Hello Readers!

I'm really glad that this last week my email was pretty full! Thank you all for the notes, even if they are short they are such a boost to get in and see so many names in my inbox.  As you know from last week, transfers happened and I got a new Companion.  His name is Elder Savas ("a" like Sabbath), I always try to fancy his name up, but it's just like it looks, short a sound on both A's...  So Elder Savas is from Sandy UT...  He lives just at the mouth of Little Cottonwood, which means he used to live right by where i used to work when working for the bank, he would shop in the Smiths where i was working all the time...  Who knows maybe we could have seen each other before now.  He is the oldest of 4, and is a very obedient missionary, and is setting a wonderful example for me, and is really teaching me how to be a better missionary.  He's 21 and almost ready to come home in august, but first we have to baptise a few people out here!  I think i attached a picture of him shaving...  I needed one to add to this here so i took a quick one this morning. 

 

 

Here is my BYU cake, every Elder gets one... 

 

 

as you can see I'm not too thrilled to be supporting the Y...

 

 

which came back to bite me in the back.... we had some left overs sent home with us, and my back pack fell into the frosting as we pulled out of their house...  so what better way to take care of it...

 

 

The last 2 are of the Whitetail deer!  I've been wanting to see a buck but they are pretty elusive.   We cruise so many miles of corn fields so I'm sure I'll see one soon, but here are the few that we do see.  We were pretty far away, but we still got a good picture of them.  I'm amazed at how much smaller they are than Mule Deer from back home. 

 

 

The work is now picking up.  We have a bid need to refill our teaching pool, and that means we get to spend some time tracting, and meeting new people to teach.  There are tons of people we walk by everyday, and most are nice, but we got the unique experience of meeting someone who threatened our lives.  He was outside near his garage, and we took 2 steps up his driveway, and he swore at us and said if we took any more steps we'd "get killed."  Nice fellow.

 

There is so much to say, but it all seems so trivial to me.  We get to have experiences daily, that remind me just how thankful I am to have the knowledge about the Gospel, I've said it before, but how hard it would be to convert to this gospel.  I'm glad to have been raised in it, and to have my testimony strengthened daily by those we are teaching.  It's easy to see their testimonies grow, from an outside perspective, but as I reflect on my own, it has grown so much too! 

 

Thanks for all your love, support and prayers! 

 

Love Elder Rees

 

Conferences, Calls and Cleaning

Happy Mothers Day

So Yesterday was Mothers day, and was the first day on the mission when I got to call home and talk with the family.  I want to say just how nervous I was to call home...  I'm really not sure why because as soon as you answered the phone I was completely content, it was just that moment right before hitting "send" that all of these nerves come flooding into my body.  It was so great to be able to call home!  It truly was a needed blessing and has really helped me.  There are so many unseen challenges of being on a mission, and sometimes a little encouragement from home is all you need to realign your desires with those expectations from home.  One of my favorite quotes from the MTC, was "Be the Missionary your Mom thinks you are!"  I can't tell you just how many times I've realized my mother's words flooding into my mind and encouraging me on.   I've noticed a big change in myself over the last 3 months, and am very excited to see just how much more change there is in store for me over the remaining 21. 

I want to share a little miracle that happened to me. 

We as missionaries get called upon to go and do service projects all the time, and we love doing them, it's often a break from doing other things, and sometimes other teaching opportunities come from them.   Well we were asked to go and help a man from our ward move, and we had been warned that it could be a difficult move.  To make a very long and detailed story much shorter, let's just say that this man was a candidate for the TV show "Hoarders".  I'm not kidding when i say that we had a 1 foot wide path that led from his stairs, against the wall to the bedroom of his apartment.  We literally had to PEEL off old paper and magazines from the carpet, after we cleared off the 2 foot deep layer on top!  Everything was covered in Mouse poo, or Cockroach poo...  I've never seen so many cockroaches ever!  This man had been living here for over 2 years, and had not thrown anything away.  He has a collection of old magazines and news papers, TV guides and baseball cards.  We threw out 3/4ths of his stuff, and he still wanted to take more with him in his moving van.  This is one of those stories I'll gladly share with more detail on a later day when i get home, but in an effort to remember some details I'll log the story on here.  So you may be wondering what the little miracle that happened to me was...... Well for those of you that really know me, know that I've always had hard time with a weak Gag Reflex...  Sometimes just taking out the trash is bad, but throughout this whole experience, from 4:30 pm, to 9:00 pm, DIDN'T GAG ONCE!!!!  God truly does give us tender mercies when we need them! :)

(Not the actual house. Take from the "Hoarders" site)

On a lighter note We've got 4 progressing investigators, and 2 with a baptismal date.  We are now in need of spending more time 'finding' people to teach, and talking with everyone that we meet is going to be essential.  The only problem is that most of our investigators live about 30 miles away, and that really puts a damper on our mileage limitations.  But we are truly being blessed with success, and learning a lot from each other as companions. 

There are a few pictures that are going to be attached, a few of you may know a couple of people in these pictures.  2 are companion pictures, my Trainer (last companion) and my MTC companion, my trainer is the taller of the 2.  We have transfers coming up next week!  This transfer has flown by!   It's going to be interesting to see if either of us get transferred out or if we are together for another transfer.  Either way there is a lot of great work happening here in Logansport IN! 

My MTC companion Elder Jantzen Pahl (paul), I truly had a fun time with him, and really hope that we'll get to serve together again. 

My Trainer, he goes home next week, Lives in South Jordan, and his name is Elder Eric Jones! 

The group shot is of a few Zones in the northern half of Indiana,  So some of you may know Elder Ovard...  Sitting far left.  Some may know a Senior sister, Sister Lyon, she's on the left side with a red shirt and black blazer, Her son is renting Gpa, and Gma's old house with the swimming pool in Morgan,  Just above her are the Slades.  They are a senior couple from Star ID, so they may know Pat and Steve.  I'm right in the middle standing up, to my left is a kid from Duschene, Elder Roberts, he's my ZL, and is becoming a really good friend!  The picture is kind of blurry, but see if there are others that you know or that I should keep an eye out for.

Love you all, and will get to talk to you more in about 7 months!  WOW Christmas is only 7 months away, so you all better get planning, and start saving!  That's the banker in me.  Until then you'll have to keep up with my blog posts. 

Love Elder Rees!!

But Wait there's More!!

OK readers, here it is, can you believe it, 3 months!  Hasn't it flown by!!!  WOW, I sure think so!   There are so many things that have happened but I'm going to share a few big ones this week!   So, Sunday mornings we usually have church at 9, and we have a meeting with our Ward Mission leader at 8 (cool guy, former SP)  anyway, we are sitting in this meeting, and our Senior Couple informs us that they are being transferred!!!  It's going to add a ton of work to us, they took control of most of the less active work for the ward, and made it so we could focus more on finding and teaching, now we'll have to incorporate a bit more re-activation into our daily work.  We also got visited by all 3 members of our Stake Presidency...  Which totally meant that something big was happening.  So we got into sacrament meeting and were informed that our bishopric was being released...  WOW!  They have been in for about 5 years so it was time for it to happen, but instead of calling another bishop, they called a Branch President...  That's right we are now a branch...  Our ward has decreased in size and activity, and now falls under the numbers of a branch...  The ward took it pretty rough.  For most of the day they were pretty quiet, and were thinking about the huge changes that had just taken place, and more to come.  They are also looking at redoing our ward boundaries, and that means that 2 of our more active families will be going to a new ward...   So in Recap, Ward to a Branch, New Branch Presidency, Senior Couple is Leaving, and New Ward Boundary changes... 

 

But Wait there's More!!

 

We were truly blessed to be apart of a Baptism this week!!  There are pictures here, this is Kaelan, and his family.  Kaelan is 10, and is home schooled, (kinda weird kid socially) and is super smart!   I was asked to say a prayer at his baptism, and also to play the piano!  That's right I played the Electronic piano, so i picked the hymn/song, and hit a button to play the intro, and a 2nd button to start each verse of the song...  SO i didn't have to do too much, but it takes a good bit of timing to make it sound like I'm really playing.    I have actually been practicing in the "Hymns Made Easy"  Songbook, and have gotten pretty good at a few of them, and am getting more comfortable with playing with both hands...  Practice makes perfect!  :)  

 

So that brings my Total for Baptisms up to 2...  my first one was at the beginning of my first transfer.  The previous Elders had his baptism all set up, but we are the ones that get credit for it because we were the elders at the time of the ordinance. 

 

But Wait there's More!!

 

We have 3 other people that are getting really close to baptism as well, and have really grown a lot in the last few weeks that we have been here and have worked with them.  I'm so glad to realize that even though we are teaching them lessons, they are learning more in their personal studies, and prayers.  It just goes to show that we do little in the conversion process, but it's by the spirit that they really gain a testimony. 

 

Mothers Day is only a few days away, so get your mom a good Card, and even better Share with her your Testimony.  I've really come to understand better what the importance of the calling of a Parent really is, and their main purpose is to teach you the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  What better gift than to share with them your testimony, and to live the Gospel standards as best we can!  Thank you mom for your example, and your discipline in helping us learn the correct Gospel Principles, and teaching us how to apply them.

 

I'm very excited to be out here on a mission, and to learn a ton already in 3 short months about a lot of different aspects of the gospel, I'm very glad to say that there is more to learn, and things to practice in the next 21 months. 

 

I miss you all, and am so glad to be out here, and to have my testimony strengthened so much daily!   I hope you all are studying the Gospel Principles, and focusing on a relationship with your Father in Heaven, that is the most important relationship we can have, and will strengthen all other relationships we try! 

 

Keep the Faith, Read hard, Pray Harder! 

 

Love Elder Rees

 

Indiana Randomness

So a few observations about the people here in Indiana.  Not too many food differences that you see in other peoples missions, and not too many cultural differences either.   We have met only a handful of actual "Hoosiers"  where you really can't understand a word they say....  some people would call them Hillbillies, but Hoosier is a more common phrase around here. 

One of my favorite differences so far is the fact that no one out here has a Vacuum, everyone here has a Sweeper....  That is what they are called, Sweepers... ?!  Kinda random, but it rolls off their tounges without hesitation. 

People don't know what mountains are...  they think they do, but they don't.

Tons of people don't have teeth.  We see tons that don't.

Lawn Junk:  I think i've brought this up before, or have at least intended to, but Everyone has Lawn Decorations, including but not limited to, The Hoosier Goose, The Hoosier Ball, and the Hoosier Doorbell, (when we knock and 5 dogs start barking).  I'be been meaning to take a few pictures of Great Hoosier lawns, but haven't seen the right one just yet, that truly depicts how most yards are.  

Things are starting to get green here.  The weather is Wet, and Grey most days, but not too bad.  Not many people Ever have to water their lawn, it just sort of happens.  And i must say, most grass here looks great!  

Anyway, just a few more observations.  Here are a few more pictures to check out, from the collection of one of our investigators. 

Love and miss you all! 

Love Elder Rees

 These are thorns that grow on the trees!

This is some typical yard art!!

Address Change

There is a change to Elder Rees' address...there was a mistake in the zipcode. Here is the correct address.

New Address:  815 S. 17th St.  Logansport, IN 46947