Write to Elder Reiley

Washington Vancouver Mission
2223 NW 99th St.
Vancouver WA 98665
jaxon.reiley@myldsmail.net

Monday, January 11, 2016

01/11/2016

Dear Family,

What a crazy week! I had so many ups and downs and it was just a crazy week. So here we go...

So Thursday we had a big leadership meeting. It was the assistants, the zone leaders, the district leaders, the sister training leaders and the mission presidency. It was such a great meeting. President Taylor talked a lot about what his last six months are going to mean to him. It is cool that we could go home at the same time. I was really uplifted and motivated.

We had a really sacred and special experience on Friday. We got a call from Sister Taylor on President Taylor's phone. She told us that President Taylor had had a heart attack on the golf course and that he was gong to the emergency room in Seaside (about 20 miles south on the Oregon coast from Astoria) and that he needed a blessing immediately. You can imagine our car ride down. We were pretty nervous. That was the worst I have ever seen President Taylor, especially after seeing him just the day before. It was very special to give him a blessing, though, right there in the hospital. I don't remember much of what I said, but the spirit was thick. Both President and Sister Taylor were crying and we all knew that everything was going to be okay. As far as any updates, I don't know much. He is going in for a triple-bypass surgery tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. It seems pretty optimistic right now, but he will have to rest for a few weeks. You will probably know more than me if you check facebook haha.

Then Sunday was just a crazy day. B made it to church. We had a lesson with her later in the afternoon. It was the most intense lesson I have had on my mission. She is on-date for this Saturday, so it was crunch time. We taught her the law of chastity and let's just say she had some concerns. Some concerns that I have never dealt with before. I'm so glad I had Elder Stevens with me. He is somebody that you never worry when he opens his mouth to speak. We addressed every concern as best we could, but she still wasn't buying it. We testified of the Atonement and we even knelt down and said a prayer together. By the end (it was a pretty long lesson), she committed to "do her very best to live the law of chastity." I thought for a while that we had lost her, but she eventually came around. Then she texted us a couple hours later and basically said it was a no-go. She wasn't willing to make the changes because she couldn't see what was wrong with them. So right now it is not looking like she is getting baptized anytime in the near future. Elder Stevens and I have been bummed out since then, but we will get over it. There are more people out there that will be ready for baptism. 

Speaking of baptisms, Keith did get baptized on Saturday,k but I was unable to go. I'm glad he finally made the leap of faith. I taught him when I was in the Ridgefield ward. Also, I don't remember if I mentioned G. and M. from that same ward. They were foster kids and their foster parents were active, but we couldn't baptize them. Anyway, they moved back in with their mom in Vancouver and now they are getting baptized with their mom at the end of January. Sometimes I guess you just have to be a seed planter. 

Thanks for the updates from home. It sounds like basketball is going well for girls and boys teams at THS. Hopefully they keep it up. Thanks for the sports updates as well. Go Cleveland! I'm glad you were able to talk to Jake and Zach. I keep in touch with Jake quite a bit. I'm glad you were able to hear the missionaries give talks. They are the Spanish speaking missionaries, right? They probably cover quite a few wards. 

Thank you for the great email. I love hearing from you all! I love being here in Astoria as a missionary. My testimony has grown so much. I have truly found a love for the people here. Thank you for all of the prayers and love and support from home. I can't express how much I appreciate that. I love you all and I I hope you have a great week. 

Love: Jaxon

No comments:

Post a Comment