I love General Conference!!

Dear family and friends,

CONFERENCE WAS AWESOME!!!!!!! I loved it all especially the Priesthood Session and Sunday! Elder Holland's talk was really good, the talk about the couple from Guatemala was super funny "Honey make sure you shake everyone's hand!" It's super weird hearing marriage talks because well I'm getting a TINY bit closer to that availability point which is scary!! Also, President Monson when he said all the missionaries will be done in two years made me sad because I don't want to leave the mission. It's so awesome and I just keep learning and growing so much its not even funny! What I have decided to apply in my life from conference this time is that I need to work on my Christlike attributes to have more faith to find, to be able to seek counsel from the Lord to lead and to bear powerful testimony as a missionary! I'll apply the marriage talks in like 7 years! ;-)

I am excited to help Conner get ready to serve a mission. I should have 6 good months to work with him when I get home. (not that I want to think about coming home) I made that one of my personal goals to do everything I can to help Conner go on a mission!

I had some MRSA or another spider bite this last week. I put the honey on it and I am taking 2 prescriptions for it this time. Some Bactrim and something new so we'll see how that works. It's a prescription that lasts for 20 days. My new pad is a lot cleaner than the other one so I am hoping that will help with my MRSA as well.

The new area is going pretty well. One of our investigators went to a members house and watched conference with them. We also got to have a new missionary with us for a day. That was cool! We just were with him to get him some experience because so many new missionaries came that President didn't have time to interview them all before they got their new companions!

I am doing this workout it's called insanity! It's pretty tough but I have got to do it! We eat more in this area and drive a car so it's the only good exercise that I get! Only two of our zones are going to have cars so it is not for the whole mission. I wish that my zone was biking but that's ok.

I am just trying to do my best. I always want to look for where I can improve. That's where we can apply the Atonement. Our ideal can become real and then our ideal changes we work towards that and it goes on for eternity!  I am thankful to be a missionary, I want to serve my Heavenly Father as much as possible!

Love, Elder Reisner 

Transferred

Dear family and friends-

Well, I got transferred :-(. I'm in the El Monte ward now. I was really sad to leave Rimgrove but I'm still in the same stake. Which means that I will still see most of the people from the Rimgrove ward and the Gonzalez family have family here so they said they'd visit her once a week so I could still see them :-).  I got to say good-bye to most of the Rimgrove members that I know so I was happy about that! I got a card from one of the sisters and a newly baptized member before I went they were really special.

The talent show was SUPER stressful because at the last minute all the people were telling us that they had a talent and when were they going to go. But, there were a ton of non members and the youth raised a lot of money by selling nachos and cupcakes and drinks. So, it was an overall success and everyone liked our synchronized swimming act that we did! We also did a tie fashion show which was super funny! I should be getting a DVD of the talent show so I will have to send it to you!

This last week we were so busy with the talent show, setting things up and practicing our act we didn't have time for much else. We did teach the Gonzalez family though and they said that they will come to General Conference! So that's cool!

My new companion's name is Elder Chadwick. I've known him from before and he's taller than me so that's funny! We will have to try not to intimidate all our small Latino friends! I am still a District Leader. My district has 8 missionaries which is 3 less than usual and right now no sister missionaries.

We are teaching a Zumba instructor in this area so I will still get to keep up on my insanity work outs! I like Zumba, it's super fun! I am glad to get a good workout because I am in a driving area for now.

Are you excited for General Conference? I sure am!

 Love, Elder Reisner 

Synchronized Swimming, Zumba, what's next?

Dear family and friends,

 

I am feeling much better, I had a bad cold last week! It is so cool to hear about all my friends who are going on missions! (In the last 2 weeks there have been 12 calls that we know of!)

 

We had a good week! The Gonzalez family is doing really well! Natalia is really opening up and they said that we could do Noche de Hogar with them tonight!

 

This week was also a weird week. We have been preparing our act for the talent show. We are doing a synchronized swimming thing with blue cardboard for the water! It is going to be cool! I am going to take a video of it but you probably won't be able to see it unless I send you my memory card.  

 

We have been finding still and teaching of course this week as well. We are teaching a guy that has schizophrenia. That's interesting, he seems good though.

 

I'm still doing Zumba! You should do it, it's super fun and a great workout! Because of Zumba though there is a lady that wants to learn from us and two other ladies that came to our kickball/soccer activity that we have on Saturdays so that was really cool!! 

 

We also on Saturday practiced some more for our talent show thing. The Gonzalez's daughter is going to be in it with us and the mom is helping us with the choreography! So that's super cool! 

 

We also attended a baptism this week. It was super cool and we know the lady. The other elders in my district taught her. I taught her as well on exchanges/noche de hogares so I couldn't interview her. 

 

This week is the last week of the transfer so I'll let you know next week if I'm transferred or not!

Oh, I totally forgot to tell you that we had a mission conference last Thursday. We are going to be on a pilot program where we won't have cars anymore. Now we all will ride bikes, use the bus and walk. The sisters will have cars to use at night and the leaders will have cars to go to the doctor and go to meetings. Other than that nobody is using a car! Its kind of exciting! Also, with the new mission boundaries 16 English speaking missionaries have to get transferred to the Rancho Cucomonga Misson.

I also had a District Leader meeting where I learned how to have better District meetings and the importance of companionship study!!  

Love, Elder Reisner

Family Connections

Hi family and friends!

It was a really good week for us! We were able to basically go to the Gonzalez's house everyday. They are progressing just kind of slowly. We are having a bit of a hard time showing them that our church is the true church on the earth today. They are on their way because they are dedicated but not super dedicated yet. The hardest thing is their church is so small that they would have a hard time leaving it. Their daughter is  changing and learning more quickly and I think that will help them too!  

This week also we found new investigators! We are teaching a man who is deaf which brings a few challenges but an incredible spirit. We have just been so busy teaching and I did two exchanges this week one with the zone leaders and one with Elder Nielsen in my district. I biked so much with him because he has a big area and they share a car and they didn't have it that day. It was soooo HOT!!! Oh well it's all good!


So with the Gonzalez family Monday we had noche de hogar with them. Tuesday a lesson, Wednesday a tour of the church with the mom, Thursday a lesson with them, Friday Zumba with the mom and Saturday they came to our kickball activity! Sunday we went over and taught again haha they love us so much and its really helping them!

We have permission to keep doing Zumba unless we are not finding new investigators or people are not progressing.

The scriptures have helped me this week by realizing the eternal perspective of things. I learned more about the plan of salvation and how we have to constantly be doing good and better by correcting our wrong doings so that we can use the atonement to better ourselves. Something I've been pondering a lot is something President Becerra taught us. It is that the Sacrament is the ordinance that will save us in the end because right after you partake of the Sacrament worthily you are perfectly clean for that moment! Pretty cool huh?!

I have been struggling the past couple of weeks being a little discouraged but I have learned that as I forget myself more and just concentrate on others that's when the work picks up. The work is definitely picking up!

I love you all,
Elder Reisner

Zumba = more investigators!!

Hi family and friends!

So this week has been really really good! On Thursday we had Zone Training. We learned about how we can better apply the things that we have learned from Zone Conference and going to find. 

Friday we did Zumba haha! Our investigator is the instructor! The mom of the Gonzalez family. Then we helped her move some things and then she bought us lunch! So basically the Gonzalez family are super awesome! Also, through Zumba we were able to find another new investigator!! That was cool! The Gonzalez's said they would come to our soccer activity that we have every Saturday. (we have this activity to get more investigators and less actives to come to church) The Gonzalez family didn't come but we had a lesson with them Sunday and they are going to come to the Noche de Hogar that we are going to have today!

Also on Saturday we just tried to find as much as possible in the rain. It was cold but good!

Then Sunday we sang in the choir and we taught the Gonzalez family and Diana a recent convert. 

I had some MRSA but I put bleach and honey on it and it went away! (we are trying some natural honey to see if it will help to rid Elder Reisner of MRSA permanently so this is good news!)

This week I learned more about the Atonement and how we have to have it! Only by mercy is salvation possible because based on justice alone nobody could pay the price of our sins. But because mercy overcomes justice we can use the Atonement not just for sins but to be better to use it so that our ideal becomes real Alma 34 and D&C 93. You should read those!

Also, I'm reading the Book of Mormon again but this time in Spanish. I understand it all but it's taking longer than I want to read it but that's ok.

I sent dad something for his birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my AWESOME dad!!

Well that's all I have for now.
   
Love, Elder Reisner

I love Zone Conference's!

Hello family and friends-

I'm e-mailing you today because we didn't have a car on Monday and yesterday we were too busy. We are to e-mail President Becerra once a week along with our families so I'm not skipping another week! Although I was super close to doing so.

Zone Conference last week was AMAZING!! We actually had a little video segment from Russell M. Nelson about the Book of Mormon and the gathering of Israel. The Book of Mormon is so important! If I got anything out of our Zone Conference that we had last week it's that we need to use the Book of Mormon more and in the right way. It was so great! 

We also learned about how we can talk to people in a better way. It's a 7 step process. When we teach certain doctrine including the restoration, the atonement, the power of the holy ghost, sin, and others we need to explain why it's important to them. Then we can give them a Celestial experience so they are more likely to want to listen to our message.  **Mom note - If this paragraph doesn't make sense it's because I am trying to interpret what he is saying. Sometimes I need an Elder Reisner Urim and Thummim!**

We learned that really it's the end of days. We read about a prophecy that is being fulfilled right now in D&C 49:24. It talks about how the Lamanites will flourish in the desert like a rose. Sorry in the wilderness in Spanish it says desierto which means desert and wilderness. We know that the place of gathering now is not Utah that it is all over the world! Now is the time of the Lamanites aka the Latinos and President Becerra taught us that we need to use this to our advantage! This is a book for them, it's their history and us white folks are just borrowing it. It was super awesome!!

The Gonzalez family are great! You want to know why? It's because Heavenly Father loves us and answers prayers! Because not kidding this last Monday we went over because something canceled and they were all there! That is when we were able to talk to them and really teach them and really get them to love us! I love this family and I hope they get baptized. I think they will. We even went over yesterday as well.

Anyway, I got to go I have no time left!!! I love you! 

Love, Elder Reisner

More pictures when Elder Reisner was in San Gabriel

Hna Esquerra - Stake President's wife

Ojeda family

Ruiz family were less active but not any more!!

Becceril family

Elder Carvajal and I in our manly moustaches!

Part 2

Temple trip

Halloween

Sister Juarez's baptism