Week of Conferences!

Hello friends!

This week here in Madison was pretty good, we had a lot of really good things happen and it has felt like a rollercoaster of emotions so I will do my best to put it into words haha! So to start of the week we had a good p day playing basketball at the stake center with a ton of other missionaries, I have never seen so many at a church on p day before so that was a blast! Then we had FHE and we played capture the flag at this cool park right next to camp randall stadium and that was one of the coolest games of capture the flag I have ever played! Plus there were 2 non members there so that was super fun!

Tuesday we had a pretty regular day, we did a lot of contacting people, and then we had a lesson with the kid named Brennan! He just moved here for school from Arizona and then he reached out to our bishop saying he wanted to continue to learn more about the church because he had a few friends that were members back at home, so we got to teach him and he seems super ready! It was exciting!

Wednesday was also pretty normal, but this time we had a lesson in a restaurant called Salads Up... so it was good that we were able to have a lesson, but it was so hard to stay focused because the music in that place wasn't just like this subtle background music, it was in your face loud! Luckily they didn't play anything terrible, but it was still distracting. But we had the lesson with a girl named Kat, the sweet referral from California! So that was good, but hopefully next time we can do it in a place that isn't so distracting! Then we had institute and Brennan came and had already started reading the Book of Mormon so that was awesome, and then the whole class ended up bearing their testimony of the Book of Mormon and it was perfect for Brennan! So we are excited for him!

Thursday we didn't really have anything exciting happen.. We were getting a little sick of street contacting so we decided to go ahead and see what we could do to make things happen with some of the people in the area book. We were right next to this guy who had requested a bible like 2 years ago so we were like well, lets go see if he needs one! And he was home and let us in to share a bible with him! He wasn't interested in learning more but at least he got his Bible from 2 years ago...!

Friday we had zone conference and that took up pretty much the whole day! But it was really good! We had someone from the MTC visiting and he taught us how to work well with the members in our areas so that will be exciting to implement!

Saturday was a really good day! Turns out that there was a party at the institute building that we didn't know about so we had to adjust our schedule a little bit to adjust to what they were doing! It was good, and then we did our weekly planning and some street contacting! We also had stake conference so we took an uber to the stake center with our dinner appointment, that was a new experience! But good times!

Sunday we had another day of Stake Conference and then had an awesome dinner appointment! It was fun because we were able to go to the members house, but they live with their older sister who has kids, so it made for a good time because I miss little kids! There are never kids around in the YSA ward so it was new to see that! Then after dinner we tried to talk to some people but it has been getting dark faster which makes life a little bit harder for us all, so that was no fun! But overall a really good day! Also we saw the Oscar Meyer hot dog car so that was pretty neat!

Spiritual thought!
"Be Prepared" was the message that kept hitting me at zone conference and then at stake conference as well! Whether we are being prepared for general conference, missionary work, or anything else we need to be prepared! Spiritually, physically, mentally, etc.. Preparation brings us what we need! As we prepare ourselves for whatever we have ahead of us, the Lord promises to bless us for doing so!

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Reynolds

Miracles are happening!

So this week was pretty crazy, usually it would have been hard because we had transfers but we weren't getting transferred. Basically that means we don't have any meetings or anything so it is a long week sometimes. But this week went by super fast and it was super good! There was a lot of good stuff going on that we will get to eventually here, but we will start with last p day! We had a fiesta with the district that was super good! Then we had zone sports at a park right on the lake, and it was good but there were a million mosquitos so it got pretty annoying, still a good time though. So then we had a FHE activity at a members house that involved roasting marshmallows and some good stuff like that. It was interesting to sit around a fire in the shirt and tie and then realizing you have a week until you can do laundry again... oh well!

Then on Tuesday it was a pretty normal Tuesday haha. Not a lot really happened, we were able to do some street contacting and a lot of it!! It honestly was the longest day this week, and it wasn't too bad. We had a lot of good interactions with people and it made for a good time! We also had the first dinner that felt like a normal dinner appointment again. We had dinner at one of the members of the bishopric's house, so that was interesting! It was kinda like being in a family ward again!

Wednesday we had a surprise district council. Usually it wouldn't happen on transfer week, but it did this time because no one in our district got transferred. So I called President to see if we could have a district council and make something effective happen with member missionary work! Turns out that it worked! Well indirectly... Later that same day we ran into a member on campus and he invited us into his building to meet his classmates that he really wants to share the Gospel with. A couple of them are super funny and it was a good experience to randomly be introduced to a few non members by a member!

Thursday was really interesting. We didn't have a lot planned, so we ended up doing our street contacting for the majority of our time, but decided that we would try to bus to a few members that don't come to church. The problem with that is that we don't have a car, and busing around this wonderful city takes a little longer than you might want it to! So we only went and tried to visit one person because that is all we really had time for! But then on the bus ride back we had a couple of really cool experiences where we were able to introduce some more people to the Gospel, so it turned out to be really good for us!

Friday was one of those surprise miracles that seem to happen occasionally... aka every other week here in Madison! But we did some service at  a food pantry early on in the day, and then later on we did some finding and then we had our dinner appointment and this is where things get crazy. So we start out our dinner with a member named Jared, then about 2 minutes after we walk in to the building another member, Joseph, texts us and says he is outside, so we go and let him in, and the other member invites him to stay. Then the Joseph invited one of the people we are teaching named Son to come and he showed up like 30 minutes later. So basically we stayed at the institute building for the next like 2 hours and taught a lesson to Son afterwards. It was for sure the best lesson we have had with him yet, so that was really cool! He is starting to actually believe in God and act on the promptings he receives!

Saturday was a pretty normal Saturday... except for the fact that BYU played Wisconsin, so the entire day we ran into just as many members as we did non members.... so that was actually really fun! We met a lot of people from all over different places! We even ran into a member that I absolutely love from Appleton! So it was really good until BYU won... then we were scared for our lives. People would come up and ask us, "are you BYU fans?" At first I was telling people not really, but then I ended up just giving up and saying yeah... it was a pain. So we also were told a few really mean words after things happened. But it wasn't too bad! I honestly thought it would be worse when I found out that BYU had won. The moment we realized people wouldn't want to talk to us was when we walked past a man and said "How's it goin?" And he replied with, "Not too great" in a very salty tone... so that was interesting. Also some random members took us out for ice cream when we were walking around after the game! So that was really cool, people are so nice!!

Sunday was really good! This is when more miracles start to happen! So we had ward conference, and that meant we had to start earlier than normal for ward council and all of the meetings, so we did, and then we had sacrament meeting and Son came for the first time in a while! It was really good to see him there, also this girl that just moved from Oklahoma is not a member either was at church as well! She had been meeting with missionaries and her friend was a member of the church down there and she seems really cool too! She is working at the same place as a lot of the members here so that was good for her to get to see! Then Son texted his friend Joseph and asked if he could get baptized... so we aren't sure how serious he is, but he said he wants to get baptized soon!! So that will be awesome!

So if any of you doubt that God is there for you, know that He is there. He does care for you, and He does want you to be happy! It may take a long while, but eventually God will bless you beyond what you can even imagine!

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Reynolds

A couple of surprise texts and pics

Here are a couple of surprise texts and pics that were sent from Wisconsin!

Ran into these cute boys at the chapel on our walk into the BYU Wisconsin game and since I'm a missionary mom too I thought you might enjoy this!

Saw your boys today!  Bought them some ice cream!  They are healthy and happy! 

Love,

Maralee Muhlestein from Springville, UT

"Your boys are truly the best!  My husband and I have 2 missionary sons our serving!  I so wanted to give your boys a great big hug!

Transfer Week!

Hello all!

This week was super good! But I'll start with the great news from transfers! Elder Winborg and I will be staying here on campus for the next transfer! We are both super stoked and look forward to the opportunity to serve the people here in Madison! Honestly it has been a rough transfer, but this last week made anything hard that happened soooo worth it! Sometimes the Lord just really wants to help us, and that is what he did for Elder Winborg and me!

So I will start off the week with the p day report! So we had p day on labor day, which was interesting because that meant that we had to email from our phones and that we had to deal with a lot of things being closed. So we decided to go to lunch in downtown, and the buses are on a holiday schedule so they like never run... But we got lucky and right as we went to leave there was a bus coming by. So we went to lunch with the sisters in our district and that was fun! Then the place that we wanted to go to was closed... So we ended up going to Ian's pizza, which is super super good! They have Mac and cheese pizza, which may not sound good, but it was fantastic! Then the rest of p day we really just kinda chilled at the institute and played some ping pong and pool! It was good times!

Tuesday was a pretty normal day, nothing too intense, I really don't remember much about it haha! We had a long day of street contacting, but our dinner appointment took us to noodles and company, so that was good!

Wednesday we had district council and then I went on an exchange to the Spanish area with elder Rollo! He is a super good missionary and fun to be around! We got to go and play soccer with some of the members and people they are teaching and that was a blast!

Thursday I was still with elder Rollo and we met some crazy people! So first of all we had a great lesson, and then we started knocking doors in the area and wow, these people were nuts. One of them tried to tell us we were wrong, at the end he didn't say anything about us being wrong but he just kept talking forever. So that was interesting. Then on the way back to the apartment we met this guy that had converted to Islam and he started telling us that some sort of weird math thing proved that Islam was God's chosen religion or something... I was very confused, but it was good!

Friday school is in session now, which means there are a ton of people in one place. So there used to be a ton of people but they were all somewhat spread out and not always on the same schedule... Not anymore! Now everyone is one place at one time and it is super hectic, but that's alright! It's been fun! Also on Friday we had a miracle. So we were street contacting and we go to get some more cards to hand out and we have a text from a random number. Turns out there is this girl from California that moved here for school and potentially wants to get baptized!!! So we will start meeting with her on a week or so, we have called her and she said she wants to meet with us but has been really busy with school and interviews and all other stuff, but we are super excited!

Saturday was a football game here in Madison, which means it is super crazy! But we had a lesson with a guy we met the other day names Zane! He was super relaxed and said he would still like to learn more, so we look forward to meeting with him again this next week!

Sunday was a good day! Honestly we didn't have time to do much because we had a lot of things going on. So we had church, and then an appointment with a member, then lunch with a member, then our studies and then a potluck and the devotional for the face to face event that was going on! So that pretty much wrapped up our day!

Overall it was an awesome week, and it was really capped off with the text and the whole situation with Friday! So we are super excited to have some more people to teach!

Spiritual thought!
I have been reading the new book published by the church called the saints! If you haven't read it I strongly encourage it! It's super good! But it tells the story of Oliver Cowdry and Parly Pratt were teaching the Deleware native Americans about the Book of Mormon! They had this super great experience with them and then the government didn't allow for them to teach anymore. Sometimes in life when things seem to be going great and then all of a sudden there is a new road block that gets in the way. That doesn't mean that we have to give up, and that doesn't mean we have to try to do something against the law. Oliver and Parly didn't keep teaching them, but they tried to get an official teaching license from government so they could do so. I don't know where the story ends, but I love that just because something seemed to get in their way they didn't stop. They worked to find another way within the limitations that they were given. We should all strive to find ways to pursue what we want to do!

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Reynolds

Madison Is Busy!

Hello friends and family!

 So this week was pretty good! It started off with a great P day where I let a sister missionary cut my hair for the first time on my mission. It was scary, but it turned out all right! Then we had some really good basketball and then after P day was over we went to dinner at Ian's Pizza! It was some of the best pizza I have ever had! So thankful to the members willing to feed us.

 Then on Tuesday, we had a super awesome day! Well it started off pretty normal with our street contacting. Then we were able to teach son a lesson, and we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It went super well, or so we thought. And he seemed to really have the desire to know if what we are teaching is true. The best part of today was after that when Joseph and son took us to Chick-fil-A! So that was probably one of the greatest dinners of my mission. Chick-fil-A is not very common in Wisconsin so I haven't had it until this day!

 So then on Wednesday we have District Council and I go on exchanges with Elder Robert. So while we are in District Council, son sends us a text that says he might not want to meet with us anymore.  So we have this great lesson on Tuesday, and then Wednesday it seems like he doesn't want to meet...  So  updates will be coming on him later in the week as well. It was super cool and we were able to do a lot of finding in their area. He is a Spanish Elder so I didn't really understand anything that was going on. Then we had some awesome activities that night with the ward where we got to play soccer! There was even a non-member there! So that was super cool! I haven't played soccer like that since I left, and it was refreshing to be able to play again!

So today I came back to campus after exchanging, and suddenly there are like 300 times more people than were on campus before. It's pretty crazy what the new students moving in can do to change this campus! So now we have millions of people to talk to, I guess only 500,000 on campus... But that's a lot of people in a very small space! Then later on Thursday we are going back to the Institute Building and this guy stops us and asks if that is our church, we say yes and he goes on to tell us how he's homeless and needs help. So we let him come into the church and get water and we talked to him for a while. Turns out he might sign up for one of the self-reliance programs! It was pretty sweet.

Friday we woke up and had to get ready really fast so we could go to Oshkosh for the three to six week training! It's basically a big meeting for the trainees and their trainers to go and learn more. It was really cool to be able to learn from the trainings and get to see a lot of missionaries that I have got to know in the past! My last companion Elder Raymer was there and we can't take a serious picture. I also was able to see sister Nelson again. Then afterwards we went to this hole in the wall restaurant in Fond du Lac with some other missionaries from the Madison area!

Saturday rolls around and we all know that nobody is on campus on Saturday. So we did a little bit of street contacting and saw a little bit of success! But then we were at our dinner appointment and it was super bomb! But we walk out and we have a text from son that says hey can we meet in 15 minutes... So we pretty much ran back to the Institute so we could teach him. Turns out that he is very stressed with school and other things and wants to wait to put forth the effort to find if the Book of Mormon is true. So we basically said that we still want to be his friend and that he's welcome to come to activities and to church, but for the time being we won't push him to find his answer. He will come around eventually, just not yet.

Then on Sunday we had a great sacrament meeting and a pretty cool dinner appointment that was super far away! Luckily we got a ride, but then it was raining really hard on the way back. The flooding situation is only going to get worse, luckily the water is not coming all at once right

Spiritual thought:
I really love the hymn "Lord I would follow thee"  220. We sang it on Sunday and the line that talks about pausing to help another and finding strength beyond your own is pretty much the description of what a good missionary does. I love that Jesus Christ is the example for all of us to find that strength beyond our own. Life is hard but through Jesus Christ we are able to make it through!

 I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Reynolds