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