Trent

*Excerpts from Trent's dad's and mom's letters because Trent said he didn't have time to send a main one this week!

Everything was great this week. My new comp and I are killing it. We found a really cool family from Paraguay and there's one kid named Federico that is so cool. He's 19 and he's like my best friend. I feel like I already knew him. We are going to baptize him this month of November!

The ward here is so awesome. I pretty much know them all. The ward is really well run and the members are really nice and hard working. They always give us lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal here. They eat dinner really late so we never eat dinner with them. I love this ward and I'm really excited to work with them!...My comp and I took the third hour with permission from the bishop and talked all about missionary work. We shared a really awesome video. Its called "Ill go where you want me to go". It was great. All the members are excited to get to work. We finished up the ward mission plan and now we're just moving forward!

I'm glad everyone is doing so well! That all sounds so fun! I'm glad that all the family is killing it in sports! Can't say that I'm too surprised!...That's crazy about the world series! Thanks for giving me the info! That kid on the Lakers is the same kid from that high school in California? I'm glad they're doing well. They'll be back on top when I get back. That's so sweet about Morgan and Beau and Trevor! 

I can't believe that Drew has a kid! That's crazy! That sounds really awesome! We are so blessed to have a family with good priesthood men!

The mission is so awesome! I'm loving it. I really feel like I'm just getting everything down and that the Spirit is working through me. I am confident and I don't have fear and I have the faith that God will help me have success! Till next week! 

Elder Reilly

Rhett

Family and Friends,

I hope you all had a great week. You have all had an impact on my life and I am very grateful for that. I want you all to know that Heavenly Father knows you, loves you, and is always there to help you when you need it. I have been able to see that so many times from being here on the mission, I know it's true. 

With that, this week a good one. It was a really busy week with lots of things to do. One thing that I have been focusing on this week is on our "potential" as missionaries or just in general as people. There are so many things that happen in life that make us feel bad about ourselves or make us put limits on all the potential we have to achieve. I have been able to see that as a missionary this week. When we put our effort forth and do all we can do, the Lord blesses us and helps us achieve the goals we have. This week Elder Barrios and I had some great opportunities to help people see that we really have the potential to live a great life and receive all the blessings that God has in store for us as His children and one day live with Him with our families one day.

One experience we had was with one of our investigators Hermana Rojas. She is about 28 years old and lives with her boyfriend and her almost 4 year old son. We have taught her 3 times, and this week had the oportunity to teach her boyfriend as well. As we were talking to him, we found out that he has had a really tough life and always felt alone growing up. One day he prayed and asked God to bless him with a family and now he has his "wife" or girlfriend and a kid. He told us about how he knows that God listened to him and has blessed him with his family. But he also has told us about how he knows there is something more and how he wants to make changes in his life. We had a lesson with them and told them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it helps us make changes, become better people, and have an eternal family with God. They seriously loved it so much, it was awesome. We were able to set a baptisimal date for the 25th of November. It makes me so happy to know that we have a Heavenly Father that loves and wants us to come back to Him. If we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ we will be able to reach our eternal potential, and have a happy life here on Earth and in the life to come. I love this gospel and know that it is true. I want to invite you all this week to really go out and try to reach your greatest potential. There are no limits."Die on E" baby -Eric Thomas. haha, I love you all, have a great week!

Elder Reilly

The whole mission got hooked up with some wooden placks! I feel like im in woodshop again haha...

It rained a ton this week...

Trent

Hello everyone! 

This was a great week here in Neuquen! Wow, the ward is so huge and there are many members ready to help us share the Gospel. I know we will have much success here. I really appreciate a well run ward like this after being in a tiny little branch for so long. We are going to work with all the members and find many people to teach and baptize. 

We are teaching a woman named Laura right now. She came to church yesterday and she is progressing really well. She has a baptismal date coming up and she is just finishing off with her goals to quit smoking. Shes about 65 years old and she's been smoking since she had 14. But with the help of God nothing is impossible! We have daily contact with her and we read the Book of Mormon with her to strenghthen her. She knows it's true. She's felt it's power. I love seeing her change as she applies it's principles to her life. 

I KNOW the Book of Mormon is true without a single doubt because I have felt its POWER. Every time I read it, I feel the power of the Holy Ghost telling me it is true. I was reading this morning in Alma 41 and 42 and I felt the Spirit testifying so strongly to me of the truthfulness of the doctrine. The Spirit enlightens my understanding and I am able to understand the purposes and plans of God. I LOVE the Book of Mormon and I LOVE this Gospel.

I hope all is well! Have a great week! Chau!

Elder Reilly

Rhett

Whats up guys!

I hope this week was a great one. It was a great week over here. We had some amazing things happen. It was a little crazy due to some crazy storms that hit our area. It rained so much, we worked soaking wet a lot, haha. One night when we were working, a huge storm hit and it started pouring rain with lightning and thunder and all of that. Luckily, we were pretty close to the apartment but as we were walking back...huggee lightning bolt came and struck down like 30 feet from us haha. It was insane. But we got back safe so need to worry! Haha I would share that.

But we have some great investigators right now that are really progressing. We had something really cool happen with a family we have been teaching called the Gurayi Family. We have been teaching the wife and one of the daughters for a long time now but haven't really been able to talk to the dad very much, because he always leaves or is in the house when we come. Anyways, we have been teaching them a lot but they havent been progressing very much in the gospel. It's hard cause every week we talk to them and hang out with them and have become really great friends but every time we talk about the gospel they try to change the subject. This week we had the plan to teach them one more time and if they weren't really interested or showing signs of progressing we weren't going to pass by anymore. It was pretty sad to make plans like that because we have gotten super close with this family and have come to love them so much. But, this week we went by and for the first time the whole family was there. We told them about how we are here as missionaries to help them follow Jesus Christ and receive all the blessings and happiness He has in store for us. I think for the first time, they all just kept silent and listened to what we had to say. I could feel the Spirit working in them. The dad finally participated in the lesson and said he wants to ask God and come to church to know if our message is true. It was such a powerful lesson. I really do love this work. We have seen so many miracles it's incredible. It really is the Lord's work. I hope you all have a great week! Love you guys!

Elder Reilly

Trent - Transfers!

Hola Everyone!

This week was really awesome but also really sad because I got transferred to Neuquen and I left Esquel after 4 and a half months. Honestly, when I came into Esquel it was one of the areas in the mission that no one wanted to go to, but now it's one of the highlights. The number of people who attend church raised a ton and we baptized some really awesome people. 

I got to leave on an awesome note. Martín and Maya got baptized Saturday and confirmed on Sunday and then I left on Monday. I baptized Martin and confirmed Maya. Confirming someone a member of the church is one of the coolest things to do in the mission. You feel the Spirit so strong and you can feel the Lord speaking through you.

I'm really excited to work as zone leader here in Neuquen with my new companion Elder Meteer. Its gonna be a big change going from a tiny branch in a small city to a huge ward in a huge city. We're gonna make miracles happen and baptize many I hope. 

Love and miss you all! I hope you had a great week!

Elder Reilly

Rhett

Bae Chepa Familia

It sounds like you all are killing it down there. Thats what I like to

hear! This week was another great week. We got the news of the

transfers and I found out that I get to stay here another transfer

with Elder Barrios. I'm so stoked for this transfer, I feel we are

gonna see some big things happen!

This week was a kind of a crazy week. It started out feeling like we

were walking thorugh the desert in 100 degree weather and then the

next day it rained all day and was kinda cold. Haha the weather is

super loco here, it literally changes every day. We were actually in a

lesson this week and I was like drenched with sweat and I had a huge

sweat mustache during the whole lesson and didn't even know it. Elder

Barrios told me later that day after the lesson was over... No wonder

our investigator was looking at me weird the whole lesson...Thanks

Barrios! haha 

We had a really great lesson with Rosaly this week. She has been

reading the Book of Mormon and loves it. When we stopped by her house

she was seriously so excited to share with us about what she read and

what she learned. She told us that she read all of 1st Nephi and didn't

understand it the first time so she read it again. Then after that she read

all of 2nd too. Man...she is so awesome. We set a baptismal date for

her and she said she wants to but needs to talk to her parents first.

So we will see about that this week!

I'm honestly so excited to get another transfer here in Obligado. We

have seen so many miracles here, I love it! This work is the Lord's

work. I love you all, have a great week!

Part of Rhett's letter to his dad:

"Yeah, I'm staying here another transfer baby! I think we are really gonna see the fruits this transfer! I'm so pumped. Being a district leader has helped me learn so much and love the work so much more. I feel like I'm the quarterback again leading the squad down the field (mission field) trying to get some touchdowns baby. Seriously though I have been trying to get them motivated so that we can really reach our full potential. I love it. Love you guys!"

Trent - Eternal Families

Hola familia!

This week was so great. I have so little time to write this email! I'm so sorry I don't write very much! I will try to write better next week!

I just want to share a short experience from this week. We are still teaching the family that lives really far away from our area. They are Martín, Blanca, Maya, Mia, and Tisiano. I love them so much. We have now taught them all the missionary lessons and they have accepted everything. They were truly prepared to receive the restored gospel. They will get baptized this Saturday, the 14th and confirmed the next day, the last day of the transfer. They are planning to go to the temple in December next year when Elder Villa and I will go home so that we can make a stop in Buenos Aires and be there for their sealing as a family for all eternity! Wow nothing makes me so happy. I am so grateful that I left my house to come here and teach them. I am so grateful to be a set apart servant of God! How special it is to have the priesthood power of God restored to the Earth so that a family can be sealed together FOREVER and not just until death on this Earth. And that wonderful blessing that Martín and Blanca are going to have all started with their desire and action! They chose to do the things we invited them to do so they received a fast spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of our message. I love it.

I LOVE the mission! I hope all is well! Chau!

Elder Reilly

Rhett

Whats up Guys!

How are you doing fools? haha I hope all is well. This week was a good one. We had some crazy storms hit here which was a little interesting. Last night we had a lesson late at night before returning to the apartment, and just like what always happens...right as the lesson ended it starting pouring rain. We didn't have an umbrella or jackets or anything haha. So we just ran home soaking wet haha. It was a good experience though and was definitely worth it, teaching that lesson.

This week we had a cool experience with one of our investigators named Belen. We have been teaching her about prayer and about how if you read and pray about what we are teaching you will know if it's true. She told us about how she had a lot of questions about some things and read the pamphlet we gave her about the Plan of Salvation. She read it and then prayed and told us about how all of her questions were answered and how she felt really good about the answers. I can see the Spirit starting to work in her and it is just great to see. 

We have six investigators right now that have gone to church 2 times and I feel will be baptized in the next few weeks. Unfortunately transfers are next week, dangit, I'm hoping I will stay for 1 more transfer here so I can see them get baptized! We are seeing so many awesome things here, I love it.

I pretty much say this every week, but I know that prayer is real. If we take the time to go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him, He is always there to help us and answer us. Che aikuaa cuam bae haiha anetegua! Love you guys, have a good week.

Elder Reilly

Rhett

What's up Familia!

I hope you all are killing it out there. This week was another good one, especially with it being conference weekend. It was a little interesting listening to it in Spanish this year but a great experience. How great was that? Hearing the apostles and people called of God speaking to us and bringing some light into this world! 

One of my favorite talks was in the Saturday afternoon session. I don't remember what his name was but he talked about taking advantage of opportunities. It made me think a lot about how every day God is providing us with so many opportunities to learn and to be better, but many times we don't recognize them or just dont take advantage of them. If we take advantage of everything the Lord gives us, our lives will be so much better and we will learn and grow in ways we could never have. Its definitely something I want to work on this week. Take advantage of every opportunity!

We have some investigators really progressing now. We had six of them come and watch conference with us. 4 of them have gone to church 2 times and could be getting baptized in a week or two. I'm super pumped for them. We had a really good experience with Rosaly the past week. We have been inviting her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. She sent us a message on our phone about a week later because we weren't able to visit her in some time. She told us that she finally understands what we were saying about reading, pondering, and praying if the Book of Mormon is true. She then said that she feels so good since she's been reading. It was awesome to see how the Lord really is answering her prayers. Like President Nelson talked about in conference, The Book of Mormon is powerful. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. If we really read it and pray about it we will come to know the Savior and feel of it's power. I invite you all to read it. Love you all, Have a great week!

Elder Reilly

Trent - 9 months

Hola Everyone!

This week was so great! I'm so thankful for the opportunity that we had to listen to General Conference and to have a prophet and 12 apostles today to lead and guide us! The messages they shared were so inspiring!

We have been teaching a family from a town called Gobernador Costa that is like 2 hours away from Esquel. The Mom is a member and she comes almost every week to the church here because it is the closest one. We felt impressed one night to call her and ask her how her family was and if we could find a way to teach them. Their daughter was feeling really sick and there is no hospital in their city so they had to come to Esquel for a couple days to check her out. She ended up having no problems even though they stayed here the whole week doing tests. It was the perfect opportunity to teach them. We passed by every day to teach their family. They are so special. The Spirit was so strong as we taught them all they need to know to be an Eternal Family! They are so prepared to hear the Gospel! I can just see them in the temple.

I don't have very much time and I have to go. I love the mission and I love all of you! God is real and he loves and knows us personally. Till next week!