WORKING IN WINTER WONDERLAND - DECEMBER 29, 2014

IT SNOWED. BUCKETED.

In Belgium it isn't super common to snow and many years there is nothing but this last Saturday it snowed ALL DAY. It was 5 below all day in Celsius which I guess is like 27 maybe in Fahrenheit so it was cold and the humidity and wind makes it feel like someone is repeatedly throwing ice cubes at your face. Saturday was our big day to work because the holidays were busy this week and then that happened so it was hard to talk to a lot of people with the bad weather but we endured the pain and worked all day in the cold.

We got pretty soaked but a sweet inactive member gave us an umbrella that broke after an hour or two haha but everyone has umbrellas to spare here. We were able to use the snow to our advantage and a couple of our r look ups that were hesitant on letting us in had mercy on us and let us inside. One woman named Constance is the wife of a look up named Harrison and she let us in and fed us mountain loads of egg rolls and offered us tea. We could have easily said no thank you but we took the time to explain to her why we don't drink tea and were able to get a good lesson from it. They are Christian themselves and invited us to a party but we couldn't make it so we will see them again soon. We met with Eric and his family too which is always great and his mom Janet who is also investigating made us African food which singed my taste buds off haha but it was good. African food is so dang spicy I cry all the time. Gideon lives with them and he is a 6 year old boy who is the funniest little black kid you have seen in your life. He dances for us and has such an attitude it is hilarious. Their entire family loves to have us over and we get to talk about the Gospel too. Understanding is real low but things are gradually and slowly coming along.

Oh yeah I almost forgot haha we set a baptismal date this week! Haha last Tuesday we met with a new investigator named Ruby who has 3 little girls and she was busy doing a client's hair (and doing African hair is basically stitching hair onto someone's head) and teach them both about the Restoration. Her client, Flora, actually gave us her sister Agatha as a referral to go teach too so we will see her after the 3rd. She has a Book of Mormon now too but anyway back to Ruby. She told us how lately she had really been wondering what truth is and how there are so many people that claim to have it which makes it seems like no one does. We told her about the way how she could find an answer for herself and she prayed at the end of the lesson and promised to keep practicing before we see her again tomorrow. She set a date for baptism on February 15th if she comes to know that this is true (and by if I mean when).

We also taught a Buddhist lady yesterday which was real neat to see someone develop a relationship with Christ from ground zero. She is from Tibet and has 3 little girls (I just about died when we got in there because Asian kids are my favorite beings in the universe) and we taught a powerful lesson about the Atonement and repentance. It set a good foundation for the Restoration and we hope to see her again soon but she is busy with work. Honestly that’s a good thing though because no one here even works haha

Today we met up with a bunch of people from the zone, had a white elephant party and went shopping in the centrum where the new Nike Antwerpen store is so that was a blast for me. Had a little slice of home here in Belgium for a bit!

Christmas and Christmas Eve were fantastic and we spent it with great members which really helped fill the void of family. New Years in Europe is nuts so we will see how that goes this Wednesday haha we have to be inside at 4:00. Our previous investigators are still doing well and they should return from vacation soon. The church was very empty yesterday with members on vacation and the snowstorm which in Belgium is over 2 inches of snow #pathetic

It'll be a great week! This transfer is already half over and then I will be in Holland. WHAT

Liefde voor iedereen,

Elder Trevan Scott Reese

DROP IN THE OCEAN - DECEMBER 22, 2014

This week I learned firsthand what it is like to truly lose yourself in the work. And it is a feeling that I want every day for as long as I am here.

This last week was one of a lot of learning which was fantastic. Zone Training was great and we found a handful of potentials that day. Wednesday was a big day and I was here in Antwerpen with Elder Bernier on exchanges. Elder Bernier and I are two dang peas in a pod and so it was super fun. We contacted the first person in the centrum and she was a business woman from London who was leaving in a few hours to fly home. She had heard of the Book of Mormon play and we gave her the real thing and she said she would read on the way home. We ate lunch with a member at a restaurant and the owner was a former Jew who asked who we were when he saw our tags. HE asked if we were Catholic or Protestant or whatever and we told him we were Mormon and he just yelled oh yeah like Romney haha. Anyway, we talked to him about our religion and gave him a Book of Mormon. We will go back there to eat too and see him until he has time to meet in February. It was awesome.

We did a lot of great finding and had a lesson with our recently baptized and his mom who is investigating. We had a fantastic lesson with two young guys David and Joshua who each have their Book of Mormon and will come to church this Sunday. They each prayed at the end of the lesson and every single question they had during our lesson, Elder Bernier and I were able to answer it using the Book of Mormon. It was so awesome and the Spirit was so strong.

The rest of the week was great as well. We had an inactive named Wouter come to church yesterday for the first time in 5 years. We had been working with him for a while and were finally able to get him to church and it was a special Christmas sacrament meeting with music and he is very musical himself. He absolutely loved it and it was a total miracle to have him there. We ended up visiting him yesterday afternoon and caroling a little to him and his wife on the phone.

My testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon in teaching has exploded this past week. I have known it was true for a long time, but seeing Elder Bernier be able to answer every single question David and Joshua had through it really taught me a lot. They are real eager to read it now seeing how it answers life questions.

That day with Elder Bernier was one of the best days I have had out here. Him and I have a very similar work ethic and I loved being able to work like that for the whole day. He will never truly know how much he did for me this last Wednesday.

I was reading Elder Holland's talk this last week and I still love so much his quote that came from Mother Teresa:

"What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean, but if we didn't do it, the ocean would be one less drop than it is."

That is so true in everything that we do. Sometimes it’s hard to want to do something when there is hardly any positive outcome. But simply doing it in the first place brings out something useful in that you are doing the Lord's work when you obey.

Mailed at beginning of November and he received his packages this past Tuesday!

Christmas should be great here. We have a lot of members set up to see and investigators to stop by. It’s a little hard because a lot of people are stubborn around Christmas because they don’t what to talk to strangers but we are trying our best. We contacted an old couple on the bus this last week and talked about their kid and grandkids for a half hour in Dutch.

Last story, we were walking home and we passed a woman from Southeast Asia and her little boy and little girl. I felt impressed to talk to her so I turned around and gave her a card after I contacted her. When I stopped her little girl stopped jumping around and talking in Dutch and looked into my eyes with those big brown eyes and it MELTED me. It was like I was seeing Jaida again for the first time and I basically died on the street haha then I started talking to the kids in dutch and it was super cool. It was just a normal contact and the woman wasn’t too interested but the experience was huge for me. I felt the love that Christ and Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us. That same love that I need to have to bring them to Christ. I loved it. I pray for them and I don’t even know them. But there is something special there. I know it.

Have a fantastic Christmas!

Love,

Elder Trevan Scott Reese

POT HANDLES -- DECEMBER 15, 2014

Another week has come and gone and it was not quite as eventful as anticipated because I am staying here in Antwerpen for another transfer and will have Christmas here! I'm real excited about that though because I love the members so much here.

So much so that this last Thursday night we had an appointment with Familie Taselaar almost all the way in Nederland. Brother Taselaar seems to be the bigshot for a pot handle company that has monopolized and scathed the world. So we talked about pot handles for an hour and a half over dinner hahaha but it was awesome actually. Zuster Taselaar is from Brazil and made awesome chili which is always a hit.

Had to take a picture of this

This last week we have begun our reboot phase because we have had 2 recent baptisms this last transfer which is basically unheard of in the mission. I am so blessed to have been here in Antwerpen for it to happen. Because of the recent baptisms, we are doing a lot more finding and look ups because the bulk of our lessons and time spent was on Eric and Gerald to help them progress toward baptism. So we are talking to new people and hoping to get some to listen. Really. Everyone ignores you here or yells haha so you have to be courageous.

Saturday in a stretch of 20 minutes we literally contacted in French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and Twi. All different nationalities haha that is how Europe is. Twi is the language in Ghana and Eric is from Ghana so his family has been teaching us things like Udu wa saya fufu? which means Do You Know How To Make FuFu? which is an African dish that is extremely popular and so when we ask in their own language they love us haha. I pulled back a little Spanish skills and contacted in Spanish and got the point across in Portuguese. French was not so good but I have heard enough that we were able to give him a pamphlet.

Sunday Gerald was confirmed in sacrament meeting which was really neat, but now he is on vacation with the rest of the country and is going to London for a few weeks. Everyone leaves Belgium for Christmas haha. We had the primary program this last sunday and if 20 little Belgian kids singing Love Is Spoken Here and A Childs Prayer in Dutch doesn't melt your heart then nothing in this world will. It was the best.

Transportaion

These next few weeks will be pretty eventful with preparing for Christmas, zone training, Christmas, New Years, and exchanges. That's good though because I really hate it when everything is stagnant and boring. Zuster Bush was transferred to the north in Leeuwarden which was weird because we had been in the same district since day 1 in the MTC and now she is somewhere else. But Zuster Young is the new greenie here and she is super cool and wants to be an ESPN broadcaster. super cool.

We have plans to carol around to members this week and im looking forward to visiting many members and hopefully building good relationships with them all. Antwerpen has been notorious for bitter missionary-member relations but it is warming up a lot more now.

Our lesson with Gerald this last week was one of my favorites. We retaught the Restoration as his new member lesson and brought a member named Andy along who has been a member for 4 years and went on a mission to England. We was able to testify to him how he came to know the truth and how important it is to recognize authority through the Priesthood. Gerald got it really well and told us how a prophet must be ordained from God and how when you have the truth you gotta stick to it because nothing else matters. It was way cool. He has read through 1 Nephi now so I was able to liken what he said to the iron rod in Lehi's vision and it really helped him to see how we can liken the scriptures to ourselves.

I'll be honest, it is always super dark here and pretty bleak but things should turn up. It's Christmas. Come on. I have met some really cool new missionaries and we have a big Christmas concert this Saturday for the stake here. The Antwerpen Stake has Belgium and the Netherlands in it haha that's how spread out it has to be.

I hope you all have a great week and are feeling the Christmas Spirit! Go see the new Mormon message He Is The Gift if you haven't already.

I have almost finished reading Jesus the Christ and it is so amazing. It's like reading scriptures for the first time again with new insights.

I testify of the importance of having a prayer in your heart. That is where hope will bring forth miracles.

I love this Gospel so much.

Liefde,

Elder Reese

Blijven in Antwerpen - December 8, 2014

Wow this week was full of crazy things. First off, we got transfer information and I am staying here in Antwerpen with Elder Shelton for another transfer. Actually, of our whole district, only 2 people changed because one went home and Zuster Bush is moving to Leeuwarden. Other than that, everyone is the same!

GERALD WAS BAPTIZED! Yesterday Gerald was baptized here and it was really special. The baptism went great. He was able to see fast and testimony meeting which was cool for him because in his old church he would do that about his beliefs. It was perfect for him. He is starting to catch on to the humor with people in the ward and he knows so many people now. The ward really stepped up this week to help fellowship him and people were coming up everywhere to congratulate and support him. I am so grateful they could do that for him. We had a Zuster in the ward that spoke about baptism in the service and she has known Gerald from family home evenings, and she gave an amazing talk on everything he needed to hear about authority and the covenant. It was awesome. Gerald told us how good he felt and now we are able to reteach him starting this week.

Yesterday was crazy stressful because of church and the baptismal service and transfers but I'm so grateful things can now slow down a bit. I've realized that you can work hard without being stressed out. Something that is so easy to be told and said but was so hard for me to apply. A lot of the stress is natural being in Europe and speaking some nutso language but it isn’t meant to be a constant undesirable stress. This week I'm planning on focusing much more on going with the flow and working hard so that the Lord can lead me more and I won't be too stubborn and arrogant to actually ignore what he needs me to hear. For some reason I thought that if I was having a good time and losing track of time in the work I wasn't doing enough, and that I needed to be unhappy and always tired in order to be successful. Whatever. That's changing now. 

We had a couple great lessons this last week over authority and baptism and have been able to set 2 more baptismal dates for the month of February. Hopefully things continue to look up here, but sometimes people are really flaky and don’t hold commitments or appointments at all. 

Christmas is coming! I really am happy that I can be here in Antwerpen for Christmas because there are so many members here that I love. We already have big plans for that week which is nice. 

I really do appreciate all your prayers from back home. There are times when I really truly feel them working for me being I feel so much better when the work is hard or people are hard here. 

We went to Brugge today for P day and it rained the whole time....... but it was beautiful and super fun. I love our district and it’s nice to be around so many other missionaries so often.

 

I realized that stress and rushing for things are not a way to get things done right. I think about that part in the movie Cars when Lightning McQueen is hooked up to the road paver, and he uses his power and talent to get it all done fast so he can move on and reap the instant reward. But he doesn’t do a quality job and actually ends up leaving a bigger mess to clean up that before. Many things aren’t meant to be done quickly or painlessly, and I fell into the trap that the world is setting for instant gratification and hustle and bustle too much. Heavenly Father has blessed me with a great perspective shift on that. I’m praying he will help me to lose stress and replace it with love and desire because I will be soooo much happier if I can do that. I can’t do it alone but my Heavenly Father and Savior will make up for the rest if I truly do my best. I have such a strong testimony of that. 

I have come to gain such a strong testimony of having a prayer in your heart. Always. I think about the song from Tarzan (obviously I’m too Disney deprived and so now everything is a metaphor to it) called You'll Be in My Heart and applying it to Christ always being in mine. I can’t describe the amount of hope that comes from that. Positivity in the bleakest of circumstances is what will make meal into a feast. I was able to testify about always having a prayer in you heart to a less active this last week and he stopped talking and it was silent and all he said was how much he had felt in his heart as he heard me say that. It is the single most important driving force to my day, everyday. Without having a prayer in your heart that Christ will lead you, guide you and walk right beside you, nothing can be accomplished in the way it was meant to be done. Ah I know it to be so true. Our success as far as numbers go are completely contingent upon the agency of others. And I will readily admit that I hate that. But it is the best worst thing there could ever be because without it we have no joy, we have no happiness, and we have no purpose and desire to live with God for eternity. Have a prayer in your heart in all things you do. I have come to know by so many firsthand experiences that if I need something or someone else needs something, the only person who will truly help you with all purposes of good is the Lord Jesus Christ. He will give his all as long as you show him you have first given yours. Sorry this is so rambly but it is so true. I hope this helps with your anything you need this next week. I cannot describe how much personal and divine revelation I receive as being a missionary to build up the Kingdom of God on Earth today. I love you so much. Have a great week.

Have a great week!

Met alle mijn liefde,

Elder Trevan Scott Reese

BACK TO DECEMBER -- DECEMBER 1, 2014

this email title inspired by the seminal single from the one and only T Swift whose album has just been released and mocks my ever-living presence every time I see it.

IT IS DECEMBER.

 

Let that sink in. Holy smokes it is almost 2015. Christmas is around the corner and I can’t wait.

This last week we had Zone Conference so we went up to Holland on Thursday where President and Zuster Robinson spoke to us followed by Elder and Zuster Moreira who is from the Area 70. It was such a great conference and I learned so much. Elder Moreira talked about Peter and the confidence in his calling and his priesthood. That was something big that I took out of it. I also got to see Elder Morrell and Elder Dewitt and Zuster Robbins and Zuster Thomas and Zuster Bush while we were there and so I was happy right then and there. We take trains everywhere so we jumped on a train afterward and trekked back to Antwerpen.

We were able to meet with Gerald this week and we got big news. He has decided to go through with his baptismal date and be baptized this next Sunday. We asked him why he desired to be baptized and the first words out of his mouth were "to change". AHhhh it was so cool. He LOVES the idea of the temple and how we can be married after this life and have a family so heaven is actually happy. He told us he liked his church because it gives basics and that ours has so much more. It comes through the restored Gospel. He wants to do an every other week kind of thing with his church but I had recently read a talk from an apostle (don’t remember who) who told an eternal investigator why she wouldn’t go to church. She said she liked her own church too much and couldn’t separate. So the apostle told her to take everything that is good about her church and bring it with her. She was then baptized. I told Gerald this same thing. He loved it. He said there are people who would think our message is interesting and he is planning on inviting them to his baptism. We are working with the ward a lot to get it all planned and it has been the most stressful weekend of my life.

Zone Conference

I will admit that I expected to have to move his date, but he is ready to achieve this goal. I learned firsthand to not lose faith in someone. As soon as that happens things could turn for the worst. I was blessed to have a good change to help me recognize that. Never lose faith. Without it there is no hope no happiness no joy and no other way.

This week will be nuts and I am SOOOO grateful for all your prayers. It sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving which is great. Transfers are next week which is exciting too. 

To answer your questions: life is definitely very difficult but it wouldn’t be worth it if it wasn’t. I really miss not having to think about time actually. That is a great deal of my stress because of unreliable Belgian transportation and working effectively. It’s all in my mind and sometimes I want to yell at myself ha-ha. Nothing really funny is happening.... I think once I get a companion I can really connect with there will be a lot more of those. But I have learned a lot about microsoft computers and Xbox games this transfer ha-ha. Yeah the schiltz are in London now to visit the temple for a couple weeks so I might not actually see them again if I get transferred out. You don’t really want a picture of our apartment ha-ha its boring we aren’t ever in it anyway. Previous elders have thrashed it too. I’m doing well.  I’m nice and healthy but I don’t like that I lose muscle every day. I miss the gym a lot because it made me feel good. I guess there are a couple apartments here in the mission where there is a gym across the street though so hopefully I could go to one of those. I am tired all the time but I’m hoping next transfer changes that. Transfer calls come Sunday then we transfer Wednesday. It was pretty fast for certain things but others seem like they were forever ago. I’m split 50 50 on staying and moving. I love members here and stuff but I would love to see new things.

Olivia

That’s really neat about the Christmas party I like that idea too. I hope subbing this week goes well. I hope every shift Braden has they mention my name because I am a LEGACY. Ha-ha just kidding. It’s good though that they remember me. I’m praying so much for help it’s unreal. Oh boy without prayer or Heavenly Fathers help I would be smashed to pieces on a Belgian cobblestone road. I pray all the time and I have a strong testimony of keeping a prayer in your heart. It brings so much hope. We will see what happens this week because we have a potential baptism and transfers.

I love you all sooo much and I hope everything continues to go well. Love the Christmas season it’s awesome! In 3.5 weeks we can skype call so I will have to figure that out with members here where I will be. I miss home a lot but I wouldn’t say I have homesickness. I am homesick about things but I don’t have homesickness. Gotta control it. Football sounds nuts and good. This week could be an enduring week but I have the Lord on my side so I need not fear.

We said goodbye to Olivia today who is returning to England to be baptized and hopefully reactivate her mom to come to church. We taught her here at her grandparents’ home who are members

 Ik hou van jullie!

Elder Trevan Scott Reese