Monday January 26, 2015

So Moves Week is upon us and after careful consideration..... I have found out I am..................... STAYING :) YAY!!!!!! After 4 and a half months though Me and Elder Parry are seperating, We are both super Excited for our Moves!!!!!!!!! I Am getting Elder Boehme he is from ARIZONA!!!!

Still keeping my streak going 5 companions so far and all five from Different places :)

I am super excited to work with him, I hear he is an AMAZING missionary So I can't wait to see him again

This Week Has been AWESOME, I have grown so so much, So much Difficulty but so much Progression, Our friends have gone through so many things this week and it has been hard our two Investigators have been off the radar which is hard. 

Lewis has decided that he wants to Look at it on his own for a time without any outside intereference to find out if this is what he wants, He is still reading the Book of mormon but doesn't want to meet with us per say at the moment, Also Thomas has gone off the radar this week, have no clue how he is doing or what is going on, Haven't been able to catch him in or get him by calling, which is hard but the Lord has his purposes and his purposes are ALWAYS fulfilled. 

We have alot of potential this week coming and in the Coming weeks. 

This week we met a man named Colin and began teaching him, he is so cool, He Had a rough past but has been recovering from drugs for some time now. When we met with him Thursday, we talked to him about him and listened and he shared with us how He is recovering from Drugs and several years back He went to a rehabilitation place about God and Felt the Spirit really strong and as we were talking we asked him if he would want to feel that spirit again and He expressed that he would and we gave him  the mormon message "Hope Of God's Light" to watch on mormonchannel.org and He said he would watch it we know it will relate well with him and resignate with him, The Lord has reached out to him in Love at this time and he expressed how he was looking for direction and when we began teaching him he said that he believes the Lord caused us to meet that day. 

It was so Powerful to see that the Lord loves all of his children No matter what.

My studies this week have really focused on trying to meet the needs of those I have been teaching and it has been neat to see the difference in the amount you learn when focusing it trying to help your specific Investigators. 

I can't share most of the stuff that has happened this week because its confidential about people but It has been a great week of GROWTH That is all I can say.

I love all of you And I am here and keep you all in my prayers EVERYDAY. 

I am currently looking through Preach My gospel and Watching the District videos to figure out how to use PMG better and One thing I have been looking for specifically has been PRAYER, and what are the things the Lord asks us to pray for as Missionaries, the List is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!

I know That this work is true and that it is always for our Benefit, This week I have come to deeper know that  HEAVENLY FATHER gives us trials to help us to grow, I know that my trials have shaped me and Deepened my desire to change to be better and as well become more patient and more loving. It is absolutely amazing To even try to fathom the Fact that in a month I have been out a year and with that I have been pondering alot on WHAT can I do to Give more of myself to the Lord, How can I be more Effective and Efficient in all that I Do? How can I become a better Instrument for the Lord? How can I share the Love the Lord has for his children if they aren't willing to listen to the Message? How can I serve when People are prideful and won't accept help ? 

If anyone has any ideas to these questions I would love to hear them.

As well I would love to hear all about all of you, How goes your Studies what Have you learned? How can you apply it in your life? Please share these things I love all of you and know the Lord is always here for us. 

Remember PROVERBS 3:5-6 

:) 

I love you more than anything, You all mean the world to me and I would give anything for you, I miss you and pray for you everyday. 

Hope all is well, Hope you stay safe and Know that I know 

JESUS CHRIST LIVES, AND THROUGH THE ATONEMENT WE CAN ALL BECOME BETTER EVERYDAY.

My favourite Mormon message which helps me-

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/the-refiners-fire

Also go to my Mormon.org Profile if you want to know Why I am a Mormon

http://www.mormon.org/me/9D93/JamesThomasKirkReece

- Elder James Reece 

Monday January 19, 2015

This week Was another Great Week, I think I am just going to stop saying that so We can all assume that it was a great week anyway :p

My Studies went Well, I continued to be studying the lessons from Preach My gospel to become a better teacher, I am currently studying in Lesson 2 : Plan of Salvation.

We have began working alot more with members as well, And we have discussed and contemplated ways to help strengthen all those we work with in their missionary efforts as we have done so we see the members getting more excited and we are able to see the miracles pour out here. 

Unfortunately I can't seem to type much today, but I will share some experiences I have had.

I am doing my 40 day fast from things that are not edifying or focused on the Lord and I started it again this week but this time, I have fasted more during it to truly show the Lord how dependent I am on him, It seems to be going well and the sacrifices aren't as hard to resist so that is pretty cool to see, I know that to be fully effective as a missionary I must consecrate myself to the Lord, why would anyone not give 100% it doesn't make sense to me why someone wouldn't search for changing throughout their missions. This is the GREATEST opportunity for anyone. if anyone is not sure if they should serve a mission I plead with you to come out, You learn so much about who you are, who the Savior is and you become so interweaven in the gospel it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

We were able to get and get food at this place our investigator and our friends have recommended and the man recognized us as Mormon Missionaries and asked us if we had any pamphlets with us, we said yeah, he then gave us permission to leave some in his Store he was so nice and his food was AMAZING, We also found out that two of our investigators are planning on being married this summer so that is exciting to see, especially as the World goes farther and farther from the Church and God's stance on all of that. One cool Experience that happened for Barry is that he was there and we said a prayer, and after we said Amen he recieved a text from his dad saying that he would be working on getting off the day of their wedding so that was sweet. Oh AND IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also were able to visit some potentials and they expressed how interested they were in the gospel, so We will be seeing them this coming weeks hopefully.  Also this week we contacted this man 2 months ago we have returned several times to visit and follow up with him and we got him in and he expressed that Mosiah 24 really helped him so much that he gave it to his friend as well and it helped her and now they both want to learn more about the gospel and come unto Christ so that was AMAZING.

When we were teaching Thomas this week we were able to be Bold with him in declaring the truth of the gospel as we watched the Restoration we invited him to be baptized he responded how he had already been baptised then with authority and power we were able to Teach about Authority and boldly testify how the Authority to act in God's name was lost after the death of the Apostles and that The CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS is the only CURCH that has that authority and is Gods kingdom once again on the Earth. The spirit was so strong and It resignated with him. 

We also saw John this Week and when we saw him, we were able to share exactly what he needed which was really cool, I love him so much he is amazing, and As we brought him with us to a lesson he was able to recieve answers to his questions Through SERVING with us which was really neat to see. We met nice people all week and were able to visit many Great people. It was great. 

 We got many Potentials this week but couldn't get exact times so will be doing alot of calling this week. 

I love all of you 

And I just want you all to know  

I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and my redeemer, I know that I am out here serving for some purpose that only God Knows Truly, I know That God is there and that he is my heavenly Father, I know Who I am because of that knowledge and I know That there is greater potential and possibilities for all of us as we are literally his children and as such are of a noble birthright. I know that Jesus Christ Lives and through the Atonement We can ALL be saved in his kingdom and have everlasting happiness, these things I earnestly testify in his sacred name, the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 Keep Swimming :)

 

- Elder James Reece

Monday January 12, 2015

Hey Everybody, 

It's nice to be able to speak with you all once again, This week Has had some wonderful experiences and I would say one of the Most Spiritually building Weeks of my life. If you look at reports we only taught 3 lessons contributing to any Indicators we report, however the amount of personal strength and growth that I have experienced is way more then that. This week has been a week where I was able to recieve many answers to prayers and see and hear from people How much change I have gone through as well as see That my prayers are working. 

So as always my studies, this week have been focused on Preach My gospel but also focused on the Activities and Application settings within them, As I have been trying to figure out how to best help God fulfill his purposes.  As I was studying I focused largely on the first chapter in Preach My gospel which is "My Purpose". As I focused on the Personal study activities within this section I learnt deeper of what My Purpose as a missionary is and it is not to bring everyone to the church but Focused largely on Doing EVERYTHING in my power to give people the information and to bring the spirit into their lives so they can accept the Gospel but in the end it is INVITING everyone to learn. Of course not everyone will accept the Gospel but our invitation is to do as illustrated in Doctrine and covenants and all of us who have been warned it is our responsibility to warn our neighbours. How incredible is that and recently a friend of mine has had the Power of Everyday missionaries book and I had the chance to look at it and review it and make changes to apply some of the focuses of it in the work and it is so great. Focusing on the IMPORTANCE of members in this work and Our role as missionaries to help them to encourage and strengthen them so they may feel the love of the lord for them through helping others they know feel the love of God for themselves. My study also studied alot on Patience and Looking through the scriptures for occasions where Patience is needed. 

Patience really is a core fundamental aspect of the Gospel as we have patience, we exercise both Faith and Hope in these things and show Love for all of God's children. It is through patiently awaiting the blessings the Lord has promised us as we are faithful which allows us to ENDURE to the END. If we didn't patiently endure and continue on through hardships, well alot of us would turn our backs on the gospel thus because we wouldn't have a hope that things would/ could even get better. Patience Is definately something I have been working on and I notice that as I focus on Patience and  pray for opportunities to be more patient with everyone the Lord definately provides those opportunities for you to try to be, The Lord works hard to test our patience because it is through that test that we learn to be more patient and  just as the Lord says to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, " Bear with patience thine afflictions, then if thou wilt endure them well the Lord will exalt thee on high"- paraphrased. 

It truly is the primary thing before anything else can really be instrumented.

Now on to my week 

I have begun to keep a miracles journal per day and have really noticed very much the miracles that have been presented unto me this week. 

I am not sure If I reported this miracle on Monday, but if so I will repeat it again, As we were coming into town we were sitting on the bus and someone came on the bus, she was going to sit somewhere else than lended up sitting right beside me, she had her music in her ears and as she sat both me and my companion felt prompted to talk but we couldn't think of how to engage in conversation, then she sneezed and I replied bless you and began talking with her, as we talked we talked about what we do and asked about her as well and we mentioned about how we teach people about the Gospel and she responded that if people came to her door, she would go and go a pen and paper and listen to what they have to say, so We asked her if she would be interested in Learning about these things, she expressed she would be,( however I forget to set a return appointment) so getting off the bus we gave her a card and said to call when she would like to learn. It was a miraculous thing though, Also that day I was able to have a very powerful prayer that morning and that Evening, Could really feel the Lord's love for me.

This week I had countless miracles but Don't have too much time left to e-mail only 10 minutes so I will share some.

One day we were on the bus and the first person we talked to expressed how he lost his dad several years back and that he couldn't talk to his fiance about it because she would say that he was lucky to have had that at least, so we expressed to the man if he needed someone to talk to he could call us anytime. Later I was sitting on the bus and at the back and I prayed and asked heavenly Father to put someone there who we could help  to come to know God, in my prayer I commited that I would talk to anyone he put there in front of me and as I said Amen a man approached and sat beside me, He was the most unlikely man that we would contact just normally as he was scruffy and wasn't well groomed, however I felt Prompted to speak with him, As I spoke with him I came to know that he was striving to recover from Heroine and is going through Addiction Recovery, and he also visits his mother for tea often, As I looked at this man ( I have been praying to be able to see people for their potential rather than their appearance)  I could see him clean shaven in whites and it was a miraculous thing, As I talked with him I told him that Heavenly Father LOVES him and Knows Him, As I did so I could feel within me the Love that God has for this man and It overtook me, I invited him to learn more about God, and He declined and after he left I was thanking the Lord for the opportunity I had to be able to have showed his love for his children and as I Did I felt the most outpouring of God's love I have ever felt that I weeped right there on the bus for this man, I can truly testify that the Gift of Charity is a gift from the Lord and if we do as Moroni instructs in Moroni 7:48 we can truly come to love people. I have been praying for this love for so long and This day I could see it evidentally in front of me. 

I know God Loves all of his children and if we ask to do his work and ask him for his help we can feel that love he has for them. 

It is a miraculous thing. And we can come to know for ourselves of God's love. 

I apologize I couldn't talk about the other miracles I have run out of time, However I will say this, Through God's Servants I was able to recieve many answers to my prayers. It is incredible to know that God has chosen individuals he works through to answer us and that the Spirit can testify truth to us by the words they speak. 

I know this work is True and I am so priviledged to be apart of this, I could never have anticipated the joys that my mission would grant unto me and how much I would truly come to know My savior and my Father in heaven.

I love all of you, both at home, and here, ANYONE who is reading this

I LOVE YOU, YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES YOU< THE SAVIOR LOVES YOU , AND we are all hear for all of you. 

Have a great week, remember to look back and see how much you have grown, I was able to see a lady in my mission who met me when Ifirst came in and standing there talking to her Wednesday she didn't recognize me as the same person. The Gospel changes us 

LET IT

- Elder James Reece

Jan 5, 2015 - New Years

So this week was good. Not alot of things happened numbers wise but it was a good week. We were really able to strengthen the members alot and were able to see many miracles. Nothing attributed to our key indicators though.

This week has been slow and have been doing alot of chapping of Doors which is good, One miracle of the week while knocking a street we had been directed to knock we found a less active member who didn't have his address updated and has been going to other churches and has been wanting to come back but Hasn't known how to, so he let us in and told us he wants to come back to church and not drink or smoke anymore again and learn about the Book of Mormon again and come back, That was super amazing especially because that day was such a rubbish day outside and we were cold. As we continued chapping on that same street on the next day we found a man who let us in, His name was Bill and he used to have a blether with the missionaries many years back and talk about the Book of Mormon. This is the second family where this happened and it's so cool.

The other family that had this happen we felt prompted to knock this little place of 5 houses and they told us to come in a few weeks ago, and it was great but this week the subject of the Book of Mormon came up and they said hey I used to have one of those and I said would you like another and they took one and want to have discussions about it. So that was amazing as well. 

On New Years day once again, we had the priviledge of going to member's houses to drop off cookies, we were well recieved at each house we went to and everyone was home which was neat, we were able to have some nice visits and really strengthen our relationships with the members which TRULY is key in missionary work. ABSOLUTELY #1 KEY thing. 

Oh yeah almost forgot, Tuesday I saw a miracle that I never would have been able to do months ago. But It was cool We were knocking this street and as we were knocking it we met this man and said hi We are sharing a message about the Love of God, and he told us he didn't believe in God, but looked perplexed as he did, and then he shut the door, we continued on to the next door, and I felt as we walked away the reason he didn't believe, but was afraid to go, so we continued several doors down then when the urge became strong I spun around and told my companion, hey we are going back to that man's door, We knocked his door again and apologized for coming back but we felt prompted we needed to come back to talk to him, and he said"I told you, I am not interested, and as he said that I proceeded to ask him, "Have you by any chance lost someone so dear to you which has caused you to not believe, He looked for a moment and said Yes I have lost many, so we began to ask him If he would want to know how he could see them again, As we extended the invitation, you could see in his eyes it is something he longed for, but he chose to not accept the invitation, however as we left three teenagers came up to us and asked us about hockey, and at this time I was filled with the spirit and I turned to them and asked them about if they have ever wondered what the purpose was of being here, Whilst almost tears coming to my eyes I bore testimony on what knowing my purpose has done for me, and one of the three expressed how it was something they would be interested in and the other boys seemed to be confused about it as well, so we left them with the Plan of Salvation and told them we would see them again, since we see them all the time. Walking away we felt the spirit testify to us that we just did what God wanted us to do it was a unique and amazing feeling, and from that moment, I decreed I won't let my fear of man overcome my love for the Lord and if I felt even a little push to be more persistent with specific people or to talk to specific people whether they are in a group or not I was going to do it. and from then I have been focusing on Praying for experiences to show my courage and exhibit patience in the Lord's plan. 

I want you to know That I know that from knowing God's Plan for YOU, you can ultimately find happiness and peace in your life and the lives of those who you impact. Since discovering my purpose I have never thought of not being worth anything, since finding this I have never questioned if I am meant to be here, I KNOW GOD has a plan for me and I know that he has aplan for all of US if you let him he will shape you into a masterpiece, he has begun that process within me and countless others I have been priviledged to meet and work with.

I KNOW HE LOVES YOU, I KNOW HE IS THERE WITH YOU , I KNOW HE LOVES ME AND NO MATTER WHAT WILL ALWAYS LOVE ME.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had the priviledge Tuesday as well to spend it with two families who have children who have either strayed away from the gospel or who have never chosen that path, which was nice because It is a good contact with the church and a nice way to Show the Love of the Lord. 

The next day was the same, I am so greatful for the examples all the members are to all of their family especially those that have strayed or who have never decided to join with us it is by their examples that one day the Lord will be able to soften the hearts and that together they will be able to be joined together with their families. 

But other then that New Years Eve and New Years were great many strong relationships strengthened and got to spend it with some more awesome families.

Friday was a good day we met a man named Lee, who is excited and wants to return to going to church, we invited him to learn about the Church and come to church he agreed, He hasn't yet came to church but he accepted the invitation and said he would try to get in contact with us. We have been trying to get back in contact with Lewis as well, and haven't been able to in several days we tried by and found him in and set a return appointment, found out he had some difficulties but we helped him with it and even got to meet his mother so that was awesome.

One interesting thing I did on New Year's day is I got to learn how to play 4 chords on a guitar so that was exciting. 

Today on the way here, We met a young lady named Nathalie, and she was talking about how she is super open about learning things and said if people were to come by her house and ask if she wanted to learn she would sit down take out a notebook and write these things so that was neat. We invited her to learn and she was excited for it. She was so happy so that was nice to see. 

Well week of miracles and many more on the Horizon I love all of you and oh wait I have one more thing to share. 

On Sunday I got up and shared my testimony and it was weird I felt the spirit so strong as I was reflecting back on how much I've changed since Joining this Church, the happiness I have seen and blessings that are apparent within it. I cried twice on the pulpit that doesn't usually happen.

Well I love you all

Keep Trusting in the Lord and Think of him as your friend, always

Sincerely, yours truly, love, 

- Elder James Reece

Mon Dec 29, 2014 - Christmas

I first wanted to thank everyone for all the gifts I was able to recieve from all of you, Also I recieved one gift from someone that had no name or way of knowing but it was a red Coxxer tie so whoever sent that thank you so much, Also thank you to all those who sent me gifts, I lended up needing everything I recieved so that was amazing. 

So This week was Christmas it was pretty Good, I didn't like the fact that we couldn't go out and teach and proselyte some of the days but It was okay. 

Mission Christmases are pretty cool though, we had a Christmas Truce Caroling commemoration service Christmas Eve and then the other elders slept over at ours and the next day we made Brownies and peppermint bark for members and others around us so That was really cool. I can't remember much from this past week though, the days off fried my brain from remembering

Christmas Eve though was a great day for us, saw many miracles. For one we were told initially we would need to be in the flat from 8am-1pm for the Gas man to come by and switch over our pay as you go meters to normal meters with a bill so we anticipated staying in the whole day, however he showed up at 830 Which was amazing. The installation took 30 minutes all together so we were out of the flat at the usual time. As we went forth we went to leave our flat and we prayed that we could see a miracle today and than went out to work. We travelled about 10 Metres from our driveway and we found a man named Andrew, He was Atheist in the past and is looking at religion right now, He has never believed in God or Jesus Christ but is looking at it from every angle at the Moment so that is exciting, My companion than looked at me and said I didn't expect to have him answer our prayer that fast. 

Then as we were walking to continue our work we ran into a man named Gerald, He was also looking for truth, He was homeless though and as we talked about Christ he expressed a desire in learning, so we recieved his e-mail address and will be keeping in touch with him. Then as we were walking we met another man named Robert who we contacted at a previous time, he said we could come by and share a message with him sometime when he gets his own place again, We then were able to meet with Lewis and have a good lesson on Spirit world and Kingdoms of Glory, We also were able to hear that he was going to have the opportunity to share Tea with his mom that night so that was amazing for us to see that for him. We also were able to go to recieve our flu shots and then go to the church to set up for the Christmas Truce commemoration Service.  It was interesting it was to remember the Football game that took place in World war 1 which was neat.

The elders then Stayed at ours that night, So we had a nice Christmas eve night all four of us.

The next morning we made goodies to bring to people, We were able to bring treats to Brian and Ann and they were so excited for recieving the goodies, they invited us in but couldn't go in had many more deliveries to make. We were able to make many people happy and surprise many who we haven't seen in a while so it was a great experience.

We were well taken care of and we recieved lots from the Ward thank you to all

I will write more next week, As I will have more opportunities this week.

Love you loads

MERRY CHRISTMAS

- Elder James Reece