Happy 4th of July!

Dear Family,

This has been a very exciting week! I will tell you all about it.

 

4th of July was awesome--definitely the best holiday I've had on the mission so far. Sister Stevens had these 4th of July fans we gave to everybody and we made a red, white and blue 4th of July cake and wore 4th of July clothes. All of our members were like,"So are you happy about your country's independence day today?" They didn't seem to care too much about it but I guess I wouldn't really care either if I were from a way cooler Latin American country :)

 

We were also allowed to be out until 11! Friends this is crazy. After we taught (and were fed three times in a row :/) we went at 9 to see the fireworks and on Bunny Hill. This is a bit strange becuase there's a Bunny Hill in Brighton, where my family owns a cabin, and it's for the pansy people who don't know how to ski. Anyway we got to watch the firewords eat our 4th of July cake with Jonatan, Nicolas (our recent converts), Ron (a member) and John (our investigator). It was really fun and we were going to stay out til 11 but somehow we ended up getting home by 10:30. I guess I just get tired at 10:30 no matter what these days. That's what 9 months on the mission does to you :)

 

The miracle of this month has definitely been John, the investigator I mentioned a few weeks ago. We met him on the 17th of August, about three weeks ago, and he is ready to be baptized this next week! He is seriously so cool. He's one of those cool guys from high school that wears their pants super low and drinks and smokes but now we have see the gospel refine him! After the first week at church he went out and got church clothes and has been reading every day, and has been looking forward to the day he can get baptized. He's even going to the YSA Hill Cumorah trip this Saturday, the day before his baptism. He is serioualy just mind-boggling. Can't wait to send some pics next week !

 

We got locked out of our apartment yesterday. It was bound to happen because I'm in charge of the keys and I do things like that. Anyway we thought we would have to call the fire department to climb through our balcony (we live on the third floor) but luckily we found random mission people who had keys.

 

Highlight of the week: Spotting my first fireflies! I'm in the city but I found 'em anyway! They remind me of living in Honduras :)

 

Love you all! Hope all of your wildest dreams are coming true! Choose the right and know what you stand for!

 

Love,

Sister Reed

Spring is Here!

Spring FINALLY hit! And it's awesome! It's warm and there are flowers and leaves growing and we can sleep with our window open at night and it is the most blissful feeling ever. I love New Jersey in the spring!
Here are some highlights of this last week:
~Finding a prepared family! The dad's name is Tino and the mom's name is Julia. We taught them the Restoration and it was an amazing lesson. Tino is going into a major surgery for his hip on Tuesday and he is going to be in bed for months afterwards. Julia is 9 months pregnant and due on Tuesday. Despite having plenty of good excuses not to meet with us, they are instead finding ways to meet with us! Tino told us we could visit him two days after his surgery and teach him while he is recovering in bed. And he says as soon as he can walk again he will be going to church. They felt the spirit so much while we were teaching them that he told us he knew what we were teaching was true, and that he felt that we had that light he needed in his life. He wants it so much! It's really exciting.
~Our investigator Nicolas is on date for baptism! We taught about the Word of Wisdom and why we don't drink coffee, tea, alcohol, smoke, or do drugs. He already is doing it :) He told us about how a few years ago he would drink and smoke and do drugs and get in trouble all the time with his family and with the police in Ecuador. Then he went to Alcoholics Anonymous and stopped doing all of that stuff. We asked him how it changed him and his family and he said, "It changed everything. Everything is better. My relationship with my family, my friends, and myself. Everything is different now." Never has that hit me so hard. His personal testimony was so powerful. Obeying the Word of Wisdom is so important.
~Sister Heule and I have decided that we have an inception-like effect on the people we teach. For example, we asked one of the hermanas we visit to imagine God was right there while she prayed to make her prayers more sincere. Well, in a later appointment she said, "I heard somewhere that if you imagine God is there while you pray it becomes more meaningful. I have been doing it and my prayers have meant so much more to me now!" We were like, "Wow, that's great! What a great idea!" Another time we asked her to invite all the sisters she visit teaches to the Women's General Conference and later she calls us and said, "I had an idea to invite all my sisters to the Women's Conference. Do you have their numbers?" INCEPTION. They don't even know we are putting the ideas there :P Sister Heule is of the opinion that we don't actually exist.
~Having a mini wedding party thing at the church! One of the families in our ward got sealed and the ward celebrated it the next day. I love ward parties because you get to see less actives you didn't know existed there! Which is exactly what happened.
~Meeting a couple from Spain on the street! Weird! They had the accent and said 'vale' and used the vosotros form and everything :)
Funny contacting experience of the week:
Me: "Can I give you a card?"
Random Guy: "If it has your number on it."
Me: "Never mind..."
Good week! Spring is in the air and everyone is twitterpated! See Bambi for an explanation of that term. I love you all! The Church is true! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed

Happy April Fool's Day!

This week was the week of April Fool's Day! The extent of the excitement for this April Fool's Day was that the elders put an exhaust whistle in our exhaust pipe. Wow, good one elders. Anyway, elders are definitely more exciting during April Fool's Day than sisters are. That and my companion probably would've killed me if I had done anything to her. However, I have decided that next year on April Fool's Day I am going to put a lot more effort into it and maybe get more into the spirit of the holiday :)
Highlights of this week:
~General Conference!! I got the answers to all of my questions, some of which I didn't realize I had. Nice going, Heavenly Father.
~Going to Fearbuster, which is where we take all the new missionaries contacting through downtown Newark. It's seriously gotta be one of the most fun things I have ever done. My companion was a new missionary from the Philippines. She was so cute!
~Getting  a new Obsipado (bishopric). This means that WE GET WARD MISSIONARIES!!! Yay now they get to teach lessons to ALL OUR RECENT CONVERTS MUAHAHAHAHAHA
~Working on Ellis Island. I have found out that when a random person comes up to you with a big ol smile and arms outstretched it usually means they're a member of the church :) It's really cool to serve there and meet people from all over the world. Scottish accents ARE real, it turns out. I though everyone was just pulling my leg.
~Our investigator, Nicolas, read the Book of Mormon and is progressing! We are so excited for him. We also found 2 families this week which is the bomb.com (do people still say that? Oh man I'm getting old).
~We had a mission-wide fast to consecrate ourselves to missionary work  and it was a really awesome experience. I'm not ver good at fasting but in the end it's worth it :) Even though that last hour is always killer. Self-discipline! That's important.
Love you all! Remember the church is true! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!

Hello from New Joisey!

After 6 months I have finally realized that I'm probably not going to come back with a New Jersey accent. I don't know why but the Joisey sound just doesn't rub off on me. How sad! Life is full of trials sometimes.
It rained! Aaaah! I don't have a rain jacket! I guess I needed one of those. I'll think about getting one of those.
Transfers this week happened and my comp and I are both STAYING!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Watch us tear up Kearney.
Also General Women's Conference on Saturday was amazing! Of course. The best part is we got two less-active women there and a recent convert and they loved it which pretty much makes my life.
AWKWARD EXPERIENCE OF THE WEEK: Yesterday we went to see someone with Hermana Castro, the Relief Society President, and when Sister Heule was saying goodbye afterwards she missed and accidentally kissed her forehead instead of her cheek. Which somehow is SO MUCH MORE AWKWARD and I nearly died laughing afterwards. Good thing Hermana Castro is a saint and loves Sister Heule anyways.
Sorry, not much else to say except for of course that the gospel is true! I love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!!
Omni 1:26 is my favorite scripture of the week.
Love,
Sister Reed

Awkward Door-Knocking Experiences

This week was fantastic!! Highlights:
~Receiving fruit snacks called "Walking with Jesus".
~Explaining gas laws to my unfortunate companion (she asked me what happens when pressure decreases in a vacuum. What was I supposed to do? Not explain PV=nRT?)
~Having 13 of our less-actives go to church!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
~Meeting an old lady from the Dominican Republic who told us that she loved us because we talked about Jesus, hugged us, and then ran off. Sister Heule is officially in love with Dominicans now.
FUNNY EXPERIENCE OF THE WEEK! On Sunday we went on a split, which basically means two different women got to be our companions so that we could go to more appointments. Hermana German, a lady from our ward, went with me to go to two less-active's houses, one of whom I have never been to before. So everything was going great. We visited the first house and they gave us a TON of food (Hermana German was like WHAT I HAVE TO EAT and I was like WHAT DO YOU THINK MISSIONARIES DO?? Ok I said it a little more lovingly than that :)
Then we went to our next appointment!! The following occurred:
Me:"I think that's their house!"
Hermana German: "I don't think so..."
We knock on the door and a teenage boy opens it.
Me: "Are your parents home?" (We had called and confirmed the night before)
Boy: "No, they're down on the shore. They've been gone for three days."
Me: "Three days? We talked to them last night!!"
It was at this point that I realized that we DEFINITELY had the wrong house. So I pulled out a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told him it probably wasn't an accident we had met him and that he should read this pamphlet because it will bless his life. Then we said bye and left. Hermana German was like I CAN'T BELIEVE WE JUST DID THAT! All in the life of a missionary. We have the most awkward experiences ever. I didn't tell her that that was nothing compared to the time I climbed up on a cement block to knock on a less-active's window and then the less active opened the door and saw me...that was awkward.
I kind of love my life.
So it was a fun week!! We saw a lot of miracles that we weren't expecting—I hope everyone is doing well and happy! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!

Quick Email

The internet is SUPER slow today so this will probably be short. Quick highlights for this week!
~Danna is getting confirmed! Love that girl.
~Met one of our investigators, Carlos, this week for the first time! His wife has been waiting a long time for him to get baptized and he's not there yet but we are working slowly and surely with him.
~Found an old investigator named Ingris! She has a crazy story of how she got into the States and is amazing. She listens to everything and soaks it up and we are SO happy we found her again. You have no idea. Sister Heule was literally jumping up and down for joy for a solid 10 minutes.
~Our recent convert, Jonatan, got the Aaronic Priesthood! YAAAAY
The sad thing of this week was that we lost a few investigators that we have been working with for a long time. It's heartbreaking to have to stop teaching someone but I have faith that they will be ready someday, on the Lord's timing.
It's been a little chilly but not too bad. Nothing like December...I'm not even wearing boots today! A first for months.
Highlight of the week: Reading the Book of Mormon in 33 days! WHOOOOO That's what you get when your comp's sick...
Downlight of the week (yes I made that a word): Daylight savings. I did not enjoy getting up at 5:30 AM yesterday. No bueno.
I love you all!!! Remember to choose the right! Read your scriptures! Get to bed on time hehe :)
Love,
Sister Reed

1st Baptism!!!

This month I had my first baptism! Her name is Danna and she is 14. I gave a talk at the baptism about the importance of the Holy Ghost and then we took LOTS of pictures :) We are really excited for her and it was amazing to see the change in her after her baptism. I can't really even describe it.
There is a LOT of work going on, even though we had a few sick days this week :/ Danna has 2 brothers who we are teaching right now and we are working with them a lot. We hope that they all will be able to be baptized soon. Eternal family HERE THEY COME!
Another of our investigators, Oscar, who is probably around 60 and is seriously one of the sweetest old men EVER, fasted on Sunday even though the rest of his family (who are members) didn't. THAT'S what I'm talking about :)
Oh also I had a birthday and that was cool.
We also somehow ended up teaching the elders' investigator and because we were visiting teaching his wife, who is a member. They came to church after years of not going! YES!!! You're welcome Elders!
Highlight of the week: A member telling me that I don't have a gringo accent!!! He probably was just being nice but I appreciate it anyway!!!!
Love you all! The Church is true! I love it so that's why I'm doing this. It's hard to be a missionary. Really hard. Sometimes I wonder how I actually do this. But I do it because I love my Heavenly Father and I love this work and I know that he wants me to be here. And there is nothing like seeing someone read the Book of Mormon and see that new light in their eyes. It seriously is there and I'm not even joking. You should try it sometime :)
Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed

Kearny WALKING!

I have been transferred! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
I am now in Kearney which is RIGHT outside of Newark. It's basically as close as I, as a sister missionary, will ever get to Newark because of how sketchy Newark is. Also we are walking which is a first for me.
Despite the fact that we are so close to Newark, Kearney is actually pretty nice. It's the nicest area I have had so far. This means that there isn't trash in the streets, there isn't quite as much project housing, and there's a little more space between the houses so there is a little more parking. Some of the houses even have little yards! Spaces between houses? Weird.
This area is amazing. We are working with a lot of part-member families and they are all AMAZING. The missionaries here before me have done great work and I am really excited to keep working here.
The sisters had a baptism the week before I got here and this convert is AMAZING. His name is Jonatan (pronounced Jonathan, I don't really know why it's spelled that way) and he is from Argentina (shoutout to Shawn! They have the same accent as you!). He is SOLID. Since his baptism he has gone to seminary and gone out teaching with us and basically is just amazing. I love seeing converts like him and I am excited to work with him.
We also have a lot of baptisms on the way. I am so excited! Next week one of our investigators, Dana, is going to get baptized. YAY!
Isn't it obvious how awesome this area is??
My new companion is named Sister Huele and she is great. She is from Minnesota and has been in the field for three months. And I've been out for a little less that five months. So basically we're both babies and we don't really know what we're doing so we're pretty much flying by the seat of our pants.
Another update: WARMTH! This week we got up to the 40s and 50s so the snow has finally been melting. YES! I love spring.
Highlight of the week: Helping one of our less-actives with her Chemistry homework. I LOVE CHEMISTRY!! Ionic bonds are seriously the best!
Yes I realize I am a huge nerd :)
Change is good! I miss Bayonne, of course, and Paterson—it is so sad to leave areas and I will probably miss them for the rest of my mission, if not beyond—but I am excited for Kearny.
The church is true and the book is blue! Read the Book of Mormon. It seriously helps. I promise.
Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed
P.S. New Address!!! (Contact my family if you would like to send something!) Letters or packages. :)