Birthday, Baptism and a Premature Amen!

April 28, 2014

Well Family, this week was actually pretty good. Our companionship is feeling a little bit better as far as the stomach goes. This week was also really good because we had a baptism. E-- was baptized and it is about time that he got baptized!  He was ready when I got here to San Juan. That means that right now we have baptized 2 possible future branch presidents which was part of our goal.  E-- is a really good person.

This month was also pretty good. Last month we had 4 baptisms and this month we finished with 8 so we doubled the baptisms and that feels good. This month we are not starting with a ton of baptismal dates but we are going to keep working to put more. This month our goal is to have 10 or 12 baptisms. 

This week I had the opportunity again to speak in church. I talked about the talk that President Uchtdorf gave 2 conferences ago named "Come Join Us." It was a great talk and the branch needed it a lot. It was kind of funny though I was reading the last part of the talk and I didn't have a ton of time to prepare the talk so I read the part where it says, "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  Everybody thought that I finished my talk and so they all scared me when they all said "amen."  I thought for one second, "Should I just sit down or keep going?"  So I told them that I was just reading the talk and that I was going to keep talking. Everybody was laughing a ton. It was really funny.

This week I will be getting a new comp. My companion has changes. He really is a good comp. I am going to miss him a lot. Well that is about it and I will talk to you guys next week.

Elder Reinhold

Jakob Turned 21 This Week!

He was a bit sick but had a good

day thanks to his friends.

Make a Wish!!

Baptism and Semana Santa.

April 21, 2014

Hey family,

How is life?  Well this week I do not have a lot of time to write but this week was good and bad.  We will start off with the bad. First of all this week was the semana santa or the holy week for the Catholics. That basically means a pause of the missionary work. It doesn't matter even if we go and knock doors they do not answer.  It is a really hard week for the missionary work.  

Also my comps and I have been really sick this week. We ate something bad and we have been suffering all of this week. I thought about 10 times this week that I was going to throw up for the first time on the mission but I am still going strong and hold the record strong. 

Also the family that we were trying to get baptized did not get baptized as a family... hahahaha. The good thing is that we had a baptism and it was the mom of the family Hermana A--. It was a bit crazy having the baptism when we were sick and when it was the semana santa but it all worked out. Thank you guys for your support and stay classy.

Elder Reinhold

These are the afombras of the semana santa.

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.

San Juan Ostuncalco.

March 24, 2014

This is the exit.

Family...

Well this week was great. First of all I want to tell you guys where I am now serving. I am serving in San Juan Ostuncalco. It is about 30 minutes from Xela. It really is a great experience. First of all, I have hardly heard any Spanish this past week. In Ostuncalco they speak Mam. It is weird that they do not speak Spanish, I have tried to learn a little Mam but it is so hard. It has a lot of throat clicking and stuff. 

My companion is Elder M-- from Peru. I am suprised on how well we get along. It is one of the first companions that I have had that doesn't give me any kind of worries. He is a good missionary and great at baptizing. One of the best in the mission. 

This is one of our investigators making wipil.

San Juan is made up of a small city with a ton of villages all around it. It is a very poor place. As for the church, it is struggling a lot. It is a branch of about 50 and there are only 2 people that have the priesthood. The branch was bigger but because of some stuff that has happened, the branch is struggling. Right now nobody really likes the missionaries. The missionaries have not been the best here. This is the first time in the mission that I will not receive lunches from the members but we are going to work really hard to gain confidence from the members. 

Elder D-- and I.  The "OG's."

The branch president lives in Xela but drives there on Sundays to be the branch president. The good thing is that we have some baptisms that could happen but not until April. In San Juan they have some of the most beautiful trajes (traditional clothes) that I have seen. I am really excited to be here in San Juan. My goal is to baptize someone who could be a branch president in San Juan in maybe a year. The hunt is on. The zone is struggling a little bit. The zone of Esperanza baptized an average of 20 last year but last month they baptized 6 and this month we are going to finish with 3. That is the challenge for us right now: figuring out how to raise the zone.

This is the washing machine of the village of La Victoria.

Love you guys.

Elder Reinhold

These are called chuj.  This is how they bathe themselves.

Every Wednesday and Saturday they chuj. It is basically like a sauna. 
It is a tradition from way back. 

The sister is in there preparing the chuj because everybody goes
 in at 6 o'clock in the evening.

This is what most of the rivers look like.  They are full of trash.

Happy Baptism Day. Sad to Say Goodbye.

Three baptisms this week!

March 17, 2014

This week our zone ate at a restaurant all together.

Hey family...

This week was great but I am a little bit sad as well. This week we baptized three amazing, prepared people of the Lord. All went just as planned.  It was a truly amazing experience especially to watch Brother M-- change his life. M-- is from a very famous family here in Xela. They were the owners of half of Xela.   They are very wealthy.  He has been a drug addict and an alcoholic all of his life. He has only worked 2 years of his whole life and he is about 45 years old. He was left such huge amount of money and land that when he needs money he just sells part of his inheritance. This week he gave his testimony in sacrament meeting and I felt the spirit so strong. He told about how he always felt a gap in his life no matter how much money or materialistic things that he had and that it took his brother killing his dad for his money to whip him into shape and have the desire to change his life. He is truly a great person and I know he will have great callings in the church. That was the great part of this last week.

Building with a rock slide.

The bad part is that tomorrow I have changes. I have no idea where I am going!!!! They did tell me that I will still be a zone leader. I am sad because just as the zone is really starting to get better they drop this on me, but the Lord needs me in a different spot right now. I am so thankful to be in the mission and would not trade it for anything. I will keep working hard all the way until the end.

Con amor, 

Elder Reinhold

P.S.  A comical text while the missionaries were on divisions.  It translates something like, "Please hide my usb that is on the table by my bed and please don't tell Reinhold."