Surrey Zone on FIRE‏

(The Desert, Part 1)
Stumbling along the desert trail, I collapse beneath my load.
The sun is unforgiving on the dry, desolate road.
My shoulders burdened with a yoke of sin and grief and pain,
My feet worn down and blistered, and my energy now drained.
As I fall to the ground, I hear quite a sound that shattered the deafened sky,
But soon I could see it was just lonely me that had helplessly started to cry.
I could see my footprints which started afar, following always behind,
But I still cannot see nor even believe in the end that I thought I could find.
So I lay in the sand and I taste the thick dust that my feet kicked up in the air,
And my tears roll down my sorrowful soul as I sink further into despair.
All that I have is hollow desperation,
I just pray there is someone to offer consolation.
When quite like a flash, I felt a firm hand
Lifting me up to stand in the sand.
(Part 2 to come next week)


My dear friends, I would have you all know that the Surrey Zone is on FIRE!!! God has showered an abundance of blessings upon this beloved zone, particularly within the past week. Our mission has a "Standard of Excellence," a set of weekly goals that each companionship is invited to constantly strive for. There's really not any award for hitting the Standard; its purpose it simply to make us all stretch and improve. This week, 6 out of the 11 companionships in Surrey hit the Standard of Excellence! The highest that the zone has achieved since the Standard was established was 4. Not only that, but the Surrey 3rd Ward just witnessed the wedding and baptism of a wonderful couple. Surely, these were the blessings of a loving Heavenly Father, because I know that there's no way we could have done this without him.


The missionaries in the Surrey Zone are just as remarkable as the people we teach. I've never felt so much unity with my peers; I trust each and every one of these missionaries, and I'd die for any of them. We are all a part of such a wonderful work, and we all recognize why we are labouring here. This time is such a blessing.


I also feel it a sacred privilege to have spent my entire 19 year-old life in British Columbia. Today, as I turn 20, I can only look forward with wide-eyed anticipation for what the year holds. This time, I will not be spending an entire year as a full-time missionary, so I do not know what I'll run into next.


I would like to briefly relate to you all an experience we had yesterday that strengthened my testimony that God is truly in every detail:


Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go on splits with some members of the Priests' Quorum (the 16 year-old young men). These priests had never been out with missionaries before, so they were a little nervous; Elder Asi and I wanted to make sure that they had a good experience. We had two appointments scheduled for 1pm, and we intended to split up and take a priest to each of the lessons. I dropped off Elder Asi and his priest at their lesson, but soon discover that the lesson set for Rayven and I had fallen through. Well, we neglected to make an effective back-up plan... so we decided to go with our 2pm plan, which was to see a mormon.org referral named Richard. Richard was not home, so we called him; he said he wouldn't be available until about 6pm. So now I'm running out of ideas of what to do with this priest, so we decide to go and introduce ourselves to some of Richard's neighbours.


We met some very nice people on the street, and even met a family that wants us to come back on Saturday. After a while, we see that it's just past 2pm and we need to pick up Elder Asi. We get in the car and start to drive away, turn the corner, and we see a man waking down the street. In a desperate attempt to impress Rayven, I roll down my window and start talking with this man. I offer him a mormon.org card, which he takes and says "I think I requested you online." I asked, "Are you Richard?" and he responded affirmatively. So I pulled over, we hopped out, and we taught Richard the Restoration on the side of some random country street. He agreed to come to church, read the Book of Mormon, pray, and accepted a date to be baptized!


Everything we had done that day, including the cancelled appointment, was God's way of leading us to Richard, who was prepared to hear the gospel. God is in every detail.


Love you all! Shout-out to my mom, who should receive the real recognition on my birthday; after all, she did all the work those 20 years ago.


-Elder Reynolds



(Birthday pictures sent from a member)










Snow ball fight (Shane on the left)





Ward party:

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