Buenas Tardes Familia! May 7
Yo soy Elder Reichman. Soy un misionero de la iglesia de Jesucristo
de los santos de los ultimos dias. Usted ha visto misioneros como
nosotros? Oh, no? bueno. Nosotros somos misioneros, y como
misioneros, predicamos acerca de Jesucristo. nuestro mensage es muy
especial, y una cosa de la cual compartimos es el Libro de Mormon.
Nos gustaria dejarle con esta tarjeta, y le invitamos a llamar este
numero y recibir este libro completamente gratis! Gracias, y tenga un
buen dia.
(Good afternoon, family!
I am Elder Reichman. I am a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Have you seen missionaries like us? Oh, no? Well, we are missionaries, and as missionaries, we preach about Jesus Christ. Our message is very special, and one of the things that we share is the Book of Mormon. We would like to leave you with this card, and we invite you to call this number to receive this book completely free. Thank you, and have a good day.
Borsh - how are you? I am going to write to you only in Spanish starting today. I loved to read your Spanish! It looks very good to me. And with more time, you will be able to speak very well. We are going to talk a lot in Spanish, me, you and Matt, and B won't understand. It will be very funny. Frisbee sounds very fun, I am happy that you enjoy frisbee that way. I love you little brother!)
Hi family!
I felt I would treat you all to a little sample of a typical Elder
Reichman tracting approach. reading it over again, I hope I'm not as
boring as that sounds. But anyway, how is everyone? I am doing well.
It's been a pretty good week. I have been learning a lot. It's
definitely a transitory period for us right now, President Baker has
asked us to put more emphasis on member missionary work, so we've been
changing the way we do a lot of things. It's also been a transitory
time for me, learning how to be less stressed and focus more on the
people, rather than just me focusing on keeping all the rules. So
it's been interesting, but I really feel everything is moving in a
better direction. We lost one of our investigators this week,
E., we taught him the Law of Tithing, and we finally managed to
contact him this week and he pretty much told us he doesnt want to
talk to us anymore. That was a bummer. but M. M. continues
to do awesome, she really wants to get baptized, it's just a challenge
working with her health problems, because she does dialysis 3 times a
week and most the rest of the time she doesn't feel well. but we also
found a new investigator named G., and she committed to be
baptized! and her daughter in law is actually a less active member!
So it's been pretty good. Some really good things, and some not so
good things. I've been thinking a lot about the Book of Mormon
lately. We've been focusing more on making sure our investigators are
reading, and it's been making a difference for them. The lessons just
feel different when they read the Book of Mormon, and you can tell
that they feel something, even they haven't consciously recognized it
yet. And we've been working with a family with some marriage
problems, and we've been challenging them to read the BOM. And last
week, I walked in their house, and it just felt different. And during
dinner, the husband told us that he'd started reading the BOM. And it
was really amazing, because there really was a difference you could
feel in the house, just from him reading the Book of Mormon. So
that's my thought of the week, that the Book of Mormon is amazing.
I've found a lot of answers in it both during and before my mission,
that without, I don't think I would be where I am now. And my
testimony of the Book of Mormon has definitely been what's carried me
through the hard times. Because I know it's true, and everything else
is secondary. But I know it's true, and I know that it really does
bring us closer to Heavenly Father. But those are just some of my
thoughts about the BOM that I've been having lately. Hope you enjoy
them!
Mops-primero, I will be calling you all at about 8 o clock! 8 your
time, 7 here. So I hope you will all be there! And I'm pretty sure I
remember your phone numbers. So that shouldn't be a problem. But if
you haven't heard from me by 8 o clock, my number is 310-621-5545.
And no texting me this time haha. And as for the questionaire, I am
hoping to have a more relaxed p-day today, and have time to write some
letters. I will try to get that done today, but if Aunt Laurie hasn't
received it by next monday, I'd love it if you could send me the
questions via email! Thanks so much mops!
pops- It was so great to get your high council letter today! I didn't
realize it was from you until I'd read the first paragraph. But I
really loved it, and thanks for sharing your conference thoughts! I
am definitely one of those who tends to focus on what I should be
doing better during conference, but that's not helpful at all. The
messages are supposed to inspire us and lift us to a different level
of performance. So thank you! I hope your knee is feeling better
soon!
borsh- como estas? yo voy a escribirte solo en espanol desde hoy. me
encantaba leer su espanol! me parecia muy bien. y con mas tiempo, tu
vas a poder hablar muy bien. Vamos a hablar mucho en espanol, yo, tu
y matt, and B no entendera! sera muy chistoso. Frisbee suena muy
divertido, estoy feliz que tu lo disfrutes frisbee asi. Te amo
hermanito!
A- I am sorry that I ruined your life. And stuffed 11 cookies in the
VCR. I have eaten a lot of candy this week. I finished all the
peanut butter m&ms, and the Demetters sent me more! I think I may
have a cavity. but shhhhh. Also, I love 30 rock! That is one of my
very favorite lines from 30 rock. Aside from a couple ones from Tracy
Jordan that aren't mission appropriate. I'm glad Altus is treating
you well, and you're training for a triathlon! I want to do one with
you when I get back. My legs will be ripped and ready for the bike.
Sadly, I will need to do lots of training in the swimming department.
But I hope you and Cary and Abby have fun in Altus!
B- I wish I could get a missionary beard card. I never thought
shaving was a big deal. But now, since I do shave every day, I need
to. and it gets annoying. you and Matt will never be able to pluck
my beard again! It's actually getting to be something. It's weird.
I'm glad you had a good week!
M@- oh man. i think the gospel principles teacher will make me draw
every week now. I had to do it again sunday. Maybe we should play
pictionary for our ward fhe next week. I can't believe UVU beat BYU!
At least it was just in baseball.
Kt- I am so sorry that Ellie has been keeping you from sleeping. If
it makes you feel better, I have my own ellie-phant that is keeping me
from sleeping well. Mainly having weird dreams and diarrhea. So I
feel your pain. but hopefully this week, both of our pains will get
better. thanks for all the pictures tatie! I loved them!
(and did Todd really eat rice cereal? That is dad of the year material)
well, I love you all family, and I can't wait to talk to you on sunday!
But the bell rang! May 14
Buenas Tarders familia!
Fue algo buenisimo a oir sus voces. Fue muy, muy dificil a parar de hablar con ustedes. no quise hacerlo. pero, muchas gracias para sus comentarios, sus chistes, y todo. Estoy muy agradecido que yo pude hablar con todos. la technologia es increible.
Good afternoon, family!
It was something very good (sorry, that phrase doesn't translate very well) to hear your voices. It was very, very difficult to stop talking to you guys. I didn't want to do it. But, many thanks for your comments, jokes and all. I am very grateful that I was able to talk to you all. Technology is incredible.
Well, it's been an interesting week! It was so good to hear from everybody last night. It was the best/worst thing in the whole world. It was the best thing, but the worst part was hanging up. You all sounded so great, from all your different states. I'm so glad that we got the conference call to work. (but P.S., for the future, I actually forgot about this in the rush yesterday, President Baker has asked us to only call our parents. He said it's fine if other people are in on the conversation, but it would probably be better next time if I called Mops or Pops phone and did the conference call from there.)
But there is not too much this week that I don't think I already told you. We've had a real tough time getting people to church here, which has been a little disheartening. Our biggest problem is really people are too busy here. I've learned a lot of lessons about being too busy from people here. A lot of people work so much that they can't give their families the attention they need, and it's really hard to find the balance. But since they're so busy, it's hard to get set lessons with them, which means it's hard to bring members to the lessons, which usually means they don't come to church. And then means they don't progress. But we're working on it. Our mission has been having a huge shift, and focusing lately almost exclusively on working with members. Which has been fun. Especially because working with members is something that will help me throughout my life. But that was about it for this week.
Except one tender mercy from yesterday.
Yesterday was kind of a rough day for me. Definitely the highlight of it for me was the phone call. But before I went to church, I asked Heavenly Father to help me learn one thing about prayer to help me. I listened to the talks, and i'll be honest, didn't learn much. And then I forgot about it a little bit, until Priesthood. And then, they opened the manual, and the title of the lesson was called "opening your soul in prayer." I almost laughed out loud right there. When Heavenly Father answers, He really answers. But it was amazing to see that He really did know what was going on with me, and He was watching over me. And that He does answer prayers. I know He's there, even when it's hard for us to recognize Him in our life. And that's my faith-building experience from the week.
Borsh- oh man, i used to love frisbee tournaments. Nothing is better than just playing good frisbee like all day. That stinks that your cleats were too tight, that sounds painful. I can't believe you finish school so soon! That's crazy. You get out before everyone here, you're lucky. I hope you have a good week buddy!
Kt- oh man. Thank you for the picture! Ellie is adorable! I want to hold her and be her best friend. I keep her picture in my white handbook case, and if people ask me if I have a girl waiting for me, I just show them the picture of Ellie. Well, theoretically, if someone did ask me that, I would do that. I'm still waiting for the opportunity.
Mops- I can't e'en b'lee u. Again? I can't believe you sent me another text! I sure love you though, and thanks for all you do to let me know that you love me too. I hope you had a good Mothers day! I definitely had a different one than I'm used too. I'm very glad my package made it to you safely, and that you liked it! That memory card has all the pictures I've taken since I got to Los Angeles, so there should be some good ones! As for Laurie's questionaire, I will try very hard to fill it out today and send it. Also, question. You sent me the new credit card a while ago. I tried to use it to get out money the other day from an ATM, but it said I needed a PIN number, and my old one doesn't work. Do you know what it is? if you do, I'd appreciate it! I sure love you Mops! Merry Mothers day!
Pops-I'm glad to hear your knee is getting better. I still can't believe Danny is home. I would be very interested to see how similar our areas are. There's probably a lot of things in common. It was good to hear your voice as well, although I'm kind of surprised I didn't hear at least one "does your face hurt" in there. but I love you pops, have a good week!
A- Ew. School and work. That sounds dumb and boring. I thought you were going to go home and live with Mom forever. Yeah. Mom's awesome. But remember those days, when we weren't responsible and we ate lots of good things and made up dances to our favorite songs? Good times, good times. But now we're all growed up. When did that happen?
Well, I'm out of time, but I sure love you all, and have a great week! It was so good to hear you all last night!
Pt 2 May 21
(Sadly for the rest of us, Pt 1 never was seen again. It wasn’t sent or saved in drafts. At least we knew he was alive and kicking!)
for some reason it randomly sent.
but Amy, Elder Davies was my elders quorum president at BYU. that'd
be cool if you saw him. He's serving in tulsa, OK, somewhere there.
Also, everytime i hear Adele songs it makes me cry a little inside.
All i want to do is start busting out with a little Adele and some
dance moves. But it's alright. You have time to work on the moves
and then I'll learn them when I get back. Also, I love you present!
I already shot elder Reeves with the gun. And laughed about the quack
whistle. Love you Yam!
P.P.S. Kt- I loved your testimony forest analogy. That's awesome.
I've definitely felt like hiding in my big trees til the little ones
grow a little. I love it
Well, I sure love you family, thanks so much for your awesome letters,
and have a great week! I'll tell you what's going on next week! I'll
either be in shady Oaks or paradise falls, we'll see. Love you!
Butter me up, I’m on a roll!! May 28
And...................................................................................
Surprise! I actually made my letter last week disappear to build up the suspense for this weeks transfer letter! Just kidding. I have no idea where my letter went. That is very strange that it just disappeared. But anyway, I can't remember what happened last week. I hardly remember what I ate for breakfast this morning. not true. i ate marshmallow mateys, which I've discovered have way more marshmallows than lucky charms. Who knew? anyway, i digress.
And the results for this transfer are....
I stayed in Willowbrook! and I'm training! I'm really, really happy about this transfer. I am very happy with the way things turned out. And I am still district leader, but they did something interesting this transfer. All over the mission, they just cut districts in half and called new district leaders, so our ward is now split up into 2 different districts. So i'm actually really happy with that, it's someone else who can do baptismal interviews, and it means I only have to go on exchanges 3 times this transfer, instead of 7, and my amount of phone calls and other work dramatically decreased. So I'm feeling really excited about this transfer. It was weird this transfer, they usually call you to have an interview with president before you receive new responsibility. So I never got a call, so I figured I'd be doing about the same thing. But then tuesday night, transfer calls came out, and I found out I was training! It's been really fun. The new training schedule they do has involved lots of meetings and planning and studying, so we really haven't done too much this week. I don't have too much too exciting. Except my new companion is Elder Fisher, and he's awesome. He's from Salt Lake, and we've been working well and getting along really great so far. It's been pretty fun training, this is the first time I've trained somebody completely new. So it's been fun to see his first sacrament meeting, first weekly planning, it's been cool. And remembering my first weeks when I understood exactly..nothing. But we're doing really well, and we've got some awesome plans for this transfer. Our first new plan, is, in honor of Elder Fisher, we're going to introduce a member "tackle box" in our elders quorum. And we'll stock it with cards, BOM's, pamphlets, and then every week in elders quorum we'll pick someone to "go fishing", and then report back the next week. It should be a fun way to get the ward involved. But I'm really excited. It's kind of weird how much of an influence what I do will have on his mission, it's kind of scary, but also exciting. I think we're going to see some baptisms this transfer. We already found some cool new investigators. and that's been about my week! It's been an awesome one. And, I am going to paste my letter to president from last week below, so you have some idea what I did last week.
*Last weeks letter.
It's been another pretty good week in Willowbrook. It's definitely had it's ups and downs, but overall it's been pretty good. We have some prospects that I'm really excited about. We had a really good lesson with one of our part member families last night, he has been taught by many missionaries before, and he told us one of the biggest reasons he's never been baptized is because his family is less active, and he doesn't see a lot of difference with them being members and not. But he agreed to start the lessons all over again, and we're excited to see where it goes this time. Maria Mendoza has been pretty difficult to contact. She was supposed to go to church and the departing missionary fireside yesterday, but ended up going to her sisters house. We're not sure how committed she really is right now. We were teaching a 15 year old girl named Maria as well, but she doesn't seem too interested, but we actually just started teaching her mom, who seems a lot more interested. I'm pretty excited about the good things we've got, our area has tons of potential right now, we're just trying to see who is really a truth seeker. *
Mops- so, funny story. I filled out the questionaire two weeks ago. But due to being busy on p-day and having a mailbox dearth, I haven't actually sent it yet. But i will today. and I will try and send you the number as well. and as for WOW talk, I have tons of things i would like to contribute to that! Anything in particular you are looking for? I have some cool stories, but mostly just lots of sad stories about why keeping the word of wisdom helps so much. So just let me know what you want! Also, the sun porch looks amazing! it looks so good.
Pops- Happy birthday! I can't believe it's your birthday already! I feel like it was just my birthday yesterday. Hopefully you'll get the Justin bieber tickets I sent you soon! haha. that story was great. I almost believed you when you told me Brent and Morgan were going....
I still can't believe the sequoia is gone. Although the infiniti does sound nice. does it have seat warmers? i hope so! I'm glad to hear your knee is getting better, I'm sure Kola is getting anxious for the walks. Hope it continues to feel better!
Kt- AH! I can't believe you ran the bolder boulder without me! It did look like Todd took good care of you. and I hope you packed your angry eyes, just in case. and hopefully you liked running more this year, without Ellie! I almost thought about running this morning. But then I got lazy. Also, you should just send Ellie down here. I will take her around here with me for a couple days, and I promise you she will not be skinny anymore. I think she'd really like papusas.
M@- I know what you mean. I looked back on this week, and all I did was study and plan and sit in meetings. but it was still good. I didn't know you and Lauren liked psych! I've seen the first few episodes, but nothing else.
A- 2 years? what in the heck? you've been married for 2 years!? Thats crazy. I sent you an anniversary card, but it got lost with my email last week....ok I didn't send one. but now I feel bad about not sending one, so it kind of counts right? That's crazy. Also, I ate a ton yesterday. 2 bowls of marshmellow mateys, 2 plates of beans, rice and meat, 4 papusas, and 2 bowls of ice cream. I was so full. but it was good.
B- Oh man. Ernie and Bert. you and Morgan look awesome. I hope you enjoyed the bolder boulder more this year. It seems like last year it kind of rubbed you the wrong way. you just seemed really irritated last year. but hopefully Bert was better. Hope school continues to go well! and I want to hear about your date!
Well. it's been an awesome week, and I love you all! I miss you all, but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. And I know heavenly Father is mindful of all of us, he reminds me everyday that he is very aware of all my needs. It was a tender mercy that I was able to write you at all today. All the cafes were closed, but we happened to try one again, and he wasn't going to open, but he is letting us type our letters. So I know Heavenly Father is looking out for us, and I know how much He loves each of us. And I love you all too!
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