Happy Halloween

Hello everyone!

 I hope that you have all had an amazing week!! It has been such a good week for us here in the Renton area! We have been blessed to see lots of different miracles and we have been able to get a lot of work done which is so good!! 

Halloween costume 

 We got transfer calls on Sunday... It’s like the hunger games every 6 weeks. This time I was chosen to leave :( I will be serving in the Auburn area whitewashing, meaning we both don’t know anything about the area. I will also be training again! It is kind of scary to think about but i am excited for the challenge and I know that if I rely on the Lord I will be able to do everything he needs me to do. 

On Saturday I got to go to the Baptism for Laura Martin!!! (The one I accidentally drove to last week..) Sister Tayco, my old companion and I, got to drive down together while our companions worked together. It was fun to be back together! Her baptism was amazing. She has truly turned her heart to the Lord and has been able to rely on him even through a lot of hard things that have happened to her in the past few months. Listening to her bear her testimony about the gospel and how it has changed her testified to me of the importance of this work. We are so blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father who allows us to have the fullness of the gospel here on the Earth!! I love her and I love that I am able to help people like Laura come unto Christ!!

 One of our investigators Denene

  Friday evening we had the ward trunk or treat!!! Sister Morris and I dressed up as the bible and the Book of Mormon! I think I have pics I can send y’all! It was a lot of fun and the ward members loved it. We had 2 investigators there and some returning less active members there! It was awesome :D

 Last night we said goodbye to some of the ward members and people that we are working with. It was really hard to leave them. We had one lesson with a woman named Lani Fanene. She has been working on returning back to church and she bore her testimony about the Book of Mormon and man, I couldn’t stop crying! Ha ha! It was so powerful. She said many times that it is ONLY through the Book of Mormon that she has a personal relationship with Christ like she does. I love her and I am so proud of everything that she has done and worked for!

 It is always bittersweet to leave an area but I am excited for the new adventures that will happen in Auburn! I am so glad I am here and I hope I can do my best every day and work hard. Thank you for everything you all do! I love you!!!

saying bye to the Fanene's!

Sister Reynolds

Saying bye to Sarah! We served in the YSA ward and then
she was in this ward too!! saying bye the
 second time was even harder! (we tried to be like old people in rocking chairs

The Perez family! i LOVE these kids!!!​​

Zone Conference...

Hello!!

It has been a super weird week, but it has been a good one!! We had Zone conference on Friday and it was so good! We talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and its role in our missionary work. We also talked about the power and authority of our calling as missionaries. I loved hearing the testimonies of the missionaries I serve with. The departing missionaries always bear their testimonies at the end and it is powerful. I am sad to see them go but I have learned a lot from them. One of the elders said we need to "Love big and hurt big". I have seen that when I open my heart completely I am more capable of seeing people as Christ sees them. Yes it hurts big when they choose to not learn but I know I’ve given my all. Another Elder said that he came to the mission to repay a debt and he is leaving with an even greater debt to pay. That touched my heart and I know it is true. 

On a not so spiritual note.... I need to tell you all to make sure you get the dates right for a baptism before you drive an hour and a half to go to it. I heard that one of the people I worked with in Graham was getting baptized on Saturday! I was SO excited!! So, me and my comp got in our little Toyota corolla and made the trek to Spanaway Washington. (It is right near graham where i served). So we get to the building and I’m so excited and then we pull into the parking lot and not a single soul was there. Basically it could have been a wild wild west scene with a tumble weed in the distance. I immediately start thinking it was canceled or we have the wrong building or something so we drive like lighting to the Graham stake center. When we got there, no one, I was defeated and sad thinking that she had to cancel the baptism. So we called around to find out what happened and in the mean time I drove to my old apartment in Graham to show sister Morris and lo and behold the sisters car was there!! When we knocked on the door they looked so confused and we told them about our adventure and through their laughter they told us that the baptism was NEXT Saturday. Sister Morris checked the text we had gotten the night before and right there on our little flip phone screen it said 'October 28'. Man! Defeated! embarrassed and also laughing quite hard, we made our journey back to Renton through the pouring rain. 100 miles later we made it back home. We parked the car for the night and started walking through the dreary storm. By the end of the night we were soaked through and chilled to the bone but i guess it makes for a good memory :) so moral of the story, ALWAYS double check the dates in texts. Ha ha!!

  Anyway, life in Washington is amazing! The rain has been killer the past couple days but i think we should be having clearer sky's in the next few days, which will be really nice :) I love being here. I am growing and learning in so many ways that I didn’t think were possible. I see my flaws more but I am comforted to know that we are given weakness that we can be made strong! (Ether12:27)

 I love you all and i hope you have the best week ever!! Don’t forget God loves you!

Sister Reynolds

What a week!

Hello,

 I hope you all have had a good week! It has been a great couple of days here in Renton Washington! We have seen a lot of miracles this week!

 We were able to find 2 new investigators! Both were tender mercies! One of them is named Lani. She is from Micronesia and has the sweetest little 2yr old boy. When we met Lani, we were actually going to her house to have a lesson with her step-dad. He was outside smoking and talking to someone so he told us to just go in and talk with Lani. So we went in and waited about 10 min but he never came in so we just started teaching the restoration to her. (it was a very smooth transition that both sister Morris and I are quite proud of ;)) As we talked she was really in it! We got to the first vision and right after Sister Morris finished saying it i looked over and saw Lani's brother in the kitchen and smoke was EVERYWHERE! so we all ran in and tried to stop the house from burning down. It is amazing how everything seems to happen during or right after the First vision. Satan works hard to distract from the spirit. But it didn’t work!! As we came back into the room Lani saw the Book of Mormon sitting on the couch and her eyes lit up. She asked if she could look at it and we told her she could keep it. For the rest of the lesson she sat hugging the book of Mormon to her chest. She committed to be baptized on November 11th and she was already double checking her schedule to make sure it would work! We knelt and prayed and then she promptly asked where she could start reading from in the book!!! We showed her the intro and told her it would be awesome if she could get to chapter 4. We came back a two days later and she had read to 1 Nephi 5 AND she took notes about every chapter! She was re-telling us what she learned and what she liked as if she had read it a million times! Sister Morris and I sat in awe with the biggest smiles on our faces! We are so incredibly grateful to be teaching her!! :)

 We went on exchanges this week. I went to another area in Renton. We met the sweetest family. One of their little boys put my arm around him during the prayer and there he stayed for quite some time and he did not want to move when we had to leave. As I was walking away he wrapped himself around my legs and wouldn’t let go. He was so darling!!! He also came up to me and whispered in my ear, “you’re pretty..." then he walked away with a smile on his face. SO CUTE!

 Also that day we met with one of their investigators who had Anti-Mormon information sent to her. When we went over to her home she showed us a bit of the video. I asked her to pause it at a specific part where I felt so dark inside. We talked about what we felt and then the spirit took over. I’m not sure exactly what I said but I know it was from God and not me. I testified that some of the things were not wrong but in order to know truth from deception we had to pray. That really is our only way to know what is from God and what is made up by Satan. At the end she said she didn’t really care about the videos anymore and that she would keep learning. ANOTHER MIRACLE :) it breaks my heart that stuff like that is out there but i am so grateful that we are able to tell what is true with the help of the Holy Ghost.

 

 On Sunday we got a new ward mission leader. We are sad to not be working with Brother Ramsey anymore, but i know that the Lord is in charge. Our new WML is a great man and we will see a lot of miracles as we work w with him. During one of the talks on Sunday something was said along the lines of, "Build upon others virtues even though we see their stains." maybe that’s not what was actually said but either way I must have needed to hear that. I know it is so important to see others as children of God. That is the only way we will be able to have charity, and without Charity we are nothing.

 I love you all and love this work! Keep on keeping on! The Lord is always there for us in every situation! I hope you have an amazing week!❤

Love,

Sister Reynolds

1. Not the best picture, but we had dinner at a members house and their little boy James was the CUTEST!! We read books together and he had them all memorized :)

2. I love my savior and i know He lives!

Time flies...

Hello!!

i found this pumpkin today.
I am the just about the same shade...
i need to get some sun in my life! haha!

 It is crazy how fast time goes! i feel like i was JUST writing a letter to you all! Time flies so fast it is crazy! This has been a good week, kind of slow but it’s okay because it has been lined with small miracles and tender mercies. 

 We have been working with this less active family in our ward lately. Every Tuesday we get together and read from the book of Mormon.  Last time we went over she fed us some yummy El Salvador food! Food and the Book of Mormon, how can you not be happy! Ha ha! We have been trying to get them to come to church for the past 2 transfers and it was one of the greatest moments ever to see them walk into the chapel yesterday!! They finally came!! Man I was beaming from ear to ear! I love these people and I’m so grateful that they are willing to learn more and strengthen their testimonies. The mom, Sister Perez, said she got Sundays off work so she and the whole family could start coming!! Sister Morris and I were practically dancing about it as we left the chapel! Small miracles, they are the best ones :)

Washington sunset❤

 We have this goal in our companionship to use the book of Mormon more in our contacting approaches. We got the itch to do it after Elder Nelsons talk from conference. We are talking to people about Christ’s ministry in the Americas and it is cool to start off like that because people can understand it more and they get excited about it! I love it! It is a testament to me that conference is divinely inspired :)

 On Friday we had a ward potluck. We have had them quite often in the past but this one had an amazing turn out! Ever since the wards combined there has been a real sense of unity and lots of people have been participating!  There was 100+ there!! So good :) Sister Morris and I were in charge of the games. We played Minute to win it games and it was a blast. I have come to realize I’m a lot like my wonderful dad when I get a mic in my hand :) ha ha! Lots of less actives, part member families, and returning members came which was so good!!! Over all it was a good night!

Fridays potluck and the minute to win it games!

 That’s pretty much all of my highlights for the past week. Every day we check on people and try to find people who will allow us to teach. I am so grateful to be here serving the Lord. I am grateful for the hard times that come. They make me grow and become a better child of God. I am so grateful for the many blessings I see. I have tried to look for the small things and point them out as blessings. Being able to wake up at 6:30 and not fall asleep again, blessing. Having the creepy men around the corner leave, blessing, not getting attacked by all the massive dogs, blessing. Ha ha really though all these things are blessings, the Perez family coming to church, being able to worship how i want to in this country, having the Book of Mormon, my family, this calling. Everything blesses me. I am so thankful for all of you and the support you give me! I love you all! I love this gospel. The church is true!!!

sister Morris and I are in the crafting mood lately...P-day :)

Sister Reynolds

HELLO MY FAVORITE HUMANS!

 How are you all? This week has been amazing! The sicknesses of the past week are gone, which is a true blessing and we are back on our normal routine! Last Monday evening we had to get our phone fixed... well by fixed I mean we got a new one, and it isn’t much better. We actually downgraded to a flip phone with good o’l T9 texting. The first day using it took me FIVE MINUTES to send a two lined text. After about a week I have cut my time and improved a lot but this is going to be a rough time getting used to the old stuff again! :) We had to meet at the Kent stake center to get it fixed and when we were there lo and behold the YSA ward I served in was there! It was FHE night so we went in and said hi! Susan, one of the people I served with, RAN up to me and threw herself on me! it was super funny and I think it scared my companion ha ha! I love these people!

 We had a super good chance to do some service for a potential investigator. She needed yard work done so we recruited the YM and their leaders to come and help! They did an amazing job and she was so grateful. She said we could meet with her and her family so that’s awesome! That night we went to the Ramsey’s to change back into our skirts. We were sitting on the ground of their garage and talking with them for a min before we changed and all of a sudden Sister Morris screams and jumps up. She was basically jumping around and flailing her hands around. She had dog poop ALL over her shoes AND her pant legs!! The yard we had just cleaned up had a ton of poop in it and she went around picking it up. The poor girl was mortified! We ended up staying around the Ramsey’s a bit longer then scheduled so we could wash her pants! lol! I shouldn't laugh but goodness I got a kick out of it!

  Conference this past weekend was truly amazing. I loved every minute of it! If you ask what my favorite part was ill probably say the opening prayer of the Saturday morning session! Ha ha! I loved that he prayed that everyone hearing for the first time would have their hearts open and that the Holy Ghost would help them to know that the doctrines taught were true! How cool!! I also loved Elder Neil L Anderson's talk at the end. I loved the quote he read from Elder Hales. I felt the spirit very strong in this conference. I could feel it in my whole body. I know that the words are inspired from the Lord. It is amazing that we have Prophets, Seers, and Revelators here on earth today. It is an amazing gift! I cannot wait to read and study these talks! I hope that we can all try to apply the things taught into our life! Especially all the talks about the Book of Mormon and reading it! Nelsons talk was powerful. I have been asking myself what I would choose if rubies diamonds and the Book of Mormon was placed before me. I hope we would all choose the Book of Mormon. It makes us richer in so many ways then things of the world. I love this Gospel. I know Christ Lives. I love him. I know our Father in Heaven loves us and wants us to return home! 

 I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

Sister Reynolds

What a week!

HEYO!

Hospital memories

 Okay, the plague didn't REALLY come, that would be brutal, but there was a lot of sickness in the mission and within our companionship this past week. Starting last Monday sister Morris and I both had a little bit of the sniffles, nothing too much to worry about.

Monday night a woman from Nigeria in our ward made us Samosas and some other traditional Nigerian food. it was SOOO good! I’m going to learn how to make it and ill share with y’all when I’m home. By Tuesday I was feeling a bit better but my poor companion was basically immobilized. I don’t think the cold weather and rain match well with someone from warm and sunny Georgia. Wednesday we were inside all day long. Our amazing and incredibly smart mission nurse gave us some crazy things to try and she slept a lot of the day. I was bored spit-less but that’s all right. I just became her nurse and made sure she didn’t die on my watch. :)

 Things got a little better Thursday. We went out and worked. We met with a few members and tried to stop by some inactive people in the ward. We had a really cool lesson with a member in the ward in the evening. They are a younger couple with 2 kids and they are waiting for a third! They are adopting a little girl so they just have to wait for the phone call that says they can go get her! We talked about that for a while and reasons for adoption. It seems like it would be hard but I’m grateful for those families who open their arms to those little kids who need a good home. 

Uncle Dale and Aunt Robin

 Friday was a normal Friday. we did service at Salvation Army and watched/listened as two old single people flirted with each other... I can honestly say that it wasn’t my favorite thing to witness... maybe it’s just me and my own awkwardness that made it so bad. Who knows but we bailed out and went home after a few minutes of it! (Our work was all don’t though so we had a good excuse :)) We had dinner with a recent convert, Rhonda! I sure do love her! It was her birthday and she was kind enough to have the missionaries over! It was a good experience especially because her two boys and her husband were there and they are not very interested in the gospel right now. Her husband told us all about his time in the military. It was quite funny and I think we have become friends because I laughed at all his jokes!

i might have helped clean up road kill.. hahaah! That thing was huge!

  Saturday was brutal. My companion woke up in incredible pain and couldn’t do more than lay down. We called the mission nurse and she said she probably overdosed on Tylenol while trying to fight the cold. (Note to self: NEVER take extra strength and day quill/NyQuil at the same time. they have the same things in them.) So we started pumping her with fluid and then the 4elders came over and gave her a blessing. Afterwards she didn’t get any better so we went down to sister Ford-Trudo's house, the mission nurse. Sister Morris was having pain in her right lower part of her stomach. Sister Trudo sent us to urgent care immediately because she thought it might be appendicitis. So off we went. After 40 min sister Morris was taken to the ER and then I had to drive the car, BY MYSELF, to that part of the hospital. It was freaky. I finally met up with her and then it was a waiting game. She got pumped with pain stuff and then she was in and out of sleep. The nurse came to stay with us during it. She had an ultrasound and found that she had 2 cysts on her ovaries and one of them ruptured. Basically she just has to ride out the pain. So then I take her home, we were there from 12-6pm. she almost passes out getting out of the car and as we are walking to our apartment she lays down on the ground and says she is going to be sick. it took me 5 minutes to finally convince her to get up. It was more of me saying," you will walk with me or I will carry you up the stairs" our neighbors were a bit concerned but it is all good! People already think Mormons are loco :) so she finally went upstairs and then for the rest of the evening she was out. It was crazy.

 Sunday, was crazy as well. She still wasn’t feeling good so by the time church came around I was on my way with a member of the ward and Sister Morris was with our WML (ward mission leader) wife at home. When I walked in I saw my aunt and uncle! It was amazing! It was a tender mercy of the lord for sure! Not sure if it was allowed but I don’t care! They were on their way home that night and they came to our ward! i am so grateful for them and the fact they stopped to say hello to me! Truly a blessing!! 

 So you see, it has been a crazy week. Sister Morris is finally feeling a bit better which is good. I am grateful for the priesthood and I am grateful for the Lord. He truly caries us whenever we are hurting or do not know if we can carry the burden any longer. I love you all! I love this Gospel! Have an amazing week!!

Sister Reynolds

Week of Baptisms

Hello!!

Sister Morris, ...., ....., Sister Reynolds, Sister Tayco & Sister Jay.
Madison has been companions with.

 This week has been super good! We are trying to get the whole stake change under control and trying to make our wards mesh. I feel like, as a missionary, I am a professional friend finder. Our infomercial would go something like this, "in need of a friend? Call the sisters! They can help you match with those around you! Just call their toll free number etc..."  Ha-ha! But really, it is hard when a ward changes and you have to find new fellowships for your investigators and recent converts but all things can happen when you are in the service of the Lord!

 I am so grateful for our leaders in the ward. Our Bishop, Bishop Oliver is amazing. He is a funny man and we have some good laughs but I love seeing how much love he has for these people he is serving. He is a convert to the church and I think that gives him a lot of perspective. I am also grateful for our Ward mission leader and His family!  The Ramsey’s are amazing and they are so willing to help in any way they can. Whether that is with helping the work progress or getting us cold medicine because of the rain. Just good people in general. I am thankful to be in a church that is run by our Savior Jesus Christ. It helps us to know how we need to serve and treat those around us! We are so blessed!!

Bro. Ramsey & Bishop Oliver

 Transfers were this week and good news, I AM STAYING! Sister Morris is stuck with me for another week! Ha-ha! We have been stressing about it for a while now but it is good to know that we can keep learning from each other! We have had some fun times lately... some of those consist of music videos to our "sing me a scripture" CD. I don’t think we will be sharing that one anytime soon so just imagine what a music video to Helaman 5:12 would be like.... :)

Alex baptism! (i promise he likes us but
making a 10 yr old boy stay still is harder then you'd think..)

Alex Rexius got baptized on Saturday! i am so grateful that we were still able to go and participate in that even though we handed him off to the Zone leaders Ward. The elders did a great job with it. He is the cutest kid. His mom, who isn’t a member, came up to sister Morris and I and told us she thinks he will serve a mission and stay active his whole life! How cool!!!! 

 Later Saturday evening we went to another Baptism for a man that I taught when I was in the YSA ward and when I was in Graham (he had moved while we were teaching him and i got sent to the area he was in!!) His name is Montrae. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He has struggled with a lot of things but through relying on our savior Montrae was able to enter into the waters of baptism. he has wanted this for almost a year now. I know that sometimes we have to wait for the things we desire but everything is in the Lords timing! 

Montrae's baptism!

 I know this church is true! I don’t know everything but I believe it with all my heart. I can feel it in every fiber of my being when I testify to people. I can feel the book of Mormon is true as well. My heart has peace when I read the pages and pray about the things I read. Sister Morris and I have a goal of handing out 30 copies of the book of the Book of Mormon. I invite each of you to try to share a copy to someone around you. I know it changes lives and helps us to strengthen out testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Sister Reynolds

Bishop Oliver dog Blitz... it is a mini horse.