Elder Kyle Reynolds: Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrating Mothers Day with some of the best mothers in Ecuador!

Hello Everyone!
So this week of course was an amazing week! Got to talk to the family so it was very special. Weird how its already my last one! Gotta say at the end of the call it was weird thinking that I didn't say "see you in 6 months"...rather I said "Hug you soon!" haha Man I love my family. This week was another busy week of traveling. Here in the orient we are pretty far away from each other as missionaries so we travel a lot. Gives us a lot of thinking time which can be good and bad lol. So I had to give a talk this Sunday and I was thinking hmmm, what should I talk about..haha didn't need much revelation for that topic! Obviously Mothers! So I decided for this week I would simply share my talk with the United States lol Forgive me for my Spanglish and if it doesn't make perfect sense lol Hopefully my parents will edit it before they put it on for all to read. Well, usually I send this to my Mom but I am sending it to my Dad because my Mom would never publish something about her. She is so humble. So hopefully my Dad can manage to do it! haha
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Good Morning Brothers and Sisters. It is such a blessing to be with you today. So, to introduce myself a little, I am Elder Reynolds. I am from the United States and am pleased to be here in the Puyo Rama. I do have to say that this little Rama has power. I have known throughout my life and throughout my time on the mission many wards and branches. With church attendances varying from 60-200 people. But I have never felt the spirit more strongly than I have in this little branch we have here. Thank you so much for your examples and for your love. I truly do feel like family here. So thank you. Today I would like to talk about Love. Usually when you think about love your mind goes straight to the movies...where 2 people meet up somewhere and magically fall in love. Or maybe a hug that brings a warm feeling to someone or a kiss between 2 lovers. What that definition may be to some, I want to refer to what the scriptures have to say about love. In the guila de las escrituras (Topical Guide) it says:
Amor
Vease tambien Caridad; Compasion; Enemistad
Profunda devocion y afecto. El amor a Dios comprende devoocion, adoracion, reverencia, temura, misericordia, perdon, compasion, gracia, servicio, gratitud y bondad. (see also Affection; Benevolence; Brotherhood and Sisterhood; Charity; Family, Love within; Fellowshipping; Friendship; God, Love of; Grace; Kindness; Marriage, Continuing Courtship in; Neighbor)
What I want to focus on a little bit is the service portion. I heard a quote once from a 70 that says something like faith without works is dead, just as love without service is dead. Don't get me wrong, it is just as important to tell someone that we love them as it is to serve them. But I believe that this world can use a bit more of showing love rather than saying it. As there are a lot of dogs here in Ecuador...more than enough! They are one of the top choices to be used as a source of therapy...because people feel loved by them. I am just speaking for myself but I have never heard a dog say "I love you." Rather they show their love. They are always there for you no matter what happens. That is love through service. Simply just being there. Also to relate the message to what was taught in General Conference about Ministering...we need to be more of ministers rather than simply members or home teachers. I know that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet and has shown that love throughout all his life. May we be more loving through the service and the acts that we do daily. And the thing is it doesn't have to be something huge. Service isn't always a planned service project where we spend half of the day helping someone move or do farm work or something. Service is manifested in a number of ways...most of which the most profound are through random messages and calls when least expected. Now the second pare of the definition was about the best example this world has ever seen of pure love. Of course our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. El maximo ejemplo del amor de Dios hacia Sus hijos se encuentra en la expiacion infinita de Jesuscristo. (The greatest example of the love of God toward His children is found in the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ). I know that Jesus loves me. He died for each one of us...not only died for us, but suffered, and served in our behalf all His life. It is the love that He has for us that carried Him through the suffering in Gethsemane. Maybe in those moments where He thought of giving up...He remembered my face, and yours...and thought "I can't let Elder Reynolds down." I love him. Love has power. Just as it carried Jesus Christ through the hardest thing that anyone has ever had to do. It can also carry us through the hard things in this life. Love is the most powerful motivator know to man. Of course I can't talk about Love without bringing up the word Charity. The most well-known scripture of charity is found in Moroni 7:45-47
45 "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethern, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."
What is this scripture trying to get across? I think the most underlying characteristic of charity is the face that there are no conditions. This level of love does not have an end. A love unconditional. When Jesus Christ died and suffered for us, did He do it expecting in return that we would come to Him? NO. He didn't expect anything in return. He did it to give us the chance of eternal life. He doesn't expect anything from us. He HOPES that we may come to Him and use the atonement. But He never forces anyone. He died with the hope and desire that we would accept it but without obligation. There are no expectation in charity. For example, I say I love my companion...but somethings I find myself thinking "if I make breakfast for him today, he better make breakfast for me tomorrow." I feel like at times we get caught up in serving and loving to get something out of someone. But just like Jesus, we should do it because we love them. So without question we all can agree that Jesus was the perfect example of charity...or pure love. But right under Him, I believe the next group of people that stand out are Mothers. Mothers are so amazing. More than we know and recognize. They are so underappreciated and I think that's what makes them so great. They love without conditions. The most amazing example of charity to me is my mother. I love her dearly and miss her. Throughout her life she has shown me charity. Even though she is not here, I am going to brag on my mom and the impact she has had on me. I know that all moms are special, but for me my mom is the most special. So I want to read again Moroni 7:45 but this time with your own mother in mind...
45 "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
I have a special experience with my mother. Before the mission I have to admit I wasn't the best person. I wasn't following the path as much as I could've. After high school I decided to defer going on a mission thinking instead of my passion of playing football. Throughout my high school career, my mom would always lovingly remind me of this priesthood duty to serve a mission but never obligated me. From the time that I was keeping the commandments when I was living under the roof of my parents and to the time I was alone, living on my own in an apartment at college. I never felt unloved by my mother. I knew she was disappointed in my decision to not go on a mission but that never made her love me any less. Never did I find myself without her love. I remember getting random texts and calls from her and although I didn't respond every time, I did know she loved me. She never put expectations on me. She knew my potential and longed that I would make the right decisions to reach it, but never, ever, ever did she stop loving me. And as in all the good stories of love go, here I am on a mission...living happily ever after. Thanks to an unconditional love from an outstanding mother. Another scripture reference I love is found in 1 Nephi 11:16-22
16 "And he said unto me: Knowest though the condescension of God?
17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the mean of all things.
18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom though seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.
19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!
20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.
21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which they father saw?
22 And I answered him, saying : Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men: wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things."
I absolutely love this scripture. The spirit who testifies of all truth and has all power to do everything is showing Nephi what the love of God is. Out of all the things they spirit could have showed him, he shows him the picture of a mom holding her baby. I can only imagine my mom hold me and each one of my brothers and sisters with the loyal commitment to each one of us that she was going to do all in her power to take care of us and no matter what happens...LOVE us. I can testify that up until now, she has kept this promise. She is amazing in her unrelenting love. Now a last characteristic that I would like to point out from my amazing mom is the sacrifices that she has made. I do not even know close to all the sacrifices she has made in order to make me and my brothers and sisters happy. But I do know they are endless. She never thinks of herself. She is always...ALWAYS..putting us first and in front of whatever situations she has come across. I want to share one last scripture. I know I am sorry I am using so many scriptures. Actually it's for a special reason...a secret to anyone that is giving a talk is use scriptures because they take up more time and make the talk a bit longer...hahaha...anyways what I want to share is John 15:13 which says:
13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
My mom has sacrificed her life for me. As we all know pregnancy is not an easy thing. It is a big painful process that hurts the body and takes a lot of time to recover...if even possible to recover fully. My mom was an amazing volleyball player in high school. She was playing at a college and had the potential to do great things in this volleyball career of hers. She and her amazing talents could've taken her wherever she wanted to go. But instead of her sport, she chose the family. She chose to start a family and although I can still see the passion that she has in volleyball...she has never looked back. She has never shown me that her passion was ever more important than us kids. I can totally relate to her as my passion is football. She is an example to me more than she knows. She always, always loves us kids and the family more than anything else. She has given her life...her whole life so that I may exist and live her on this earth. She just didn't put it on hold..she put it out...she hung up the phone..she said I'm done. She has this great amount of love. Of which I am so grateful for. I love my mom. She has impacted me so much in my life. I love the living example she gives so that I am able to see the amount of love. I know that there are so many great mothers out there and I applaud you and thank you so much for the sacrifices you have made. Mothers are something special. Mothers cannot ever be replaced. I love you all. I thank you for your examples...especially you mothers. I want to close with a quote by President Thomas S. Monson...it's not a direct quote, but it goes something like this..."never assume that someone (or in this case, your mom) knows that you love them. Tell them. And then after telling them, tell them again..." May we all be better at showing our love, especially towards our mothers. I know this gospel is true. I am thankful for the scriptures and what they teach us about everything we need to know and do in this life. I love you all.
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That was a rough draft of what it was but I hope everyone thinks of their mom and follows their example! I love you all!! Have a great week and...HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
Elder Reynolds

Our last Skype with Elder Reynolds!!

These kids are my world! They are so fun, talented, loving, caring, hard working, kind, thoughtful people. They have taught me many things in life. Love them with all my heart <3