Happy New Year!

Hey everyone, I hope all is well for each of you! This week here in the Madison area was pretty good! We had a lot going on with Christmas eve and then Christmas and all sorts of stuff going on! But it was good! On Tuesday we went over to some members homes for Christmas and that was super fun! The first members we went to were the Fackrells, and they had some good stuff they had gotten for Christmas that they allowed us to be a part of! So after we skyped home with them we had some competitions with the new toys they got. For example, they got this massive nerf bow and arrow and we competed to see who could shoot it the farthest! We also had a competition to see who could ride the new scooters the fastest (I won that one) but sadly I wasn't good enough with the bow and arrow to win that one. But it was such a good time! Then we went to the Rankins for dinner and we had some real delicious steaks! We also played some ping pong with them and it was really fun!  Oh, we also had a zone party, and everyone brought a ton of sweets and junk food... somehow we ended up being the ones to bring it home.. not good for us!

Wednesday was pretty normal, we did our weekly planning and the day felt pretty long, but then we also found a few people that could be interested in the future! So it was also like way warmer than it should have been and all the snow (so not very much) melted!

Thursday we thought we had interviews with president William's so we got ready for those in the morning and all that fun stuff, the we go to pick up the other elders and they were like really confused as to why we were picking them up.... well long story short we missed the message that said it was moved to Friday... so we went back to our area and did some good ol missionary work in the RAIN! yes it was raining in December... that means it's too warm and it's going to get cold way too fast! But oh well, it is about time!

Friday we had interviews and it snowed! There is actually a little bit of snow on the ground, and it's only supposed to snow more today and tomorrow so I'm excited! But interviews were good, president Williams always says the right things!

Saturday I had the blessing to be with Elder Purvis and we had a full day planned. Then during our first appointment at 11, 2 of our other appointments texted us and cancelled... so that was kinda rough, but we had 2 super good appointments! One of them was with the Tai family! They are doing so well, last week the 8 year old daughter threw out all their tea after we taught them the Word of Wisdom, it was awesome to see! I really enjoyed the day with Elder Purvis, it was a blast! We also met this cool couple tracting that hopefully we can get back in with and start teaching!

Sunday was the last 3 hour block I'll ever go to!! That was neat, and it was really good too! Like everything that was spoken seemed to be directed at me in Sacrament meeting, so that was good. Then we had some good lessons and it was just good!

Well I hope you all have a happy new year! And I hope that you have some resolutions to make your life even better than it already is!

Elder Reynolds

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This week was another good one here in Madison! I was out of my area for 2 days on exchanges with Hmong and with another set of English elders that bussed around Madison! So that was fun, and reminded me of my time spent in downtown madiosn a few months ago! But we had some really good things happen, and then on Saturday everything we thought was gonna be good went downhill real fast. So that was rough, but all the people that cancelled, are now rescheduled! So that is good that they didn't just drop us. Christmas eve was a good day! We went to this massive blood drive and a bunch of missionaries did service there and it was really fun! Then we had dinner at the cheesecake factory with some awesome members!! That was pretty much the highlights of the week! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Remember why we celebrate! Love

Elder Reynolds

Fackrell Family - Christmas Day pic and family who had Elder Reynolds and
 Elder Lewis over for fun and games and the Christmas Day Facetime.

text pic from the Mouille family - Madison 3rd Ward

ANDRA CAME TO CHURCH!

Well, if you didn't notice by the title of this email, we had a really cool experience yesterday with Andra coming to church. She is from Ghana and is crazy busy, but so humble and willing to learn of the gospel. Well we went over in Saturday night to teach them and the first thing she told us was that she got work off so she could come to church!  I was soooooo happy! It was great when she came too! All the members were so welcoming to her, and when she got up in the 3rd hour combined class to introduce herself she talked about how she is on a spiritual journey towards baptism! I was so hyped! Anyway, I'll tell you about the rest of my week now too!

So Monday was the average p day in Madison, which means a whole bunch of missionaries go to the church and play basketball. So that was fun! Then we did some setting up and prepping for zone conference on Tuesday! And that was pretty much the day! Oh, we also go to seminary on Monday mornings now, so that is a little bit of an early start. But its good!

Tuesday was zone conference. It was a spirit filled meeting! I really loved the trainings given, as we talked about going back to the basics of missionary work. We had trainings about using the Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, and then how we can be a little better each day. It was all good!

Wednesday I was with Elder Smith in exchanges. We were working in our area, that I had been in for one week at that time, and so I am still trying to figure out a lot.... so it was an interesting day, we did a good amount of finding, and had a dinner! We also had a few potential lessons but none of them held so that was kinda annoying.

Thursday was a normal Thursday, that means we weekly plan! Then we had an appointment with a returning member, and she forgot about it so that was kinda awkward. But we went in and talked to her about light the world! It was good!

Friday a bunch of appointments we had fell through.... so it was a little rough. But turned out to be better than some other days I have had! So we went tracting and it was pretty eventful. We met a really old lady that was nice at first and let us in, and then about half way into our conversation she started throwing our religion under the bus, so we bounced outta there pretty fast!

Saturday the highlight was for sure the lesson with the Tai family! We show up and the first thing she says to us is, I didn't read the BoM, but I am going to be at church tomorrow! So it was kinda a happy sad, but it was really cool for her to have made the sacrifices to get to church! I was excited!

Sunday we had church and it was a perfect sacrament meeting for the Tais! We had just taught the word of wisdom and then the whole meeting was about Commandments! Like literally I felt like one of the talks was directed specifically for them. It was so cool. Then the rest of the day was good. We had our studies, dinner, and then a little bit of time to follow up with some people that used to he taught.

So overall it was a good week here in Madison! I hope you all have a great week and a Merry Christmas!! Remember to light your family this week! If you haven't watched the video for week 3 of light the world you totally should. It's my favorite one!

Elder Reynolds

Elder Smith and Elder Reynolds on exchanges

Madison 3rd Ward

Well this week has been a pretty good week, it ended up feeling pretty long and we had a bunch of meetings and stuff going on. Turned into a really good few days here though! So the beginning of the week I was still over in Port Washington, and that was so hard to leave them. There are so many families and people in every area that I love, but Port Washington has a special place in my heart!

So Monday we spent the whole day down in Milwaukee with the zone leaders and the whole zone got together at the stake center to play sports and have a good time! It turned into a pretty fun P day! Then we got back to Port Washington and I started packing all my stuff... so that was pretty eventful, but not too bad.

On Tuesday we went and said goodbye to a lot of my favorite people. It was pretty sad to have only been there for 7 weeks. I had gotten to the point where I knew the area and was expecting to stay, so I was enjoying building relationships and suddenly it was gone. But anyway, we did some goodbyes, went and talked to Erv one last time, had a good dinner appointment and called it a night! I had to finish packing a decent amount of stuff....

Wednesday was transfer day! We had to leave about 8 am to get down to Milwaukee and be at the church on time for me to leave. I had to ride the transfer system for the first time in my entire mission! So basically from every zone a car leaves and brings all the people from that zone to Neenah, and then we all transfer our stuff to the car going back to our zone, and leave. So I rode up there, and then got to Madison around 2:30 or 3. Then we had to stay around at the church and wait for some other missionaries to get back to Madison that were driving directly from Milwaukee. So we didn't end up leaving the church until about 4, then we had to take stuff to the sisters and some other elders because it wouldn't fit in their cars and we had some extra space. So we went there and then to our dinner appointment and I recognized the guy who answered the door! It was pretty crazy, because I had met him when I was on campus, he works at the university. So that was kinda cool to see a face I knew right then! That was pretty much the day.

Thursday was a decent day as well. We had a lot of planning to do for our upcoming transfer, we have 7 exchanges in weeks,  which makes things pretty busy! But it will be good for us! Then we also went and tried to visit a few different people.  We also had a lunch and a dinner appointment and they both took us out. So I'm about to get real fat in this area. But it was good to get to see and know some members right off the bat!

Friday we spent the whole day in Oshkosh for MLC, mission leadership council, and that was pretty much it. It was a good meeting, spirit filled and motivating! Oh, we also had something pretty crazy happen when we got back. So the sisters call us and they are like, can you come give this guy a blessing, he is thinking about suicide. So we rushed over there and gave him a blessing. Hes not a member so that was pretty different. I have given few blessings to nonmembers, and it is always a special experience when you get to!

Saturday we had an appointment fall through in the afternoon, but then had a really cool lesson with the Tai family! They are from Ghana, and super prepared and ready for the gospel. The mom told us she was her ready to get baptized yet because she wanted to make sure she had time to serve after she committed. It was weird to me that she felt she wouldn't have time enough to serve. I mean she doesn't have any spare time, she is a single mom, who works two jobs and is going to school... so the fact that we get time to teach her is awesome! But anyway she is soo close, I'm excited about that family! Then we had a dinner appointment and that was pretty much it!

Sunday we had church and stuff in the morning, and then didn't even get time to do our studies and we had an appointment in Waunakee! It's like 10 minutes away from our apartment, but it's a super nice city! So that fell through and we had about an hour before dinner, so we went by a few people that missionaries had met before out there, and also met the Port family! They have been taught by a lot of missionaries, and everyone in the ward knows them and wants them to be baptized. But we were able to meet them and that was good for me! Then we had an awesome dinner with the Fackrells! It was a good time!

So it was a good week, despite leaving some of the coolest people of all time in Port Washington, I am excited to be in Madison and make some stuff happen!

Spiritual thought:  "the Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible"  -sacrament speaker.

That's all, hope you have a wonderful week! #LightTheWorld 

Elder Reynolds

7 Weeks Already?

Well this was a good week here in Port Washington, but honestly put me through a roller coaster of emotions. I will explain as we go through this, but in short I am getting transferred back to another area in Madison after only being here in Port for about 7 weeks... So I am pretty sad to go, its rough for me. But good things are ahead in Madison!

So to start off the week last Monday was an excellent P day! We were able to go down to Milwaukee and play some basketball with the zone as well as some card games, and lets just say I was on the top of my game at Scum! But it was fun, good times with some other missionaries! Then we had exchanges with the Hmong elders, so I was staying in Milwaukee! I was with Elder Green, who I have been on exchanges with before, and it was a good time!

So Tuesday I was with Elder Green for the whole day, and we were able to go and talk to a few Hmong people, and then we ended up going to the airport to pick up one of the new Hmong missionaries. They come in a week before transfers and I happened to be with the Hmong elders who were his companions for the last week so we got to go to the airport! That was a little bit of a weird experience! Then we had a super good dinner at Bel Air, a taco place, and called it a day!

Wednesday we had interviews with President Williams and since our district is so big that basically meant that we were there for the entire day.. so that kinda sucked, but it was good to spend some time with President and Sister Williams. This is also when the roller coaster starts happening. So President told me in my interview that he was looking at transfers and thinking that Elder Mecham and I would be staying together in Port for another transfer. He also told Elder Mecham that and so we are pretty excited about that!

Thursday was a pretty normal proselyting day, we did our weekly planning and some knocking. We also stopped by some old potentials and stuff like that. It was a good day of work, and then we had dinner with a family up in the top of our area, so we had to take some time to get there and back, and do some work on the way since we don't get up there too much. Then we got back and it was pretty much 9.... so that was the day.

Friday we had a really good day! Well kinda. Our service plans got cancelled, so that made for a couple more hours of finding. But we had calls with the district and then we went and visited Erv! He is so kind and willing to serve its amazing. Especially thinking that he ins't a member of the church. So basically we were there for 2 hours, because he invited us over for a lesson, and then after that we had some members come over for a dinner that Erv had prepared. So that was a fun time!

Saturday, back to the roller coaster week. So I was feeling good that we got to stay for longer and all these good things are starting to happen. We have this awesome plan for the parade today, everything seems to be going good. Well then the parade gets cancelled and that was a real bummer, there was so much opportunity there, and then it was gone with a single text message.... so that was lame. So my week got a little less fun then.

Sunday rolls around and we are supposed to find out who is leaving now around 7 am. Well we get the text and neither of us are leaving, so then like 2 seconds later we get another text from the zl's that says, disregard that. So we don't know who is leaving at this point. Then during church we get the next one, and MY NAME IS ON THE TEXT!!! Oh I was so bothered. So I am leaving Port Washington after only 7 weeks with Elder Mecham, and he has been here for almost 5 months... so I feel weird, but I am going back to Madison, a different ward, but same city pretty much!

So that was the week.... It was up and down, and now I am super sad to be leaving, but I guess the Lord has a plan for me in Madison and I will need to be there! I hope that all is well where you all are! Have a great week! Remember to #LightTheWorld

Elder Reynolds
3405 Marino Ct #5
Middleton, WI  53562

The Zone

Port Washington, WI at night-December

The Schumtzlers