Last night in the mission

 

Is This The End?!?

What’s up everybody!! Super crazy how this could by my last email, but we'll see how it goes!

Monday we had an awesome french toast party at a members house! Then that night we had a great lesson with our friend Ferny. He got one of the Book of Mormons that Mallory painted! Then we stopped by a ton of people!

Tuesday was district council. We had a great discussion on having the faith to find more people to teach. It's amazing how much can change when our mindset is positive and we have a desire to find and the faith that our Heavenly Father is preparing people!! Then while at the park we met a super awesome lady named India and hopefully she will progress well in the gospel! Then we had 2 friends come to our Book of Mormon class and they seemed to enjoy it!!

Wednesday we had a good visit with a less active family. They also wanted help with service, but the stuff needed did not come. Then as we were walking around an apartment complex we talked to Sonya who seems sweet!!! Then we proceeded to send 2 referrals to the Spanish Elders!!

Thursday I had an exchange. And I was with Elder Ernsberger! We had a lot of fun. But while in an apartment complex we felt kind of lost, then said a prayer in my heart wanting to be lead to who needed the gospel. Then we knocked a random building and on the 4th door we met Nestor! He and his wife just went to a new church to try it out, and seemed excited to read the Book of Mormon!! Then we has a great visit with the Dieny family!

Friday I was on another exchange, but this time I was with Elder Cutler! We had a great time and stopped by a lot of our friends. Then knocked a fun apartment complex and had a great conversation with a man named Vick, then met the Wills a less active family and chatted with them. Nothing too crazy happened.

Saturday morning we stopped by a ton of people and didn't have much luck. Met a nice man named Bob who was super nice and said we could come back! Then we had a great dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and I had a tostada pizza which was pretty good(picture below)

Sunday we had church, made some brownies for one of the Elders birthdays, and took them to him. Had weekly planning which takes a lot out of me lol. Had a great phone call lesson with a guy named Aaron that the Hermana's sent to us. Then had dinner at the Guido's home and then a gospel discussion zoom as a mission where we got to see Elder Kearon and his wife's words from the new missionary seminar! Sis. Kearon talked about the power and authority of our callings and how we can't take it for granted and Elder Kearon talked about the importance of boldness in asking people to be baptized and the importance of not giving up just becuase something is hard. He said, "The Lord uses tough times to allow the spirit to strengthen our testimonies" or something along those lines.

I love this quote from Amy A. Wright, "I learned in a profound way that deliverance from our trials is different for each of us, and therefore our focus should be less about the way in which we are delivered and more about the Deliverer Himself." As I have served my mission and kept my eyes on the Deliverer I have been strengthened, uplifted and blessed immensely because of the people that He has led me to and the experiences that I have had and I am excited for one more week of it!!!

Love you all, have a great week!!!

Pics:

1. Something fun while shopping

2. French toast

3. Ferny and the painted Book of Mormon

4. Elder Ernsberger

5. Pringles

6. Me and Elder Hobbs

7. Elder Cutler

Interviews and Fun

What's up fam! Hope you all had a great week, I'm excited to tell you about mine! 

Monday we played sand volleyball as a district and that was super fun!! Then we had an awsome lesson with our friends Cidney and Cori. They are the best, we just have to get them to church! Then we swung by a couple of our friends. 

Tuesday we had district council that was all about following up with ourselves on personal goals, and helping our friends be accountable as well! Then we had a fun interaction with some teenagers who thought they were tough by saying, "don't show your face around here again". But after that we had an awesome lesson with our friend Kosh, who we extended a baptismal invitation to for July 20th and he accepted!!

Wednesday I got to meet with President for interviews and he is amazing!! But the first thing he said when I sat down was, "Three more weeks Elder Reynolds you can do it". Then we talked about my area, how we're doing and stayed away from the topic of home lol. Later that day we had a lesson with Micheal and his brother Chris. We also helped a lady move a dresser and she said she wanted to come to our Book of Mormon class! 

Thursday we had an awesome lesson with Luis and gave him a Book of Mormon my sister painted. It has flowers on it and he had daughters who he said would love it! He's down to learn, just busy so it's tough to set stuff up. We also has a ward BBQ that our friend LaMerra came to and she brought her friend Sam which was awesome. They got to know the ward and loved it! 

Friday I was on exchanges with Elder Wood and we had a blast! We had our pass off lesson with Kosh and he seemed to like the YSA Elders so that's a plus! He went to the YSA on Sunday and the Elders said he loved it!! Also on our exchange we met David who is a soccer coach and I chessily brought in the gospel by saying "God is our coach and has a game plan for us". He seemed to like it and were going back on Friday! We also met a cool kid named Fernando who were meeting with tonight!!!

Saturday we went to the baptism of Stephanie who I was able to interview last week, she is awesome!! Then we has a lesson with Kavon and some members from Moorpark. Kavon is just getting into religion and wants to dive into the Book of Mormon! That night we had dinner at the Clevelands and Bro. Cleveland smoked a really good tri-tip!!! 

Sunday church was good, unfortunately our friends that are progressing went to the YSA ward and we'll have to pass them off, but we have some good people we're teaching who have a desire they were just sick... the rest of the day was full of studies and weekly planning, besides a delicious dinner with the Baugh family!! 

"Many of you have witnessed miracles, more than you realize. They may seem small in comparison to Jesus raising the dead. But the magnitude does not distinguish a miracle, only that it came from God." - Ronald A. Rasband 

It's truly amazing the miracles that God gives us everyday and often times we may overlook them because we think they have to be glorious and glamorous. I hope we all may see the miracles that God gives us every day, I’m blessed to be a missionary and have little to no distractions so I can see them!! 

There's my week hope your was great as well!!! 

Pics: 

Volleyball, package(minus the awesome Book of Mormons that Mallory painted), our friend Kosh.

: Temple, Zone Conference, Emergency Transfer...

What's up friends and family!!! I hope you all had an awesome week, mine was full of craziness!!!

Monday we played pickleball as a district and it was fun! We stopped by a ton of our friends, but only one of them was home and we gave them their "comic book" which is the Book of Mormon stories for children and they are loving it!!

Tuesday was great! District council was focused on the importance of seeking Christ's words and the power that comes as we do that! As we seek to obtain the words that gives the Holy Ghost an opportunity to brings things to our rememberance when we need them! Then I was on an exchange with Elder Brian in my area! We had a good comp study with a recent convert and talked about Patriarchal blessings! Had a good phone call with our friend Lily and her friend Emma. Our Book of Mormon class was well attended!!!

Wednesday we had an awesome lesson with our friend Ozzy and set up a church tour with him!! We also had an awesome lesson with our friend Micheal and a return missionary from our ward and that went really well!! Then we had to take a drive to Camarillo to drop Elder Hoschouer off so that he could ride down to the temple in a different van.

Thursday we went to the Temple!!!! It was so amazing, I love the Los Angeles temple, it is awesome! After we went through the temple we got to spend some time in the visitors center and President Rodriguez talked about how temple work and missionary work are not 2 works. Missionary work prepares people for the temple and as new converts attend the temple and do family history more names become available and more work is able to be done!! I then got to do another baptismal interview for a lady named Stephanie who is so amazing and has a strong testimony! Then we had an awesome lesson with our friend Cori and her sister Cindney!

Friday was zone conference and it was amazing! Sister Rodriguez talked about the importance of studying the scriptures, the assistants talked about the different ways we can work with members, and President Rodriguez talked about true conversion and how a testimony is a starting point, but we need to become converted! As well as help others as well by giving them the right tools to become converted themselves.

Saturday we had to drop Elder Hoschouer off with Elder Cutler becuase Elder Glazener needed to go home due to health problems. So our trio is back to a duo... Saturday was also walk day and we WALKED a ton!!! It was worth it, we were able to send 2 people to the Spanish missionaries and found 3 for oursleves! One of them being LaMerra who is super cool and wants to learn a lot. We also met a different Micheal who lit up when we told him we have The Book of Mormon that talks more about Jesus Christ!!

Sunday I gave a talk in church and that seemed to go pretty good! Squeezed in a little bit about fathers day and my dads famous saying he would tell me when I left the house, "Learn something". Then we had a busy afternoon full of studying, dinner with the Bystroms, planning our week, and a mission zoom. On the mission zoom we studied Peter and his conversion. He had a testimony early on, but it wasn't until Peter was asked 3 times by the Savior if he love Him that he was converted.

“I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. … “[Then] watch for miracles to happen in your life.” - President Nelson May 2022 Young Adult Conference

It's truly amazing the way our Father in Heaven works with us as we have a desire to grow our testimonies and the experiences we are gifted with! I hope you all take time this week to strengthen your testimony and grow closer to God!!

Hope you all had a great week, love you all, talk to you soon!!!!

Pics:

District, my comps, exchanges, temple, more temple, walk day

Minny Miracles!

What's up friends and family, hope you’re doing well and that you had an awesome week! Here's how mine went:

Monday we played frisbee golf for our district activity! Then we had dinner delivered which was great!! We stopped by a couple of our friends and as we were talking with one of them, he got a call and said, "Yeah, yeah, for real, I got your back dog, I'll be right over" then proceeded to run inside, tell everyone what happened, come outside tell us his friend just got jumped, then get in his car and drive away...

Tuesday district council was focused on diligence and the importance of staying focused, working hard, and helping all come unto christ no matter where we are at! Then we had a really good lesson with our friend Gustavo after the Book of Mormon class! He loved the class then we were able to teach him more about restoration and how important the Book of Mormon is!!

Wednesday we had a great visit with Dorothea, she has a desire to make it back to the temple and talked to Bishop on Sunday so that's big! Then we had a good lesson with our friend Micheal, then caught our friend Ozzy home and taught him the restoration and it all seemed to make sense to him and he loves reading the Book of Mormon!! Then Wednesday night Jesse a member of our ward took us out to dinner and he invited Gustavo the friend we're teaching and Sean so that was really fun!!

Thursday we met a lady named Benny who has family in the Philippines who are members so that was cool and were gonna start teaching her! Then we went store contacting(I am not a fan), but we started talking to one of the workers at the mall and she's been going through some rough stuff, so we were able to help her find peace through Jesus Christ and we have a church tour tomorrow!!!

Friday Curtis a member from our ward took us to Green Acres which is a pretty good tri-tip spot, loved it!!! Then we had a good phone call lesson with our friend Lily! After that while at the park Andrew approached us and wanted to learn more about our beliefs, then he shared a lot about the Eastern Orthodox religion so I got to learn a little bit about that! Then we drove to Newbury Park for a service at the stagecoach museum. Which is a super old hotel they turned into a museum, and we helped set up for a carnival type of thing! Used the little bit of Spanish I know to start teaching 2 new friends for the Spanish area!!!

Saturday I had an amazing opportunity to do a baptismal interview and Diana is super ready and has a strong testimony! Then we met Monique, who we tracted into. She said, "It's funny you came by, I've been feeling distant from God and needing to get closer to him". Super excited to see where that goes! And finished off the night with dinner at our Bishops house!!!

Sunday was awesome. A missionary had his homecoming talk and that was pretty good! Then we planned for the week and thought about our friends and set goals for them and plans for how to help them progress which is always fun. Then we went to the Guidos house for dinner and had a good time there!!

"There has never been a time in the history of the world when knowledge of our Savior is more personally vital and relevant to every human soul"

-President Russel M. Nelson

It's truly amazing the impact of having Jesus Christ is our lives has. I've been blessed to be able to grow closer to Jesus Christ while on my mission and see others who didn't know Him, or hadn't embraced Him do exactly that and their lives have been changed! I hope you all take time to recognize how blessed we are to know Jesus Christ, and if you don't know Him, start reading and praying and your relationship will grow!!

Have a great week, love you all!!!!

Pics:

1. Comp study

2. Free shirts we got from a random guy

3. Cute dog that reminded me of Titan(My brothers dog)

4. We found a swing

5. Frisbee

6. Bees

Transfers and Trio Again

What's up friends and family! Hope you week was good, mime was pretty great! Friday we had transfers and I am still in Simi Valley, still with Elder Hobbs, but we got Elder Hoschouer as our companion as well!!! But here's my week!

Monday was the last preparation day as well as memorial day. So for our district activity we had a nerf war. That was super fun, sadly I didn't remember to take a picture.... later that evening we stopped by our friend Ernie who has a lot of health problems, but still stands and talks with us everything we stop by.

Tuesday we had our last district council of the transfer and that was focused on the improtant of remembering the things that we learned and applying this transfer. Then we had an exchange with Elder Cutler and Glazener. I was with Elder Glazener in my areas and we had a lot of fun! We met Kristian in the park who is super cool, then while knocking we met Andrea who has a young family and wanted to learn more about the gospel! Then we had oir friend Kari come to the Book of Mormon class and it seemed like she enjoyed it!!

Wednesday we found Catarine and Victoria. They seem pretty cool and open to learning. Grew up in a different faith, but are willing to read the Book of Mormon with us! Then we met Linda from a different church as well and we left her with a link to "Think Celestial" by President Nelson! Then we had a good lesson with Gustavo and Sean was able to bear strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I've never had someone say this, but Gustavo said, "I'm gonna have to pray about going to your church". And ended up going to a different one... but we have something with him this week! Then we filled the font for a baptism for the other elders.

Thursday we found out transfer news, had a nice surprise finding our I'm in my 5th trio of my mission! I must be the troubled missionary lol. But then the day was full of knocking because we has 2 lessons fall through. But we were able to learn from a lot of people about different churches and share ours even though the person wasn't interested.

Friday was transfer day!!! We waited until Elder Hoschouer got to our apartment, he settled in, then we had a mentoring session about extending invitations and promising blessings and the importance and power that comes as we do. Then we had a learn call through, but it our ward mission leader Bro Baker can study us to another visit and hit it off with our friend Vinny!!

Saturday was a day full of service. We started in the morning by moving someone across Simi. Pretty easy move considering that it was only the big things. Then we had time to do our studies before heading to the Guidos to help set up for a surprise party for Bro Guido who turned 70. Then we knocked around and nothing was very successful. Then we went back to the party, had some good pasta and meatballs and met some of their non-member friends! Said goodbye to the foreign exchange students, then kept knocing doors.

Sunday we had an awesome fast and testimony meeting! A great gospel principles class and our friend Cori showed up and enjoyed it a lot. Then we had a stake missionary meeting, dinner at the Mathias's house and enjoyed that. Then went to the Baugh's house and shared a message, then went to the Bakers house and shared a message with their non member friends from Thousand Oaks!! Then finished off the night with a mission zoom.

That was my week, hope you all had an amazing one as well!!!

"The intent of the Father’s plan of redemption is in fact your redemption, your being rescued through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, freed from the captivity of sin and death. It is not to leave you as you are."
- Elder Patrick Kearon
As we turn to the Savior he will heal, forgive, love, and welcome us, because He is the way back to our Father in Heaven!

Pics:
Sunset, Elder Glazener, Filling the font w/ Elder deJong, Baptism Shenanigans w/ Richardson and Slobodian, Amount of times me and Elder Hobbs went up and down our stairs, Goodbye to the exchange students

Hospital Run and BBQ's

Hello friends and family! This week was a pretty good one! Let me know how yours was!!!

Monday we had a salsa class. A member of the stake has an amazing recipe that he showed us how to make! Shoutout brother Creek! Then we went out knocking and met and cool people, but they weren't too interested in us going back...

Tuesday we had district council! We talked about the importance of teaching to the needs of the people and not just robotically teaching lessons! Then we got a call from our friend who told us he was at an urgent care and that he needed a ride to the hospital. They wouldn't take him by ambulance, so we called 6 members and none were available. So we drove with him to Thousand Oaks, sat at the hospital for forever, just for the doctor to refer him to a different doctor, and tell us he can wait to have surgery. The nurse at the urgent care totally over exaggerated the whole situation... But we finished off the day with a great visit with the Giffords, fun member family and our weekly Book of Mormon study!

Wednesday was not nearly as memorable, but it was an awesome exchange. I was with Elder Pope in his area and we had a lot of fun! We both started out missions at the same time so it was cool to see how we've both grown as missionaries! We had a good dinner, saw some success while knocking, and enjoyed working together!!

Thursday we had interviews with President Rodriguez!! We made waffles, and did some other fun activities! Talking with President Rodriguez is always great!! He really just asked me if I was still motivated to work and if me and Elder Hobbs and I are getting a long. Don't worry the answer to both of those is yes! Our training was on the importance of teaching and testifying of Joseph Smith. That night we had a BBQ with some recent converts and their families which was awesome!

Friday we stopped by Erney he was super sweet. We taught him a little, but he's busy with medical stuff so we'll see if we can meet with him again. Then we had a mentoring meeting to help Elder Hobbs adjust to mission life and me continue to become a better missionary! Then we met Gustavo who is super cool. And even left a note on the door when he wasn't there for our return appointment. Then we had an awesome lesson with our friend Kari who's coming to the Book of Mormon class! And an awesome dinner with the Grant's who were super fun to talk to!!

Saturday I was with Elder Riley on an exchange in my area and we had a lot of fun! We met a family that traveled from New York to see this one preacher. While we were at the park we saw a family that he is teaching and talked with them and they should've went to church!! Then we went to a memorial day BBQ with some ward members. Then got to work! We met Julio who's super sweet and wants his family go grow closer to God, and Rudy that said he'd be at church, but wasn't... Then finished off the day by talking with Charlotte and Maria who were both visiting their grandson. And man could they talk!

Sunday was great! Enjoyed our church meetings and saw a missionary give their farewell. It was fun to look back and remember when I gave mine and how far I've come! Then while at the park for comp study 4 kids from a local church walked up and just started questioning us about our beliefs and that went on for a while. Then we finally got time to weekly plan before going to dinner at the Guidos house. Then Sean a recent convert had bought "Death peanuts" which is a hot food challenge that he wanted us to try so we did and it was hot! But only for about 20 minutes after eating it, so that was fun!  Then ended up finishing off the night with the departing testimony zoom!!

"“Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy.”

- President Russel M. Nelson

It's comforting to remember we are never forgotten, alone, or too far gone. God's out reaching hand is always available to us. All we need to do is turn towards him and he will deliver us from whatever we may be going through!

Pics:

1. Salsa

2. Elder Hobbs and French toast

3. Elder Pope

4. Church

5. BBQ