Elder Carson Reiley: Nov. 22-28, 2020

Hey everyone!

This week was good. I got all the feelings of super happy and excited but also a little bummed about missing Thanksgiving, but this week all in all was awesome!

We taught a lot of lessons this week and actually my second lesson of the mission we met with a kid whose mom is less active, but we asked him to be baptized and he said yes which was such a cool experience to be a part of. That was Wednesday and we still visited a lot of members and I can say the members here are the best! They are so welcoming and loving. We invited a guy named Jesse to church and the members welcomed him in and it was so cool to see!

Then we had Thanksgiving and it was a little weird for sure because we couldn't eat in members' homes and I was feeling a little bummed out because we couldn't even go out and teach so we were just sitting there and then a miracle happened and three different member families called us and told us to come and get some food for Thanksgiving and it was so awesome! Then we had the dinner with the rest of the district and it was actually really awesome and I didn't feel bummed anymore but I had a good time!

Then I went on exchanges with my District leader Elder Skinner on Saturday and he goes home this transfer and he is really smart and I learned a lot from him. We had a lesson with Jose and the spirit was so strong and he is getting baptized this Saturday and it is so cool! Also on that night my companion Elder Angle, asked Roberto to be baptized and he accepted so I realized that there are people everywhere that can come unto Christ and feel his love! I am so happy to be a part of this amazing work where we spread a message of joy and we need to always remember that Jesus Christ will always be there for us and will always love us.

Some fun things that happened this week were that this Saturday we did a huge service project and everyone in the Zone met with the Tri-Cities clean sweep, and we got together and walked through downtown Pasco and picked up trash and got to talk to a lot of people. Just helping these people was so amazing. I was scared to talk to a couple of people but I thought, "Would Jesus be scared of these people?" And I realized that Jesus loves everyone and looks for every opportunity to serve others and that's what I need to work on more for sure. Also today we went axe throwing at a member's house and it was so awesome! Looks like scout camp was worth it after all.

I love you all so much and I pray for everyone to be safe and enjoy this Christmas season; it can easy to get distracted and mad because of Covid but remember the true meaning of Christmas and that is to celebrate our Savior's birth! "Find joy in the journey."

Love Elder Reiley