Episode 9: Come, Follow Me...We Can Do Better and Be Better--President Nelson

Hello Everyone!

This week just flew by!! We have continued teaching Jay Reed and he is so ready to hear the gospel!! He has a baptismal date set for May 18 and is so ready for that to happen! He came to church this last Sunday and loved every minute of it. It was especially great for it being Easter Sunday too! My love for the Savior has grown so much this past week. From reading and studying from Come Follow Me and my own personal studies of His life...it has been amazing.

We have been tracting a lot this week, and the scripture we have been sharing is 2 Nephi 2:8--"Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise." I love that it starts out with "How great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth" and it's true! Knowing that we can be cleansed, forgiven, saved, and resurrected because of the Savior is what keeps me going from day to day. Because of Him, all things are possible! Sharing this message with everyone we met was so special. We got to see and hear so many testimonies of those from other faiths. It was interesting to see that the faster you brought Jesus Christ into the discussion the more willing people will talk to you! haha Our companionship goal is to do the exact same thing every week! To pick a specific scripture which focuses on Christ and share it with everyone. People don't realize how much we do believe in lol. It's funny to see them accuse us and we testify against some weird stereotype or whatever it be, and they are more willing to talk to us once they see we are "normal."

With General Conference still fresh in our minds, and with this past week being Easter, we have also been focusing on President Nelson's talk, "Come, Follow Me" and how he states the difference between salvation and exaltation. Salvation is a personal, individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter. There is a distinct difference between the two! We recently taught our new convert Bro. Don Steed the Plan of Salvation again and had a member come with us. Her name is Sister Hutchinsen. She had a powerful testimony of being sealed in the temple and exaltation. Through her testimony, Bro. Steed has us now praying for him to find a wife to take to the temple!! haha He has so much faith. I aspire to have faith as he does! He understands, in the most simple and childlike way, what needs to be done in this life in order to go to the Celestial Kingdom. It really is simple. My question that I have been asking myself lately is why do we make it seem like the hardest thing to do?? But it's not us necessarily, it is Satan. He also knows what needs to be done and he is going to fight just as hard, if not harder to get us to break and keep us from making and keeping our covenants and going back to our Heavenly home...but because of Jesus Christs' Atonement, we can do it. We ALL can receive these blessings! I know this to be true. And I know that it is through this gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can do so. I hope we all can learn from this past Easter what we need to do to keep on that straight and narrow path. I love you all! Until next week!!

Sister Reynolds

Jay Steed and Sister Reynolds

This family gave us Easter baskets!

Another lady gave us Easter dresses:)

We met Dwight and he works at Colgate and gave us some toothpaste!

We helped a family move into the ward and when we got there we realize we forgot our name badges! So we used sticky notes haha!!!

Our apartment in Vienna...

livingroom

kitchen...

our view...

bedroom...

closets...

study area...

and hallway :) We have our own bathrooms. We are blessed to have a nice apartment!

Video chat on April 22, 2019

Episode 8: Mosiah 2:17

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17

Hello Everyone!
Wow this week has been a laboring week!! We were able to minister to our fellow members and to help them with...SPRING CLEANING!! Haha It has been a week of service for us and nothing is so rewarding than serving one another. First, we mowed our neighbors lawn and we were able to show our other neighbors how we really do just want to serve, and now we have more opportunities to let our neighborhood know that we are pretty normal God-loving people! A lot of people are out and about on the streets now that spring is coming, so our contacting has been going through the roofs! We are just talking to people left and right! I love spring time! We were also able to help a member in the ward with weeding and hauling rocks and trimming trees, which in West Virginia there are a lot of trees and weeds!! Everything is in bloom now and I'm starting to see the true beauty of West Virginia! I love this place more and more!

We have been able to teach this part member family and I think we finally got to the bottom of her problem with progressing. Interesting enough she hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon and when she finally picked it up and read it, things started to click for her! The power the Book of Mormon is unreal and how much it can help us with our trials and just everyday life is infinite. I love testifying of the Book of Mormon especially having a real connection to the people, specifically my ancestors. Since I come from Native American heritage, I have been able to testify the realness of it and to show people how true this book is. The Book of Mormon is the center of this gospel and if we don't have a testimony of it, you need to get one! I know my Savior lives and works with us and through us everyday. I love this time of year to truly think of Him. I can't wait to see this next weeks' blessings as we all turn more towards the Savior and honor His life and resurrection. The church is true!!
Sister Reynolds

Elder and Sister Wood visited the Parkersburg Sisters!! They were there to inspect the Charleston zone missionaries' apartments. Sister Wood sent pictures and said "I can tell you your daughter is living the Gospel and is a valiant part of the Lord's Army!! I think sometimes these gals are having too much fun!! It fills my heart with joy to be around their shining spirits!!"

Video chat on April 15, 2019

Episode 7: A Baptism in Vienna, West Virginia!!

Sister Reynolds and Sister McKendrick

Wow time is flying by! But also dragggginnggggg haha. I feel like I have been out in the mission field longer than 4 weeks and 1 day! But I love doing this work, it is so rewarding! Last week I didn't get to write, Sorry. I'm still getting used to people being interested in my life (hair flip) jk ha but honestly my apologies! So the week I missed there was a baptism! Donald Ray Steed, now known as Bro. Steed! Ah, it was an amazing service, with a touch of West Virginia haha. Instead of prelude music there was joke telling! That was interesting in itself but Bro.Steed loved it. He loves being a member of Christ's congregation and is so willing to share the gospel. He has already given us 2 referrals!! His testimony is growing so fast, it's hard to keep up with him sometimes! He was able to watch General Conference and loved that too. We are so excited to get him started on family history work and getting him to the temple, which he is anxious to start doing too. Bro.Steed has helped my testimony in missionary work grow so much. I am so humbled and grateful to have come at a time to witness his baptism and see the work move forward.

This past week we were given another referral! The referral was through the missionaries that work online, (I'm not sure what they are called? If they have a name lol) but she is 16 years old and her name is Cammi...crazy enough she is the cousin of Santana. Santana is 9 years old who just got baptized in February! She was in a new member lesson with one of her friends, who obviously was a new member, and was being taught the plan of salvation. When Santana heard that she lived in heaven with Heavenly Father, she was so interested in learning more and asked 2 more questions about it and then immediately called her Grandmother (who is her caregiver) and said "Grandma, clear the schedule tonight, the Sister missionaries are coming over!" Then a month later, she was baptized!  She is a sweet girl, who is just a spiritual giant. Now we are learning why at such a young age she needed to be baptized. One reason is for herself. She is learning so much and is just teaching us as we go over haha. The second reason is to also bring her family with her. We went to her cousins house, who is Cammi, on Saturday and she wasn't home but her Grandmother answered and asked if we were the "Mormons" haha. We kindly corrected her and she was so excited that we had FINALLY made it over! It turns out that Cammi's Grandpa is a less active member and when they found out that Cammi chose to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, they were so happy and proud, because they loved this gospel but had fallen away because they moved and lost touch and didn't know how to find the church again. Isn't that wild?? Sister McKendrick and I were freaking out, jumping for joy and had tears in our eyes as we walked home. I love seeing others make and keep their covenants to Heavenly Father, just as I have done. Cammi's Grandmother, Angie, set up an appointment for Tuesday and we absolutely can't wait. This family is elect and are so ready to hear the gospel and "partake of the fruit" so to speak.

We went on exchanges and the couple that drove us to Charleston had to stop by Target and so we got our much needed dose of Target shopping!!!! Our area doesn't have a Target. Then they took us out to eat at some nice restaurant...they just spoiled us!

Of course General Conference was incredible! It felt like I was hanging on to every word! I was emotionally drained afterwards haha!! Things I realized was that we need to fortify every aspect of our lives. Our minds, our bodies, our HOMES, everything! We need to be feasting on the words of Christ everyday!! I love being a missionary because you are constantly relying on the spirit. And because you are constantly relying on Him, you need to be spiritually fed ALL the time. I have been reading the Book of Mormon everyday pondering and asking how can I share what I learn in my scripture study to someone today. The power from asking this is incredible and limitless of what you can do. Because I have asked to be able to share what I study, my testimony has grown and the gospel of Jesus Christ is being spread. I am humbled to be a part of this work and can't wait to do it for 16 more months haha! The Church is true. Jesus is the Living Christ. The Book of Mormon is another testament of His earthly ministry and we must divulge in reading its teachings. I am being spiritually fed as I read from it daily. I know that through the power of the atonement I may stand spotless before God on that judgement day. Come unto Christ. Follow Him and Feed His Sheep! I love you all and thank you for your prayers of encouragement! Until next time, tune into Sister Reynolds' wild West Virginian life! haha (totally kidding) But really thank you for all the love and support :) I love this work!
Sister Reynolds

Baptism of Donald Ray Steed!

~West Virginia~

We are currently serving in Parkersburg 2 area!

We get spoiled every once in a while :)

Yummy F O O D

Our ward mission leader loves to cook so his family feeds us often! #blessed

Video chat on April 1, 2019

Our much needed dose of shopping at TARGET!!!!

Video chat on April 8, 2019