Elder Reid and "his baby" spent two very successful months in El Fuerte. When he first arrived he received a new baby (what they call a new missionary in the field). The two of them did so well together they let them both stay put through a transfer. They had much success in this area! The cute little girl in the picture was just baptised last week, isn't she's beautiful?! The church building and baptismal font are brand new, his words "state of the art." He said the water was very warm. :-)
Also while in El Fuerte, he got the opportunity to travel 20 minutes away to El Corrizo (a previous area he taught in) to baptize the younger brother of one of his previous converts. Very cool!
In today's e-mail he wrote: we broke the record of baptisms in the mission and so ya we are doing good and we are going to have a free day next monday. (Missionaries love to meet goals and challenges -- and enjoy the rewards). Next week I'll reveal what the "free day" included. :-)
I must say, I was a little taken aback by his photos -- he's looking rather skinny (don't tell Grandma Riding!). But he's soooooo happy and loving the work. And in just four short months this journey will sadly be ending and then we will work on getting some meat back on the man, ha ha! Another line from an e-mail: i weighed myself the other day and i wiegh 156 pounds - if you can imagine i am a little skinnier as i left the MTC at 180 haha sweet huh? Um, wow! And yes, it's typical for the natives to gain weight in Mexico, and the gringos to loose because of the environmental changes, the extreme heat and let's not forget, the walking walking, and more walking. ha ha!
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Different story, but still missionary related. I went to Minnesota last week for some meetings for work. After the meetings we were treated to some very fun things such as touring a federal cartridge building, shooting different guns and ammo, going to a Minnesota Twins game. However, one of the things I enjoyed the most was what I experienced at the airport. My co-worker and I arrived for our flight a little early, and their was a delay with the plane. Susan headed off to do some quick shopping and I stayed back in the waiting area. I noticed a young missionary standing by himself looking quite out of place. He made a phone call, then went back to pacing the floor. When he got kinda close, I said "Hi Elder, where ya heading?" He immediately sat down by me and said he was on his way home from a full two-year mission in Canada. I asked him, "so are you feeling a little lost being without a Comp?" (missionaries are never without a comp -- ever). He told me it was sooo weird! He had to call a buddy to talk him through it. He said the two years went by sooo fast for him. He talked about his mission, and how his older siblings now had babies. There were some deaths in his family, so he got to talk to his parents more than a few times. And his girlfriend at home got married the week before (ouch! ha ha). I could tell he had such a range of emotions that it was all over. Susan came back, and I wished him luck as the plane was now boarding. And then he ended up in front of me in the line to board. The funny thing was, he was chatting with a young man that too had sought him out. He had just finished his mission four months ago, and was traveling to Utah to go to college. They stayed together and chatted the rest of the time like they had known each other forever (and the young man was warning him how many times his mom was going to hug him, tee hee).
So the plane landed and I kept looking over my shoulder to see where he was. Couldn't spot him. When Susan and I were coming down the escalator there were two families with big yellow signs and we looked at each other and said "mmmm, that one!" We could tell which family was his by their similarities. So I asked the mom, "did your son serve in Canada?" she smiled and nodded. I told her we got to meet him, and what a nice young man she raised. Susan and I stepped away and watched for him to come down.... we both teared up immediately when we saw him step on the escalator. And somehow he had managed to find the other missionary returning from who knows where. Funny how they find companions even in strangers -- such a neat thing to watch.
I never thought I would wish the journey would slow down a bit, but I sure wish it would! What a ride it's been! We have much to be thankful for, life is grand isn't it?
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