Elder Reeder -

11/21/11

Hello Family!

First off. Thank you family for supporting me. I love you all. Thank you for letting me serve a mission. Thank you realtives who helped pay. I love you all. I am really grateful for all the blessings that have come from this.

This past week was good! We had to go in to Punta Arenas so we lost 3 days of our week basically due to the schedule of the barcasa. It is always like that. So we try not to go in unless we absolutely have to. (NOT COMMON)

Oh yeah Elder Rainey... he is from southern arizona hahaha... I messed up writing that. I got the halloween packagae with the peeps a while ago... was that the package? The envelope thingy? I got that. The contacts i have not gotten. I havent gotten the Christmas stuff either. I just bought a watch for like 5 bucks in zona franca. It was a good deal so no worries about a watch. I also bought 2 mini Preach My Gospels. One in english, one in spanish. So that will help me drop some weight for future travels, and convenient for taking to meetings etc. :) The next time we go into Punta Arenas i will talk to the lady about cases... they take a while but they are really cool. Im not dying with glasses, but they are kind of annoying... The screw has come out a few times, but i alway screw it back in with a pen or something pointy. So I wouldnt know.... i would rather just get my eyes fixed when i get home and stick it out now.

As far as my release date, i am sure that the mission will be cool if you want me home on for school. Maybe you should call someone? ill ask elder Galovich and let you know. But other elders have done it. I have no idea what to study....i know parents begin sending classes etc to their sons at a certain time in the mission so they can register. i will ask to know when... I havent heard anything about christmas yet. But Mom I sort of want to focus now more than anything.... i dont want to think about going home. I dont want to worry about school. I can do that later when I abosolutely need too... the lord will make it all work out. But i dont have very much time left and I want to stay focused and not be thinking about the future. Just here and now. :)

We are finally following the spirit again. I have been so concerned about my companions opinion that I havent had my own. So now i am going with my gut, and taking personal decisions before consulting my companion and asking his. It is working out a lot better. If my companion isnt guided by the spirit, at least i can be. And vice versa. Thats why were two! We are both really smart so we can do things the logical way, but we should depend more on the spiritual side.

The members here are great. The people too. I like to ask them questions about history etc... and they love talking about it hahaha... then i get their address and set an appointment. Hahaa. The people here are really cool. Just relaxed.

Lately i have been studying how to better communicate. I have been thinking. There are 2 key fundamentals. Verbal Communication, and Body Language. So i am trying to improve these so people really know how i feel. Sometimes it looks like i am angry when im thinking etc.... i need to be careful with the message i send with my body language. So Dad if you could send some cool document on that, like what actions mean what things that would be cool. Exp. Raising eyebrows is postivite? Stuff like that. So i dont give people the wrong idea of how i feel/think. I am improving it and it is making big results already but i want to master it!!! YEAH!

"I FIRMLY BELIEVE AND WILL GO TO MY GRAVE SAYING THAT MISSIONARIES...NEVER RISE IN THEIR ENTIRE LIFE ABOVE THE STATURE THEY CARVE OUT FOR THEMSELVES IN THE MISSION FIELD."
--- Pte. Henry D Moyle (on his death bed)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Elder Reeder