Hey everyone!
This week has been pretty crazy so far! So I got here Tuesday afternoon and President and Sister Rasmussen were at the airport waiting with open arms so that was really awesome! Then we went to the stake center by the Columbia River Temple and it is so pretty! We dropped off our luggage and just started doing some training with the mission and interviews and we set up our phones (which was kind of stressful but I got it done). Then we had dinner there and then we actually got to go out with some missionaries who were in the area and I went out with Elder Stockhouse, Elder Plumee, and Elder Johnson and they are really awesome, but we only had a couple of hours so we knocked some doors and did meet some people and then we went to a member's house and I got to share a message about 3 Nephi 13:24. It was really fun to be able to do that on my first day and then we had a huge nerf gun war with their kids so it was super fun!
We got back and President Rasmussen talked to us about the night and he promised us that if we exercise faith in Jesus Christ we would be able to avoid Satan and his followers and be safe... well I started thinking how exactly do we exercise faith? It is no coincidence that I turned to Moroni 7:25 and it says that they exercised faith by taking up every good thing and what I learn from that is if I want to be able to avoid the evil things of this world, it means I have to find every good thing because every good thing comes from our Savior Jesus Christ.
Then we actually went to a hotel and stayed the night and got up the next morning and had some more training and then finally we got our companions and I was actually really nervous! But my new companion is Elder Angle and he is super cool! He is from Riverside California and he is a really cool guy and he helps me out a lot. He played baseball and cross country and he actually served in Peru for 8 months and speaks perfect Spanish and he has been here for 5 months. Our area is in one of the Tri Cities called Pasco and it is huge so we have a car which is really nice and we are in charge of the Pasco 4th ward so the last few days we've just been going around meeting with the members because Elder Angle is brand new to this area as well. The members here are amazing and they always have their doors open and it is a real blessing for now we can actually go and teach people in their homes so hopefully it doesn't get shut down. We are in English work but Elder Angle and I try to speak as much Spanish as possible which is a blessing for me because I know Heavenly Father wants me to learn Spanish so this is no coincidence.
The last thing I wanted to talk about is President Nelson's message about gratitude and it was super helpful for me. It reminded me of a quote from President Monson which is "find joy in the journey" and these first days have been kinda crazy, but I loved this message of gratitude because it reminds me just to find joy in the little things and that helps me realize my purpose here and it is to spread this joy with others which is so amazing!
I love you all so much and am grateful for your prayers and support! I hope everything has a fantastic and safe Thanksgiving!
"Un dia a la vez"
Love Elder Reiley
10 things I'm grateful for
1. My family
2. The gospel of Jesus Christ
3. The Atonement of Jesus Christ
4. My companion Elder Angle
5. The Book of Mormon
6. President and Sister Rasmussen
7. The opportunity to pray
8. Pasco 4th ward & the awesome members
9. The car we have
10. All the missionaries and their examples.
Pictures:
1. Some pics at the airport
2. Playing some Nertz at grandmas
3. A guy in the Ward named Brother Widdison - he played football and basketball at Rick's College and he's a BYU football fan so he gave me a Utah St. jacket which was cool!
4. The temple
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