Thanks to another missionary mom, I have this photo!
Someone stole his battery out of his camera, so no pictures this week :(
Hello Everyone!!!
I am still alive and well in the good ole country of Ecuador! Another week has come and gone and lots has happened! So I totally forgot to tell you guys but we had changes this Monday! So my new companion is called Elder Saldaña. He is from Columbia. Yep!! Speaks only Spanish so this is going to be quite the adventure. Our bus ride back was quiet haha Much different than what I have been experiencing these past few weeks with Elder Jacobs. It is going to be so hard, but I know our President of the mission is guided by the spirit and knows what I need. And it is true! I definitely need to learn Spanish! haha And once again I am out of my comfort zone! lol So another opportunity to grow! I am being honest, I am quite nervous... I really got used to Elder Jacobs and this sector but now it seems everything has changed! But its all good. Yes I am also still in the same sector.
We are expecting to have a lot of baptisms this change! We have lots of investigators! We have encountered a few kinks with each one of them but that's only because Satan knows how big of a decision this is for them and how much it is going to change them for the better! It was a little funny as we were teaching one of the investigators, we invited him to baptism. He said, "wow.... I don't think I am ready for that because baptism is like marriage. If you marry the wrong women.. you are screwed!" hahahahahahahaha It was really funny. But I am so glad he sees the importance of the decision of baptism. Honestly it is hard to get our investigators to see the importance of baptism and that it isn't just a one time thing. Baptism is just the first step towards our eternal progression. We will always be progressing and chasing the Christ like attributes. I think that is what is most intriguing about this church and what we believe! There is no end!
Our investigators are all progressing slowly but surely. We had a breakthrough with one of our investigators. She is 20 years old and her mom and sister are members but she absolutely hates the church. She has had rough experiences with church and also with the missionaries. Whenever we would go over there she would maybe say hello and then go to her room.. She wouldn't even shake our hands!! But her mom is always trying to get her to meet with us.... so we were thinking a lot and praying for her and finally she decided to have dinner with us! We talked about what her interests were and all and she has desires to go into the military but she was lacking English.... She was wanting to learn English and Hey! I know English! haha So we are now teaching her English and trying to gain her trust. We have shared one small lesson about prayer and how it can help us in our lives. She didn't think much of it but this was the first time she has even met with us! So it is awesome!!! I am really starting to understand that these are real people!! Not just numbers... We are in a great and marvelous work and the only way to get to the hearts of these people are through actually treating them like people! This probably sounds totally whack but as a missionary your whole purpose and what your leaders expect from you is success and that success comes from numbers... But really these numbers are people! Our very own brothers and sisters. My Spanish is coming along so I am having a lot better time with actually treating and making relationships with PEOPLE! lol I am probably sounding totally weird right now.
So this week was hard but we had a lot of success. So I learned that I can't walk...In Ecuador the streets and sidewalks are all banged up... So lots of holes and what not.. Unfortunately one of the holes got the best of me and broke my ankle haha It was pretty embarrassing. I was literally carrying 2 shopping bags and it was like a movie in slow motion when I fell and my stuff went everywhere.. It hurt so bad! But it is a lot better now. What was so unfortunate was there was random toilet paper in the street and I broke my ankle right in front of that so it looked like it was mine and everyone didn't know what the heck I was doing laying on the ground with a bunch of toilet paper....lol Gosh.... its not what it looks like... hahahaha (He said his ankle is swollen and bruised)
I love you all!
Elder Reynolds
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