December 25, 2011

  Hey Family:) sorry I called at a really bad time yesterday. Next time I'll work that out better. How's Christmas? I miss you all sooo much!!!!! I think when I hear Family/iphone 4S the thought of my family finally conforming to my only wish for them three years straight was... was more then I could bear. I got super homesick!!! Well what did you all do for holiday season? fun things I'm guessing??? I'm worried when I get home everyone will be married and in college and holiday season will be boring and we won't do anything fun:( But who knows... maybe by then Megan will be engaged... ;) SO I this week was christmas in Taiwan, not really different from other weeks here. It was freezing and we had a ward party that we sang sang the 12 days of christmas missionary/chinese version. just all the things that happen on a mission:) We had a great investigator i've been meeting with for months who stopped meeting with us, he completely fell off the earth. I'm worried he died:/ but we also have a few that are getting really close to baptism as well:) Know this holiday season that I love you all like a fat Boy LOVES cake. miss you all.   Lov eyou all hope to hear from you soon   Love Elder christopher martin james Reynolds

December 11, 2011

Well this week has been great!:) New companion and such :) like heaven!!!!! Still in tian mu... but hey someones got to be here. The work is great, we have three investigators close to Baptism, and my Chinese is slowly getting better:) I think soon I'll be... well good enough to communicate everything I want to say at anytime. That's my goal. Thanks to a glorious God totally possible. :) I had the awesome opportunity to be sick this week and feel the loving powers of sleep in my life... who knew what I was missing the past six months. Well alas the sleep time is over and Good hard work is back in order (I still feel somehow I didn't get enough sleep in that day.)   This week we went up to wen hua nabian. Its a college up on the giant hill. Once there the temperature dropped to undesirable with winds and rain, then on top of that high school got out... well let's just say the dreaded nightmare of a white man is high school girls. we stepped of the bus and no sooner then flies come to a picnic they were upon us!!! They were on me and my comp and there were millions of little munchkins jumping on us asking where we are from or to draw us a picture. Well of course the next hour of Buses was just packed full and rain made us look like well... walking black men... minus the Asian girls ;)

November 27, 2011

Well this week I was on exchanges. Everything was pretty cool till the night time. The Elder I was exchanging with is going home this week so he was having a lot of people taking him out to dinner. We went to dinner at an all you can eat restaurant, that night we literally felt like bags of meat. The apartment even smelt like meat. So we showered like a hundered times and stayed up all night trying to remove the meat from us... ;) well the next morning we decided to go running down to the track so we could run at our own pace (little did we know that neither of us could run with that much meat in us.) Well when we got outside the meat smell didn't go away... We thought "oh crap, in two years we will still smell like this meat" Well as we started running we saw a man drinking beer, every few seconds he would bend down and pour some into his Dogs mouth. Well I've seen crazier here. But as we got closer this nice BIG pit bull smelled what he might have really seen as to big meat patties... smell included. I am glad I can run. For this dog booked it like no drunk dog can. I fear had he not been drunk I would be in the belly of a dog right now. :/    well all kinda workes out we took another way home  

November 20, 2011

HELLO ALL!!!! Well this week has been crazy!!! My Chinese is improving. I'm almost done (this week Wednesday) (this is gospel and communicating words, around 1,000) so then I can start on phase two. (just normal stuff) THEN CHARACTERS YEAH!!!!  Although I won't lie I already started both the characters and normal words... oops got excited. ;) This week has been cooking week, I've cooked a ton like no ones business. From blueberry muffins to white sauce and noddles. I feel as though maybe I might account to be something someday other then the dishwasher. Well this week we got our new toilet... now it's been five and a half weeks without one. I never realized how much a toilet meant to me at 1 in the morning when you have to...well ya that. But cannot because toilet doesn't work and cannot leave the sushe. So as you sit in agony wondering when six thirty will roll around, I find the Christlike attribute of patience lacking some. Not only does the lack of toilet effect night hours but the stench accumulated over days of plugged toilet starts to leave a imprint on you body. Well alas the nightmare  with it's dreaded attacks on humanity is over. I am now a free man. I honestly believe using the restroom is like the atonement. Nothing can feel cleaner then being free of burdens form inside you. :) Well thanksgiving is coming up... who knew? lol they don't even really know what that is here so chances of me doing anything.. slim :( I wish I could say I had my own plans but as of late me spare time has been snuggled up with our new toilet admiring the sun like shine and quite river-like flushing sound coming from it. SO maybe today I'll come up with a briliant plan that will blow missionaries to kingdom come. :)   Peace be unto all and to all a very good night.

November 13, 2011

Wow it's American time in Tian mu area. I have seen more Americans here in Tan mu this week than my life... alright well more like my whole mission. :) This week the American school is doing a festival and all the American schools in Taiwan came. SO Tons of Americans or ABA's (American Born Asians) when I went on exchanges (One day with a different companion because my comp is District Leader) We went to an appointment over by the school. Within minutes me and my Taiwanese exchange comp. were flooded with girls and boys 15-18 all trying to talk to us. I never felt more famous yet completely alone in my life. LOL Later that day I met a guy named Wang. He seemed cool at first but soon I regretted the existence of myself.  He was half drunk and chewing binglong. soon I had rain stains all over my shirt. (binglong is a red chewing drug)   Anyway got to go:)   LOVE you all   Love Chris

November 4, 2011

  Well this week I had some.. new experiences. I met a man from New York, and he rocks socks, hi name is Kyle. :)  He has the coolest accent and is here for study thing. He loves chilling with us missionaries and always tells us about his old Job at ABC news. It feels weird knowing Me and him get along, I feel so missionary like and he... well definitely New yorker. He starting coming to church and said he will meet with us which is good. Last night we went to a fireside at the "bo" (mission headquarters). Kyle came and met an Asian member...needless to say I feel even if he had interest before in the church, he has no doubt he wants to investigate now. On the note of strange love...So I realized this week how much I'm gonna love being home. Being tall, American, bluish eyes and finally being able to speak some Chinese it's hard to know who really interest in the church of having creamie babies/ having a American friend. I feel the spirit might be my only tool for this one. But there are so many people baptized who fall away after the American missionary who baptized them moves away. I am so so grateful for the people here though, they are all so great and work so hard. This week are new investigator from a few weeks ago decided to become Golden. He is like a grandpa to us. So very old but may I add wise like none other. He is a Medical doctor and still is practicing at the ripe old age of 63.  Every time we meet he just wants to tell us about some new law in Russia or such. So very cute. :) We also have a college Kid meeting with us who is increasing rapidly. :) He is trying to smoke less and overcome some big... well other challenges;) Well that's about it :)   With love   Good old little me

October 30, 2011

Well today is Halloween, last weekend they had a Halloween party and little kids (like probably close to thousands) walked the big downtown streets of tian mu going from shop to shop. It's more like a city holiday then anything else. there were tons of families out and all had cute little Asian children dressed up as something crazy or weird. It reminded me of how much I love America and cannot wait till I can see the CLEAN beautiful streets, hills, mountains and such. I miss wonderful white snow. :/ Alas life is life and moving on is the only option.   This past week I got to baptize Xu wei teng. It was so cool coming out of the water and seeing his happy face and getting a wet hug im the water. He is a good guy and loves his wife very much. I am so grateful for his example, he just makes me happy. Yesterday I got to confirm him in church with the a few members of the ward. very cool. I am so glad God gave us the gifts and blessings he did.   Last week me and my last comp had to use that old ladies bike for a while... well lets just say God really doesn't like his missionaries using members bikes. She needed to bike back monday but my old comp took the bike lock keys to his new area so we couldn't unlock it. we got the keys wednesday (by now our mmber friend was not happy:( ) and thursday planned to take it to her. Well in the morning during studies she call SOO many times. (we can't answer the phone during studies) I was on exchanges with the Zone leader and he was a little frusterated with the lady calling so much. Well anyway ended up we didn't get it to her until let that night and I think she is forever, never going to allow missionaries to use her bike. This week was start of new transfer. I'm still in tian mu. It's really hard. I could use prayers. I love tian mu and am glad I have the chance to stay and work with my old investigators. So I'm not sure how to best describe how beautiful tian mu is. Every week we get to go wen hua which is a school far up in the mountains! when we are there we look down and ... wow. beautiful!!     Love chris

October 23, 2011

  Well this past week I went to blow my nose before bed and there was a GIANT cockroach in the bathroom.  (about 3 inches long and 1 wide, that's just the body) I went and got my companion. We got a small plastic cup and as it ran up the wall I used my Jedi like reflexes and out the cup over it. Well it didn't like being in the the cup very much and started to bounce all over my cup and the wall. I started screaming for the cup was shaking violently and my companion was only laughing. I then threw the cup with little Mr. roach into the toilet.  my companion not realizing I had thrown the cup to (its a clear small plastic cup) flushed the toilet. Well needless to stay our toilet is still clogged. the next hour I spent with a giant cleaning glove on with my hand up a toilet trying to see if we could where the cup got stuck... no success. :( My hand then received a lot of Mr. clean and probably is cleaner now then it ever was. well right now no toilet. :(   This week My companion packed all his stuff and shipped it down to his new area. he also sent his bike so we  borrowed a members bike. Now he is 6"8 and the bike was for a 5"5 person... or shorter. lol needless to say it's been cute. Well two days ago we were biking and were late for an appointment so we had this genius idea of him holding the back of my bike and id help pull him up the hill..... I don't need to say what happened after that. Cuts and bruises and lots of memories. :) Well this week has been good. I've been able to communicate a lot better. People actually talk to me and never know I can't speak chinese, so I can't say God doesn't still perform miricles. ;)   This week I get to help baptize an investigator:) He is really cool and has a cute family. His wife is a member but les active, so this is good. :)    Well taiwan is starting it's cold season. Lots of rain and really cold!!!! no fun when soo Humid. This week i got contacts:) crazy!!!! I spent an hour putting them in. But now I'm pretty speedy:) Yeah!!!!