Elder Reece - Martin se bautizo ayer

Dear Family,
I love hearing from all of my siblings. I like that even though we all live far apart, by emailing everyone, we all know what is going on. I guess it means more for me. I don't have the option of calling you when I want to tell you great things. But I'm sure it is nice to receive emails even though you are just a phone call away.
This week has been very good. The biggest news is that we had a baptism yesterday! His name is Martin. He is from Peru. He walked into Church two weeks ago with his girlfriend, who is a member. He lives in West Palm but is here every weekend to visit his girlfriend. We went by later that day and he said he wanted to get baptized and go to the Temple with his future wife. But since they were planning on moving to West Palm Beach, 1 1/2 hours away, after getting married in three weeks, we passed his information to the missionaries up there. Then he was back in Church last Sunday and when we talked to him at his girlfriend's house he said he was going to be living down here after getting married, which means we would be the one's teaching him. Then on Wednesday the Elders from West Palm called and said they had met with him and that he was ready for baptism. They gave him the interview up there and then he came down here this weekend and was baptized yesterday. He is getting married in three weeks by our Bishop down here and then he will be moving down here. He is really neat. It has been a crazy wee making calls back and forth between West Palm and here to try to get everything figured out. But everything turned out well and he will be getting confirmed next week in Sacrament meeting. He was so excited and happy. It is great to see that kind of enthusiasm.
That is the biggest news. Everything else has been going well. We are teaching a lot of really neat people. I don't have time to tell each of their stories right now but hopefully I will find time in future emails.
Sorry, I didn't give myself very much time to write y'all this week. But know that I love you all. I hope everything is going well. I am loving this work and loving the people. I love this Ward and I hope to stay here for longer. Next week is Transfers, though, so we will see. I will be emailing you again next Tuesday.
Keep reading and praying and obeying,
Elder Kevin Reece

Sister Reece - One week and counting...down!

Hey!

Big news of the week- WE GOT FLIGHT PLANS!! It's for reals, I am
leaving next Tuesday morning at 8am. We head from Salt Lake straight
to LA where we will have a couple hour layover then head straight to
Taiwan. It is so crazy that my time here is up and I have to head out
into the real mission field. Yikes!

Well, this has been an interesting week. Our investigator Gao Dixiong
was baptized this week! We didn't actually have the baptism cause
basically it just means we get a news investigator for the last week.
Yay! Last night as we were getting ready for bed a sister on the floor
burnt some popcorn so bad that the fire alarm went out. So probably
150-200 sister missionaries in the process of getting ready for bed
are evacuated out of their doorm rooms into the gym. A poor Sister in
my room was in the shower when it went off and had to run out in just
a bathrobe. It was quite the experience! The first of the missionaries
in my zone that came in with me left today. It was two brothers, the
Gubbays who are both going to France (two different missions) Mandarin
speaking. Crazy right!?! I absolutely love those two Elders and could
talk about them all day long. But suffice it to say that they will do
an amazing job spreading the gospel in France. It is weird that
everyone is heading out! It is breaking my heart a little bit.

I want you all to know how amazing the Restored Gospel is. When God
and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith the Heavens were opened once
again and most people in the world have now idea about it. Tell them!
The Lord has prepared people all of the world that are just waiting
for someone to share a message with them that will change their life.
We have a truly unique and amazing message, don't hide it!

Okay, I found a really cool scripture chain of sorts during my
personal study yesterday. Read 2 Nephi 2:8 focusing on how Christ was
resurrected. Then read the "Holy Ghost" in the Bible Dictionary
focusing on it being called "fire". Then read the last verse of "The
Spirit of God". Ponder for a minute on the amazing power of the Holy
Ghost. Isn't it amazing?!?!? I don't give the third member of the
Godhead enough credit sometimes, but He is truly amazing. I would love
to hear your thoughts on these three things if you want to share!?!

Okay, I must be off. I love you all and can't wait to talk to some of
you in a few days. 8- to be exact. :D Be safe and know that you are in
my prayers.

Love you,
Sister Reece!

Elder Reece - Se llama Elder Robles

Dear Family,
This week was absolutely amazing. I love this work and I love this Ward. Wednesday morning Elder Carpenter left and I was with Elders Lauck and Pacheco until 4:30 when me new companion got here. His name is Elder Robles. He was born and raised in San Diego, CA but his parents are both from Mexico so his Spanish is practically perfect. He is about my height but a little bit broader. He played Football before his mission as a Defense Tackle(I don't know what that means but I've heard he was really good;-) He has been out for about 20 months and goes home in May. He has served all the way from West Palm Beach to Key West. He was in Key West for the three weeks before he was with me. Then he came up to Hollywood Hills and Elder Carpenter took his place down in Key West. I love working with Elder Robles. He is a very happy person and a great teacher. I love being with him. I hope to be with him for a while, at least the rest of this Transfer and all of the next. But if I could, I would love to be in this Ward until the day I go home. It really is amazing. I hope that the members here remember me.
This week was also amazing because we had four investigators at Sacrament meeting. Italo Inanami was there like the champ he is. Adulfo Estrella was there again. Raul Acosta was finally there!! And the fourth was Martin. Raul has been investigating for over a month and has wanted to come to Church every week but something always came up. But this week he came! He was planned to get baptized the second of February but we have postponed it so that we are sure that he is ready. Martin is an amazing guy that walked into Church last week. He lives in West Palm so we passed him to them last week but when we talked to him yesterday he said that after marrying his girlfriend he is going to move down here. So are going to be teaching him. I am so excited. He really wants to get baptized and already knows a ton. His fiance is a member and they have a strong desire to go to the temple and get sealed. I am so excited. This work is truly amazing and I feel so very blessed to be able to be here while so many great things are happening. I am seeing so many miracles. There are so many prepared people here. Please keep them in your prayers. Pray for them to feel the Spirit and have the desires and means to keep their commitments and thus build their faith in their Savior.
But I need to go now. Remember that I love you and, more importantly, that Jesus lives and loves you and that we have the fullness of His Gospel and full access to the blessings thereof.
Con toda la parte de mi corazon que no esta en la Florida,
Elder Kevin Reece

Sister Reece - Oh hey!

Family and Friends!

Another week has flown by yet again! I can't believe it is really
Monday again! Just a couple more left here in Provo and then I am off
to Taiwan. Yikes!

This was a great week though. On Tuesday night Elder Gong of the
Seventy spoke to us at our devotional. He spoke about four ways that
the Savior invites us to be of good cheer. 1-We can be perfect in the
Savior 2-We have the Book of Mormon 3-"His words are fulfilled"
4-There is power & authority on the earth today. I wish I could go
into more detail on those points, but just know that it was an amazing
talk! On Sunday Sis Rosemary Wixom spoke to us in Relief Society. Yet
again- amazing! She is the General Primary President and yes, she is
perfect for that calling.

Also this week we found out that Chen Dixiong, one of Sis Okada and my
investigators, has a smoking problem. We had his baptism scheduled for
this Wednesday, but needless to say, we will be postponing it. So now
Sis Okada and I are getting experience helping an investigator
overcome and addiction. I am really nervous but excited to gain this
experience while still in the MTC. This new program they are doing for
the missionaries is amazing. I love it! There are definitely kinks
that they are still working out, but overall, it is great. Oh, and Gao
Dixiong has his baptismal interview tonight! Yay! His baptism is
scheduled for this Friday- I hope everything goes right.

Kim- I want to see pics of your bed! I am so happy for you that it is
all done. What happened to the comforter that you bought at Target
while I was with you. It was so cute! I am also so proud of your
scripture study. I am realizing that I have been cutting myself short
all these years by just skimming through a couple verses each day. I
have really come to appreciate the blessing of making a study plan and
reasearching, not just reading. The scriptures are full of so many
amazing verses that I have never appreciated before. Keep it up and I
promise you will see your life blessed. Yay!

Mom- Yay! I am so happy that you are studying a specific topic and
that you have drive behind your study. Isn't it amazing how much of a
difference it makes?! I just second Kevin's reading suggestions.
Preach My Gospel is amazing and that is my first suggestion.

Julie- how is choosing a college going? Keep me updated.

Mel- thanks for the letter! You are amazing!

I love you all so much and am so grateful for your love and support.
On the days when I am a little down I pull out your letters and can
feel your love. Thank you! I know that this Church is true and that I
am doing the Lord's work. He will always provide a way for His work to
be accomplished.

I love you!
Sister Amy Reece

Elder Reece - Elder Carpenter se me va!

Dear Family,
I love you all so much! Sorry I didn't write yesterday. Whenever there is a holiday that closes the Public Libraries we move P-day to Tuesday since most missionaries write home from libraries. We are lucky enough to use a College campus. It is free and close to our apartment. So that's why I didn't write yesterday. It is kinda like a transfer week with me writing on Tuesday.
It also has another similarity because Elder Carpenter is getting Transferred tomorrow. He is leaving to take the place of another missionary that will be coming to be my companion. They were supposed to switch at Transfers three weeks ago but since Elder Carpenter was in the hospital he stayed with me until the doctors were all done with him. Last Tuesday he got his staples taken out so President called on Sunday and told him he was leaving. So he is spending today packing. Next week I will tell you who my new companion is. I will really miss him. I have gotten very accustomed to having him around. We have been together for about four months now. That is the longest time I have been with one companion since Elder Lauck. And now he is leaving.
So big news for the week: we had three investigators come to Sacrament Meeting on Sunday! It was amazing. Two of the three have baptismal dates for the 16 of February! It is amazing. One was Italo Inanami. He is a Brazilian of Japanese descent that speaks Spanish. The other lady with a baptismal date is Christina Jeffries. She is a single mother with two little boys. She is from Honduras and is the friend of Sister Elizabeth Alvarado, a recent convert from three moths ago. Sister Alvarado is AMAZING. She seems like she has been baptized for years. She is also working with another one of her friends named Brenda Guzman. She is also a single mother and is having troubles with her husband. They both need the Gospel so bad and are very receptive right now. The other man that came to Church is the friend of another member that we are working with. They are both from Ecuador. The man's name is Alfonzo Estrella and the members name is Brother Bermeo. They are both neat me.
The Lord has blessed us so much. I am sorry that Elder Carpenter is leaving when so much is going on. I hope I can do everything I need to without him. I am excited to see who my next companion will be.
Some more big news is that our Mission is growing. It will soon become the Florida Ft. Lauderdale/ Bahamas Mission. They will be adding the Bahamas and the Grand Cayman Islands. We don't know exactly when that will happen but it will be soon. It is really neat. But I don't know how much Spanish is spoken there so I don't know how much it will affect me personally. But that is amazing for the Mission. I love my Mission. It is so great.
I love this work. I love it so much. I truly hope that I can make this experience a part of me so that it won't completely stop in a year when I take off the tag. I really want to become a missionary who knows his purpose. If any of you don't know what a missionaries purpose is, look it up in Preach My Gospel. It is vitally important. And It won't just be my purpose for the next year. It is my purpose for the rest of my life. I bring people to Christ. And I invite each of you to make the missionary purpose your purpose. That is the most important work any of us can do. I love you all so much and I know that God lives and guides us today through a living prophet and through personal revelation. We have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is a wonderful, unique blessing and opportunity.
You are all great and I love you so much. Thank you for your continued support, encouragement, and love.
Con amor,
Elder Kevin Reece

Sister Reece - Another week down!

Time Flys here in the MTC! Okay, it really flys everywhere but it goes
especially fast here. I feel like I just barely wrote last week and
told you our companionship was being split. Well, the deed was done
and Sister Okada and I are a regular companionship now and Sister Bray
is companions with Sister Melissa Brooke Smith. Sister Smith is sooo
nice and amazing at Chinese. We are very blessed to have her in our
district. It has been interesting getting adjusted to only having one
companion now. Teaching is a lot different when there are only two
people to speak and it is hard not having the third person to play
"buffer" when we are silly girls and have our tiffs. But it is really
nice getting accustomed to a two-missionary companionship before I
actually go out into the field.

I have a couple big pieces of news today. First, two of our
"investigators" have committed to baptism! We have their current date
set for Jan 24, but I think we are going to push it back a little bit
to make sure they are ready. I am so excited though! We are finally
getting into the hang of balancing teaching doctrine with teaching to
the investigator's needs. Our lessons are a lot more productive and
we're able to help them a lot more. I love it! Mom, like you said in
your letter, I am very blessed to be getting this practice at teaching
while still in the MTC. I hope that I am able to put all I am learning
to good use in a few weeks when I get to Taiwan.

The second piece of news is very similar to the first. The Elders in
our district had a "baptism" this week. It was so cool to mix all of
the alternate realities we have going on all into one great big one.
It was also really cool to see the Elders get great practice on
planning a baptismal service. I love our Elders!

Third piece of news is that I was able to listen to Elder Holland
speak again! I absolutely love him! He motivates me more and more each
time I hear him speak to be a better missionary. On Tuesday he was
here because the MTC Mission Presidency got switched and he was
training/welcoming everybody. He spoke to us about the need for
missionaries to be converted to the Gospel before they can go at and
convert others. He told us that Preach My Gospel came about because
missionaries were coming home from missions and falling away from the
Church. So the Missionary Department did away with the memorized
lessons and established Preach My Gospel. I wish so badly that I had
read through it more and became familiar with all of it before I
entered the MTC. I find something new everyday that I could have known
if I had taken the time to study it. I encourage you all to read it-
and not just the chapters on the "lessons", all of it. There is so
much inspired information in there that will bless your lives. Please,
use it daily and you will be blessed.

I have a request of anyone that is willing and able. I am wondering if
you can do some research and find a copy of the Dedicatory Prayer
given when China was dedicated for missionary work. It was given on
Jan 9, 1921 by David O. McKay I believe. I don't know where exactly
you would find it, but I would suggest maybe google-ing it or looking
in Church History. I would be forever grateful if someone, or even
someones, were able to send that to me.

Thank you so much mom and David for the packages. You are amazing! I
appreciate you putting up with my constant requests for random things.
I love you!

Well, the time has come for me to sign off. I love you all tons! I
want you to know that the Lord is aware of each on of us and has a
plan for us. If we are humble enough to get on our knees and ask Him,
He will help us know what to do.

Love you!
Sister Amy Reece

Sister Reece - Starting the counting down process!

Hey Family!

Holy cow I feel like this week went by so fast. Which is really weird
cause it was SO busy! Last Tuesday night we were honored to hear from
Elder & Sister Baxter of the Seventy. They were both amazing! Elder
Baxter spoke about the various points that Christian Churches use to
say that The LDS Church isn't Christian. It was so great! On Wednesday
Sister Okada and I helped host the new missionaries that reported that
day. Because of her foot, Sister Bray wasn't able to host and ended up
doing splits with two other sisters in our zone. It was really fun to
host, but it doesn't make for a very prodcutive day. Our zone received
19 new Elders and 5 new Sisters though which more than doubled our
numbers. I love it!

We had some awesome lessons this week! Brother Chen is progressing so
well and his faith is so strong! We have been asking other
missionaries to come to some of our lessons with us as our "member"
friends. I can't tell you how amazing it is to have members help with
the missionary work. They help the investigator's feel so much more
comfortable and have such a great spirit. I encourage you all to not
only seek for people to share the Gospel with, but help the
missionaries teach. It is amazing! We also met with Sister Liu for the
first time in almost a month. We have been really worried about her
because she kind of just fell of the face of the earth. Our last
lesson was so amazing and we had high hopes for our lesson on Friday.
Unfortunately though she didn't continue reading the Book of Mormon
and saying her prayers and lost the fire she had when we met with her.
It was so sad to see! I learned how important it is for misisonaries
to stay in contact with their investigators and continue encouraging
them. So important! The Elders in my district are actually having a
"baptism" this weekend. I am so excited for them and hope that the
baptism goes through. I am also exctied to see how this works with all
of our alternate realities we have going on. This pilot program
definitely takes a lot of imagination. But I wouldn't trade it for
anything.

So- big news for the week! Our companionship is switching up. One of
the new sisters that came in on Wednesday is really great at Chinese
and the teachers have decided to move her to one of the older
districts. Since we have 3 sisters in our companionship it is only
logical that the put her in our district and split us up into two
companionships. We still haven't heard how the companionships will
work out, but I will be sure to fill you in next week. I am having
mixed feelings about it but am learning to put my trust in the Lord. I
know he knows what I need. I am sure there will be alot to report on
in next weeks letter.

Also, my official leave date is Feb. 8. Only 4/5 weeks left. It is
coming so soon! Thank you so much mom for the package! I love the
t-shirts- they are perfect! And mom, the three bottles of face wipes
are amazing. Thank you so so so so so so much! I love you! And I got
SO much joy from looking at all of the Christmas cards. You know me so
well! That is one of my favorite things about Christmas. Thank you! I
can't wait to see all of the pics! Yay!
Oh, one last thing (maybe :D)! I saw Duskin Donaldson this week.
It was so bizarre, I had no idea he was coming. It was also a teeny
bit awkward since we don't really "know" eachother but we have seen
each other around town. But I am so happy to have another Elk in the
MTC. :D

Well, I must be off to switch my laundry. I love you all so much!
Thank you for your love and support! I know my Savior lives and
blesses me everyday.

love you!
Sister Amy Reece

Elder Reece - ya cumpli un ano

Dear Family,

Well it's official now. I hit my one year mark on my mission this week. And exactly ten months ago today I met Elder Lauck for the first time and started working in Miami Lakes South. Time is a crazy thing. It is wierd that I am here now. I only have one more year of being the Lord's full time representative. Luckily when I get home I will be able to continue doing the Lord's work, just in a different way.

This week was very good. We met some really neat people. Both Thursday and Friday nights we were at members' houses with some of their friends. They were both good experiences. These members are amazing. I truly absolutely love this Ward. I am so happy that I am now in the East area and that I am getting to know and work with the rest of the members. I miss those in the West but at least I still get to see them at Church and now I get to know the whole ward even better. I hope that I am here a long time, but only God knows. I need to take advantage of every moment here because, I don't know when it will happen, but eventually I will leave. I need to have that same mindset about my mission as a whole. I only have an appointed time here and I need to live it to it's fullest.

One of the best parts about the week was that two of our investigators accepted baptismal dates. Raul Acosta is preparing to be baptized on the 2 of February and Italo Inanami is preparing to be baptized on the 16 of February. Please have them in your prayers. And also please pray that Elder Carpenter and I can know all that we can and need to do to help them be 100% ready on those dates. Italo came to Church yesterday but Raul couldn't because he was working. That is a big problem for people. They think that they need to work and that God is blessing them with work and that He will understand why they are working on Sunday. How can we help them see that God will bless them for their sacrifices and that God wants them on Sunday even if it seems impossible? Have any of you ever had experiences that have grown your testimony that God will bless us for keeping the Sabbath holy, even when it is difficult?

I think we all have similar thoughts and justifications that keep us from following God's commandments 100%. Sometimes it is with larger commandments, sometimes it is with smaller commandments. But all of us have things that we are holding on to that are keeping our hands from holding on the iron rod with all or might. Whether it is big or small, the thing holding all of us back is a lack of faith. For some reason or another we don't fully trust in the promises of God. I have noticed it on my mission. When I don't want to keep a seemingly "small" rule or want to justify just a "little" thing, it basically boils down to the fact that I just don't think it is that important or that God cares about something that small or the something that small will make that big of a difference and that God will really bless me immensely for exact obedience. But that is really what God wants. He wants us to keep all of His commandments so that He can give us the fullness of his blessings. He knows that we will have to sacrifice and that it may seem impossible, but we need to go forward with faith and trust that God knows more than we do and that He will always provide the way, always. These are things that I know to be true and that I am still struggling with myself. But that is really the struggle of life, putting God's will before ours. I will be in this struggle for the rest of my life. But I will succeed in giving all of me to God. I invite you all to do the same.

You are all wonderful and I love you so much. Take a look at 2 Nephi 25:28-29 and notice what is the "right way".

With love,

Elder Kevin Reece

Sister Reece - oh, accident-prone companions :D

Family and Friends!

I can't believe it is Monday again. By now I usually have a huge list of things that I want to write home about, but today I have nothing. It is kinda weird. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's and that you are all home safely. Christmas was fun and they kept us nice and busy, but we didn't do anything for New Year's- imagine that. :D

But while I do not have a list of things to write about, I suppose I do have some interesting news. While I did not have to spend time in the hopsital as Kevin did, I did get to spend time in doctor's waiting rooms. Sis Bray's foot has been bothering her for awhile so she finally went and got it checked out by the MTC Athletic Trainers. After going to them a couple of times, then to the MTC doctor, then to the BYU Health Clinic Urgent Care we ended up at a foot and ankle specialist's office. It turns out that she has a very severe case of tendonitis! Scary, huh?!? :D We went from limping, to crutches, to a wheelchair and she is now in a big ol' black boot. The crutches and wheelchair were much more entertaining, but we get places quicker with "Ulga" the boot. It has been an eventful week in that way and has kept us very busy. I am glad that she is great though. Well, minus having to be in the boot for 3-5 weeks. :D

I had a very humbling week in terms of my Chinese. I let myself think that because of the pilot program my Mandarin is better than the other district's that came in when I did. During fast and testimony meeting though I realized I am far from better than anybody. I have been very blessed to be in the pilot program and to be getting such a great opportunity to teach progressing investigator's while still in the MTC. But I had to remind myself that just because I have this great blessing, it doesn't make me better than anybody else. I still need to work hard- harder than I have been. I want to be able to land on my feet running when I get to Taiwan. So this week I am really trying to concentrate on SYLing- Speak Your Language. Basically that just means that I speak Mandarin as much as possible at all times. It is such a great tool to help me practice. We'll see how the week goes.

I am sorry, this letter is not very exciting. The laundry room (where I write my emails as I type) is really loud today and I can't focus. Oh missionaries! :D

I am so grateful for all the letters and support that I have been getting. Thank you so much for taking the time to write! I love you all and am SO grateful that I have this opportunity to serve my Lord. I have learned so much and have deepened my faith in Him 10 fold. I know that this Church is true and that through doing all that we are asked we can return to the presence of our God and King to live with our families.

I love you!

Sister Amy Reece

Elder Reece - Feliz Ano Nueno!!

Dear Family,

I am finally writing you again. Sorry I didn''t write you last week. I hope you received an email explaining the situation. My companion was in the hospital from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon. He had surgery on Tuesday and now he is missing his gallbladder. He is feeling a lot better but his stomack has been sore since the operation. He took it all very well though. He is great. A few days ago I realized that I should have written you a snail mail with all of my abundant Study Time in the Hospital. Sorry I didn't remember in time but if it ever happens again I will be sure to do it.

So Transfers was last week and I stayed with Elder Carpenter and I stayed in the same Ward but we switched areas in the Ward. We were in the west but now we are in the east area. It was a weird change. Both of our Sister missionaries left the Ward and two new Elders white washed behind us. What's fun is that one of them is Elder Lauck, my trainer. We are in the same Ward and living together again. It is fun. His companion is a Puerta Rican Elder that started his mission with me. His name is Elder Pacheco. We have a good group now. Both companionships white washed their areas but we had the advantage because we already know a little bit about the area and the members. The other two are started with a blank slate. It has been interesting. I haven't white washed since my first transfer with Elder Lauck. I am trying to get to know every one that I can. I want to be able to do good work here. At least I am still my Elder Carpenter. That helps but from some things that President has said we are pretty sure he will be leaving once he can, after some check up visits with the Doctors. We think he was going to Transfer but him being in the hopital changed that. So President will probably change him as soon as he can and not wait for the next Transfer to come.

Luckily I was able to go to Transfer Meeting on Wednesday morning while a Brother from the Ward stayed with my companion. Transfer Meeting is where all of the missionaries that are transfering meet together and receive their new assignments. We have one every Transfer. This one was special and everyone was invited, even those that weren't affected by tranfsers. President did this because Elder W. Craig Zwick from the Seventy came with his wife to visit us. Unfortunately Elder Carpenter was the only one that wasn't able to attend. It was really neat. They brought their son, Scotty, with them. He is mentally and physically challenged but has a great spirit and strong, simple testimony. They shared a lot of stories about him and I was able to learn a lot from him. One neat thing that I learned was how simple missionary work can be. We just need to invite people to act and let them choose. We heard two sweet stories about times when Scotty did just that with people that he didnt know. What's neat is that one of those experiences was when he was in Thailand. He invited a couple to read the Book of Mormon and they were later baptized because of the simpleness and sincerity of his testimony. It was a great learning experience.

Scotty is very sweet and thoughtful. He has been worrying about Elder Carpenter so he and President Hale came to our apartment this morning so that Scotty could see how Elder Carpenter has been doing. It was really neat.

I haven't said it yet but it was great being able to see and talk to most of you last week, I really enjoyed it and like always it went by way too fast. But I will be able to talk to you in another five months.

I am trying to send you some pictures from the last few weeks. Hopefully they are pretty self explanitory.

I think I have caught you up on my life over the past few weeks. I am trying to stay busy and work hard. It is scary that I am already almost a year out. I hope that I can work hard and take advantage of my time here in Florida.

Well I don't have very much time left but I want t you to all know that I love you so much. And I know without a doubt that God and Jesus live and that we are living the fulness of the Gospel of Christ. I was thinking this morning how grateful I am for the knowledge that I have about the Plan that God has for me and th evision that I have about life and what I need to do here to be able to live with God and Jesus and all of you orever. That thought still blows my mind. What an amazing truth! I love you all. Take advantage of every minute of 2011.

Con amor,

Elder Kevin Reece

Sister Reece - Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!!

Family!

I had a fantastic Christmas! How was yours?!? I wrote a super long
hand-written letter with a ton of details about Christmas. So right
now I will just give you a little "outline" about what happened. On
Christmas Eve we had Presidents and Sisters Clegg and Breinholt from
the MTC Presidency speak to us. They spoke about various gifts that we
have been given and received. It was really great! After the fireside
they told us we were going to watch "Mr. Kreuger's Christmas"! I was
so excited and love that movie. They also gave all the missionaries a
bag of kettle corn. It was wonderful! Then we went back to our room
and I opened my PJ's!! Mom, they are awesome! I won't lie, I was a
little shocked when I first saw them, but then I put them on and I
haven't wanted to take them off since. They are so comfortable and I
love the pockets! Thanks! On Christmas morning we got up and opened
presents. They bracelet from Mexico is awesome! I have worn it ever
since. And the "Christmas" Crunch is fabulous! I loved the ammendment
you made to the box. I took it and some hot cocoa to breakfast. Yum!

After breakfast we went and had a fabulous MTC talent show! It was so
funny! There were some hilarious Russian Elders that did a rendition
of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" song MTC style- "You Missionary Now". We
were all dying laughing. They had amazing Russian accents that made it
1000x better. After the show we went and had a yummy Christmas
"dinner" for lunch. Then- and here is the exciting point of the day-
Elder and Sister Nelson came and spoke to us. Ah-maze-ing! They are
such amazing people and I love them so much! After that we got to go
back to our rooms and eat our paper bag dinners. Yum! That was
special. :D Then... we went back and had a awesome 2-man performance
of "A Christmas Carol". Well- That was a quick account of Christmas in
the MTC!

The Nelson's stayed for the weekend and on Sunday Sis. Nelson spoke to
the Relief Society and Elder Nelson spoke to the Elders. It was
amazing yet again. Love them! Sacrament meeting with our zone was sad!
Have our zone is leaving this week, and all that are leaving saying
"God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again." It was so sad and they had most
of the rest of us crying. I managed to have dry eyes :D. Oh- also on
Sunday my companion Sis. Okada was called as the Coordinating Sister
for our Zone. I am excited for her, but it will be a challange. She
has a ton of meetings and such that she has to go to now, so our
schedule got way buzier. It will be great though and I am excted to
support her!

Besides the events of Christmas, I don't remember much else from the
week. But, I can tell you that I am starting to learn to read the
Chinese Charcters. Man! They are hard! I haven't even really tried
writing them yet cause reading is enough of a challenge :D! There is
hope for me yet that I will get this Mandarin business down! I also
learned this week more of the importance of agency in God's Plan of
Happiness and in our individual lives. I have been reading "Jesus The
Christ" and various scriptures that have really made it stand out to
me. I wish I could remember all the great scriptures, but sadly I
don't. I encourage you all to spend a day reading about agency. It has
helped me understand why God allows bad and awful things happen to
some of the best people. I know that agency is so essential that He
allows everyone to have it- even those who use it badly.

I love you all and hope your Christmas was great and that your New
Years will be great as well!

Loves!
Sister Amy Reece

Elder Reece - Feliz Navidad

Querida Familia,
Well, Merry Christmas!
This week has been really good. On Tuesday I went out with Elder Barrett all day. He is one of my Zone Leaders. It is really neat because we lived together for my first three transfers in Miami Lakes. He was my Zone Leader there too. It is really neat. Thursday we had a meeting with about 20 missionaries and President Hale and the AP's. It was really good. It gave me more excitement about the work. I am trying to have more fire and enthusiasm. And there's no reason why not to. This is such a great work and message. Thursday Evening, we went up to my old area that is now part of the new Branch, and Elder Carpenter gave three baptismal interviews. What's neat is that I taught them when I was up there with Elder Oliphant. They got baptized yesterday.
Oh, I found out some sad news last Monday after finishing emailing. Do you remember Azucena Ayerdis? Elder Lauck and I baptized her in Miami Lakes back in June. If you remember she had cancer. Well last weekend she went back into the hospital and she passed away Monday morning at about 7. It was really sad to hear. Her funeral should be coming up soon and I hope President Hale gives me permission to go to it. I am sad but very happy for her. She is out of pain now and she went prepared. She is doing a great work on the other side of the veil now. Also about recent converts, I received a Christmas card from the Grimany's this week. It was so great! They wrote a letter and bore a simple, sweet testimony. It made me so happy.
This work really is so amazing! It is so rewarding. I mean think about it. I haven't talken to my family in 7 months. I haven't seen any of you for almost a year. And I am completely happy with it:-D I miss you all immensely, of course, but I m being so richly blessed over here. It is so worth it. I am learning a ton. The main thing I am learning right now is to trust in God. It is quite easy for me to get disappointed or frustrated at myself or my companion or people or just situations. But I am learning to control myself and just move forward. I need to trus in God and trust that he will take my imperfect and often feeble efforts and use them to make great things happen. I am learning to trust that he will bless me as a strive to do what I know I need to, even if I don't have confidence that I know what I am doing. It is an amazing learning process. Like I have said before, this Gospel is absolutely amazing. Christ has the power to make us perfect. What better truth is there?! And he does it as we live the principles of His Restored Gospel. Remember them, all of them, even the seemingly small and insignificant ones. Live the Gospel. Live it to its fullest. It is the process by which Christ will perfect us. And as we do it, we will qualify to live together forever, as a perfect, whole family. I am so excited!
I love you so much. I am excited to talk to some of you soon. And for those that I won't get to talk to- I love you too, very very much. We'll talk in a little over a year. It'll be great!
Con mucho amor y todo mi corazon,
Elder Kevin Reece

Sister Reece - Hi-ho fam and friends!

Oh hey Fam!

Thank you so much for the Christmas package! I am so excited to see
the pajamas. Kim and Sean sent me a little foam Christmas tree that my
comps and I decorated and put our presents next to. :D Mom, I also am
making a collage of the 12 days of Christmas pics and will try and
send you a picture.You are in Colorado now right? I feel so out of the
loop! I don't even know what your final plans are for the holidays.
Wherever you are for Christmas I know it will be wonderful! I am sad I
won't be with you, but I know Christmas will be fabulous here. I can't
wait to see what it will be like.

Well, this was an interesting week. On Friday we found out that our
district leader had decided to go home. My companions and I were
typical girls and balled all day! Okay, really though they balled and
I cried. He is such a great Elder and we miss him so much. He was very
quiet but had such a presence. We all wish him the best and he is in
our constant prayers.

Other than that down point, it has been a pretty good week. We are now
up to seven progressing investigator's! It is so crazy but I am
learning and loving it so much! One of our investigator's might
actually get "baptized" here pretty soon. I'll keep you updated!

On Sunday our speaker for Relief Society was Sister L. Rebecca
Thompson. Recognize the name? She and her husband were David's mission
president. She was absolutley fabulous! She spoke on giving JOY-
Jesus, Others, and Yourself. She talked about the importance of
serving all three of those groups all year around. I loved it. I gave
her a hug afterward and she said she was going to Facebook David and
say Hi. It was so funny!

Do you remember when I had the foil dinner shindig a couple months ago
and Toast and a friend came over from Show Low? Well, Toast's friend-
Elder Paxman- is in the MTC with me right now. I see him all the time
at gym and in the laundry room. He is fantastic! This week he was
playing basketball in gym and got elbowed in the face. He broke his
nose and he has a black & blue eye. Its sad yet so funny!

I would love to see pics from Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New years!
If you can print them off you can email them to me and I'll just look
on the pic. I just really want to see the fam! :D

Have so much fun this Christmas! Remember who's name the holiday
bares. My Branch President read us a wonderful quote in Sacrament
meeting yesterday. He actually quoted someone else but I don't
remember her name. :D It said, "the greatest truth about Christmas is
that the gift has already been given." I am so grateful for the gift
the Savior has given us and that I have the opportunity to consecrate
this time of my life to Him.

Merry Christmas!
I love you all!

Sister Amy Reece