Elder Kyle Reynolds: Giving up Something Good for Something Better!

A cold baptism, but the spirit was there warming everyone's heart!

Hello,
This week was a great one. Well it was a physically taxing one that's for sure. I came down with a pretty bad cold but luckily...I am out here in the jungle with professionals that know how to cure things like this!!! hahahahaha They are called Shamans. We have an investigator that is a Shaman. So we went over there one day in the first days of my sickness and so she noticed that and told me to eat this...it's not a gingerbread man, just a ginger man haha. I don't know if any of you have ever tried that but ohhhhhhhhhh it's pretty dang hard on the way down haha. She told me to eat the whole thing and of course I did! haha Then she told me to drink a glass of pure lemon juice to help with the throat too. And after we went and bought 3 chantacuros to cure me. Man it was an interesting day trying all these cures. I would have never thought in my life I would be eating worms and a ginger man with a nice glass of lemon juice in order to cure me haha. And to top it off, to make sure I wasn't going to explode, she told me to eat a pitahaya. I think that's dragon fruit in English. It's interesting proselyting while a ticking bomb is waiting to go off in your stomach lol. Needless to say, the natives here have something going! I'm still a little bit sick not going to lie, but it sure helped me! hahaha Hopefully the nurse of the mission doesn't get a hold of this email..........

Other than the physical aspect of the week, it was also a very spiritual week! Lots of things went on. Annnnd, 2 more members of the Valencia family got baptized! It was a pretty interesting story because the kids of the Valencia family went to the temple with the ward! Man it was super special seeing them leave to Guayaquil to go to the temple. I think the happiness one feels multiplies by a million when it is brought upon by others. That's how it has been in my love. When those I love choose to do good in their lives, I am always blessed with overflowing happiness. So the whole ward went to the temple this week. Man what a sacrifice it is for people to go to the temple here! So just a quick run down...they leave at 9:00 in the night on a bus...get there at 7:00 am and have time to shower and get ready. The youth go in for baptisms at 8:30 and then they have a recess from 10:00-3:00 or so while the adults go through and then they travel back all through the night. And that's not even mentioning the economical sacrifices each person has to make! It's awesome to see the dedication here in Ecuador. Anyways to add onto that, we had the baptism Sunday morning at 7:30 ha! I felt so blessed to have such willing members, including the Valencia family, to come so early in the morning to get baptized and so they can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that same week. It was a cold baptism, but the spirit was there warming everyone's heart. Man I love this work. This truly is happiness. I am super grateful for the opportunity I have to be apart of this great work. Not going to lie, everyday seems to be a struggle, but moments like these make it all up. I know sacrifice is an essential principle of salvation. But as the definition goes...giving up something good for something better, I can truly testify of that. I love you all! Thank you so much for the sacrifices and the prayers in behalf of the missionaries. Good things will come!
Elder Reynolds