Another great week

Hi everyone!!

Well this week has flown by! Just like all the others yet so much has happened! i wish i had all the time in the world to write but I don’t... so ill sum up! :) 

First, let me tell you about Daniel the Wicken. Yes, you heard right, a Wicken, for those of you who are not informed as to what a Wicken is, it is a male witch, who believes that God is nature. Basically the tree that I’m looking at is God but that he is not a man. Also I’m pretty sure he thinks that he can perform magic. We met Daniel while tracting one day. We knocked on his door and after yelling he was coming about 6 times he opened the door with nothing but a bath robe on and the shower running in the background. As I stood there hoping he would keep that robe on tight, my companion proceeded to share with him our message. He quickly informed us that he was what I previously called a Wicken and that he wasn’t interested but that his 11 year old daughter and two sons would be. He then told her to go outside and talk to us and closed the door. So we taught Allyson and we referred her to the family ward missionaries and as we were leaving Daniel called out in joking matter, I hope, "Slay them all!!" what a guy! I do believe he and I would get along quite nicely if I wasn’t on the mish....

I then had an experience of a lifetime. I had a BAPTISM! You all may be thinking, "Who could she have baptized? We haven’t heard of anyone close enough or ready!" my friends and family I am thinking and I said the same things. Rochelle Stewart came to us from Las Vegas. She had been having the missionary lessons and had been interviewed for baptism but she decided that she would come to Washington and be baptized by her boyfriend who resides here in Kent. It was so weird to get up and introduce her to everyone when we didn’t know her. It was a nice service though. We had a member of our ward, Matt Varelia, sing a song. Let me go into a little about Matt, he majored in performing arts and let me tell you it payed off. Matt's voice is something that would come out of a voice of an angel. He is so kind and humble that he would never boast of himself but the man could probably sing just as loud as the Mormon tabernacle choir, seriously. (Okay maybe an exaggeration but I wouldn’t be a Reynolds if I didn’t do that..) I think i am going to have him come home with me and sing for my homecoming talk. One day you'll hear him and understand why I say all these things. Anyway, back to the baptism. Rochelle was baptized and while she was changing sister Taylor and I gave the restoration lesson to those who were there. It was terrifying to say the least, but thankfully I didn’t throw up or pass out so all is well! people were very kind and told me they thought i had been out for at least a couple of transfers... I think they were just trying to be kind but nevertheless it was good to know that i had people who tried to make me feel good. 

We have a new investigator! Her name in Rebecca Riveron and she was a media referral. Apparently these don’t happen often so it was cool that it happened and that we got to keep her because she is YSA! She is super nice and SO ready for the Gospel! We were told to inoculate her as quickly as possible, make sure she knows that as much as he Heavenly Father wanted her to do this Satan would work just as hard to push her the other direction. So that is our next step with her. I hope that she can stay strong and work hard to gain her testimony.

I’m so excited for conference! We had women’s conference on Saturday and it was so amazing! The leaders of this church are so inspired! I loved the talk from Elder Uchtodrf. I hope to always remember to go till I reach the "fourth floor and last door!" I know that the things they mentioned that night is what God wants us to hear and know! I challenge you all to go back and look at the talks given and figure out what you can pull from them to help you in your personal life! Also, start now to prepare for general conference! It’s coming! Have a question in your heart and I promise you if you listen with real intent and a desire to have your question answered, it will come! 

Yesterday I had dinner with a family in our ward, the 2nd counselor of the bishopric. He is super nice and his family is awesome. You’ll never guess who his son is! He was one of the elders who helped us during construction with the kitchen! What are the odds right?? I can’t believe I saw him again! i saw him in church and knew he looked familiar! It’s such a small world!

I do get to see Sister Richardson a lot! She is in my district! Again, what are the odds! she is such an amazing missionary and a great example to me! I love her and am glad i get to serve right beside her! I’m actually looking at her right now! haha! :) 

I’m so grateful to be out here on the mission! I know that it is going to bless so many people’s lives when they are finally able to hear this message. I could not do this without Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ though. I’ve come to recognize pretty quickly my short comings but I know that if I am worthy and I work hard I will be able to do all that God requires of me. I’m grateful for this gospel. I’m so glad that we have prophets on this earth today who lead and guide us. I hope that you all can stay firm in the faith and if you feel like your faith is dwindling call upon Christ. He WILL help you and lift you up. I love each and every one of you! I miss you so much but I would much rather be here right now, no offense. :) stay amazing and strong!

Kent Washington

-Sister Reynolds

Sister Reynolds making cookies

Sister Reynolds and Sister Taylor

A fun bus!

1 month in!

Hello!                                                                                      September 19, 2016

It has officially been a month since I’ve left the valley of the sun and began this crazy adventure! It is crazy to say that because it only feels like it has been two weeks! i hope that is a good thing and that it will continue to feel that way! haha! I’m trying to think of things to write about and there is so much but so little time! So ill begin by first saying thank you again for all the emails! Seriously it makes my week to hear from each of you! Sorry if I’m not responding I wish I could every time but I only have a little time to write so I spend a lot doing this one.  I will write to everyone as soon as I can! y'all are the best!!

The weather is super nice! starting to get rainier which is kind of fun! i love it here! we are the only ones in the cottage and near our area. we are lucky!

Cottage I live in

View from Cottage

We had a meeting with this guy named Andrew on Friday. We were super surprised he contacted us because the last time he talked to the missionaries he was avid about not coming to our church and telling us that our beliefs were wrong and that we couldn’t send him to hell for not coming to our church. I think there was a miscommunication somewhere in his first couple appointments but I wasn’t here so I will not take the blame for that one... haha... kidding... but not really... anyway he had been texting us asking when we could meet and was wanting to know about institute and FHE and all of these things so we were super excited to meet with him! We set up a time and a place, Taco Time to be exact, his choice not ours. When we got there we were looking around for him and there he came. Bounding towards us with burrito in hand, we prepared ourselves and started to talk to him about his day and such things like that. Hospitality is key in teaching I have come to find out. Andrew though, wasn’t very receptive. So I tried testing some of my new found knowledge on him… how to begin teaching. So I asked him what he was wanting out of these lessons. He quickly told us he didn’t even want to meet with us but that he was here to tell us some more about how we cannot steal his spirit and condemn him. Sister Taylor and I sat there not knowing what to do and trying to hold in laughter as he became very animated about the whole thing. We finally were able to teach him a little and end out lesson, if you can call it that, with a quick prayer. He told us he didn’t want to speak again and we agreed that that would be okay. Later that day he texted us again and was asking more questions, and so it is still going on. Classic Andrew with his crazy questions each day and us poor sisters stuck on the other line with nothing to do but laugh and respond.

 We have this investigator named Chris. I can’t remember if I talked about him or not so bear with me. He is a super cool guy. His cousin is a member who lives in California and his brother is some sort of teenage minister. I finally meet him on Saturday night. We had an appointment set up but he showed up late so instead we roped him into coming to the adult session of stake conference. We are sneaky little missionaries. :) Anyway he stayed the whole time and seemed really into it. He even asked me for a piece of paper and he started to take notes on the talks! I mean come on who does that if they aren’t a member?? I am a member and I hardly do that! We talked to him a bit after and he was able to meet a few ward members and he said he really liked the whole meeting. He kept saying that it felt good to be at the church and loved it when the choir sang. I’m so grateful that he had that experience. I think it planted the seed of faith in his heart which is so good! We have plans to meet with him soon so I’ll keep you guys up to date on that!

Sunday was super good. It was stake conference and we were able to hear from a member of the seventy. The whole conference was about missionary work and how important it is, to be member missionaries. Friends and family, I would have to agree with him. I cannot tell you how important it is to be willing to do missionary work in the wards we are in. Going out with the missionaries and giving them referrals is vital to the work. We have had problems trying to get these YSA members to come out and work with us or give us referrals and because of that we haven’t been able to have the success we should be having. I ask all of you to try harder to work with the missionaries! Ask them if you can go out with them, give them referrals and you'll see the blessings that will come from it! I know that missionary work will bless your life. Members are the most important part of this work. Without the fellowship of the ward members those who are investigating will not have someone to turn to. Being baptized into our church is like coming to a whole new culture. it can be scary and a lot of them will feel out of place or lonely. the members are the people who can lift up their spirts and can help them become acquainted with this new culture that they've become a part of! Do all you can to serve with the Elders and Sisters! You will have countless blessings come into your life! Even if you don’t have a physical badge to wear, write one in your heart! Every member is a missionary!

I truly am grateful to be here serving. t has been hard and exhausting but it is so worth it! I love this gospel! Let it fill your hearts and your life! God is pouring down his blessings and we need to be willing to accept them. I know that this gospel has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that the atonement is there for EVERYONE! Use it! Take advantage of that great blessing! i love you all so much! Thank you for all the support!

Love,

Sister Reynolds

Hello From Washington

HELLO!!                                                                                                           September 12, 2016

Family and friends, greetings to you all from the land of the unknown weather, crazy spiders, and lots and lots of drugs. You guessed it, WASHINGTON! I am loving it here! Everything looks like it is right out of a Hallmark movie, mom you'd love it! I am serving in the Renton/ Kent area, mostly Kent but we go to Renton once a week, if we ever go.

I have been put into a YSA ward.... I think this is just real ironic because I was talking to someone about how serving in the YSA ward would be super scary and hard because they are your age but you can’t create deep friendships with the members. God is funny.... if anyone tells me he doesn’t have a sense of humor i will laugh in their face and tell them to guess again. But honestly it has been super cool thus far. My first Sunday was nerve wracking but it was also super cool! the people are super nice and so willing to work with us and come to lessons with us! The ward mission leader is a 6'6, white as can be, and way nice. He has been a huge help especially because he just came home from his mission so he is still in the missionary mind frame! 

Sister Ericson 

 As always I have to tell some stories. I’ll begin with the very first day here... Upon arrival to Washington I went straight to the mission home. We had a super good meal, I felt like they were trying to make us feel like nothing bad would happen by offering us the best they could.... those sneaky little people... After that we went into meetings with president and while that was going on the AP's taught us a lesson. Let me divert for a minute and talk about the president. He and his wife are super cool. They are so loving and down to earth. It makes me feel good to know that we are all learning together because they have only been mission presidents for 4 months or so. His wife is so sweet. The first day I met her I about scared her half to death when I pointed out a slug the size of Texas inching towards her foot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone run as fast as she did! I felt bad... but not bad enough to not laugh! She thought it was funny but said she almost peed a little. These are my kind of people! Okay now I’m back on track. So we went and had our meetings and then we were herded like a bunch of cattle into the cars and driving to the auburn stake center. This is where we would either meet our demise or rejoice in the goodness of our trainers. We probably looked like a bunch of scared little lambs walking into the chapel that day. I took one look around and immediately said to myself, "what on earth did you get yourself into.." we sat there and one by one we were assigned our trainers.   I. WAS. THE. LAST. ONE. CALLED! Again I sat there asking the same question but all is well. When I was called to my trainer I felt immediate relief. Sister Taylor is truly amazing!

A little more about her now! She lived in Arizona for a long time and then she moved to Utah. Sarah you might know her or her family. she lived in snowflake. Her name is Krista Taylor. Her parents Sharon and Colton, anyway she awesome! She is exactly what I needed to be able to make it through these first few weeks. Whoever is praying for me out here keep it up! You have been a part of all these blessings in my life! 

Alright family, listen up, if arachnophobia wasn’t a thing in my life it is now. SPIDERS..... EVERYWHERE!!! These little creatures lurk on every door frame, every tree, and every surface of this wonderful place. Their little legs and creepy fat bodies run at you and dangle by you as you desperately try to unlock your door. Just as you think they had descended far enough to consume you entirely the door will unlock and allow you to enter into safety. there are perks to these nasty creatures though... while knocking you know if someone hasn’t been home in a while because in the span of 5 min, a spider will create a work of art telling us that no one is home at the present time. That so far has been the only blessing that I can find but I’m working on the list. Come February of 2018 I might have added another one but I can’t promise anything.

We have been given the blessed opportunity to go finding each day for an hour. This means taking it old school and knocking doors. For those out there that had an entire mission like this, my heart goes out to you. Not that I don’t like it, it just isn’t my favorite part of the day, but I have recognized some of the blessings that can come from it. But before I go to the blessings I’ve seen let me tell you about my very first finding experience, DAY 1.  I just got to the mission field and my trainer tells me we’re going finding. Terror strikes me but I calm myself down, how bad can it really be? I’m sure these people are kind and all the stories of doors being slammed in your face are just fallacies told to scare young people. FALSE! The very first door we knock on was just like that. I lovingly refer to this moment as the pink lady cigar experience. This old woman had on a pink moo moo and a cigar hanging out of her mouth. If ever I’m told I’m not lady like, I will promptly take them to her home. We knocked and started to ask her a question and not even two words into it she told us to never come back and slammed the door shut, what a day. I don’t think I could have picked a better way to start my mission experience.  Really, it has shown me some good things, for one, I now recognize the blessing of being able to talk to someone and share our thoughts, even if they don’t want to know more.

One of my favorite experiences so far was meeting Gabby. She is a mother of 4 and  the moment we knocked on the door I knew something was different. We had been struggling to finding people at this time and were about to leave. We decided to pray and I told sister Taylor that we needed to stay. So we did and then the very last door we knocked on was Gabby’s. She was so ready and prepared. She accepted everything we said and asked US if we could meet again! She also accepted the invitation to be baptized! She is so amazing! Sadly, though, being in the YSA ward means we can’t teach her but I’m excited to hear how everything goes with her! 

This mission is going to be one crazy adventure but I’m so excited to carry on and see what happens next!

I love coming home each night and reflecting on the good and the bad of the day. We can always find the light in the darkness if we search for it. This gospel bring happiness and joy to all those who accept it and work on becoming true disciples of Christ. Thank you for all your prayers and the loving words you send me each week. I pray for each of you and know that you'll all be blessed if you follow the council of the prophets and of the Lord. I hope this email finds you all doing well! Love you all so much!

-Sister Reynolds


My cottage on the lake that i live in... don't be jealous! 

First House

View from Cottage home

MTC Companion

Mom! Dad!

 I made it safely to Washington! it is absolutely beautiful here! why do we live in Arizona? Really, though it has been supper cool to look outside and see green AND trees! best of both worlds! 

My trainer is supper cool. she is very kind and patient. I'm the first person who she has trained, she just got done training herself, and so we are learning together which is super cool! 

I just have enough time to say hi today. We are super busy today. We have two lessons tonight as well as an hour of finding, or tracting, that we have to do each day. 

I'm excited to be here and start serving! I met with our district today for the first time! you'll never guess who my sister training leader is..... SISTER RICHARDSON! it was super cool to see her! 

Any who, i'll write more on Monday, that's P day. I love you both so much! tell the family hi for me! talk to you later!

love,

Sister Reynolds

Bro. & Sis. Rassmussen and Madison

We are so happy to have Sister Reynolds in the Washington Federal Way Mission.  We look forward to many wonderful missionary experiences while she serves in this beautiful part of the vineyard.  The church is strong here and will be strengthened by her service to the people in our mission.

Bro. & Sis. Rassmussen

Last P day in the MTC

Hello everyone!

How have you all been? Hopefully good! This is my last P day here in the MTC! i am being shipped to Seattle on Tuesday at 5;50 am! Super excited.... :) anyway life here is good! No complaints really!

Sister Reynolds and Elder Clark...life long friends
and went to the MTC the same day

 I am definitely NOT ready for the cold! haha!! My companion and roommates say I’m going to freeze because my definition of winter is FAR from the real thing! 

I’m glad you got that picture of us! We might have broken rules by just us two taking pics but oh well God forgives us! :) I am loving it here even though the schedule drives me insane.

Fun story though, my roommate got a concussion.....and it wasn’t even a cool story. she came in telling us she had a huge headache and I thought she was going to tell us about this miraculous story about being in the field for gym time and making this huge block while playing soccer and how after defeating the other missionaries she was attacked by a rabid sister missionary who couldn’t contain her rage.... this wasn’t the case. Wednesday we did service for the MTC and cleaned their dorms, bathrooms, classrooms etc. She and her comp were mopping the men’s room when she bent down to pick something up. she then proceeded to come up at the velocity of a rocket being shot up by a young boy and somehow hit her head on the toilet roll dispenser.... how this came to be no one knows.... why it gave her a concussion.... beats me but nonetheless it did. So now we have to take turns going off site to the physical therapist and stand by while she receives a massage, chiropractic maneuvers, and shock therapy. I could pass on the shock therapy but it kills to sit and watch someone else get a massage. I feel as though its punishment for something but I don’t know what so it makes it even worse.... she really is doing well though,  healing fast and we honestly don’t mind being with her during it. I just hope she can be cleared before Tuesday so she can fly out with us!

I love my district! I love the people in it and all that they bring to the table, but I will have to say, I’ve come to know the importance of patience and love while dealing with some of our elders.... goodness knows I want to smack some sense into them but goodness also knows it would be frowned on... sadly... but really we have had some amazing growing experiences as a district. We’ve created relationships and memories that hopefully will last a lifetime! 

Last night was something to behold. i wish that we had a video camera set up constantly because some of the things that are said and done are something for the books! we, me, spent about an hour changing the lyrics of songs to things revolving missionary work. Such as Les miserable, Meghan Trainor, and the What does a fox say. It was quite the night. We laughed for at least 2 hours before we could calm down and go to sleep! Even though I now have a lack of sleep I’m glad we got to become world famous, MTC famous, singers! 

We’ve had some super cool devotionals while being here.  Last Tuesday we heard from Richard Maynes of the seventy he spoke a lot about the power of one soul. he said some super powerful things but one of my favorite lines was, "have more FAITH then FEAR." it was such a powerful thing to hear as he spoke to us about our missions and what it meant to be servants of the lord. i like to think that as we are teaching people we should see them all as someone who can be a future leader of the church and not just some crazy person who wants to sit and talk about random gospel facts, which I’ve had to learn a lot of them by the way. Morale of the story is that we never know who we are going to touch with our message. Even if we move one soul closer to gaining faith in this amazing gospel that is enough in our Father’s eyes. This gospel is just so powerful! 

Remember that even though ya’ll are at home and not wearing a badges you can be the person to change someone’s life for the better! 

PS, I’ll call when we leave from the airport if I get the chance! Keep your phone on! :) 

I wanted to let you all know that I love you and appreciate you!

-Sister Reynolds