Kirstin’s letters:

December 11
This week is transfers – both I and my companion are going to new areas. It was really hard to say goodbye to the members of the Stevenson Ranch ward; they are so amazing. I am in Canyon Country and my new companion is Sister Young; she is waiting for her visa for Brazil. The area and apartment remind me of Chatsworth even though it is different. The people here seem pretty great; the ward is more on the missionary minded side which is great! We also have a lot of older people in the ward and there are more less actives, so we have a lot of work that we can do. So far we have already met a few potentials as well as a new investigator. Our new investigator is Freda – she is from the south and has a thick accent but she is really cool and is absorbing the lessons and enjoys them.
One thing that happened at transfers was Sister Myler and her neice, Kelsey Sherry (soccer player for the local college), came and the spirit was really strong. Hopefully she will be ready to take the lessons soon! She is so sweet and it would be wonderful if she could be baptized.
My new area is in the mountains more so there is a bit more wind and it is freezing! It rarely gets above 60° and the low so far has been 34°! California isn’t supposed to get this cold. I am already wearing jacket/coat layers because it is just way too cold for me! We had our ward Christmas party this week and it was really great. We got to meet a lot of people in the ward. My companion, I and the elders led the ward in singing some songs and I realized that I was singing the loudest because many weren’t singing much – what a way to introduce myself to the ward.

December 18
There was a lot of variety that happened this week. Monday we got to play soccer with our zone and that was super fun, but it was really cold. My team won though. On Tuesday we had zone conference and it was so amazing – I took about 13 pages of notes because of how cool and energizing it was. Our motto for 2014 is: “A culture of high expectations.” A lot has been changing in the way we do missionary work in our mission, but it has really been emphasized that our purpose is to baptize and because of that strong focus, we have been changing the way we work so that we can baptize more.
Later in the week we went on exchanges. I joined Sister Naylor and we found a new investigator. Her name is Rosemary and it was such an amazing door contact – we just knocked and we started telling her who we were and we shared with her how much our Heavenly Father loves her and she started crying. She told us that she was just barely sitting at her table praying and then we showed up. She felt that it was a sign from God and she let us in and we talked with her and prayed with her; it was so incredible! I know that the Lord is preparing His children and that he works through us, His weak and simple servants to find His children and bring them back to His family. It is just amazing to feel the Holy Ghost testifying through you to the hearts of our brothers and sisters. I know it’s not because of me that people choose to follow Christ, it is because of the Spirit that has the power to seal the testimony of Christ upon the hearts of His wandering sheep. I was definitely a huge miracle to find Rosemary!
We also met with a sister that has met with several missionaries but has not made any progress. She sees us as friends more than teachers of the gospel and is not really receiving what the Spirit has to teach. We may have to drop her which is really sad. We found two more investigators through a referral. They are a Fijian couple and we ended up teaching them the entire first lesson. It was kind of hard to know if they understood it all or not because there might be a bit of a language barrier. Hopefully when we meet with them next we can get a better feel for what we need to do with them so that they can progress towards baptism. I also have to work hard at pronouncing their names.

December 24
This week has been absolutely crazy! First we met an Egyptian Christian orthodox couple when we knocked on their door. They let us in (which is rare) and we thought that we would be able to share the Restoration with them; but we were wrong. They ended up just being Bible bashers saying that Mormon wasn’t a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is evil. We were just as polite as possible and by the end of the visit they were nicer and they said that maybe they would come to our church to see what it is like. We’ll see what happens. It was really a great experience for me (my companion had a harder time with it) because while they were talking I just had the impression that they are Father’s children and He still loves them regardless of how they are now. He still loves and cares for them and they are my brother and sister, so you just have to be happy around them and let them find their way on their own. These kind of experiences also really strengthens my testimony that this church is true because the only reason why people fight against the church is because it must be true; it either is or it isn’t there is no gray area. Think about other religions, others don’t fight against them nearly as much as they do the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The reason why people fight so hard is because it’s true, whether they understand the reasons for them fighting it or not; this church is true! I’ve had my share of Bible bashers, but this one definitely stands out more for what I felt while we were talking with them.
On a lighter and happier note, we got to go to the temple this week. It was so incredible to be there around Christmas time and the Spirit was so strong! At one point while we were going through I had a line from a hymn pop into my head and the song was #131, ‘More Holiness Give Me’. The phrase was “More longing for home” meaning our heavenly home with our Heavenly Father and how wonderful that will be when the day comes! I got to see most of the other missionaries and few members from my previous areas and wards. We took some pictures at the temple and then the member that brought us took us to In-N-Out for a meal and then afterwards we worked the rest of the day – it was great!
This week we met with Savitri Devi (Fijian wife), her husband was not there this time. We gave the lesson with some very basic words to help her understand. We also got her a Hindi Book of Mormon so that she can understand it more. We are going to try to go back again soon and we might have someone in our ward that speaks Hindi which should help.
We visited our ‘eternigator’ (forever investigator) and she surprised us by feeding us and then an hour and a half later we went to our regular scheduled dinner with an English lady and listened to fun stories from England. I was beyond full! We also found another investigator, Rosia, and she seems interested but is very soft spoken and very quiet. She has two boys ages 3 and 5 months. We will meet with her more after the holidays.
Later that night we went with our district to do caroling – the street had a lot of houses really decorated with lights and then there was one house that was not lit so we sang carols at the house for a while. We also handed out a ton of pass-along cards and everyone was so happy. It’s crazy how busy this season is as a missionary; we knock on tons of doors and a lot of people don’t answer and yet we still find a way to talk with people and be busy.
The members here are really spoiling us – they give us so much food. We have been given chocolate, a pie, and groceries to last us until February. It’s nice and we love the members, it’s just a little too much for just two girls to eat on their own. It’s fun though, we just laugh at how much weight we are going to gain this season and how our New Year’s resolution will be to get it all off!
On Monday we had a zone activity – a white elephant gift exchange and it was so much fun! I ended up with a giant candy cane (I have no idea what I am going to do with it) and mistletoe – that’s really not useful on the mission, but it was still super funny!

May you all have a great and wonderful Christmas.

Love Sister Reese

November 26, 2013
On Wednesday we had interviews with the president. Our mission president is so amazing; he is inspired to help lead and guide the mission towards bigger, better, and greater things. We then moved on Thursday to our new apartment. The move wasn’t too bad, my companion and I moved as much as we could on our own and the things that couldn’t fit in the car we loaded into the trailer. One of the senior missionaries, Elder Jeppson, drove the truck with the trailer and we moved in and got everything set up. We even have a small garage so we have a little more room to store things.
Oscar is still trying to get an appointment to be interviewed for his temple recommend, but he lost his aunt this week which was hard on him because he was really close to her. He seems to be doing okay and even looked happy on Sunday at church. We are still working on ideas on how to work with members and so we started sharing the story of Cornelius (Acts 10) – think of Peter as the missionary and Cornelius as the nonmember and the angel as the member. It worked and we had a family refer us to their friend.
It has been very rainy and cloudy which means that it has been cold. I have been bundling up but it is still pretty cold. I got to hold a real Emmy Award;

one of our members is a sound producer on some really big shows and he has won three awards and he actually told us to hold them so he could get a picture and send it home. It was pretty cool! I saw six robbers in our apartment complex Sunday night! They were very stealthy; one came out, checked the surroundings then moved to another corner and another came out. They were really organized and fairly quiet. I was the only one that saw them because my companion had gone to bed early and I went out on the balcony for a moment and saw them. The robbers had their traditional masks that never move because they are raccoons! That was really interesting to see 6 raccoons sneaking around and digging through the trash.
We had a great p-day – it started by us setting up a prank on the elders in our complex and ward. We took them on an adventure by having them follow clues to 5 spots where they did different activities and we covered their door with balloons

. When they finished, we had a water balloon fight.

We won. The elders told us that we had better watch our backs because the war is on!
Well that is about all for now.
Love,
Sister Reese




December 3, 2013
This week we were able to get a lot more done; first, we met with Murlin (a less active member of 40+ years) with a member and it was a pretty good lesson and Murlin was happy. We taught the plan of salvation and it helped him out a lot to understand more of the eternal perspective and where he is now and where he can be. We also had exchanges so I stayed in Stevenson Ranch and another sister came up while Sister Lind went to Studio City for 24 hours. On exchanges so many miracles happen. We got 3 new potential investigators and one new investigator. The three potentials are Mina – an Indian in the 20’s; Marissa – she is Hispanic and has been to church looking for somewhere to go; and Victoria – we met her in an RV park and she came to her door and asked us to come inside and pray with her. We held hands and said a prayer then she told us that she had been homeless and she was now living with a friend and her son-in-law, and he was going into surgery after a hand injury. She gave us her information for us to return and teach her. Then another miracle happened – we were knocking on doors in an apartment complex and we were nearing the end and we saw one door and almost passed it but we decided to stop. A young guy (30’s) Lynn, answered and invited us in to meet with him and his wife. We taught the first lesson and he had a ton of questions and it was really great! I even had a thought/image of him passing the sacrament – I believe that he will be baptized but am not sure when.
We were invited to a member’s home for Thanksgiving and they had tons of food. I tried many things I’ve never had before, like berry pie, and it was pretty good. We were sent home with a lot of food so we were set for a few days. We spent some time playing with the children building a wood castle.
Church was amazing we heard many great testimonies and it was really spiritual. We also got news that there are going to be transfers. I will find out Tuesday where I will be and who my new companion will be. It was really hard saying goodbye; I just love the members here so much! They have literally become like a second family. I’ll miss everyone; but the president knows what he is doing and I really respect him for that, he is so inspired for this mission and he is incredible. Monday morning we helped set up the chapel for the upcoming Christmas concert.
Anyways, that about wraps it up for now.
Love,
Sister Reese

November 11
I don't have much news this week - we didn't get out much because my companion, Sister Lind, has been sick all week. We went to Urgent Care but the doctor just told that she had a sinus infection when the symptoms were not even close. We really don't know what is going on yet.
I have been reading through the Bible dictionary and have read some really interesting things. There is often references to books in the Apocrypha which makes me want to read them when I get home.

November 19
My companion has started to fee better this week but we did not get much missionary work done because we have to move and we had to pack up the entire apartment, not just our stuff. We are getting help; however, moving the furniture. Oscar is going to be getting an interview soon so that he can get a temple recommend which is really exciting.
I tried shrimp and pumpkin pie this week. The shrimp is just very plain and the pie wasn't the best for the first few bites but then began to taste better.
We also saw Brenda Song (from the Disney channel) and she was outside her house with some friends and the members we had dinner with live across the street. She said 'hi' to the dad. Sister Lind really got excited once we were in the car and had driven down the road a bit. She was screaming and really excited, it was funny. Our members just need to introduce us to her.

Love Kirstin

Freezing missionary

November 6 (later that evening)
I found out today that I am going to die... A member we went out to dinner with told us that California can get into the 30's and sometimes less. If I am freezing in 60/70's, I am going to die! I want you to pull out all my coats and jackets and take a picture of them all so that I can see which ones I want. I also think that I am going to need more blankets. I'm just trying to be prepared before it gets really super cold. I am thinking that California is going to be colder than Utah, just without the snow...I'm a bit nervous because I am already freezing nearly to death!! I need like a personal heater or something, I don't know how I am going to survive this winter. CALIFORNIA IS COLD!!!

6 November 2013
My companion and I received permission to go to the temple this week and it was awesome.

It ended up being stake temple night and we did a chapel session too; and it was huge! There were a few deaf people in the group so we got to see the ASL session, which meant that we didn't get to see the new movie this time; oh well, it was still great. I love the temple so much, it is just incredible. The LA Temple is really beautiful too; it's amazing.
In other news, Oscar received the priesthood last Sunday, so hopefully we can get him to the temple to do baptisms soon. Oscar has been called as a ward missionary which is so great! He has learned and grown so much since the first time I met him; it is so great to see how quickly the gospel blesses people's lives once they are on the right path. That was definitely a highlight of this week.
We get to teach a less active (less active for over 40 years) again this week. His name is Murlin and he has major health issues; but we're trying to help him come back and learn again. We are teaching him like an investigator since he doesn't remember much about the church and its teachings.
On preparation day this week we had a district activity and we played football, ultimate Frisbee, and soccer. The field was a bit wet and made things slippery. Don't worry, I only hurt my back and ankle a little bit; all is good though.
Well that's about all for this week.
Love Sister Reese

October 21, 2013

I have yet again another week filled with changes. We are in another trio because one of the sisters in the district is a Temple Square missionary and she went back and her companion has joined us until another sister comes out. I was supposed to be a trainer this transfer and would have had to move but the girl that was supposed to come didn’t so I don’t have to leave and I am still in Stevenson Ranch with my companion Sister Lind.

I just love this area so much and am so glad that I still have the chance to serve here; it is definitely my favorite area. The other sister that joined us is also named Sister Reese. She is from Georgia and her grandma and grandpa are converts so we don’t have any relation. It has been really interesting having two Sister Reese’s in a companionship.

There is new area that will have a companionship in so my companions and I and some elders with the housing coordinator help get an apartment ready. It was really fun and it is a nice apartment. Afterwards Elder Young (coordinator) and his wife took us all to McDonalds for lunch. I ate my very first McDonalds hamburger; it was okay, just plain and I certainly wouldn’t get one if I have other choices.

Later we cleaned an investigator’s house; she is a hoarder and lives in a trailer house so it is small and there was a lot of stuff. It was really disgusting and she even felt that the chicken that was moldy was still good. Yuck! I don’t know how can spiral down like that. We made some improvement and hopefully she can get a hold of things and make a better life for her and her 6-year-old daughter.
We taught several people this week and had different levels of success. We had a great Sunday; it was the primary program and it was so cute. The primary is large here and they did a great job. Kelsey, a potential, and soccer player for the local college even came to church. Hopefully she will be receptive to hear the lessons. After church I felt that we needed to go see a less active couple in our ward. They have two kids, a girl and a boy, who are both on missions in Spain. He used to be the ward mission leader and his wife is not a member. We spent some time talking with them and they are really friendly and said that they would like to have us over for dinner sometime. We really hope to start teaching them soon.
October 24 marks my 6 month out; it is really crazy to think that I have been out for half a year and that I have a year left. Time really does fly when you are having fun!
For Halloween the ward had a trunk-or-treat party and we decorated our car and had a game for children to play so that they could earn candy. It was called the ‘MTC’ and the children had to decide by looking at pictures, what a missionary could bring to the mission field and what had to be left home. It turned out really well and the children did a pretty good job with it.

Until next time.
Love,
Sister Reese

Letter Excerpts

Excerpts from Kirstin’s Letters:

Oscar Delgadillo was officially baptized September 29, 2013. It was such a great baptism. Oscar told his daughter that it was him being baptized right before he changed into his whites. It was so sweet and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Sister Lind, me, and Elders Chandler and Choi sang “Come Thou Font “and it was great; the Spirit was really strong. Oscar called us the next day to say thank you and he said that he didn’t know that music could bring such power and Spirit. Oscar, his daughter and son-in-law all shared their testimonies and it was so powerful to everyone there. It’s so great to see another child of God come back to the family of Father. Oscar is such a humble man; he is just an amazing person.

After the baptism we had a meeting that had the wards readjusting their boundaries; we stayed in the same ward and picked up some from another ward that includes another investigator that may be close to baptism. We will meet them soon.

I truly believe that I have now become an official Californian; I now have to wear a warm jacket because I get cold in temperatures of 60 – 70 degrees. I don’t know how I am going to survive when I go back to Utah; especially since I will be going back at the end of October. I am wearing a wool coat here and I carry a blanket in the car to wrap up in just to keep warm. I think my blood is really thinning out, I seem to be cold all the time. Sister Lind (my new companion from West Valley, Utah) and I have been busy getting use to our new area. We have this one community that is really nice with a lake that has ducks, fish and turtles.

We have picked up some great investigators: one lady was baptized a year and a half ago but never came back to be confirmed so we are going to try to bring her back so she can be re-baptized and confirmed. We are also teaching a Richard, who is a boyfriend of a less active member so we are trying to teach him and bring her back to church, but we will need to get them worthy since they are living together. We have three possible investigators that are married to members; the other is a friend of one of the young women in our ward – she has been to girl’s camp and church before, so hopefully we can teach her soon. We had a zone training meeting taught by the zone leaders and I learned so much; in 1 Nephi 13:34 it talks about ‘other books’ in our time and one of them is Preach My Gospel because it is such a powerful tool to help missionaries teach the gospel. Everyone should read this book; it is so powerful for anyone who wants to share the gospel with their friends and neighbors. I also came to realize a connection between missions and school: they both have a set schedule for a certain amount of time that doesn’t change very often. Although your schedule is the same from day to day, you are learning and doing new things each day. Missions are the greatest; I think everyone should serve a mission because you really do learn so much. I have learned so much like gospel principles in better detail that it will help me in my future life as a parent.
General Conference was Christmas for missionaries: by the end I was so full spiritually that is was so amazing. Between sessions on Saturday, we had a baptism which just made the whole weekend so spiritual. One talk I liked was Adrian Ochoa (2nd counselor in YM) he said “Your mission service will be the single most important thing to prepare you for the rest of your life.” It is so true; I’ve learned tons of gospel principles in more detail.
Oscar was confirmed a member of the church on October 13, 2013. It was so great to see him finally receive the wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost to help him throughout the rest of his life. One of my first investigators in Studio City, Annette, was baptized; I didn’t get to go back for it but I was told that it was really special. Now for some sad news; our investigator, Richard, the one living with his girlfriend (the less active sister), dropped the lessons. His girlfriend said that he was not interested and that she was ‘so not interested.’ (She used to be a Relief Society president.) She left a voice message and her tone of voice was really harsh which is so sad. We picked up Cindy, a new investigator from the elders after the ward boundary shifts and she has been taught most of the lessons and already has a strong testimony. She wants to get to know the Book of Mormon better before she commits to baptism.

This week Sister Lind and I help out at the mission home with cleaning and re-organizing. One day we work so long that we didn’t get dinner so the senior couple missionaries took us out to dinner and we talked until it was time for us to go home. We really got to know them which was really cool. The major event that happened this week was the visit of Elder Kopishke of the 70 who taught us so much. I took 8 pages of notes during the day long conference. Some phrases that he said that I really liked were: “If you invite, you have succeeded.” “The righteous man falls 7 times a day, but each time he gets back up.” “Young adults should go on missions” (this one was really cool, no it’s not commanded for girls to go on missions, but in this day and age of wickedness in the world, it should be required – I think at least…). I really like how he taught – by the Spirit and with the scriptures.

Love,
Sister Reese