Dear Family,
So
I am getting transferred to the Blue Lake Ward in the Gresham stake in
Oregon. It is pretty much directly south of where I am now, just right
across the river. It is east of Portland. I have heard different things
about Gresham. There is the downtown part which is infested with gangs
and drugs and all kinds of bad stuff. Then there is the nice, rich part
of Gresham. Elder Kunz served in that ward before so I need to talk to
him and get some information about it because I don't know anything
about it. There is a chance that I will be companions with Elder Jensen
from Idaho Falls! We will see what happens. I find out on Wednesday.
We
got to watch Meet the Mormons on Wednesday at the mission office. It
was so well done and not what I was expecting at all. I wish we could
tell how many non members watched it. I can't imagine too many. It was
not preachy at all; it just talked about six families and how their
faith in Jesus Christ helped them. The last family that they talked
about was my favorite. They also talked about a black bishop in Alabama,
Navy's head football coach (get Coach Vanderhorst to watch that), the
candy bomber, a kick-boxer in Costa Rica, and a convert born and raised
in Nepal. It was a cool movie and it would be good to invite non members
there.
Saturday
was such an awesome day! We played ultimate Frisbee that morning and
then the ward mission leader sprained his ankle really bad. It was kind
of funny and it reminded me of when Dad jumped off the deck that one
time and sprained his ankle. The reactions were a little different ...
This one laid on the ground for a few minutes in agony and then we each
took an arm and he limped back to his car. We went to his house and gave
him a blessing because there was so much that he had to do that day.
Elder Livingston gave a good blessing. He was at Nick's baptism, boot
and all! The baptism was awesome. the only bad part was that there was a
baptism earlier and they weren't supposed to drain the font, but they
did anyway. So the font was only half full when he got baptized and Nick
and to literally lie all the way down to get all the way under the
water. It was pretty cool, though. The talk on baptism was absolute
classic. She is in the primary, so she made a sword, shield,
breastplate, and helmet all out of cardboard. She then proceeded to put
all of the armor on. It was so funny because she didn't even crack a
smile the whole time and everybody else was kind of snickering. I was
racking my brain trying to come up with a way to take a picture, but it
was kind of hard. It was really a good service. The closing song was How
Great Thou Art and there were so many people crying. Everybody in the
ward has known nick since he was a kid and they know about al of this
health issues that he has battled. It was a special moment. Nick's mom
and grandma bore their testimonies for the first time in forever on
Sunday. It capped off an awesome weekend.
I
found out why I was moved to this ward. Remember when I got emergency
transferred here and I wasn't all that thrilled? Well, on Sunday, we
went over to Nick's grandma's house for dessert. We were talking about
why Nick wanted to get baptized. He just said that he felt like that was
something that he needed to do so he would start showing up to church.
The first Sunday that he came was the first Sunday that I was there. He
came with him mom and grandma and we sat next to them and that was
where I heard them talking about Newdale and Felt. Crazy stuff! Nick's
great uncle baptized him and he grew up in Sugar City and knows Janet
Arnold really well. Ask her if she remembers "Skip" from high school. I
also found out that Nick's grandpa went to Tetonia elementary school and
middle school and his mom was an English teacher at Teton High School. I
also connected with his less-active grandma. She was wondering where
her dad's farm was in Felt and she kind of described to me where the
house was. Then she showed me a picture that she took a few weeks ago of
where she thought the far and the farmhouse might be. Sure enough,
there was Gary's house and his farm. I told her that I moved pipe on
that same farm that her dad sold 75 years ago! We were going through
these Felt books and I shoed her where the Robson's were and there were a
few pictures of their old farm. That was pretty awesome. I also
connected with Nick because he is really into sports and basketball and
one of the things he was dealing with was playing sports on Sundays. I
was able to tell him that sports are awesome, but they are nowhere near
what the gospel has to offer. It was a testimony builder to me. I
know that Heavenly Father is in charge and he knows what is best fro us,
even when we don't see it. Now I trust even more that I am going where I
am supposed to be going.
I remember Brother
Bell! HaHa! that is so great that you saw him. He would just stand in
his yard and shag balls while Grandpa pitched to me. Those are great
memories.
That is sad about Lyle Beard. I
didn't know him but I know Trixie. I wonder what Lyle is thinking right
now. I bet it was a huge gathering of Beards because there are so many
of them.
I
feel so bad for our football team. That loss to Sugar sounds so brutal.
I really hope they can come back next week. Do they just have one week
left? Thanks for the update on all the other games. I'm glad that JV
won. Any victory over sugar is great. Too bad SF didn't hang on to beat
Shelley. I'll be glad when that powerhouse goes down. Good job
Browns!!! Nick was keeping me pretty updated on them.
That
is so cool that Joe got baptized. That is awesome. The gospel can
benefit everybody and I am so glad that he made that decision to do it.
Say
Hi to the Beans for me. Tell Shauna thanks for Jourdon's letters. Also
tell Justin that Utah State is the best! We can be roommates! Just
kidding... well kind of. Praying about it would probably be the most
important thing to do of course.
I love you all and thanks again for all you do for me.
Love, Elder Reiley
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