Picking up the Book of Mormon

Hey Everyone!!

This week here in the mission has been pretty good. We worked really hard and have found lots of success. There are lots of new investigators here in Skyline and this upcoming week we will be having 2 baptisms here. I am going to be transferred to the Deschutes River ward in the Lacey Zone. I am going to have served in all three conferences here in the mission in the first 6 months of my mission.

Holy cow six months has flown by but it's way fun. I am finally in the groove and just going to work. This transfer has come fast but it's not too bad and I am okay with it. Elder Tafua is staying here and I'll be serving with Elder Stevens. The new area is super duper boonie. But that'll be fun! The people are going to be different but they are working hard there and I know that I will be able to see blessings as I work hard.

This last week we had a kind of funny experience. We got a text on Wednesday morning asking if we could go pick up a Book of Mormon that had been torn apart and strewn all over the sidewalk up and down the street. So we were like, uhh okay. So we went to the place and we picked it up and there's a picture of me holding it in my hands. It was super duper crazy. So that was a unique experience of my mission.

Even though I wasn't here in Skyline for very long we found one person to be baptized and this upcoming week 'TS' will be ordained to the office of Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood and he will prepare to serve a mission in his life. Holy cow he is the coolest guy that I have ever met. I am so blessed to have served here and found him as an investigator and helped him to make the commitment to be baptized.

The rest of the week was really good. It was kind of a bummer because a baptism that we had fell through but she will be baptized on Tuesday so that'll be way sweet I am really excited. Then on Saturday 'S' will be getting baptized and that'll be really sweet too. I love this mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve here.

This week everything that I have talked to anyone about has been prayer. As we pray for opportunities then they will come. I know that as you pray for experiences to share the gospel or for anything that Heavenly Father will bless you with the answers to those prayers whether you like the outcome or not. I hope you all have a great week. The WA-TAC is the best mission in the world!!

Love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Trevor Reynolds

My new address is:

13920 Sunny Ct SE
Rainier, WA 98576

Obedience, Hard Work & Faith - Good things happening in Skyline

"Why I Believe" Fireside- Tacoma- February 21, 2016 

This week here in the WA-TAC has been another good one. It has seemed to go by quicker than a few of the other ones but it was still good. We taught a lot of lessons and are helping people to progress to come closer to Jesus Christ. It sounds to me like everyone at home is living the good life and doing good things. I love hearing stories and things from you guys.

Yesterday we had 6 investigators at church and could have potentially had more but a few of them didn't come. Sad day that they didn't. But this is by far the most I have ever had in my mission. It was sooo cool because we were so busy running around trying to figure everything out and it was probably the best problem that i possibly could have had. I love having to be worried about so many people coming to church and things. T. S. was confirmed and then the rest of church was really cool because we have an investigator who has gone through a lot of struggles in his life. His name is D. Then the sunday school and priesthood lessons were focused on Adversity and overcoming it and bringing ourselves closer to Christ. Probably the coolest thing ever because twice now on my mission I have had people come to church for the first time and the lessons pertain to something that we just happened to talk to them about like the day before. Like WHAT!?!? Heavenly Father works in the coolest ways evverr!! I love it.

Tomorrow will be the Baptism of E. A 10 year old investigator that is super duper awesome. I am so excited to see people take steps and improve their lives. We also have another investigator on date for 2 weeks out. So lots of good things happening here in Skyline. Next Tuesday is transfers but I'm pretty sure I am staying. Next week I will know and I will let you all know if I'll be here in Skyline or off to share the gospel with other sheep that our Heavenly Father has.

So T. was confirmed and the Zone Leaders asked us if he would be willing to speak at the fireside last night. He accepted and he shared such an awesome testimony with over 150/200 people and it was sick. The spirit was so strong and he has only been an official member of the church for like less than 24 hours right now. The spirit is so cool and there was a lot more to his story than I even knew myself. The day before we knocked on his door he was reading in James 1:5. What 20 year old kid does that?!?!?!? I know that I probably wouldn't have been studying like he does even as a member of the church. Had to have been the coolest thing ever. The reason that I have seen miracles like T. and D. is because of Obedience, Hard Work, and Faith. My companion and I push each other like crazy and it has brought so many miracles. I know with a surety that as we push harder than we think we can in all aspects of missionary work that we gain blessings because of it. I know my Heavenly Father watches out for the people that I will talk to and allows them the opportunity to share this gospel with them. I know for a fact that as you put your trust in your Heavenly Father he will allow you opportunities to share the gospel with people all the time. You don't have to wear a name tag or have a title. More and more there is a story shared about the BYU Jerusalem campus. In the process of getting the property the church was told that no proselyting could be done. They agreed but one of the people in the meeting said, "What are we going to do about the light in their eyes?" Family and friends you all have a light in your eyes that you can share with others and it is undeniable to them. They will see the blessings that you know to be true and have the desire to have the same. I love you all, have a great week!!!

Love,
Elder Trevor Scott Reynolds

P.S. Sorry this email was so long this week I promise it will be worth the read. (;  

Happy Valentine's Day

Hey Everyone!!

Happy Valentines day a few days ago!! This last week was great!! The highlight of the week was probably exchanges with the zone leaders. In one of the areas the church or one of the members or something owns a house and they let the missionaries use it and I got to go stay there. There was six missionaries in that house all packed in the same room. It was CRAZY!! A ton of fun but crazy. Six people doing missionary work in one area was a lot of fun.

This last week we also split knocked with the AP's for a night of 5-7s. It was a ton of fun and I had some girls try and flirt with me. They are looking for YSA people so we were on the campus of The University of The Puget Sound. It was weird. I didn't flirt back for the first time in my life believe it or not (: We are starting to find more and more success here in the area the harder that we work which goes to show that our Heavenly Father blesses us when we work hard. The weather is rainy and cold and windy but totally worth it when you find someone who is willing and ready to hear the message of the Restored Gospel. Finding new people to teach is always a priority. We had a recent zone meeting and the zone leaders talked about constantly opening your mouth and finding people to teach. I know that simply opening our mouth brings success. When we set goals to have lots of OYM's we seemed to find a lot more success because we were trying to talk to as many people as possible. You all can do the same. Living our lives in accordance with the teachings of the gospel brings others to have the desire to do the same. i talk to sooo many people each day who say I don't like organized religion because it is so hypocritical. people don't practice what they preach. Let us practice what we preach and never check our religion. As we do so we will be blessed and see more joy and happiness come into our lives. I love you all and I hope you had a Happy Valentines and Presidents day. Have a great week. I look forward to hearing from you soon!!

Love,
Elder Trevor Scott Reynolds

Success in Skyline

Hey Everyone!!

This week was awesome!! I am seeing a lot of success here in Skyline. Yesterday T.S. was baptized. It was the coolest thing ever. Not even a month ago Elder Tafua and Elder Clark knocked into him and he said sure come back and share a message with me. He had recently become a Christian after being an atheist his entire life. A week later after transfers Tafua and I went back to his house and we taught him the Restoration and gave him the Book of Mormon. it didn't really go anywhere right away and he didn't seem too interested. He ended up reading it and praying and in the next 2 1/2 weeks we taught him and he was baptized. The coolest experience of my life and the best part is that I didn't do a single ounce of converting him to the gospel. He made the connection with Heavenly Father and he studied and learned for himself that all of the things that we were telling him were true. It was so cool. He is a kindred spirit of our Heavenly Father.

Over the last two weeks I have learned a lot. I think the most important thing that I have learned is that I am not the one who does the converting. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit are what converts people. It doesn't matter how poetic I share the first vision or anything because if they want to learn and know it is true for themselves then they will study and learn just like T.S. has. Friends and family I know that this gospel is true. I know that reading and studying will bring more blessings into your life than anything else on this planet. In the eternities as well. Jesus Christ is our savior and our redeemer. He knows each of us individually. He has a plan for each and every one of us. I talked to a guy in our ward who didn't serve a mission who said that we all have a mission in life and his was to baptize his now wife and family instead of go on a mission and baptize a bunch of people. It was cool to see what our heavenly father does for each of us. I love you all and hope you have a great week.!! Stay warm and have a Happy Valentines Day!

love,
Elder Reynolds

The Tag is Back-One of the Coolest Weeks of My Mission-Safety for the Soul

Hey Everyone!!

So I have a tag back now. hahaha but it was cool to be able to be a missionary without one for a little while and have people still know me as a missionary. Maybe because I was dressed nice or something cause that's pretty unusual for this neck of the woods. Here in Tacoma is super duper sick though. I am enjoying it a lot. This week was crazy and a ton of stuff went down.

Early in the week we did a lot of finding and it was chill. On Monday I found out from President Blatter that we would be giving a training on thursday night to the zone and lots of the stake members. So we prepared that for forever. We stressed out about it way too much but it was good. We learned a lot from it and the members knew what they should expect from us missionaries a little bit more than before. Then on Saturday everything got super duper awesome. Not that the rest of the week wasn't but it just got way great. So we worked all day way hard and had appointment after appointment over and over and then at night we had a ton to do. So we went and gave a Baptismal interview for another group cause my companion is the District Leader so he has to do that. Then we went to a lesson with Temple. Temple is such an awesome guy. He taught himself the Plan of Salvation before we taught it to him and we helped him understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ a little bit better. Then talked about Lehi's dream with him. It was cool. Cause then Sunday he came to church and the entire focus was on Holding to the Iron Rod and sticking to the Book of Mormon. He loved it and is going to get baptized next week. That was a horrible explanation but basically our Heavenly Father worked a miracle for us this week. it was so cool. I have never really felt guided by the spirit so strongly in my life until I looked back in hindsight and realized the blessings that my Heavenly Father has given me. This week has been one of the coolest weeks of my mission because of the teaching opportunities that we have found. I hope you all have a great week!!

This gospel is amazing. I can promise you all that as you rely on him he will bring so many blessings to you life. More than you can imagine. Elder Holland in October of 2009 entitled Safety for the Soul where he gives a very powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know just as he says, that this gospel is true. His talk is only 17 minutes long so I would encourage each of you to listen to it. I know and I want you all to know that I know this gospel is true. It brings more joy and happiness than anything else in this life. I love you all!
Elder Trevor Reynolds

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng

Tacoma, WA