November 14, 2011

This is part of an email sent to me (Jodi) and I thought I would share. There are also a couple of pics of Dallin's swollen feet.

It's now monday, I'm sitting here in the Library, and finishing up my email session! 

Today is great!  it rained last night which means it's going to be humid today, but the heat is gone for the most part, and we are not bothered by the humidity as bad!  

Glad you were able to go to the blessing!  mandy sent pictures and it looked like a good time!  It was good to hear that she and jon are feeling the spirit and push to get back into church more!  Their ward council needs to be there and all over them!   I'm thinking of sicking the missionaries on them!   I have a member in our ward here who is serving in the SLC South mission, and he could contact the other missionaries to go over and pay them a visit, but i'm holding off on that for now! 

It's not yet winter here...  50-60 degrees still, and sometimes it's in the 40's, we haven't had too many cold days.   It did snow for a few minutes the other day but not too much.... it's all gone now. 

As far as anything that i need.... Nothing...  :)  I'm going to go to the post office today, and ship home some extra clothes....  mainly T shirts, and Ball Shorts, and a few of my planners.

Well Life is good, my comp is good, but is like a moth.... shiny lights and loud noise attract him...  I wish i had a shock collar to push a button and help him refocus.... I do have to push him a little to stay on task.. .I'm sure with some of your kids  with ADHD you know how that goes.   He's good though and will be great!


Love you tons! 

Love Elder Rees

November 7, 2011

Well family, I have wonderful News....  After waiting 9 months my 'boy' has officially arrived!   No, I'm not dating anyone, and it's not a baby!!  it's my new Companion...   He's 19, Named Elder Rivest.... (I always want to say RIVESTA, with a little bit of flare on the "a") he's from Orem Ut, and has been such a blessing to my mission!  ha!  I love how much this sounds like I've had a baby! 

Here is his picture!  

We are working hard here in Crawfordsville, and he's been lucky we haven't had too many people come and yell at us, or too many doors slammed in our face!  We actually set a new baptismal date for December, and have found 4 new investigators this week!  OH MY!  I wish my first week was like that!  But it just goes to show that Miracles come after Faith, and new missionaries are so full of faith it's amazing to see the miracles that come because of it. 

I'm still swollen...  I called our mission Dr. and he checked out my lab work, and has recommended i see a Rhuemetologist, i hope i spelled that right, and see what he thinks of my situation.  I hope that they can figure something out and get me not looking like the "Michelin man."   I know things will work out the way they are supposed to, and I'll be able to continue working in full force.  The swelling and pain really haven't slowed me down, but have been annoying. 

As far as anything new, not much.  We are working... It's so much fun to see a new missionary try out things, and be bold, and talk with people.   It's such a new experience and it is fun to feel of their growth and watch them learn a little bit. 

It's so hard to imagine that it was almost 1 year ago, (Nov 10) that I got my mission call to indiana, and now here I am, 9 months out!  Crazy how fast that time has gone by!  I have loved learning the lessons you can't learn any where else but in the field! 

By the end of my time with my greenie, i'll have been out for 12 months!  WOW!  Time flies! 

Well We have a super busy day planned, and We've got to get running!

I love you all, and love getting those packages!  (mom, jodi, and Gma!)  Thank you!

Mom keeps me pretty informed about the happenings in in the family, but it's always great to hear more details! 


Loves!

Elder Rees

October 31, 2011

Hey family! 

Well this week has been pretty uneventful.  We have had a very slow week as far as teaching appointments, and it's been a struggle to find new people, or teach the ones that we are working with.  So we have been working hard, but not seeing too many numbers from the efforts.  Numbers and blessings will come I know that! 

This week we had 2 things.  Stake Conference, and Transfer Calls (those were this morning)...   Stake Conference was Great!  We had Brother McConkie, from the General Sunday school Presidency here, and he was Excellent!  We were taught so much about the call of teaching... not only investigators, but to our families, and within our church callings.  It was great to hear from him, and to feel of his and the brethren's love for us.
I was also called this morning by my Mission President!  Which means that I'll be spending time in Crawfordsville, training a new missionary!  I am pretty excited... the nerves have not really kicked in yet, nor the realization that this boys entire mission experience can and will change with my efforts in helping him get adapted to the life of the work. 

It's cool that miracles happen!  Thanks for all the care and concern about the tooth... I pulled out the last stitch today, they were supposed to dissolve but they were driving me nuts so i just pulled them.  My joint swelling is back...  I think that will mean more trips to different doctors to find out what is causing the swelling in my feet, knees, and wrists.  I'm always asked if I'm in pain, and i have not yet felt pain associated with them, but more of an annoyance of pressure, or in the best words i can muster, it feels different.  I hope they have an answer for me.

Well it's been such an honor to serve with Elder Magleby...  He's going to be leaving the area, and he's a little bummed about it.  It's such a great ward, and it's going to be hard for him to leave such wonderful friends and people behind.  He's doing great, and is I hope ready for a Senior Companion role here in the mission... I don't know yet if he'll get that assignment. 

OOOOH!!!!   Sweet Story!

OK, you may remember a story a few months ago from my 2nd area... Logansport.   Right before I got transferred we started teaching a lady (Connie) that was a referral from a member out in Arizona...  The member was a Nurse for a man who was dying, and one of his daughters (Connie) came out for the last moments of his life, and that lady lived in Logansport....  Well Connie said on our first meeting that she was planning a fall trip out to SLC for Conference... Well I talked with Elders after Stake Conference was over, and they said that she went, was able to see all 4 sessions, and came home with a Temple Dress!  WHAT!!?!?!?!?   So Stinkin AWESOME!   She has totally received a witness that this church is true, and is  going to be baptized soon, she doesn't have a date yet, but is working on that!   It's so neat to see that a few of the people in whom I've come in contact with are starting to join the church, or are progressing in their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Well other than that more will come next week when I have a new companion, and I hope a few miraculous stories to share from his first week! 

I love you all and hope all is well out west! 

Love Elder Rees

October 24, 2011

MIRACLES,  MORE STITCHES, AND BLOOD!!

In the spirit of Halloween which is fast approaching I'm sending this email with all the gruesome details of my last week here in the mission field!  

Monday...  I had noticed some swelling in my feet and ankles, and was having really sharp pain in my heel in the middle of the night, enought that it would wake me up, and it was really hard to sleep well.   I was also feeling the pain as we walked and stood on doorsteps... standing still made it so much worse!     There is a family here that has taken such good care of us, me especially, and he's a nurse and recommended I contact Sister Collins and have a Dr. check me out.   There were some fears that my heart wasn't properly functioning or that my kidneys were not working....  (very early prognosis).  Well we went a few more days and just hoped it would disappear. 

Wednesday...  TOOTH DOOMSDAY!!!   Well we traveled to Indy to have my tooth extracted!  It was a very nervous time for me... I felt more nervous than I did the first time I had my tooth pulled...  We got to the Dr. office and they take me back.   He didn't charge me for another Xray, and as I looked at the screen I could notice a very good difference!   My 1st Xray is from April, and you can easily see that the bone around the implant is missing, and is receeding up my implant.  The Xray from wednesday was much improved... you can see that the bone line was closer to where it needed to be, and looked a lot more healthy... So i bring it up!  I asked the Dr what he thought of the X rays, and said he noticed the difference as well.  We talked about treatment, and still felt that taking the tooth out was the best option, it had already been infected 2 times, and it was more than likely going to happen again, and would result in me losing more bone structure.  I also wanted to get the process started because of the insurance that i'm going to be losing in March and want to take advantage of that while I can.  Well he starts the surgery and made a rather large diagnal cut up my gums in order to see the full bone structure on the front side of my tooth... We poked, pulled, prauded, and tugged, and soon said "NOPE"!  I'm not going to take this out!   I sat there just in awe!  After opening up  the gums and noticing just how well improved the health of the site was he didn't feel comfortable taking out a healthy implant.  I know MIRACLES happen, and I thank all of you for your prayers, and putting my name in the Temple!  Those little things helped to heal my tooth (at least for now) and have helped me have an easier mission!  So here are the pictures!  Here are my stitches, Hallie I can totally sympathize!   And a few pictures of my X Rays... I took these from my camera so i hope they turn out well!  

FRIDAY:  Back to INDY!!!  So I mentioned earlier that my feet were swelling... well it moved to both feet, and to both knees, and to both hands and wrists!   It was time to see a DR.  I went to the closest Urgent Care, and they asked me all sorts of questions and ruled out Arthritis, and a Change in daily medication...  Which now meant they didn't have any idea without doing more tests...  So back came the nurse and had a full tray of Vials for my BLOOD!!   Well out came about 8 vials, and off they went to the Lab...   All came back negative...  Save for one... I was having an Allergic Reaction....  when I asked what they didn't have any idea about that, but it was good to know that I didn't have any major health issues, but was just allergic to something...   I may never know what it was. 

SO now i'm left with Dissolveable stitches in my gums, and I'm taking steroids for swelling, and Antibiotics to help me heal... 2 trips to the pharmacy, 2 to different doctors, and we still managed to make it to church this week!  

Oh what a week!

Thank you all for your love support and prayers!  They work!  Miracles happen, and I know our Heavenly Father know's and Loves us more than we can comprehend, and is waiting to bless us with the things our hearts desire! 

October 17, 2011

Well this is maybe the only time in the mission, that I'll have 2 baptisms in 1 transfer, and more than likely that I'll have 2 baptisms in consecutive weeks! 

Danny was baptized this weekend, and it was so awesome....  Well kind of stressful but awesome.   We told Danny to be to the church by about 5:30, so that we could do some rehearsals, and to get him into a jumpsuit...  Well we should have told him 5:00 pm.... The service started at 6, and we were still waiting for him to show up at 6:05...  So a few frantic phone calls, and we soon found out that he's on the way, and he was there in just a few minutes after that...  We got him dressed, and went right in to start to listen to the talks...  We dunked him, Elder Magleby was honored to do that, and then dressed and back in for the talk on confirmation. 

You would think that after being late for his own baptism, his confirmation would be a different story... NOPE...  9:08 he walked in the door... :)  It sure made the bishopric nervous... :)  I just laughed, and had faith!    So here is a picture of Danny, and his dad Tom, they are such great people super nice, and very caring.  They come from a Gypsy background, and have some of the greatest accents ever... for instance... the word "that"  is "tat"  "they"  "tey"  I laugh every time!  They seem like such mobsters! 

Very cool week!   We have been so blessed to be finding 5 new investigators this week as well that makes up for the 2 which we baptized!  We are working hard, and are preparing this are for the next missionaries to come in and have success too...  That is if we get transferred in 2 weeks...  we'll see. 

We also got to go on a tour of a Tank Museum here in Indiana!   it was awesome!  We got to go inside of one of the big artillery tanks, and check out the periscope and the knobs and buttons, and look in the scopes, sit in the drivers seat, pretend to be in combat, and overall just be kids in a Tank Museum!   We had the whole place to ourselves and it was a good thing...  We touched things that we maybe weren't supposed to... .but how often am i going to be in a tank museum, and have an opportunity to see, and feel genuine world war 2 era weapons and artifacts!?    (I'm sending a separate email with all of those pictures!)

We have had a great week, and it may help prepare us for this week.  I'm going to have my tooth pulled and it's going to be a trial for sure...  I have always enjoyed being busy while here on the mission and it makes me nervous to have some down time.  It makes me feel like a "jack" missionary. 

Since I'm titling this post 2x2... all good things come in pairs...  I was offered a daughter the other day, and apparently she's going to be writing me... SWEET!  And the other day at dinner there was a lady that offered to have her Niece write me as well...  SWEETER!   But the SWEETEST thing was that these two sisters in the ward, for some reason were talking about me and it got brought up that they had both recruited people to write me, turned out to be an interesting conversation about, no my daughter's going to write him, and no, my niece is going to write him.....  I hope i don't lose out on both letters!  :)    All good things come in twos! 

I'm also struggling with a bit of a cold... I don't feel sick, but have a runny congested nose, a scratchy throat, and a bit of a cough... I'll stock up on some medicine at the Walmart today.  Also My ankles have been swelling up a bunch lately...  Tons of walking and I've never had any problems but for some reason lately the pain is real, and the swelling makes standing at doorsteps pretty uncomfortable... I may buy some new insoles for my shoes...

Well now I'm just rambling.  I love you all, and can't wait to get a few letters! 

Thank for all the emails! 

Love Elder Rees