Seven months and counting!...

Current Comp (waiting for a reply on his name) --

celebrating 6 months and 17 months respectively!

Click on this one for a better view, his face is classic! Elder Reid, first comp, and other native roommates

President & Sister Johnston (who are both awesome)

Love this pic w/Mexican flag flying behind him...
This posting is a little long, life and summer have been extremely busy! But hopefully worth the reid (Reid, get it?! ha ha). We got a thumb drive of pics from him finally, on the day of his birthday! What a pleasant surprise! I will post them on one of those scrolly things as soon as I can remember how! Pics are extra sweet, I can tell how happy he truly is!

I’m going to sum up (or try) what’s been going on in Elder Reid's world. They have been visiting with a Sister (a mom) who lost her son recently in an accident. She’s a member, but has been in-active. I can tell by his letters that he has a deep love and concern for this sister, as she for them. She always sends them home with food, and “makes the best tortillas in the world!” Mmmm… I like this woman already! It warms my heart when he talks about her. She's very good to them. They have two investigators they have been working with that are close to baptism (although one needs to marry the woman he lives with first, hmmm… ha ha). He also says they tend to favor the gringo over his native companion. One member always gives Derek bigger portions of food, or larger glasses of water! ha ha. Someone with a sense of humor but he gets a kick out of it. For his birthday, Derek, his comp and four others from his district went to eat at KFC, his treat! He was quite excited about that. And was super happy about a “sic” (meaning totally awesome) blanket that a good friend sent to him! He absolutely loves it (way to go Ry!) One of the investigators that they been working with was making him a cake. His birthday landed on a P-day, so I think that was fun for him. Biggest and most frustrating part about his current area is that members don’t stay active, or attend church… and if they go to church, don't always attend all three meetings (I wonder how many times he's had to teach or talk -- I'll ask that next time -- a lot probably). He also received our birthday packages a day after his birthday, which included two pair of Van’s – a favorite broken in pair from home and a new pair – with a shirt and shorts to go with -- the Vans were a bright ocean blue and just screamed Derek!! Yep, he loved them! Something to wear for a few minutes on a P-day but he's happy.

With the thumb drive he sent a nine page letter that was written over a two month period. I chuckled throughout the whole thing. We like it when he writes letters because his personality shines through more. In honor of my b-day and Mother’s Day he wrote this… which makes me laugh (man, I miss this kid)…
“so, I guess not being around your family, you start thinking of all the good times you’ve had with them, and so I have been thinking a lot about things we have done together!
1. First and most important is… “sweet tooth Sundays” – I swear mom, every Sunday we would always have a sweet tooth and it was usually for the same thing, be it ice cream, cake, pie, brownies, or any other chocolate goodness but I just remember always having that time with my mom to cook deserts on Sunday where we could talk and bond through our love of goodies. Good thing we both are skinny ha! Don’t know how though… ha ha, J/K!
2. “Shopping for school clothes” This was a treat for you with Blythe but with me it was easy and just going shopping with you and then we would go out to eat somewhere and then shop a little (yeah - when he says little, he means it! He’s a get in, get out kind of guy!). I liked that, it was some good times - so in two years me and you have a date mom!
3. “Movies” – We always had the same mood to watch movies… and we would always be ready with the movie in and we would have to wait for dad… “dad, are you coming?” Ya! “Dad are you coming”… Ya!.... “Dad, are you COMING!” Ya! Ha ha ha Jeeze dad! And we would watch the menu guide through like 18 million times waiting! Ha ha Good times!
4. “Texts from Mom” – ha ha, you know I have to put this in here – ha ha! always I would get a text from you “where you at?... What ya doin?” ha ha, and like, if I was texting a girl earlier then stop… like when she was supposed to answer me back about hanging out and I get a text (“oh, it’s her!”)… nope, just my mom… or Ricky, “Oh, it’s them… “ or “who is that huh huh?” Oh, My MOM… liar, OK look again! Oh, my mom! Ha! Classic, all the time! Good old mom keeping track of her sheep! He was always so patient with my sheep herding too, bless his heart! then again, he knew who paid the cell phone bill (smart kid!)
5. “Love” last and final is Love. You always just seemed to know and say the right things like when I broke my arm and you guys drove up to get me! And when I almost rolled my jeep and you had to come at 2 in the morning to pick me up! Good times, and you always had so much love and I thank you for that! Mom, I love you so much, I really do. And I am glad to have a mom as great as you that does everything she can for her kids so they have what they need. You are the best mom in the world, and you have a heart of gold and you are amazing! Without you, I would be… oh, I don’t know, and I don’t want to know, ha ha. So thank you for your example all my life and for all you do and the love you give me! Funny thing is, it was actually me yelling and loosing it upon seeing his jeep ready to roll! And it was his dad that kept his cool with Derek and didn’t jump all over him. Keith must have masked that one for me! Ha ha. I quickly learned that when Derek called late on a weekend and and asked to talk to his dad -- that they were probably in a pickle of some sort! Rather than panic and ask questions, I learned to just pass the phone over to my better half! And keep breathing!

Next is dad… Happy Father’s Day!
Ha! So I’m doing this one big letter with mom’s b-day and Mother’s day, and now Father’s Day all in one, well although late… but hey! I save 3 stamps! Ha ha ha. But OK, you had a good time golfing (Mesquite). I miss golfing already! But you golf enough for my half too! Ha ha. So with it being hot in Nevada, at 93-95 you know kind of what I deal with, but with 100-105!!! Right now! But I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you and your example to me in my life. It helped me to make the right choices and when it’s so easy to go another path, like, that fast! But I thank you dad for all the years you taught me how to fix things even though I lost some of your tools along the way! Ha ha. And for your example of service, both you and Grandpa Reid were so quick to always lend a hand to others with things and to put service out there. That is helping me more and more here in the mission! I miss golfing with you so in two years we have a date for a round of golf! But it will be winter so that will give us time to map out all the courses we want to play! Perhaps in Mexico, ha ha! But hope you had a good Father’s day and sorry you don’t get a call for Father’s Day… they must figure mom’s might start a riot if they don’t get to talk to their babies for Mother’s Day! Ha!... Love you Dad, more than words can say!... Boy... send a young teenage son on a two-year mission… get back a young man with lots of wisdom -- I can’t even begin to fathom how much he's learned about life already. Tears welling up now, let’s move on…

And last but not least, I have to include the close of his letter… We (Blythe included) always look forward to greeting cards from Derek – he has a knack for putting in cleverly funny comments! Holds true with his letters as well...
Love you both, you are gems, diamonds of parents and I can’t thank you enough for how much you helped me in every aspect of my life. Enjoy the Utah cold brisk air and I will try to kick Mexico’s butt! And survive the heat, ha ha… Love you all! Love your one and only, tall, dark and handsome, well… in the face and arms… son, that is in Mexico, eating crazy food, throwing up, and drinking gallons and gallons of water a day.
Yours truly, now, later, and for eternity… I know, that’s a long time with me ha! … get used to it!
Elder Reid (I never tire of that last sentence, too funny!)