Day of the Eclipse

Friends!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY President Monson!! Isn’t it amazing that we have a prophet of God leading and guiding our church today!? What a  blessing it is. I know he is a prophet of God. We are a part of the restoration of the church. It’s amazing that we have been blessed to be here and see the miracles of each day. I am so grateful for the priesthood power of God!!

On another note,  TODAY IS THE DAY THAT EVERYONE HAS BEEN SAYING IS THE END OF THE WORLD. So far I have yet to die. The only thing is that my eyes can’t see much because the sun has decided to be as bright as… well, the sun I guess. This solar eclipse has been all the rage here in Washington! Everyone we meet has been talking about it and how they are planning on going to Oregon or Idaho to see the full thing. We were able to get special glasses thanks to our STL's and watched it today. It was 93% covered by 10:20. It truly was an amazing thing to see and it was a blessing that we had a clear blue sky day here in Washington. I won’t lie though, even with looking through the glasses my eyes and head hurt... hopefully all will be well ;) 

 We had a crazy week. Some weird things went down but I guess those make for good memories. Sister Morris and I were knocking doors and we went down to talk to these guys who lived on this random farm in the middle of a normal neighborhood. They were outside roping. We said hi and apparently one of them had spoken to missionaries previously and so we talked briefly but they said they weren’t interested. I was going to try to salvage the conversation by asking to rope with them but then one of them had this sly look in his eyes and said, " we don’t need anything but would you ladies like to have a beer with us?" oh my lanta. My friend the only beer that is good for the soul is root beer. I don’t think that was what he was offering so I declined and quickly made Sister Morris walk away with me haha! Good times, Still sad that I didn’t rope but of well. 

 Members in the Garrison Creek ward found out it was my Birthday a few weeks ago so they took us out to lunch on Saturday! We went to this restaurant called Amantes and it had some amazing Italian food! I got a Calzone that was the size of my face. I’m STILL trying to finish it! They also brought me flowers which was very kind of them. Renton is a great place :)

 I don’t know if I talked about this last week but we got a new car! It is a 2017 Toyota corolla. I don’t understand how they trust teenagers to drive these cars but I’m grateful. As I’ve been driving I’ve found out it has some fun features, for instance, when I go out of the lines at all, it beeps at me and then takes over the wheel and puts me back in the lane. Whenever I put it on cruise control I can set how many cars apart I would like to be. I feel like I’m invincible... but also like I’m driving something that may be smarter than me so that’s freaky. We are trying to think of a name for it so if you have any ideas let us know :)

 We were contacting the other day and we talked to this man who at first said his name was Mula. (like money) turns out it was Ed.  Ed was nice, his mom is a member and his sister just got baptized not too long ago. He wasn’t interested but he talked to us for a while. He said we should add him on snapchat and I told him we couldn’t have snapchat till we got home. He said he knew that and he had a past missionary who took his snapchat name and added him later. So I now have a snapchat name from Ed. I told him I would send him scriptures and he just laughed. I can honestly say this is a first for me! He was super cool though and I pray that his heart will be softened towards the gospel.

 I am so grateful for this call to serve. I’ve realized that this isn’t an easy thing to do but so far I haven’t done anything that was this rewarding. I was reading in Jacob 2 and I loved verse 8, 

 "...come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul."

I know this is true. I have seen so many times in my own life and in the lives of others how the word of God has healed them. We met with this woman who was finally coming back into activity after many years of not coming to church. She said it wasn’t until she truly read the Book of Mormon for herself that she realized her potential and the blessings that God is waiting to pour out to us. I love that. I know that it is true. We go through these times in our life s that are so hard and for us we may not see the hand of God helping us but if we will read from the scriptures and study the words of the prophets all things will be made known unto us and we will be healed! What an amazing thing! I have said it a million times before but I would invite you to read the Book of Mormon either for the 1st time or the 100th time! You will always learn. I know it is true. I feel it in my heart. I have found healing in the things it testifies of. I love you all and I love this gospel!!

Have an AMAZING week!!!

Sister Reynolds

This week is my 1 year mark!

Hello!!

well.. this would be our attempt
at a 3 generation picture..
(my trainer aka my mom, me and my
baby and her and her grandma..
does that make sense?haha 

 After many days wishing for the liquid sunshine to pour down onto us we have been blessed. We had the first rain in over 50 days on Sunday and what a relief it was! The fires in Canada have created smog in the air and it was quite toasty but we are now back to the high 60's and low 70's. What a blessing :D 

 Anyway this week has been good! It has been crazy training and trying to still learn this area. Sister Morris is great and I feel like a proud mom every time she teaches me a lesson. Little by little she is getting this and it is AWESOME! She is from Atlanta Georgia and she is the second of 10 kids! It is going to be a fun transfer being able to get to know her better.

 We had a 'Day of Finding' on Saturday and it went really well! We had the chance to go into the other sister’s areas and help them find people and then they came into our area and did the same thing. It was a really cool experience to help out each other in that way! I have found great joy in seeing others success in the field. I love the joy they have and I can feel it myself even if it doesn’t have anything to do with my area!!

sister Taylor and i 

 We set a goal as a mission for finding and baptizing 38 of Gods children! it was cool how the mission leadership council came to that goal. They all knelt in prayer and after praying together they waited for a while and when they came back together they all thought of the number 38! It is truly inspired! We got together as a zone and did the same thing basically. We wanted to know how many people the Renton Zone could find and bring into the waters of baptism. We threw around some numbers all around 5-8 and then we turned it to the Lord. We knelt down and prayed to know how many and the spirit was incredible. All of us had the number 7 come into our mind. It was inspired. My heart was so warm as we were talking about it and tears came to my eyes. I firmly believe that 7 of MY brothers and Sisters will be able to be baptized by the end of this transfer! I’m so excited!! 

 Miracles are all around us my friends! I have noticed that the more that we point them out to ourselves the easier it is to have our faith strengthened in our savior. He cares about us and our Father is always looking out for us as well! I have a firm testimony in that! I know everything is possible with the Lords help! Never give up even if you are struggling! He loves us and will help us through!! I love you all! Have a great week!

 LOOK FOR THE MIRACLES!

Sister Reynolds ❤

this is my new best friend. Humphrey the egg floaty

Transfers have come and gone!

Hello!!

 Whelp. Transfers have come and gone! I will be staying here in Renton and Sister Jay will be going to my old area in Graham!! woot woot! I’m excited for her but I am sad to see her go! She is a great missionary! The real exciting thing is that I am TRAINING! I’m super excited but I am also terrified! Ha ha! I know it will be a great experience but whenever I think about the fact that she will go out for the rest of her mission doing a lot of the things I trained her to do is intimidating... I gotta make sure I’m living right and being obedient :) Prayers would be much appreciated!

 Yesterday we had a crazy day, mostly in the evening. We spent most of the evening with one of the Hermana’s in the mission! Her companion finished her mission so she had to join us. Sister Jay and I had a member dinner at 4:45 and got out around 5:50 and went to pick her up. She told us that she had a member dinner as well...at 6pm. sister Jay and I also had a late lunch around 3pm. I thought my stomach would BURST! haha! So we went and had some yummy Honduras food. We were told to eat everything because that’s how they show their love so I was eating everything I could and when I didn’t think I could go anymore God stepped in and blessed me with an enlarged stomach! haha true miracles right there!

 This area of Washington has hit a record of 51 consecutive days without rain, that hasn’t happened in YEARS! I think I have cursed them with the Arizona dry heat and AZ is getting all the H2O! I’m grateful though because it isn’t as humid as it could be! No one in Washington has AC either so we all just sit and sweat or stand in front of box fans. I think it is a real bonding moment to be teaching someone and to sit sweating with one another. the gospel is truer in these situations ;) but I’m not complaining at all! haha

 We met this woman while knocking doors and we taught her the restoration. She is amazing and I’m super impressed with her. She is open to learning about the gospel which is awesome. As we were leaving we tried to schedule a return appointment for 2 days later but she let us know she was going through chemo so it would have to be a week or so in order for her to get her strength back. She is truly an amazing example to me. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings us peace in situations like these. We gave her a book of Mormon to read while she is getting treatments and I promised her that she would find the help she needed as she read. I felt very confident in that promise. I know that the Book of Mormon provides ways for us to find joy and peace in any situation we are in and that is such a blessing. I have recently started the book of Mormon over again and I have learned so much and felt Gods love in powerful ways. I know this book is true and that it does testify of our savior! I invite all of you to read it each day and see how it affects you individually! 

 I love you all and am grateful for all of your love! i know this church is true and I’m grateful to be serving here in the Washington Federal Way mission! have an amazing week!

Sister Reynolds

Fishing Tips 101

Hello!!!

 It has been a super good week! We have had a lot of fun times and lots of times where I thought we were going to die but here i am to tell the tale of another week!! I would like to address the Fishing Tips 101 thing. I have been reading preach my Gospel more and in one of the sections there is this quote:

 

“None of us should be like the fisherman who think  she has been fishing all day when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment. Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why they do not have the same success as others.
“The same principle applies to missionaries, whom the Master called ‘fishers of men.’ A missionary’s line should drop into the fishing water the moment he or she leaves the apartment” (Dallin H. Oaks, seminar for new mission presidents, June 20, 2000).

 So, I have now been making 'Fishing Tips' and putting them on our door. Such things as, if you’re not getting any bites, change out the bait. I would say that is like going out and knocking doors or talking to people on the street. Sometimes we need to change our approach for the different people that we meet. The best way to be prepared to do that is to follow the spirit. 

 It was really cool that I have been thinking about all these fishing things because in our zone conference on Friday, President Rasmussen talked about fly fishing and the difference between that and just sitting on the dock bait fishing. One of them takes a lot more work but the reward is greater. We need to examine our surroundings and be aware of the different things people are needing in their lives. It was an awesome way to think about the work we do. The zone conference was really good in general. The spirit was so strong. We were practicing inviting people to be baptized while focusing on faith at one point and as I was role-playing with one of the Hermana’s I felt the love that our heavenly father has for her. I knew she was already a faithful member but just pretending that she wasn’t a member and bearing witness of the things that I know to be true was an amazing experience for me. I am so grateful for these little tender mercies I have seen since serving a mission. I know that we all have them but we have to make sure we look to see what they are. 

 My birthday was on Sunday and I want to say thank you for all the birthday wishes! I love you all so much. I’m feeling old and soon I’m going to have to have a cane to get around... ;) the ward members were very kind to me. we got many treats that I will now me living off of for the next week. :)

 Life is good and I’m so grateful to be here! Washington has a piece of my heart for sure. I have met some amazing people that have impacted my life in so many ways. I am also glad I have learned so much about fishing ;) it will probably become my favorite pass time one of these days haha!  Thank you for all the love and support that ya'll give me! i love you all so much! I hope you have an amazing week!

Sister Reynolds