7-18-2016
reece.reynolds@myldsmail.net
Hey fam,
Its weird to be at another pday. My mission
is quickly passing. I feel like i was at the mtc a week ago being
forced to walk slowly with elder metcalfe haha hes still on the mission
and doing great by the way!
Let me tell you about the week i had, it was straight power.
We taught an entire family on Tuesday
about the plan of salvation. this was a straight answer to prayers
because i been needing to teach a family. They were Hispanic so i said
in Spanish "how do you say.. you stink?" so i could say it to my
companion and they replied in Spanish thinking i could speak and i was
like.. yo howd i do that? now i have to say something else! Ive never
really been around Hispanics in my life! Gift of tongues? haha i wish.
Anyway we had a sweet lesson. The mom who is the only member in the
family was in tears and i started to get a little teary as i bore my
testimony in this little cozy home with these people all around me. I
asked myself during the lesson. Is the spirit here? and then i just
listened and i felt an overwhelming sense on peace fill me right up. So
the answer was yes. It was there and it was strong. We invited to family
to church and then baptism. They said yes. I was shocked. And then we
left the home a little while after and i sat in pondering while i was
driving home at how lucky i am to be doing the lords work. This is what
it really is all about. Words cannot convey the feelings of joy and love
i have found in being here on a mission.
Yes i get crap for being a utah mormon. But REPRESENT!
Then
later we visited our top investigator and she said these great words
that were like music to my undersized ears "I have an announcement, I
want to be baptized, next month on the 27th" ... We were shocked. This
is a lady who was kinda rude and prideful when we first taught her and
now she was glowing! I pointed out that ive seen a change in her for the
better and she was all smiling and stuff. Her husband will be the one
to baptize her. we just gotta get him active again.
Well
i gotta admit i broke the rules.. i drove a tractor.. we did service on
a farm and the farmer asked me to drive his ole tractor to the field
haha he said "reynolds can you drive this.. my neck hurts" i didnt even
blink and said sure! and then he winked because he knew how bad i wanted
to drive it. But i needed a reason to.. so i hopped in there and my
companion sat on the step and we drove that thing and man i was real
happy haha that was a highlight of my mission just dont tell president
ok? Ok if you want to you can. I had a little chat with my companion, he
hasnt been talking in the lessons at all so i have had to keep blabbing
on, which is fine i love the feeling i get when my head rattles from so
much jaw flapping. So after that talk i realized that i love this dude.
hes shy and akward and real self-conscious. But i saw him as the savior
does for a brief moment and i started to get a little sweat in my eyes
as i bore my testimony to him of speaking by the power of the spirit.
And that we have nothing to worry about when we are worthy to teach. I
then challenged him to find out whats keeping him from that and then he
opened up real good. That was a hard conversation but i prayed real good
before i had it with him. so it was kosher.
Then
later in the week we were in a lesson and the spirit was really strong
in this one too. I was bearing my testimony that i know that god has a
plan for every single one of his children. While in the middle of a
powerful message i look over at my companion after i heard him gasp and
move his head really quickly. I thought nothing of it and then after as
we were in the truck he asked kinda nervously "Do dragonflys have
poison?" i said no why? he said that one tried to bite him in the middle
of me testifying and he got real scared. and he said thats all he could
think about during that time was the terror of these strange flying
snakes... hes not from around here.. but i had a good laugh because that
explains him.. while you think hes pondering deeply the words of life
hes really just wonder if he can pet the dog thats in the corner haha
hes a dog person.
D&C 64:33 says
"Wherefore,
be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great
work. And out of small things proceed that which is great."
I love this.
I
love this gospel. We are in a spiritual war. The smallest decisions to
do whats right can and will have a great affect on those who it will
see. This church is true and when i go to meet heavenly father, i will
not know anymore then, than i do now that he lives, and is at the helm.
He loves us.
me and another elder hanging another elder upside down over water (death)
Hey Fammm
i
feel our ancestors pressing it on me to have work done. Get going. that
story for when i get home from the mission. we are responsible all the
way back to the 14 hundreds..so much work..
Thinking
about my family. Are you filling your head with things that are
conducive to the spirit? if not. CHANGE IT. because if its not of god
then who is it of? and do we think those influences of the adversary
will lead us to do good?dont let yourself get surrounded with the
things of the world. they will only add confusion and eventually end up
like I almost did. snapchat, instagram, facebook, vine. Not Good. I was
firm in this before and now i reaffirm my past thoughts. They do not
help us to feel good about ourselves and that is not what our father in
heaven intends. You are all in my prayers. Is everyone reading
scriptures everyday? are you? if not. listen to my plead and FIX IT. the
pioneers did not go through all the pain and suffering just so the
message of the gospel could be put off down the road. tell yourself. Im
going on a mission and nothing will stop me. convince yourselves to
center your thoughts on doing the work of the lord. and if you want to
serve you cant be lazy. we do not sit on the fence. remember.. "choose
ye this day whom ye will serve" We are the church of jesus christ of
LATTER DAY SAINTS its almost over, this life. if you read in the book of
revalations. christ is at the door. the devil is working, in your home.
Do not get prideful do not get relaxed. press forward with a
steadfastness in christ. to press means that there WILL be opposition.
We help families all over to get through these same things. i wont let
my family at home buckle under pressure. You are my support group and
how can you support if you arent strong?
I only allow myself to say these things because i feel like ive personally conquered them. i would be timid if i hadnt.
This rant is mainly for my sisters.. i feel like elder holland or something.. haha well.. im off the soapbox.
Please have everyone ponder and read and study and dissect alma 32.
We had a good ole week here in elizabeth kalerahdoh.
We
had 5!! Investigators at church this week WUT hah one is a family!! of 3
Work is going just fine. Except we got a screw in our tire so we have
to sit at the tire shop for a while later today and lose our pday...sad
face.
Our
members that we live with have been out of town and been in utah and
arizona and been out enjoying the retirment life.. so weve been house
watching for them since we live with them and we accidentally let the
flowers die and we accidentally lost the cat.. for 3 days.. then we
found him this morning after i used my cat mating call. bought it at
cabelas 13.99 if your interested... not really haha
Dont ask us to babysit.. we will abandon the cat to teach the gospel.
I
was pondering deeply this morning just about the words of life which we
hear about from prophets of old and new. I realized that nowhere in
this world can we find such happiness and peace than from in the gospel.
So
we taught this cool lesson the other night. what made it cool was that
we were on the porch and all around us in a fence was cows! and the sun
was setting and furthermore the spirit was there. Strong. Probably the
strongest ive ever felt it during a lesson. We taught a recent convert
about faith we just read from alma 32 and dissected it for her. She was
in tears because she isnt married doesnt have a job.. because she got
fired.. and she works for her dad.. she is just having a hard life
right now. I felt such sympathy for her. i just wanted to give her a big
ole hug.. but i didnt because im saving my hugs for my family when i
get home. Anyway after the lesson elder haws and i were complete
opposite. he was all meek and humble and i was all joyful and giddy. we
all react to the spirit differently. those are all fruits of it though
so i knew we were feelin it.
Man
the members out here are phenominal. Theyre like doing missionary work
just like saying hey do you go to church? to people they know like im
serious these people are on fire out here. And a lady brought us peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches to church because she said last time we
looked super hungry.. which we were!! 9 hours of church every sunday is a LOT. I love the mission.
Ether 12 says
"..I
would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and
not seen; wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no
witness until after the trial of your faith." verse 12 goes on to say
"for if there be no faith among the children of men god can do no
miracle among them; wherefore he showed not himself until after their
faith.
Let us let god manifest himself to us. Let us be faithful. #nourishtheseed
#theseedwillbecomeatree
We
will see that heavenly father really does care and he wants us to KNOW
him. I know him and i know that he loves us. I am a son of god. What
more honorable thing can we say about ourselves?
ILY
-Elder Reynolds
PS
another transfer down.. im staying here in elizabeth to baptize these
people out of love. and elder haws will remain my companion.
7-5-2016
Hey fam,
It was a good week again. Im not sure that if i had a bad one that i would admit it. But this one was good.
We
went on exchanges this week early on. I was with elder Brinkerhoff who
was my zone leader at the very beginning of my mission Ive looked up to
him the whole time. He served as an assistant to the president after he
was one of my zone leaders. He knows what hes doing. Too bad he goes
home in a week. I made sure to ask him for advice on what to do to
enhance my mission. He said "Know who you're praying to" Simple but
profound. Hes a good guy. It was a good day hes a good balance of fun
and obedience.
Our days were filled with
service. Which means that since we were serving our fellow brethren we
were in direct service of our god. What a great realization I had.
Tuesday we did our regular service at the therapy horse ranch, and man
thats a real fun time. Friday
all morning we bucked hay. It was so neat i looked around as i stood in
the rustic looking barn and thought, i wouldnt rather be anywhere else
in the world right now but here. We were tossing those bales out the
upstairs door of the barn like they were hot potatoes. It was a cool
barn.
Saturday
we had a baptism! i know i havent talked too much about this one but
its because i felt like we need no recognition for this anymore. It is
our job. We bring people to christ. In the words of coach child at
springville high school "Its just what we do" We were blessed to have
sierra walk into our lives and we were blessed to be her spiritual
guides as we took her on the path that leads to our father in heaven.
I
had a good talk with elder Haws last night because ive noticed
throughout our time together which might almost be over.. that he tends
to beat himself up pretty harshly. Nothing wrong with that at all but i
could tell it makes his days cloudy and those days turn to weeks. I
talked to him and told him that the final result of the atonement is
joy. We had a good talk and i mentioned some of the things that ive had
to use the atonement for. He was pretty quiet, so i just told him that
we are to find joy in our work and i challenged him to find whats
keeping him from having that and then fix it.
I
think I finally understand just a little bit of what the savior faced
as he served his mortal mission. It isnt easy. But its worth it. Alma
26:27 Says "Now when our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn
back, behold the lord comforted us and said: Go amongst thy brethren
the lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and i will give
unto you success".
Love ya!
PS Yesterday we went on a hike instead of email.
6-27-2016
hey fam!!
This week haha we did work!! i think that
missions aren't necessarily for the people you find and teach but more
for the personal growth that missionaries go through. It might sound
selfish sure, but ill be honest i didnt think i was capable of loving
the savior this much and his sacrifice. The proof i have to show for it
is through my actions. Ive worked hard this transfer to not give in to
fatigue or any other things that we face. its been real good. Studies
are probably the best part of the day. seek not to declare my word ay?
but first to obtain it. yas. i love reading the scriptures i feel like
you know how when dogs havent seen their owners for a long time and they
go all nuts when they finally do see em.. well thats kinda what its
like when i sit down and read im all sorts of excited. My life has
changed.
Well, we did some service on a cattle
ranch. i think ive found my calling in life not gonna lie. It was real
good, made me miss the ranch because it was only an appetizer. We were
there for only a morning. For those of us who are interested, We freeze
branded and castrated some calves. Everyone in the zone was jealous. I
got money on the boots too so that was uplifting. The drive home was
real nostalgic.
Then later in the week we went
up to denver and spent a little bit of time in my last area. i felt
weird because it was like going back to high school even though you
graduated.. haha we went to go to my main man Adams baptism. i love
those guys they sure do mean a lot to me.
Then we finished the week with a busy Sunday, its real tiring covering two wards. two sacraments two ward councils and two ward correlations. every Sunday.
Thats grit right there. Elder haws was fallin asleep in the second
sacrament. But good news tis worth it! we have a baptism this weekend!
if you want to come and see whats up then please do!
weve
been real lucky in this area. All the lessons weve taught to
investigators have been in the homes of members. which is the ideal
situation.
I was reading in D&C section 50 this week and caught something real neat that the savior was saying to Joseph smith. It says
41
Fear not, little children for you are mine, and i have overcome the
world, and you are of them that my father hath given me. 42 And none of
them that my father hath given me shall be lost.
No
matter how far gone we may feel, its never too late to repent and align
our will with heavenly fathers. His arms are still outstretched, its up
to us to turn around and accept the atonement. So will you?
Love ya!
-Elder Reynolds
Ps my companion and i are doing real well together. Its because were not being selfish or anything were just putting in work.
6-20-2016
Yo fam,
Ah yes another refreshing week of pure unadulterated, firm and supple peace with an unequaled amount of horses.
Man
i love my flippin mission. We put in work. enough to go through Another
pair of proselytizing shoes. mom send money please...
On
tuesday we did service all morning at a therapy horse ranch. i was in
heaven really because i wish to be an equine professional someday maybe
and also the handicapped kids, that we helped ride the horses, were real
funny too.. My companion is a real shy akward so he did some real funny
things with the horses because he was.. real shy and nervous.. haha
i
got some glasses also.. i feel as though my eyes have been taken and
upgraded with x ray vision super eagle-seers. instead of my regular old
dark brown pursuaders.
I feel as though we are
on top of the world because the wards were working with are flippin
amazing everyone is so missionary minded and willing to help us out. so
our job is like really fun.
we only had one
thing this week that was dumb. we were walking up a long driveway to
knock on the door for the purpose of inquiring the names of those who
dwelt within. As we approached, a great amount of courage swelled within
my humble heart and we saw a big scary tattooed man walking towards us
haha and i said hello to him and he told us to turn around and go back
where we came from. So we did without arguing because i didnt wanna see
my companion get beat up because im pretty sure if that were to happen
ide run away to fast.. anyway he was real mean. that was honestly the
only thing that dampened the week. other than that.. it was a sweet
week. Lesson wise, we have quadrupled the amount taught in a week than
the last companionship who was here from the CO springs mission.. I have
pride for the mission i was called to.
Well.. no rabbits this week
oh
last night we were driving to a preconceived destination and upon
arrival we found that the person that we were trying to get ahold of did
not live at this house, which was way in the middle of nowhere, and so
it was another big scary guy that answered the door, we chatted for a
little bit about farming which he did haha. after a minute the spirit
made my fanny pack feel like it was on fire because there was a book of
mormon inside of it.. so i got the hint and said audibly "hey man sorry
to bother ya so late in the evening, weve gotta go but can i leave
something with you that has changed my life and blessed it as well". He
said sure! i was like.. woah really? haha ok yeah sure uh huh here you
go!! so hes said thanks and we went on our way.. i told my companion
elder haws, That was meant to happen. Because we were so far away and no
one ever seems so eager to take what we have to offer. and there was
lightning so we took that as a sign that god was excited just like us
about what we are doing. idk..
Its weird how the spirit works
and guides us in our lives. Its my prayer that those i encounter will
be able to feel the holy ghost confirm the truths that my mouth
testifies of.
Love ya!
-Elder Reynolds
PS
the picture attached is for my mother to see how strong i am becoming
so she knows im eating healthy and so she can she my new glasses. also
for real i need new shoes i tore those puppies up.. according to my
fitbit i walked approximately a trillion steps in them shoes.
6-13-2016
Hey fam,
Well,
not too much to say. if i could email my love for this area i would
prefer to do that. we have 2 people we are baptizing here in a couple of
weeks i guess. the cool thing is.. both of em ride horses in rodeos.
Im
still in love out here. the only thing that ruins it is the little
computer thing they put in the window of the truck thatll yell at us
when we speed stinkin church.. but for real its beautiful out here we
wake up in the morning to gorgeous sun rises and birds chirping and we
go to bed with big huge dark rolling thunder clouds with lighting
crackin across the sky. and all in between we make friends with the
local cows!
Ive been learning so much of the
stuff that god has to teach us. the cocept of unfolding has become real
to me. i realize the more i learn when i study the gospel, the littler i
know. theres always so much that the spirit can teach us when we study
the scriptures. i bore my testominy of the book of mormon to some guy
workin on a tractor this week and i kinda got choked up a little because
i love it so much. alma and amulek are my heroes.
We
did some good workouts this week and my companion elder haws took some
of my pre workout supplements and he said the back of his head was
starting to tingle which is caused by a mixture of beta alinine and
caffiene.. i told him thats not good at all and we might have to go to
the hospital because it means his brain is detatching and thats a side
affect that will happen. he got really scared and almost started to cry
and i just started laughing and told him not to be so gullible and then
we started lifting haha. my companion is funny he is really akward and
im not so we make a good team.
We had the
chance this week to go hold down a family history booth at the local
carnival slash fiesta days kinda thing in parker. my companion and two
other elders and i had a cool moment. we were walking to find some
dinner. we had two fine young daughters of god approacvh us and ask us
why we were wearing ties.. that was.. random but we were smart and we
took the conve straight into the message of the restoration.. my
companion and one of the other elders didnt say much because they are
akward to begin with and if you add some 18 year old girls in the mix
they are stone faced haha.. anyway the one elder and i taught the
message with impeccable clarity and even though we were in the middle of
hundreds of people and rides and lights everywhere the spirit pricked
their hearts and we could tell they felt the spirit real good. then haha
we were walking beck to the car later and we passed the same two girls
and they were reading the books of mormon we gave em. elder haws didnt
stop talking about that all week haha.
Then
yesterday i probably had the funniest dinner appointment on my mission.
the son is a 14 year old down syndrome child. of course he doesnt mean
to be funny but the whole family my companion and i were dying laughing
we were falling off the chairs. he was telling us a story of how he was
kidnapped by the democrats and the koreans threw him in the trash and he
played games with himself in there haha.. idk you had to be there.
Well yeah i love my mission i dont think im gonna come home ever.
The
members we live with love us. the granpa will just come down and talk
to us for an hour and were like trying to study or plan and he just
fills our ears with all sorts of goofy stories. i love it.
We
didnt have a dinner appointment this week so i killed me some rabbit. i
love being out here in the country. one of the people we taught this
week said theyre castrating this week and i got all excited because
thats my favorite job. haha.. anyway..
Well the
church is true, you can feel gods spirit in abundance in the church
especially during sacrament. it hit me real hard when i looked up and
saw this country man bishop with tears in his eyes. During the sacrament
administartion.
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! im stayin dont come get me momma
6-6-2016
hey fam,
Im trying to keep my cool right now. Theres so much i have to write..
Well,
lets start with the basics. we live with a family who is genuinely the
best loving couple god placed on his good green earth. WE LOVE THEM.
Im
out here in elizabeth CO, i cover two wards the running creek ward and
elizabeth ward. my companion and i have the largest geographic area in
the mission. I absolutely love it. it looks identical to mayfield utah.
small little cozy town here in CO. I love it here. i woke up the first
morning to deer right out back. man i loved it.
also all the neighbors have horses. in fact everyone has horses. and tractors. I might move back out here after the mission.
Its polar opposite from my last area. in every aspect.
I
LOVE IT!!! my companions a good dude too.. hes not the most confident
in himself but im helpin him. i have confidence to spare haha jk
Church
yesterday was great! we received a super warm welcome to the ward. even
little deacons were coming up to us saying hey elders welcome to the
ward! were so excited to get to work out here the bishops in both wards
are super missionary minded and super willing to help. in fact both ward
correlation meetings everyone in there gave us names to go teach i felt
like we were being showered with blessings. this is a missionary's
dream. theres even a couple people who are ready to be baptized!!!
Well.
i cant ask for anything else. I wouldnt rather serve in any other place
in the worldexcept the salt lake city mission... maybe im just excited
to be out of the city idk. but im serious i actually got a good nights
rest these past few days.
OH also!! we met with president on thursday he
mentioned the town of elizabeth has a rodeo. so he said to my companion
and myself to put our blue jeans and boots on and go out there. so we
did. we went to an actual rodeo. that was a highlight of my mission.
Also
we ate dinner at some members home last week named the schmidts.
brother schmidt said he served 7 months of his mission in gunnison ut
and he baptized one of the bounds in fayette springs. yeah im not the
best with names but hes in my ward and hes a real great guy. ill try and
get a picture with him soon. small world. everyone here knows where
gunnison even the bishops wife knows the redds down in southern utah.
her last name is parmenter. anyway this is where my mission has really
seemed close to home its kinda weird. if we have to drive anywhere it
looks like the drive between gunnison and manti.
Theres
so much to talk about for example, we do service on a cattle ranch.
maybe some calf wrestling will be involved that was my favorite job out
on the ranch. wow, my country side is really coming out here.
When
we met with president he told our district time and time again that he
sent the strength of the mission out to these new areas. i dont know if i
consider myself worthy of being called strength but it was good to hear
that president has confidence in us. He also mentioned that when he
came out here to tour the area sister mendhall and him were wondering
who they should send out here first to be the pioneers and sister
mendenhall said right away "elder reynolds". ah yeah i love my president
and his wife. Ive had a bunch of elders already express their envy
towards us.
Anyway im reading in alma chapter
15 recently when alma and amulek go and baptize whole cities. now im not
gonna get ahead of myself and say ill do that but boy this place sure
has been prepared for us. just like the scriptures testify of. in fact
we just had a lady come up to us 5 minutes ago and ask us to help her on
her farm.. my goodness.. i dont know if its allowed to have this much
fun on a mission. im hesitant to let myself enjoy it because i know itll
be taken away from me soon enough and ill be back in an area like the
ones up north.
I feel like im gonna like this area. its real different from downtown denver. But im motivated and ready to go to work and show these members and my president that im meant to be here and that the north mission has always been better than the springs mission.
I love this place its pretty country.. if you havent already been able to tell.
Good week ahead.