Hello Beautiful People,
It has been another lovely week in the Great Ohio land. The leaves are starting to change, sweater weather has come, and the missionary work is moving forward. We have driven through Amish country a lot this past week and it has been amazing to see the scenery. If you want rolling hills, farms, red trees, and blue skies, Danville is your country! I love this time of year!
Here is the funny lesson learned this week:
1. When you are in a car, you should not shout DEER (or the name of any other moving animals that walk across roads and cause car accidents) unless there is actually a deer crossing the road... Sister Nissalke really likes nature and animals, so she likes to point them out to me when we drive. Earlier in her mission she yelled Deer as her trainer was driving and the brakes were slammed and craziness ensued. Luckily, when she has done it to me I am careful to ask where the deer is first, so no brakes are slammed. It's always an adventure when we drive by the woods...
We had another amazing lesson with our friend Lillian this week. She is the teenager we knocked into two weeks ago, and has become a golden investigator. Yesterday when we invited her to attend church she looked really nervous. Her social anxiety has prevented her from taking a lot of opportunities, even going to public school, so facing 150 new people at church sounded pretty daunting. I asked if she would be willing and she confidently repsonded, "Well, there is no harm in
trying!" I almost started crying. I have been praying to hear those words my whole mission from people! She is reading the Book of Mormon and loves the stories in it so far. She loved the idea of the Plan of Salvation and though it was the perfect simple explanation. I love her a lot and I pray that she accepts a baptismal date of November 19 this Saturday when we give her a tour of the chapel here in Mt Vernon. That lesson was also a cool experience because we were able to teach
with one of the young women from our ward! Rachel came out with us for the first time. She works in her father's furniture shop every day so we thought we would catch her after church on a Sunday. She was nervous to come, but excited to see what missionary life is like. She will be turning in her own mission papers in a year or two! She connected really well with Lillian and shared some really beautiful stories. She walked out of the lesson full of missionary fire, she loved teaching and realized that testifying and sharing what she loved was not as hard as she thought it would be. On the way home, she
brought up ways she could share the gospel in her own life. She asked for help in inviting her friends to learn about the church through activities. It was so fun to see that desire build!
This week's Spiritual thought is inspired by President Uchtdorf and Jesus. In October of 2015 president Uchtdorf gave a talk in the women's session of General conference where he told a story of a young girl and her great aunt. He talked about how it was a parable and Jesus taught by parables so we could all learn what we needed about
the gospel at the time he was teaching. Parables are also relatable to the audience. Today I'm going to tell a story. There are a lot of lessons from the gospel to be learned from it, analogies, parallels, and it has probably happened to a lot of you. I hope that the spirit teaches you something you can work on this week to improve. The gospel of Jesus Christ is about change, as long as we are constantly looking to Christ and finding ways to come closer to him, we will be happy in the end. We'll call this parable, "No Keys, No Clothes, No Temple Service"
Once upon a time Sister Reynolds and Nissalke planned a temple trip for Jason and Misty. They had been fasting and praying about how to help them grow their testimonies in the gospel. During one weekly planning session, they listened to the spirit, and decided if they could get them to the temple on October 8, Jason and Misty's testimonies would deepen and they would have powerful spiritual experiences and feelings that would sustain them through the turbulence of life. Sister Reynolds and Nissalke planned lessons to help the couple understand the importance of the temple, and doing work for their ancestors. In the end Misty agreed to prepare herself for that date, but Jason was stubborn and refused. He had made a lot of mistakes since he was baptized and didn't feel like he could recover. The Sisters offered him a helping hand but he retreated constantly, and always hid in his room when they came over to prepare for the temple. They prepared for 3 weeks with Misty; searching Family Tree looking for ancestors she could be baptized for, talking about covenants, and setting up interviews so Misty could get a temple recommend. All the while hoping Jason would be inspired, rather than
defeated. Sister Gayer, a member of the Mt Vernon ward also joined the efforts. She befriended Misty and agreed to take them all to the temple on Oct 8 for the 1:30 baptistry session. The Sisters were able to help her do some family history work as well, and Sister Reynolds even gave Her some of her own family names to do the work for! Everyone was learning about the temple, growing in their testimony, and looking forward to that day! About a week before the trip took place, Jason emerged from his hiding. He admitted he had made some mistakes, but pleaded for help to get on the right track. The Sisters assured him repentance is always real and that he would be able to enter the temple soon, but he would
not be able to talk to bishop and be worthy by October 8. He was devastated but understood that he needed to be worthy to enter the temple, and devoted himself to be prepared to go with Misty next month!
The beautiful day finally arrived. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and there was nothing stopping the day from being gorgeous! The Sisters picked up Misty, she was glowing with excitement and spiritual preparedness. Then on the way to Sister Gayer's house they received a frantic phone call. Sister Gayer had locked herself out of the house. She had her temple recommend and family names, but did not have a way to get dressed into her Sunday clothes because she was locked out. The temple session started at 1:30 and it was 12 pM. With an hour long drive ahead of the to Columbus, the hope of making it on time did not look bright. She asked the sisters to bring clothes she could use if she could not find a key. They stopped at their apartment, grabbed an outfit and were on their way. Meanwhile, sister Gayer was frantically
calling her landlord and trying key after key on a master key set. Alas, the key was not there. In the midst of all the chaos, 12:30 PM had rolled around and Sister Gayer was distraught. She requested a prayer. We calmly gathered in the Sister's car. Sister Reynolds offered a prayer that we would be able to feel and understand and follow the promptings of the spirit to know how we could best get ourselves to the temple that day. After the prayer, more keys were brought around. There was more frantic trying, and more disappointing results. At 12:45, Sister Reynolds popped her head out of the car and
asked if she could call the temple and switch baptistry sessions. Sister Gayer said that might work, but was still freaking out. The Sisters called the temple and the nice temple workers helped her sign everyone up for the 3:30 session instead. She called Sister Gayer back over to the car and explain that they had 2 hours to get ready now, she would be able to go retrieve a house key from her husband and all would be well. Sister Gayer smiled and asked, "how are you girls so
calm?" The sisters laughed and and assured her that their lives were usually a a hot mess, but as long as you listen to the spirit, any mess can be turned into a master piece. One McDonalds run, one house key, and 2 hours later we were on our way to the temple. They arrived safely and were able to join the youth for a session. While in the temple he were able to get away from the craziness of the day. We were able to feel the love of God for us, and we were able to share that love for others by doing their work for them. Misty was able to be baptized for Jason's Grandma and mother. It was an intense special experience. Sister Gayer was baptized for Mary Troub, and Sister Reynolds knew there was at least one member of the Troub family that had accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a refreshing time, a time of spiritual peace, and it gave them a vision to look forward to. On the way home, they talked about the vision they all had for next year. They talked about the vision of Jason and Misty in white, being sealed for all time and eternity. They talked about the blessing of temple covenants and eternal families, and Sister Gayer promised to bring Misty back with Jason next month. So far, I'm
happy to report, they are all living happily ever after!
I know the Lord loves us. I know we have his houses with us on the earth. I know that this life is not the end, and I know that anyone can make the changes they need to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in this life or the life to come. I know that covenants are filled with power as we keep them. I know Satan is real, but I have also come to realize that Christ is sooooo much stronger. I love ya, and I know the lord loves ya! Have a great week!!
✌🏻️Sister Reynolds✌🏻️
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