Week 73 - And a Happy New Year!

Hey Guys!

I had the opportunity to talk with the family yesterday. That was special- everyone looked happy and I feel like they're doing fine. 

Changes came by, and I'm still staying in Puerto barrios! I'm gonna be here until about February (I think.) It will be good. This week that's coming we have our concilio, so I have to go to the capital again to report. The weather is gonna start heating up again in about mid-January; right now its been relatively cold, so that's been nice. I've spent the majority of my mission in the two hottest zones- Zacapa and Puerto Barrios- so I've gotten really used to the heat. When I get back to California, I'm gonna need a jacket to survive in July.

We're working on  finding new people to baptize! We're also putting New Years resolutions to become better. You guys should too. But when you set it, don't set a meaningless goal that you're gonna forget about and then not complete. Make a motto for the year and then use that motto to develop different ideas for goals and help you improve in that thing through all the year!

Love you guys! I'll write  little more next week!

--

Elder Jeffrey Reed

Week 72 - Merry Christmas from Izabal

Hey Guys!

Well, I'm gonna be talking to my family for the 3rd time in my mission this Sunday :O Wow I'm old.

I can't believe I've seen a full year pass by in Guatemala. It's been the craziest year of my life. 

This Christmas is gonna be pretty cool.

Jodi's on right now! Recently, we figured out how to use the chat function on Gmail, so it's been cool the last couple weeks to be able to talk to her almost in live time.

This week we had a zone conference, and President gave us a lot of great instructions! He then let us watch a movie. I was surprised- we all thought the movie was gonna be Finding Dory or something like that, but it was another Disney movie I had never seen before, called Iron Will. It was about dog sledding- basically a movie that I think Dad would like a lot. You guys should look for it and watch it this week. After that, on the 6-hour bus ride home, I caught a SUPER bad cold, so when we were about 2 hours away from the area, I just went to the back of the bus and laid down and slept.

To sum up the change, it's been fun, but there have been difficulties. We've had to face everything as zone leaders: robberies, investigators, companionship problems (not in mine, but in others). But through all the physical challenges, I've been kept at peace with a verse of scripture that I like in 2 Nephi 2:24: 

But Behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

There's not too much more I can say. God does things for us because he knows what we need, he knows what he can give us, and he knows exactly how we can grow if we are willing to take upon the challenges in the manner of the Lord.

Well, I don't have too much time left. Whenever I'm gmail chatting with the family it doesn’t leave me too much time to write the letters. But I've got stories to tell when I call the family!

Love you all!

Elder Jeffrey Reed

Week 71 - Excerpts from Email Exchange with Elder Reed

I lieu of a formal email message, here are excerpts from an instant message exchange we had with Elder Reed this week:

[Regarding Christmas gifts sent to Elder Reed] "I got the packages!  There is nothing better than a ton of trail mix and new socks after a long year in Guatemala - I opened them already."

[Younger brother Brock sent him a URL link to look at some Pokemon]  "I can't go to that link- I'm a missionary.  There are people here who play Pokemon Go here (mostly in the capital) but there are a lot of thieves who use Pokemon Go as an opportunity to rob cell phones- they go to the places where the Pokemon appear and then rob the people."

[Looking for advice] - "What did you do, Dad, to get over the sheer exhaustion of being a missionary? I feel absolutely whipped when I go to bed and when I get up, I still feel tired from the day before."

[Wondering how the family is doing while he is Guatemala] - "When did the family get used to not having Elder Reed in the house? [my answer - never did]

[Discussing his work ethic] - "When I got to the mission, I was very very very very serious and hardcore about the work. I'm always hardcore about the work (in the mission, I'm known as that missionary who stops cars and motorcycles to talk to the drivers).  I've learned though that it's also important to take time to laugh." 

[Last comment]  "I also got the vitamins - Love the vitamins- the vitamins are my new favorite thing in life."

Week 70 - Fishing for Christmas

Hey Guys!

Just to tell you what I'm gonna be doing today: Elder Cabrera and I found a bunch of fishing gear, so we're gonna go to a local pier and see how the fishing is. If we get anything, we're gonna take pictures,  so you guys will see next week.

This week we had our district conference. (A district is like a smaller version of a stake, expect they don't have high priests most of the time and the district president doesn't have the keys to oversee the Melchizidek Priesthood) Our mission President came and very lovingly invited all the members to repent, and re-organized the district presidency. So a lot of things are gonna change in the district. I don't know how much that will affect our branch here in Puerto Barrios, but the good news is that the old district president, who is member of our branch, will finally be able to sit with his family in the congregation after 9 years of service. So I feel happy for him. (We'll also finally be able to visit him to get him inspired about missionary work, too.)

My mind has been occupied with Christmas and everything that has to do with Christmas lately. My notion of what a Christmas should be like has changed completely! Christmas, the way we celebrate it here in Guatemala, needs tamales and FIREWORKS! Imagine people shooting off fireworks from every street corner, starting at 12:00 at night, for an hour, 2 hours, or up to 4 hours without stopping! So yeah, we're super excited. There are families that are inviting us to eat with them already and everything. 

I haven't only been thinking about the secular part of Christmas, however. I've been thinking about the impact that our Savior had. The truth is that he came in super humble circumstances to the world. Even his name-  -JESUS- that name so respected to us- was a common name. It would have been like naming your child John or Frank or something really common. But yet, this man- born homeless, without even a blanket to put on top of him, so poor that his mother laid him in straw to keep him warm, became one of the most recognized figures in all the world. He was poor all his life- "birds have nests, and foxes have holes, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head." He died as a common criminal- crucifixion wasn't some kind of special punishment. He lived, he died, and if you look at his life like any other ordinary man, you don't see too much too different. But He was different. He is our Savior. He, for all that he did, took upon him the sins of the world, in a way that no one saw until after he explained it to his apostles. For me, He lived great, He died great, and he still lives.

Food for thought for today! Study Christmas this month! Participate in the program the church has for this Christmas! Love you all!

-- 

Elder Jeffrey Reed

Week 69 - Ralankil "Night of the Son" (Christmas in Q'eq'chi')

Chan xe'rin?

I'm learning another language!!! It's called Q'eq'chi' and it's SUPER hard to learn, but it's pretty cool. 

I don't have too much time to write this week, but it was pretty good. We had concilio, and we got a lot of new instructions to share with the zone.

Other than that, the week wasn't too interesting. But I want to tell you guys something I've been thinking about lately.

OK, so imagine missionaries stopping you on the street and talking to you, but the very instant that you talking to them, even in you're in a rush or in a hurry, a thought comes to your mind: "These people are servants of God." Even if you don't believe in God, you invite them to your home, and a couple days later, when they get there, when you hear the message, you feel the Spirit in your heart, you know it's true, and you want to learn more and read. You feel inspired to pray and to find out for yourself, and change your life.

For those who know what missionary work is like, wouldn't it be great to find people like that every day? That every single person who you talk to would be like that?

So I've been thinking. Why does it depend so much on the person? Normal people who don't have the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives don't have the Spirit. They've never falt it before. So does it really depend on the "preparedness" of the person or does it depend on the spirit that the missionary brings? We should always be preparing, doing everything we can -members, too- so that when people see us, they know we're different. Do things that allow the Spirit to be with you, so that it can be your constant companion. Be Christ-like, and love everything around you. Cast out all negativity, cast out every angry thought, cast out all uncleanliness from your souls. Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

I'm teaching the missionaries here to do that. I'm not perfect, and I'm still in the process, but I believe that this is the secret

Speaking of being Christlike, all of you guys should watch this video and think about what you can do to serve others. www.mormon.org -- watch that video it is the best video I have seen in a long time

Elder Jeffrey Reed

Week 68 - I Feel OLD

Hey Guys!

So, last week we had changes. My new companion is Elder Cabrera from Tegucigalpa. Honduras. I usually get along well with Hondureños so I was pretty happy to hear that. Elder Cabrera is calm and he's a good worker. He likes to make sure that what he's doing is exactly for the salvation of the people here in Guatemala. He is 20 months into the mission, and is probably going to finish his mission here in Puerto Barrios.

We also opened up another area in Puerto Barrios! My old area was split in half again, and I was assigned to the farther and more dangerous part of the area. So I had to hand over all my old investigators to the hermanas.  I’m sure they’ll do a great job.  The good news is that we still have Entre Rios.

We've been focusing a lot with the members on an idea that we've had for Christmas. When Christ came into the world, he came to be the light of all, and we must remember that he also gave unto us to be the light of the world and to let our lights shine forth. Like the hymn says:

Brightly beams our Father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore,

but to us, he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.

Dark the night of sin has settled, loud the angry billows roar;

eager eyes are watching, longing, for the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,

trying now to make the harbor in the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning; send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save.

Our Lord has entrusted us with His lights. What are we doing to let that light shine forth? Or have we been content to keep that light for ourselves, that only we benefit from its glow?

We need others to be able to see that light. But that others may see it, it has to be strong. Never stop feeding the fire of your testimony. There are two kinds of members in the Church: those who build a bonfire of a testimony or those who light a fire just big enough for their own needs and pleasures.

See "Patterns of Light" by David A. Bednar

Love you guys lots! See you next year! (for the family, Christmas!)

-- 

Elder Jeffrey Reed

Week 67 - Activity

Hey Guys!

SO, this letter is titled, "Activity" because those are exactly what I've been doing this week. When I first came to Puerto Barrios, the branch had not had an activity of any type in over a year, and the elders who were previously there complained that the branch president shut down all the activities. So I got to work on that. We gained the trust of the branch president, and instead of directly proposing activities to the president, we announced them in branch council so everyone could have an input, the first time we did it, the branch president was pretty unsure about the whole deal, but when he saw that it turned out well, he gave us more working space. Right now, we have prepared the branch to have 3 different activities every single week, in different parts of Puerto Barrios so that even the poorest members who live farthest from the chapel can participate. We've seen the attendance raise from 60-70 to 100-115 members who come every Sunday, and we expect to see more. 

Also, just thinking about activity in the church, and what gives people the drive to come to church to participate in worship every Sunday. Really, the reason should be that the members want to come to church so that they may learn of Jesus Christ and participate with their brothers and sisters in worship, but this is not always the driving force that makes people want to get up and go to church. But that's all right. God doesn't expect us to really know Him at first. He invites everyone, that they may FIRST come and SECOND drink of the water of eternal life. If God's intention is to invite everyone to come where He is, wouldn't it stand to reason that He wants everyone to feel welcome where He is? (2 Nephi 26:24-28).  One thing that you guys should do is go and make yourself feel welcome. And if you yourself don't feel welcome, remember that you are always welcome, and try to go make someone else feel welcome too.

Also, we’re having exchanges this week and I’m staying here in Puerto Barrios, but my companion is being transferred to another area.  My new companion is going to be a brand-new zone leader and I get to train him on how to do it!

-- 

Elder Jeffrey Reed