Stand Still

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." (Doctrine and Covenants 123:17)

The above scripture has proven to be a summary of our past week. Elder Yue and I have been working hard, and though we've not been perfect, we have tried to do "all things that lie in our power." Our week was particularly focused on a good friend of ours named Danny; he lives in Enderby, which is a 30 minute drive from our house, but we were doing all that we could to teach him and serve him, particularly as we prepared him for baptism. 

In preparation for the baptismal service, we had to make a lot of phone calls, design a program, do some paperwork, and prepare music. Then we invited as many people as we could, member and non-member, and had to travel to Kamloops for some white baptismal clothing. The baptismal service was to take place right after church; when we arrived at church, we shut off our phone, and all we could do was "stand still, with the utmost assurance."

Sure enough, the service was wonderful. We had a lot of people in attendance, and the Spirit which was felt was wonderful. After his baptism, Danny said "I feel great! I can't really describe this feeling, but it's really strong. It's kind of like the feeling I had when I first met you guys; it's just overwhelming."

Following the baptism, Angie, one of our friends that has been coming to church pretty consistently, asked us for a priesthood blessing. Following the blessing, she also said that she was feeling something her heart that she could not describe, and she was in tears. We will be meeting with her again this Thursday.

It is notable that Christ is referred to as a Shepherd, as opposed to a sheep-herder. A sheep-herder drives the flock from the rear, while the Shepherd leads in the front, beckoning to his sheep. Remember, sometimes you have to leave the ninety and nine to go save the one.

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Have a great week!

-Elder Reynolds

Pictures!!

My sweet missionary son!! 

Sunnybrae

Margaret Falls

Elder L. Tom Perry‏

As some of you may be aware, Elder Lowell Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles passed away on May 30, 2015 of Thyroid Cancer. He lived to the age of 92, and though his death came as no surprise, the news of his passing hit me much harder than I thought it would. It is important for each of us to reflect upon his final words to us regarding the importance of family:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/why-marriage-and-family-matter-everywhere-in-the-world?lang=eng

What a wonderful blessing it is that the Lord, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, has given us living prophets and Apostles to give us counsel in these troubled times. Anybody that watches the news can see that the need for such inspired men is greater than it ever was before, and I am grateful to be in this service where I can bring that light to others. 

As we see at the end of Acts 1, another must be called to fill the place of the Apostle, and I know that whoever is chosen will be chosen by inspiration from God. Keep the Perry family in your prayers, but more importantly, pray that we may never forget the example he set for each of us. May we all commit to follow Christ at all times, in all things, and in all places.

https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/joy-for-us-and-others-comes-by-following-the-savior?lang=eng

-Elder Reynolds

May We Remember May‏

May we remember the month of May,

May the Spring fight the Winter's decay,

"May the 4th," you could say,

Or "Happy Mother's Day,"

May we all see that bright sunny ray

That says to us all, "All is well today."

And May I say without further delay,

"Merry Mayday to all, and to all a good June."

This is the last time I email you this May, so I thought I would treat you with some poetry. As you can see, the coming of June really throws everything off!

I hate to admit it, but it took me far too long to come up with that, so my time today is rather short. This week, I gave my first baptismal interview to a truly amazing young man named Max, and he is to be baptized in the coming weeks. Danny is also progressing extremely well; he's not had a beer in 11 days and he's been praying for the strength to forgive the grudges he has against his brother. It's been wonderful to the the transformation within him as he works to live the Gospel.

We've been seeing a good amount of rain recently, which really helps lower the wildfire danger. 

I was able to email pictures this week! Enjoy the pictures of Margaret Falls!

I really hope you enjoy the poem, because the rest of this email has had to be really rushed. I'll write more next week! Enjoy the remainder of May!

-Elder Reynolds

9

Several years ago, an animated film titled "9" was released in theaters. The trailers for the movie often featured music by the band Coheed & Cambria. However, upon viewing the film, many people were disappointed to discover that the movie did not have any music by Coheed & Cambria.

In a way, this event in cinema history is a reflection of my mission. This week, I'll have been on my mission for 9 months, and in all that time I have yet to hear a song by Coheed & Cambria. Fortunately for me, I'm not actually a fan of their music!

This week has been wonderful! We are currently teaching more people than ever, we have a baptism coming up in June for a man named Danny, and tomorrow I'll be giving my first baptismal interview to a really cool guy named Max in Vernon!

In celebration of Elder Yue's birthday, some recent converts in the Burnaby Chinese ward made the 5 hour drive to Salmon Arm to spend the weekend with us! We had Thai food on Saturday, they came to church with us on Sunday, and today we went to Sunnybrae and went hiking around the beautiful Margaret Falls. I took a lot of pictures, but I forgot my camera today. Expect pictures next week!

Yesterday, Elder Yue and I taught the Relief Society lesson at church. The lesson was entitled "The Power of the Word," and it focused on the importance of daily scripture study. Paul tells us that in our war with Satan, our greatest weapon is the "Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." (Ephesians 6:17). We are not defenseless and we are certainly not helpless against the great opposition which may come our way. We've been given our offensive weapons, and all we have to do to use it is read a little bit each day. It's that simple! Alma taught his son Helaman about the importance and simplicity of daily scripture study, and he concludes by saying, "do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way." (Alma 37:46)

Have a wonderful week!

-Elder Reynolds

May 16!

Greetings everybody! This Saturday, May 16th, is Elder Yue's birthday. If you get the chance, his email is ngo.yue@myldsmail.net. Give him a birthday greeting, if you get the chance!

In honor of his birthday, I must tell of his heroism this week. On Thursday night, we were driving down the street when we noticed a car parked in a field a few feet from the road. There was a lot of smoking rising from the engine, and there was a man inside frantically waving at us. I was driving our car, so Elder Yue jumped out, I swung the car around, and we helped him out and turned off the ignition. Several seconds later, there were several other people there to help us support and calm the disoriented man. We then called an ambulance, and a short while later the officials were on the scene. We like to think that we were able to be somebody's angels that day.

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to Skype my family on Mother's Day, despite the crazy weather and the lost connection on their end. Please keep safe!

Transfer calls have come and gone, and Elder Yue and I will both be staying in Salmon Arm for another 6 weeks.

I don't have as much time to write this week, as we have a lesson in several minutes. Sorry! I'll write you all much more next week!

-Elder Reynolds

The Fourth will be with you. Always.

Happy Star Wars Day, my fellow humans! Or, as some would say, "May the 4th be with you!"

Now, having lived near Las Vegas, Nashville, and Dallas-Fort Worth, I've always considered myself to be a city-slicker. However, this past week, we've stacked wood, clipped and burned trees, roasted hot dogs over a fire, raked gravel, mowed several yards, and helped repair a fence for a horse pen. Needless to say, I think I'm beginning to see the charm of small towns and rural labor.

Spring is a beautiful time of year on the Shuswap Lake. The sunsets are gorgeous, and the green plants and active wildlife can make Salmon Arm a very serene place to be at times.

I've recently decided to attempt to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish. It has proven to be quite an undertaking, but has been extremely rewarding. I cannot really speak the language, but I remember enough from Spanish class that I can read it fairly well. As I progress and practice, I've had to refer back to the English version less and less. It's an interesting experience though, because it really makes me focus on the wording and meaning of every sentence. This morning, I was reading 1 Nephi 10, and Lehi's prophecies of the Savior hit me in a way that they never had before, probably because I just skim through it in English normally. When you study the scriptures, you really have to focus on every word, and not simply peruse. 

Does anybody happen to know any good "Knock-Knock" jokes? I've been trying to explain them to Elder Yue, but I can't think of any good ones to use as examples.

Remember, we must always be armed with "the [lightsaber] of the Spirit"

Enjoy "Revenge of the Fifth" tomorrow, or Cinco de Mayo, depending on what you celebrate.

-Elder Reynolds