A Baptism and a Wedding.

A baptism and a wedding.

April 14, 2014

Some really cool huipiles from here in San Juan.

Well family this week was great. We had a baptism... and not only a baptism but also a wedding. We were able to marry (so that they are not breaking the law of chastity) and then baptize K--. It was a great experience but a little bit stressful for us. The whole week we were running around organizing everything. It was a little bit crazy and when we finished we were tired because that same day we had a conference with an area seventy. This week we are also going to have a baptism. It might be a family!!!!  The mom and the kids already accepted but the dad wants to wait a couple of months to learn more.  He has had a ton of answers but has not wanted to act on the answers. Man, I can't tell you how frustrating that is when God is talking with someone and they still can't here. 

This is about 1/2 of my area.  Imagine, there are only 50
active members.  The church could be really big by now,
but the members aren't faithful.  One day it will be a stake.
 I have faith.

Today we went to a mirador. From the mirador you can see about half of San Juan. San Juan is just a bunch of villages.  Someone told me that San Juan has about 136 villages. I am so happy to be in the mission.  It is a great experience. I am a bit sad because 6 months from today I will be home all awkward not being able to speak English and will feel really weird being alone and not with a companion. I love you guys and sorry I don't have much to talk about.

Elder Reinhold

Alta Pride!!!!!!!!

Its a sign that points to all parts of the earth.

Conference

My comp showing off his gut.

April 7, 2013

Hey family,

How is life? I am not going to lie to you guys, I really don't have to much say.  It was kind of a bummer week. The good thing was the conference.  Of course I loved the talk from Jeffrey R. Holland when he said, "That sounds like a god made in man's image."  He gave a pretty good beatdown. The other talks that I loved were Elder Oak's talk on the priesthood when he spoke about the women and the priesthood. I would recommend all women to read that talk or listen to it. It was some great doctrine. Also I liked the talk in the priesthood session by Randall L. Ridd, when he talked about the internet profile that the internet makes for us. It was a great talk.

This would look like idol worship to us.
It is a golden Christ with a cross.
There is lots of smoke and singing.

This week we just are plugging along.  The zone is improving a ton.  All of the areas are doing a lot better job completing the work of the Lord. As for us in San Juan, we are really trying to help the branch. We talked with the branch president this week and basically said, "Well the branch is having trouble what are we going to do?"  So we came up with a plan to help the branch.  My dad asked how we watched the conference. We had to go down to Xela because in San Juan they don't really have good cable or good internet to watch it, so we went to the stake center in Xela. Next week I will only have 6 months left. It is so crazy!!!!!!!  Well until then, stay classy fam.

Elder Reinhold

The New Branch, Hiking with Zone, Planting Potatoes and Volcano.

This is our bus when we went to a conference.

March 31, 2014



We went for a little hike.
It was really beautiful.


 

For p-day we went on top of the mountain.




 



Well this week was okay. Really it was an average week. I didn't even really feel it go by. The time goes by so fast in the mission. This week we spent a lot of time on the zone. We did an activity today we went up on the top of a mountain, did a little hike and they also had a basketball court on the mountain so we played some ball. After, we made burgers and I surprised myself with my potato salad making abilities. All of the mentioned activities took some time to organize.

 

We saw and heard a volcano erupt.

This is a fire pit that we had as an activity.
We had about 18 investigators and 5 members come.

This week was good because I saw the branch for the first time. My first impression... they called up 3 people to give talks and all three denied the opportunity. So I got my scriptures ready and went up. The missionaries are the back up plan for everything. We also passed the sacrament, did all of the information for the branch like the attendance and everything, and we taught priesthood to the 2 people that are in the branch. Here we have to do everything as missionaries. The great news is that we had 10 investigators in church and the sisters of San Juan had 3. A good portion of our sacrament meeting was investigators. We are working hard to find some good quality members here in San Juan.  We are looking for future branch presidents.  They need leadership.

This is our whole branch on the way to the conference.

I really do love San Juan. The culture is cool. Hardly anybody speaks Spanish. Lots of them know how but everybody speaks Mam.  Since a lot of our investigators don't speak Spanish, we have to have translators to teach. This week I will have 18 months in the mission.  I want to cry but I am going to try to take advantage of the time I have left. I don't want to go. I still tell everybody when they ask me that I have 15 months in the mission. Love you guys so much and hope you like the pictures. Talk to you next week.

Elder Reinhold

This is where we went to plant potatoes.

I was dying afterwards.  The people are such hard workers.