Sick (Enfermo) Week

Familia!

As you might be able to guess by the title of this message, I've been out all week due to sickness! It has not been fun at all! Still pretty sick as of now, but it seems to be getting better, so I'm hoping I'll be over it soon. 

Sarah got her mission call to New Zealand? That's awesome! I'm sure that will be a great mission. I've emailed Troy Dunbar a few times and he has had a really fun time out in New Zealand. Sweet as!

Zillah bball is ranked #1 in the state? That's crazy haha. How well do you think they could compete on the 2A level? Good to hear Parks getting some PT on varsity! He's going to tear it up I'm sure. 

Sorry I don't have much to write about, it's been a pretty slow week with being sick and not really being able to do much. This week should be better! We did have Ward Conference yesterday though which was really good. The stake president spoke on the importance of home and visiting teaching. He told a story of a home teacher who was assigned a family that no one knew and that was just on the records of the ward, but had never been seen. He went over to meet this family and there was a nice boat out front in the driveway that he was admiring because he had just bought a new boat, but didn't know much about boating. The home-teacher heard someone inside the boat and called out to him, didn't hear anything, but saw a can of beer rise up above the side of the boat. He said he thought it would be a quick visit and his work would be done soon haha. He started talking to the guy about his boat and mentioned that he had just bought a boat, but didn't know much about it. They chatted for a while about boating and then said he'd like to come back again and share something about the gospel. The man said he'd allow him to come back if they could talk about boats and maybe he'd let him share a message. He kept going back and eventually the whole family (the man, his wife, and two kids) were at church every single Sunday. They received callings and were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. The stake president then bore a SUPER strong testimony of visiting and home teachers as he said how thankful he is for that home teacher who didn't give up when he found his father drinking a beer in his boat.

I hope that makes sense haha. It was the stake president's dad who was brought back to the church through the efforts of a home teacher. He was a baller too! He wore a bow-tie haha. Super good guy, it was a great story. He said when you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and ask yourself, "How can I become more like the Savior today?" I'd invite you all to do the same! I know we all have things that we can work on, but we always have help from above as we strive to better ourselves each day. I love you all! Tell Aunt Renee and Grandma Happy Birthday for me this week!

Elder Reynolds

Santa Monica (1-19-2015)

Familia!

It's been an interesting week! This area is definitely pretty different than my last area haha. There's only two little pockets of our huge area that have Hispanics, so we only actually work in about 10 percent of the area. It's all gated apartment buildings too, so it's kind of a luck game when it comes to getting in haha. My new companion's name is Elder Anderson and he's from Alpine, UT. He's been out about 15 months and we've been having a pretty good time together so far. He's down to work, so that's basically just what we've been doing! His Spanish isn't super great (I don't want to sound arrogant saying I think mine is better than his haha). We've had some interesting contacts with people just around on the streets already haha. I got hit by an egg by some guy that drove by in a blacked out BMW and I've had a few words yelled at me from fancy passing cars haha. It's been good though. We had an investigator at church yesterday named Miguel. He was found just before I got to the area. He's been looking for a change in his life, so we've taught him a couple times and he's accepted to be baptized on the 8th of February. Looking forward to helping him progress toward that!

The ward I'm in now is called La Cienega. The bishop is a white guy who served his mission in Argentina and his wife is an Argentine. She taught the Gospel Principles class and I enjoyed listening to the Argey accent haha. We're going to have a little lunch with them tomorrowand drink some mate. Super stoked for that! There's a little market in my area called "El Camaguey" that has a bunch of mate, so I had to get some haha. Good stuff! Mom, I'm sorry you didn't get the letter! It was a birthday letter that I sent quite a while ago, but the mail drop-off things in my last area got robbed a ton, so that must have happened. I'll have to write another one when I get the chance!

Super exciting to hear about the new little Reynolds girl that will be a part of the family here before too long! Thanks for updating me on the sports world. I actually hear about it a lot less than I thought I would haha. Crazy to think that Seattle will be there two years in a row. I'm not really a fan of either of those teams, so I'm not sure if I'd really watch that game anyway haha. It's been hot here lately! I'm not ready for the heat to be back already! I feel like we only got two weeks where it was actually pretty chilly and now it's already back on the upswing. Keep me updated on the Australian Open! Any chance you've got that camera sent off?

We had Zone Training Meeting on Friday and we watched a video from YouTube called "What is the Book of Mormon?" You need to find it and watch it tonight for FHE. It's super good! It's just these guys walking around and asking people what they know about the Book of Mormon. We've been implementing that in our contacting lately and it's been kind of interesting to hear what people know about it. 

I hope you all have the best week! I love you all so much!

Elder Reynolds

Surprises (1-12-2015)

Just got a call about an hour ago from one of the assistants that I'm getting transferred up to Santa Monica. I've got to be all packed up and there by 8:30 tonight. Pretty surprising and overwhelming at the same time haha. I have really come to love this area and the people, so I'm pretty disappointed to have to be leaving, but there must be a reason. I'm a little worried about my Spanish too since there aren't many Hispanics up there and the work is pretty rough haha. Just going to have to make the most of it.

I hope you had a great birthday Mom! I figured that letter would have gotten to you well before the weekend, but I guess not. Hopefully you get it soon. I've seen billboards and ads on buses about that movie Unbroken and now both you and dad have said it was really good!

We have been working with the son of a recent convert here in my area who just recently got here from Chicago. He's got some tough habits that he's stuck on, but we've been trying to meet with him a lot and doing our best to let the Gospel take care of them. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying, so he is doing his part. Sorry this email is so short, I'm a little shell-shocked after getting that call haha. Kind of a bummer that I won't have the chance to say goodbye to all the people I've really come to love here. I hope you all have a great week! I love you!

Elder Reynolds

Transfers (1-5-2015)

Familia!

 

Drumroll please... We're both staying again, same area. This is going to be my fourth transfer in this area. Hopefully this one brings some more success than the previous three! We actually had investigators at church yesterday for the first time in months! A little family from Honduras that we're teaching. The dad's name is Wilson, wife is Johanna, and they have a daughter named Pamela. Super nice people. Hoping they continue to progress!

 

Crazy to think that another year has come and gone! I feel lucky to have this whole year out on the mission to try to better myself, help others, and become more like the Savior.

 

We had an awesome testimony meeting yesterday, I'm sure it was the same for you all. Mom, thanks for relating that little thing about Aunt Lisa! So glad that she was able to do that! Send her all of my love!

 

I'm sorry I don't have a whole lot to say this week, it has been kind of a slow week. We got every single appointment we set throughout the whole week cancelled haha. It was pretty DISAPPOINTING, but I didn't let it become DISCOURAGING! I think part of it was probably just the holidays and having family over, so hopefully this week will be better. I met this super cool guy from Nepal last Tuesday night at our English classes. He was awesome. His wife and son are still in Nepal (he's from Kathmandu) and so I taught him a little bit about the plan of happiness and that families can be together forever. He seemed to really enjoy it. He obviously doesn't speak Spanish, but it was a great opportunity to be able to testify of what has brought me peace and joy in my own life. I also had him write my name in Nepalese and it looks super cool haha.

 

The Gospel is the best! It brings so much happiness to everyone who accepts and lives it. I love you all so much and hope that we can all work harder to look for those who need the Gospel in their lives! (Everyone).

 

Have a great week!

 

Elder Reynolds

Happy New Year! (12-29-2014)

Familia!

 

Great talking to you a few days ago for Christmas! You all look great and it sounds like you're doing well! Wish G&G Lott a Happy Anniversary for me! They are the best! Also give Taylor my best for her wedding this week! That's pretty wild about that guy trying to steal some stuff from the garage! Lucky Ethan went out there and was able to scare him off! Mom, your package still hasn't come, but I'm assuming I'll get it this Friday after district meeting. Did you send skinny ties? Haha shoot! Yeah my mission president is pretty strict about them, but I'll have some good ones for after the mish.

 

That's too bad that everyone wasn't able to stay for longer. It's always so fun having everyone home together, but then it's always back to the grind! Mom I hope you get feeling better soon! It sounds like you've had kind of a rough couple weeks!

 

Any new goals that you've got for the next year? I'd invite you all to make at least one or two goals that will draw you closer to the Savior during this upcoming year (reading scriptures daily, praying with more intent, etc.) I know that, luckily for me, just about all my goals can and will be related to that! We met with some investigators on Friday for dinner and it was super good! They are a family from Honduras and we had baleadas! You'll have to talk to Dallin sometime about them haha. They're way good!

 

I hope you all enjoy NYE and the New Year together! Thanks for everything you all do! I love you!

 

Elder Reynolds