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