First week on 2nd transfer

 Family and friends!!

 I guess I must start off by saying that I appreciate the sun more than ever. The other day the sun came out for point 2 min and it was such a great gift! But in all reality I don enjoy the rain and sometimes it is cool to open the window and see a foggy lake so I better not complain too much! Thank you for all the emails this week and the pictures too! i love seeing everyone! 

Update on Devin! He is so amazing! he has committed to baptism for December 3rd! We are just so excited each time we teach him! He came to our stake conference with Elder Rasband, more about that later, and said he really liked it besides the crazy loud kids sitting behind him. Welcome to the Mormon culture my friend :) He is keeping his commitments and asking questions that keep us on our toes and make us rely on the spirit to lead and guide us and that is exactly what sister Taylor and I need! He doesn't exactly trust 'feelings of the heart' so we are going to try to find out how it is he feels the spirit and receives personal revelation and hopefully that will help us know how to help him! I realized last night that if I get transferred out of our area next transfer I won’t be here for his baptism but I hope that whatever happens, I will be able to go! I’m praying that both me and Sister Taylor can stay together and both teach him until that day but I will go where the Lord needs me!

We have been getting in contact with a lot of members lately trying to get them excited about missionary work. With a bunch of YSA members it is easier said than done. Who knew young people wanted to have a social life and didn’t want to meet with the missionaries at 8:15 on a Friday night. Baffles me really ;) they really are amazing though. These people try their best to help us in every way possible and it is such a blessing! Along with members we have been contacting a lot of Less Active members in the past few weeks. It is our goal to find as many people as we can and bring them back to the fold! I get so excited when one of them comes to church I’m sure they think I’m some crazy person but I just love them all so much!

This week I have been studying Charity and Love and ponderizing Moroni 7:47-48. I love these verses! I love in verse 47 that it says 'pure love' of Christ.' that word pure is super powerful to me! It makes me realize that Christ loves me with no strings attached! I think we can all gain more charity and love. I would encourage you all to study it! It is a never ending topic and it is something that is to be worked on constantly. it is hard to have charity for some people who we are surrounded by but it you think of them as children of God it becomes easier, I promise :)

So we had a mission devotional this last Saturday with Elder Rasband, but not just with him. We also had the privilege to hear from Elder Call of the 70’s, Bishop Wadell, the presiding bishop, and Elder Wadell, the senior president of the 70’s! it was so amazing! They kept talking about the keys and all the keys that were held in the room. Elder Rasband made it clear to us that we were privileged to be in a meeting where so many priesthood keys were held! It was powerful to think about and to realize that all of these men were called of God. We were ALL called of God! Elder Rasband brought words of love and thanks from our prophet and told us some more about his love for the missionaries, which is in such a great magnitude I cannot put it into words. He invited us to be more obedient missionaries and work hard to be the best servants of the lord that we can be! He gave us a formula to do this, know the Savior, love Him and go out and serve. By doing that we can be worthy missionaries and servants of God! 

On Sunday we in the Kent stake got to hear from him again! he really focused on the family. Everything he spoke about was on the family and the importance of lifting each other up! He told us about the 4 prophets who he had known in his life, or knew of. He gave examples of how each of these great men focused and knew of the importance of families and strengthening the home! He told us to never give up on those who may be struggling in their faith in the gospel. He invited us to keep working with them and to keep loving them! We can and will one day bring them back to Christ and their father in heaven! We truly need to give heed to these words! I feel so blessed to have heard a prophet seer and revelator tell me in person the things that God would have me know. I know that this isn’t just for me or there people in Washington either! This is for all of us! We all can learn from these men and what they have to say because it is coming from God! I invite you all to listen and give heed to the prophet’s voice! Follow the commandments and be obedient! Will you do that? (That’s right there was a commitment, I have learned so much being a missionary😂 haha)

 I love you all so much! Thank you for everything that you do! Keep working hard to serve the Lord in every aspect of life! I KNOW that this gospel is true and that the Lord is always there to help you in your time of need! Thanks again for all the emails! ya'll are Amazing!

Love,

Sister Reynolds

(p.s. ill have some fun stories next week i promise :) )

Crazy fog that we drove into on our way to the Devotional in Federal Way

we made pumpkins for bishops game night. ... fun times :)

Me and Sister Taylor

 You can take the girl out of the hood but you can’t take the hood out of the girl! haha! just gooffin off after nightly planning!

we stopped by a ward Halloween party. This is Lexi! i love her!

All of Federal Way Missionaries with Elder Rasband

All of the Missionaries in Washington Federal Way Mission with Bishop Wadell, 
Elder Clayton & Elder Rasband

Hello!

It is P-day on a Tuesday again and it keeps throwing me off but this time it was because of transfers! We had 13 people leave the mission and we got 13! Luckily I am staying with my comp for at least another 6 weeks! I’m so glad because I’d be so sad if I had to leave this area so soon! The people here have their quirks but I love them so much! I wanted to talk a little about the ward and the people I am surrounded by!

Bishop is first I guess! I love this man! The first time I met him I knew I would like him! He is so funny and loves to joke around! He tells stories at any time he can! it will usually take us 10 minutes to start any meeting because we have to have the latest news in bishop jones day but I wouldn’t have it any other way! He recently got back from a week and half long trip to Montana for an elk hunt. He and I talked about it for some time and man did he have some stories to tell! He told us about this huge bear that was about 60 yards away from them. He said it was the most beautiful thing he had seen and yet he almost peed himself because he was freaking out so much. What a guy he is :) 

 I don’t know if I have talked about our ward mission leader but i will do it again anyway. His name is James Perkes. James is probably 6 foot 4 and is as skinny as a tooth pick. He served in Boston and just got home about 3 months ago. He has all these words and saying that he does all the time like saying 'solid' or 'sweet' or 'let’s goooo sisters!' (I like that last one because we only hear it when we get someone to be baptized...) He is way sarcastic but he also is one of the best helpers we could have! He is so willing to work with us and he helps us become the best we could be! It is awesome!

Kent Washington is one of the most diverse places I have ever been. There are a lot of Middle Eastern people here as well as Hispanic and Europeans! I always find a new language or hear of a new place every day I go contacting. That’s every day. It is so cool to learn simple phrases and say it to them! We always say Shukran, or thank you in Arabic, to those we find who speak Arabic and they then go into a rant thinking we know their language... we definitely don’t but I wish I did! It is beautiful! It will be weird if I get somewhere where we don’t see people in their cultural outfits every day! I think I’ll miss it! 

The weather here is weird and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I feel like a drowned rat and look like a wet dog everyday but I guess that’s fine because who am I trying to impress? No one so I guess that is fine :) we had a typhoon warning this past weekend. we were supposed to have winds up to 60 mph and trees were supposed to be falling and rain was supposed to fall all the days and all the nights... I use the word supposed to because i saw 1 tree fall maybe 10 mph wind and it rained constantly but that is the usual so no surprise there. i had been freaking out about this massive storm that had everyone locking themselves inside for nothing. My eye had been twitching for days, stress I think, and there was no need. At least I now know that we cannot trust the weather men here in Washington :)

Driving in the storm, wetness not fully grasped by picture

I live in a hallmark movie though, despite the rain and fog that will usually surround us we are living in such a beautiful place. I find myself staring and zoning out as I look at the trees and rivers! I didn’t know that the color green was really THAT green! People of Arizona, colors other than red brown and darker brown truly exist! It’s amazing! 

HUGE STALKS OF BRUSSELS SPROUTS! WOW :D

Super pretty trees! I didn't know fall existed! I’m in love!

Our investigators Jamiel and Trevor have been MIA since we met them so they had to be let go. It was so sad because they had so much potential! it broke my heart but then we had a tender mercy from he Lord! This past Sunday bishop came and got us during a 2nd hour teacher training. He told us that a man named Devin came to church by himself and said he felt like it was time to learn about the Mormons! He has a few friends who are LDS and he decided to research us on mormon.org! This man is GOLDEN! We taught him yesterday in Bishops home and he told us his entire life story. He came from an abusive mother and left home the night of graduation. Since then he has lived in Texas, Denver, Idaho and now Washington. He has always had a belief in God and Christ but just wants to know which church is true. He doesn't want to just go to go but he wants to have an answer from God that one church is true. He had met with the missionaries before and he told us the first time he shut the door on them, the second time he let them in but only so he could disprove them, and now he is searching us out and willingly coming to our homes to learn! He is so awesome and I am so pumped to teach him more! He told us he has 'real intent' this time and asked how he can pray with that real intent and what to do. That. Never. Happens. I swear everyone we have taught we have had to bend our backs to try to figure out how we can get them to want to pray with that real intent and now here is someone who is asking US how to do it! I am so excited to see where this all goes. I hope that he can gain a testimony quickly and keep working hard to understand all that he needs to in order for him to choose to be baptized!

This Saturday we get to have Elder Rasband from the quorum of the 12 come and speak to us missionaries and then he is going to speak to the Kent stake! I am so excited and can hardly wait that long!  More on that experience next week! 

STALKS OF BRUSSELS SPROUTS! WOW

I am so glad that I am here in Washington! There is a reason I am here and I am so excited to find out what that is! Thank you all for the emails and words of encouragement! Also, thank you for your testimonies! I know that when you share them they are strengthened and I feel mine strengthened by yours! Keep reading and studying the Book of Mormon! Your life will be blessed! Love you all so much!

Sister Reynolds

Baptism, cops, & frost bite

Hello everyone! 

 What a week it has been! How is everyone? It was so good to hear from a few of you! I love hearing about your lives and fun experiences! Send pictures if you ever get the chance. I mean I’ve basically forgotten what you all look like... :)

 So before any of you get over excited, no, we didn’t have a baptism BUT, we did have the chance to commit 2 people to baptism this week! It was super cool to talk to them and share about the restoration of this gospel! They were super willing to learn more! The first one we had was named Trevor Springer! Trevor was talking to us while we were on the top balcony of an apartment complex finding! We worked our way down and started to teach him! He is YSA age, score, and he is looking for a change in his life! We are hoping that he can focus on the good that is going to come his way and not the bad. Sadly whenever we commit someone to baptism they usually avoid contact after because Satan is really good at making bad things happen and making them doubt what they felt. Trevor is kinda going down that path BUT we will get him! We probably seem like obnoxious girls bombarding him with texts and calls but we know what is good for him! Hopefully there will be more with him soon! 

 Our 2nd person we committed was Jamiel Jackson! What a guy he is! He is also YSA, score again! He is a super cool guy who was very willing to talk with us! He grew up Christian and knows a little about our church but was willing to learn more! He even set up his own return appointment for tomorrow! It was so cool! We hope that we can help him grow faith in Christ as soon as possible! He might struggle a little bit with the word of wisdom. Pot is a mans best friend here in Washington and he seems to like it a wee bit so that will be a trail but not one that can’t be overcome with the help of the Atonement! More on him later as well...

 Let me tell you a little about Kent Washington. It is kind of like the ghettos of mesa leaning towards phoenix when you move closer towards Tacoma! I love it! I have become accustomed to cops and crazy people! I feel right at home! :) In this last week, almost every day we had a run in with the cops and one of those crazy people I mentioned. Mom, dad, don’t freak out I have lived to tell the tale so all is well. One of the best ones happened on Tuesday last week. We went tracting for about an hour and decided to go to the Washington park apartments. It seemed like this is where we were supposed to go and nothing felt weird about it. When we arrived there were 5 cop cars pulled around one of the buildings. We got out and started to walk towards the building we were going to go to, the one right across from it, maybe not the smartest at that moment but made for a great memory. We walked over there and saw a man sitting on the roof talking to himself and to the cops, apparently he and the pot are good friends. Anyway, while we continued to walk around 5 more cop cars came as well as the canine unit, it was insane! We decided that we should start the trek back to the car at that moment and we were glad we did. The man then laid down with a gun flying around and cursing and yelling. We left pretty quickly so I sadly cannot give an end to the story. If any of you have a hankering to google it maybe you can find out more info but nevertheless it is still a fun time. 😂 All in a days work I guess!

Family and friends cold is a real thing. If you have never believed that wind and rain could be bone chilling think again. Here in the wonderful land of rain and fog we have the most freezing rain you could ever feel, it pelts you like little needles embedding into your skin. I know not what I have done to deserve this kind of weather but I apologize for it! I wake up thinking that my toes, nose, and fingers will fall off but I guess we don’t really need them now do we? Maybe it is a little exaggerated but honestly this Arizonian doesn't know how to survive in such a climate! We were tracting in the rain the other day. I looked like a wet dog and all me and my companion could do was laugh! We had droplets of rain on our face that continually cascaded down until we were soaked through and through! By the time we got home we had to put our clothes in the dryer and sit by the heater so we didn't get hypothermia. Now I know that if you look at the weather and you see it’s only in the 50's you’ll think I’m crazy but I would invite you to come here and do it yourself. Experience the land of pin and needle rain, it is something to behold! :) 

 The work really is going well! We have such a good ward, which are so willing to work with us. The people here are kind even though they have their quirks I still love them more than I thought I could love strangers. I think it comes from being a representative of Jesus Christ. It is only through him and our father in heaven that I am able to do any of this! I encourage you all to continue doing missionary work! You’re awesome! I also would ask that you keep the faith! Everyone struggles at times and we do not always know why but our trials will become learning experiences and we can glory in them as it says in 1 peter 1:7! i know that we sometimes have to go through the refiners fire but if we stay strong and true to the faith we can learn to glory in the grace of God! I love you all so much! Thanks for the amazing examples that you have been to me!

Love Sister Reynolds

Motivation Wall and flowers from Sis. Richardson while staying for exchanges

At the library in Covington, Washington

Hello

Hello all!

 What a week. It hasn’t been the most exciting week thus far but nonetheless it was good! We’ve had a lot of opportunities to share the gospel in a lot of different ways which is always cool! Conference was amazing! it is such a good missionary tool to use and we had some of our investigators come and watch or watch from home and we are hoping he words of these inspired men will have touched them and made them understand the importance of this gospel! 

I sadly don’t have and crazy stories as I have had in the past, but I would like to favor you all with a story about Betsy. Now Betsy isn’t that old maybe 2 years old and yet she has a fire and a personality like none other. She enjoys rolling over the entire city of Kent and Renton as well. This wonderful little girl has had some health problems in her past but none like she has had this week. Betsy is our 2014 Chevy Cruz. She is a dark blue that has been accented with a few white marks from former servants of God. This week Betsy decided to start making some weird noises that lead Sister Taylor and I to believe she was coming down with something fierce, and fierce it is. Her poor innards are becoming outards and her poor oil line is helping the matter become worse by constantly leaking on all other parts of the engine, her life line. She is being killed from the inside out. Luckily we caught the problem, and good ol' Pep Boys put duct tape on it until we could take her into the dealership. Sadly we are on a waiting list and October 6th doesn’t seem to come fast enough! But even through this hardship Betsy is still a faithful companion and drives us around, at a slower much grumpier pace, but nonetheless we arrive to our destinations. let us all hope and pray that she can make it to her 3rd year of life and can be healed when the wonderful day comes that we can take her in!:)

But moving on to more important things, we have this investigator named Van. I don’t know if I have mentioned her before but if I have bear with me! She is from Vietnam and is here to get her bachelors in communication, mind you she already has another degree in linguistics and she is only 23. She is super cool and excited to learn but it’s been difficult because Van knows nothing of God. This is a whole new concept for her and she wants to believe but she is also concerned with abandoning her culture to join this gospel. it’s hard for her to understand that she can have both as long as she only worships one god, our eternal father. We are constantly working with her and hoping she can strengthen her faith. We have a goal to commit her to baptism this coming week so we hope she will accept it! 

Conference was amazing as usual! So much was said about missionary work and becoming member missionaries! IT IS SO TRUE! I do not think we could have any investigators of active converts if we do not work with the members of the ward! I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again! Help the missionaries! Serve with them and find people that they could teach! As Dallin H Oaks said, "enlarge your circle of friends!" Doing this will make it easier to share the gospel! i promise that you will feel so amazing when you share this amazing truth! This is a work of love and you can help people know of God’s love! How amazing is that!!?? I would encourage everyone to go back and listen to conference! Find a talk that speaks to you and study it and learn from it! It will bless your life and help you become truly converted to this gospel!

I love you all. I cannot express the gratitude I feel towards you! Thank you for always writing me and sharing pictures and stories about your life at home! It makes my day to know you are doing well and even if you’re not at that moment, I want to be there in spirit to pray for you and talk about how the gospel can help! Stay amazing and have an amazing week!

Love,

Sister Reynolds