Happy Memorial Day!

Because of Memorial Day all the libraries were CLOSED so that is why I am emailing so late! Sorry about that. Sounds like everyone had a fantastic week by the way :)
WEllll this last week we had a BAPTISM!!! It was SO GREAT! Our investigator Nicolas, who we've been teaching about 3 months, got baptized. A member family brought him to church and we were like, "Can we come to your house?" And he shrugged and said, "Why not?" He didn't want to be baptized at first, but one day that just changed and he wanted it.

His baptism was CRAZY. I mean literally.
Everything that went wrong with the baptism:
~Jonatan (a recent convert who baptized him) and Nicolas got in the font before the baptism began thinking that they had to just wait there. They didn't realize that we had to do part of the program first. So then we had to get them new suits and everything. And everyone was like, "What happened?! Did he already baptize him??!?!" Luckily he hadn't.
~They both forgot towels (and we forgot to remind them) so they that through the entire baptism and afterwards wet.
~The Bishopric wasn't there so this random member welcomed him and it was really weird.
Everything that went right:
~HE GOT BAPTIZED!
Being baptized is the most important part and we are so happy for him! Next week he will be confirmed and it will be great!

Another classic moment of the week:
Yesterday, teaching an investigator about the Restoration:
Sister Reed: "We can know the truth about our message by reading the Book of Mormon and praying to God whether it is true."
Investigator, looking at my companion: "Is she always this happy?"
Companion, nodding solemnly: "Yes, hermano."
At Neil's request, I am going to explain a normal preparation day!
8-10: Normal studies
10:30-12:30 Emailing errybody in the whole world
1-3: buy/put away food
3-6: clean apartment, clean car, shopping, or getting together with missionaries and playing sports or the  ukulele
Because we couldn't email on Memorial day we had extra time! So we got together with all the missionaries from the Newark church units (English, Spanish, and Portuguese) and some of the Spanish Ward members and played soccer all day. It was a blast and I got the best burn ever. Yay for farmer's tans! But boy I am soooooore. My poor body.
It RAINED this week. When it rains in New Jersey, it pours. Luckily, I had a raincoat, but my knees down were completely soaked through. I could have jumped in a pool and not been any wetter. So then we jumped in puddles and gave bemused people cards in the pouring rain.
Hope you all have a great next week and remember to crack open those scriptures! Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed

Planner Covers from Faraway Lands

Another good week in Kearny, New Jersey!
Highlights of the week:
~ Drinking mate with one of our Uruguayan members. It was a welcome return to the Paraguayan lifestyle :) She said next time we come over we are going to drink it again. Yaaaaay MATE NIGHTS EVERY WEEK FOREVER!!!
~ One day it was pouring rain, so we took off our shoes when we got into a less-active's house. When she saw our bare feet she made us wear socks and when it was time to leave she insisted we wear her socks with our flats, which we did and it was the best thing ever. Don't know why I've never before though to wear men's socks with my flats.
~ Teaching a lesson to an investigator outside his steps in the pouring rain in the dark. Couldn't hear a word by by golly WE'RE GOING TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.
~ Getting locked in our garage every day (our garage door opener is very broken)
~ Sister Heule left :( Our trio is gone! It was a glorious two weeks while it lasted.
~ Cleaning our apartment!! I love being clean...
~Getting sent planner covers from my friend Rachel Houldridge in Paraguay! It was a really late birthday present. I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!!!
It was a week of ups and downs. While on my mission I think often of Elder Holland's conference talk about discipleship. There are good parts of discipleship—encouragement, progress, happiness—and then there's the hard part—the pain at someone's fall, the tears, the calling to repentance. I've realized that the mission isn't easy because discipleship isn't easy. It never will be. But it will be worth it. Never have I put so much of myself into such a worthy cause: to be a missionary of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so happy that Heavenly Father made me come out here in the first place :)
I love you all! I love what I do. I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ. Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!!!
Love,
Sister Reed
P.S. My niece and nephews are the cutest children on earth! Just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of that :)

This Week was Hit and Miss :)

I've decided to do this letter in the format Neil sent one of his letters to me in: Hit/Miss!

Hit: Tino went to church!
Hit: He just barely had back surgery, but he determinedly sat through the whole thing!
Hit: He listened and soaked in the testimony meeting and even started crying during one man's testimony.
Hit: At the end of the sacrament meeting he was like, "Is that all?"
Miss: Church was shortened to sacrament meeting because it was Mother's Day. Don't ask me why because it doesn't make sense to me either.

Miss: Our other investigator Nicolas didn't go to church
Hit: He has been reading the Book of Mormon
Hit: When we asked if there was anything we could do for him, he asked us to call and be his friend! I was like, "YES, I WILL BE YOUR FRIEND!!!!!"

Hit: We had transfers!
Hit: Sister Stevens is staying :)
Miss: Sister Heule is leaving :(

Hit: The weather is warm!
Miss: It's windy and that's a problem when you are wearing a skirt! Pencil skirts here I come!

Hit: We had a Mother's Day party!
Miss: We had to sing :/ AGAIN

Hit: Sister Stevens and Heule called their families!!
Miss: I didn't!
Hit: I will call them one dayyyy

That was our lovely week! I love people. They are just great. It's amazing to see people come to the Gospel and find the things they sometimes didn't know they were looking for. The Church is true! I know it!

Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!

Sister Reed

New Comp!

This week was exciting because even though we still have a week left of the transfer we got a NEW COMP! She is a missionary who went home and is now returning to the mission. Her name is Sister Stevens and she is a very awesome missionary.
So we are now a trio, and it is way more fun than I thought it would be. It seems to be that trios would be hard —three people have to decide instead of two—and it is a bit more challenging that way. But I have really enjoyed the entire three days I have had as a trio :) Unfortunately, my companion contracted a deadly cold/strep throat on Thursday so we had a weekend indoors. We were fortunate enough not to get it, but I did feel a little bad we had so much inside time. But we are looking forward to a week of work this upcoming week.
The members don't know what to do with us. Quote from Hermano Medina, our ward mission leader: "There are three of you now? What a punishment!" The members love us—they just don't know it yet :) WE'LL GET THEM EVENTUALLY.
We found some really cool new investigators last week. One of them is a man named Angel who is struggling a lot right now financially and maritally. We taught him a really good door lesson, since he didn't want us to come inside because of his roommates. When we gave him a Book of Mormon, he was really willing to read it! It's exactly the right approach to reading the Book of Mormon; with prayer and reading it every day. I could't believe he understood almost immediately how to read it! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
We also moved someone in pouring rain this week—in jeans. WEIRD.
Love you all! Have a happy Mother's Day!! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed
P.S. The pictures are next to "The Wall" in downtown Newark.

Another good week!

Another good week! This week was crazy busy and full of laughs and tears. There were the really good times and the really bad times :) There always are, but eventually I always am happy.
The highlight of the week was for sure a visit from one of the Apostles, Elder L. Tom Perry! He came to visit our mission on Monday of last week and addressed us and answered some of our questions. He talked about the importance of depending on God in all things. That's what he does! Well, if he does it then I'm going to do it too.

Betty and Hermana Reed

Other highlights:
~Explaining the Plan of Salvation to Enyer, our 17 year-old investigator from the Dominican Republic. I could not keep a straight face in that lesson. That kid makes me laugh too much.
~Asking a guy how his day was and how long he had been in the US. These two simple questions launched him into a 45 minute explanation of his entire life story and all the politics of his country and his home country. Also his first name is Washington which is great.
~Teaching the Restoration 3 times in the home of another Dominican lady. First we explained it to her, then to her granddaughter, then her son as each of them walked in. I hope it sunk in! But seriously that lesson was crazy. It was one of those moments where you walk out of someone's house and are like, "Oh...that was exhausting." In a good way :)
~Hermana Heule falling on ice cream and then on me while playing volleyball in a skirt.
~Getting candy from a sweet man named Edmund who is in the English ward for the third sunday in a row!!! YES!

Betty and Sister Heule

It was a good week. There were always a few days where we had some really hard lessons. One of our less actives is struggling a lot with her family. We have visited her a lot to try to help her through it. She's trying to get into nursing school so I relate to her a lot because of my mom :) Which helps.
The church is true! I know that more every day. I love you all and I hope you are choosing the right and knowing what you stand for!!
Love,
Sister Reed
P.S. The pictures are from service!

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!!