Week 67

This was a great week! We did a lot of traveling, again. We went to the south. We went to Victoria, my old sector, and I did the interview for a woman I was teaching. Her name is Rosemary and she will be getting baptized this Saturday! I also visited another family I was teaching and Joaquin, the oldest son, will be getting baptized in two weeks! I´m so grateful that they´ve been able to progress! Also, an investigator of mine from Labranza is getting baptized today! After Victoria, we went to Loncoche, which is the sector furthest to the south. There isn´t much there. It´s super pretty and really green, but there isn´t much more than houses and a milk farm haha. I enjoyed it, though. We finished off in Temuco. Yesterday morning, we headed back and at 7pm, Vanessa Alejandra Silva Degen was baptized! It was the most well-supported and well put together baptismal service that I´ve been to on my mission. The ward mission leader did everything! We are so happy to have had a baptism. The assistants haven´t baptized in years and it´s so great to play a role in that. It looks like we will be bring in at least one more assistant this coming week, but all the details aren´t set. Happy birthday to my dad! He has always been an amazing example for me and continues to be everyday. I am forever grateful for everything that he has done for me and eternally grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such a great dad. I love you, Dad! I know I´m a day late, but I hope that you had a wonderful birthday. I won´t miss the next one! We went to Lota today and went to a national park there. It was beautiful! Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Elder Reynolds

Week 66

Week 65

Week 64

This was a great week! I turned 24 on the 16th and President Bluth and his wife cooked a huge breakfast for me and my companions. It was a lot of fun. My great-grandson in the mission just got here this week. What I mean by that is that the missionary I trained trained a missionary, who is now training another missionary. His name is Elder Davies. He is a great guy. We had some more conferences this week. They never end haha. Vanesa Silva is progressing a lot and now has a baptismal date for the 7th of November!    It´s amazing what the Spirit can do to change the lives of so many. She has a lot of family problems, but has found that the gospel helps her to overcome them and to always have a positive attitude, understanding that trials and difficulties are necessary for our progression here in this life. Have a great week!

Elder Reynolds

Week 63

It was another busy week with a lot of traveling due to the conferences, but I had a lot of fun. We are working well in our own sector, too. We are teaching someone named Vanesa. She is awesome and is progressing a lot. She has sincere desires to come closer to God and is already seeing and feeling the changes that the gospel brings. I love the mission so much. Seeing people make changes in their lives and feeling the love of the Lord is the greatest thing I could ask for. I am so grateful for this experience. Some missionaries in the conference, those going home, shared their testimonies and it make me really sad thinking that someday my mission will end. Obviously I miss my family, but I have grown to love everything about the mission and all the friends I have made here in this country. I have never grown so much in my life and it´s hard realizing that it doesn't last forever. BUT, there is still a lot to be done!

Elder Reynolds

Week 62

This week was crazy! We traveled to the south of the mission to do a series of conferences. We started in Temuco and did three conferences there. After that, we went up to Angol and finished off the fourth conference of the week there. All week I was able to work in different sectors and get to know more missionaries. It was an amazing experience, but very tiring. The countryside here is so beautiful. I have been able to grow a lot here in the office. It really has helped me to stop thinking about myself. There are so many people that we need to and are able to help. It is a huge blessing. All week I shared my conversion story with the missionaries in the hopes that it would help them to understand why they are here. What we do is so important. The gospel changed me so much, and being able to think about that some more has helped me to be even more grateful for Christ and what He did for me. He gave me the power that I needed to overcome the sadness and emptyness that I felt and brought light and hope into my life. There is no greater happiness than feeling what He did for me. I can feel it everyday as I teach this gospel and as I work to improve. Everyone deserves that opportunity. I am sure that there is nothing more important that the gospel. If we put that first, we won´t need to stress about the other things because the Lord provides. He always has and He always will.

Elder Reynolds

Week 61

This first week as an assistant has been crazy. We took all of the missionaries who finished their missions to the airport and, just after that, 27 new missionaries arrived and we were able to welcome them. We took them around the office for the day and helped them get everything ready and the following day they met their new companions. My new companions are Elder Anderson, from Utah, and Elder Paris, from Chile. I participated in my first conference as an assistant. It was a fun experience. I still really don´t have any idea what I´m doing, but I´m sure that the Lord is there to help me in every moment, as long as I trust in him and do all that I can. We went to the Andes today. It was absolutely beautiful. It is incredible what the Lord has created. I am so grateful for all that He has done and continues to do.