La Donna Mangia la Mela

Familia!

Great to hear from you all this week. This week has flown by and it seems like the rest of this transfer is going to be in the same boat. We had a pretty good week this week. We ran into a little speed bump
with our investigator Heidi, but it seems like we were able to get past it with a great lesson with a member! One of the things our mission has really been pushing for is member-present lessons. There
are so many benefits that come from having members work with the missionaries and especially with their investigators. Heidi and her mother, Gloria, both have dates to be baptized the 19th of July, but
we still haven't been able to get them to church. This week will have to be the week!

We met a really cool lady from Peru about a week and a half ago while tracting and we've been able to teach her twice so far. We had a really good lesson on Saturday night with her and her mother in law about the Book of Mormon. The mother in law lived in Italy for 8 years, so I really enjoyed talking to her about that, I'd love to get out there one day haha. I told her a little phrase I picked up
recently, "la donna mangia la mela" haha, Stu and Paul probably recognize that. They were both real receptive and extremely respectful. They're obviously both catholic, but the main lady has a lot of problems with the Catholic Church as it seems like a lot of people are having lately. We were able to explain the Book of Mormon and then I had the chance to bear my testimony of how I came to know of its truthfulness and it was a real good experience. The Spirit was super strong in those few short minutes. They told us that they had received visits from a few different groups, but that something was really different about us. The Spirit! Haha I'm excited to work with them, I just hope that we can get the whole family together soon.

Thanks for the pictures as well! Parks is looking old haha. I remember when CJ and I went to that camp right before our freshman year. Doesn't seem like too long ago. Those are some pretty people who were at that rodeo in Lehi! I'm glad Lucas and Ethan were able to make it out to my buddy's homecoming talk. He's such a stud! I love that guy. I had a dream Saturday night that Lucy was born haha. She must be close! We go bowling quite a bit out here since it's a pretty good P-day activity. Here's a couple pics from last week.

I hope you all have a great week! Enjoy the 4th of July!

Transfers!

Familia!

I can't believe another transfer has flown by. This one felt especially fast since it was only 5 weeks. It's scary how fast the time is going! The transfer news is that my companion and I are both staying here for one more. I'm glad because we've got a couple people who should be ready for baptism before the end of this next transfer. We've just gotta get them to church! It's so hard to get investigators to church for some reason. They've promised us on Saturday night to be there for the past 3 weeks and they when we call and knock on their door in the morning, they never answer. It can be disappointing, but we'll get em goin here before too long! Keep Heidi and Gloria Chavez in your prayers.

Last Monday after emailing you guys, we went up to the walk of stars I think is what it's called where they have all the celebrities names on the sidewalk. It was pretty cool. There were a ton of people up there! I got a few pictures, but they're on my camera so I'll have to maybe use the library next week to send them. I got one with Tim McGraw's haha. Then Tuesday I had my "2nd Quarter Training" with President and the missionaries who are at their halfway point. It kind of hit me there and I couldn't believe how long I've been out here. President was talking about how we never really go home after the mission, because it will never be the same as when we left. He just kept saying, "Elders and Sisters, you're never going home." Kind of a weird thought haha.

Sounds like you're all having a good summer! I really like Dustin Johnson, so that would've been sweet if he won! Sounds like a good time though. The iPads have wifi capabilities of course, but the stuff we use is pretty much all downloaded since there aren't very many places we have wifi. We really don't use them much outside of studies though. The area I'm in is way too ghetto to carry them around, so we've only actually used it in one lesson so far haha. I'm just hoping we are able to get to the planning stage of the iPads, that will help a lot.

It's been a hot week. I think it stays around 80-85 but it feels a lot hotter than that. I'm sure it's probably because all the cement. We've got 85 degrees coming down from above and 85 degrees coming up from beneath haha. We were tracting Saturday night and ran into a few people who seem to have some potential. We set three return appointments with them for this week. One was a lady from Peru and I was wearing my tie from Peru with a llama on it that one of my buddies gave me out here haha. Some of my best friends from the mission are going home this week and then at the end of next transfer as well. It's wild! I've been blessed to make some great friends out here.

Happy birthday to Kraigers this Saturday! He's getting that double holiday week this week! Must be nice! The relief society gave us missionaries some Father's Day gifts yesterday and it reminded me of when I think Arlene Barney said that we're part of the Future Fathers of America (FFA) haha. I hope Stu celebrated yesterday as well!

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Me and my best buddy Elder Puertas who will be home in 2 days.

Enjoying the view in Palos Verdes.

Digital Age

Familia!

Thanks for always making sure to remind me how long I've been out! Haha just kidding, it's crazy to think about how much time has passed since I first headed out for México and started this mission experience. So much has happened in this past year, but it also feels like I can recount each experience as if they just happened a few weeks ago. It's an odd thought/feeling for sure haha.

Well, we finally actually got iPads! Haha, it's kind of weird having a high-tech device, but it is pretty cool at the same time. We had a special zone conference on Saturday where we received them. They really can't do as much as I thought they would be able to do though. They have some interactive pamphlets, but they're only in English, so they won't help us out too much in Spanish haha. Studying with the Gospel Library is sweet though, I'd say that's definitely my favorite part so far. But we'll see how it goes as we continue with them, I'm sure there will be some improvements and modifications as time goes on.

We had a pretty rough week as far as success goes, but it was a good learning experience. A lot of rejections. A lot haha. It's always good to get a good, rude rejection every once in a while though. Kind of gives you a wake up call sometimes. That's when you've really gotta know where your heart is so you can still share a heartfelt testimony with someone who might seem like they don't want anything to do with you. These are great times!

I had another cool experience that happened yesterday at the same hospital here in this area where I last ended up giving a blessing to a lady that was from my very first area. This time, I got a text from the Zone Leaders saying that there was a lady in the hospital who was related to a member from another ward and the member wanted to visit her with us and give her a blessing. They gave me the member's number, so I called him to set him up. It ended up being the Elder's Quorum President from my last ward up in Santa Monica! Hermano Sanchez! It was so good to get to see him again, especially since I really didn't get a chance to say goodbye to anyone up there. We met up at the hospital and were able to give this lady a blessing. The Spirit was super strong in that little room and she even expressed that she "felt like crying." We explained to her the importance of faith in regard to blessings and she said she definitely did have the faith for the words pronounced in the blessing to come to pass. I shared with her Ether 12:27 and explained to her the importance of faith and humility with the weaknesses we may have. That is one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. 

My buddy Hermano Carrillo (who was an inactive alcoholic who hadn't been to church for 12 years) made it to church again yesterday and was a week sober! That man is a walking miracle! We had put in so much time and effort with him without even a glimpse of change that we were all kind of losing hope. But then all of a sudden, he was able to stop and is a completely different person. I learned two things from that overall experience: the first is the effect of alcohol on a person. I've taught people who were able to get over meth, cocaine, heroine, and cigarettes, but still couldn't kick the addiction of alcohol. Isn't that wild? He has a completely different personality being sober as well, he doesn't even seem like the same man. Never mess with that stuff! The second thing I learned is to never give up hope! It was easy to get frustrated and even a little discouraged when nothing was happening with so much effort being put in, but we should never lose hope! I was reminded of the talk during this last conference by Elder Nielson about loving, watching, and waiting. Sometimes situations like that just take some time, love, and patience. The hermano told me at church yesterday, "Ahorita estoy empezando de nuevo a asistir a la iglesia." So sweet!

Glad to hear everything went well with Faye and that you've made it to summer! Happy Father's Day this Sunday, Dad! I love you and am so grateful that I was blessed enough to come to your family. I think Heavenly Father must have known I wouldn't have been able to make it without having a Dad that was a stud like you! Thanks for all you do!

I love you all so much and appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I hope you are able to find missionary experiences around you and chances to share the Gospel with others so that you might be able to feel what Alma is talking about in Alma 29:9-10 in the Book of Mormon. I know that book is true and its teachings have helped me become a better man and missionary! Have the greatest week!

Elder Reynolds

Sent from my iPad.

Heat Wave

Familia!

 

Sounds like you guys are all getting a taste of some summer heat! We're supposed to be getting hit with some hot weather down here as well. The past few weeks haven't been too bad, but during the day it is pretty hot haha. We'd wake up and it'd be overcast until about noon and then all the clouds would disappear and the sun would come blazing out. I guess it was bound to heat up before too long though. Glad to see that Dad was able to make it out to climb Mt. Adams! Thanks so much for the package as well, Mom! Those were some great tie choices! So wild that Nate got called to the same mission as CJ too haha.

 

Our two investigators Maria and Liliana and the family moved this past Friday/Saturday. It was kind of sad because I was on exchanges with an elder in my district's area, so I didn't even get to say bye! They were awesome though, I hope they continue with the church over in New York. The Sisters in the district had a baptism yesterday that I was able to help out with. I interviewed him this week and he's an awesome guy. He was going through some hard times in his life and really wanted to find which church he should join, so he prayed to God to show him which one was the right one. He said he would follow whichever one God showed him. Three days later, he ran into the Sisters on the street.

 

We had interviews with President this past week as well and that was a great experience. I love that man so much and am grateful for how much he's helped me during my mission experience. He's truly an inspired man!

 

We're getting the iPads this Friday, so I'm curious to see how that will be. I'm sure it will be nice having them in lessons and things to show investigators Mormon messages and other videos. It will make emailing easier than having to use these computers at the library too! Haha

 

I hope you all have the best week. Enjoy the start of summer!

Junio!

Familia!

 

I can't believe it's already June! It's scary to think about! They're having us do an online course in preparation for the iPads we'll be getting pretty soon, so that's eaten up a lot of my time, but I'll try to tell you all the important stuff!

 

Thanks for clearing up what happened with Parker, you had me hanging for a week only knowing that he had been suspended for the rest of the school year haha. That stinks that the school board or whoever just had the struggles. When haven't they though? Haha. I can't believe the other kid's punishment was the same as Parker's though! That's crazy! I'm pretty sure all the Reynolds boys have had their times with the Toppenish administration at one point or another though. I was reminded of that meeting mom and I had with Mr. Spooner and Principal Decoteau when Mr. Spooner started screaming and swearing at me and I was only in 3rd of 4th grade haha. CJ and I were the target of a lot of things too. Fun times!

 

We had one investigator at church yesterday! Maria came, but the bad thing is that they're moving this weekend to New York. So we'll try to get their information sent over there as quick as we can, so the missionaries there can pick up right where we left off. We also got an inactive member to church and he hadn't come for nearly 12 years! He's an alcoholic and I've been working with him a lot the past 8 weeks to try to help him out. He came with his beer in a coffee cup with a straw sticking out, but he came nonetheless! Haha

 

It was kind of a slow week, since we're kind of starting over as far as investigators go. We're pretty much just in the finding stage again. We had a great meeting this past Tuesday though with a member of the 70 and one of the men at the head of the Missionary Department to talk to us about the iPads. They were both hilarious! It was so fun to have a meeting that was upbeat and humorous like that one. I've gotten so used to our meetings because they're always super serious and kind of dry haha. Both of those guys were extremely in-tune with the spirit, but super funny as well. I loved it.

 

I love you all so much! Thanks for your emails. I was reading this morning in Matthew and I remained thinking about Jesus' words of, "Follow me." I know that if we strive to follow Him, everything will fall into place. I know that He lives and that He loves us. Because I know this, I will follow Him and show Him my love with the things I do! Have the best week!\

 

Elder Reynolds