Mission Accomplished #lifegoalsachieved

Life Updates:

Ladies and Gentleman I made it back to the promised land. I am here, living, loving and laughing in Mt Vernon with my stellar companion Sister Nissalke. She is NOT Asian, or Russian, or Cherokee, and her last name is NOT an Indian lake. It is German, and she prefers to be called the Great Wall of China. #madvolleyballskillz

Yup folks, you read that right. My mission goals were achieved this week. This was one of the most inspired, funny, hard, hot, delicious, most awesome weeks ever.

BUT Let's start with some funny moments of the week:

-We tried to watch stake conference on a streaming feed on Sunday but the broadcasting feed was down. We needed up just listening to the same speaker repeating the same line over and over again for 20 minutes. In the end we killed the feed and had an impromptu Sacrament meeting and sang my favorite hymn "come come Ye saints" all was well. #wowowo

-our most progressing new investigators started our conversation with "Are you voting for Hillary or are you a Jehovah's Witness?" 😂We made it in the door 🙌🏻🙌🏻 more on that story later

-I learned that one of Sister Nissalke's volleyball nicknames is the Great Wall of China because she is such a good blocker 💪🏻

-once upon a time, the GPS told us to go down a cow path to dinner. It looked a little iffy, but backroad adventures are always fun in Ohio. We went, we almost died, it was muddy, there were holes, our car is NOT all wheel drive and you can imagine what happens next. 2.5 hours later, one truck, one chain, one ward member who I call dad and Easton my surrogate little brother, lots of logs, one muddy car, and two muddy sisters later we emerged from the road and had dinner with that family. I love the Groom family, I love Heavenly Father and the car has still not been wrecked or scratched #hallelujah #humbled

This week has been crazy, our car adventure was a nice cherry topper, but we found some pretty cool people. I have felt the spirit guiding our finding and teaching efforts so strongly. Before on my mission , I saw myself as a replaceable pawn in Heavenly Father's game. I thought any missionary could do what I can do. This week I have felt so strongly my purpose here in Mt Vernon and seen so many people I have personally helped. I have felt so much love and am so grateful to know that I can help Him in some small way. I know I am where I need to be!

We got back in touch with my favorite lady Paula Riley. She took us out for dinner and We testified hard core that her time to change is NOW. She said wOld start reading the Book of Mormon again. I love her and I know she is ready to take the step of baptism, we shall see if she takes the first few steps into the dark.

We also found a miracle former investigator named Lona Tate. I felt he spirit so strongly in a lesson we had with her on Saturday. We were able to simply explain concepts she has been questioning for years on her level and she was so enlightened. I know that if we listen to the Spirit and bring him into our lives, he will make truths clear to us and help us soften our hearts.

My favorite experience was with Joyce and Samuel. We found them on Saturday evening and Honestly I was a little sad and tired of walking around. We knew there was an OSU game on and people were grumpy whenever we tried to interrupt their Buckeye time. We were searching for a potential in a nicer neighborhood near the church. She didn't have an official address just another off handed set of directions. We were determined to find her because it said she wanted to be baptized in her background info. We couldn't see a house that fit the Elders description, we were looking around and I felt like we should at least try the neighbors to see if they knew her. I felt prompted to start with a house across the street. The woman who answered the door was very nice, she explained they had just moved into town from Danville and didn't know any of their neighbors. As we chatted more she was very open with us and she explained she went to the church across from our building. Eventually her husband came out as well, convinced we were Jehovahs witnesses, and made fun of us. He also wanted to know if we were voting for Hillary. We corrected his mistake, explained who we were and he apologized profusely. Before the night was over we ended up in their house, teaching the full restoration, leaving them a copy of the Book of Mormon, and having two good friends. It was amazing to see the spirit work on them and see their hearts soften. When we left he thanked us for bringing Christ into his home, and told us he was excited to read the Book of Mormon. Samuel and Joyce are amazing people, and we would have never found them if we didn't follow even the smallest promptings of the spirit. As we were walking home, I also remembered Sister Nissalke's prayer before we had started our rounds that night, she asked specifically for people's hearts to be softened as we spoke to them that nigh. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost we get to use every day, and I am grateful for the power of prayer in faith.

When I say my mission goals have been accomplished, it is because Samuel left us with such an amazing compliment. He said "I know this book (The Book of Mormon) has Christ in it, because I can see Him in You. Your faces are shining His light. You are Sisters in Christ." At the beginning of my mission I sat down and made some goals of what I wanted to do with my time here and how I wanted to change. The main goal was this, I want people to be able to see the savior in me. I don't want to her, "Oh I love Sister Reynolds!" Or "She is such an amazing missionary" everything I do is for Him and so people can come to know Him. This morning I was reading my favorite miracle in the New Testament. Jesus heals a man with palsy. When he proclaims that the mans sins are to be forgiven, the Pharisees in the house snicker and question his authority. Christ reminds them that he is the son of God and heals the man of his physical ailments as well. My favorite part of the passage comes after the miracle occurs. In all 3 of the Gospels where it occurs, the last verse of the passage describing the experience goes something like this;

8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. (Matt 9:8)

I love that even though Christ performs the miracle, at the end of the day the multitudes were glorifying God. It is a perfect example of humility in all aspects and actions. I want to be like Christ, and I was soooooo excited that our righteousness and joy helped Samuel see Christ in the Book of Mormon. I am grateful to be a representative of him and to have the opportunity to make him known.

Life is good! There is no place I would rather be than standing next to my Savior and friend testifying of Him to the people of Ohio every day. ✌🏻️❤️😃

✌🏻️Sister Reynolds✌🏻️