A New Year!

Happy New Year!

As seems to be too often the case, time for emailing today is going to be pretty rushed, and I didn't have the time this week to write a weekly poem this time around. So... not the best start for emailing in the new year.

BUT it was perhaps one of the greatest weeks in the mission field! We had 5 of our friends at church with us on Sunday, and we've been teaching more than we've ever been before. We hit the mission Standard of Excellence for 3 weeks in a row, which surely could only be done by the grace of God; there's no way that we can do this work of ourselves.

Yesterday, we attended a large Polynesian party in the ward. The highlight of the feast was of course the whole roast pig. I can now understand why Polynesians are always so massive. The foods of the islands are just loaded with protein.

We had snow again this morning, so morning exercise was a lot of fun!


It has been such a privilege to spend the entirety of 2015 in the service of the Lord, and especially to be here with President and Sister Burt.


I will try to write a poem next week and make more time for emailing. There's just a lot of administrative stuff that needs to be done each week on the computer.

-Elder Reynolds




Snow in Surrey!





(Not sure what this picture is about... make your guesses!)

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

Christmas in Surrey!

The rest of the song, to the tune of "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer"

We just got rejected on the doorstep

Tracting house to house on Christmas Eve

He can say there's no such thing as Jesus,

But me and my companion, we believe.

We had planned to teach a lesson

But our member didn't show.

The investigator called us,

And said "For the final time, the answer's no!"

Well, our hands are nearly frozen

And there's snow in my right sock.

But we've got to preach the gospel,

So let's go to the next door and try a knock.

We just got rejected on the doorstep

Tracting house to house on Christmas Eve.

He can say there's no such thing as Jesus,

But me and my companion, we believe.

We'll get through this winter weather

With a shiver and a cough.

And my companion's getting trunky,

But he doesn't know his girlfriend wrote him off!

(Wait what?!)(Nothing!)

So we went on to the next house

And gave this woman quite a fright.

I guess she got a little freaked out

By two guys dressed in black jackets late at night.

We just got rejected on the doorstep

Tracting house to house on Christmas Eve.

She can say there's no such thing as Jesus,

But me and my companion, we believe.

But in spite of the rejection

And each scoff and scream and scorn,

We know how we get salvation

For unto you this day, a Savior's born.

Christ descended from His kingdom

To the Earth that Christmas morn,

And we proclaim the gladsome tidings

That unto you this day, a Savior's born.

We just got rejected on the doorstep,

But we'll still rejoice; it's Christmas Eve!

You can say there never was a Savior,

But in the Surrey 1st ward, we believe!

We performed the song this past Saturday at the ward Christmas party, as well as the Tongan song we sang a couple of weeks ago. It was a wonderful Christmas party; we had a great turn out and many investigators in attendance (at least, more than we were expecting), which made Saturday amazing.

Transfer calls have come and gone. Elder Asi and I will be staying in the Surrey 1st Ward for another transfer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. One year ago while serving in Willoughby, I would often go on exchanges to Surrey; I find it such a blessing to be here in December to see all of the decorations I fondly remember from last year. This means I will also be spending Christmas, New Year's, and a 20th Birthday in Surrey this transfer, which I am really looking forward to!

This past week was filled with some amazing spiritual experiences, especially this weekend:

On Friday, we received a text from some distant missionaries about a man named Cody in the ICU at the Surrey Hospital. When we went to visit him, he wasn't looking too good. We talked with him for a bit, and he was pretty out-of-it; he was struggling to even keep his eyes open, was half-asleep, and look overall uncomfortable with the tubes in his veins. Cody was not a member of the church, and as we talked, we explained to him about priesthood blessings. He asked us to give him a blessing; I remember that in the blessing, he was blessed with strength to raise his son in righteousness, that these things would be for his good, and that he would be alright. The Spirit which we all felt was strong, and after we said "amen," we were surprised to find that Cody's eyes were wide open. Suddenly, he was fully attentive, and he expressed great gratitude as we left.

At church on Sunday, Elder Asi and I were honoured to be a part of the confirmation of Dorothy (a recent convert of the Sisters), and then we also gave a baby blessing to her daughter, Sadie, which was the first time I'd ever been a part of that. Again, the Spirit of God was nearly tangible.

After church, we'd received an impression that we needed to call one of the companionships in the zone. In our apartment, we have a whiteboard with the names and faces of each missionary in our stewardship. I stood in front of the whiteboard, said a quick prayer, and instantly knew that we should call the Sisters in the Delta ward. I wasn't really sure why we should call them, so I just shared an insight that I'd learned earlier that day and left it at that. Those Sisters texted us later that day, thanking us for following the Spirit because one of the Sisters really needed to hear that insight at that time. That strengthened my testimony that the Lord does work through us to strengthen the zone.

The insight I shared was regarding pride and humility. I find that there are 3 types of pride:

1) Self-elevating Pride ("I've received all these things, therefore I'm better than others")

2) Self-aspiring Pride ("I deserve to have all the things which that person has; I'm better than that person anyway.")

Previously, I'd always thought that the solution of these two forms of pride was simply to tear oneself down. If I started thinking I was better than others, I could just convince myself that I'm terrible so I could be more humble. However, that leads to the third type of pride:

3) Self-degrading Pride ("I'm way down here because I'm worthless and everybody else is better")

Each form of pride involves perceiving others as being on a different level than us. Humility is found when we begin to see that everybody is on the same level. That does not mean, however, that we pull ourselves down to be on everybody else's level; it means that we need to lift everybody else up to our level. For example, the thought "I'm better than you" would be more productively countered by "We are both great, though perhaps in different ways." That's what made the Savior the ultimate example of humility.

-Elder Reynolds

Patience is a Virtue

(To the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer")

We just got rejected on the doorstep,

Tracting house to house on Christmas Eve.

He can say there's no such thing as Jesus,

But me and my companion, we believe.

We had planned to teach a lesson,

But our member didn't show.

The investigator called us,

And said "for the final time, the answer's no!"

Well, our hands are nearly frozen,

And there's snow in my right sock,

But we've got to preach the gospel,

So let's go to the next door and try a knock.

We just got rejected on the doorstep,

Tracting house to house on Christmas Eve.

He can say there's no such thing as Jesus,

But me and my companion, we believe.

This Saturday is our ward Christmas party, and yesterday we were "volunteered" to sing "Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer" during the talent portion of the party. Well, that song isn't as missionary-esque as we would like, so I'm in the process of rewriting it. It isn't finished because I couldn't start until last night, but I'll send the full lyrics once it is done (and possibly the video if it is filmed).

This week, I'd like to briefly touch on the Christlike attribute known as Patience. I've learned a lot about patience this week as I've tried to study it out of Preach My Gospel.

There is a major difference between patience and complacency: To be complacent is to be apathetic, to not care. If something is bothering you, you can choose to be apathetic and accept the situation, not caring enough to try to change it. However, patience is hopeful endurance. Christlike patience is laced with Charity and Diligence. To be patient is still to care, work persistently, to do all that you can, but to avoid frustration, disappointment, and stress with a less-than favourable result. To be patient with cold weather does not mean giving up and staying inside; rather, it is to bundle up and endure.

When it comes to oneself, one can choose to be apathetic to faults and weaknesses, accepting mediocrity, or one can desire improvement and progression while being patient with setbacks and imperfections.

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

(Mosiah 24:15)

-Elder Reynolds