July 27th

Dear Family,
So much has happened in one week. We’ll see how much I can get down in one letter.
First of all, I met a Brother that served the mission with cousin Jared in Buenos Aires North. Brother Gerry (“Herry”), now bishop Gerry in the Ward that shares the chapel with us, asked me, “Did you have a relative that served in Buenos Aires North? A Jared Reynolds” When I told him we’re cousins, he replied: “you look alike, especially in your smile. Jared was my Zone Leader. He was a good missionary and very well organized.” He spoke very highly of Jared, and was happy to have a little catch-up on his life. Bishop Gerry also said he thought he had Jared on Facebook—oh the wonders of Internet.
So I got transferred. I’m in Cuadro National, not Cordon National, which is a small little village on the outskirts of San Rafeal, the second largest city in Mendoza. Cuadro is just to the east of San Rafeal.
Transfers were really crazy. I had to be in the offices at 7:00 in the Morning, which meant I had to catch a bus at 5:20 in the morning. I ended up going solo, because my companion was going to San Martin to pick up his companion, not to Mendoza. To make the situation even more unique: it snowed. It’s been about 3 years since it snowed like that in Mendoza. There wasn’t a lot, less than an inch, but in Mendoza, that is a lot. The City isn’t constructed for snow. Most of the sidewalks are paved with tiles, which become like a giant ice-skating rink when covered with a light snow.
When I arrived in Mendoza it was still pitch black, and in the dark I slipped and slided my way from the bus terminal to the Bus stop where I needed to take the Bus to the offices. The bus I needed to take passed right as I got to the bus stop, and I didn’t realize it was my bus until it was too late. I was running late, so the next bus that stopped I asked the driver: “do you pass the Hospital Español?” because I knew that was close to the offices. He answered: “we pass behind it.” I boarded.
I wasn’t sure what “behind it” meant, or if I would be able to find the offices, but I figured at least I could get closer to the offices, and then maybe hail a taxi for the last little bit. As I sat down in the Bus I offered a silent prayer, “Father, please help me get to the offices on time. I’m not really sure where I am. Please help me.” The bus seemed to be going in the right area, closer to the offices, so I was happy, I only didn’t know where to get off. We came to a stop light, and as we were waiting the bus driver called out: “who was the person who wanted to go to the Hospital Español?” I raised my hand, “Get off here.” He said as he opened the door. “¡Muchas Gracias!” I said as I descended the stairs. From where I got off I could see the street I needed to get to, and I felt so grateful that the Lord had made it all work out so that the Bus Driver remembered that out of all of the passengers, there was one who needed to get off at the Hospital. The bus turned for another street, and if he hadn’t told me where to get off, I easily could have gotten lost.
I got to the offices where I went with the Newly arrived Missionaries to the Civil Register, “registro civil”, to get my name-change document cleared and finish my visa work. It all went very smoothly, and we finished by 10:30, the fastest Elder Swainston from the offices had ever seen it happen.
After that the office Elders dropped me off at the Bus Terminal to take a Bus to San Rafeal. Once again, all alone. I found a few other Elders in the Terminal who helped me buy my ticket, but then they had to go, so I was left all alone in the terminal waiting an hour and a half for my bus.
I was hungry, but had very little money and didn’t dare leave my bags to go buy something, so I just waited.
The bus came and I boarded. I sat down next to a young Gentleman, and after a little while we began to talk. I asked him about his work, and he told me he owned a Cellular Telephone shop. He asked me about my mission, and I explained a little about the mission and the church, and about our belief in a living prophet. He was interested, but said he wasn’t ready to change his religion. His girlfriend lives in Cuadro Nacional, and he said: “I’m sure we’ll see each other.” His name was Martìn.
After a three hour bus ride I arrived in San Rafael. I walked up and down the terminal looking for Elders—not one. So I waited. Now not only was I hungry, but I had to go to the bathroom, but I couldn’t leave my bags, so I just waited.
I called the elders from a phone booth, and they said they were on there way. So again I just waited. I talked with another man waiting at the terminal, and he began to tell me about his health problems, and all the doctors who have been trying to “help” him, but have prescribed medicine that hasn’t worked. He wasn’t interested in hearing about the gospel, but I think he felt better having someone to vent all his problems to, and I felt happy to have been able to help him.
Finally the Zone Leaders came with my new companion, Elder Carrasco, an Elder from California, who spoke English and Spanish before the mission, and also was a Lexus auto mechanic. He’s really awesome. He’s very quiet, but very loving, and very good with people.
Cuadro Nacional is very small, and right now we don’t have any really progressing investigators, we’re going to be focusing a lot in finding new investigators this week.
Church is back to normal, which will help us. The Swine Flu has reached it’s climax and is going down.
It’s been a good transfer so far. It will be a very hard-working transfer, but a rewarding one too I hope.
I love you Family,
Sincerely,
Elder Reynolds

Jul 20th

Hey Family,

So every week as I sit down to write my emails in Microsoft Office, the first thing I have to do is to click on the tools button “herramientos” and change the language to English, so that all the words don’t become underlined in red.

I found out transfers. I’m going down south, where it’s very cold, but supposedly very pretty, to an area called Cordon Nacional, or something like that. I’m going to be sr. companion and district leader. So I’m slightly overwhelmed. I’m not sure how it will all work out. But supposedly I’m getting a really good companion, who is about 26 or 27 and is from Los Angeles California.

So I had a really neat experience with prayer this week. I’d been very stressed out with a problem I was dealing with. I didn’t know what to do. It was early in the morning, I hadn’t slept very well the night before. I felt full of fear and uncertainty. I felt as if I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. I picked up the Liahona to try to find some peace.

I began reading the talk by President Uchtdorf about the power of Prayer to lift us above life’s thunder storms. I felt as if it had been written specifically to me. I didn’t really feel like I had the energy to say another prayer. I’d said my nightly and morning prayers asking for help and council, but I didn’t seem to be able to concentrate and really find an answer. I then read a part where president Uchtdorf wrote: “If you ever feel that you cannot pray, that is exactly when you need to pray.”

I decided I’d try it. I began to pray, trying to pray from my heart and not just vain repetitions of what I’d already asked for. And this time the result was different. As I prayed and plead with my Heavenly Father, a peace began to feel me. It was miraculous. I felt exactly like the plane President Uchtdorf mentioned that passed through the storm clouds to the bright blue sky. I was filled with an indescribable peace, and I knew that everything would be alright.

I learned that morning that God does listen to our prayers. He loves us enough to try us, but as He tries us He will help us overcome our trials through the prayer of faith. The help we can receive through prayer is very real and very powerful. I’m grateful that God answered my prayer and gave me the peace I needed, and I think I’m also grateful as well for the trial that brought me to my knees so I could gain this testimony.

I love you Family. Remember to say your prayers! Daily prayer and scripture study really do change everything.

Sincerely,

Elder Reynolds

July 14th

Dear Family,

Saturday Alejandro was Baptized! I’m going to try to email photos of the Baptism. Alejandro is 13, his Mother was baptized when she was a little girl, but hasn’t been active for over a decade, his Father isn’t a member, but has been listening to the lessons, and I’m pretty sure eventually he’ll be baptized. “Ale” also has a little brother Nicolas, who is 11, and at first wanted to be baptized, then changed his mind, but still likes to come to all the young men activities and to listen to the lessons. I think he might have peer-pressure not to get baptized—I’m not sure.

About a week ago Alejandro asked us, “so do I get to choose who baptizes me?” “Yes”, we told him, “you can choose”. “Would you baptize me Elder Reynolds?” he asked. There are few feelings greater than someone asking you to baptize them. “Of course” I told him.

Alejandro is a really awesome young man. About a month ago during our first visits with him, he pierced his ear. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to tell him that as members of the church we don’t pierce ourselves, right after he’d spent time money and pain to get his ear pierced. Time past, and I kind of forgot that I would have to tell him, until last Wednesday we showed up at his house, and Alejandro had taken out his earring and it was sitting on the book shelf. “Elder, why didn’t you tell me I couldn’t wear and earring?” I was surprised. “Oh, I didn’t know how to tell you. How did you find out?” “Last night at young mens, Marcos (an advisor) told me I couldn’t wear it.” “Hey, That’s awesome!” I said. He had given up his earring without any complaints—it was just the thing to do. He also gave the lesson Friday in Mutual, even though he wasn’t even baptized.  He’ll be a great missionary, we’ll just need to work so that he gains a strong testimony now so that he’ll stay firm, no matter what happens. And baptizing his family so he has support would be awesome as well.

Yesterday I learned how many pizzas, 12 hungry missionaries can eat. As a zone we met to go to an All-you-can-eat Pizza restaurant. I thought of Chris a lot as I was sitting there eating pizza. In between 12 missionaries we ate 18 large pizzas, and 2 giant stuffed pizzas, which is a pizza with one crust on the bottom, with the toppings of two pizzas in the middle, and then a crust on top; it was really big. I was so full.

Besides that, we’ve been making home-made pizza Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’re almost at Pizza capacity.

Transfers are coming up again, and I’m pretty sure I’m going. I’m also sending a photo of out last district meeting. Elder Wise, the big elder to my right in the photo, is finishing his mission next week and going home.

I think that is about all for this week, oh, wait, not quite, I forgot about church.

So because of the “gripe porcina” or Influenza A, they have cancelled church for a month to try to prevent spreading the flu. As missionaries we received permission to have a small sacrament meeting for our investigators. In church there were 12 in total, including ourselves, and Elder Rogel and I both had to give impromptu talks. But we had it better off than some elders, who had three in church: themselves and the Bishop. Oh well, things will get better, I guess that’s what the gospel is all about: things will get better, because this is the gospel of happy endings.

I love you all family!

  You’re in my prayers!

Elder Reynolds

P.S. Remember: Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty

June 30th

Dear Family,

If only you knew the story behind this email. Although it is the first and only you’ll have received this week, it isn’t the first I’ve written—it would seem as if the adversary has all technology conspiring against me.

Yesterday, at the Internet café I’d written 4 beautiful emails in Note Pad, some of the best I’d written in my mission, I’d even composed an Eagle Scout rap for Chris in honor of his Court of Honor, I was working on my 5th email when—ZAM—Note Pad closed, deleting forever all the hour of emails I’d written. We had to leave the café, so I quickly wrote to President Lindahl and we left.

Since it’s a rule to write your family weekly, we left this morning to finish what was stared yesterday. I wrote another beautiful email to the family, explaining in dramatic detail what happened yesterday. This time I was smart and wrote the email in Word, so if it accidentally closed, I might have a chance of recovering the document. I thought that would solve my problems, but I was sadly mistaken. As I was finishing up my email with what I’d learned from church, when none of our 5 investigators showed up—CRACKLE, POP—sparks began to fly from the electrical hub of the computer and—ZAM—the computer closed down. The screen went deadly black.

I couldn’t believe it. Could it really be possible that my 2nd laborious email had just been killed in such dramatic fashion? Sadly, yes. Providentially, the sparks didn’t start a fire, and the very kind worker gave me a new computer without charging me for the time on the first.

So that is the story behind this 3rd-times-the-charm email.

Oh well. Such is Life. Like Elder Worthlin talked about in his last conference talk, learn to laugh when things like this happen. Who would have believed that 2 consecutive emails would be eaten like this?

Last week in church I learned a lesson about counting the roses not the thorns in life. We’d committed 5 investigators to come to church, 0 showed up. I was pretty sad, even frustrated. So much so, that for all of the reunion all I could think about was “they didn’t show up, what did we do wrong?” I guess you could see it in my face because one member asked “¿Qúe te pasa?” or, “What’s wrong man?” I realized that there were good things too that I could focus on, and after wracking my brain for a while I came up with two great blessings: 1. The Branch President organized the first branch council that the branch has had in almost a year. 2. In Priesthood, we had Hot chocolate and cake. Sometimes it’s hard to look for the blessings. But we have them.

I love you family.

Sorry the email is late.

Sincerely,

Elder Reynolds

Jun 22nd

Dear Family,

Elder Rogel, my new companion, loves photos and cameras  and was shocked when I told him I'd only sent a handful f pictures home.

I 'm repenting right now and sending home a dozen. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Everything is going well. With Elder Rogel we've been teaching and working above the mission average , which has been a miracle because he's been fairly sick , and has been having knee and back problems, which has made us stay more time in the pench.  But we're going onward and upward!

Sad News. Panchito, our recent convert, ran away from home. He was living with his Dad, but ran away to his mom's house, and according to his aunt that is not a good environment. So if you could include him in your prayers. This week we're going to try to visit him with the young men's president.

I love you family!

You're each in my prayers!

Sincerely,

Elder Reynolds

June 8th

Dear Family,

So here is the news about transfer: I'm getting a Latin Companion. I don't know who and I don't know where, but President Lindahl emailed me and said "I'm giving you a Latin comp." I'm almost positive I'll still be in Rivadavia, which is just fine with me--there is a lot of work to do. I was hoping to baptize last week, but we didn't. Last week I was praying with my companion and I was about to pray "Please Father help us have the miracle of a baptism this Saturday." But for some reason I couldn't say it, instead I prayed, "please Father, help our eyes to be opened to the blessings that you have given us and you will give us this week." The Bible Dictionary says that prayer is the changing of our will to the will of the Lord, I guess sometimes the miracle we want isn't the miracle the Lord wants for us.

Here are a few of the Miracles I was given these last two transfers:

-Elder Ortiz. I learned a ton from Elder Ortiz, sometimes it was very, very hard--we are so different--but I learned lessons about love, patience, listening, speaking up if I disagree and taking initiative that I don't think I could have learned in any other way. The Lord does choose the cruz we're tried in, and chooses it with love and concern for us.

-A Baptism. We worked so hard to try to baptize, and all of the people that we helped the most, ended up not getting baptized, but the baptism we did get was a miracle--Panchito fell into our lap. We just met him in the house of a member, and three weeks later he was baptized. All we had to do was set up a couple of lessons. And within a month he became one of the most faithful Aaronic priesthood holders in the Branch.

-Elder Wise and Elder Smith, our pench-mates. They made life so much funner, they helped us laugh, look on the bright side, and keep plowing along.

-Ward Missionaries. We were blessed with two ward missionaries who want to work and with whom we can do visits almost every day.

-A million more daily miracles and blessings--I can't write them all.

The Lord is watching out for us, He will bless us. I'm learning to look on the bright side, to count the blessings, not the problems, to count the sunbeams, not the rainclouds. We can make our lives a lot happier by learning these concepts I am sure.

I love you all Family!

Sincerely,

June 1st

Dear Family,

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. By looking at our numbers you might think we were playing golf, 0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0. But in spite of poor numbers, we have seen miracles.

The one lesson we did have was a miracle. After a rather long and overwhelming day we had a missionary activity where we invited our Branch missionaries and our Investigator Sulma, we had also invited some non-member boys, but didn't have a lot of hope they'd show up. The branch Missionaries showed up, but Sulma didn't. In stead, the youth did come, first just one boy, than another and another, until we had 5 young men ages 12-15 learning the gospel of Jesus Christ and how to pray. It was a remarkably spiritual and fun lesson. Sometimes we can't get the boys together, or we can't find them, but that night, they were able to show up and learn. They started to get excited about learning. They are such good boys that really want to learn and grow. They'll get baptized I'm sure.

Another Blessing was church. All of the classes seemed to be directed for us, one about faith and the other about Adversity. The spirit was powerful in church, and I realized why it is such an important part of the Gospel to unite weekly to renew our covenants, to learn, and sometimes more importantly, to feel impressions of the Spirit that we couldn't feel in any other place.

Elder Ortiz and I have one more week together, at least. Transfers are the 10th, and he is pretty sure he'll be getting transferred and I'll be getting a Latin companion here in Rivadavia. We'll see.

I love you. One thought from Sunday's class on Adversity: Sometimes it seems we are meant to live lives of suffering and tribulation.We my ask, "will all my life be filled with trials?" "Will I ever just have peace?"  Yes. Someday we will rest from all our trials. But until then, know that Christ suffered everything we feel, He knows us intimately and knows how much we can handle, He will not give us more than we can bear; for some reason in His infinite wisdom, He allowed us to be tried right now, knowing that this trial or these trials would prepare us in the way we need to be prepared.

Once again, I love you, You're in my prayers. Down here in Argentina there is a little missionary praying for his family.

Have a very fun week!

Sincerely,

Elder Reynolds