Missionaries Leave, Blue Angels Arrive....

September 29, 2014

Aloha my bruddas!

This week has been a scramble because Elder H-- and I have inherited the half of the ward that was Elder K--'s and Elder H--'s. This is because Elder K-- got emergency transferred to the Honolulu Zone. One of the missionaries over there that spoke Chuukese got sent home so and K-- speaks Chuukese so they sent him over there. So now it is just H-- and I in this ward. So I kind of got mini-whitewashed into the area.

We found this inactive guy who loves the missionaries and he teaches Muay-Thai so we are now going to his dojo twice a week with a few of his friends who are members in order to slowly bring him back to activity. Oh by the way, Muay thai is super fun! Also this week I had to move pads...again. But guess what? I am moving back to the pad that I moved out of the first time. And I we got Elder K--'s and H--'s bikes. In my mission they provide the bikes because you wouldn't be able to take your bike if you got transferred to a different island. So now I have a car and bikes :) 

The Blue Angels are in Honolulu right now so they have been flying over Ewa Beach all week. It was super funny because we are helping D-- memorize the sacrament prayers and we meet at the church, well the Blue Angel's "build-up" path is literally right over the church building because the show was over Pearl Harbor.  So as the three of us were walking out we watched them fly over for a few minutes and every single time that they flew over D-- dropped to the ground and when he was getting up he was laughing and said "Oh man, I thought that they were going to hit me in the head". Man that guy is a classic! Unfortunately there was no lesson with J-- this week again (thanks to the Blue Angels.) And no lesson with S-- or B-- this week. Oh yeah also this morning we got to watch Meet the Mormons.  It is super cool. We watched it with two other zones. It was funny to see a line of Corollas at the Stake center.

Got more news on Ipads this week, the date that we should get them is now February. It has now been pushed back more then a year past the original date that they said, which was December 1st, 2013.

Ok I got to go.

Love,

Elder Reinhold

Trio and Temple...

The picture is of my zone at the temple, admittedly not the best picture
 of us all but it is the only one that I have.

September 23, 2014

So This email is late...yes, but it is because we had to switch the p-days for our whole zone because we went to the temple this morning.

Nothing too crazy when it comes to our current investigators. There was one very weird incident with a lady in our ward. So we get a voice mail out of nowhere, turns out it is this lady's daughter that was visiting, she told us that we need to go over and re-teach her mom the missionary lessons and correct some...incorrect...doctrines and practices she does. I don't feel comfortable describing them... lets just say that when we were there I could feel my spirit "fighting" something else that resides in that house...Anywho! So we will be going over there every Saturday to talk to her and teach her. Sadly, B-- is on the mainland for a visit with a doctor to help he get a prosthetic leg that will actually be helpful and not just hurt her. 

We didn't have a lesson this week with J-- because he had to cancel, again. But he did say that he has been writing down tons of questions that he wants us to help with and he has been reading the Book of Mormon and has already found the majority of the answers by himself just by reading! That book has all the answers that you will ever need! Well maybe not every single one, no matter how much you read it, it won't solve your math homework for you. We did have a lesson this week with C-- and A-- this Saturday where we dealt with the concept of grace.

This week has been rough for the missionaries assigned to the Ewa Beach 2nd Ward. This week Elder H-- had to go home unexpectedly for medical reasons. We are all super bummed out. President Warner and Salt Lake expect it to be a quick fix and for him to be back within a month although he won't probably won't be put back in Ewa Beach. So until next transfer the Ewa Beach 2nd ward has a trio of missionaries instead of two sets. So I get to kick it not only with Elder Hineman (who knows his stuff) but also with Elder Kichiro! Super weird because we are merging our two halves of the ward into one, so I have lots of new people to meet.

With the power of three we are doing great! We have contacted a lot of less active people including this Samoan guy named S-- who wants us to teach his kids the missionary discussions, they are like 9, 10, and 12 years old. but he is divorced so he only has them on the weekend.  Not only are we pumped to teach the kids but S-- is also obviously pumped to get the ball rolling on this so hopefully it will bring him back to activity. It will be interesting because his girlfriend is a Jehovah's Witness.

For the spiritual thought from me I would like to turn your attention to the Book of Acts chapter 6 verses 38-39. Peter and John are on trial to determine if they should be put to death for "speaking blasphemy" in which a man named Gamaliel spoke on there defense, he said "Now I say unto you refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply you be found even to fight against God" So what he is saying it true. This work is of God and it can not be stopped by man!

Elder Reinhold

Service and Swells....

September 15, 2014


Not really much to say this week, I have done service almost everyday. Most of the service is for our investigator B--. Her dad is moving back into where she lives, which use to be his house before he went to an assisted living home, so basically a ton of responsibility has been given to her and she only has one leg so she can't really do everything that she has to. We have been moving a bunch of boxes and furniture for her because her father wants to be able to fit everything that he is bringing back. She is super thankful all the time and is asking "How do I donate to the mission?" but we tell her that we do this for free. She really wants to have more lessons with us and is just trying to get her dad settled.

We had a surprising amount of lessons this week that we actually had a solid time for us to come over, normally we don't have any. But there was a big Southwest swell this week so the waves have been good all weeks which means that all but one of our lesson fell through because everyone was surfing. The surfers would say that my week was "blown out."

No lesson with J-- this week either because he had a doctors appointment on Sunday, which is like the only time that he can meet with us. Last lesson that we had with him we challenged him to write down any and all questions that he had about not just The LDS Church but also about God or Christianity. He told us that he has had questions since basically birth that he hasn't had answered so our next lesson will be interesting. Definitely bringing along the Ward Mission Leader as he knows the gospel backwards, sideways, and blindfolded.

Also last Sunday D-- C-- gave a talk in sacrament meeting, just a recap on D--, he is a 23 year old guy with some mental challenges who's whole life revolves around Elvis Presley, WWE, and Jesus Christ. Now back to the story, so D-- has asked the bishop every week since he got baptized if he could give a talk and this week he was able to but not without the help of the missionaries because David can't read or write. So guess who he picked to be up there with him on Sunday and whisper the talk into his ear? Elder Hineman! The one Elder of the four of us who's name he doesn't even know, he just calls him "the Missionary". Anywho, he gave a great talk.

Until next week,

Elder Reinhold

More Steps Forward than Back....

September 8,2014

Aloha!

So today is Elder Hineman's birthday! He is turning 21.  It is crazy because he only has six months left! This week we have also have Elder Hill's and Elder Kichiro's Birthday.

Elder Hineman and I trying to pull off
the "sitcom advertisement" pose.

Before I talk about my investigators and stuff I am going to tell you about the SICK hike that I went on today. It is the only hike in our zone and it leads to a waterfall. I was so sweaty by the time we got back that my whole shirt was soaked, that's because the hike is 75% uphill, 20% downhill, and 5% flat (and yes that math is possible) and also when is was a slope it was a 50 degree slope but it was still super fun!

My zone except Hill, Kichiro, Bergstrum (Yes, from Alta), and Lavae.

This week we have made steps forward and steps backwards with the work, but luckily we have made more steps forward then back. B-- said she wants to be baptized! We don't know if she can at the next date because her leg is having problems healing fully so we will have to see. We also got an actual lesson in with J-- where we was focused the whole time. I could tell that he is super interested, by the end of the lesson he was sitting on the edge of his seat listening to us. This lesson was different because we had a member with us. All you people at home, you should go with the missionaries to lessons you will be a huge help.

Ok I got to go. All you members of the church who will read this should read Mosiah chapter 18, it talks all about what you covenanted to when you were baptized.

From the Ewa Beach Public Library in Hawaii, 

Elder Reinhold

Staying in Ewa Beach and Finding Folks....

September 2, 2014


Aloha My fellow children of Heavenly Father!

So it was an interesting week in Ewa. Lets start off with a lesson that I had on Tuesday. We had dinner with some members and they said they were inviting their non-member friend named B--.  She only has one leg and I will say that for what she has been through she is the most optimistic person that I have ever met in my life. She told us that she has lost literally everything that she owns 7 times in her life. I have never seen her not smiling. Also the lesson went great! Every time that we finished explaining something she would say something like "Oh my goodness I have never fully understood what a prophet does, mostly because in my church I have never been able to think about it." And stuff like, "Wow.  Now that I think about it, all of the churches change things without even attempting to claim proper authority." Also, when we handed her a Book of Mormon she giggled like a little girl and said "I might even read this while I drive home, just kidding that isn't safe at all."

Also this week was transfer week. You are probably like,"What it seemed like only last week he was having transfers."  Well so many people are going home a few weeks early because of college that they just decided to have a four week transfer instead, and as a result, this transfer is going to be a seven week transfer. I am staying in Ewa Beach with Elder Hineman!

So we had this guy who's name is J--, who we met while tracting, who wanted us to come back and teach him a lesson but when we got to his house we found out that he was there for just the summer with his girlfriend. The sister of the said girlfriend answered the door and guess what? She wants to have us come back! Ha! J-- thought that he could trick us but the good guys always win!

Also this week there has been a sickness going around our district...again...so we have all been kind of off lately.  Well I was feeling super tired and I noticed some houses I have never noticed before. The only was to describe where they were hidden was that there is this walkway between where the street ends and where the houses end, so the houses don't end where the street does. Well I have never noticed this before and apparently there is only one place where it does that. So there are only four of these "hidden houses" and of that group 25% of them told us to come back! That is a pretty good percentage! Also while in this...state of mind... I found a street that I had never seen before even though it is in the middle of the area and we finally got to tract it on Saturday because we tried to find it again a few times but we just couldn't. For this reason it is now called...[insert dramatic music] The Narnia Street!

Ok I got to go but you all should read 3 Nephi 18:24 and do as the Lord commands.  Lift the light high.

From the Islands of Hawai'i...

Love,

Elder Carlos

Zone Conference....

August 25, 2014

Whazzup! I mean Aloha (forgot that I was in Hawaii for a second)

So lets hop right into it! SO Monday, the usual boring P-day - nothing to do in Waipahu on P-Day.

But Tuesday! Oh Ho wait till you hear about Tuesday!........It was also kind of boring, it was zone conference so I got to sit in a chair for 8 hours Hooray,not really though. But good news! When we did the part where we talk about the numbers for the whole mission we discovered that our mission is doing twice as well in everything compared to the average of our area which covers the NW USA and the Pacific. So two certain Elders (you know who you are) can...well you know.

Wednesday we tried to find new investigators all day and per usual, no one was home and the few that were home didn't want the gift of Eternal Life, WHAT THE HECK! IT IS FREE HAPPINESS! TAKE IT!!!

Thursday we had tons of lessons scheduled but the stars aligned against us and literally every single one was unable to meet! T-- is having a surgery earlier then expected, R-- is just kind of...gone... he just disappeared, J-- broke his hand and arm. but we did get Baskin Robins that day so that was nice.

Friday we had a super long lesson with a less active named M--, other then that it was a day of finding.

We had choke baptisms on Saturday for our district. 5 in all, I got to talk in the service during the time that they were drying off and stuff. It was awkward!!!

Sunday, so there is this big fire going on in the hills by us and during the sacrament closing prayer they prayed for rain to help stop it and right when we said "amen" it started to pour!!!! super cool!!!!

K got to go till next week,

Elder Reinhold

Teaching, Singing and Recovering....

The Filipino Magic.  Yes there is a human in there.

August 18, 2014

Aloha my mainland peeps! (except Curtis),

This week has been full of weird stuff. First let me tell you about V-- a man who can only speak Hawaiian Pidgin, all I can do is just nod my head and say "yeah". He is all like "OOOO luke iz da tags!" which means "OOOO look it's the missionaries". I don't even...

Also this week my whole district and the ZLs have been fighting off this sickness that has been going around, honestly we don't even know what it is but we know that it stinks to get it. We had to pull out the every medical tool that our 19-20 year old minds had to fight it. In the end we had to retreat to some "Filipino Magic" (as our Filipino ZL calls it) basically you get a big pot and line the inside with Vicks then you fill it with water and bring it to a boil. Then you take that and put it at the feet of the sick person (who is sitting in a chair) then you pile blanket after blanket on top of them and they sweat it out. If I had to describe what it is like I would call it "A one way ticket to an asylum if you are in there for more then 10 minutes".

We had a bummer this week. so we found this guy (J--) while tracting and we set up a lesson for Sunday and we went to his house and no one was there. We are going to stop by again this Sunday. 

R-- has basically dropped of the face of the planet, we went to his house to try and set up a lesson time with him and when we asked "Do you know where R-- is?" We were told, "No one knows where Reno is! I only see him for 30 seconds in the morning and 30 seconds at night!"

So my district (and some of the ?Marshalles? Elders) got an assignment dropped on us on Friday that we need to do some sort of entertainment for this big ward dinner thing that was being held because yesterday was ward conference. The ward conference was on Saturday....my mission has a motto that some elders put to music a few years ago and we listen to it in the car so we are like "Lets sing that!" so that is what we did. There is a video floating around somewhere of us singing it but I still need to find it.

Lessons with some other investigators are...interesting. The wife has grown more and more oppositional to what we are sharing, the husband is on the edge of his seat every time we are over there and is listening to everything we say, but he won't pray about it. Prayer is so important to understanding the will of God. I think that he is scared to get a confirmation because he knows that he won't be able to deny it. Oh well, only time will tell.

Last night we had this great conference with all the missionaries on O'ahu in Laie, and the person who spoke was Vai Sikahema he is super funny and spiritual and has a load of stories. Also not the mention that afterwards was a big get together where I got to see Elders Schnell, Birch, and Nagtuvi. who were all in my district in the MTC!

Anywho I got to go.

From,

Elder Reinhold