Awesome Week

Why the long faces, Elders?

December 23, 2013

 

 

Family,


Well this week was awesome for a couple of reasons. Fisrt of all we had a couple of really cool activities in the stake. They were, of course, Christmas themed. The first is that the whole zone prepared a choir to sing in a park. It turned out great. There were microphones and lights and big speakers. Everything turned out really good. The other activity that we had was the whole stake went to an aldea called Sija. We brought 3 truck loads of toys and there was a dance and a singing program. It was really cool.


Tomorrow we are going to do the Zone christmas activity. We are going to make a pizza buffet and we are going to play games like basketball, soccer, and board games. We will see how it turns out. This week was really cool. The zone is suffering a ton so my comp and I planned a really spiritual slash, butt whooping zone conference. We prepared really good talks and we invited the assistants to talk as well and then we shared the missionary work and the atonement video it was so cool. The stats went up so we are happy that the missionaries are working a little bit harder. As for our area we are doing great. I think that we could baptize very healthily in January. We have a baptism on January 5th with our investigator named, J--.


Well I have to go, but Merry Christmas and I promise to write more next week.


Love you guys and thank you for all the support.


Elder Reinhold

 

P.S.  More Photos coming.  Having technical difficulties.

Plugging along....

December 16, 2013

Hey family how is it going? Well here we are just plugging along. We will just say that here in the area of Centro we are doing great. We are finding lots of people to teach and we are having success, but the zone is dying. Literally Dying. We are coming up with ideas to help the zone but I am not going to lie it is pretty hard. The whole zone is working at about 50% and that does not bring success. So we have some work to do. We were going to baptize this week but the brother of our investigator died so that kind of threw a kink in the baptism. The whole funerel and everything will be this week so the next week we should be able to have the baptism. This week was awsome also we found a family of 7 that is really positive. The mom of the family has tons of friends in the church and goes to all the activities that we have. The dad has been a little bit harder to get ahold of but last night we had a lesson with him in his house and he invited us to eat dinner and everything. It was great. Its is really interesting. She told one of the sisters in the ward that they were Catholics to the core but that her opinion is changing about the Catholic church. We are praying lot for this family and for the opportunity to baptize them.

 

Just wanted to share a thought that I had while reading the Book of Mormon this week. I was reading in 1st Nephi, chapter 18...I think it is. This is when Nephi breaks his bow. This is a classic story but over and over in the Book of Mormon we learn the lesson of don't sit on your butt when you have problems. There are a couple of great examples: Ammon when the sheep got scattered and also with Nephi's bow. He broke his bow and all of his brothers were just sitting there crying and he decided to make another bow and a sling to go hunt for food. I love teaching this lesson to the other missionaries. If your bishop does not help you or if your comp is hard or if your area is hard or if you don't have investigators, I always ask them "What are you going to do about it? Because sitting on your butt is not going to get you anywhere." We all need to learn how to act. Also the other thing that I loved is when it is talking about the liahona and how it worked according to their faith and diligence. This is exactly like our spirituality or relation with God. The more we do, the more diligence we exercise the more direction we will receive and we will have more spiritual power. When we do not do that, we cannot expect anything.

 

The quote for the week is, "If in a court of law you were accused of being a Latter-day Saint, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" -Jeffrey R. Holland. I always use this when we share messages with members.  It is a great quote. I love you guys so much and look forward to talking to you in a couple of weeks.


Elder Reinhold

Making Things Happen in Centro...

It was "burn the devil day" this week. This is one of the devils that someone made.
It even has little horns.

Hey Family!

 

How are ya' all doin'? First of all, Happy Birthday Kyler. Man, you are growing up fast. Well everything is going great here in Xela. Other than the fact that I feel like it is colder than Utah!!! I thought that by receiving a mission call to Central America I was safe... I didn't even sleep in a sweatshirt in Utah but here it is a MUST-DO. Well it is so cold sometimes. Last week I went to the market and bought a coat, so don't worry, I am okay now.

 

 

 

Elder Christopherson is going home,

 so we made a piñata for him.

Here in the area of Centro there is a non-baptizing streak not to mention it is a zone leader area and the last zone leader here was an previous assistant. Well this week we are going to baptize.  It is a miracle.  The Lord is so merciful with us. Also, we found a ton of families to work with. We found like 4 or 5 families.  We are stoked and we think we are going to lay down some fire in January. That is a saying that we say down here. "Vamos a echar fuego."  We think that we can maybe baptize 3 to 5 in January. This week the Lord truly blessed us. The zone is struggling a little bit, but we are trying to do all that we can to help it.

 

This week the quote of the week is, "We are told emphatically not to pilfer and profane, prevaricate and fornicate, satiate ourselves in every indulgence or violation that strikes our fancy and then suppose that we are "pretty darn good soldiers." No, not in this army, not defending the kingdom of God." -Jeffrey R. Holland Wow.  That will make you think about the little sins a bit more seriously won't it?

 

 

Well, I love you guys and I am in the coolest mission in the world. The culture is amazing - pure Book of Mormon material. I would not trade it for anything.

 

Elder Reinhold

New Area and Zone - Xela Centro.

Well this week was good and I finally figured out what might be my challenge of the mission - raising or fixing a broken zone. Wow, it is really down right now. I am finally to the point to see if I can somehow turn a zone around.

 

The area of Centro really is a great experience. It is in the heat of everything - all the parties. I see gringos everyday (more than 20). its a little bit weird. I never talk to them and I always greet them in Spanish. I forgot how to in English. The area is a little hard. For example, it is like trying to share the gospel in a small country town or in Times Square. Which is easier?? But we are trying to get the area going again so that we can have some success. We are probably going to baptize in December. We just have to see how the Lord blesses us.

 

This is a project that the Church is doing to encourage self-reliance.
They give all the members the chicken and the coop.

Being a zone leader is good. One thing that I learned about myself in being a zone leader is that I only act according to my authority. Before, I always thought that I was going to have a hard time machete-ing (chewing out if missionaries are breaking rules,) but I have found it to be surprisingly easy. I know when to listen and I know when to talk. It takes courage to talk but it also takes courage to sit down and listen. It's a quote but I can't remember by whom.

 

Well the quote for this week is a good one. "The war is on, and we have conspicuously enlisted. And certainly it is a war worth waging. But we are foolish, fatally foolish, if we believe it will be a casual or convenient thing. We are foolish, fatally foolish if we think that it will demand nothing of us." -Jeffrey R Holland. I like this quote becuase this is what the gospel is about. It is not an easy thing.

 

Well, love all of you guys.


Elder Reinhold

 

This is in Central Park. It is so cool. 
It is like they are giving a blessing in a ring with their left arm on the shoulder of the the other.

 

 

Transfered to Quetzaltenango

Well all is great here in Huehuetenango Calvario... I should say it "was" great because I have changes. Tomorrow at 9 I have to be in Xela.  It is going to be a long day. I am going to be in Xela Centro with an elder from Brazil - another brazilian I know. I am going to be a zone leader with him in a area that has not baptized for a long time, but we are going to find a way. It kind of makes me sad to leave becuase we have 2 baptisms coming up. Well, I will see if I can come back to baptize them. hahaha. I dont have a lot of time.  I want to go to say goodbye to some people. I will just mention a couple of things from this week. I went to Xela and sat next to some Peace Corps ladies from New York.  An interesting fact is that the Peace Corps has Huehue shut down because it is too dangerous.  I was telling them if they think that Huehue is dangerous they should see some other areas.  Also we had a conference for all of Guatemala from Salt Lake. I will just say that I was tripping out when Elder Scott started talking in Spanish. It was really weird.  I don't know why.  To be honest with you, I did not understand too much of what he said. Elder Falabella also talked and they finished with Presidente Eyring. All in all it was a great conference.  Well I got to go, but next week I will let you know how cold it is in Xela...


Elder Reinhold

Stuff To Do In Xela....

Hi everyone,

This week was a little bit busy and boring. We will just say that I went to Xela 4 times. It was like 4 complete days of traveling. We will just say that we had a lot of mission business to do. But we are here back in Calvario working hard again and buscando the people who are ready for baptism. This week was great for the district. We recieved the newsletter from the mission and almost all the district is in it for baptizing. Well guess what I do not have? -A quote of the week again. It's because I have not updated my agenda.  Normally when I get a new agenda I put all the quotes of the weeks in there but I have not had time. Sorry, and I will for sure have a quote for next week and I will think of some good stories.

Elder Reinhold

Baptism, Blessings, Talk in Church....

Hey! 

 

Well family this week was great. Ch-- got baptized!!!! It was a little present for my comp since this was his last week. It was a true miracle that he got baptized. We went in the morning to pick him up for church and he was deathly sick.  He was in his bed just sweating and dying. Not to mention that half of his family was already in the hospital for the same virus.  The baptism was looking a little bit dim. We gave him a blessing and told him that we would be back to check with him after church.  We returned and he was feeling just fine and all of his family was still dying. Blessings work and especially when you are trying to do the Lord's will which includes baptism. He was so excited to get baptized and will be a great missionary one day.

This week was good as far as working with the members. I spoke in church and I don't want to take credit but it was really powerful because of the Spirit. Lots of people commented on my talk. The members all took a lot of pamphlets and are excited to talk with their friends and their families about the gospel. Well you guys will find out who my new comp is next week.   Also they just told me that they are opening Calvario 2.  That means there will be 4 missionaries in Calvario again.  That also means that I will be showing 3 people the area. It might be a little crazy, but that is how the mission is.  Well love you guys and talk to you next week.  Sorry, no quote this week because I don't have my agenda.

Elder Reinhold

P.S.  I tried to put photos... but it is not working with the computer that I am using.

Setbacks but Moving Forward....

 November 4, 2013



The kids trick-or-treating in the little Mormon street we live in.
 These might be the only trick-or-treaters in all of Guatemala.



These are the shoes of the poor missionaries
 who came to play soccar with us.
They are from the zone of Ixtauacan;
a very mountainous area.

Well this week was a bit hard but here we are working. Lets just say this is like a huge party week here. For like 3 days nobody let us in. Also, we had to move a baptisimal date back because the mom of our investigator, Ch--,  saw some members from our ward drinking at the pools.  So that threw a bit of difficulties in our baptism but we worked it all out. Now we need to keep working with him so he can be baptized. This is the last week of being a missionary for my companion. It is a little bit weird that he is going home. For me it does not feel real. I just think that he has changes. We will see who my new comp is this next week.


Well we are on the run right now. A member just called and said he wants to go on a drive because he has a problem that he wants to chat about. We will see what happens.


I never want to leave you guys dry without a quote. "It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to tie a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice, wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it? Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief." -C.S. Lewis.

 

 

 This quote is great. You go to church and do your duties every week maybe you read you scriptures and pray every night but suppose you were in the situation of Joseph F. Smith when he served a mission in Hawaii at the age of 16. He was on the way back was walking through territory dangerous for the persued saints. Had a pistol put to his head by a man on a horse and was asked, "Boy I'm a Mormon killer. Are you a Mormon?" He said, "Yes, I am." Later he said that he 100% expected to take a bullet to the head. That is the making of a prophet of God. Are we ready to have our testimonies purified by fire? That is something that we should prepare for every day. Love you guys so much and thank you for everything.

Elder Reinhold

**From Jake's Mom: If you want to know how Jake is doing, I asked him and he replied, "Living the dream!"  I am confident that he LOVES what he is doing.

.

Working Hard...Even on P-day.

We made balladas with my companion.  It is food from Honduras.

October 28, 2013

Well family, how is it going? You guys are up there and the cold is about to start. Here in Huehue they brag that it is the best climate in the world. It is pretty nice sometimes.

This week was kind of a bummer, but its was also good in some aspects. This week we really needed our investigator Ch-- to go to church so he could be baptized this week, but he could not go because he was with his friends who are members, who happen to be the members that are helping us with him, and they returned after curfew. I was so angry with his friends... but the good thing is that we did have 6 people in church. Right now we have a few investigators that are possible baptisms.  One is named V-- and one J--.  We are going to keep praying for them so they can be baptized.

This is a park that we went to that was really nice.  They have events there and cabins to rent. 

We did the Zipline.

This p-day was pretty awesome we went ziplining in the mountains. It was pretty cool.  It was a series of 5 ziplines.  Not to mention this little resort we went to was beautiful.  Now we are finishing up p-day.  All we have to do is go shopping for the week and back to work. It is so funny becuase the most tiring days in the mission are p-days. You think that we should feel rejuvinated after p-day but I just feel more tired.

Well the quote for this week is, "Preach the gospel at all times and when it's necessary use words." - San Fransisco de Asis. I love this quote.  It is something that we should all think about as members of the church. I love you guys so much and I love being in the mission - every minute of it. Thank you so much for all the support that I receive from you guys. Talk to you next week.

Elder Reinhold

 

 

Baptism and New Companion.

Baptism of J--D--.

Well sorry about last week and not writing. It was a little bit crazy. My comp had emergency changes so we woke up super early to go to Xela for his changes. The ward is starting to get a little suspicious of what I am doing to my comps because they come and go really fast. I just tell them that they can't handle the heat. Kidding... Well that means I have a new companion. His name is Elder P-- from Honduras. He is a old guy in the mission he is going to finish his mission in 3 weeks that means I will kill him AKA kick him out of the mission. So it will be interesting to see my comp go home. I curse my companions. I have had 4 comps go home early.

 

Our Chapel in Calvario.


 

Well last week and this week were pretty good because we had a baptism. J-- D-- got baptized.  It was great.  The baptism was a little bit unorganized but it all worked out fine in the end. He really is a great person and will be a great asset to the Lord if he continues staying strong in the gospel. This week was a little bit hard.  A lot of our appointments fell through but we powered through and are hoping that this week will be a bit better. But that is the life of the missionary.  Every week is different and some weeks you have tons of people to teach and some you feel like you have nobody. But here we are working hard.

 

The quote for this week is "In our time the only restraint left is self restraint." -Jeffrey R. Holland.  Who would have thought it was from my boy Jeffrey? This is a great quote.

Parents stop trying to keep your kids out of bad stuff IT DOES NOT WORK. It is all around them. You need to teach them to keep themselves out of that stuff because even if you try to keep them away from drugs, alcohol and pornography they will confront it someday.  Like the quote says there are no restraints in the world today. Before in the olden days you had to search for bad stuff you had to go buy pornography but now you cannot completely avoid it. Like Joseph smith taught teach correct principles and then they govern themselves. Well that is enough for today.  Love all of you guys and wish you the best.

Elder Reinhold

No letter this week....

From Jakob's mom:

Elder Reinhold quickly wrote last Monday and said that his companion ended up getting transfered, so he was at the mission offices all day.  He has a new companion who has less than a month left in the mission.  That is all we know for now.  He will write again on Monday and will let us know how things are going.
 

ONE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so sad. I can't believe I am on the downside of the mission.  I want to extend an extra year.  Well this week was good.  It was a little bit interesting.  Just as we thought we were going to slip past the changes, just one day after we got a call saying that my comp had emergency changes. So Thursday in the morning we packed everything up and headed to Xela. When we arrived to the office to have interviews with the president he told me my new comp was going to be Elder Dos Santos. And yes, this is the Elder Dos Santos that I spent 4 and a half months with in Chiquilaja. I was very surprised to find out we would be companions again. We make a good match and I think that we will do some good work here in Calvario.  It turned out he had been having some issues with his last area so President wanted to change him.  Right now we are doing great. We are going to baptize a ton.  We have lots of really positive people and we are working hard and being obedient.  Right now we have 2 Baptisms.  One this Saturday, which is the baptism of J-- D--. And on the 19th we have the baptism of G--.  We also have some other people that we are going to put dates with.  This week president is coming to work with us for a night.  Talk about pressure to put good citas.  No, I am just kidding.  We are just thinking about the people that he can help with his knowledge and authority.  I am excited to work with him for the first time in my mission

 

. 

Talk about general conference.  It was great. There were a couple that stood out to me. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Doubt your Doubt. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Mentally Challenged. President Thomas S. Monson when he visits his friend and David A. Bednar about Tithing. There was a few others that really impacted me but those were the best ones, I thought.  I was very happy though because we were able to watch it in English so we were able to really feel the emotion.  Also, one talk that I have listened to various times this week that I highly recommend that you take 15 minutes to be spiritually edified by. It is the talk, Safety for the Soul, by Jeffrey R. Holland.  It is an incredible talk. The Quote of the week is "Life would be simpler for all of us if we would obey such rules completely. Many of us, however, learn through experience the wisdom of being obedient." Thomas S. Monson. This is pretty self explanatory.  I love every one of you so much and am so grateful for the support I have received in my time in the mission.  I will talk to you guys in a couple of months.... Well these days I never have to much time on the computer. See ya'!

Elder Reinhold

Lots of Work to Do in Calvario!

September 30, 2013

Family and friends,
Well this week was great. M-- was baptized!!! She was so prepared to have the gospel. She was baptized only 4 weeks after we talked to her the first time. She is awesome.  She wants to serve a mission and was sad that she has to wait 1 year to do her papers. I think she will be a valuable tool in the Lord's hands when the gospel will reach her village of San Pedro Soloma.

This week we also have a baptism his name is J-- D--. He is family of some members and has been assisting church for a while.  It is great that he will be baptized this week.  Calvario is an area just packed with work and baptisms.  We cant keep up with them and guess what?  They just closed Calvario 2.  Now we will be the only companionship here and now we have to take all of their investigadores and everything it is going to be crazy. It is really weird to me that they would close an area that baptizes a bunch and that has tons of work to do. But we will see what they have in mind.

 

 

The quote for this week is "Providing an opportunity for the Savior to enlighten our understanding, Peter once inquired how many times he should forgive his brother and then asked, "Till seven times?" Surely that would be more than enough. But the saviors response opened wide the door to his merciful heart. " I say not unto thee seven times, but seven times seventy" Craig Cardon This quote is great as it shows that it is never to late to change, to ask forgiveness, to return to the church to start fulfilling you calling whatever it may be.  IT IS NOT TO LATE!!! The Savior is there and is waiting for your prayer. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here in Huehuetenango and love it here. Sorry today we are really short on time but love you guys so much and talk to you next week.

Elder Reinhold

Working in Calvario. Even dug a well!

 September 23, 2013

This is the gang of Calvario right now.

September 23, 2013


Hey family!

Que tal la vida? Oh yeah, and what happened BYU?  That's 4 years in a row! But I am so happy they lost. It's not because I love Utah or because I hate BYU, it's just because I love getting under the skin of all the BYU honks here in the mission.  I wrote a list of all the pros of Utah and stuff about BYU. 

We ordered pizza.  It was gringo time!

1. At Utah they are Obama lovers and just like it says in article of faith number 12 we should support all of our government leaders.  BYU has a lot of Obama Haters.  (Okay, maybe not quite right.)

2. Liberalism is almost exactly what is described as the pure love of Christ. 

3. At Utah there are not any hypocrites because you can't have hypocrites if you don't have rules. 

4. At Utah more parties for the opportunidad (is that the Spanish word?  Cute!) to share the gospel with non-members who have problems with chastity and word of wisdom. 

5. The majority of the apostles went to Utah through personal revelation. If God is telling them to go there it must be God's school. 

6. Boost economy with beer and marijuana imports.  Ii could go into statistics but not now. 

7. A lot of the liberal people like to scruffy look with beards and ebrything (I like how he spells it with a "b" now!)  they are just following the example of Christ. Not to mention that Christ would be asked to fix his "look" on the BYU campus.

8. Utah was created by the church before BYU was. 

We will just say that I have a lot of fired up BYU fans here and I have them just where I want them.

Everything here in Calvario is great. This week we put a baptismal date with M-- and I think that everything looks good with her. If so she will be baptized this Saturday. We also have several other baptisms that will happen in the next month but only according to our obedience and diligence. My comp has a lot of time here so he will have changes next Tuesday -  just about a week. I am already getting a new comp. This week was great.  We did splits with the zone leader and Elder Smith came to Calvario with me, and my comp went to Brazilia with the other zone leader.  I learned a lot from a seasoned zone leader.  It was good. This week we had a goal in the zone to find 2 families to teach and everybody in the district did it so that is great.

This week we did service digging a well it was a good experience and also a funny experience. This member has been trying to set up service with my comp like 3 times but my comp has not gone, so he just wants to work my comp to the bone.  He was getting ready to finally put him to work so when I showed up with Elder Smith, the zone leader, to do the service he was so mad. He was just talking bad about Mexicans and everything so we kind of threw him under the bus. This is what we said, "Oh now we understand why Elder Mar wanted to do splits so badly.  He just kept asking and asking and now we understand."  It was so funny.  When we saw him in church he just lit Elder Mar up. 

Well the quote for this week is, "It will be a joy to hear the words well done, thou good and faithful servant." Henry B. Eyring.

This is the whole purpose in this life.  Love it in a way that this will be what we will hear in the final judgement.  I hope that we can all keep in mind that moment when we will stand before God. 

Well love you guys and talk to you next week.

Elder Reinhold

Getting to Know Calvario...

Family, how are you guys?

Well this week was great!  I am still getting used to the new area and I am still meeting the members and the investigators. This area is great. It is in the city but is a very strong ward with great members and leaders. The Bishop is awesome.  He has a lot of experience it is his second time being bishop in this ward and he was also in the stake presidency. He is a big guy. We went to his house the other day to eat and they had these like spaghetti casserole things and I ate like 5 servings with like 10 garlic breads. They kept saying if you leave hungry it is your fault and were telling us to eat with confidence.  Finally I finished the last bite of all the food and they gave us a huge bowl of ice-cream and of course I went for seconds.  It was one of the first times I have seen ice-cream like this in the mission. The area we live in is awesome.  It is a colony of Mormons.  Really.  That is what it is called.  The street we live on is all Mormons - like 15 houses. These 15 houses includes the bishop a previous stake president and almost all the leaders in the ward.

 

Also this week we had the chance to meet an old investigator from like 3 years ago and we show up to her house and it turns out she is Miss Huehuetenango and is in the pageant for miss Guatemala.  She is from Canada but has lived here since she was like 4 or 5 years old. Interesting that we have to report that we are teaching Miss Huehue.  She is reading the Book of Mormon so that is good.  Right now here in Calvario we have some good investigators. One that had a baby today was waiting until after she had her baby. Her name is J, her husband is a member and she said that she will be baptized the 21st so we will see how that goes.  Also, we have a few others that can be baptized so we will see how it goes.

 

Today for p-day we went to the ruins of Zaculeu.  It was really cool.  They are about 550 years old and it was the last city of the tribe of Mam.  The Spanish fought there for 4 months to conquer the city. We went there and there were people offering sacrifices. They were burning all sorts of stuff and saying chants in the language of Mam. It was really interesting to see that. Pure Lamanites here. The city of Zaculeu was settled in 250AD.  This is right in the story of the Book of Mormon. They starved the Mayan people of Zaculeu until they were eating their friends and then they signed a treaty to be converted to the Catholic church. 

 

The Quote for this week is a good one. "The jouney of a thousand miles begins with one step. So watch your step." Jeffrey R Holland. This is so true in our lives and be carful with our actions. That one step gives Satan a little room to enter and start work on the never-ending project of destroying souls and families. Thank you guys so much and remember that our Savior and our Heavenly Father love us and are always waiting for our prayers and our good actions.  I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission here in Guatemala.

Elder Reinhold

New Area - Calvario!

Hi family!

Well I don't have a lot of time today but I will make it quick. First of all Happy Birthday Dad!  Sorry I could not be there but I am sure you will understand.  I hope that you had a good birthday and that you don't feel to old now that you almost have 2 kids in the mission field.  

 

Well I had changes and guess what I am back in my birthplace - Huehuetenango. All I can say is that it is blazing hot. Okay, not really but compared to Xela it is. I am not in the same zone as last time though. I am in the zone of Brazilia and in the area of Calvario. I am the new district leader here in Calvario. It feels a bit weird just coming to a new area and a new zone and being put as a district leader immediately. I feel like the people in it look at you a different way. But so far I love Calvario.  The ward is great.  They are always bringing people to church and are always willing to help us with anything possible. The organization of the ward and the bishop is amazing. My new companion is Elder Mar from Mexico (up north by the border of the United States). He is a great companion so far and we are doing some good work. He has about a little over 4 months here in this area. Sorry I took pictures this week but the computer will not let me send them so I will for sure next week.

 

The quote this week is "If for a while the harder you try the harder it gets, take heart. so it has been with the best people who ever lived." Jeffrey R Holland.  I love this because it is a testimony that greatness comes from adversity and that we should have a eternal perspective on our trials in life.

 

Well it is a whole different game now.  I have to ponder on revelation for the district and figure out how to motivate them. I am always thinking how I can get a bunch of people to find people to baptize when they already want to baptize. Well sorry it was really short this week.  I promise Ii will do better this next week.

Elder Reinhold

Finishing Up in Chiquilaja.

Our baptism this week.

Hi everyone,

Well this week was good. All worked out and the Lord permitted that we could baptize Martha and her family unto repentance. We had many trials Friday. First we could not find the keys, then the power went out so that we could not fill the font, and then just 2 hours before the baptism we still did not have baptismal clothes. Then after the baptism we found out that it had been a really difficult day for M-- and her family. Some really serious things happened and it was an act of faith that they still came to the baptism.  Satan was working against the blessings that were about to come forth. I baptized M-- and her daughter A-- and my companion baptized M-- and C--. Because I have changes tomorrow, we passed by their house yesterday to say goodbye. They were all crying and thanking me and my comp for bringing the gospel into their lives. I am sad to be leaving Chiquilaja but I am also happy to get a new fresh ward. 

The quote for the week is honestly one of my favorites that I have found in the mission. "The future of this world has long been declared. The final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team's jersey we want to wear." - Jeffrey R. Holland.

 

If you know that sin is bad why do it? I know there are other factors, but if we know that we are going to stand before God in the final judgement, why not be the best we can? We know that everything that is good is from God and everything that is bad is from Satan. Let us choose the good and fill our lives with the light of Christ. Let us pick the jersey of the believers, the defenders of truth and the promoters of righteousness. I want you guys to know that I stand as a defender of truth and that I will forever wear the jersey of righteousness. Well this next week you guys will find out where I am at and who my new comp is. Love you guys and talk to you next week.

Elder Reinhold

From the blog editor/Mom:  In another email I was saying how the baptism this week must feel really good. His response was, "Compliments promote laziness and satisfaction leads to idleness.  Love you a ton." Made me smile.

This is the family Ch--. They provide lunch for us Saturdays and Sundays. They are an amazing family.

This is the family Qu--. They live about 20 feet up the hill from us. They are great friends.

All Set for Friday's Baptism!

We went to the temple with M-- and her daughter Sh--.
It was a great experience and they felt the Spirit.

Well the good news is that all is looking great for the baptism of the V-- family. We talked to Mo-- this Saturday and she said that she talked with her husband too and he said to do it and that he wants to attend church with us when he is in town. IT IS A MIRACLE. Ma--, Mo--, A-- and C-- all have their interviews this Wednesday. Right now all is good except that we are having trouble finding baptismal clothes for 4 people. This week in church they were inviting everybody to their baptism. Little do they know that our church's heater does not work and it literally is water that is naturally chilled from the Xela cold. I felt it last time and it is FREEZING. We are really excited for M-- and her family. 

This week in church, I was asked to speak and I just talked so boldly and strongly because other things have not been effective. I chose to talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy. I started out saying that I had prayed really hard about what I should talk about and I said that I know that the Lord still wants us to be better with this commandment. Then I said that the evidence that it is a problem is that when we as missionaries have to teach keeping this commandment, we feel like hypocrites and that's not okay. It was a little strong. I thought when I said that that the bishop was going to take me off the podium. No I am just kidding. But speaking really boldly works, how do you think the evangelicals baptize? By scaring people into baptism. 

This week's quote is very appropriate for this week. "To reach, to teach, to touch the precious souls whom our Father has prepared for his message is a monumental task. Success is rarely simple. Generally it is proceeded by tears, trials, trust and testimony." - Thomas S. Monson.  And I would add "time."

 

This is the central park of Xela. It is actually pretty cool. I could live there.

We will see how everything goes this Friday. I knew from the beginning that they were going to be baptized because of the strong impression that we received to contact them. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here in the tiny mission of Xela. I read something today that said that 66 percent of the children in Xela live in what is considered severe poverty. Xela has a lot of money compared to the other areas of the mission like Momostenango, Quiche, Huehuetenango and some parts of Totonicipan. I think I am going to stay here in Xela when I have changes. A couple of reasons...first of all, my leg. Not that my leg is a big problem now but I don't know what president thinks about it. Also President wants me to continue to baptize and Xela is the place to do that. Love you friends and family and talk to you next week.

Con amor su Guatemalteco Chapine aqui en Chiquilaja. Placticamos este lunes e siempre recuerdan que les amo.

Elder Reinhold

Excellent News!!

Wow! This week was great. We had a lesson with M-- and her family.  They are the people whom we have baptism dates with. This lesson was key as she was going to talk to her husband, who is in the United States, to ask him what he thinks about her getting baptized and if she has permission.  We prayed hard all week for her husband.  So after chopping wood in he morning for 5 hours, we scheduled an appointment to return in the afternoon. We returned and brought up the question and she said that she talked with her husband and he says she should do it.  My heart filled with gratitude because 9 times out of 10 people don't get baptized because of their spouse. She said to us, "Yes I am going to be baptized"... and her daughter A-- as well.  Her other daughter M-- and her son are still in the process of talking with her husband but she, as well, wants to be baptized this day. We also again had 7 people attend church with us.  Everything is going great her in Chiquilaja.  They will be baptized on Friday the 16th.  I am so thankful for the blessing we have seen in these past weeks.  M-- really is a great person who has had a really hard life.  I am so happy that she will have the opportunity to have the gospel in her life.  This week in church she was chewing out all of her neighbors for never sharing the gospel with her.  She really is a prepared daughter of our Heavenly Father. 

 

Last night, I am not going to lie, I ate the weirdest thing I have had in the mission so far.  There is something here that is really popular.  It is called ceviche.  Basically it is pico de gallo with fish, but the crowning characteristic of ceviche is that everything is raw including the fish.  It is a really dangerous food to eat here, so normally we don't eat it but last night we arrived for our regular dinner with the O-- family. They served us mashed potatoes with a mound of ceviche made with shrimp and the other ceviche was yes, bull testicles.   And remember that the crowning characteristic is that it is raw.  It was really chewy, but to my luck, the lemon and the onion overpowered the flavor of the meat.  Yes, I finished it all and had a second helping.  Great story for the kids when I get older. 

 

Well, here is the quote for this week. I don't really have a lot of commentary for this quote but it caught my eye as I was reading in True to the Faith.  "Gambling is motivated by a desire to get something for nothing; this desire is spiritually destructive."  True to the Faith 72.  This is very interesting.  You can connect this to the world and the socialist governments and how people want this from the government and want that the government pays for everything and then wonder why the world as a whole is very morally and spiritually damaged.  I pray that we will all learn how to be self-sufficient and learn to have a good work ethic and take pride in supporting ourselves.  

I want to testify to you guys that I know that our loving Heavenly Father, because of the love He has for us, has in our dispensation restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that we may return to live with Him someday.  I know that the Book of Mormon is a book written for us by the inhabitants of the Americas.  Joseph Smith was a prophet.  I know he was because of the fruits of his labor.  If you don't believe it or your testimony is struggling, kneel down.  Your Heavenly Father is waiting.  Ask him if these things are true.  I testify that we, as children of our Heavenly Father, will receive an answer.  It is a promise that we have.  I know that God and His Son live and that we will one day meet Him and see the marks in His hands and feet and we will have a perfect knowledge of His love for us.  And if we do all we can here in this life, we will be exalted with the words, "Well done my good and faithful servant." I hope that we all may grow closer to our Heavenly Father through obedience and diligent study of the scriptures.  This is my humble prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Reinhold

Praying for Baptism, Being a Disciple of Christ, and Finally Playing Basketball...

Hey Family!

 

How are you guys?  Well this week was good and bad. The bad news is that we moved our baptismal dates to the 17th of August. The good news is is that we have dates with M-- and her daughter. This week we are going to try to present a baptism date to her other daughter and her son. We will see how it will go. We are praying hard and we know that this family is prepared for the gospel and I know that they will get baptized, I just don't know if it will be when I am here in Chiquilaja.  President told me that I will have changes this change. This change ends in 3 weeks so I pray that all goes well and that they will be baptized. They have assisted 3 weeks in a row now and love it. We are waiting on permission from their husbands. Good news today we switched it up as a Zone and played basketball and guess what. I Played!!! Man it felt good to be back. Smoked 'em too. Hit some fade away out of bounder 3's. My leg is doing pretty well, but we will see how I feel tomorrow.  Might be a little sore. Well all is going great. I am loving the mission a ton right now. Spanish is going well.  I have lots of friends in the mission and we are always having a ton of fun.

 

This week's quote is "Lesson number 1 for the establishment of Zion in the 21st Century. You never check you religion at the door. Not ever!!!" -Jeffrey R. Holland, Israel Israel God is Calling.  I sure hope that we do not have situations where we check our religion at the door. When you get in the car to drive to work don't check you religion at the door and listen to music that will take away the Spirit. You feel like you are a good member, you assist every week, you have a calling in the ward, but just once we need groceries and I am going to be gone tomorrow.  Just this once we will not keep the Sabbath day holy. Just don't do it. It's not worth it.  The small temptations are the easy temptations to overcome.  Luke 9:61 and 62 says, "And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." As for us we put our hand to the plough when we entered the waters of baptism and if we are looking back, which would be considered not sacrificing everything that you have, then you are not fit for the kingdom of God.  Don't fall in to the trap of checking your religion at the door and sacrificing your blessing and responsibility to be a disciple of Christ. I love this work and am grateful for every day that I have here in the mission. I love every one of you guys and want you guys to know that I am grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ.  Love you and will talk to you next week.

Elder Reinhold

Plugging Along....

Walking.....

Hey family!  

This week was another good week.  We had 7 attend church and we have a baptismal date for the 3rd of August with M--. She is so prepared to be a member of the Church. She asked us, "Where can I buy all the books that we use in the Church?" We went to Cantel to do service for her and she said I will pay for this time and you guys pay for us tomorrow when we go to church.  How we found this prepared family was we were contacting and we determined we had contacted for a long time and decided to go to visit a member. We were walking down an alley way and we walked past 2 woman sitting outside of their house talking. We passed by saying "good afternoon" like normal.  As we were about 40 feet past them I received a impression saying you have to go back to talk with them so not denying my impression we went back and shared the restoration. Now they have attended church twice and are people who have truly been prepared by the Lord. We are going to present baptism dates with some other members of the family.

 

This is Cantel.

Now for the quote of the week. "Would it not be wiser to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. We certainly cannot do this with  a dragging our feet, staring at our watch, complaining as we go approach to discipleship." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  This quote is great on helping us discern our priorities. 

Well sorry family I don't have a lot of time this week, but I will keep you updated next week and I promise to write a little bit more next week.

Elder Reinhold

This is jocon - one of the traditional dishes.

Working Hard All the Way Around...

I'm working in the corn fields.  By the way, it's hard work.

Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that the field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength.  D&C 33:7

Hey family.  How is it going?  

This is Chiquilaja right now.  Elder Telford is training a gringo.

This week we received a new missionary in Chiquilaja.  He is a gringo and is brand new.  He can not really speak any Spanish. That means the other companionship is pure gringos but they will do well. 

This week was good not only because I worked harder than I ever have in the mission but also because we had 8 people go to church with us. Yes 8.  Everybody was like, "Well normally you don't have a lot of people in church..." but they came through. 

Chopping wood for members.

This week was tiring.  We woke up early to go to work in the corn fields and to chop wood and after 4 hours of that - man it can take it out of you!  But as a result 8 people came to church. The people that came to church were a 16 year old that a year and a half ago had his baptism interview but his older brother said he could not get baptized.  Right now he said he could get permission so we will see what happens. Also we had M--, A--, Sh--, M-- and their kids assist with us. They all loved church and we are going to try to present baptismal dates to them. It ended up really well.

This week the quote is, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our capacity to do it has increased." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

  

I love this quote.  We all need to work at stuff to become better at it.  For example, public speaking. If you speak in public more the easier it becomes. This is a general rule in life.  

Sorry I don't have a lot of time today but I love you guys and stay strong

Elder Reinhold

Elder Hansen, the old AP went home.  He was a good friend.