Diligence in Work

Elder Price and Elder Reynolds

Hello Everyone!

This week was pretty much the same as last week haha We are still in the recovery phase. We only leave for citas fijas (fixed appointments) because other than that the foot of Elder Price hurts and he can't sleep that good. It's crazy that Heavenly Father, knowing that Elder Price would have this problem, still put him in this sector that we are in. It was funny because Santo Domingo had a flat terrain and barely saw any hills. When we received the calls for changes, I asked if the new sector was hilly...haha The response was "no, not really." I wouldn't consider it hilly. I would say its hill..not going to lie, I was pretty confused but when I got here, I understood very clearly. Literally our sector is on the side of the mountain. Either you go up, or you go down! And then when there is a flat part, that is the other Elder's sector haha So it makes sense that he said it was hill hahahaha.

Another funny story that happened was it was pretty cold on Sunday. I commented to my comp that I don't like when it is just cold with no snow. It seems like without snow its just biting cold climate that chills you to the bone. But as we walked a little further there was snow!! A little patch of snow that was about 1 foot by 1 foot. I was so stoked! Wow tender mercies of the Lord! And then as I was celebrating we walked a bit further and there was another patch of snow! Wow how blessed I am! And then up ahead we saw a whole bunch of baby diapers...without the inside part. Turns out that snow here consists of the inside part of the diaper as stray dogs tear them apart and with a little spoonful of rain...snow! How lucky....

This week we had a little meeting with President Barlow and it was a very uplifting meeting. The main topic of the meeting was about diligence in work. I loved how he and his wife stressed the importance of developing a love of work. I think that I came on the mission with a different perspective of missionary work...eating til you are stuffed and it hurts to walk, visiting investigators that are super heard-hearted but one day by a miracle choose to accept the gospel, running from dogs, always getting along with your companion...a whole 2 years of pure joy that will be a base for you to propel you into the eternities with your family and although it does consist of that, it takes work! From that reason it's called Missionary WORK! It's hard! It's suppose to be hard. President Barlow compared it to a field a roses. You look from the outside and you see the beautiful roses, but as you come closer you see the thorns and the weeds and all that accompanies the roses. And when you are actually working in the rose field you get cut, you sweat, you WORK! But then as you finish your work, you walk away and then once again you only see the beautiful field of roses. I love that comparison! It gave me so much motivation to continue to work a little bit harder than the day before. I love the example of the Savior as He was the best human being this world has seen and no doubt had the hardest work known to man. It comforts me to know that Heavenly Father doesn't compare me to others. He has a work for each one of us. We specialize in something that only we can do and entrusts us with that duty. Because we are so different and capable of different things, only Him knowing us better than ourselves can judge us perfectly. What a blessing we have! I hope that each one of us can find that duty that each of us are entrusted with. I know that we are all so precious to our Father in Heaven and each has value. I love each one of you and thank you so much for your prayers. Siga adelante!

Elder Reynolds