Merry Christmas - German Style!!!

Howdy!
 

I hope you all had a wonderful week!

This week I would like to share a thought about Christmas time. I really enjoyed what Elder D. Todd Christofferson said. He said, "With all of that to come, though, I think it's appropriate this time of year to just think about that baby in the manger. Don't be too overwhelmed or occupied with what is to come; just think about that little baby. Take a quiet, peaceful moment to ponder the beginning of His life -- the culmination of heavenly prophecy but the earthly beginning for Him. Take time to relax, be at peace, and see this little child in your mind. Do not be too concerned or overwhelmed with what is coming in His life or in yours. Instead, take a peaceful moment to contemplate perhaps the most serene moment in the history of the world -- when all of heaven rejoiced with the message 'Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men'"

This quote made me think a lot during this Christmas season about our Savior. Most people complain about how this time of year is always so crazy and filled with traveling, gifts, visiting family and loud Christmas music. But, it is up to us personally if we are willing to take these few moments to really think about our Savior lying in the manger.

I am really grateful for what my Savior has done for me. I am grateful for the most wonderful gift anyone could have ever given us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son." I am grateful for him, I love him and I am happy to be doing his work here in Germany. I love you all and I hope that you have a very peaceful Christmas this year. Take time out of this week to really think about why we celebrate this time of year.

Merry Christmas!

Sister Reed 

 

Bremen!!! New place in an old German town!

Dec 14 at 9:55 AM

My bad... I didn’t leave very much time to write my weekly email this week. Sorry! But I did want to share a few things with ya’ll.

This week I moved into the city of Bremen with the lovely Sister Garcia. I am so excited to serve with her again. We spent most of our time this week running around and preparing ourselves for this transfer.

This city is big and beautiful and very ready for the Christmas season. Sister Garcia and I participated in a street display this week with some of the members in the ward. It was fun to get to know the people here. The people on this side of the country are way different than where I was before. I love that so much culture can be compacted into such a small country.

Sunday at church was really awesome, but a little overwhelming. This is a very multicultural ward. The languages spoken range from English to Spanish to German and even to Parisian... ha ha! It was really awesome and I have to pay really good attention because I have to translate the meeting into English and Sister Garcia translated the meeting into Spanish.

I am grateful for the many people, cultures and experiences that I have on the mission. I hope you all have a wonderful fourth advent this weekend!

Love you!!!

Sister Reed

Baptism!!!

Me and Rene at his baptism!

Rene's baptism - His best friends on the left

This week was wonderful!  Rene was baptized and it was so amazing!  He is so happy and we loved sharing with him that special day.  He had his friends there and the so many members came that I had to stand!  I am so happy for him.

The Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) opened and it is so beautiful.  I found out that I am going to be transferred for the last 6 weeks of my mission to a town called Bremem.  I pretty much don’t know anything about it but I guess the Lord needs me there.  My companion is the same Sister that I trained the first part of my mission so I am happy to see her again.

I have so many mixed emotions about leaving Leipzig; this city has taught me so much.

Sorry that I don’t have very much time to write, but I will send pictures….

I love you all and hope that you have a really awesome week!

Sister Reed

"A Savior is Born"

Mosiah 2:17

 

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

 

This week, Sister Jacklin, Elder Johnston, Elder Redding and I had many opportunities to serve. The Todd family, who I love so dearly, moved back to America. This week we stayed at the house and tried to repaint it for an inspection. Needless to say, we were there the whole week :) One of the best ways that we can feel and understand Gods love for us is through service. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, "Often, the answer to our prayer does not come while we're on our knees but while we're on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us."

This week was a good week of strength and growth for me. I really learned more about who I am and who I want to become. Who knew that painting could really help you think more clearly. :) haha! Just kidding. Our Heavenly Father really does want to speak with us, the more we try to become like him and come closer to him, the more we will begin to understand our purpose in life. 

On Wednesday, we also had the opportunity to travel to Berlin this week for a meeting with our mission president. One of my favorite parts of being there was seeing the new movie that the church has put out. It is called "A Savior is Born". This video is special because children tell the Christmas story. I think it is so powerful and I would love it if ya’ll would watch it. Tell me what you think about it. What is something different you would like to do this year to remember our Savior?

 

https://www.mormon.org/christmas

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

 

Grattitude & Thankfulness....

P-Day Painting Crew! Helping a member family paint their home..

Promenaden ◦Hauptbahnhof Leipzig train station - near our apartment

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!
Next week we have the wonderful opportunity to think about all of the things that we are thankful for in our lives. This past Saturday we spent the afternoon with the young single adults in the Leipzig area. We were all together and ate a Thanksgiving dinner together. A couple serving on a mission here, the Hiltons, were so kind to have made it for us. I really had some time to think about my family and America.. haha! As crazy as it sounds, I am so grateful for my amazing family. They are all amazing and I really never realized how much I really depend on my family. Family is truly so important to get through this life. I am grateful for my mission, Germany, culture and friends. I know it sounds super cheesy. But it is true. I love you all and I hope that you have a lovely week!
We had our two favorite investigators come to church on Sunday and one of them is preparing for his baptism the first of December. They are so wonderful!
Today we are helping a member family paint their home because they are moving back to Utah. It’s been so nice having them here because they have been so good to the missionaries.
Love,
Sister Reed

A fun scripture for a Thanksgiving thought:
D&C 88:133
Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen.

A view from our window!

Testimony

Writing weekly emails sometimes is difficult. So many things happens in one week on the mission. I try to figure out what I want to share. But this week was a little bit different. This week we had a special opportunity that I had at the beginning of my mission. We had the opportunity to hear from a member of the twelve apostles. Elder Ballard came to speak to us yesterday.

This whole conference started with a phone call early Friday morning. Our mission president sent a text out to all of the missionaries in the mission telling us to prepare for an important phone conference that day. During this phone call, we learned that the apostle Elder M. Russell Ballard wanted to have a small meeting with all of the missionaries in Berlin. Our mission President tells us that we should all find a way to Berlin by that Sunday. Suddenly... the whole mission was freaking out and so excited.

Sunday was probably one of the most crazy days on my mission so far. Because we had to travel to Berlin that afternoon, we had to attend the other ward in Leipzig for church. Our investigator shows up and tells us that he wants to get baptized the first week in December. We were so excited! But before we could express our excitement, we had to run to an appointment. The appointment went well and we had fun. Right after, we had to run to catch our train to Berlin! We spent the train ride talking to this young family and playing Uno with their two year old daughter the whole trip. We ended up spending more time on the train than we actually did at the conference and ended up getting home really late, but I can tell you that that is an experience I will never forget.

Elder Ballard is a special witness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we spoke, I could feel with all of my heart that what he said was of God. He talked to us missionaries about how we can do more effective work. It was really cool to see him in a less formal way. Normally, I hear him and see him only when he speaks in General Konference. But, this time it was more personal. He told jokes and you could really see that he was just a normal man on the Lords errand. It was so cool. He bore his testimony of Christ. I can testify that he truly is a special witness of our Redeemer. They both want to help us and they both want us to achieve our full potential.

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

Sister Reed 

PS....Leipzig is getting ready for CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Yeah!  I walk thru this square every day on my way to our apartment!

Not just a badge!

My new companion Sister J

Peace Out!

I apologize that sometimes my weekly letters are slacking. I should and will try to do better :)

I would like to take this email to really write a little but about the mission. As my mission is slowly coming to an end, I have started to make a list about all of the things I have learned on my mission. This list ranges from learning a second language to spiritual/religious things to things for my life and even to grilling bananas. I have really learned so much! Sometimes I worry about going home. Although missionary work is difficult, I wouldn’t change the experiences that I have had here for anything.

I came across this quote today. Neil L. Anderson said, "If you're not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart -- painted, as Paul said, `not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.`"

I love that quote. As missionaries our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. We accomplish that by doing many things on the mission. We talk with people on the street about Christ, we teach of Christ, but we also have the opportunity just to serve people. We are able to walk around every day finding new ways to serve people. Sometimes that means helping a busy mom clean her kitchen so that she can take some time to take care of her kids and sometimes it means sharing the joyful message of our Savior with others.

My nametag means the world to me. It represents my purpose. It shows others whose team I play for. :)  I know that in the future, I won’t be able to wear my name tag anymore but, I will always keep it as a reminder of all my experiences here and my purpose not only as a missionary, but also throughout life.

I know this email is a little cheesy. But I am really grateful for my mission and the person that I am now because of it. I love you all and will see you soon! 

Sister Reed 

Hanging out at the Zoo on P-Day
 

Is it still wonderful to you?

Looking authentic!

Ummmm Police?!!!
 

I was looking through some previous notes from my scripture study this week and came across my notes from when the piano guys came to perform last November.

One of the things I remember that really hit me was when they talked about this

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

I always liked that scripture, but something I really enjoyed was their statement after reading this passage. "The greatest health plan ever invented.  Relying on our Heavenly

Father and really giving our all to serving Him and our Savior will, in thee do, cause us

to be the healthiest spiritually and physically than we could ever achieve alone.”

 

Something I really liked after that statement was another quote given the one guy who plays the cello... I don't know their names... But he said,

"Life is too meaningful to believe in meaningfulness."

I thought a lot about this scripture this morning and how my life will be after my mission. I was a little scared because when I look out my window early in the morning here in Leipzig, I see the same cars driving by, the same people walking into the train station, and the same lady announcing what trains will be coming in the next platform. I was thinking about my life as a missionary and how exciting and different each day is and how each day is filled with new people and new adventures. I started to fear that when I come home I will live a boring life. Haha!

 

But I really liked this quote and it helped me to remember that really everyday there is something to live for. Every day our Heavenly Father sends us blessings.

We really do have a reason to be excited to wake up every day, even if we have things in

our life that become routine. Life and the gospel can still be exciting.

 

I love that talk called "Is It Still Wonderful to You?" https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/is-it-still-wonderful-to- you?lang=eng

I think sometimes we all need to take a step back and really be in awe of the gospel, how meaningful our life is and how our trust in God is really the best health plan invented.

 

Mom keeps adding these pictures of me! ;)