First off, thank you soooo much for the package. I got it on Wednesday. I was so surprised because I was in the office a couple of days before, and didin't see anything for me. So when Elder Olsen, who was in my younger MTC group, came up to me that afternoon and said, "You got a big heavy beautiful package in there, " I was pretty excited. Even when the meeting was over, and everyone was grabbing their mail, I had some other stuff to take care of, all of a sudden I see Elder Olsen with a big ol' package, "This is the one!" I asked, "You went in there and grabbed it for me?" He responded, "I'm excited for you." I couldn't open it though, not until we caught our train. We literally had to run down and catch it, as we stepped through the doors I could hear the hydraulic doors getting ready to close. Phew! Made it.
As always mom wraps the package enough to make it water proof, so me and the other three Elders i I was with,were hacking at it with our keys, getting all sorts of frustrated. I open it up and wow, half of the box is toothpaste and lotion, and the other half is Girl Scout cookies. It think it's enough toothpaste and lotion to last me the rest of my mission, and about enough Girl Scout cookies to last me a week. I stacked the large boxes of tooth paste and Girl Scout cookies across from each other, and realized, they are mortal enemies... anyway, the best part though was the gift. Thank you so much Issa, I loved all the new pics and fancy wallet. And thanks mom for you know what, I was surprised everywhere I looked, and didn't realize it was there until long after i first opened it.
This transfer is about halfway done, and we've spent the greater part of it in our apartment. Aaaaaah! But for a good reason, my companion is still sick. He vomited in the shower this morning. Luckily, we have separate bathrooms. I'm hoping to have at least a full week together where we can really get out there and work. I'm excited for him to get better. We also spent the first half of this week in Seoul, with my dentist trip, Temple day, President interviews, and with a special Zone Conference that we had.
Still we were able to see miracles with visiting and working with less active members. Since we've been in the house a lot, I've spent a lot of time pouring over less-active/in-active records and it's hard for your heart not to break every time you see one. And there are a lot. Seeing their records from investigator, to member, to strong member, then dwindling to inactivity, it's really sad. Some of the people I meet had such unshakable testimonies at one time, some of them are even return missionaries, but somewhere down the line, they just stop coming.
We've been teaching guitar to a 21 year old less active named Gun Young for the past month or so. His parents come out every week, but he and his brother haven't been to church in years. I've committed him to come before, but he's always flaked. This past Saturday we had an activity with the youth/young single adults, and we were able to get him out. We committed him to come to church again. Yesterday, sacrament meeting is about to start, and I see his mom walk in. No Gun Young. My heart sank, and as I went to go ask the Mom why he wasn't at church, she said before I could ask, "He's downstairs." !!!! He came, and he even passed the sacrament. And said he had fun after it was done.
Thank you soo much for the prayers. I am praying for you as well. Tell Adam I'm sorry I couldn't be there for the James' birthday bonanza, and the all the funtivities and our old hang out spots that you went to while the Paurs were down in Cali. I am truly grateful for the friends I have, and the examples that all of them set before me, going on missions. Yes, I'm more than a little tardy. I guess tardy isn't the word, but anyway...
I get to see General Conference this weekend, but I know you all saw it this past weekend. So let me know what your favorite parts of conference were. If you have time, look up the Henry B. Eyring talk, "This Day", I think it's from 2007 or so. Anyway, have a good one!
-Elder Reyes
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