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

 

*TAUSCH*

Hey there!
     So this week was pretty crazy! We started our week off pretty solid with our typical English class on Tuesday night. We decided to help them learn animals so we played charades. Not gonna lie, it was super funny watching 60+ year old people crawling around acting like dogs, cats and monkeys. Sister Sanders and I also had the opportunity to play a mini concert for everyone in our class. Sister Sanders on the piano and me on the violin. It was really nice to be able to play again.
     Wednesday we went on what we call "Tausch". I think in English it is called a missionary exchange. But basically we switch companions for a day. Haha! While I was on Tausch, we met some really amazing people. We made a few appointments out for this week. I am really excited.
     Sister Sanders and I also did this thing called "Service Finding". This is where you walk around in jeans and a T-shirt, some rakes and a bucket and go to peoples houses and ask if they want some help with their garden. Unfortunately we had little success because people are so on top of their gardens here. They even look classy when they do it! Our neighbor is about 65 years old and mow's his lawn in a suit jacket. But we ended up meeting this really nice man that has lived here for forever. He was so kind and we had a really cool conversation with him. :)
     So... my nametag is always falling off because my coat is too thick. I ordered some new ones, but they don´t come in until the next set of missionaries come in so I have been working hard to make sure that it doesn't disappear. I misplaced it the other day in a members car. We went by their house the next day to pick it up and ended up staying to work on their garden. This family is so wonderful to the missionaries and always help us with anything. After we finished their garden, we stayed to help them make lunch. Sister Sanders and I were in charge of chopping up onions... I have never cried or had my eyes burn so bad ever. Those things were so strong. We were still crying after they had been cooked and we were eating lunch. It was super funny.
    Transfer calls were this week! I am staying here in Bergedorf. So is my wonderful companion. Tons of other things changed this week though. We got a new district leader and a two new Elders in this district. I haven`t met them yet, but I am sure that they will be great. We also had some changes done to our Branch Presidency. That wonderful family I was talking about earlier, Yea! he is our new Branch President. I am so excited to work with him because he is so involved in the missionary effort. He is also very funny and is always willing to help me out with my German.

     Random German thing for the week... everyone here loves Nordic Walking.... Sister Sanders and I have been thinking about joining this trend with matching windbreaker suits.
     I hope y'all have a lovely week! Have a Happy Halloween!!! :)

I finally have my mission scripture memorized in German. It is 1 Nephi 13:37. It has helped me out tons since I have been out. Check it out :)

Sister Reed

Peanut Butter

Moin, 

So many awesome things happened this week, I don't know where to start. I guess to begin, I'm gonna give a little shout out to my family. My grandparents sent me peanut butter and I am the happiest person in the world. :) Sister Sanders and I celebrated an awesome week last night by making chocolate chip pancakes and drinking American Cream soda that we found at our grocery store. 

This week was really great. One of our investigator always forgets when we have appointments planned because she can't read or write so we ended up going a full day early to make sure we would catch her at home :) we ended up teaching her and her son about our purpose her on earth and where we will go when we die. You could really tell during the lesson that she knew what we were saying was true. It was really cool.

Tuesday was pretty cool because a man in our ward met with us and discussed with us how to be an effective missionary. He spoke a lot about the atonement and that if we really have a firm understanding in the atonement and our Savior, we should be able to accomplish anything. Later that night, while my companion and I were teaching English Class, two women walked into the church. One of them was holding a baby and asked if she could use our bathroom. They ended up hanging around in the church for a bit just walking around. I ended up talking with them about the church and what we did in each room. One of the woman walked into our Chapel. She was speechless for a bit and finally said that she felt a comforting spirit there. We talked to her more about the church and about what we believe in and she said that she would come back the next week. I hope to see her tomorrow. :) It was a really cool experience because my companion was still teaching english and I was attempting to give a church tour all in German by myself. I was really able to see how much German I actually knew. It was really amazing. (Our Meetinghouse in Hamburg)

This past weekend, we had interviews with our mission president and stake conference. It was nice to meet with my mission president again because the last time I spoke with him I was really jet lagged. haha! I was also able so see my wonderful last companion Sister Moffet! We happen to be in the same stake. But stake conference is the first stake activity that we have been to so it was really cool to see her there. :) Stake conference was very spiritual. It was all auf Deutsch (in German) but I am amazed that I could really easily understand it. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do the work of the Lord, because he helps me accomplish anything. :)

Sister Sanders and I have been doing a lot of dooring this week with not a ton of success. It is amazing to see how many people get so angry just by looking at our nametags. But we ended up going by a contact from a lady in our ward. We went to this womans house and discovered that she used to meet with the missionaries about 20 years ago!!! She was so excited to see us and invited us over to have tea next week. (yes tea... Germans drink a ton of tea. And we are allowed to drink pepperment tea. yumm...) I am so excited and hope she will be our little miracle.

My little spiritual thought for today:
     Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. 

Make sure that you are doing the little things everyday to help strengthen your testimony and I promise life will not seem as hard. :) 

I hope yall have a lovely week!

Sister Reed 

 

Dogmar is missing...

Today at 8:43 AM

So our lovely spider, Dogmar, went missing about three days ago... we have no idea where she went...We are thinking that she took a trip south for the winter. :P

Sister Sanders and I got to know our neighbors really well this week. One of our neighbors last Monday was mowing his roof. His whole roof is covered in grass and he occasionally trims his roof grass with a weed wacker. It's pretty awesome. He even has two little ceramic lambs up there to decorate.

 

Aside from the neighbor mowing his roof, we were able to talk to a few of our neighbors. They are all super kind and are always working in their gardens. The other day, Sister Sanders bike totally fell apart. We didnt want to ruin the bike rim so we carried it about 30 minutes home. One of the neighbors saw us awkwardly trying to carry the bike home and helped us to fix it. They later offered to give us one of their bikes. It was so sweet. But we declined. They said that they see us walking all the time. They were super awesome.

We have been meeting with this family from Ghana for a while now. They are super sweet but aren't the most reliable when it comes to making it to appointments. It is always a party in their house though. I love spending time with them. The mother always talks about how we are like her children and she would do anything for us. She has such an amazing spirit, she is so strong and she has such strong faith. I love her. :)

We also had something called zone conference this week. That is where all of the missionaries in this area get together and have a meeting. We talk about all kinds of things in this meeting. But it was really great to see all of the missionaries come together and talk about their experiences. A few of the Elders in my zone went to BYU with me.

 

There was a strike this week in all of Hamburg with the Bahn drivers. They shut down all of the citz trains. The day after the huge strike, all of the trains were spraypainted and vandlalized.

We met lots of really cool people this week. We made out an appointment to meet with this man and his four year old daughter, so I hope that ends up working out. I love doing this work because I get to meet so many people from so many different countries. I am literally serving the world here because We never go a day without speaking with someone from another country. I love it.

It is really amazing that all of this truth and knowledge is available to all that want to hear it. Anyone can pick up a Book of Mormon and read it. I know that when they do, they will know it is true. Ask your Father in Heaven if it is true and he will always give you an answer. If he gave you an answer once before, he will keep confirming it.

 

DOING is an important part of KNOWING. If we choose to do what Jesus taught, we will know it is true.

I love you all and hope that you have a lovely week. :)

-Sister Reed