Yellow Rose of Texas

The Yellow Rose of Texas by a beautiful worn down door.

*Summer was having computer issues this week so she asked that I share on her blog her spiritual thought to me.

Here is my spiritual thought to you Mom….. 

This week, a general authority came to speak to all of the missionaries in this mission. His name is Elder Johnson. He talked to all of the missionaries about a section in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-21. He talked a lot about how each part of the body are important and how without one part of the body, something else would fail. He related that to us and that each one of us is important, not only in this mission but in the church. We each have a special part that needs to be fulfilled. The only one that can do your specific job is you he said.  Although that is a nice thought, we will never fully understand our function and the capacity of what we can do until we understand completely who we are.

Elder Johnson continued to say that we need to understand what it really means to be a daughter (or son) of God. Once we understand this, we will understand what it means to align our will with His will. I told you a few weeks ago while talking about this same topic, that once we really learn how to accomplish that, life will become so much easier.

That is something that I would like to work on. I want to better understand what it means to be a daughter of God.

President Uchtdorf said, "He (God) wants you to achieve your destiny-- to return to you Heavenly home in honor....It is my prayer that you will experience a renewed and an expanded measure of the beautiful love of God in your lives, that you will find the faith, determination, and commitment to learn God's commandments, treasure them in your hearts, and live the gospel joyfully. I promise that as you do so, you will discover your best self---- your real self. You will discover what it truly means to be a daughter of the everlasting God, the Lord of all righteousness."

I love it! This is my new goal!

Love her so!

Have a lovely week! 

Service

Hallo everyone! 

 

This week was crazy! I feel like we had so much going on the whole week.  This week, one of the other sisters that we work with got really sick and couldn't really go out. We were able to do a few "mini" exchanges so that the sisters would be able to attend their appointments but still get the rest that they needed. 

 

Sister Mittleman and I had some good service opportunities this week. One of them is something that we do every week. We serve at the Ronald McDonald house here in Leipzig. It is a cool opportunity for us because we get to be able to help these families that have sick children in the hospital. We clean around the house and do garden work to make sure that the house is a nice place for them to come home and sleep at night. 

 

We also were able to help a bunch of students this weekend. There were a group of guys and a girl that all wanted to move into this apartment together. None of them are members, but the girl is friends with a member here in Leipzig. She called us on Friday and asked us if we could help clean their apartment before they moved in. We quickly found out that the people that lived there before completely trashed the place. It was so dirty. The front door was actually bashed in from the police last week so pretty much anyone could walk inside. But, it was a beautiful apartment. It was very big. It just needed a little help and fixing up. In about a month, we would like to help the girl move in and hopefully have the opportunity to see everyone again, they were all super awesome! 

 

So aside from all of the service projects this week, we were also able to have some really good appointments with the members. One of them was with our primary president. She got home from her mission just a year ago, so she knows what it is like to be in our shoes. It was really nice to talk to her though because she really opened my eyes to the reality of what it means to live in the now. I always enjoy what I am doing, but I don't think I realized how often I think and try to prepare myself for the future. Not that that is a bad thing. But she helped me understand that it is good to have a goal for the future in mind and maybe some ideas with how you want to reach that goal, but take the time now to really enjoy now. I love the quote "learn from the past, study in the present, to prepare for the future." Taking the time to enjoy where we are at no matter what will help us be able to live a more fulfilled life. 

 

I haven't really had to eat that much weird food on the mission, but this week definitely tops it off. We get to this eating appointment this week and the member told us that she made a fish casserole thing. At first we thought it was normal until she started to plop some onto a plate. The whole fish was dangling and plopped onto my plate. Siste Mittleman and I kind of just laughed and started to eat the fish. It tasted kinda funny when we first started to eat it. I made the mistake of asking how she made it. Little did we know, we were eating raw herring with mayonnaise and pickles.... Yes! That was new. I am grateful though that I am serving in Germany where weird food is not so common :) 

 

Other than that, it was a really awesome week. I love the opportunity that we have as missionaries to just go outside everyday and talk with random people on the street. Although many people are not interested, there are many people who just enjoy talking about what they believe in. We really learn a lot about different cultures and different people. I feel so blessed to have this experience. 

 

I want to leave you all with an awesome quote that I found this week from Präsident Packer. He said, "prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil." 

 

I think that is so cool and so true. So many people are looking for some source of peace and hope. Little do they know that often times it is just a sincere prayer away. God, our Heavenly Father, is there for all of us wanted to help us. Most of the time, he is just waiting for us to come to him. 

 

I hope you all have a lovely week this week! 

 

Sister Reed 

"Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."

This sweet street musician!

I love the street musicians here in Leipzig!

 

Hallo everyone! 

This week went by so fast! It was the last week in the transfer. But I am excited that I will be staying in Leipzig another transfer with the wonderful, Sister Mittleman. I also hit my year mark this week! It is crazy how fast a mission goes by! But, I am determined to make the most out of these last few months. 

This week, I wanted to share a quote. It says, 

     "When adversity comes, do not let something you don't fully understand unravel everything you do know." -Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Although we might not know everything, we do know a lot. Sometimes people let the little doubts take control over what they do know. For example, some people think that they cannot be forgiven and have no hope for a good future. I can honestly say that that is not true. There is a God that loves each one of us and is always there to pick us up when we fall. 

But sometimes these doubts really bug us. When I think about this, I think about the story of Jesus walking on the water from the New Testament. Jesus approaches the apostles on the boat when Peter calls to him asking if he can come to him on the water. Peter fearlessly stepped off the boat. Soon after, he started to become afraid and he began to sink. Christ was there the second he needed him. 

I love this story. It is so true. I can have so much faith and then begin to feel like I am falling. Right before I sink He catches me and lifts me back up. If there are doubts that are bothering you, I encourage you to follow the counsel of Präsident Dieter F. Uchtdorf. "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." 

You are all wonderful and I hope you have a lovely week! :) 

Sister Reed 

 P.S. WE WENT TO THE ZOO!!!  I love Giraff's ;)

Dritt!

This week I was in a dritt (a companionship with three sisters in it) for four days! Sister Harouny joined us this week in Leipzig. Together we saw many appointments fall out and many appointments take their place. Sister Harouny is a wonderful missionary that helped us find people that are prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Most of the time as missionaries, we walk around on the streets talking to people about what they believe and about Christ. This week, we decided to do something a little different as well. We went out onto the street and did something we called "Music Finding". Elder Clarke and Elder Williams brought the piano downstairs from the institute building and we played in the city center of Leipzig. I never would have thought that I would go out in the middle of Leipzig in Germany and play my violin for people on the street. It was quite fun. It sparked a lot of cool conversations as well. 

It was a real blessing having Sister Harouny stay with us for a few days. I had completely forgotten what it felt like to be a new missionary. Having her here really helped me to remember the "Why". A while back, our old mission president’s wife talked to the missionaries about the "why". Why is knowing the "why" so important? If we really understand why we do something, we won't have to look for motivation to get something done. For example, if we are struggling to eat healthier, then we don't completely understand the why. We want to lose weight or feel better.  Sometimes on a mission, it is really easy to get discouraged and tired. Having Sister Harouny here helped me remember the "why". The reason I am here is the same as President Uchtdorf.

     "I am here because I desire with all my heart to follow my Master, Jesus Christ. I yearn to do all that He asks of me in this great cause. (sharing the gospel as a missionary) I hunger to be edified by the Holy Spirit and hear the voice of God as he speaks through His ordained servants. I am here to be a better [woman],... In short, I am here because I love my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ."

I love you all. Every day is a new day to remember the "WHY". I hope that you have a lovely week.

Sister Reed 

 

Baptism

Beautiful Baptism Day

Practicing for the Baptism



This is my new Dirndl

This week was a good week! Sister Mittleman and I met with a lady this week. She told us about her experience of receiving a priesthood blessing. She is not a member, but wants to be. She comes to church all the time and decided a few weeks ago that she needed some extra support. She went up to the bishop at church and asked him for a blessing. She said that there were things in the blessing that were said that no one knew about but her. She said that she could really feel God's love for her. I love hearing stories about priesthood blessings and the comfort and peace that they can really give, even people who do not believe in the same faith.

This week I was also able to participate in a baptism! A man the Elders have been working with decided to get baptized. He is a really cool guy. He decided to turn his whole life around. He wanted to make things right again. After meeting with the Elders for a few months and learning more about the doctrine of Christ, he made the decision to get baptized. Elder Clarke and I played music at his baptism. Baptism is something that I think gets a little overlooked in today’s society. Baptism is truly a new beginning. It is a promise to God that one is willing to change them and turn their life into what God would want it to be. It is the first step to helping us achieve eternal life. Through baptism, we can live with our families forever :)

Sorry the letter is a little short today! But I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Sister Reed 

*Mom’s note: I asked Summer to tell me a little bit more about Manuel’s conversion story and here is what she wrote…(It’s a beautiful story)

The Elders found Manuel on the street a few months ago. They started meeting with him. When they found him, he had nothing. He had been trying to find work for the last five years and was really struggling to get by. He has also experienced a lot of tragedy in his family. He lost his brother (due to alcohol poisoning... I think) but he said that he felt something different when he started meeting with the elders. When they taught him about prayer, he decided to put it to the test. He prayed that he would be able to find work... the next day; he went out searching and found work. A few days later, the elders asked him to stop smoking... his only concern was the money that he spent on the pack that he had. Our GML bought the whole pack from him (it is expensive here) and he hasn’t smoked since that day... he was sooo excited for his baptism. :) 

Dirndl Dress & New Mission Pres!!!

Pres. & Sister Kosak - Pres. & Sister fingerle (right)
 

This week was crazy busy, crazy fast and crazy awesome! We had the opportunity to have a meeting with our new mission president! President Fingerle is wonderful! It is interesting having a mission president with children though. There was a whole different atmosphere to our meeting. I will always love my first mission President, Brother and Sister Kosak. But I am excited to see what President Fingerle will do for this mission.

We talked a lot in the meeting about making one percent changes. President Fingerle talked about a biking team in England that wanted to win this competition. He spoke about how the team together made small minor corrections in their daily life that ended up helping them to improve their final results. They changed very minor things like the pillows they used to sleep, when they ate their food, what the wore when they rode their bikes, if there was creases in their clothing that could keep them from going faster. Eventually all of these minor corrections ended up helping them win. He related that to us, not only on the mission, but also in our everyday lives. If we really take the time to improve the small things, the bigger things that we need to correct will eventually fall into place. The little things are less intimidating too. One of the things I want to start improving on is breakfast... I think that if I really take the time to make a good healthy breakfast, I will have more energy to work longer and harder throughout the day. I am going to start this week!!! If y'all decide to try making the one percent change in your life, email me :) I would love to hear how it works for you!

This week, we decided to try something new while contacting people on the street. We decided that we wanted to take a member with us and split up talking with people. I love my little black name tag... it gives me an excuse to talk with random people on the street about joy and happiness. It was also cool to see how the Elders work with people on the street and how they talk to people. Elder Williams and I met a woman on the street that is very fascinated in other religious cultures and was really excited to learn more about the Book of Mormon.

I also wanted to write a quick thought about the priesthood. If you don’t know what the priesthood is, feel free to send me an email. But, this week, I had the opportunity to receive a blessing from my District Leader. It is amazing to me that someone as young as Elder Clarke can still receive revelation from Heavenly Father to help people. The priesthood is such an amazing power and I am so grateful that we can enjoy the blessings of it today. Without the priesthood, I think I would be lost. Although I do not hold the priesthood myself, I still get to enjoy the blessings that come from it. Everything said in that blessing gave me comfort, but also council. I know what I need to do now and how I can be better. I also felt so close to my Heavenly Father. I know that he loves each one of us and he really does watch out for us.

Last but not least... I am sure you are wondering why the subject says Bach and a Dirndl. For P-Day today, Sister Mittleman and I went shopping and tried on some German Dirndls and visited the ‘Thomas Kirche’ (church) where Bach is buried. Cool huh?

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all!!!

Sister Reed

 

Happy July 4th from Leipzig Germany!

The only way to cool off!

View from our apartment in Leipzig

The locals think I'm Italian!! Why? ;)

I am sorry for slacking off the past few weeks! I am in Leipzig! This place is so amazing and beautiful. I love working in the city just as much as I love working in small towns. Sister Mittleman and I get ourselves into the most interesting conversations. It is cool to hear all of the different opinions that people have on religion here. A popular question that we have been asking recently is "What motivated you to wake up this morning?" It really sparks up some interesting conversations. When I started asking this question so much, I realized that every day, everyone has a cool reason to wake up in the mornings. There is something special to be found in every day.

It is sooo crazy hot here. It was almost 100 degrees the other day and it was crazy humid. Germans don’t believe in air conditioning. There was absolutely no escape from the heat.... So that’s a good reason to buy ice cream right? *see picture below

A small miracle that we saw this week was on Friday. Sister Mittleman and I went to some student housing to talk to the students about the Book of Mormon. We went from door to door getting their opinions and insights on the book. After a while, the heat really started getting to us, and we were thinking about going home early. One of the students that we had talked to earlier that day ran down the stairs and brought us some watermelon and told us that she thought what we were doing was really great. We talked a little bit about life, and then she left to go study. But I am grateful for her for bringing us some watermelon... cause it was crazy hot and also for giving us the little boost of motivation to just keep going.

Friday afternoon, we went to a member’s house that are from America. They decided to have a BBQ with all of their neighbors and invite the missionaries. This was a really awesome experience for us to be able to talk and get to know some people and just talk about what we do in a more natural setting. We also got to eat some really awesome pulled pork, American style. It was so good!

Saturday was really cool. Sister Mittleman and I brought one of our investigators to a baptism that was held in the church. The baptismal service was held in three different languages! (French, English and German) It was really cool for us, but also our investigator to see this man make his first covenant or promise to Heavenly Father.

The week came to an end by partaking of the sacrament on Sunday... It was literally so hot and because Germany doesn’t have air conditioning, we only had one hour of church. Although it was one hour, we were able to partake of the sacrament, and also listen to many of the members bear their testimony of the doctrine of Christ. Some of the members got up this week and talked about prayer and how powerful prayer can really be when we are sincere and pray with our whole hearts. If we show God that we are willing to trust him and show him what we are willing to do, he will show us the way.

I wanted to end this email today with a hymn that has really helped me get through my mission. This one verse is my favorite

     If we do what’s right, we have no need to fear

     For the Lord our helper will ever be near

     In the days of trial his Saints he will cheer

     And prosper the cause of truth.

     Fear not, though the enemy deride,

     Courage for the Lord is on our side.

     We will head no what the wicked may say,

     But the Lord alone we will obey.

He really is there to help each of us take those small steps to becoming the best that we can be. We shouldn’t ever have to fear for what is ahead of us. When we put our complete trust in the Lord and follow the guidance that he provides us, he will always cheer us on.

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

Sister Reed

Leipzig LDS Meetinghouse