Baptisms (yay!) and Tithe Paying....

June 23, 2014

Well this week was really a good week. First of all, I will just start out the zone had 8 baptisms so we reached our goal this month and we were able to play paintball!!!!...as you can see from the pictures.

It was really fun. I killed Elder T--.  I hit the poor kid like 3 times in the neck and one time in the back of the head. I told him it was for sleeping in and not reporting the dats like he should. I was just joking, but kind of serious.

Add caption

Also because we reached our goal we are going to go to the temple. It will be the first time in the mission for me. I am so excited.

Well I'm sure you guys are wondering about the picture of my comp and I with an old lady in the hospital bed. This was a great experience that I had. It was a little bit scary. We received a call that Sister Soledad was sick and had been calling for the Elders all day. So my companion and I went to visit her. Her family told us that she was angry with her family because she was going to die before we could visit her. We got there and she just started to cry. We talked to her and we shared a message and then she did something that I will never forget. She started to struggle to open a little bag that had a zipper. She finally opened it and took out 1 quetzal which is 10 cents in dollars, She gave it to us with tears in her eyes and told us that it was her tithing. Tears then rushed to my eyes. The parable of the widow's mite came to my mind. She was a faithful member all of her life. She is still fighting pneumonia and is getting a tiny bit better. I gave her a blessing and in almost all of the blessing that I have given in my mission that are like that the Lord always tells me what is going to happen but I was just waiting and waiting in the blessing for it to come but it didn't. It made me think that its hard for me to pay my tithing and this poor lady that has almost nothing willingly gives it with a heart of gratitude. 

Thank you so much for all of the support you guys have given me. We will probable have the opportunity to meet the new mission president this week. My comp and I just have a little bit of time left in the mission but we made a covenant with the lord to work as hard as we can until we finish. I love all of you guys so much thanks...

Les amo con todo me corozon. Les quiero testificar que el Señor hace milagros a medida que obedecemos sus mandamientos y amarle. Yo creci en una familia especial para ayudarme a aprender las vias del Señor. Nos vemos en 3 meses.  (He is saying something like, "I love them with all of my heart.  I want to testify that the Lord works miracles with we obey his commandments and love Him.  I grew up in a special family that helped me learn the ways of the Lord.  I will see you in 3 months.)

Elder Reinhold

Three Reinhold Missionaries and Goodbye President Bautista!

June 9, 2014

Wow! Kyler is now a missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so cool! We now have 3 Reinholds in the mission. Well the good news is that I don't have changes. I will still be a San Juanero for 6 more weeks. I am happy about that because I feel like still have work to finish here. My comp also passed the changes without damage. So we are happy to still be here in San Juan. 

The zone is going to have some good changes that will help us out. This week is really sad because our mission president, President Bautista, is going to have his going home conference. I have learned a lot from him, he truly is a man called of God. I love him so much. But that is how it goes. It is going to be a little weird to finish up my mission with a different president. I really just don't have anything to say anymore... sorry. And sorry, this week my camera memory was still messed up so I was not able to take photos but this week I will fix it.

Elder Reinhold

Little Bro Leaving for MTC and Faith....

June 2, 2014

Hey family! 

Wow! First of all, I just want to say how exciting it is that Kyler leaves this week. He is going to be a great missionary. I am so excited that he is going to have the opportunity to rock the nametag as well. It is going to be hard because I won't see him for almost 4 years. But don't worry Ky you have the best family to support you in the mission and a brother finishing the mission. Love you Man.

Sorry, this week I was not able to take pictures because my memory card got all messed up, but next week hopefully I will have pictures again. This week I heard a really cool story. There is a sister in the branch that used to give lunch and wash the clothes of the elders. She said that one time she was passing some really hard times in her life. Her husband was in the United States without work and before he left they had purchased a house here in San Juan. It turned out that the house was sold to 2 separate people. The sister was really scared for how it would turn out because the other people had put more money down on the house. So the missionaries came to her house for lunch and she told the missionaries the situation she was in and when the Missionary, Elder Brown, heard that he said, "Sister, I am going to fast right now until you know that this house is yours." He fasted 2 days and came back and said that the house was hers and that the Lord would provide. It turned out that the papers she had were more authentic and she kept the house. She had tears in her eyes when she told us the story. When we walked out of the house my comp told me he would have said, "Well Sister, let us know where you move to so we can still come for lunch." I said that maybe I would have said, "We can help you move, Sister."  But that is an example of what real faith is. We should ask ourselves if we really have faith? This story motivates me to be better and to have more faith. Let us all have working faith and put everything in the Lord's hands. I love you guys so much and thanks for everything. Good luck Kyler!

Elder Reinhold

Gotta Keep on Going....

We went to see the temple with E--, who was baptized a few weeks ago.

May 26, 2014

Hey family,

We made Cafe Rio Burritos.  Mmmmm

Well this week was kind of a bummer, but you just got to keep going. This week we were going to baptize R--.  We had the interview and everything ready but his Catholic grandma called us and was not okay with him being baptized. We went and talked with the grandma and she is kind of interesting, but I think that he will be able to be baptized in June. We also have some other people who are going to be able to be baptized in June. This month the zone did really badly. We are a bit frustrated because we are doing everything that we can and the zone is not getting better but President just told us to be patient and it will pay off. 

One sad thing is that my previous companion Elder Medina is going home this week. He needs to have a surgery and is going to have it done in Peru and then he is going to come back to the mission. Sorry I don't have a lot to write because I just don't have the time to plan my letters. I will write a story or something next week.

Elder Reinhold

Rain, Area Conference, and Comps Birthday.

This is one of the first rains.  The whole street has 6-12 inches of water.

May 19, 2014

This was an area conference for all of Central America.
This was when it was supposed to start.
A few did end up coming.

Well family, this week went by so quick it was not even funny. I barely even felt it. It is because we were so busy all week. I don't really remember what we did but every day we were running all around the zone to do all sorts of stuff. We were making invitations for baptisms and for activities. Today, for p-day, we had a cooking competition as a zone. It was really fun.  My comp and I made Cafe Rio burritos.  They were actually really good, but we did not win. It was so funny because there was a missionary who barely put any time into his food and he won.  We took 2nd place.

It was my companions birthday.  Yes that is my hand...

and I took the photo with the other hand. Skills.

This week were were able to talk with R-- who is one of the kids of the family we have been working with. We are about 90% sure he is going to be baptized this Saturday. On Wednesday we are going to go with him to the temple. We already made invitations and everything. 

The rain has finally started and wow, it is destroying us. Sometimes my 8 inch boots can't even help me. My new comp and I are getting along really well. He is a funny guy, and he is really laid back and has a lot of patience. Sorry I don't have a lot to write. You guys should ask me questions so I have something to write about. I love you guys so much. I'll be waiting for your questions...

Elder Reinhold

This is an aldea (village) in our area called El Roble.

This is a cemetary that we found.  Some of the graves are just rocks for
people that cannot afford to have grave markers.

Baptism and a Call to Repentence. Come on Zone!

May 12, 2014
May 12, 2014

Hey family,

Well this week was really good.  We kind of talked about everything in the call home thing. But I will still give an overview of the week for those who were not there. This week we had a baptism.  Finally E-- was baptized. He is the dad of the family we have been working with. And after the baptism one of the kids said, "I want to be baptized." It was really awesome! We have the parents baptized, now we just need to work a little bit with the kids and we should have the whole family baptized. 

This week the zone finally started to get in gear and all the missionaries are all working great. This week I had a really weird experience. I prepared a talk for the zone meeting that we had. But when we arrived at the church I started to have a really heavy feeling like I had a huge burden. I quickly found out from the Spirit that it was because I was supposed to call the zone to repentance.  I am not normally ever nervous to talk in public but I was so nervous. So the scriptures from Alma 34 came to my head and so I bagged the talk that I prepared and went up and called them to repentance because the Lord wanted them to repent. Wow that was a really heavy crucial powerful feeling that we all had, but after the meeting many of the missionaries told me that that is what they needed to hear and that they had not been working very hard. After, I felt a lot better. This week it was a little hard in church because we spoke in the sacrament meeting then we taught gospel principles and then we always teach priesthood. Well, it was good to talk to you guys for the last time through Skype. Next time it will be in person. jajajaja. I love you guys, and thank you for everything.

Elder Reinhold

Mother's Day Phone Call. That's My Boy!

May 11, 2014

Post from Elder Reinhold's mom:

As most of you know, we only get to speak to our missionaries on the phone or via Skype twice per year, on Christmas Day and Mother's Day.  So, these holidays become even more special.  So on Mother's Day we spoke to Jake and we talked about his mission, how everything is going, also, about what he is looking forward to when he comes home, etc.

He told us a story that really made me laugh because it is so Jakob.  First I need to preface by telling you some stories about how smart he is.  He is a really fast thinker.  He was probably 2 1/2 years old when he pushed his baby brother, who was still crawling, down the stairs.  He had done it before and had gotten in serious trouble.  This time his dad was home and after he pushed Kyler, Jakob made a frantic mad dash for his room.  When his dad rounded the corner, he found Jakob on his bed arms outstretched, head back like Quasimoto, yelling "Saaaannnctuarry!!  Saaaaanctuarrryy!!"  It worked.  His dad burst into laughter, which definitely softened his punishment.

There are several stories about Jakob, the negotiator.  When he was 3 we wanted him to trade his blanket for a bike.  On the spot he countered our offer with "Two bikes."  He didn't need two bikes but he wasn't just gonna take the deal we were giving him.  Around the same age, he had a healthy Oedipal complex.  He went on for weeks about marrying me.  I kept explaining the situation and how life works.  Finally one day, it was starting to sink in but he gave it one last try.  "Mom, please marry me?"  I explained it again and he replied with, "Okay, then how about a chocolate shake?"

He was always way too smart.  We went on a trip the week after he turned 5.  At one point, he had gotten in trouble and wasn't allowed to go into the store with his dad and little brother.  He was throwing a tantrum.  Then it was like a switch went off and he was cool as a cucumber and we had approximately the following conversation:

Jake: You know Mom, we should really go in there.
Me:  We should.  Why is that?
Jake:  Dad might find another wife while he's in there.
Me.  Oh, yeah?  Why would he do that?
Jake:  Ohhhh, he just might find someone prettier.

It didn't work, but it was a really good try.  The other intersting thing about Jakob, who deals in goods, is that if he takes advantage of you or hurts you he will come back and try to give you something he owns to make up for it. He doesn't get attached to his things because he is always making money and then buying and selling things.  It is just what he does. It was just last week when his brother brought this up while recalling an situation.  Jakob had said something mean and then tried to give Kyler a stereo to make it all better....not to earn his trust, but because he honestly is sorry and he figures he'll just get a new one.  It is easy for him.

All these skills contribute to him his ability to sell you on something.  He is persuasive and I've been on numerous occasions, tenacious.  He is such a strategic thinker it is hard for him to lose board games.  You might recall, from an earlier blog post, the game of monopoly in the mission that caused his companions to think he had some extra spiritual gift.  At one point on his mission when he wasn't feeling very successful teaching, he mentioned that he could use this ability to, in a sense, sell the gospel.  He knew what a blessing the gospel, baptism, and church membership could be for people, but he knew deep down that he couldn't hard sell this message.  He really wanted people to come to the realization on their own and to develop a testimony.

When we talked to Jakob on Mother's Day he told us how he bought some blue tooth device just because it was too good of a deal to pass up.  Then he proceeded to sell it to his companion who would be going home soon.  (Of course Jakob would be making a profit on his mission.)  It wasn't much, but when he told us the story via Skype he had a sheepish grin because he knows...we all know.  It brings him such satisfaction, but he kind of knew that he was lightheartdly busted.  We all has this little laugh.  He then told us how he felt so guilty that he gave him all sorts of free stuff.  It makes me smile to type this because this is so the boy I know.

Well, his companion had an appreciation for the experience.  He probably had to figure out what happened first.  He didn't know what he was dealing with when he met Jake the Salesman.  He was used to Jake the Missionary.  Apparently his companion learned from his experience and tried to apply it to life in a talk he gave shortly after where he recommended that the other missionaries use Elder Reinhold's tactic of convincing those listening to the gospel message of all of the reasons why they need this in their lives and how they can't possibly live without it.  They would be dumb not to accept it!  Props for him for being introspective and making sense of things.

I just got a kick out of it because you know that your son or daughter will come back a different person.  This was my reassurance that some things never change and it was this moment where I could put a stamp of authenticity on his mission experience.  Yep, that's him.  That's my boy.  Miss him so much.  This Mother's Day call was our last phone call before he will be home.  I am soooo looking forward to October!

P.S.  I have to add that Jakob is one of the most sincere, loving, and honest people I know.