New Year in New Jersey

Good morning!

Had a great Christmas out here in the field. It's nice to have a Christmas where you are mostly focusing on sharing the message of Christmas. I really love Christmas. I was worried that I wouldn't like it on my mission but I actually did.

Also we had two Christmas dinners. Now that doesn't sound like a lot but actually IT IS. Yes I'm sure all who have been missionaries have done worse but I honestly felt like it would have been a blessing to throw up. Then later that night we ran home after eating these two Christmas dinners because we parked super far away and had to get home on time.

NOT GOOD.

Never do that.

But it's fine that is what the mission is ALL ABOUT :)

Highlights from the week:

Talking to the fam! It was great to see all of you (although I didn't figure out how to get skype to work til the last five minutes...I'm definitely losing my touch with computers these days)

Getting great packages!

   -My favorite gift: missionary journal from my sister Alison! I honestly never thought I would want one of those because that's a nerdy missionary thing but now that I'm a missionary I LOVE it. It has room for my companion and areas and everything else could ever dream about in it! Love it.

   -Getting the most candy I have ever received in my entire life

   -Got a present with Justin Beiber wrapping paper. Thanks Alison :)

Committing an investigator to baptism! About that... AWKWARD STORY OF THE WEEK:

Walked into an investigators house to find that he is in the shower. This made us VERY uncomfortable so we decided it was time to leave but she (meaning his roommate Rosalina) WOULDN'T LET US. So we just sat there on our investigator Luis's couch waiting for him to get out of the shower. SO. AWKWARD. So finally he gets out and we start our lesson with him and we have the most spiritual lesson EVER. He read the Book of Mormon, was prepared and asked questions and we could tell that he was ready! So we committed him to baptism. And this isn't just a "maybe I'll get baptized thing." This is a pull-out-your-phone-and-write-down-the-date-and-time-of-your-baptism-on-your-calendar thing. Overall, one of the most awkward/spiritual lessons I have ever had.

One of my favorite things about this area is the viejitos (old people) that live here. We work with an 89-year-old man named Jose. None of his family are members and he really wants them to be! He is the cutest grandpa man you will ever see. We call him Hermano Uva because in Spanish one of the meanings of "uva" is "cool" and he says it all the time. We're like best friends with him now.

Another adorable viejita is Hermana Santina, who is the sweetest and nicest old lady I have ever met (except for my own grandma of course :). She let us teach two investigators in her house and says that we are "angelitas" (especially my companion because she has blonde curly hair. kinda looks like a halo I guess). 

Nelson, our other investigator who is set for a baptismal date is on board still! I seriously love that man. We walk into his house and he says, "Enough chit-chat, tell me about the GOSPEL." Which is great, because that's our best subject. He really wants to learn! I love it when people want to learn.

That was basically my week. I hope that everybody had a good Christmas. It is my favorite time of year. And not just because I get so much candy. I love you all!

Haz lo justo (choose the right) and know what you stand for!

Hermana Reed

Merry Christmas!!!

Hello All!

It Christmas "Adam"! Then tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and then Wednesday it's CHRISTMAS!!!

I love Christmas.

This has been a CRAZY week. Crazy as in busy. We had the opportunity to go to the temple (SO nice) and we had an all-mission conference where Alex Boye came! He is amazing speaker and singer and it was really great to hear and see!

We also had two Christmas parties (since we work with a ward and a branch) that we just HAD to go to! It was actually super nice because members brought their friends and we got to meet a lot of new people. And eat a lot of good food :)

We have had very little time for actual work (aka lessons with people) this week. I love the stuff we have been doing (temple and parties and everything) but at the same time I miss working with people! Missionary work has turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Let me work!!

We have a lot of appointments on the 24th and 25th and so we will hopefully be very busy! The ward has really reached out to us. We have members giving us food, gifts, and letting us call our families in their homes. I love this area. I can't believe how nice people are!!!

Highlight of the week: a ward member gave us food for breakfast this entire week! I have NEVER eaten this good on the mission! Don't even know what to do with myself.

I love this time of the year. Our focus as missionaries is to really think of Christ this month. It's hard to describe what Christ means to me, but I do want to say that I know that Christ is my Savior, and that is why I am out here. Nothing else would get me to serve for 18 months besides a solid and deep knowledge that Jesus Christ atoned for me, loves me, and that I can return to him. That is what drives me to do what I do. I cannot hide what I know and I want to share it!

Have a wonderful Christmas! Choose the right and know what you stand for!

Love,

Hermana Reed

QUICKEST LETTER IN THE UNVERSE!

Dear Family,

I have six minutes to write to you today.

Everything is super busy. And there is snow!! We walked through the snow all day yesterday and it was really really fun and it proved that my boots are hard core. Then we had had an amazing lesson with one of my favorite investigators EVER and had cocoa and sang Christmas songs.

 We have three solid investigators with a baptismal date and I am so happy for them! Nelson Vargas we found last week and he is ready to be baptized on the 29th! He was taught before so he already knows a lot. We are SO excited for him.

 Also, the entire world went into hibernation for winter so I guess that means we can't meet with them. Well TOO BAD! We gonna find you!

This week we get to go to the Manhattan Temple (!!!) and we have mission conference (!!!) and two ward parties! It is crazy!

Happy Christmas! Choose the right and know what you stand for!

Hermana Reed

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hello family!

Another week of missionary work in New Jersey! It's going great. Everyone here has their lights up, including the other family that lives in our house, and our house is looking GOOD. They go all out with their lights over here, and I love it.

Most interesting contacting experience of the week:  Getting tootsie rolls from a random guy on the street in exchange for giving him a card. It was kinda sketchy but I ate them anyway.

I'm feeling much better about my Spanish this week! Just needed to warm up! That's not to say I am fluent in Spanish. I definitely am not. But I can communicate and that's a great place to start. I basically have had to re-learn how to teach the gospel in Spanish. It's actually kinda nice because it helps you understand what you are teaching better.

On Monday we taught a lesson that turned out to be an epic fail. For those of you who have not seen the tea bag lesson...basically, it's where you explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end) with a tea bag. At the end you light the tea bag on fire and it floats up to the ceiling and is really cool.

We tried that. Little did we know we had the wrong kind of tea bag.

So we basically ended up lighting Sister Larsen on fire. Don't worry! No one was harmed in the lesson. It was just a little fire :) I think we will be practicing that one before we do it in front of anybody else...

Miracle of the week: one of our investigators finally decided to get married with the man she is living with! We are so happy because now she will be able to progress and be a good example for her children! Definitely made my week!

We got to see the Christmas devotional this last week. That was a blessing. I love the theme of the devotional, which is how important it is to remember Christ at Christmas. That is what we are focusing on in the mission and it was amazing to be able to see the Prophet and other church leaders. I love Christmas! It is a great season!!

Highlight of the week: SNOW!!! yessss

Remember Christ! He is our Savior and he can help us in our life! The church is true and I KNOW IT. That's why I am here. Nothing else would've gotten me out here. I love the Book of Mormon. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Love,

Sister Reed

How to make instant friends!

Dear Family,

What I learned this week: missionary work is harder to do in Spanish than English.

Profound, I know ;)

All I can say is that I am SO THANKFUL I know so much Spanish already because it makes my life a lot easier. I'm used to being able to express myself easily in English, and I just don't have that knowledge in Spanish. But that is what study time and practice are for and also a LOT of depending on the Lord. I seriously could not do missionary work without prayer and a lot of faith.

I am in a lovely new area called Bayonne. It is really near Jersey City and is right on the water. It is SO beautiful. We have a better view of New York than New York does! It is great. It's definitely not Paterson, though. It's....not ghetto. There are driveways here. And I think I saw a gringo the other day.

WEIRD. # reversecultureshock

I love it though! We work with an English branch and a HUGE Spanish ward. Oh my goodness it's so big. I've never been in such a big Spanish ward before, not in all my Latin American wards. It's really fun :)

Also, I have found the formula for INSTANT FRIENDSHIP!

friendship=live in home country + speak some of their language

THAT'S IT! All you need is to have lived in the home country of the person you are speaking with and speak a bit of their language and you are FRIENDS! It works! Hence I am friends with all the Hondurans, Mexicans, Ecuadorians and Costa Ricans. Haven't met any Paraguayans yet. I only wish I lived in the Dominican Republic! We have so many of them here! We also have a lot of Hondurans, which is great! I love that country.

My new trainer (my Spanish mom hehe) is awesome! She is also from Salt Lake so that's fun:

"Where are you from?"

me: "Salt Lake City."

"What about you?"

companion: "Salt Lake City."
"...are you sisters?"

me: "kind of..."

Yep those conversations are pretty great. My Spanish trainer's name is Sister Larsen and she is hilarious. I cannot wait to spend Christmas/New Years with her!

Speaking of Christmas I am SO EXCITED FOR THE HOLIDAYS! I've heard that Christmas is awesome on the mission and I'm super excited! Christmas is the BEST!

Highlight of the week: going to six hours of church (one of the lovely benefits of working with two different wards)! Talk about spiritually uplifting

Also had a great Thanksgiving dinner with the Bishop and his wife! Yay for holidays :) Even if they are weird on the mission.

Good luck in all your various endeavors! Remember the Church is true and the Book of Mormon is scripture! Read it and love it. It's what gets us through the difficult parts of life. The mission is definitely one of those. 

Choose the right and know what you stand for! 

Love,
Sister Reed