Leipzig Week #1

Sister Summer Reed

Gerberstrasse 18 #916

04105 Leipzig

Germany 

 

Leipzig is super awesome, I love it!  My companion is Sister Mittleman and she’s from California.  She talks like a Valley girl and she is an amazing missionary.  It is going to be a blast to work with her and the people of Leipzig. I’m feeling the best that I ever have so far health wise, so yea!  There are soooooooo many people here in Leipzig, it’s BEAUTIFUL.  There is always something going on.  It’s crazy!  The University of Leipzig is right here and it’s such a cool building and the students are everywhere, I would totally consider studying here.

We are working with someone who may be ready for baptism soon and we’ll be working hard to build up more people to teach.  Our ward mission leader is kind and intense but he is good for us.  On Sunday I played my violin in church with some of the other missionaries who played and it was really fun.  Because there are so many people in the city of Leipzig, it’s fun to stop and talk about the church to anyone and everyone.  We ran into these cute girls the other day (in the picture I’m sending, girls with pink bows).  When a girl is about to get married, they take all of their girlfriends (or bro  date for guys..) and do a little raffle thing to raise money for the wedding.  We were able to talk to these girls a little bit about the church!

Love,

Sister Reed

Me on my last day 'dooring' in Hohenstein!

 

My Dist. Ldr attempting to play my violin! ;)

Me and Sister Hann

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Building

Leipzig University

 

Transfers! I'm off to Leipzig, Germany!!!

I am so excited to be able to serve now in Leipzig Germany.  It's a big city with a couple of wards and a lot of members.  I can't wait to get to know them and my new companion.

I'll have my address next week but I wanted to leave you all with a quote:

"Have faith. Faith in the Lord, faith in yourself and faith in the future."

President Hinckley

We have the capacity to move mountains with our faith. It doesn't mean that we can just walk up to it and push it, it means we will have to take a hammer and a chisel and go at it. If that is what the lord wants us to do, we can make it happen. As long as we have faith, we can trust that everything will be alright :)

Happy Birthday!!!

Hello,

On my birthday, president and sister kosak called and sang happy birthday to me :)

Sister Barlow made me a cake and we had ice cream and we went to work... haha! We actually got stuck in a city because we missed the last bus to come home. But a bus drove by going in the opposite direction and said that when he finished his shift he would come back and pick us up and take us back to Hohenstein. He was our little guardian angel for the day. :) 

 
Thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes! A birthday on the mission is really something else. You work hard yet you still have more fun than you ever think you would have before. :)

This week I learned what it really means to trust in God. Trusting in God is one of those concepts that you always grow up hearing and learning about, but I think this week really helped me understand better what that really means. I know that sometimes in life, we don't do things because we "don't have time" or because "I don't feel like it" or even because "I can't". I know that God really is there to help push us like a coach. If we just trust Him and keep the commandments that he has set out for us, life becomes easier and more enjoyable. He, like a coach, knows what we need to do to be able to play our best game.

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan set out for each one of us individually. We each have a duty to fulfill. He wants each of us to return to him as his faithful sons and daughters. He gives us many opportunities in life to learn and grow to be amazing people. The more we fight these experiences and try not to change, the harder it gets. If we just put our faith and trust that God knows what is best for us and he really wants us to accomplish great things, he will take us by the hand and guide us on the path of life.

At the end of my mission, school and whatever else crosses my path in the future, I want to be able to say that I can keep the faith, fight the good fight, and finish my course with joy.  I can honestly say that when we try hard to keep the most important things in our life at the top of our to-do list, we will find that we can finish our course with joy.

You are all so wonderful and I am grateful for you all. I hope that you have a wonderful week! 

"Stay strong and Smile on"

Love;

Sister Reed

Bye Bye President Kosak!

Summer & President & Sister Kosak

 

 

 

Hello Everyone!

 

Sorry that I didn't write an email last week. I will be better and write a good one this week :)

Berlin!!! This week we were in Berlin. We had a huge meeting with half of the missionaries in the mission. Elder and Sister Adler came and spoke about remembering the important things in life. They talked about how when we really focus all of our efforts on what Heavenly Father wants from us, we can accomplish so many things. The end of the meeting was really hard though because it was the last time that we will see President Kosak. We will be getting a new mission President at the end of this month. I will miss him. But he spent so much time at the end of the meeting giving us hugs that Sister Barlow and I missed our train! OOPS! So we called our AP (assistant to the president) and asked what to do. He told us to say with the Sisters in Berlin and take a train the next morning. Guess who we stayed with? SISTER GARCIA! My trainee! It was so nice to see her again and to hear all of the updates from Bergedorf.

This week, Sister Barlow and I decided to do a little finding in a city called Glauchau. We spent some time walking through the city and talking to people. Eventually we came to some guys sitting on a bench. We started talking to them about the Book of Mormon. We showed them the film "He Lives" and talked about how much God loves us and really wants us to return to Him. They ended up taking one of the copies of the Book of Mormon with them to read later.

To end off the week strong, we attended a baptism from a boy in our ward that just turned eight. We have been teaching him the missionary lessons as well and it was cool to be able to watch him fulfill his first covenant with his Father in Heaven.

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

Sister Reed

"Hear The Music"

I love Germany so much this time of year... but it really kills on the sinuses. Ha-ha!

This week was really awesome. I had the opportunity to play a music piece in church on Sunday. I think that is one of my favorite parts of church. Music can really have such a powerful effect on us.

                 

"...the joy of dance will be experienced only when we come to hear the music."

-Elder Wilford W. Anderson

 
Sister Barlow got sick this week so we had to stay home for about 2 days... what do missionaries do for two days at home? We watch Meet the Mormons :) For those of you who have not seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It is really a cool movie that explains who "Mormons" really are. While I was watching it, I found out that I actually knew someone in the film! Super cool! I think the film is also good for those already acquainted with the church. It is a very motivating film. After I watched it I was so ready to just go out and keep working hard.
 
Sister Barlow and I go over to our neighbor’s house every week to help her work in her garden. On Friday while we were working, we decided to invite her to our ward activity that we had on Saturday. Sure enough, Saturday morning she showed up! It was really cool to see her there and make some new friends with people in the branch. At the end of the hike, our branch präsident spoke with her a little about what we do as missionaries. He told her that we teach people about Christ. She decided that she wants to take the lessons from us. We are super excited!
 
My favorite scripture this week was in Alma 37:36-37

I really think there is a lot that we can learn from this scripture, but the biggest thing that stuck out to me this week is how much we really need to put our trust in God. When we don’t trust him, how will we ever be able to get anything accomplished?

 
I love you all and I hope that you have a fantastic week.
 
Sister Reed

Moritzburg Castle in Dresden on our way to Berlin
 

A German Men's Holiday...sort of!

Hohenstein and some surrounding cities

A group of men on "Christi Himmel Fahrt" Holiday

This week was crazy long but really great. So much happened this week. But that is the life of a missionary. :)

Monday, we had Family Home Evening with our Branch President. Normally we give the spiritual thought because we are missionaries, but this time he decided to give the thought. It was really cool. He talked about being mothers and how important of a duty it is, but also about how, as sisters, we can accomplish so much in this world. It was a really good "Go get em" speech.

We had zone training meeting this week and had our last interviews with Präsident Kosak. He is awesome. It was hard to say goodbye. But! I am excited to see how another mission president works too. It is a cool opportunity to be able to have two mission presidents. Zone training meeting was really spiritually uplifting. We talked a lot about the "why". When we really understand the why, we will have a stronger determination to accomplish any task. We also talked a lot about prayer. Sometimes we say prayers just because we know we need to. But when we really want to pray with sincerity, we need to pray with faith. My mom sent me a quote this week that said "prayer is a priceless privilege". Isn't it amazing that we have complete access to talk to the most powerful being whenever we want? We can receive help, comfort, strength, and guidance whenever we need it? This week I want to be more committed when I say prayers and remember the why. Why is praying with faith so important?

This past Thursday was a holiday called "Christi Himmel Fahrt" (Christ rides to heaven)... ha-ha! It is kind of just a men’s appreciation day. All of the men go for walks or hikes and they drink a lot of beer and hang out together. But! It is also a day where people just get together and enjoy each other’s company.   
Because I am a little over half way through my mission, I would like to quote my stake president back at home. He shared this with me right before I was set apart as a missionary, and I have remembered it my whole mission.

"Faith with hard work produces miracles."

I know that is true. I have seen it and lived it.

I love you all and I hope you have a fabulous week.

Sister Reed 

 

Engel (Angel) Happy Mother's Day

And these are the flowers I would have sent to my mom for mothers day....love Summer

Engel

Angel

Es war einmal ein Kind, das bereit war geboren zu werden.

There once was a child, that was ready to be born.

Das Kind fragte Gott: "Sie sagen mir das du mich morgen auf die Erde schicken wirst, aber wie soll ich dort leben wo ich doch so klein und hilflos bin?

The child asked God: "They tell me that you will send me to the Earth tomorrow, but how will I live when I am so small and helpless?"

Gott antwortete: "Von all den vielen Engeln suche ich einen für dich aus. Dein Engel wird auf dich warten und auf dich auf passen."

God answered: "Out of all of the angels, I will pick one out just for you. Your angel will wait and watch out for you."

Das Kind erkundete sich weiter: "Aber sag hier im Himmel brauche ich nichts zu tun als zu singen und lachen und frölich zu sein."

The child continued: "But here in heaven, I don't have to do anything but sing and laugh and be joyful."
Gott sagte: "Dein Engel wird für dich singen, lachen und dir vorlesen, jeden Tag. Du wirst die Liebe deines Engels fülen und sehr Glücklich sein."

God said: "Your angel will sing for you, laugh and read out loud to you, every day. You will feel the love of your angel and be very happy."
Wieder fragte das Kind: "Und wie werde ich in der Lage sein die Leute zu verstehen wenn sie mit mir sprechen und ich die Sprache nicht kenne?"

The child asked further: "And how will I be able to understand the people when they speak to me and I don't know the language?"
Gott sagte: "Dein Engel wird dir die schönsten und liebevollsten worte sagen, die du jemals hören wirst. Und mit viel Ruhe und Geduld wird dein Engel dich lehren zu sprechen."

God said: "Your angel will say the most beautiful and loving words, that you have ever heard. ? And with calmness and patience, your angel will teach you to speak."

"Und was werde ich tun wenn ich mit dir reden möchte?"

And what will I do when I want to talk to you?"
Gott sagte: "Dein Engel wird deine Hände aneinander legen und dich lehren zu beten."

God said: "Your angel will place your hands together and teach you how to pray."
"Ich habe gehört das es auf der Erde böse Menschen gibt. Wer wird mich beschützen?"

I have heard that there are evil people on the Earth. Who will protect me?"
Gott sagte: "Ein Engel wird dich verteidigen mit allen Mitteln. Er würde alles riskieren damit es dir gut geht."

God said: "An angel will defend you by all means. She will risk everything to make sure that everything goes well.“

"Aber ich werde traurig sein weil ich dich niemals wieder sehe"

"But I will be sad because I will never see you again."
Gott sagte: "Dein Engel wird mit dir über mich sprechen und dir einen Weg zeigen auf dem du zu mir zurück kehren kannst. Ich werde wie er immer in deiner Nähe sein."

God said: "Your Angel will speak with you about me and show you the way so that you can return to me. I will always be by you:"

In diesem Moment herschte viel Frieden im Himmel aber man konnte schon Stimmen von der Erde hören.

In this moment, there was a continual peace in heaven, but man began to hear voices coming from the earth.

Und das Kind fragte schnell: "Bevor ich dich verlasse, bitte sag mir den Namen meines Engels"

And the child asked quickly: "Before I leave you, please tell me the name of my angel."

"Ihr Name ist nicht wichtig. Du wirst sie einfach *mama* nennen"
"Her name is not important: You will just call her *mama*."

I LOVE YOU MAMA!

Summer