Happy Christmas!

Congratulation to Scotty for making covenants! Now our family is complete. I am so happy for you Buggsy Boy! I got your packages mother. Thank you! This is going to be the best Christmas ever!  We have had a great Christmas season so far and a great week.  We have enjoyed our new ward! We love it!

So last week we went to the Flamingo Trailer Park to visit a less active member but he didn't end up being there. We contacted the manager and then started talking to one of the residents there. His grandparents recently  died and we talked about how important it is to live each day to the fullest and that this time is the time we have to prepare to meet God. We discussed the current state of his Grandparents and explained to him more about the plan of Salvation. It is so great to share this message, especially at a time when people's hearts are softened by the season. While talking with this man a another lady came up and we found out she is a less active member who wants to start coming back to church. Later that week we tracted the whole trailer park and it was a gold mine! We found 3 more investigators and a few others that want to go to church. We are just going to bring a van in and have everyone hop in!!  Anyway, it's great to feel the spirit and help people.

One of the great things about being outbound is that we get to actually go out and physically serve people like  racking leaves,  helping people move, hanging picture frames for a lady who can't walk, or serving at an assisted living center. It's just grand!

This last week a former investigator of ours invited us to go caroling with her family! It was the best caroling experience ever! They had a trailer attached to the back of an SUV that had a karaoke screen and microphones. The whole neighborhood came and we went down the streets while the kids ran up to the doors and rang door bells. We all rode in the back! So fun!

Alright, the Elders are playing volleyball and I really want to play so until next time, have a great week! Love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sister Reynders

Beautiful Spokane

                                                                    Tracting!!

                                                               

                                                             Winter wonderland!

Line upon Line

Hello Family and Friends!

This week has been a good/crazy one. It's always crazy out here - never a dull moment! We are getting adjusted to our new ward. We feel a little bad that we have to split our time so much between wards. I remember growing up that I never really knew the missionaries very well that had to cover more than our ward.  But hey, we get to attend a  lot of Christmas parties! haha so fun! And the members are so good about bringing friends to these events!.....awww...I wish I was blessed with the  gift of remembering names. I am horrible at it!  Anyway, going to the Greenacres Christmas party really helped us get to know the ward
faster.

This week we have felt like we should offer reading classes because in some areas of town there are a lot of people who can't read. It proved to be successful, not that they wanted reading classes but it got us in to be able to share more about our beliefs. It's kind of crazy how safe I feel out here as well. The people respect us... I don't know, why but they do!

It is incredible how slowly I learn. But I Studied this morning about Jesus and I read in Luke 2:52,
"And Jesus increased in wisdom & stature, & in favor with God and man"--(also check out d&C 93:12-14)  There is not much written about Jesus' childhood, but the concept that Christ was not endowed with a fullness of knowledge from the cradle really hit me. He Studied! Jesus was a close observer of nature and man. He was able to draw illustrations from all sorts of trades and professions. He knew the habits of the poor and the customs of the rich. He considered the lilies of the fields and the foxes in their holes. He went from grace to grace. (I am preaching to myself here..hah)  I  realized that I am not going to understand everything at once but line upon line, precept upon precept!

I love my Savior Jesus Christ! He has done so much for me and you! Please share this message, especially in this season when people hearts are a little bit softer!

Have a great week! Cheerfully do, then stand still!

-Sister Reynders

Questions and Answers

I feel a little silly because I am so bad at writing letters that dear Mother has to give me a questionnaire...but hey I like it ....I don't have to think! You should do this more often. I will just copy and paste your questions here.

Tell us more about who you are living with.  Are there children in the home?  Do you just have a bedroom?  Have they had missionaries living with them long? The Wilkinsons are the best! Seriously, I love them! I am so grateful I have people to take care of us! They have a daughter but she doesn't live here permanently. She comes and goes on weekends. Both of them are perfect and I want to be like them when I grow up! Bro. Wilkinson is a crack up and I have to be careful to not let myself get to sarcastic when I am around him! He's hilarious!

How did transfers go?  Hopefully you are in the same spot with the same companion. Yeah! I am still with Sister LeDoux and we are in the same area but they added another ward to our area! So we now have, Saltese, Mika Peak, and Greenacres. We are living in the same spot.

Tell us a little more about Sister Ledoux.  Are you friends or "Bosom Friends"?  Is she going back to BYU after the mission?  Would you want to live with her? Ahhh, so you wanna hear more about Sister LeDoux eh? Yes we are "Bosom Friends"! I would love to live with her if she was going to BYU but she's probably not. She has a pretty balanced personality  so I don't have to balance things out to make things normal....ok that's probably confusing.....but this is kind of the root difference in being "friends" and "bosom Friends."  What I am trying to say is that Sister Ledoux is balanced, thus resulting in me not having to put out any effort to make things balanced so I am able to completely be myself! I have never had a companion that we've been able to have the "yellow" personality trait in our companionship.  I love her because she is obedient, wants to do her best, wants to follow the spirit, and is hilarious. Our sense of humor is grand....I've never really considered myself a funny person...till now! If I could relate her to one person it would be Janna Blair.

Have you been riding your bike as much in the cold?  Do Sisters from the ward ever go on splits with you? We haven't been out on our bikes as much since its been cold...but we are going to have to soon because we have a new ward and they didn't give us more miles so that means more biking.

Are you guys teaching any one right now?  Of course we are! We are teaching like crazy!.....now is anyone progressing...well....yes! haha We've got Annie Oakly (name changed for her protection..could you tell?) She was a referral from a lady in our ward. She is Christian and has 3 kids. Right now we are just trying to figure out if she spiritually is interested or intellectually. We are also teaching the Rudolfs (haha these name changes are crackin' me up)..They were another member referral and they are elderly:) By the end of the lessons my throat hurts because I have to yell the whole time so they can hear me!  We work a lot with less actives and this week we put our heart and soul into helping Bobby Beercans.(hehe) My heart hurts so much for him. He is very sad, and so stuck in his life and he doesn't have the motivation to change his ways. He is an alcoholic, very old and isn't taking care of himself. This last week we cleaned his house, played him tune on the guitar, lied and said we knew how to cut hair...when we didn't....so he would let us cut his.  We also got him to shave his beard and  to change his sweater(first time since I've been here.) We sang him "Nearer my God to thee" and we all just wept  along with his other inactive neighbor. I feel so bad for him, because I feel God's heart aching for Bobby to come onto him. 

Have you done any fun outings on your P-days? Nah, sometimes we hang at the Stake Center with the Elders in our zone they play basket ball.

How often do you interview with the President? I don't know...I've never had one except when I first got here.

Have you gotten my snail mail letters? Yes I have and they make me VERY happy:)

Are you not sending pictures by choice or because you are not allowed to or what? By choice. I don't take that many and I am just lazy.

This week has been crazy because we've been in a trio because a temple square sister came on Wednesday. Sister Fleginskaya is from Russia. Yes, I knew her and was so happy to have her! She is the one Sister missionary that made it into the conference Ensign. Anyways it was a miracle  because 2 weeks ago we ran into a Russian couple but had no way of speaking to them because they don't speak English. We just gave them a daily dose card (a English speaking class) and left. But then Sister Fleginskaya came and the first thing we did was go teach them and guess what?  We've met with them twice and are meeting with them again tonight! They have read 16 chapters of the BOM already!! 

I do want you to know I know God loves each of us very much and knows what we all are going through individually. He wants us to make and keep our covenants! Don't break your covenants.

I love you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Feel free to send me your favorite talks, tender mercies, your testimony, your heritage stories...anything.  I love to feel the strength  of those I love and respect so much!

Check out Mormon.org/christmas and share it with your friends!

Hurrah For Israel!

-Sister Reynders

Spokane...the Final Frontier

Captains Log: Star-date 111912.
There is a minor problem with the inhabited planet called Earth. Air is clear, leaves have fallen from the trees, snow is on the ground, but the humans seem to be unaware of the Creator. God, a supreme being, created this beautiful earth for his children to live yet they have forgotten their Father. My Companion and I will travel amongst these beings in the hope of helping just one remember their Creator.

This week was full of people who are angry at God or do not believe He is even there. Alma explain to Korihor, the anti Christ, that God has given many evidences that he's there! "But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

But all is going well here in Spokane! I really don't want to leave. I love the members! I love talking to random people.  This week is Thanksgiving and we have a couple members we will be with.

We live with the Wilkinsons. Bro Wilikenson says he's going to try to convince the mission president to let us watch Les Miserables on Christmas day. haha:)
 

Things sounds pretty eventful back home! I didn't know Jayrin Farley was even engaged? And who is Lauren Swchendiman engaged to? and hello! Tommy's engaged?!

Mom, as far as school goes, it is good to get me going on that. Ultimately I want to go into speech pathology like Kate so, whatever it takes to get that done. I am a little worried because I was at 59 credits and I need 60 to transfer.  So I might have to take an online class from BYUI  before I go.

Man my memory is so bad....I will see if I can rely on the Lord more to obtain that gift. I will work harder on it.

Anyway, all is well. Sounds like everything's going well back home! Take care!

-Sister Reynders