When We Are Doing the Right Thing, We will be Guided!

~An amazing view of Quito~

Hello Everyone!
We are finally seeing some success in the sector!! Elder Mansell and I are working hard everyday. It sometimes seems overwhelming. We did divisions this week with some other Elders and we both felt SUPER good about how they went but then the next day it was back to work. We were both completely exhausted. I thought about how nice it would be to just have a day to rest and enjoy what we accomplished yesterday...NOPE!! Keep on working, keep on striving. I remember the talk by President Eyring about Jesus Christ and how He didn't have any breaks. After His mortal ministry I am almost positive that he was pretty dang exhausted too! But He went right to work in the spirit world and continues working to this day. When we talked that over, we got that little bit of oomph...to carry on haha. I think the key to that is all in taking it one day at a time. When I think about having to do this for 2 years....shooooo!! haha But as I take it one day at a time, it seems to be easier. I just have to be my best TODAY, I need to strive to be my best and give it my all TODAY. And if we do that for the rest of our lives, we will never have regrets.

This week was a great week. We found some new investigators to teach and some of them attended! We were super stoked. I can say that really there are people prepared in every single part of the world. I was reading in the war chapters of Alma, by the way SOOOO SICK! haha So many things we can apply to our lives from those chapters if we let the spirit guide us. Anyways, in these chapters I found it very interesting how the Lamanites joined the people of Ammon and were a happy and peaceful people after all the wars. There are people that are searching and ready! Even among the vicious Lamanite army.

I had a special experience while we were on divisions. It seems that every time we go on divisions with other Elders, all the appointments fall and you are just left to contact. But as we were contacting, we felt a need to try to find a house that we contacted before. We only had the description that it was 2 floors and white. So we started contacting every 2 floor house that was white. We came to this one house ANNND...didn't find it, but they did say they think this person lives up the street a little. So we go up and we find the house!! We knock on it and this little boy comes out and he comes up to us like he knew us and was super excited to see us! So we ask if his parents were there and so he went and got his dad annnnnd turns out it was the first counselor in the bishopric...I know, what the heck...hahaha. So we talk for a bit and then we asked for referrals. He gave us one! Of course it was another vague description but we are use to that haha. So we went looking for this house and for the first time in my life, I actually felt sure that we should knock this house and this would be the house. Sure enough it was! The feeling that I felt was super weird..ha It wasn't like a screaming voice that this was the house, nor was it a super soft voice that I couldn't hear and doubted. It was just a mild voice that I KNEW it was the house. First time in my life I have felt that!!! So for all those who haven't had an experience like that, don't worry! It took 22 years for me! Just keep at it, diligent covenant keeping and faith. After all, 2 hours of trying to find, we found the one that Heavenly Father was preparing. The point of the story is that when we are trying to do the right thing, we will be guided. Kind of like a Pinball machine. We hit every possible side and think in our way, but we are eventually guided. That's kind of a bad analogy but I hope you get the picture! haha I love you all! I invite you to always keep going even though we may not know where we are going. We know the path, it is laid out in the scriptures. We may not know everything...but we know enough. I love you!
Elder Reynolds

Elder Astin...he says he knows the Allsups!!!

Lisa Allsup is Jason's sister from Herriman, Utah.

Kyle was pretty close to his cousins Quynn, Tean, Taner and Sawyer Allsup

Can't get enough study time!

Elder Reynolds, Elder Smith and Elder Wilson

~Quito Ecuador Mission~

Trying to calm a calm a baby is hard!

Remembering What's Most Important!

Chillogallo Zone, Quito Ecuador

Hello Everyone!

So lots of things happened this week...As you all know my companion, Elder Price, is a little bit handicap and we can't work that much. But we managed to do what we could. Then we got a call on Tuesday...my heart dropped when we got this call. So we got emergency changed (transfers) and he went to the offices so he can work on computers and I stayed here in Chillogallo. Another Elder that has been here before is coming back so that we can work the sector for the few weeks we have left in the change. So his name is Elder Mansell. He is a super great missionary. What I love is his diligence in this work. I found out why this week that he is a 4th generation missionary or something like that and man he is sooooo prepared to be a missionary! Its crazy to hear about all his goals he has and how prepared he was coming into the mission. He only has 2 changes left but we were just getting to know each other and its sooo cool how prepared he was and still is! So we have been working super hard this past week. It was funny because he came Wednesday and we started working super hard, just contacting people left and right...And then on Saturday he got super sick and we couldn't go out for the whole day. He felt super bad that we couldn't work and was like man, was this what it's like staying in the house the whole day??! This sucks! haha I was like...you get used to it after a week or so lol. But it's so true that when you have to stay in the house it's the worst! The days go by extremely slow and you can't help but start talking about home and all...

So this week was mainly about a lot of diligence. No missionaries have really been here for 2 months or so. Yeah it's pretty dead but luckily we are here! We are having a zone meeting this week and we are preparing something in order to train the missionaries in the zone. We were thinking about the needs of the zone and actually this past week it came to us that it's not enough to be diligent. We have to have effective diligence! I think as missionaries we just get caught up in the routine of things and just start contacting like crazy and yes that does work, but there is a better way. Maybe we can go to members houses and ask for references, maybe we can call around to see if investigators are there in their house...there are a ton of things! We like the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants that says "serve with all your heart, might, MIND, and strength." Our mind is a God-given object that sometimes we fail to use! Then obviously I was thinking about what to write for this email and I was thinking about the same thing in life...We get caught up in the world and we begin to forget what our purpose is. Thank goodness for INDICADORES CLAVE (key indicators)!! haha all the RMs are going to laugh at that but these are numbers that help us reach our goal. Kind of like what actually matters or what is most important among the many things we have to do as missionaries. I thought about in life what the indicadores claves (key indicators) are and they are ordenanzas (ordinances)! They are absolutely necessary to get back to Heavenly Father. You can't go to Him without these special promises! What is the purpose in life? What is the objective of being here? In Alma 34:32 "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." This is time to prepare!! So everything we do should help us reach that goal. Being diligent in life but remembering what's most important. I hope that we can all remember what is most important and won't have death bed confessions or regrets. I know that if we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, we will never have regrets in this life. It's a promise! I love you all.

Elder Reynolds

~We are as the army of Helaman.

We have been taught in our youth.

And we will be the Lord's missionaries

To bring the world his truth~

Spreading Love in Ecuador!

That's alot of eggs...protein!!!

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

New Companion--Elder Price!

Elder Price and Elder Reynolds

Zone Leaders

Hello Everyone!

This week was a bit of a different week as I went to pretty hot to pretty cold haha I am back in Quito to a sector called Chillogallo. It is up on a mountain! Literally my sector is the whole mountain side so there isn't really flat parts. To be honest, I do not like Quito haha I loved Santo Domingo and the nice nights where it wasn't too hot. Its so weird saying this because I used to be a sucker for the cold! And now that I am in the cold it doesn't please me the same way haha But its all good. I am with my new companion and his name is Elder Price. He is so cool and from Utah. My 2nd gringo companion! haha It does scare me a little though because we always talk in English and sometimes I feel like my Spanish isn't getting any better...But we are working on that lol. So here in Quito the work is a bit different. For one, the people in the sierra are a bit more closed off. Don't get me wrong, they are still so humble and so accepting. They kind of just say the truth from the get go...So I guess its a bit of a good thing so that we don't waste too much time on people that are just wanting to be nice. And the other reason its a bit different is because my comp is a bit handicap lol He has tendonitis in his foot so we can only go to set citas (appointments). It's a bit different not working the whole day...But it gives us a ton of time to just study the scriptures!! Man every time I read the scriptures it is like I am reading a book sent from God.. Oh wait that's exactly what they are!!! 

This week we had a special zone activity called an invasion. Its where almost all the missionaries in the zone go to a certain sector that is struggling and contact as many people as possible in like an hour or so. It was a great turn out! At first it caught me off guard because of how different it was to contact people here than in Santo Domingo..But by a miracle, we actually found a person! So usually in these activities we just contact and take out citas (appointments) so the actual missionaries can teach them. But by a tender mercy, one of the contacts we had let us in and we started talking to him. He proceeded to tell us how he just had a baby 15 days ago and how he was super happy but super scared! Then randomly he was like "are you guys from Utah?" hahahaha We told him that Elder Price is from Utah but then he told us that he lived in Utah for 4 months and how you can just tell that the people there are...different.. And when he saw us he saw that difference. It was cool to hear that people can actually see the light of Christ in us! Across the world that light is the same. We were so glad to be able to find him and teach him a little bit about the Book of Mormon. Just in the 15 minutes that we found him, it seems we made a bond that will last beyond the mission. It is so awesome how things just work together for our good when we are doing what the Lord commands. 

I love this work. it is such a privilege to be apart of it. Especially when you have a good companion! haha Thank goodness Elder Price is into workouts because I have been getting pretty chubby! But now we are on a workout routine and a bit of a diet.. as much as you can be on one in the mission lol... Man life is great. Things are bad, but circumstances don't determine our happiness. I love the tender mercies of the Lord. We are in the truth! I promise! 

Love,

Elder Reynolds 

A few pictures of us! We didn't go out to work much so it was a little awkward to just take buddy pics lol

We are on a diet...but we made Chicken Alfredo!

Sooooo weird because it's not how I remember it in the states lol

Santo Domingo Zone

Notice there are no sisters...because this zone is a dangerous area :o

I love my companion!

Transferred and Called to be a Zone Leader!

Elder Reynolds and Elder Fillmore

~Baptism~

Santo Domingo, Ecuador



Elder Reynolds didn't have time to email this week because he was being transferred to Chillogallo-Quito, Ecuador! He was also called to be a Zone Leader. His companion is Elder Price, another gringo!

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" D&C 18:10

~Baptism of Katy~

W O W Z A ! ! ! !

M E M O R I E S that will last a lifetime!!

with Elder Fillmore

Elder Reynolds has learned much from Elder Fillmore. He is the most kind, happy, caring, humble, calm, loving missionary. He was an answer to Elder Reynolds prayers and came into his life when he needed him most. They will miss each other but continue to serve the Lord in different places there in Ecuador with all their heart, might, mind and strength!

Elder Reynolds called to be a ZONE LEADER

Matching socks and ties!

Their famous J E L L O ! ! ! !

A Baptism in Santo Domingo!!

Elder Fillmore and Elder Reynolds with some crabs before they were cooked for lunch!!



Hello everyone!

This week was an awesome week! We have a baptism this week!!!!! Finally after being here for what seems like forever we will have a baptism and her name is Katy. She is so awesome. I can't wait for it and am super excited because right after we write we have a noche de hogar (Family Home Evening) with her and it is pretty much going to be a pure testimony meeting and setting up all the things for her baptism. Gosh I love seeing people make covenants with God!

 

It is so crazy with my comp here in this huge sector. For those of you who don't know... I am still a bit irresponsible and lost my credit card here so I am bumming off of my comp a bit lol But he has the biggest heart and doesn't take much thought to all of it. It is so sad because we probably spend 20 to 50 dollars a week just solely on taxis and buses. We need more missionaries!!!!!! hahaha so anybody you know.. send them to Ecuador!!!! lol But the work here has been awesome. This lady, after meeting with the missionaries for over a year off and on, finally came to church this Sunday and man she loved it! What made all the difference were the member that befriended her. I absolutely love the Relief Society. Honestly I have no idea how it is in the US, but here in Ecuador, it is literally so cool to see them all rally together and just love each other. When someone comes to church that they don't know, there is like at least 3 women swarming her guiding her to her next class seeing where she is from and just purely loving her. The love of a woman is just mind blowing to me. Truly examples for me. To not just look at people with problems, but to look at people with love and pure charity. I love the verse in 1 Nephi I think 11 that talks about Mary with baby Jesus and how that is how the spirit wanted to depict the pure love of Christ. A mothers love for her baby. Men we better step up! haha

 

So in the house we are having some changes done.. we are having the whole house repainted because there is pretty crazy mold growing on the walls especially in the kitchen and bathroom.. Elder Fillmore and I just laugh because instead of fixing it, they just chip away at the mold and repaint over it. For a few days it actually worked! We didn't really know if they fixed it or not but the mold wasn't there anymore.. haha but we woke up this morning to find that the mold has started growing yet again!!! We were just like your kidding..... haha and of course as nerd missionaries we started talking about how it applies to the gospel... I know right.. I used to always make fun of the people who would apply everything to the gospel and here I am doing it!!! But as missionaries we always try to find what is an iceberg... how usually someone actually has something deeper but they only let you see a small part of it just like an iceberg. And how easy it is to just say a few prayers and give a few scriptures and boom fixed.. but what I love, thanks to Elder Fillmore, is he made me realize we are here to help people not just baptize people. So many people have icebergs and what I love is everyone one of them can be fixed with a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can either paint over it with some superficial prayer, or we can dig deep and let them fix it by applying the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. And then paint over it lol What I am getting at is I just love digging deep. Elder Fillmore and I like to talk about deep stuff and we always can go deeper! haha so with the investigators we always try to find the root problem and it is so much better in the long run. It takes time but I love love the miracle of forgiveness. What a blessing we have to be forgiven and to forgive. I love every single one of you. One for making it this far into the email haha and two for your example! I love you all! have a great week. I hope my English hasn't gone too far astray and this makes sense!

Elder Reynolds

Classic Soccer Field

We have some renovations being done to our house! Here they are trying to fix the mold problem. As a result, we have gone to bed without a front door for like 3 nights. So we use our whiteboard as a replacement :o

Elder Fillmore is an answer to my prayers!

He is the BEST!!!!

Keep Moving Forward, Little by Little!

Still pressing on and fighting the good fight!!



Hello everyone!

With all the crazy stuff that has been going on this past couple weeks... I am still alive! Still pressing on and fighting the good fight. I have to say I am so grateful for my companion.. He is the nicest person and is so willing to serve anyone that is around him. He is such an example to me...I am so blessed to be surrounded with people that I am able to look up to and learn from. Its truly a privilege to be out here on the mission. I consider myself so lucky to be able to have this great opportunity to learn how the gospel works in lives instead of just reading it in the scriptures.

This week was such an amazing week to work. We of course have been struggling with having people actually progress to a baptism... Buuut as we know that God is in this with us. We have a baptism planned!!!! So so so exciting! She has probably been going to church for 6-9 months but hasn't been able to take that step of baptism due to financial problems. But with the help of the ward we are getting her married this week and she will be baptized either this week or the next! Man we are so stoked for her. It really rejuvenated our feelings. I love her conversion story though. We had a family home evening with her and all of her family along with the bishopric. It was pretty much just like a testimony meeting because the bishopric expressed their love for her and bore their testimony about how their lives haves changed thanks to the gospel. The testimony that really hit me was the one by her sister. She is the first convert of the whole family. She was expressing her great love for her sister and how she is going to be so blessed because of the decisions and sacrifices she is making in order to get baptized. She..the sister..has been a member for 12 years now. It was so amazing to hear her testimony on how God answers prayers. She was telling us that she has been praying for 12 years straight for her sister to get baptized in the church. It is so amazing that she realizes that God answers prayers. After 12 years.... That's a pretty long time!!! How easy would it be to just say that things happen according to the will of man.. And not recognize the work of God in these 12 years. It was just so amazing to hear the story and the events that took place in these 12 years to bring her, Katy, to the place that she is in right now. God surely does work in our behalf everyday. Although we may not see it now, today, tomorrow, next week, a year, 2 years, or even 12 years... God has a plan. It was a testimony builder to hear the story of Katy and how slowly and slowly God has been working in her life. And how grateful we are to be able to reap the seed that has been planted about 12 years before.

 

Man I love this gospel. I love the knowledge and the wisdom we are able to gain from the scriptures. There truly is wisdom in the scriptures. I love how the gospel of Jesus Christ just doesn't have to do with holy praises to the Almighty and religion and what not.. But it is a part of life. Everything is meshed together. My companion and I have long deep talks at night about science and philosophy.. It is so interesting to see that when you really get deep into science and or philosophy, and deep into the gospel... They actually compliment each other. For example,  a friend of Elder Fillmore brought up a point about how living forever actually scares him. Because if  you live forever , that means eventually you are going to have to experience everything.. meaning that you will experience the most pain but also the most happiness and everything in between. If we lived forever, that means you would eventually have to experience every single possibility there is out there... When we discussed it. It makes so much more sense talking about the atonement!!! The atonement is so mind blowing and even though I don't understand a fraction about it, i am so grateful for it. I am so grateful for the opportunity to look to someone that actually knows how I am feeling. I loooooove looooove that the mysteries of God are disponible (available) to each and every one of us. It is just a decision of how much work we put in in order to receive these magnificent answers. One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 28:30 "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have."...it is all a process. little by little. I love you all. Keep moving forward, little by little. And I promise the questions, concerns, and just things in this life are all eventually going to make sense. Like 2 Nephi 2:24 says "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things."
I love you all!!!!
Elder Reynolds