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