hey mom

it was great to talk with you guys. my other calls were awesome.  it was fun to talk with jay cause we didnt really ever get to talk to much when i was at school. cams birthday sounded like it was a lot of fun. im really jealous that they saw the avengers cause i heard that it was supposed to be a great movie.  

well elder rama left this week and before he left we did some kool stuff like go get pizza and hotdogs and stuff which was nice. the night before he left some of the other guys from our zone came over and we stayed up the whole night playing games and stuff. it was really fun but i was super tired. we have zone conference every 2 transfers or 3 months. my new comp is elder madubanya from south africa. he seems like a kool guy but he not really an athlete like rama but im sure we will get a long just fine. but thats really all thats new here but next week it will be longer. love ya have a great week. 

love reese

hey mom

wow it seems you must of been really busy cause i think this is the shortest email you have ever sent haha. 

 

so, i havent had any issues yet but i am now an official alien in the country of kenya. i even have an alien id card. its kinda kool but i look like a terrorist in it! its bad.

 

well this week was nice we had a lot of kool things happen. we have begun to teach a 9 year old girl and her family so hopefully there will be another baptism soon. we had a really good lesson with the guy named paul, the one who has the triple combo and stuff. he has accepted to be baptized so hopefully by the end of the month he and his wife priscilla and his family will be baptized. there is catherine, mellissa, mark and zawadi. We are teaching them with another member family. it was really nice cause he helped us with some of the concerns that they had, but he talked sooo much. we taught them about the gospel of jesus christ. usually we finish the entire lesson in like 30 mins and stuff but this guy talked forever cause we werent able to finish the lesson.

 

saturday was really nice but it also really sucked a lot. we went to the nairobi national park safari walk with the young men for an activity. it was really kool. we saw a hippo, zebra, cape buffalo, a white rhino (which was freakin tight) a couple of lions, a leopard, baboons, crocs, and hyenas. it was really kool. there was a thing for a cheetah but it wasnt there or it was hiding. i really wanted to see it. my favorite was the hyena and the rhino. after the activity we had a snack outside of the park and a bunch of baboons tried to steal our food and stuff. the baboon was huge too and it was walking around us and it touched my back, it was kinda crazy.

 

so now the part that really sucked..... we were going to teach someone who's daughter just died with the neighbors who are members and the ap's called us. my comp elder rama is leaving......... that sucks so bad! and my goal to become an ap vanished into thin air because a guy from my group is becoming the next ap and there has never been aps who have been from the same group. so that sucked and then we had to teach these people right after that phone call. luckily the member guy was the same guy who came with us to teach with us the other day so he talked most of the time and we just bore testimony. but that was my week.

well i hope everything is going well. so next week i will be calling on sunday night from here so probably sunday morning there so i hope you are ready. i think that you should have kurts fam around you so i can talk to them too. also i am going to get 4000/- out of the bank so i can buy credit here so i can talk for a long time haha. well i love you and i will talk to you in 6 days

love reese

hey mom 

 

well this week was a pretty good week. on tuesday we had exchanges. i was in langata with elder kigongo (che-gongo). he is a new missionary from uganda. he is pretty funny. i did take out some money fthat day and all four of us met up at kfc which was really nice. i payed for a little more than half of my comps meal there cause i thought it would be messed up if i ate bomb american food in front of him. it was so freakin good too. the only bad thing......that night i got sick and threw up. luckily most of the chicken and stuff was already gone but not all of it. it sucked super bad cause i really didnt want to throw up but it felt so much better after i did. and idk if those new pills you sent me work cause i also had diarrhea. nice.

 

then on friday elder rama and i bought the gummi boots cause we have lake victoria on our street. before we bought the boots we were having to pay pikipiki guys to take us on like a one minute ride across it! so first we bought flip flops so we could walk through it but then we realized that the water is also the sewage system so we bought the boots. they are actually pretty kool cause you can feel the mud and the water on your feet but they fit the best. its kool though,  we wear them around during the day too cause there is mud and stuff every where. hopefully this week i can find a new pair of shoes cause my shoes have a hole in each foot. im going to try and find a pair of ecko shoes cause i hear they are super nice, light and they have like a sports shoes sole. so maybe i can find some, but i dont have my hopes up ha. i think that next week elder sanders, elder sarlo and i and maybe some other people will be going to carnivore if plans work out, which could or could not happen.

 

so we taught this guy named paul who has the triple combo and it was an awesome lesson. his first question was about temples and chapels and what is the difference. then he asked us about the book of abraham and if it is the same one from the bible. i think it might be my first and last time that someone asks us about the book of abraham in our first lesson. it was powerful though! he told us that he used to be a church builder. he would go to different places and help people establish churches there. he would lead the congregations and stuff but he said that he is willing to leave that all behind and be baptized into the truth. i felt the spirit so strong it was awesome. then later we taught this guy named nicholas or aballa about the plan of salvation. this lesson was definitely not the same as the other cause this guy fought every point that we talked about even though we showed him proof from the bible and stuff. i was getting so frustrated that i wanted to punch him and tell him to listen cause this is the truth... but not so christ like. we will be teaching him again this week so hopefully he will be more accepting. but that was my week in a nutshell.

 

well i hope that everything is going well. i hope that you liked the pictures that i have sent cause i sent a ton so you would get off my butt haha jk. im glad that dontre is getting baptized. im really surprised. it will be a good thing that he will be in a ward where there is black people cause usually theres none haha. oh and if you send a package do you think you can send me pics of the fam and pics of me in pads and stuff and also will you send me a copy of my highlight tape and my game film from high school cause i want to show some members here what it is like. cause they think that rugby is more violent and i have to prove them wrong haha.  well i love you a lot and sorry for sending this late.

love reese

hey mom

it has rained every single day this week. it sucks cause it gets really muddy and wet and stuff its bad but it usually one rains during the night which is nice cause i dont like to be rained on and it stays cool during the day... usually.

well we have found a few good investigators this week. we will be teaching a guy named paul and his family. he is an awesome investigator. he has read the entire book of mormon. he met the stake president and he gave him the triple combo so he has almost read through that and he has studied the history of the church and all that. he came to church this week which was awesome. he is a really smart guys and we have never even taught him yet. he has been given all this stuff by members which is awesome. this week we will be teaching him and im way excited! we have this guy name nicholas who is a real struggle because he is in love with the bible. i mean its not a bad thing but it sucks because he is always telling us to study the bible cause he thinks its so great. everytime he says that in my head i say something like" the bible is good only for the life of jesus christ but other than that its not that good cause its created so much confusion and crap." but just in my head. not that i dont like the bible, it has just made a lot of problems in the world, and its kinda frustrating. we are beginning to teach some kids who have not been baptized yet and they are like 9 and 10 so they will be baptized really soon. YAY hah.

anyways last monday we played sports, which was nice! we had a good game of soccer but things started to get a little heated cause people were taking things a little too seriously. but it was fun. wednesday i sent my p. blessing to elder hartman and stuff. i got russ and kori's small package and a thick letter from kellie. which was way nice and the package was free since it was so small. thursday morning was super scary...kinda. president Broadbent called and wanted to talk with me i was really scared like no joke when he said he wanted to talk with me my heart dropped into my stomach. idk why but if president calls you in the middle of the transfer its usually cause youre in trouble! so i was a little bit nervous. but he just called to read me an email that elder hartman sent to him for me, so it was all good, a little weird but good ha. 

 

 on saturday all of nairobi stake had a stake sports day. all the wards, branches and missionaries (some of them) came together to play some sports with everyone. it was really fun. we played soccer. we had some racing events and we played some basketball. then we all came together and had a meeting where they gave us all soda and some rolls. dont ask me why they decided to get rolls ha. its was way fun but it ended really sucky because while we were all in the meeting some kids who were not members were outside playing basketball on the outdoor court and i left my basketball that i bought out there so they could play with it and some one stole it. i was freakin mad. who comes to church grounds and steals a basketball? i can tell you some one who wants to be punched in the face by a 6 foot 4, 220 pound black man thats who. anyways church was good. we had like 7 investigators at church and they made up almost like 1/3rd of the people who came. but that was my week pretty much.

well i hope that everyone is doing well. also have jay write me an email like at least once a month i would like to hear what hes up to. and tell everyone hello for me. i love you and i miss you tons.

love reese

HEY MOM!!!!

i bet you thought i was really enthusiastic when i wrote that, but the truth is i accidentally left the caps lock on sorry. hah. anyways im glad that you got the letter i sent. i think that we will be going to that restaurant carnivore soon like next week or the week after on a p day. maybe i'll be able to tell you what wildebeest and crocodile and lizard taste like! hah and tell Kurtis i think i found his black twin.

this week was pretty good. we taught this lady, the one who owns a bar, about the plan of salvation. the problem was that we had her read and when she reads she gets really sleepy cause she usually reads before she goes to bed. so next time we will not have her reading! we were able to go to some members homes and become friends with them which is nice cause its always a lot funner when we are able to meet with members cause then we get to know them so much better and are able to work with them on things that we need to accomplish. on monday we played basketball and made tacos with all the taco seasoning that i have (thank you so much by the way). it was so good too. tacos are way bomb with chapati so i think that i will make them that way when i get home.

 

on sunday we were able to watch general conference. we now have a player that plays movies and stuff from a usb drive so we will most likely be getting conference a lot faster than usual, which will be way nice. some members brought an investigator to watch it. it was nice and i think they really liked it too. my favorite talk was elder hollands talk. i think that he is becoming my fav apostle even tho i love them all. i have to work on being more humble and help lift other people instead of myself because im selfish and prideful --thats what Elder Hartman said i have a tendency towards and i know its true sometimes. ha. well that was my week in a nutshell.

i love you guys a ton and miss you a lot. i hope that you guys have a fanastically great week as russ would put it haha (inside joke i hope you get it ha) love you guys!!

love reese

ps in case anyone wants to send me a package tell them to send me lemonade and spitz sunflower seeds hah.

hey mom

well this week went pretty good i guess. we had a pretty slow week to tell you the truth. we dont really have very many investigators and since it was easter time they all went up country. i hate when people go up country. but we had a pretty good time at zone conference. the meeting with elder hartman kinda sucked cause i had to think about myself a lot and i couldnt help it. i kinda had to re-think my life. and i hate thinking about myself haha. but easter was nice though. there was a good amount of people at church.  rama and i shared some of the easter candy that i got so tell bro bulloch thanks! the jelly beans were awesome by the way. the big cup reeses were amazing too. we also made a pretty good easter dinner but probably not as good as your guys'.

 

saturday was a good day too i almost forgot. we went to the church and cleaned it and after that we went to Langata and played basketball with the Langata guys. it was nice cause we played with some members but the investigators never came to play. but it was nice anyway because we didnt get to play on p day and i really needed to relieve some stress and it did, so it was really nice. also there was something funny that happened to me this week. some kid that i always see from switzerland who yells "hey mormon" in kind of a high pitched voice, took pictures with us after he saw us on the road randomly. hopefully he comes into the fold haha.

 

im glad that you got the video from sis hartman. i was the first one to record a video postcard so i had to think on my feet pretty quick so i kinda didnt know what to say. but anyways i think i will send you letter with all the info in it so you can find out what a red or a blue or a white and a yellow is. ill just tell you a little bit. red core motive is power and whats to get from point a to b. blue core motive is intimacy but just like closeness not the way most people would think and understanding and consideration. white core motive peace and want calmness and kindness but one of their bad things is that they are boring..... sometimes haha. then yellow core motive is fun and wants to be freedom and to be the life of the party. IM LOSING WEIGHT?!?! i didnt think so but to tell you the truth it doesnt surprise me very much. i wish i wasnt tho. i havent found a scale but theres one in the office but it only goes to 100 kilograms (about 215-220lbs) and it always says that i am over the limit. im glad that you guys had a good easter. russ and kori told me they sent me an easter basket and im pretty excited for it. but yes i do share with elder rama. i always share. i think it would be messed up if i ate all the stuff in front of him and didnt share. it was spring break huh. i forgot about that. i cant believe that last year i was in cali going to disneyland.

well anyways that was my week. i hope that this week is alot of fun and it is stress free. also i want you to send me a pictures of your new GUTLESS car. cause i forgot what it looks like. and why didnt you get something like a chevy i thought you went with grandpa to get a car. and i know hes all about the chevy's. you coulda gotten one with a little bit of power haha. well i love and miss you

love reese

hey mom,

well this week was pretty good. on monday we played basketball and it was so much fun. we played for like 4 hours. the first 3 hours we played just with other missionaries and then we played with guys who were fresh. i was so dead. during the third game i had to stop and get off the court cause i was cramping and i could barely jog. i am so out of shape its crazy. it felt so good to use my body and to play sports though. i miss them so much its crazy.

 

on tuesday we came to town and met with a bunch of the guys who were leaving and said goodbye for awhile and we met the new missionaries that night. it was kool to see them. i like to say that i know, at least a little, about each missionary in the mission. i was able to meet elder skidmore and elder lyons from the states. on their first day here i took them around to contact some people. it was funny because they were asking me a ton of questions like what they will eat, what are their areas like and is it hard to teach. it was funny cause it reminded me about when i got here and how many questions i had.

 

yesterday was very good we had our zone conference. elder rama and i we both made the program for the zone conference. which was a new experience. it went very well and we had a guy named taylor hartman that is pretty much the psychologist for all of africa. i guess he is really big in utah, but ive never heard of him. he made up this color code about what makes us who we are. so i am a red and yellow personality but i will mail you something more about it so that you understand what i mean cause if i did now it would take forever hah.

 

so rongai is just starting to come back a little. we only have like 5 investigators but they arent too serious. its hard just cause we have to contact. its easier when you have people to teach and you contact people just cause you want to. but because we have to it makes it a lot harder, so im trying really hard not to die. we had a good lesson this week with a guy name abhalla (a balla) who is not muslim hah but his english name is nicholas. it was a really good lesson. we taught him about the restoration of the church and the book of mormon.  i havent learned too much more swahili. im am learning how to roll my "r's" right now and im doing pretty well too.

im glad that you guys got to watch conference. we havent been able to do that yet but hopefully in about 2 or 3 weeks from now. i really enjoyed watching the last conference while ive been here because i actually pay real attention and take notes and stuff. i like it alot. well i hope that you guys are doing great. im glad that jays surgery went pretty well. dr thomas is amazing and he has always been very kind to us. i love and miss you tons.

love reese