I'm gonna leave this world for a while; and I'm free, free fallin...

This week was one of the hardest yet best weeks on my mission. Not defined by success but by a change in me. My desire to work. 

So, starting on Wednesday I went on an exchange with Elder Olsen over there in Paris. Yes. Paris Tennessee. Home of the little Eiffel Tower. Anyway, I went down there and I made a new friend. Elder Olsen and I got pretty close and we were able to become pretty darn good friends after this exchange. We were able to go tracting for a little and we handed out 3 Book of Mormons out of doors. After that we then went to the most solid referral, ever. She was so awesome and told us her life story. She grew up in Dresden Tennessee which is just south of Paris. She was abused both sexually and physically. She saw her dad kill her mother. She then got into drugs and that sort of lifestyle. Living on the streets. But then a few years ago she said she had an awakening. She all of a sudden didn't want to do any of the stuff anymore. She was still addicted but wanted to be happy. She prayed to God and asked for help. She found Him. She was able to develop a love for him and find happiness. But now she wants more. So she seemed out the Book of Mormon. I'll update you in a few weeks about her;) --Again. This is while I was down in Paris. Not my area. I wish tho. 

Father in Heaven has answered my prayers.  I have been sent on a journey that I have been told is super hard. And I am living it right now. I keep getting out of the saddle and trying to do it on my own but it doesn't work like that. I need to stay in the saddle and trust God. Trust that he knows where I need to go. 

Well that's pretty much it for the week. I got some cool pics this week tho! 

I love all y'all. 

Have a great week

Reese 

This was a referral that we went to go visit down in Paris. This was like... the boonies of the boonies. This was in the middle of nowhere. That trailer is about 7 feet off the ground. Why? I have no idea. There are ladders going to the doors in the back. 

I found Waldo. 

Take your cat and leave my sweater cuz we have nothing left to weather in fact I'll feel a whole lot better if you'll think of me

We used so many miles this week.... oh my goodness... We had to drive to Hopkinsville to go to Zone Conference and it was over 50 miles one way. So we ended up using 120 miles total that day... we weren't too happy but it was super fun to go see all my friends and fellow missionaries over there. It was a little sad because there were a few missionaries like Elder Adair who I probably won't see again...he goes home in 3 weeks now. He and I got pretty close even though we only knew each other for a few transfers. 

It's also getting a little strange as I get closer to my 6 month mark, getting to know other missionaries becomes a lot easier. For example, WOAH! Side note. Example just auto corrected to "exams please." Those should never go next to each other. Never. Anyway, for example, Elder Briscoe and Elder Sanders serve nowhere near me, I've only met them a couple times and we are good friends! Like, I don't know it's weird. It's kinda like when we were at school and you really didn't know anyone for too long and you got to know them really well. Or you just clicked with other people and things kinda just happened. That's what is starting to happen with me. Other elders and I become pretty close after really only seeing each other a couple times. 

I guess I should probably tell y'all about what's going on here in Murray. Not much. Not too much... it's going to be a pretty tough area. It was interesting, the other day ago we were in Wendy's getting some food and I saw this guy looking at us. I thought to myself Oh no. He is going to do something to us... But I sit down and start eating and he walked over to us and had a really nice conversation with us! He asked us how the people were treating us, if they were accepting our message and so on. He didn't want to hear about our telefilm because he is a baptist but he was concerned for us. Things like that make me feel so much better about working in the south. Even if people don't wanna hear your message, they want you to help someone. 

That's pretty much it for the week. Hope y'all have a good week!

Love 

Reese

Saw some, how you say, Strange Clouds

Last time I will see my good buddy Elder Adair

The fall festival on Saturday!! There was a chili cook off and we were the judges! SO MUCH GOOD CHILI!

#PaduchaGold!! Zone pic 

Yeah the view I love the most, is my front porch looking in

What an interesting week! I feel like I always say that but that's how it is down here! It was SUPER hard finding people to talk to. We are trying get into contact with people who are on our roster who haven't been contacted yet. Most of the people who haven't been contacted are college age students. So we went around and tried to talk to them. We didn't get a single door opened. We then noticed that there were no cars parked at any of the doors including the ones around them. Also no one was at school. We then remembered. Fall break. No one was home. 

So! That was pretty much a bust but we did have some pretty cool experiences this past week. We got to do a lot of service. There is a family in the Ward who can't get to church because the wife has alzheimer's or dementia  and she can't get around. He has a hurt back so you know how it is dad. Can't bend lift or twist. So we went out and helped him clear brush, like branches twigs sticks, and put them into a huge pile which will later be burnt. This pile is hugeeee. Like 4 foot tall x 20 foot long. And there is still more stuff to put on it. It was awesome to be able to help him out. 

He is also getting very lonely so we just sat and talked to him for a while as well. We hardly said a word. I actually tried to say, "well we gotta go." But he just kept on talking. So we just listened and listened. He is such a nice guy. We will probably be going out there to help him out every other week or so. 

Yesterday after church we went and visited a lady in the hospital. She isn't in our ward. She is in Calvert city's branch. She has had a pretty hard life of probably drugs and smoking and other things. She has the nicest heart and wants to do good now even though she is suffering the consequences from the thing she has done in the past... she has chronic bronchitis and y'all know. Ain't nobody got time for that. But she also has pneumonia. So she wanted a blessing. So we went and talked to her for about an hour. She told us straight up she is very lonely and was so appreciative of us going to talk and give her a blessing. That warmed my heart. 

Well that's pretty much it for this week... Something weird is happening though. IM HAVING DREAMS! I haven't dreamed in such a long time. I guess because I don't have a phone to entertain me anymore, my mind can do that by itself! It's awesome. Last night I had a dream about Derek and for some reason I was down there in Bolivia. And a few nights ago I dreamed I was back in Hawaii with Hannah and Sarah and others . So that's fun and sad at the same time.... but ya! Have a great week y'all! 

Love ya! 

Reese

Temple pic from Wednesday... its the best one we got...

I almost bought this for Pa the other day. 

Nuff said. 

Time falls away, but these small hours, these little wonders, still remain.

Well, I am now in a new area. Murray Kentucky. And the way I want to describe this area is.... think of your typical southern small town. Now add a college of 18,000 students to that. That is exactly what Murray is. I love it. There is a place that is called New Concord down south a little of me which people say is the reason the movie Deliverance was made. I kinda wanna go down there to see what it's like. 

So far this area is so very different than Sango. The people here are soooo different. So humble, so kind. Sango consisted of what any normal city is. 

This week was really tough. No work has been going on here for a little while, so we are trying to get things started... it's going to be hard... really hard. My companion Elder Coburn, is from Logan Utah.  This will be an interesting transfer. He was on the debate team in high school, so if you know me at all and how much I argue points and such, he is worse than me. This will be fun... 

There are some days where I seriously have no feelings at all. Where I really just want to break down and cry. For no reason at all. Just go into the bathroom and cry my eyes out. I have no idea why but that's how I felt on Thursday. There were a few times where we were driving in the car and I just wanted to start sobbing for whatever reason. I don't know why. 

I am so sorry that this email is all over the place. Not too much happened this week. We are going to start working with a lot of less active/part member families. Last night we went to a families home and they were awesome. G (dad) hasn't been active for years but loves having missionaries over to his house. His son, L, is super good at trap shooting. And by good I mean he is 2nd in the nation for trap shooting. (Dad tell Bishop Brown about him) He is so good. He doesn't have too much money so they don't have the nicest guns but he doesn't care. He still shoots better than anyone else out there. He will go out there and shoot a 199/200 (hit 199 out of 200) Such a cool family. They have a bunch of stories about going hunting and killing a bunch of different things from deer to bobcats to Coyotes. Super cool family. 

Not much else happened this week. Although I feel the hunger that I had at BYUH coming back. Where I was ALWAYS HUNGRY!!! That's starting to come back... not looking forward to the $$$ that I will spend. 

Anyway that's about it for the week. Conference was BOMB. 

Love y'all

 Reese