Freiberg Temple

Even though the temple was closed today, we went and walked the grounds.  Even sitting outside the temple brought me so much peace.  I've come to realize that even though at times this mission is not easy, there are small beautiful things in life that we can really cherish, and the temple is one of them.

 

One Last Door!

Our broken apartment door.....

     I am pretty sure every missionary has a story of the "last door". In mine and Sister Barlow's case, it was on Tuesday night. We had already spent most of the day going from door to door trying to talk to people about Jesus Christ. After a few hours, we decided to go return some church books to our branch president. They told us that they were really grateful for the work that we had been doing in the area and that they are grateful that we are working in the ward with them. When we left, we both felt like we could just do one more street somewhere. So we pulled out our Atlas in our car and picked a random street to go down. We ended up talking to one man that has had contact with Jehovah’s Witness before. He loves talking about Christ and told us that he would love to have us come back and talk. We were excited. At this point it was about time to go back home and eat dinner before we planned for the next day, but we decided to do one more door. At this last door, a young mother answered holding her five month old baby girl. We started to talk with her about eternal families and how important the family is. She told us that she isn't really religious, but she hopes that she can live with her family after this life. She told us that we can come back this week and share more with her. There really is a power in this message. And that is why I am here to share it :) 

     Wednesday, all of the Sisters met up in Berlin to have a "Sisters Conference" with President Kosak. It was really awesome and really spiritually uplifting. It was kind of like a "sisters you are awesome,” it was a go get em… kind of meeting! One of my favorite things I learned there is that if we really take away our fear, jealousy and pride and replace it with humility; we will be able to see God. Not see Him like most people think. But really get to know and see Him through the power of the Holy Ghost. It is like what Elder Bednar (a member of the 12 apostles) said in September. "You will receive no greater witness than a witness through the spirit. A witness that is stronger than any other sense." I know that that is true. 

     No week is perfect though. Sister Barlow and I were ready to finish off this week right by going to church early on Sunday. We were going to go greet all of the members before we went to sacrament. But, when we were trying to unlock the door, the key wouldn't move. After much turning and twisting, we came to realize that the door wouldn't budge and we were officially locked in the apartment. After a few phone calls, a few members of our ward showed up to help. They could not get it to move either. So Sister Barlow and I calmly did our studies while ward mission leader panicked that the sisters were stuck in their apartment. About 2 hours later a locksmith came and let us out. This was a huge miracle because in Germany, everything is closed on Sunday. Luckily, we live in a small enough town that everyone knows each other, so we were able to contact the locksmith. He was asleep but was happy to help. 

     This week was crazy but filled with many miracles and adventures. I hope you all can see the little blessings that occur in your lives every day. I know they really do happen :) 

I hope you have a lovely week! 

Sister Reed 

 
Mom’s note:

I asked Summer to tell me about what she touched her the most this last week at Sisters conference in Berlin, here is her response:

I think just knowing that we are daughters of Heavenly father and knowing that he really does know and care about each one of us. We also talked about trials, and not being afraid. Feelings of fear when trying to do something good are not from God. We also learned a lot about when we really get rid of our fears and set aside our jealousy and replace it with humility. Then we will truly get to see God and there was so much more. It was really awesome.

 

Pictures!!!

My District in Hohenstein

 

This is a train station in Leipzig

 More pictures of our little town in Hohenstein!



Plan of Salvation



ETERNAL FAMILIES!!!!



My family!

     This week, Sister Barlow and I had the opportunity to do some service on this older couples farm. This farm is about 400 years old and is still holding up. :) It is very beautiful. These investigators need help maintaining their garden because they are getting too old to do it themselves. But after we helped them, we had a typical German lunch (potatoes, rotkohl, and wurst), and talked a lot about some specific chapters in the Book of Mormon. We discussed the Plan of Salvation and what it really means to live with our families for eternity. That is one of my favorite things to teach about because it brings so many people so much hope. We really can return to live with our families again after we die.      We do get many, many, many door slams. Every morning we go for a run down to the city center and down to the Bahnhof. It is really a beautiful place. Driving a car is getting a little bit easier now that I understand the roads and stuff :) There are rarely any stop signs and I am pretty sure that Germany is the only place that has minimum speed limits and areas where it is illegal to stop... :) The houses here in Hohenstein are extremely old. I love it.
     Earlier in the week, we were able to meet with an investigator that we found while going door to door last week. He was very interested in how we treat the Sacrament differently in our church. We talked for a while about what the Sacrament is and how it can help us throughout the whole week. We talked about how the sacrament is a time for us to be able to reflect on the past week and to renew the covenants we made at baptism so that we can have a fresh start the next week to become more like Christ. While we were talking with him, he showed us his really old Bible that he has. It is from the year 1737. It was HUGE! And very beautiful. 
     The history here is really amazing. Sister Barlow and I get to work with not only people that don’t know about the gospel, but people that do. The members here are so welcoming and supportive of not only the missionaries, but also of the people seeking complete truth. 
     Thank you so much for the support that you give us. I have really learned a lot more about the Atonement this week because we have really incorporated it into a ton of our lessons. I am really grateful for the atonement and the healing power that it possesses.

In Romans 8: 38-39 it says,

38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I can testify that nothing can separate you from the love of God. I promise that he loves you no matter what and wants us to return to him one day. I love you all to and I hope you have a lovely week.

Sister Reed

New Address in - Hohenstein!!!

My new address in Hohenstein is:

 

Sister Summer Reed

Friedrich Engels Str. 61

09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal

Germany

Me & Sister Barlow in front of our little ward in Hohenstein

This week was a very busy week. 

Sister Barlow and I are on the great search of finding people that want to come closer to Christ. This past week we met this man that has had contact with the missionaries before. He was so excited when he saw us on his doorstep. He told us that he had no interest in becoming a member of the church but he wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. Which is perfect... because that is all we do as missionaries. :) 

Sister Barlow and I have our work cut out for us in this little town of Hohenstein. I really hope that we can continue to bring Heavenly Fathers precious souls closer to Christ.  This is my scripture for the week. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of you personally and will help you to accomplish great things. :) 

“But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.”

—1 Nephi 9:6

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