making a difference.

I love my mission. I feel like I'm the Lords investigator here. He's continually teaching me, humbling me, preparing me, helping me, guiding me, and ultimately shaping me into someone that can return to dwell with Him. I feel like I am making a difference here in Indonesia, but I know that really CHRIST is who makes all the difference. I have learned how to love. I have learned that love is what is most important. I have learned that Heavenly Father loves me no more than he loves the man asking for money on the bus, or the women selling fruit on the side of the road. His love is perfect.

I don't have much time, but I just want to share a little bit about my companion. What started as one of the hardest companionships for me has been one of the greatest blessings of my mission. Having my foot hurt has taught me that I cannot do anything on my own, we need the help of others! My companion has served me and helped me and throughout these few months we have learned to work together and SERVE together. We have overcome weaknesses together and grown as servants of the Lord. I want to testify that love is always the answer. It is what matters and it is what the Savior exemplifies so perfectly!

"pure christ-like love flowing from righteousness can change the world"

Jeffery R. Holland

I believe that! The work here is amazing, we have some amazing people we are teaching and hopefully I will be able to see a few of them enter in the waters of baptism before I leave! This is the greatest work!! 

Love,

Sister Reilly

classic move.

Well, I can't say it was the BEST week in my mission, but it was still a great week! I was super inspired by a couple of Dane White's emails that Dad sent me last week. They had a crazy goal to reach and teach 250 people in one week about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. They ended up getting to about 150 people, that is awesome. 150 people got a lesson and a prayer from two of the Lords servants,,think about how many seeds were planted! I was so fired up to try and I got my comp bought into it also! Right after emailing we started calling members, so we could go on splits everyday and reach double the amount of people. We hit the streets on fire and started talking to everyone who would listen, surprisingly, almost everyone was allowing us to pray with them and teach them,,we taught about families, Jesus Christ, and that all truth has been restored to the Earth through a living prophet. We heard peoples struggles, problems, sicknesses, worries, fears, goals, and plans. We helped people see how the Book of Mormon could help them with all of these. By Tuesday night we were exhausted, but I had never felt better. Then we hit a little speed bump on Wednesday morning...Long story short, my foot had a fight with some glass and the glass won..lots of blood and 9 stitches later I was vegging out on my bed at home while I could have been helping the Lord save souls!

Here's where the real miracle comes in though...because we had members ready to go on splits with us everyday, my companion still got to go out and save souls...yes! But that's not even the miracle. One of people who was willing to help us was a non-active member, Lena. Lena stayed home with me for three days and I came to love her. The first day she stayed with me, she got a call from her family on another island that her brother had gone into the hospital with a heart problem. The second day she got the call that her brother had passed away. She really broke down and was so sad. She began asking me questions about where we will go after this life, about the plan of salvation and about where her brother was and if she would ever see him again. She told me about her struggles, her falling away from the church and her desire to be a true follower of Christ. That was a miracle for me. The Lord always provides a way. Yes, I'm a little bummed that we didn't reach our goal, but hey, we tried and we definitely didn't fail. We ended reaching over 50 people..not bad. 50 more people who hopefully felt closer to their Heavenly Father than they did before they met two missionaries. How many people can you help? How many burdens can you lift? The number really doesn't matter, but the PEOPLE do. The worth of souls is GREAT in the sight of God. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude and love for my Father in Heaven. He knows me, he knows what I need, and His love is perfect. Jesus Christ's grace IS SUFFICIENT. Whatever struggle, feelings of regret, failure, heartache you have,, Jesus Christ's grace is sufficient for YOU. He loves you and knows you as if you were the ONLY thing he has ever created. 

With all my love,

and all my stitches,

Sister Reilly

I know I can..be what I want to be!

Alright, I am out of time to email...so I'm sorry I won't write any long email this week because I used up my time responding to emails, BUT I just want to say how much I love this work!!! And I love you! AMAZING things a happening here and will continue to happen, everyday!! Miracles, everyday!

How are you going to change this week to come closer to the living Christ?? What can you do to be better this week than you were last week? What can you do to be better today than you were yesterday? What can you do to help someone this week? How can I be a better mother, brother, leader, student, employee, grandmother, missionary, PERSON??

Now, lets do it!!I

Let's repent and be better. Growth, progression, learning, becoming are all forms of repentance. KEEP TRYING. Like it was said in conference, we only fail when we stop trying! 

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

With LOVE,

Sister Reilly

He lives!

Another amazing week in INDO! President Donald has started this thing in our mission called "Master Teacher" where we have to memorize all the lessons 1-5, memorize scriptures for each point and commitments to be given and then recite them word for word (like missionaries used to do) to our leaders to get passed off and then do that 5 times to become a master teacher. It is to help us just focus on the basics and before better teachers of the gospel. I was working on that this week and studying the same things I had been teaching my whole mission, but something struck me and has impacted my mission this week and that is LOVE. Every lesson, every thing we teach is centered on the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. One of the most well-known scriptures in Christianity is John 3:16.."For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God Loves us so He sent His Son, He loves us so He has given us families, and he loves us so He has restored His church on the Earth and called a living prophet to lead and guide us. We have been working with a husband and wife, Edy and Sulis, for about a month now and have tried to strengthen and comfort them as they have been going through a big trial in their life. Their 16 year old daughter, Marta, ran away from home and has not returned for 2 months. We have been praying with them that she would return home and testified to them that this gospel would bless and strengthen their family. Marta came home this week and we got to meet with her and talk a lot with her. She had gotten many tattoos and didn't look too good, but as we sat and talked with her I seriously just felt this overwhelming love for her. I thought about the love that her parents have for her and how much more love her Heavenly Father has for her. I could just see this light about her and see how much potential she has, and had an even greater desire to help her see what is going to bring her REAL happiness, the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't know if that family will get baptized, I hope they do, but what I do know is that Heavenly Father loves us. He knows us and His plan is a plan of happiness. There will be trials, struggles, weaknesses, sorrow, but ultimately, if we follow His plan, follow His son Jesus Christ, we will find Happiness. I am so happy and so grateful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ and for this great plan of happiness!! I love you!!

Semangattttt,

Sister Reilly