Happy New Year!!!!

Hallo!!!

Sorry for not writing last week. This week was really awesome. Germans celebrate three days of Christmas. The first one is the biggest celebration and that is on Christmas Eve. It is called Heilige Abend. Sister Garcia and I spent this day with our branch präsidents family. We had a very typical German Christmas. Duck, potatoes, soup... We sang songs and the kids opened their presents. The ward got Sister Garcia and I matching gloves. It was a very classy and fun experience. At the end of the night, I played some songs on my violin with the branch präsidents daughter on the piano.

Christmas day was spent getting things organized and the Elders making us curry for lunch. We then went to a members house to skype my amazing family. It was awesome! I miss them so much! But! I love doing this work too :)

Sister Garcia and I saw many amazing miracles this weekend. We had a new investigator (Arnest) come to church on Sunday. We went to Muemmelmannsberg (one of the areas that we work in) an we saw a investigator that we lost contact with a few months ago, his name is Kevin, he missed us so much so he gave us his Mom's phone number and we are going to try and to start visiting them again.

Another thing we do as missionaries is teach a English classes at the church on Tuesday nights and a German class on Wednesday night each week. We are hoping that our new investigator Arnest will start attending the German class. (Prayers please for Arnest!) :)

Another miracle these past few weeks is we have seen a dramatic change in the Branch. The people are becoming so inviting and loving. They embraced our new investigator like he was already a part of the family.

We have a lot to get done this week! Sorry the email is so short! But I hope you all have a happy new year!! I hear the Germans get a little crazy with celebrating so we have been instructed to be in by 6pm and leave at the earliest 1pm the next day. haha! Love you all!!!


Sister Reed

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Today was extra special as a family we were able to Skype with Summer on Christmas!
Best Christmas EVER!!!
She is doing amazing and loves serving the Lord!
You are the BEST Sister Reed!!! We love you!
Keep loving and teaching the people of Germany, your smile will brighten their world!

Pictures!!!

One very HAPPY Missionary!!! I love Germany!

It's been raining all week

This sweet German music vendor!

More rain!!! Love laughing with my companion!

No watching movies here....but when I get home....smiles!

German & Spanish!

Moin Moin, 

This week was very busy. I went to go get my German drivers license. So hopefully I will get that soon. :D Sister Garcia and I went to the Weinachtsmarkt in Hamburg last Monday. It was super pretty, huge and packed. It smelled like bread and beer. haha! But, that is typical German. They had all kinds of very German Christmas decorations, hats, scarves and food. Tons and tons of food.

Christmas Zone conference was also this week. We watched the church made film "He is the Gift". We also learned more about Präsident and Sister Kosak. I really feel blessed to work with such inspiring people. 

Sister Garcia and I have been working hard to find people all week. We have had the opportunity to talk to people about Christmas and Christ. I love being able to serve here in Bergedorf because there are so many different religions and cultures here. We are able to talk to people and learn about what they believe. It really is a very loving time of year. Sister Garcia and I also made our Christmas tree this year. We used what materials we found in the apartment. We also got into the habit of humming Christmas songs as we walk down the street finding. It really invites the spirit and always brings a smile to others faces. :)

Sister Garcia and I also have the opportunity to work with Elders who have been serving for over 20 months. Präsident Kosak asked that they teach me and Sister Garcia personally in German so that we can communicate faster with people that we come in contact with. I am really excited because I can communicate well now, but I can't wait to be able to speak with more ease.

I hope that you all have a lovely week! Really sit down and think of what is important to you during Christmas time. Being out on a mission, I can really see the sacrifice a mission really is. I dearly miss my family and the time we got to spend together for the Christmas Holliday.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Liebe Grüße, 

Sister Reed

 

***I (Mom) asked Summer some specific questions about her mission and loved her responses.  I thought I would share some on her blog:

            Mom – “Is your mission starting to be what you have hoped to do for the Lord?”

            Summer – “I love it here and I love serving these people, but my goodness... missionary work is crazy. I have come really close to my Heavenly Father and Christ. My testimony in the restored gospel has grown exponentially”.

               Mom – “Is your companion from Mexico?  Does she speak English well? How is your German coming?”

            Summer – “She was only born in Mexico! She is from Dallas Texas. We actually have quite a bit in common! She is a lot of fun and laughs a lot.  The other day I got to hear her bear her testimony to some  members in Spanish and it was neat.  She is going to teach me how to bear my testimony in Spanish as well.  About her German, the Elders are working with us by request from President Kosak to help be personal tutors for her in German. My German is now fluent. I can communicate totally fine with people so it’s great having the Elders come to help her because I feel like I am getting the opportunity to become more proficient at it by talking with them!”

First Week as a Trainer!

My new companion and President and Sister Kosak

Woww!!! This week was crazy!!!

Sister Sanders and I traveled to Flensburg on Tuesday to get her apartment ready for her new trainee. It was so nasty! Do Elders know how to clean. We bought about 50 euro of cleaning supplies and then spent about 8 hours straight cleaning. But, now it looks nice for her new companion. Flensburg is a beautiful city. It is right up next to the Denmark border. We actually almost crossed over on accident because it is just a normal street.

On Wednesday, we took a train all the way down to Berlin and stayed the night with some Sisters there. Thursday I picked up my new companion, Sister Garcia!!! She is super awesome! I am so excited to be working with her :)

This week, we experienced a little thing we missionaries call "ein wunder". We had some time on Saturday to do some finding. We were walking up and down the streets of Bergedorf and ended up talking to this man. We talked to him for a little while about God and how he really is our Heavenly Father. We talked about how he has a plan for us in this life and wants to help us return to him. We told him about the Book of Mormon and how much it can help him. So he took it! We exchanged information and parted ways. While he was walking away, he dropped his cigarette to flip through the pages of the book. It was really cool to see. It is interesting to me that so many people are searching for answers but really do not know where to find it. This man is actually from köln so we do not get to work with him, but I pray that the missionaries there will contact him and help him find the peace and hope that the gospel brings.

We also found out this week that our zone leaders have been teaching this lady that Sister Sanders and I found on the street a few weeks ago. She is starting to take the lessons and is excited to learn more.

I love being able to see how the gospel can really bless lives. This doctrine really is true. We can return to our Heavenly Father through the power of the Atonement. I am so grateful for it and I use it every day. I hope that at this time of year, we will all take some time to really think about the meaning of Christmas. The church made a wonderful video about Christ. I really liked it and thought it was beautiful. If you have a few minutes, I would really love to hear your comments on this video. It is called "He is the Gift".

I love you all and I hope that you have a lovely week :)

Sister Reed

Trainer!!!

This is us at Weihnachtsmarkt

I wear about three pairs of thermal tights and then some socks...and a few sweaters and some gloves when I go out!!! 

 

Wow this week was filled with so many suprises and miracles! 

 

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Germans don't celebrate...  But, Sister Sanders and I had lunch at our Branch Präsidents house. We also had an awesome lesson with a investigator and had a meeting with the ward. So overall, it was a very busy yet productive day. I celebrated Thanksgiving by writing a really long list of things that I am grateful for. Haha!

On Saturday, we worked with the Elders in our area almost the whole day. We spent a few hours of the day dooring out this area that our Branch Präsident calls "Mini Moskow" because it has a ton of young auslander (Foreign) families there. So we banged out about half of it with the Elders. We talked with all kinds of people and had plenty of doors shut in our face. But, I know that someone there is ready to hear our message.

This Sunday, we had our PV program or our primary program. One of our investigators finally decided that he was willing to come to sacrament. All of sacrament, he was smiling and laughing at the little kids. After church, we asked him if he would be willing to come next week. He said he isn't sure because he was too overwhelmed with the spirit. :) I'm going make sure that he comes! He is really great though.

And to end this awesome week, we had transfer calls. Sister Sanders is being transferred :( But, I will be staying here and training! I can't believe that I am already training. But I am really excited and hope that I can do my best. I am going to Berlin on Thursday to go pick her up!

I hope you are all getting in the spirit of Christmas. Germans take this time of year very serious. There are lights up everywhere and the Weinachtsmarkt are all open. Its nice and chilly. I really do love this time of year :)

"What if you woke up this morning with the things that you thanked God for yesterday?"

I love you all and hope that you have a lovely week!

Sister Reed

Piano Guys Concert for Hamburg Missionaries

Summer is one of the Sister's holding the Cello....
Super Cute!

The Piano Guys?

Moin!

So this week was awesome. Last Monday Sister Sanders and I went to the Hamburger Dom. It is a huge Carnival in Hamburg. It was super fun :) We also did a little apartment searching for our mission president. He is trying to find a new Wohnung (apartment) for the Sisters in this area. So we got to go check them out.

So we had an investigator Tschüss us last week. We ended up passing by him in Bergedorf and he said that he wanted to meet up again. So cool! I am excited to talk with him a little more. I also gave away my first Book of Mormon while finding this week! What, What?! Ya! This lady was super sweet. She was just visiting this area from Hamburg, but we had an awesome conversation about Christ, our Heavenly Father and the Book of Mormon. 

Our district has been trying out this new thing that we call "Risk the Awkward". Basically when we are on a Bahn or a Bus, we bring up the most random things to talk about with people. So the other day Sister Sanders told this man that she liked the color of his bright green pants. He just said thanks and stayed quiet. A few seconds later he was talking about how the color on his jacket was nicer and that he could make his knees pop. Seriously, every day is a new adventure out in the field.

This week, we had a lot of activities at the church. On our way to the church, we always pass these men that are reselling train tickets that people gave away. We see them so often that we are now friends. One of them gave us chocolate the other day. It’s pretty exciting. But one of the activities we had at the church was a Fiesta that all the Latino members in our ward were doing. They taught us all about Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua. We danced and ate food. It made me a little homesick though. I am starting to really miss my Tex-Mex.

Sunday was super cool though. Sister Sanders and I played a variation of ‘A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief’ in Gemeinde (ward) Konferenz. It was super cool to play and I think for the first time, the room was completely silent. The spirit overflowed the room with love, comfort, joy and peace.

After church, we had the amazing experience to go to a fireside for the missionaries. The Piano Guys are playing in Hamburg this week and came by to do a small testimony meeting and concert for the missionaries. It was so cool. We all were able to talk to them individually. I would like to share a few things that I learned from this fireside.
 

     "Heavenly Father knows what kind of instrument we are. If we humbly and earnestly put His will before our own, we will begin to see that the music we play will be played with more passion and love than we ever could imagine." 

During the fireside, we were able to have a Q&A with them. I asked them if they could give one piece of life advice.

Al - Stay close to the Lord. Never lose sight of what is really important

John Schmidt - Alma 37: 36-37 (Take this scripture literally)

Paul - Don`t ever settle for where you are right now. Push yourself beyond what you are capable and you will do amazing things

Steve - Don`t let your failures define who you are. Use the Atonement every second of every day to make those obstacles turn into stepping stones.

These men really brought the spirit into this meeting. We were able to listen to their testimonies and they were able to play an invite the spirit through the power of music. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be a part of that.

You are all amazing!

Sister Reed 

 

MIRACLES

This week was truly a week of miracles. They all started on Tuesday when our first appointment fell out. Although it fell out, Sister Sanders and I were already on our way to the church. While we were walking to the church, we came across an investigator that we have been trying to get in contact with since I got here. He is really sweet and I am hoping that we can meet with him soon.

We also did a ton of "dooring" this week. We knocked on over 150 doors this week with no success of finding anyone that was interested. We ended up doing a service project later in the week for a member that needed help cleaning her house. While we were cleaning, her neighbor walked by and asked that we would help her as well. Right after we finished working, we went upstars to this other lady's apartment. She was so kind and she was from Russia. We ended up teaching her a lesson about eternal families. It was really cool to see the spirit touch her.

We work with people from all over the world here in Bergedorf. We are now teaching a few people from Ghana, Turkey, Russia, Persia, Bosnia, Servia and of course our Germans. I love serving here because we really get to influence people from all over the world. The people that we are working with from Bosnia and Servia are from our German course. Both men randomly showed up one day. Unfortunately they don’t speak any German or English. So it is hard to teach them without knowing what they are saying. But fortunately, they speak some Russian. One of the Elders that we work with can speak a little bit of Russian so he really helped us out.

This week I went on Tausch again. It is where we switch companions for a day. I got to work with the lovely Sister Jeffery’s. She taught me so many awesome things about missionary work. While I was with her, we did a little dooring and as usual found no one. But, on our way to the U-Bahn station to go get my companion, we came across this man from Ghana. He started talking to us all about the church and how he had a lot of friends that were members and wanted to learn more. I hope that we will have the opportunity to meet with him this week.

There is really opposition in all things. We began to teach a lady this week that used to be a Jehova Witness. She was very open to learn more and is excited about the new insights that we have on some things. She said that being a JW helped her, but she thinks there is more truth out there. I am so excited to be teaching her. But, right after that we had an investigator Tschüss us... (it means he told us that he didn’t want to meet anymore). It was sad, but I am grateful that he told us so that we can spend more time finding people that want to hear this message.

So it was a very busy week! But I am grateful for all of the experiences I get to have. I would go into more detail... but that would take way longer than two hours. Y'all are great!!!

"Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight"

Sister Reed

*Today for P-Day we are at the Hamburger Dom, which is the largest Fair that they have in Northern Germany!

 

 

Halloween!!!

 

This week started off with a new district! We just started a new transfer so we had a few people leave and a few new people come into our district. We have a new Elder in the Bergedorf ward and a new District leader. I am really excited to work with these new Elders.

The lady that I talked about last week that met with the missionaries 20 years ago, we had a meeting with her this week. She is so kind and so open to learn more about her Savior. She made us some Peperment tea (as most Germans do) and we just got to know each other. She also has a passion for classical music. So we sat on her couch, drank tea, listened to classical music in a candle lit room. I felt really classy. But, I promised her that this week I would bring my instrument and play for her. I am really excited.

Sister Sanders and I will be playing in church on November 16th. We have been working on our piece together at the church. So the other day, we decided to open up the church and allow people to come in and listen to us play. Although no one came in, it was still kind of fun to see people’s reactions to me walking up and down the street playing random music. :)

Halloween! It is definitely a tradition that is still trying to get started in Germany. A lot of people really enjoy in and go all out. And a lot of people think it is dumb and want nothing to do with it. Haha! Naturally, as missionaries, we did not dress up or anything. We had a normal day of missionary work. We made cookies that morning and then traveled to almost all of our investigators houses and wished them a Happy Halloween. It was nice to be able to just stop by, share a quick message and tell them that we care. That night, we bought giant ‘Kinder Eggs’ and went trick-or-treating at our own door :) It was a fun little way to celebrate.

Saturday, while Sister Sanders and I were studying at the church, we heard a loud screaming. This little boy had fallen off his bike. But, his screaming didn't sound like a normal scream. We ran outside to make sure that everything was ok only to find that his arm had been broken in half. (It was not a pretty sight...) We rushed him inside the church and asked a lady to call the EMS for us. This poor little boy; we ended up getting his information and was able to contact his family.  He was really a sweet boy.  The doctors were so nice to him and helped him into the truck. I am grateful that we were there at the church studying or we would have not been there to help that little boy, our Branch President called us Angels for being there when we were.

But, to end the week off nicely, yesterday was fast Sunday. I had the opportunity to bear witness of the things I know to be true. And I was able to do it in German. Although the grammar still isn't perfect, it was cool for me to see that I can communicate easier in a second language. 

We went for dinner at the Branch Presidents house and he asked if he could give us a Priesthood blessing. The beginning of his blessing he spoke in German and then half way through he switched to English, it was really amazing.  I am so grateful for the Priesthood.  I have learned so much more about the Priesthood being out here, I think I finally understand now that a blessing is more than just a bunch of comforting words, it is literally a blessing of strength…it is truly amazing.

This work is discouraging, hard, fun, happy, amazing and pretty much every other emotion that you could possibly think of :) I am so grateful for this gospel. I am not sure if I have already shared this scripture or not, but it has helped me a lot this week.

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."  

I love you all and I hope that you have a fantastic week!!

Sister Reed

 

*TAUSCH*

Hey there!
     So this week was pretty crazy! We started our week off pretty solid with our typical English class on Tuesday night. We decided to help them learn animals so we played charades. Not gonna lie, it was super funny watching 60+ year old people crawling around acting like dogs, cats and monkeys. Sister Sanders and I also had the opportunity to play a mini concert for everyone in our class. Sister Sanders on the piano and me on the violin. It was really nice to be able to play again.
     Wednesday we went on what we call "Tausch". I think in English it is called a missionary exchange. But basically we switch companions for a day. Haha! While I was on Tausch, we met some really amazing people. We made a few appointments out for this week. I am really excited.
     Sister Sanders and I also did this thing called "Service Finding". This is where you walk around in jeans and a T-shirt, some rakes and a bucket and go to peoples houses and ask if they want some help with their garden. Unfortunately we had little success because people are so on top of their gardens here. They even look classy when they do it! Our neighbor is about 65 years old and mow's his lawn in a suit jacket. But we ended up meeting this really nice man that has lived here for forever. He was so kind and we had a really cool conversation with him. :)
     So... my nametag is always falling off because my coat is too thick. I ordered some new ones, but they don´t come in until the next set of missionaries come in so I have been working hard to make sure that it doesn't disappear. I misplaced it the other day in a members car. We went by their house the next day to pick it up and ended up staying to work on their garden. This family is so wonderful to the missionaries and always help us with anything. After we finished their garden, we stayed to help them make lunch. Sister Sanders and I were in charge of chopping up onions... I have never cried or had my eyes burn so bad ever. Those things were so strong. We were still crying after they had been cooked and we were eating lunch. It was super funny.
    Transfer calls were this week! I am staying here in Bergedorf. So is my wonderful companion. Tons of other things changed this week though. We got a new district leader and a two new Elders in this district. I haven`t met them yet, but I am sure that they will be great. We also had some changes done to our Branch Presidency. That wonderful family I was talking about earlier, Yea! he is our new Branch President. I am so excited to work with him because he is so involved in the missionary effort. He is also very funny and is always willing to help me out with my German.

     Random German thing for the week... everyone here loves Nordic Walking.... Sister Sanders and I have been thinking about joining this trend with matching windbreaker suits.
     I hope y'all have a lovely week! Have a Happy Halloween!!! :)

I finally have my mission scripture memorized in German. It is 1 Nephi 13:37. It has helped me out tons since I have been out. Check it out :)

Sister Reed

Peanut Butter

Moin, 

So many awesome things happened this week, I don't know where to start. I guess to begin, I'm gonna give a little shout out to my family. My grandparents sent me peanut butter and I am the happiest person in the world. :) Sister Sanders and I celebrated an awesome week last night by making chocolate chip pancakes and drinking American Cream soda that we found at our grocery store. 

This week was really great. One of our investigator always forgets when we have appointments planned because she can't read or write so we ended up going a full day early to make sure we would catch her at home :) we ended up teaching her and her son about our purpose her on earth and where we will go when we die. You could really tell during the lesson that she knew what we were saying was true. It was really cool.

Tuesday was pretty cool because a man in our ward met with us and discussed with us how to be an effective missionary. He spoke a lot about the atonement and that if we really have a firm understanding in the atonement and our Savior, we should be able to accomplish anything. Later that night, while my companion and I were teaching English Class, two women walked into the church. One of them was holding a baby and asked if she could use our bathroom. They ended up hanging around in the church for a bit just walking around. I ended up talking with them about the church and what we did in each room. One of the woman walked into our Chapel. She was speechless for a bit and finally said that she felt a comforting spirit there. We talked to her more about the church and about what we believe in and she said that she would come back the next week. I hope to see her tomorrow. :) It was a really cool experience because my companion was still teaching english and I was attempting to give a church tour all in German by myself. I was really able to see how much German I actually knew. It was really amazing. (Our Meetinghouse in Hamburg)

This past weekend, we had interviews with our mission president and stake conference. It was nice to meet with my mission president again because the last time I spoke with him I was really jet lagged. haha! I was also able so see my wonderful last companion Sister Moffet! We happen to be in the same stake. But stake conference is the first stake activity that we have been to so it was really cool to see her there. :) Stake conference was very spiritual. It was all auf Deutsch (in German) but I am amazed that I could really easily understand it. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do the work of the Lord, because he helps me accomplish anything. :)

Sister Sanders and I have been doing a lot of dooring this week with not a ton of success. It is amazing to see how many people get so angry just by looking at our nametags. But we ended up going by a contact from a lady in our ward. We went to this womans house and discovered that she used to meet with the missionaries about 20 years ago!!! She was so excited to see us and invited us over to have tea next week. (yes tea... Germans drink a ton of tea. And we are allowed to drink pepperment tea. yumm...) I am so excited and hope she will be our little miracle.

My little spiritual thought for today:
     Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. 

Make sure that you are doing the little things everyday to help strengthen your testimony and I promise life will not seem as hard. :) 

I hope yall have a lovely week!

Sister Reed 

 

Dogmar is missing...

Today at 8:43 AM

So our lovely spider, Dogmar, went missing about three days ago... we have no idea where she went...We are thinking that she took a trip south for the winter. :P

Sister Sanders and I got to know our neighbors really well this week. One of our neighbors last Monday was mowing his roof. His whole roof is covered in grass and he occasionally trims his roof grass with a weed wacker. It's pretty awesome. He even has two little ceramic lambs up there to decorate.

 

Aside from the neighbor mowing his roof, we were able to talk to a few of our neighbors. They are all super kind and are always working in their gardens. The other day, Sister Sanders bike totally fell apart. We didnt want to ruin the bike rim so we carried it about 30 minutes home. One of the neighbors saw us awkwardly trying to carry the bike home and helped us to fix it. They later offered to give us one of their bikes. It was so sweet. But we declined. They said that they see us walking all the time. They were super awesome.

We have been meeting with this family from Ghana for a while now. They are super sweet but aren't the most reliable when it comes to making it to appointments. It is always a party in their house though. I love spending time with them. The mother always talks about how we are like her children and she would do anything for us. She has such an amazing spirit, she is so strong and she has such strong faith. I love her. :)

We also had something called zone conference this week. That is where all of the missionaries in this area get together and have a meeting. We talk about all kinds of things in this meeting. But it was really great to see all of the missionaries come together and talk about their experiences. A few of the Elders in my zone went to BYU with me.

 

There was a strike this week in all of Hamburg with the Bahn drivers. They shut down all of the citz trains. The day after the huge strike, all of the trains were spraypainted and vandlalized.

We met lots of really cool people this week. We made out an appointment to meet with this man and his four year old daughter, so I hope that ends up working out. I love doing this work because I get to meet so many people from so many different countries. I am literally serving the world here because We never go a day without speaking with someone from another country. I love it.

It is really amazing that all of this truth and knowledge is available to all that want to hear it. Anyone can pick up a Book of Mormon and read it. I know that when they do, they will know it is true. Ask your Father in Heaven if it is true and he will always give you an answer. If he gave you an answer once before, he will keep confirming it.

 

DOING is an important part of KNOWING. If we choose to do what Jesus taught, we will know it is true.

I love you all and hope that you have a lovely week. :)

-Sister Reed

P-Day Visit to the Hamburg Hafen or Hamburg Harbor!

So to start this week off, we had some crazy fog. We are really starting Halloween off right! It is actually kinda creepy sometimes.  I also apparently sleep talk sometimes... in German. My companion told me that the other day. I am really cracking down on learning the language! I even practice speaking it while I sleep!

We had some really great lessons this week with our investigators. Both of our investigators prayed for us and both lessons were crazy spiritual. One of our investigators is a 13 year old boy. We taught him about Joseph Smith and the restoration. He asked so many questions that I never though a 13 year old boy would ask. I really admire his faith. Our other investigator is a very jolly man. I don't think I have ever heard someone talk so fast or laugh so loud in my life! I love them both so much though.

I also got my bike fixed this week so Sister Sanders and I were able to get our grocery shopping done much faster this week! Public transportation this week was so bad.... I don't think I have ever had to suffer through a bus ride as bad as I did this past week. I don't know what happened... But everyone smelled so bad! Oh my goodness. Take showers everyone. Personal hygiene is really important.

Sister Sanders this week made all kinds of food. She made these really good cinnamon roll things on Tuesday. We were going to take them to our district meeting, but when we were getting off the S-Bahn (train?) she karate chopped them out of my hands. They flew everywhere!! Haha! We were laughing so hard. When we went to go throw them away. This drunk Russian guy started yelling at us... I think he went through the trash and found them later... Anyway. Sister Sanders also tried to make gluten free rolls and they ended up like hockey pucks. And for our weekly planning session, Sister Sanders fried up some fries. They were really good.

 

And to end off an awesome week! General Konferenz! I love general konferenz because we really get to listen to the direction of our loving prophet and his counselors. I learned so much and could really feel my Saviors love during the talks. We had the opportunity to go to our stake center in Wartenau and watch the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions live. This was really cool because we were watching it the same time our families were. I loved all of the talks and know that we can all learn so much from them all. If you haven't had the opportunity to watch conference, I would encourage you to do so. I promise that you will be filled with the spirit and the love that your Heavenly Father has for each of you.

My favorite scripture this week!

Matthew 10:39
      "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

Do your best to do what you feel is right and put your trust in him and let him guide your life. :)

I love you all and hope you have a lovely week!

-Sister Reed

 

Hallo!!!

This week, my companion and I decided to go to the Hamburg library to write emails instead of going to a sketchy internet cafe. Haha! It is nicer here, but a lot farther away.

This week, it was actually pretty chilly here! It was crazy! I already had to take out my winter coat! Haha! We started off this week really well by losing my bus pass... I guess I didn't lose it, I just misplaced it in my coat pocket. It is just kinda scary to lose your bus pass because they are so expensive. But another one of the Lord's tender mercies helped me to find it. :) I'm also beginning to recognize some familiar faces on the bus. I see this guy a few times a week. I call him the sweater guy cause he always wears cool sweaters and sits in the same spot listening to his headphones. One day I will get the courage to tell him that I like his sweaters.

 

I had many spiritually uplifting experiences this week. I finished reading throught the Book of Mormon again and prayed about it like it says to do in Moroni 10:3-5. It is still true guys :) I also had the wonderful opportunity to receive a priesthood blessing from my district leader. Because I am so new to the field, I feel like it really helped me get set on my feet. On Thursday, we had a conference call with all of the Sisters in our mission and our Mission President. Präsident Kosak is so amazing and really knows how to take care of us. He gave us so many uplifting and encouraging scriptures to read. I would encourage y'all to read them. They really cheered me up. (D&C 84:88, 75:3-4, and 68:6) The last uplifting experience I had was actually a little scary. I had to give a talk in church. Yes... it was all in German and yes it was about 10 minutes long... But the topic was one that I could easily use my basic German vocabulary with. It was about loving our Heavenly Father and loving each other. :) Take the time to really notice who could use a friendly smile or hug because you never know who could use it.

My district this week went out and did this thing called "Random Finding". Basically, you get on a random bus and when it feels right, get off and basically just follow wherever the spirit takes you. This was my first time actually trying to approach people alone and talk to them about joy and the gospel. But it ended up being super fun and super cool. My companion and I were able to talk to many wonderful people and listen to what they believe and why they believe it.

This week is General Conference. I hope eveyone really takes the time this week to prepare for it. Take the time you need to really think about what you need and what questions you have. I promise that if you go into conference with an open heart willing to listen and seek out answers to your questions you will find them. I also know that when you do this you will feel how much your Heavenly Father loves and supports you.

I love you all so much and can't wait for another amazing week. :)

-Sister Reed

My Faith Grows

Teaching the people here has really strengthened my faith though. I have really been able to see how happy people really are here with tremendous faith. The family we are teaching that are from Ghana moved here for a better life. They have already experienced so many miracles and amazing opportunities. I loved hearing their stories and hearing about how their faith has helped them. I really hope that they will continue to want to learn more.

 

Seriously, there are spiders all over the place here. But it leads to very interesting conversations in the apartment and experiences with our land lord. Her name is Frau Glinka. She lives underneath us and always comes outside laughing when we are trying to get our bikes. Our bikes are under the stairs that get to our apartment. They are in the wall in a hole that is infested with spiders. So everytime we have to get the bikes we scream. She just comes out laughing with a broom and sweeps them away. She is a really wonderful lady.

So, Sister Sanders and I experienced some really amazing miracles this week. I can really tell that this is the Lord's work. To begin, we got lost a few times this week. Once, about five minutes away from home, we decided to take a short cut through the woods to get to the bus stop. We totally got lost and SIster Sanders ended up losing her monthly bus pass. So we spent about 40 minutes looking for it. Haha! But, we found it, along with a ton of cuts and scratches from plants and a companion with sitinging nettle... But! plans changed and we ended up calling some investigators to make appointments. We ended up being able to reach people that we have been trying to contact for months. (or the sister before me have been trying to contact) It was really a miracle.

One of the members we were able to contact was a newly baptised member that disapeared a few months back. A few weeks after he was baptised, he stopped coming to church and no one could contact him. But, he ended up calling us and we met up with him at the church. He told us that he was suffering from some health problems and moved houses. He was so excited about the gospel and was really excited to bear testimony of the Savior and the Book of Mormon.

We also me with this cute family from Ghana. The happened to be by their apartment one day and stopped by. This lady has so much faith in God. I really admire her. And she is so sweet. She will do anything for her boy. She asked us if we would be willing to teach her son and take him to activities that we have at the church, so that was pretty cool. The missionaries in this area put on a soccer activity for anyone that wants to come on Saturday mornings. We also put on other activities like an english and a german class. We ended up taking her son to play soccer with some of the other kids. After soccer we took him back to the church building and gave him a tour while we talked about the Book of Mormon. He said that although he does not like to read, he feels like it is important to read scripture. So he was very excited to read the Book of Mormon. He was also very excited about baptism. I am really excited to teach and learn from this boy and his mother because they really have so much faith.

My companion and I had the opportunitz to teach the little kids in primary on sunday. We taught them about how forming a habit is like learning how to juggle. If you want to gain a new talent, you have to practice it. Haha! And after that we taught the youth. This was pretty cool because we had a lot of inactive youth come. The girl that was supposed to teach the class came up to us before it started and asked for help teaching because she was a native spanish speaker and didn't speak very much German. So, we pretty much just took over the lesson for her. It was about standards and how we need to keep our standards high and be a Christlike example to every one that we come in contact with. Sister Sander's came up with the idea of oragami. So, we each started to make oragami and each fold symbolized doing another standard like reading the scriptures, or praying, or listening to wholesome music... By the time we had finished, we had made paper frogs that would spring. We taught that when we do all of the things that we are supposed to, we will be able to accomplish more in our lives. It was pretty cool.

I apologize for the really long email, but I really learned a lot this week. I learned that this is not my work, it is my Heavenly Fathers work. He has a plan for all of his children. I learned to trust him and have faith that he will guide me in everything I need to do everyday. I also learned through the investigators we taught this week that faith in Jesus Christ really does bring peace and happiness. I am really grateful to be a missionary. I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week. :)

-Sister Reed

PICTURES!!!

1. Us playing soccer with some kids from the ward and some investigators

2. Sister Sanders and I lost in the woods... haha!

Sister Reed's Mailing Address!!!!

Here is the official mailing address for Sister Reed!

Lageloher Weg 10

21465 Reinbek
Germany
 

I know that she would love to hear from you!!!

First Week In Bergedorf, Hamburg!

Hallo!

     This week was pretty crazy! But I am now in Deutschland! I am so excited to be here. Funny story about the plane ride here. On our flight from Salt Lake City to Seattle, I gave out my first Book of Mormon. It was pretty cool. I also lost my passport at the Amsterdam airport. Somehow the airport knew that I was a missionary and called the mission office to return it. Just another miracle.

     The second day I was here, I was paired with my new companion, Sister Sanders. She is amazing. She has already taught me so much. We are serving in Bergedorf, Hamburg. We live in the attic of this lady's house. It is a nice apartment. But it is out in der Wald (forest). We get all kinds of creepy creatures. One of which is Dogmar. She is the big mama spider that lives outside of our kitchen window. She keeps us company when we are lonely. Haha!

     Our apartment is a bit out there so it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the closest bus stop. I have also come very aquainted with the public transportation here. We are constantly riding buses and trains... It is all really confusing right now. I'm hoping it will begin to catch on eventually. :)

     Saturday, we had the wonderful opportunity to hear from one of our apostles, David Bednar. All of the missionaries in the Berlin Mission had the opportunity to come and listen. It was really cool to see the whole mission together. Elder Bednear did a Q and A with us. He is an amazing man who is inspired of God. He spoke a lot about the Holy Ghost. He said that the impressions of the Holy Ghost is a stronger witness than any other sense.

     Last night, we ate at a family's house called the Kindts. We ate with this Elderly couple. They were so funny and fed us sooo much food. I don't think I have ever eaten so much ever... And Germans expect you to eat everything... My companion and I practically rolled home. Haha! They also helped me a lot with my German. They were willing to correct me and speak slower so I could understand them. (German food is da bomb by the way)

     I think the coolest thing about living here is that it is the World. This is the most cultured place I think I have ever been. There are so many different languages and so many different cultures in one place. It is really cool. I am grateful for all of the small miracles that my Heavenly Father blesses me with every day. I would encourage y'all to find something every day to be grateful for. It really does make all of the difference.

     Quote of the week:

"Trust the Lord and His timing"

                              -Elder Bednar

Schönen tag noch.

Sister Reed

 

 

SAY HELLO TO REINBEK, GERMANY!!!!!

12 September 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Reed,

We are pleased to announce that your daughter, Sister Summer Hope Reed, is safely with us in the Berlin Mission. We have had the opportunity to get to know her, and she is ready and excited to be here. Sister Kosak and I look forward to working with her and will do all that we can to help her serve a happy and successful mission. Sister Reed's first companion will be Sister Sanders, and they will work together in Reinbek (Bergedorf) for the next several weeks. If you would like to send letters to your missionary, please send them to the mission office address:


Sister Reed

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT

Zerbsterstrasse 42

12209 Berlin

Germany

Last day at the MTC - These Missionaries are headed for Berlin, Germany Sept. 9th!!!!

 

 

Guten Tag!

I can't believe that this time next week I will be serving the people of Germany. I love them so much and I haven't even gotten there yet! This week has been amazing. We got our flight plans and now we are just cracking down on getting everything done and ready to go.

Last Thursday Sister Moffet and I skyped a guy from Germany named Pascal. He just got off his mission three weeks ago. It was super cool to skype him. He spoke so fast. We understood about half of what he said. It was a super cool experience and I learned so much from him. We get to do it again this week!

My district instead of playing volleyball every morning decided to go play four-square inside the gym... Lemme tell you. When the Germans and Italians play against each other...it is like war. haha! We get super into it. 

I feel like a year and a half is not long enough for me to serve my Heavenly Father. I have learned so much and hope that everyone in the world someday has an opportunity to hear the beautiful message of the restored gospel. I know that although life can appear to be good without it, it has more purpose and joy with the gospel. It is amazing how the gospel can really change lives. I have been studying Alma 34 a lot lately and it has strengthened my testimony of not only my purpose as a missionary, but also as I live my life. 

One of the things that one of my investigators told me today was that "we need to reach up to Christ and he will reach down to you no matter how deep you are and lift you up." Through his grace and mercy we can do anything.

Ich habe so viel liebe für Sie! Ich bin so begeistert! Ich weiß dass durch das Sünopfer Jesu Christi, wir werden freude haben. Meine lieblingswort für diese woche ist "Barmherzigkeit". Es gibt mir so viel hoffnung. Viel glück dieses woche! 

~Sister Reed

Guten Tag!!!

These ten two letter words mean so much :)
This week has been an amazing week I don't think I have ever been so happy in my entire life. I really enjoy having the opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father and the people of Berlin, Germany.

 

So this week started off right with a rainstorm. There has been so much rain here it made me think a lot of Germany. Because we are inside working a lot at the MTC we get really excited when it rains. My district ran outside in the rain reciting Joseph Smith's first vision in German.  (If you don't know what the first vision is, you should totally read it cause it so powerful and amazing) The rainstorms (Not as good as Texas) lasted a few days.

My teachers shared a talk with our class from Elder Jeffery R. Holland called "The First Great Commandment". Now many of you know that Elder Holland has a very powerful and firm voice. So this is definitely a talk I would encourage you all to watch. This talk is amazing and tells so much truth about who we are and who our Savior really is. It also helped me better understand my purpose on Earth and why I would need religion in my life. It is about Jesus and his interactions with his apostles. When he speaks to Peter (one of his apostles) about how if he loves him enough, he will serve him forever. "We can't quit and we can't go back. We will never look back until this work is finished." 

This Thursday we are supposed to get our flight plans and we are going to skype a member from Germany and teach them a lesson. I am so excited!!! This week is gonna be crazy awesome. Ich bin sehr begeistert! I will officially be in Germany in 1 week and 5 days! I love this work! I love you all!

Quote for the week:

"If we are not doing it with the right heart, we are not doing it for the right reason."

I feel like this quote can be applied to so many things in life.

Pictures:
1- Sister Moffet and I after we ran through the rain

I really loved hearing from y'all this week. Life goes on outside of the MTC? haha! This week has been pretty good. I got pretty sick and have a cold. But all is well! I wake up, study, go home and then sleep. :)

This week was super awesome! For our Sunday devotional (a devotional is a meeting where we have a guest speaker come) the violinist Jenny Oaks Baker came. She is an amazing violinist. She told us tons of stories and taught us a lot. The coolest thing I learned from her was humility and devotion. To be able to accomplish anything, we have to be willing to give it our all and be humble and willing to accept criticism. No one is perfect. With the help of our Savior, we can do all things.

There are a couple of scriptures this week that I really loved. They can be applied to anyone in any situation. In Alma 18, it is talking about Ammon and his service to King Lamoni. The amount of faith that Ammon had in this chapter was tremendous. Alma 18:10 says: 

 "...Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth remember all of my commandments to execute them." 

I want my Heavenly Father to be able to look at me like this. I want to be able to return with him knowing that I did the best that I could. 

The other scripture that I found pretty much describes my purpose here as a missionary.
3 Nephi 5:13

     "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

My purpose as a missionary is not to convert people to the church. My purpose is to help bring people closer to Christ. Some of the ways we come closer to Christ is through baptism, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end. 

OOH! Cool German thing I learned this week. Repentance in German is "Umkehren". When this is directly translated to English it means "to turn around". When we repent, we are able to humble ourselves and draw closer to Christ.

The German is coming  along pretty well. I can pretty much speak it now. I use very basic vocabulary, but at least they can understand me. On Thursday, we had the opportunity to speak to members of the church in German. It was kinda scary, but super awesome! I loved it! I can't believe I am already half way through my MTC experience and in three weeks I will be in Germany. I love this work and feel so blessed to be a part of it. 

-Sister Reed 

Temple Trip with my District

This week was probably the fastest week of my life. We are just so busy every day studying German and learning more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And my companion got really sick this past week. She just had a cold. But working 16 hours a day and spending 11 hours in the classroom studying is not so fun for someone who is sick. But she is getting better!!!

This week was really a spiritual week for me this week. I really felt my Heavenly Fathers love so strong. I have been reading through the Book of Mormon this week. In my personal study, I came across this scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 6: 36-37. Doubt not, fear not. If we have faith in our Heavenly Father, we can do all things.

"You don't know everything, but you know enough."

You are all amazing, thank you so much for the love. <3 

Hallo!!!

My first week in the Missionary Training Center has been difficult and amazing. I am so excited to have the opportunity to learn German and serve the people of Berlin, Germany. This past week has been crazy. They only speak to us in German and by the second day we had already taught our first lesson.... in German. Our investigator has been super kind. I care about him so much. After speaking with him, I'm just begging him to learn the truth. I want him to understand that his Heavenly Father loves him and that Christ lives. I want him to understand that the Book of Mormon teaches of Christ and teaches us how to be the best that we can be so we can be happy. I have learned so much already and can't wait to learn more. Here in the MTC, we are always on a time crunch. Running from one meeting to the next until we hit our beds at night to rest and start it all over again.

We have time every day to work out. My zone (all of the people here going to Germany) go outside to the field and play volleyball. We all have come so close throughout this first week. I love all of the people I am surrounded by. My companion, Sister Moffet, is amazing she is super spunky and always happy and full of love. The first time she saw me she pretty much tackled me to the ground while screaming. I'm grateful for her love because we literally spend every minute together. We can't even go to the bathroom during class without bringing our companion.

 

My district and I have become family. We care about each other like siblings. A district is a smaller version of our zone. There are eight people in it and all of their testimonies are so strong. Elder Winter, Elder Kreuz, Elder Chadaz, Elder Power, Sister Losenbee, Sister Hashimoto, Sister Moffet and I. The Elders gave us all blessings on Monday for strength and comfort. Although I had a background knowledge of German, this week has still been very difficult. This blessing helped bring me comfort.

Every day we wake up at 6:30 (or earlier depending on the day) and get ready. We go to breakfast and begin our day in class. We spend 11 hours in class every day studying German and the gospel. The spirit is so strong here and I myself have become closer to God because of it.  I know that Jesus Christ lives, I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. The power of prayer is very real and very necessary to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. I love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week. Write me letters! ;) 

 

Love,

Sister Reed