June 13, 2011

Dear friends and family,

I hope that everything has been great with all of you this last week. Things here have been CRAZY! I think I told you all last week that I was being "shotgunned" to a new area and that I am also training. So first things are first... My new companion's name is Sister Hurtado. She's from Peru and she speaks very little English. She learned everything she knows about the language at the MTC... So it's been an interesting week. lol. She's a convert of about 4 years. She's 22 years old. She has 3 siblings. She's the 2nd oldest. Her mom, and two younger siblings are members, but her dad and older sister are not. Her family was not very supportive of her coming on her mission at first, but they warmed up to the idea, and now she's here! It's going to be a challenge for us, as we learn to communicate and to teach together.

Next up: The ward. We're serving in the Feather River ward. We're still in the Yuba City Stake, mostly because President asked that I keep my eyes on Colusa still, which I'm grateful for. He's given permission for us to spend 3 or 4 days a month in Colusa, teaching the investigators and less actives that we've been working with. Colusa is about 45 minutes away from where we're serving now. The ward we're in is part of down-town Yuba City (population about 65,000). It's so nice to be around people again! And the ward is amazing. The Ward Mission Leader is excited to have us here and so is everyone else in the ward. At first, I was very overwhelmed by the substantial learning curve -- I know NOTHING about the investigators, less actives, ward leadership, and the area. Bless their hearts, but the elders who were serving here before us did not do a very good job keeping accurate records, so I was not given a whole lot of information. And I've learned a lot about what an Elder considers a "clean" apartment.... hahahaha. But we've been so busy trying to catch up and learn everything and meet everyone that this morning was the first opportunity we had to clean. And I still haven't completely unpacked.

A lot of the lessons we've taught this week have been mostly just introducing ourselves and assesing the needs of the investigators and less actives. The elders left us with two progressing investigators, and we set baptismal dates with both of them this week. Chris is the first. And he's interesting. :) A couple months ago, the stake had a Mormon Helping Hands service project, and one of the homes that we worked on was Chris's. There's no other way to describe him than to be blunt, so here it is: He's gay. Really. A lot. But he's read the Book of Mormon, and come to church every week since the service project. He knows that the lifestyle he's been leading is wrong, and when he was interviewed by the Mission President, he committed to living a heterosexual lifestyle. Now he calls himself a "non-practicing gay man" with the idea that eventually, the spirit and Heavenly Father, will help him to change completely. President Pendleton gave us the okay, and so we set his date for the 26th of this month. The other progressing investigator is Ken. He has a 10 year old son that started coming to scouts with one of his friends. The son, Tanner, got baptized a few weeks ago. Ken has been a little slower in accepting the gospel, but this week, when we met with him, he said he wanted to be baptized, so he's getting baptized the same time as Chris. The 26th is going to be a fun night!

That's pretty much it for this week. I'm looking forward to the learning experiences that I will be having with my companion this transfer and to the new people I'll get to know and love in the Feather River ward. I'm grateful for all of your prayers. I've really felt them this week as I've knelt in prayer myself. Prayer has really been the only thing that's gotten me through this first week, and it's what I'll continue to rely on as I work hard to get to know my new area and my new companion. I pray for all of you every day; for your health, your success, and for you to have happiness in your lives. I love you all so much. I know I couldn't do this without your support. So thanks, and I'll talk to you next week. :)

Love, Sister Reid