ALOHA FROM NASHVILLE!!

ALOHA FROM NASHVILLE!!

Ahhh! I, finally I'm Nashville! I honestly can't even believe that I'm
here. It's so great being here. It's so green. It kinda looks like
Sacramento in a way. The trees and the way everything is laid out
especially in Nashville is a lot like good ol' sac town. But anyway,
right now specifically I am in a place called Sango which is about 45
minutes north of Nashville. We are basically in Clarksville. It's a
really nice area. All the people here are really nice and everyone
waves to everyone.

The first night in the mission home was pretty cool. President
Anderson is so cool. He and his wife are very kind and loving towards
all of the missionaries. They welcomed us with bright smiling faces.
We spent the night in the mission home, got a lot of training for what
we need to do in the mission, generally how people act and how they
respond to missionaries. So in general, everyone loves religion. Not
too many people have no faith. We talked a lot about the to dos and
the do not dos regarding... Everything lol. But I was so excited.

The next morning we got up and I ate probable the best eggs I have
ever eaten in my life. Sooooo good. Like. I ate them all. And if y'all
know me. Y'all know I don't like food too much. Eggs being one of
them. After breakfast we went out to the mission office where we got
more training and got to meet our comps!!!!! My comp is Elder Jansen
Jessop from Montana. He is so cool. He and I get a long real good. We
came back to the apartment in Sango... and the went straight to an appointment with a
siste. She is in her 80s. She is close to baptism but
is really angry with God. I don't want to go into detail but she tried
to drop us the next day but... SIKE!! We ain't gon let that happen.

I'm just now realizing that I'm starting to talk like the people here.
It's so funny! Not funny... But cool! Something that I've only hear in
movie like the blindside. But it's fun! I love it. We went to a home
for dinner on... Thursday I think it was? And they had some of the
thickest accents I've ever heard. I could hardly understand them
sometimes. But they good people. They fixed us come collar greens and
beans. I was so worried. When I looked on the table and saw that I
prayed that I would like it. And I did! To an extent. I was able to
eat it and finish it all. I enjoyed it but I wouldn't fix that for
myself. Ever...

Elder Jessop and I are workin so hard right now to meet as many
members of the ward as we can. Including in actives. We have a HUGE
ELABORATE plan for the Sango area. We would like to thank Mr. Donald
Trump for our motto. "MAKE SANGO GREAT AGAIN" yes. We are getting T
shirts. In the past, some of the elders weren't as diligent as they
should have been therefor, not too many investigators. So our goal is
"GOAL: Find new investigators through referrals by sharing short
powerful messages with members and less actives." We have a huge area
and a part time car so we broke it up into areas. Biking distance, and
driving distance, and then even more so within those guides. On
Saturday, we biked probably 16 miles. We have a car but we are out of
miles. Soo... That's kinda irritating.

So far I love it here. Except allergies are killing me!!!! I wake up
each morning and still can't believe I'm out here. I actually have a
lot of dreams where I'm in Hawaii with my friends. I miss all of y'all
so much. I just found out that I can email friends so feel free to
email me! Ya! Love y'all!

Elder Reese Maxfield
reese.maxfield@myldsmail.net

Sunset after the rain

Elder Jessop 

week 2 down 102 ta go

WOAH!! What a fast and amazing week.

This week was so great. I had the opportunity to finish teaching some great investigators. Josh is so close to baptism. All he needs to do is take that leap of faith and he is there. He knows its true, but its the leap of faith.

Friday: I learned how i need to be able to focus on others once again today. I learned that the humility cycle is like a heart beat. Our progress will be increased as we are humble but if we are not humble... God will humble us. One thing that we started doing today was Book of Mormon reads. HIGHLY RECOMMEND to anyone who wants to go deep into the book of Mormon. Go into the beginning of the book and take it slow. Break down every verse. Find meaning being almost every verse. You will feel the spirit.

Sunday: Tension is starting to get a little higher in our district. We got our itineraries for our flights on the 23rd. We leave at 3:20 in the morning......... Thats okay. Super excited though. We did a good book of mormon read of Alma 36 today. GREAT SCRIPTURE!!

Tuesday: We had to say goodbye to a district today. It is so sad watching people who you have grown to love. The sisters had a hard time, but i know that they are going to do great. The missionaries from that district are going to the Rooseville Mission. So just above home.

Wednesday: I am working so hard to come closer to Christ. Working to be a better teacher of the Gospel is so hard, but i know as i continue to work and study, i know that he will bless me/all those who study his word. My main focus this week was to focus on others and not myself. I hope i can continue to progress in this aspect of my mission.

This is the last email from the MTC! Im so excited to head out to nashville!!! Man, okay have a great week yall! 

This may be one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken. This is our zone!! I love all of them!  Mom edit - He really misses Hawaii and still doesn't have his books open when everyone else is studying. Nashville bound missionaries @ the temple!

Week 1

Good Morning Amurica!

So my first week her ein the MTC has been such a great experience! I have grown so much in the gospel and my faith in God and Jesus Christ. So basically here is my week.

Wednesday May 4th:

I got to the MTC and was introduced to my district! I came to love them all very quickly. My companion is Elder Cox from St. George Utah. He is super tall and is very quiet. Basically the opposite of me. I have learned that you can start to love people so quickly. I have began to love my whole district so very much. 

Thursday May 5th:

Today was the start of my realization that i am in Spirit prison. The spirit is so strong here but i want out!!!! My classroom is so small and we have 10000947389743 other missionaries in there at the same time. Its okay because I know that it is what I need and will help me come closer to God. 

Friday May 6th: 

Best day on my mission thus far. I am feeling the spirit of the lord work inside of me, helping me progress. Finally was able to get out and go play volleyball with the other elders and sisters. That night i was also able to give a few of the Sisters in our district a blessing of comfort. This was such a fantastic experience. I will never forget the way we all felt during and after the blessing.

Saturday May 7th:

Pretty normal day, well as close to normal as you can get in the MTC. Still working on growing and coming closer to Christ.

Sunday May 8th:

Made it to sunday!!! Sundays are pretty normal here. Just like back at home. Meetings all day long, Sacrament meeting ect. I was called to me the Zone leader! So i am in charge of the well being of 3 districts. So thats exciting.

Monday May 9th:

Taught our first investigator today. It was hard. That is all...

Tuesday May 10th:

Taught our investigators again today. I learned that you cannot focus on yourself. If you do that you CANNOt teach what the Lord wants you to teach. 

Wednesday May 11th: 

Investigators finally made progress!!!! Invited each of them to be baptized. Although they didn't accept at the moment, they have the desire to know if this church is true. Im sooooo happy!!

Something that has been so cool is that i have gotten to personally talk and eat with the MTC president. Since there arent that many people here he sits by us all the time.

                                                              This is my district! I love them all

 Found some of my Hawaii friends!! Sis. Brown and Sis. Young standing next to each other. 2nd and 3rd from the right

Okay last one. This is everyone in our district going to Nashville! Elder Cox (Tall guy) Sis McFarland and Sis. Flaherty. I have love them all.