sometimes it hits me hard. But i realized how much i truly love the mission and the people here in Spain. I really cant put in words how much i´ve learned on the mission. I´m going to miss it. But i´ve still got this whole month left so im going to go out fighting.
Love you familia. Thanks for your examples and your love.
Elder Reeves
Monday, May 27, 2013
Bilbao week 23 - Teaching while we serve
Kelons mom got baptized!!??? Oh man that really just almost made me cry reading about the baptism. That makes me so happy for him and his family. Me and Kelon are good friends and i always regret not hanging out with him more before the mission. But i´m sure we´ll have plenty more chances. Tell him i love him and i´m praying for him. Seems like yesterday we were in the MTC together.
Happy birthday to all those who have had birthdays or who are going to have them!! Sorry im the worst with remembering dates. Hopefully i´ll be better after the mission.
Yeah it was sad to hear about Sister Monson. They announced it in church a week ago and i had no idea that she wasnt doing well. I remember always seeing her in a wheel chair but i didnt know. I´m sure it was hard for President Monson but i bet he still feels very close to her. Its always comforting to think when im going through hard times on the mission that Emily is there on the other side working with me.
Thanks dad for your email about the temple and about the restored priesthood keys and authority restored to the earth. One of my favorite things to testify about as a missionary is that we literally have been given this power and authority from God and we are authorized to work in His name. Its something that no other churches can testify about. President Pace taught me that we should never be afraid or shy to say that we are representatives of Jesus Christ.
This last week we did an intercambio with the elders from Vitoria. I was with Elder Miller. We had a great intercambio and had fun working hard. Just at the end of the second day, on wednesday night, we got out of our visit a little early at about 9:30. We were about 10 minutes from piso so we had 20 minutes left to use in our area. Elder Miller asked me, "well what should we do for these last 20 minutes?" The thought came to me that we needed to pass by a contact again that we were going to visit earlier that day but then wasnt home when we passed by. I wasnt sure if that was the best way to use our time but i felt like there could be something that comes out of it. So we started walking towards the street where this contact lived. As we turned the corner and started heading up the street, we saw a couple walking with their 2 kids. As i looked at the dad, i immediately recognized that Elder Pearson and I had contacted this same family about 2 months ago! When we met them 2 months ago, we had set up a visit to meet with them but the dad, Alvaro, (he later told us) had lost his phone and we weren´t able to get in contact with them. As Elder Miller and I talked to them, they told us that they were making preparations so move pisos and live in a new home up the street. We asked if we could help them and set up to meet with them Saturday morning and help them move. We called the Elders quorum president and he came to help saturday morning with a small truck. As we helped with the move, we put a Book of Mormon on the dashboard right on the passengers side where Alvaro was going to sit. As we were driving to the new house, he picked it up and starting looking through it. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and a little bit about the restoration. He told us that about 10 years ago, he went to our church and the missionaries taught him a couple of times but then he stopped going and started getting into bad things. We were able to testify of the Book of Mormon and "teach" as we did service. It was great. We´re going to help them again this saturday with some more stuff and once we finish with all the move Alvaro told us, "i want you to come and teach our family." It was a huge miracle that we were able to find them again and i know it wasn´t a coincidence that the spirit had prompted us to go back to that street.
Love you all family. The church is true
Elder Reeves
Happy birthday to all those who have had birthdays or who are going to have them!! Sorry im the worst with remembering dates. Hopefully i´ll be better after the mission.
Yeah it was sad to hear about Sister Monson. They announced it in church a week ago and i had no idea that she wasnt doing well. I remember always seeing her in a wheel chair but i didnt know. I´m sure it was hard for President Monson but i bet he still feels very close to her. Its always comforting to think when im going through hard times on the mission that Emily is there on the other side working with me.
Thanks dad for your email about the temple and about the restored priesthood keys and authority restored to the earth. One of my favorite things to testify about as a missionary is that we literally have been given this power and authority from God and we are authorized to work in His name. Its something that no other churches can testify about. President Pace taught me that we should never be afraid or shy to say that we are representatives of Jesus Christ.
This last week we did an intercambio with the elders from Vitoria. I was with Elder Miller. We had a great intercambio and had fun working hard. Just at the end of the second day, on wednesday night, we got out of our visit a little early at about 9:30. We were about 10 minutes from piso so we had 20 minutes left to use in our area. Elder Miller asked me, "well what should we do for these last 20 minutes?" The thought came to me that we needed to pass by a contact again that we were going to visit earlier that day but then wasnt home when we passed by. I wasnt sure if that was the best way to use our time but i felt like there could be something that comes out of it. So we started walking towards the street where this contact lived. As we turned the corner and started heading up the street, we saw a couple walking with their 2 kids. As i looked at the dad, i immediately recognized that Elder Pearson and I had contacted this same family about 2 months ago! When we met them 2 months ago, we had set up a visit to meet with them but the dad, Alvaro, (he later told us) had lost his phone and we weren´t able to get in contact with them. As Elder Miller and I talked to them, they told us that they were making preparations so move pisos and live in a new home up the street. We asked if we could help them and set up to meet with them Saturday morning and help them move. We called the Elders quorum president and he came to help saturday morning with a small truck. As we helped with the move, we put a Book of Mormon on the dashboard right on the passengers side where Alvaro was going to sit. As we were driving to the new house, he picked it up and starting looking through it. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and a little bit about the restoration. He told us that about 10 years ago, he went to our church and the missionaries taught him a couple of times but then he stopped going and started getting into bad things. We were able to testify of the Book of Mormon and "teach" as we did service. It was great. We´re going to help them again this saturday with some more stuff and once we finish with all the move Alvaro told us, "i want you to come and teach our family." It was a huge miracle that we were able to find them again and i know it wasn´t a coincidence that the spirit had prompted us to go back to that street.
Love you all family. The church is true
Elder Reeves
Monday, May 20, 2013
Bilbao week 22 - Elder Teixeira
Buenos días mi familia,
Just want to say thanks to everyone for letting me be focused and not have to worry about anything at home for these last couple of weeks. It really helps a lot. Yesterday at church, Kevin who just got baptized was there passing the sacrament! Man i was so happy. We gave him a new tie on saturdayand taught him how to tie it. He was so excited. Teresa and Gabriel didnt come to church yesterday which kind of scared us. We called Teresa and she said that everything was ok she was just not having a good day. So we´re praying hard for them so that they can be baptized soon.
Yes mom and dad the conference with Elder and Sister Teixeira was a mission wide thing. It was their mission tour for this year which was super weird because this was my 3rd mission tour that i´ve seen since i´ve been on the mission. Most missionaries only have 2 on their missions. But i would have to say that this conference was my favorite. Everything that was said i felt like was directed completely towards me. Elder Teixeira first talked about one of his companions Elder McCoy when he became a zone leader. He said that Elder McCoy was in his last transfer and was the most obedient and hard working missionary he had ever meet. Elder Teixeira said that it didnt matter what they were doing, Elder McCoy always had his foot out the door at exactly 10:00 and talked to everyone in his sight. He worked so hard that when it was the day for him to start packing his bags and go to the mission home, Elder Teixeira wasnt sure how to stop him because he was just going non stop talking to everyone and preaching the gospel. Finally Elder Teixeira looked at him and said, "Elder McCoy, I´m sorry to say this but dont you think it´s time for us to go back home and pack your bags?" Elder McCoy looked at him and then looked at his watch and said, "yeah, I guess youre right. Lets go home." On the bus back to their piso, he was just in complete silence realizing that it was time. Elder McCoy went home having worked his guts out and giving it everything he had. It made me really reflect on my mission and what I´m doing in these last weeks. I realized that there are a lot of moments when I´m not going my absolute hardest and when i need to repent and dedicate myself even more. I thought a lot about Elder Pearson and if i was being the same example for him as Elder McCoy was for Elder Teixeira. Elder Teixeira said something that really hit me hard. It´s a quote that I now have up on my wall next to where i study to motivate me every day. He said, "Elder McCoy had such an impact on me that i knew exactly what kind of missionary i wanted to be. I told myself, 'The LEAST you can do is FINISH like Elder McCoy.'" I´m going to do everything i can each day to be able to say at the end that "I finished like Elder McCoy".
Alright, enough of that trunky talk. But thought you all would like that story. Elder Teixeira then talked a lot about getting referrals from everybody. From members, less actives, recent converts, and investigators. He gave us a really effective way to ask for referrals which is just simply telling the people you are visiting that you want to pray for some of their family members or friends and you ask them for the names of those people who are passing through hard times. Then after you pray, to INVOLVE the member, investigator, or whoever it is, to meet and teach those people who you prayed for. It was so good. Elder Pearson and I have been trying it and we´ve been getting a lot of referrals. Most of them have been for other missions but some of them have been for our area. Elder Teixeira promised that if we did this, withing a transfer our areas would completely turn around. It was perfect because I have exactly 6 weeks to see this work its magic.
Sister Teixeira was soooo good too!! She had me come up and do an example of how we need to continuously give our investigators and converts "spiritual" water. She had me cup my hands together, stand over a basket of flowers and try to hold all the water in my hands as she poured it in. As hard as i tried, the water kept leaking out. I dont know maybe i just have really weak hands. It was pretty funny though because she said, "Dont let the water fall through! I would hate to have to tell your mother that you weren´t successful the next time i see her!" (they say hi by the way, mom and dad). Then they took a picture with Elder Pearson and I after the conference. They´ll probably be sending it to your email dad, if they havent already.
Anyways. Everythings good up here in beautiful Bilbao. It still rains almost every day and it feels like we´re still in winter. Hopefully by the time you all get here it will be good summer weather. Bilbao is impossible to predict. Love you all so much. Stay strong always in the gospel. Especially in the little things. The blessings are always there waiting for us.
Elder Reeves
Just want to say thanks to everyone for letting me be focused and not have to worry about anything at home for these last couple of weeks. It really helps a lot. Yesterday at church, Kevin who just got baptized was there passing the sacrament! Man i was so happy. We gave him a new tie on saturdayand taught him how to tie it. He was so excited. Teresa and Gabriel didnt come to church yesterday which kind of scared us. We called Teresa and she said that everything was ok she was just not having a good day. So we´re praying hard for them so that they can be baptized soon.
Yes mom and dad the conference with Elder and Sister Teixeira was a mission wide thing. It was their mission tour for this year which was super weird because this was my 3rd mission tour that i´ve seen since i´ve been on the mission. Most missionaries only have 2 on their missions. But i would have to say that this conference was my favorite. Everything that was said i felt like was directed completely towards me. Elder Teixeira first talked about one of his companions Elder McCoy when he became a zone leader. He said that Elder McCoy was in his last transfer and was the most obedient and hard working missionary he had ever meet. Elder Teixeira said that it didnt matter what they were doing, Elder McCoy always had his foot out the door at exactly 10:00 and talked to everyone in his sight. He worked so hard that when it was the day for him to start packing his bags and go to the mission home, Elder Teixeira wasnt sure how to stop him because he was just going non stop talking to everyone and preaching the gospel. Finally Elder Teixeira looked at him and said, "Elder McCoy, I´m sorry to say this but dont you think it´s time for us to go back home and pack your bags?" Elder McCoy looked at him and then looked at his watch and said, "yeah, I guess youre right. Lets go home." On the bus back to their piso, he was just in complete silence realizing that it was time. Elder McCoy went home having worked his guts out and giving it everything he had. It made me really reflect on my mission and what I´m doing in these last weeks. I realized that there are a lot of moments when I´m not going my absolute hardest and when i need to repent and dedicate myself even more. I thought a lot about Elder Pearson and if i was being the same example for him as Elder McCoy was for Elder Teixeira. Elder Teixeira said something that really hit me hard. It´s a quote that I now have up on my wall next to where i study to motivate me every day. He said, "Elder McCoy had such an impact on me that i knew exactly what kind of missionary i wanted to be. I told myself, 'The LEAST you can do is FINISH like Elder McCoy.'" I´m going to do everything i can each day to be able to say at the end that "I finished like Elder McCoy".
Alright, enough of that trunky talk. But thought you all would like that story. Elder Teixeira then talked a lot about getting referrals from everybody. From members, less actives, recent converts, and investigators. He gave us a really effective way to ask for referrals which is just simply telling the people you are visiting that you want to pray for some of their family members or friends and you ask them for the names of those people who are passing through hard times. Then after you pray, to INVOLVE the member, investigator, or whoever it is, to meet and teach those people who you prayed for. It was so good. Elder Pearson and I have been trying it and we´ve been getting a lot of referrals. Most of them have been for other missions but some of them have been for our area. Elder Teixeira promised that if we did this, withing a transfer our areas would completely turn around. It was perfect because I have exactly 6 weeks to see this work its magic.
Sister Teixeira was soooo good too!! She had me come up and do an example of how we need to continuously give our investigators and converts "spiritual" water. She had me cup my hands together, stand over a basket of flowers and try to hold all the water in my hands as she poured it in. As hard as i tried, the water kept leaking out. I dont know maybe i just have really weak hands. It was pretty funny though because she said, "Dont let the water fall through! I would hate to have to tell your mother that you weren´t successful the next time i see her!" (they say hi by the way, mom and dad). Then they took a picture with Elder Pearson and I after the conference. They´ll probably be sending it to your email dad, if they havent already.
Anyways. Everythings good up here in beautiful Bilbao. It still rains almost every day and it feels like we´re still in winter. Hopefully by the time you all get here it will be good summer weather. Bilbao is impossible to predict. Love you all so much. Stay strong always in the gospel. Especially in the little things. The blessings are always there waiting for us.
Elder Reeves
Monday, May 13, 2013
Bilbao week 21 - Baptism of Zulema, Sofia and Kevin
Mom and dad it was great to talk to you yesterday. A little different this time from the other times but it was still really fun. Sorry i wasnt able to talk to the rest of you but we´ll be seeing each other soon.
We had a great baptism this last weekend. I just wanted to write some of the story about Zulema, Sofia and Kevin. About 2 months ago, we saw a guy in the street that seemed like he was kind of lost. We went up to him and started talking to him. His name was Oscar and he gave us his info really easily and said we could pass by his house another day. It almost seemed like one of those contacts who just quickly gives you fake info so that we just go away but it turned out to be the right address and the right number! We went to teach him a couple of days later and met his family, Noemi his wife, and his kids Sofia (15 years old) and Kevin (13 years old). Sofia and Kevin were really shy and didnt say much in the lessons but Noemi LOVED everything we taught. After the first couple of lessons they finally agreed to set a date for baptism. Noemi was the most excited and was reading every day in the Book of Mormon. Sofia and Kevin were reading because Noemi was telling them to read but they still werent very excited about everything. While teaching them, we met their cousins Zulema (17 years old) and Gabriel (12 years old) and their aunt Teresa (Oscar´s sister). We started teaching their family as well and all of them started progressing. Zulema caught on really quick and loved coming to church and reading in the Book of Mormon. As we kept teaching these 2 families, we found out some pretty sad news. 1. Oscar and Noemi werent married and cant get baptized until they do get married. Noemi was heart broken when we told her that she couldnt get baptized. Oscar wasnt too excited about the idea about getting married and just kept pushing it to the side. And 2. Teresa worked every weekend and couldnt come to church. But then, miracles started happening. Teresa gave up her work and came to church with her kids. Sofia and Kevin still werent excited about baptism and we found out that they hadn´t been praying at all. We kept inviting them to pray to know if they should be baptized but they still werent doing it. So we decided to invite their whole family to have family prayers every day, in hopes that Sofia and Kevin would soon catch on and start praying. About a week later, Kevin was ready and excited to be baptized. Teresa, Zulema and Gabriel were also excited and wanting to be baptized. This last sunday (the 5th) we announced their baptism for this saturday (11th) of all 5 of them: Teresa, Zulema, Gabriel, Sofia and Kevin. After hearing the announcement in church, Sofia was NOT happy because she still wasnt feeling prepared for baptism. We told her that she didnt need to be baptized but all we were inviting her to do was to pray and ask God if she should be baptized on that weekend. The next day, she prayed. She felt and knew that she needed to be baptized. Elder Pearson and I felt so blessed and knew that God was answering all of our prayers and the prayers of our investigators. We went throughout the week making preparations for the baptisms and then went to Teresa´s house on Friday to have the interviews of all 5 of them. As we got to her house, everyone was happy and smiling as we were getting ready to do the interviews. Then out of nowhere, the unthinkable happened. Teresa said, "Gabriel and i wont be getting baptized this weekend. Im so sorry" The whole room went silent and Elder Pearson and I didnt know what to say. At first we thought she was joking because she loves to make jokes but then by the look on her face we realized she was being completely serious. We asked her what had happened and what was stopping her from being baptized the next day. She kind of avoided our questions and wasnt answering or telling us why they werent getting baptized. We testified to them of all the miracles that they had seen and the spirit that they had felt. We invited them at least to have the baptismal interview and to see how they felt. Teresa refused to have her interview and Gabriel said ok. But after his interview he still said that he didnt feel ready. Zulema, Sofia and Kevin passed their interviews and were all ready to go. After inviting Teresa and Gabriel to pray about what God wants them to do, we left the house a little confused and a little bit discouraged. We called Teresa again that night to talk to her more in private to see what was going on and she opened up a little bit more to us. She said that she had talked to her husband (who shes separated from) who lives in Barcelona and told him that she and the kids were going to be baptized. The husband was furious and said that if they got baptized that he would never talk to them or see them again. So Teresa made the decision that they werent going to get baptized but still allowed Zulema to make the step.
So it wasnt the baptism that we were hoping for this last weekend but it was still an incredible service. There were a lot of members there, especially the young men and women of the ward. They all sang a special musical number and the Spirit was super strong during the service. Zulema asked Elder Pearson to baptize her and Sofia and Kevin asked me to baptize them. It was a happy day. We're still going to be working with Teresa and Gabriel to see if we can get the permission of the father and we're still praying that Oscar has a change of heart and that him and Noemi can get married soon. I love these 2 families and i know satan is trying hard to stop them from being in Gods pathway but God is making miracles happen.
Love you all fam
Elder Reeves
We had a great baptism this last weekend. I just wanted to write some of the story about Zulema, Sofia and Kevin. About 2 months ago, we saw a guy in the street that seemed like he was kind of lost. We went up to him and started talking to him. His name was Oscar and he gave us his info really easily and said we could pass by his house another day. It almost seemed like one of those contacts who just quickly gives you fake info so that we just go away but it turned out to be the right address and the right number! We went to teach him a couple of days later and met his family, Noemi his wife, and his kids Sofia (15 years old) and Kevin (13 years old). Sofia and Kevin were really shy and didnt say much in the lessons but Noemi LOVED everything we taught. After the first couple of lessons they finally agreed to set a date for baptism. Noemi was the most excited and was reading every day in the Book of Mormon. Sofia and Kevin were reading because Noemi was telling them to read but they still werent very excited about everything. While teaching them, we met their cousins Zulema (17 years old) and Gabriel (12 years old) and their aunt Teresa (Oscar´s sister). We started teaching their family as well and all of them started progressing. Zulema caught on really quick and loved coming to church and reading in the Book of Mormon. As we kept teaching these 2 families, we found out some pretty sad news. 1. Oscar and Noemi werent married and cant get baptized until they do get married. Noemi was heart broken when we told her that she couldnt get baptized. Oscar wasnt too excited about the idea about getting married and just kept pushing it to the side. And 2. Teresa worked every weekend and couldnt come to church. But then, miracles started happening. Teresa gave up her work and came to church with her kids. Sofia and Kevin still werent excited about baptism and we found out that they hadn´t been praying at all. We kept inviting them to pray to know if they should be baptized but they still werent doing it. So we decided to invite their whole family to have family prayers every day, in hopes that Sofia and Kevin would soon catch on and start praying. About a week later, Kevin was ready and excited to be baptized. Teresa, Zulema and Gabriel were also excited and wanting to be baptized. This last sunday (the 5th) we announced their baptism for this saturday (11th) of all 5 of them: Teresa, Zulema, Gabriel, Sofia and Kevin. After hearing the announcement in church, Sofia was NOT happy because she still wasnt feeling prepared for baptism. We told her that she didnt need to be baptized but all we were inviting her to do was to pray and ask God if she should be baptized on that weekend. The next day, she prayed. She felt and knew that she needed to be baptized. Elder Pearson and I felt so blessed and knew that God was answering all of our prayers and the prayers of our investigators. We went throughout the week making preparations for the baptisms and then went to Teresa´s house on Friday to have the interviews of all 5 of them. As we got to her house, everyone was happy and smiling as we were getting ready to do the interviews. Then out of nowhere, the unthinkable happened. Teresa said, "Gabriel and i wont be getting baptized this weekend. Im so sorry" The whole room went silent and Elder Pearson and I didnt know what to say. At first we thought she was joking because she loves to make jokes but then by the look on her face we realized she was being completely serious. We asked her what had happened and what was stopping her from being baptized the next day. She kind of avoided our questions and wasnt answering or telling us why they werent getting baptized. We testified to them of all the miracles that they had seen and the spirit that they had felt. We invited them at least to have the baptismal interview and to see how they felt. Teresa refused to have her interview and Gabriel said ok. But after his interview he still said that he didnt feel ready. Zulema, Sofia and Kevin passed their interviews and were all ready to go. After inviting Teresa and Gabriel to pray about what God wants them to do, we left the house a little confused and a little bit discouraged. We called Teresa again that night to talk to her more in private to see what was going on and she opened up a little bit more to us. She said that she had talked to her husband (who shes separated from) who lives in Barcelona and told him that she and the kids were going to be baptized. The husband was furious and said that if they got baptized that he would never talk to them or see them again. So Teresa made the decision that they werent going to get baptized but still allowed Zulema to make the step.
So it wasnt the baptism that we were hoping for this last weekend but it was still an incredible service. There were a lot of members there, especially the young men and women of the ward. They all sang a special musical number and the Spirit was super strong during the service. Zulema asked Elder Pearson to baptize her and Sofia and Kevin asked me to baptize them. It was a happy day. We're still going to be working with Teresa and Gabriel to see if we can get the permission of the father and we're still praying that Oscar has a change of heart and that him and Noemi can get married soon. I love these 2 families and i know satan is trying hard to stop them from being in Gods pathway but God is making miracles happen.
Love you all fam
Elder Reeves
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