Reynolds, MaKenna

Abby, if you are reading this I had the idea of using this title before you posted your final email. Guess great minds think alike!  Well, this is it everyone. As I am writing this, I have been released for only 20 minutes. This is so cheesy, but I have discovered that I am just  like those other missionaries when they bore their testimonies. I can’t believe I made it this far. I can’t believe it’s done. Course, my mission president told me that my life’s mission isn’t over because my mission is. If I keep going and do the things I’ve been doing, I’ll  be set up for a happy and prosperous life. He is very wise.  While I have had a lot of success with the tag, I can still help even when I don't have one. There’s a scripture I used a lot when I’d go to member’s houses as a teaching missionary. It’s Alma 48:17. It reads:  “Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would ha...

I’m getting released next week! I’m losing my mind a little bit if I’m going to be honest. I feel like I should be more nervous but for now I’m taking the marching of time with more peace than I expected to have. I’m sure it’ll hit me like the first day if school always used to on Sunday night. Wait no, I’m getting released in the early afternoon. Oh well. I guess I’ll see. It might be hard to not automatically look for my name tag to get ready for the day. It was weird for Ty. He told me.  Halloween and the Temple!  So, I was at the Temple until 6 on Halloween night, and I was chatting with some of the other ordinance workers about how we didn’t have many patrons. Course everyone was out enjoying the festivities. One lady said someone she knew thought Halloween was ‘the Devil’s Day’ and I had a thought. Halloween is based on the Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. It started as a way people would remember their deceased ancestors. And you know, why weren’t more people at t...

Hi again everyone! I’ve only got two Sundays as a missionary. I am trying to savor it as much as I can. Part of it might be because I’m getting knee surgery right after but still. I won’t have this opportunity again like this but frankly, this was also the hardest thing I’ve done in my entire life so I’m also glad I’m going to be done.  Temple shifts!  I had my shift on Thursday which was fantastic. I missed it since I wasn’t able to go last week. I love the temple so much. I also subbed for a gal whose sister was coming home from her mission yesterday. Funny enough, she had my same first name. It was a good shift, but I've also found that my knee has more attitude after standing for an hour and a half straight and it’s late in the evening. I just can’t wait to get that fixed.  Thought! I was on Instagram and there are actually some really good things about Jesus and the Church and sometimes doctrinal truth. We do get a lot of bad looks since we don’t support a lot of thi...

Well hello again! Another week has passed. It still feels crazy. I wish that if I dig my ankles into the ground time will slow down but unfortunately that’s not how it works.  Switchpoint concert!  While we were at the soup kitchen on Wednesday there was a concert of sorts. This country singer named Steven Cade came and sang in the parking lot. He wasn’t too bad. It was fun to listen to it while we were making food and stocking the pantry. He actually came into the pantry and me and a couple of the elders were trying to stay out of the way of the camera but others could care less.  Guess he was doing some kind of charity thing. At least that’s what I gathered from what I heard. I heard something about them giving a guitar to one of the Switchpoint residents. It’s good to see people who still care.  Arches National Park!  Half of this week I’ve been MIA because we went to our Arches trip. We’ve been planning this for a while now and I’d say it was pretty fun. I h...

Starting my email countdown. I’ve got 4 weeks left! Isn’t that crazy?! I remember when I left and it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago.  I didn’t write yesterday because I was too busy wiping the floor with my family at games. Tysen introduced us to one called Secret Hitler and it’s been fun. If any of you all have played Werewolf, it’s kind of similar except there’s more ways to win than killing everyone off. And I’ve discovered that no one in my family has a good poker face and that my luck is still terrible. I won all the same. We also played exploding kittens. Which I won too by the way.  Family history work is being done!  Remember how I mentioned I took two sister names to the temple? Well, this last week I took their sister through too! I’ve got one more sister to do and I’m excited for them. It’s gotta feel good to have all your sisters and their ordinances done. They have brothers too but they’ve already been done. They were German Nobility and, well, t...

Hi! As I’m sure you know, General Conference was this weekend. I’ve been so excited about it and it certainly didn't disappoint. Everyone did an excellent job and the spirit was present. I loved them all. I really need to look back and study them again. I forgot who did what ones but there was a couple I really liked in the Saturday sessions about being peacemakers. How despite the world around us we can still show the love of god. Actually, I think one of them was from Elder Oaks. He did fantastic.  I also loved that Brad Wilcox spoke this afternoon. He is one of my favorite speakers. He also did one of the most listened to BYU devotionals ‘his grace is sufficient’. It’s so good and so was the talk he did today. I love how he said you can’t be a lifeguard if you look like all the other swimmers. Inspiring.  I’d like to share a little tender mercy that was a couple of weeks ago. I was going to the temple with my district in the St George temple. We were doing an endowment ...