It was a Holly, Poly Christmas‏

I figured out how to neatly format some of my poems into a little picture with the mission's logo on it. It's typically red, but I thought I'd make it green this time around just to see how it would look. I'll send it attached with this email.


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! We were blessed to get some snow here in Surrey... but only on December 27th, so it just barely missed Christmas!


This Christmas was indeed a Holly, Poly Christmas. I say Poly in reference to the number of Polynesian families that we visited this week and the abundance of food which they gave us. We've been eating a lot of food that I don't know how to spell, and it seems that we will not be going hungry at all this week.


The week was filled with carolling, fun, and food. We even had a conference call with the zone to read Luke 2. I just love the Surrey zone so much! We are on fire! We just hit our monthly baptismal goal for the 3rd month in a row, and we had multiple companionships hit the Standard of Excellence this week!


Love y'all!

Elder Reynolds

2nd Christmas as a missionary

The Hunters

The following poem is one that I wrote for the Hunter's, a senior missionary couple who will complete their mission in a couple of weeks. I've been able to serve alongside the Hunter's for almost 6 months now:


The prophet Jeremiah once foretold

The Lord would send the Hunters and fishers.

You heard the call and came up to the cold

And bid farewell to friends and well-wishers.

Dear Hunters, how we've loved your presence here,

But Canada Vancouver won't forget

The service you have rendered us this year,

And so our hearts will always be tight-knit.

Wherever you are called to serve our God,

You'll always be a part of Delta Squad.


Anywho, Merry Christmas everybody! Also, a happy Winter Solstice! It is crazy to already be in the second Christmas of my mission; surely the calendars lie to me this season, because I cannot conceive it to be the end of December already.

Today is going to prove to be a very busy P-Day, and a busy week, so thoughts today are a little unorganized. It was a wonderful week of miracles; we had another fantastic zone meeting, went on exchanges with the Assistants, sang in our Sacrament meeting, and set a date for baptism with one of our friends over the phone last night.

Here's a couple of great quotes that I've received this week:


"When life hits you with a wave of stress, pick up a surfboard."

"Success isn't what's etched on a chart. Success is what's etched on your heart."

"Sometimes God parts the Red Sea, and sometimes He gives you strength to swim."

Love you all! Merry Christmas!

Surrey 1st District

Surrey Zone

Torches

I didn't write the following poem. This comes from a talk by Vaughn J. Featherstone:


The God of the great endeavor gave me a torch to bear.
I lifted it high above me in the dark and murky air.
Straightway with loud hosanas the crowd acclaimed its light,
And followed me as I carried my torch through the dark and starless night.
'Til mad with people's praises and drunken with vanity,
I forgot it was the torch that drew them and fancied they followed me.
And my arm grew sore and weary upholding the shining load,
And my tired feet went stumbling over the hilly road.
I fell with the torch beneath me, in a moment the flame was out.
But lo, from the throng a stripling sprang forth with a mighty shout,
Caught up the torch as it smoldered and lifted it high again,
'Til fanned by the winds of heaven it fired the souls of men.
As I lay alone in the darkness, the feet of the trampling crowd,
Passed over and far beyon me, their praised proclaimed aloud.
And I learned in the deepening shadow this glorious verity,
'Tis the torch the people follow, who'ere the bearer be.


I've thought a lot about this poem this week; we've been working hard to prepare for our upcoming zone meeting on Wednesday and praying often for how we can lift our zone. It's important to remember that the people follow the "torch" and not Elder Asi and I.


This week was very very busy. It was transfers, meaning we spent a ton of time in the car. We drove to and from the airport, the ferries, the mission office. But over 300 kilometers later, each missionary was where they needed to be. We also got to go on splits with some of the brand new missionaries, which was wonderful!


I hate to cut it short, but time is always short!


Love you bye!


-Elder Reynolds

Pictures

Apparently Elder Asi caught a picture of me making oatmeal at a homeless shelter

At the Christmas Party