"I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here!"‏

Only got a few minutes today because there's a few extra things that need to be done. Our basement suite is undergoing some renovation, so it's been a bit of a different P-Day.

Life in Burnaby, the big city! Well, not THE big city; that's Vancouver. But Burnaby is the city right next door to Vancouver, and it's almost as big. Not to mention that we have the Metrotown Mall, the second largest mall in Canada!

Elder Walker and Elder Ushio have been a real treat to be companions with. Elder Ushio is from Japan, and he is so cool! His English is also coming along very well. Elder Walker comes from the sweet peaceful valleys of Lehi, Utah.

Love y'all!

On the Road Again!‏

"Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear
But with joy wend your way
Though hard to you this journey may appear
Grace shall be as your day
'Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive
Do this and joy your hearts will swell
All is well! All is well!"

The first verse of perhaps my favorite hymn. If I have trouble sleeping, I just think through the lyrics of the hymn and I'm asleep before the end of the final verse. When times get rough, a quick hum of a verse can get me through any day.

This week is transfer week. I'll be hopping on a plane tomorrow morning to get to a city named Burnaby, a large city across the river from Surrey. We have to pack, clean, and make travel plans for the zone. Next week, I'll update on the new area, new zone, and new companions!

-Elder Reynolds

At the Driving Range

Accountability!‏

I can't wait for Sunday nightIt makes me want to sing!
At 9 o'clock,
The planners come out,
The telephone rings,
What is it about?
It's time to account!


That was just a little children's song I threw together. Each Sunday night, we call our mission leaders to report our results for the week. It's an activity that I've been doing for some time now, so it was about time to pay a tribute to our Sunday nights.


What a week it has been! With Victoria Day this past weekend, there have been a lot of vacationers out in the local lakes. We've felt to dedicate some of our efforts more toward the outlying areas of Prince George. We've met a lot of people out in the middle of nowhere, many people that have never met missionaries. The people out there work on what we call "Caribou Time." That is, they don't have anything to do, so some people are willing to just sit down with you for hours. We can't spend hours per person, so we've been working to balance talking with as many people as possible and spending quality time with each person we meet.


On one of these old roads in an area we call "The Sticks," we meet a pretty friendly grizzly bear. Fortunately we were protected by our furry security guards; in the Sticks, everybody owns a dog, and nobody keeps them on a leash. So as we tracted, we would befriend these guard dogs so that we could meet the people there. Well, some dogs liked us too much, and by the end of it we had a posse of 5 large dogs following us. There was no fear of bears that day!

A picture of some of the dogs:






-Elder Reynolds

Mother's Day Weekend‏

My dear mother, I must apologize.
I've not been keeping all of your advice.
I've talked to some strangers
Stayed up past eight,
Had sleepovers with friends
And never once had a date
The mission has a way of changing me
From everything that you raised me to be. :)


Sort of a tongue-in-cheek tribute to my mom, in response to the past Mother's Day.


This week we flew down to Richmond for a big missionary meeting. On the flight down, we were blessed to have the sassiest flight attendant I've ever met. It kept the flight interesting. The meeting itself was fantastic, and President Burt asked me to conduct the Accounting Session; it's a 20-minute portion in the meeting when each zone leader and sister training leader stands up to account for the work of their zone in the previous month. It was very humbling to stand before such wonderful missionaries to lead discussion on their work, offering praise where possible and correction when necessary.

This week, we will be preparing for zone meeting, which is always a great but busy endeavor. We need to convey not only the information that President Burt has given us, but also the great love and Spirit that he brings to each of the missionaries.


I'll let you know how it goes!


-Elder Reynolds

View from Teapot Mountai

From the Drive to Richmond‏

May!

What are the odds
Out of trillions of stars
So very far,
We found the Sun?

What are the odds
That millions of codes
Lined up and showed
The poems that I've begun?

What are the odds
That among the whole Earth
The place of your birth
Was planned by someone?

What are the odds
And what are the chances
Of all circumstances
These things have been done?

What if I said
That there was a plan
For each woman and man
With a prize to be won?

What if part of that plan
Was to find rest
From Hell's evil test
Through the Holy Son?

What are the odds
Out of trillions of souls
With individual roles,
That He will forsake none?

No matter the odds,
The scriptures ring clear
To each ear that will hear:
God loves us, every one.

Welcome into the month of May! There's the poem, just as promised from last week!


This past week we made the drive out to Burns Lake for exchanges (about 3 hour drive), then had our very first Skype District Meeting. We will likely be doing more of those from now on, which is exciting! On the way back from Burns Lake, we had to stop in Vanderhoof to clear out an apartment that will no longer be used by missionaries. When we made it back to Prince George, we took my first trip to the dump; there's a special feeling with carelessly chucking large furniture into a large metal bin.


To relate a brief spiritual experience this week, we received a phone call from a less-active member who told us that his brother was in the hospice and about to pass away. Apparently it seemed that the brother had been fighting his passing for about a week, though the family and doctors were certain that he should have already died. We were asked to go and pray with the brother and his family.


We received another phone call that evening, and we were told that the brother had passed away just a few hours after our visit and prayer. It was wonderful to help this man at least feel comforted in his progression through the Plan of Salvation.


Until next week!

 

Another Transfer, Another Tripanionship‏

So... I had a poem this week, I promise. But I left it at the apartment today. Now I know that's one of the most common excuses not to turn in your homework, but I mean it this time.


Transfers have, as they've always done, come and gone! I remain here with my companions Elder Nielsen and Elder Dunn in beautiful Prince George.Elder Nielsen is from Logan, Utah, and Elder Dunn is from Ogden, Utah. It's been a while since I've had a Utah companion, so I get to catch up now by having 2.


Today, we went with the Elders in the other ward on a hike up to Teapot Mountain, which is officially the furthest north I've ever been. That's up on the 54th parallel (latitude). For reference, my church in Houston, Texas is on the 30th. Bad news is, I don't have the pictures with me...


Other bad news is we got back into town late, so we're running behind today, so gotta go! Expect pictures and poems next week!


-Elder Reynolds

The Three Nechakites‏

Making travel plans

No poem time on P-Day

Enjoy a haiku


As the above haiku states, transfers are upon us this week, and we are again given the charge to oversee the travel plans for the zone. We have a good chunk of our zone that has changed this month, so we got a lot to do! (Mom note: He will be staying in Prince George, and will be getting two new companions.)


In the meantime, here's a picture of the temple from our last trip to Richmond.

Elder Reynolds