Another week already?

Hello family and friends!
It seems like just yesterday when I wrote my last letter.  Time is flying by too fast which I don't want it to because I wish I could be on a mission forever!!
Monday we had a great zone activity with water balloons! We then had a great Noche de Hogar!!  It was about The Plan of Salvation and just talking about basic things it was great!
Tuesday we did some finding and taught Arturro he says he will read The Book of Mormon but he won't come to church.
Wednesday we had District Meeting and I went on exchanges with one of the missionaries in my zone named Elder Resabala.  He taught me a lot of stuff and we taught 4 lessons and had 2 dinner appointments.  I WAS STUFFED!! We had tortas at the first house (mexican sandwiches) with beans, salad and rice. At the second house we had chicken, beans, rice, tortillas and flan AND another pastry.  We were so full we thought we were going to throw up!!!  Then we taught a Preach My Gospel class at the church.  It had about 15people which in their branch that is a lot of people showing up for a class!!
Thursday we had lunch and talked to Hermano Mercado.  We also did a little bit of finding.  Then we had a lesson with a recent convert named Jasmine.  We also had a lesson with Marlene she is one of our investigators.  We had dinner at a less active members house that night.  Then we taught Juan.  We taught him about The Word of Wisdom and he said he would stop drinking coffee right away which was his only problem  with The Word of Wisdom.  So that was good!!  We also had interviews with President Becerra - I asked him how I could be more effective.  He asked me if I was obedient, if I studied well and if I tried my best.  I said yes and then he said "Your being effective Elder I'm not worried about that.  Elder Alworth (our District Leader) was impressed with your work ethic." Then he gave me ideas to do better finding because a lot of people aren't interested in our message.  He told me to ask the people who are not interested if we could leave their home with a blessing.  A lot more people may be interested in that and then you ask the people exactly what they need and specifically pray for their needs.  He also said to also leave a blessing on their home.  President Becerra told me they are going to feel something.  Then after the prayer you ask them how do they feel?  Ask them if they'd like to feel that again and then you come back and teach them.  You specifically teach their needs which they have already shared with you and you blessed them with.  It was sooo cool!!!  I am so glad President Becerra is my Mission President!!
Friday we helped some people move and then we did weekly planning.  Then we had a lesson planned but the lady wasn't interested.  So, I decided to put President Becerra's idea into play and we left a blessing on her and her home and she said we could come back! We'll see how that goes!  Then we checked on a former investigator and they said we could start teaching them again!  We also taught Silvia and it was a crazy lesson!  She has a lot of questions and hasn't read the Bible before and so she doesn't really understand the wording in The Book of Mormon.  We then taught some less actives and one of them asked us to bless their home so we did that as well.
Saturday we did some finding and some more finding.  Then we went to a Stake Activity because we had 2 investigators that were going too!  It was Broadway in the Este de Los Angeles (east LA) and that was fun!  They did little parts from different plays and all the wards participated except for our ward. :-/  It's because our  young men and young women didn't want to do it.
Sunday we had a meeting and our bishop said that because nobody did anything for the Broadway thing that we're going to have a ward talent show.  He said we need to have more fun in our ward and he wants the missionaries to do something for it!  We then did some finding and taught Maria and had dinner with some members.  I had carne de lengua which is TONGUE! It sounds gross but actually it tasted really good!!  Then we taught Juan - we invited him to be baptized for sure on the 24th of this month and he said YES!!!  It was soooo cool!  He is really ready - every time we ask him to do something he does it!  He has been prepared by the Lord and it is one of the Lord's tender mercies that we have the opportunity to teach him!
So yeah everything is going well this week is looking super great!  We have a lot of appointments already scheduled and we are teaching more than ever before!!
I love you all!!
Love, Elder Reisner  

An even better week in San Gabriel!!

Dearest family and friends, 

I thought last week was good but this last week has been even better! Monday we went hiking to a waterfall and then had a noche de hogar with a family.  Tuesday we had a pass off lesson because the other elders had an investigator they were teaching that they thought he lived in their area but he actually lives in our area! His name is Emmanuel and he was found by the English speaking elders. What happened is the English elders live in the same apartment complex and they just talked to him one day. They don't speak Spanish and he doesn't speak English. They got his information and sent the other elders over that could speak Spanish. Emmanuel said that the English elders came to talk to him and they spoke perfect Spanish!! What a miracle!! We're teaching him now and he has a baptism date set for July first!! We also talked with a member who was having a Pastor come over so we could talk to him about our church. He was scared of us so he left!  Wednesday we ate with members and we had a lesson with Arturro who is an older man that we are teaching.  We then had a meeting with our new ward mission leader Hermano Schleske. He is from Mexico and served a mission in Kentucky. He finished his mission about 5 weeks ago so he knows what he is doing and he is ready to help us make this area working even better than it is! Then Thursday we had district meeting and we talked about all the Christlike attributes. We talked about purifying ourselves by taking out all the things that distracted us from the spirit and fasting to find them. We want to fast to receive answers about the things that take away the spirit for 40 days. (note from mom - he is not fasting for 40 days just specifically fasting for some answers) I just started that but I know it will help a lot! Then I was on exchanges with Elder Alworth our new District leader. He taught me a lot of things and we were able to teach one of our investigators and one recent convert. We also contacted some people and one man just lost his wife. Elder Alworth said that our message has the peace that he needs and he just started to cry it was so neat! Then we also had a noche de hogar and taught some less actives and then we found some pretty sweet potential investigators that night!  Friday was the bestest day ever!!!! We had weekly planning and then we had 6 LESSONS IN A ROW!!!!!!!! 1 with a member and 5 others we didn't have time to do anything else! We almost had 7 but one canceled on us but we probably couldn't have taught them anyway because we were so busy! We also had 3 new investigators that day that we are now teaching! This one couple Fernando and Maria said that we are exactly what they need right now because they are having some problems and they know that our message can help them get through their problems!! Saturday we helped some members move they are sadly moving out of our area but staying in the ward. We then studied and tried contacting some potentials. Then we played soccer and we were hoping that Juan would show up but he didn't.  We then had to finish weekly planning because literally on Friday we had no time to finish! Then we went to Juan's house and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He understands everything and is a super humble guy and wants us to teach his mom he is reading and is coming to church. We really think that he will be ready for Baptism on the 17th of this month!!!!!!!!!! We then went and tried to see some old investigators and potentials and check on members to see if they were bringing their friends to church again.  Sunday we had a meeting then we went to go get Juan and we woke him up for church.  We also taught primary that was fun! Juan didn't come for Sacrament Meeting but he was there for the rest of it. Also Patty and Sergio were there as well!!! We then went to some potentials who were not home and then we had dinner with some members. Then we went and taught the man who was crying on Thursday. He appreciated our visit but he wants to think about things some more so we left him with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet then we went finding.  So, everything is going extremely well! I thank you for all your prayers and support!! I love you all and I hope that you have a great week!!!!

Love, Elder Reisner :-)

Best Week in San Gabriel!

Dear family and friends,

What an amazing week this has been!!! First we had a Noche de Hogar with some members of our ward and then we went and contacted some referrals.  Tuesday we were contacting people and knocking on doors and then had a lesson with Sylvia. We also got invited to a birthday party for a member's three year old daughter! We also had a lesson with Marta, Maritza, Marlene and Mayra a family that we have been teaching for awhile. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and they all liked it but thought that it was a little sad.  Wednesday we went and ate with Hermano Mercado we also did some more contacting and finding and then had dinner with some members.  We then went to mutual and found out we were getting a new ward mission leader which is good because our old one was working all the time and could never meet with us.  Thursday we had a contacting day and we taught a recent convert and had a cook out with Maritza, Marlene and Mayra it was pretty fun! We were trying to contact Juan for a visit but he was still at work.  Friday we went to Hermano Mercado's and he had a new investigator for us! It's his sister, her name is Nati she is pregnant and is staying with her brother right now and is very interested in the church and the change that her brother has made! Then we had contacting and finding and weekly planning. Then Saturday we taught Arturro and went contacting and tracting. We also had a situation where the church was flooding so we had to take care of that but thankfully it got resolved! We talked to Juan and he said he would come to church on Sunday! Then we had dinner with members and then  Hermano Delossantos had 2 new investigators for us! His brother and his wife they are going through a hard time so they really could use the healing power that the gospel could give them! Sunday Juan, Nati, and Hermano Delossantos' brother and sister came to church it was really amazing and a miracle! Especially because we haven't brought any investigators to church in awhile it was soooo amazing!!! We then had lunch with members and talked to other members went contacting and finding and talked to a family that's been having a hard time because their daughter has Lupus. Anyway, we were trying to help them and she is getting better day by day! Yesterday we went hiking to a waterfall and did normal preparation day things. Then we had to find and find because our 6 and 7 appointments canceled! We went by a family in our ward and shared a spiritual thought with them! Thank you everyone for your prayers!! I know they really helped to get our investigators to church this week!! I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week!!!

Love, Elder Reisner

It's always sunny in San Gabriel!

Hello family and friends!

This week has been another good one but since I LOVE

missionary work I don't think there can be a 

bad week :-)Monday we taught a lesson and did some

finding. Tuesday we had a great meeting with

President Becerra! He is a great man and I am so
privileged to have him as a Mission President. He

just opens up the scriptures in ways that just make

them more meaningful and impactful!Also, he gave

us some good contacting council. When we are contacting
people in the streets and knocking on doors he said ask

them a question that gets them thinking. Even tell them

sometimes you may not be interested in our message but

what would you think if I had the answers to the things

that keep you up at night? Powerful questions that make

you think and get people interested! It was really super
great! We then used the advice and found some good

potentials that day and also worked with some members.

Wednesday we ate with members. We are trying to work with

members in our ward better and people in English wards that

speak Spanish. Then we had a tour and it was a 2 hour lesson

with investigators!! It was a good one thankfully it definitely

didn't seem like 2 hours though!  It wasn't supposed to be so

long but they had a TON of questions and the members that were

helping us out had a lot of good things to say!  Wednesday we

just did a lot of finding and that's about it for that day!

Friday was a good day we did weekly planning and taught 4

lessons and had a new investigator which hardly ever happens

on Friday!! Saturday we went by members and potential

investigators and less actives we were also trying to contact

our investigators to come to church on Sunday.  Sunday we made

plans to get our investigators to come to church. We were going

to ride the bus with one and he left before we got there. The

other investigators were getting ready but apparently not for

church. That was sad :-( We ate with some members and celebrated

an Hermanas birthday. Then we had a lesson with a new investigator

Maria and went by some less active members. So that's all for now!!
Love, Elder Reisner

Pictures Came later...

L.A. Temple

Me on exchanges with Elder Larson

Cake? Not sure who the missionary is with him

Good Times in San Gabriel

Dear everyone, 

(Elder Reisner said that he remembered his cord today to send us some pictures but either he forgot to attach them or download them!  I will remind him again and hopefully we can have some pictures next week!)

This last week was super great!! The Noche de Hogar on Monday where we did a live reenactment of Lehi's dream was a BIG SUCCESS!!! Everyone came there were more people there then there were at church!! We had a great time and so did the members it was great! :-) Tuesday we knocked on doors all day and went tracting.  Then the bishop asked us to deliver cards to all the less active ladies in our ward. So we were doing that and working around the areas where they lived which turned out good because we found some great potential investigators by doing so!  Wednesday we tracted and delivered the rest of the cards nothing too exciting. We found some more potential investigators though!! Thursday was a super great day!! We had district meetings. We learned that we sometimes want to go faster with our investigators then how fast they need to be going on the road to conversion. So we need to know at what pace to teach them and invite them to make commitments.  We also had 2 lessons with a family and Juan another one of our investigators. We read with both of them but Juan was so great about understanding what the scriptures were saying and how to apply them! Friday was biking day and we just contacted people all day it was great! Saturday we went to a service project and we also went by our investigator Arturro's house. He said he'd read the Book of Mormon! We also tracted and then we were seeing if our investigators were going to the Mothers Day activity that was that night. We gave them invitations previously but we didn't know if they were going. Then we had the activity where we served the food and helped out the ward as much as we could. Then we tracted and contacted people in a park it was a good day! Sunday we had 2 lessons with a new family and Maria then I got to talk to my Mom:-)  and family!!!  :-) and surprise guest that was super great!! :-) We ate dinner also with the bishopric and then we taught a less active family so that was another good day! The work here in San Gabriel is going super great!! I love you all!!! 

Love, Elder Reisner 

Another week of great missionary work!

Good morning(California time)!

 So this week was another good week! On Monday we had 2 noche de hogars! We did a great activity with cups and string and talked about the Holy Ghost. Also, they fed us 2 dinners so I was one full missionary!! What was funny is that the noche de hogars were planned that day while we were out and about doing our preparation activities! Then on Tuesday we were knocking on doors and we had some lessons and it was a pretty normal day. Wednesday was the weird day we rode on bikes because it is a really good method to find people and it's good exercise!! We had lunch at a members house it was yummy! I don't know what it's called but pretty much you can guarantee there were some beans and tortillas!! So what made this day weird is we tracted into this guy who talked about how apparently there is an old hymn in our hymnbook that talks about bringing in the sheep. He didn't want to do that (be brought into the church) but he wanted to teach us about history it was interesting.  Oh we aren't teaching Reuben anymore he said he just wanted to learn and he didn't want to read the Book of Mormon or anything else. So we said we'd come back if he would read the Book of Mormon. That's how it goes sometimes unfortunately. Thursday we had district meeting and went to Applebees after with our district. Since it was the end of the transfer and some elders could be moving it ended up being our whole zone! One elder was finishing his mission so there were 14 of us!  We then talked to the kids in Marta and Francisco's family and they had a TON of questions! We answered them all and they agreed to read the Book of Mormon so now we will be teaching their whole family! We then had a bunch of appointments cancel but we were at the church when everything fell through.  We went to announce our noche de hogar we are having tonight at mutual and the Stake President of our stake was there. He gave us an assignment to go and find this member's daughters family to start teaching that family so we did that right away! Friday was biking and weekly planning. Nothing really happened except that we contacted a bunch of people but none of them really were too interested.  Saturday we played soccer and got some less actives to go we were trying to invite investigators but we couldn't get a hold of them.  We also had free pizza because it took like an hour to make! We then had some appointments and rounded up people to go to church.  Sunday we had church and then studied. We also went to a referral and the couple wants to read the Book of Mormon to find out if it's true it was exciting!!! Well that's all for this week I love you all!!!

Love, Elder Reisner