Dear Family,
It was great to see and talk to you on Christmas and I have to say I am MINDBLOWN by how much everyone has grown. So congrats of growing. I'm really impressed :)
We did a lot of contacting this week for Christmas, and it was really cool because you could feel the Christmas spirit. Everyone's just happier.
We also ate a lot. And I had this weird thing happen where after one meal I couldn't eat another one! OH NO I'M DOOMED HOW WILL I EVER EAT FOUR MEALS IN A ROW IF I FILL UP AFTER ONE. For that reason Christmas was a little painful :)
I read Alma 5 this week. HOLY MOLY that's a call to repentance :) Read it, it's a good New Year's goals chapter.
Other highlights:
~Getting jukes twice on Christmas ;? (What? You have plans with your family? Why??)
~Ellis Island again :)
~Getting hugged and besito'd by a hilarious Dominican guy...you just can't stop 'em :) He's the owner of a store and we stop by ever once in a while. He said he's going to invite us over to dinner with his wife! New investigator/morir so ñando (sounds weird but it's a dominican drink :)  ) HERE I COME
~Our Honduran investigator made us homemade baleadas! Those things are so good.
Love you! Choose the right and know what you stand for! Happy New Years! Hope you all have fun staying up to the wee hours of the morning cuz I'm going to bed at 10:30 jeje
Con cariño,
Hermana Reed

Look at these intense Christmas decorations!!

This is Maria Jose :) She's the little daughter of our cute Honduran family.

Last Week in Morristown

This week was crazy!!! And cold! My companion has this strange problem where she doesn't need a coat or tights--and then I'm like well I don't need them either! Well, I learned my lesson. I'm going to wear a coat now.
I have no idea how to approach telling about my week...so bullet point time!!!!
~Had "Traditions with the Taggarts". It was great. Involved a lot of bad bell ringing and also food. The Christmastime mission stuff has begun.
~Had the Christmas Fireside! Aka all missionaries perform with really bad acting!!! But it was great because EVERYONE I LOVE CAME!!! Meaning Nicolas and everyone from Newark and from Morristown and Short Hills and it was so great. We were shepherds and I had a stick and Sister Brown had a turban.
~Had the best MLC ever!!! A Sevently came and told us about the "faith ladder", among other things.

It was awesome. And it was my last MLC because this is my last transfer of being a Sister Training Leader. And I am TIRED!

~I'm training!

~Also I have been transferred. ONE AND DONE! Again!! Baaah! Literally the worst. Also I will be doubled into my next area...for the second time in a row. Luckily I think this will be the last time!!!

~Trainer's meeting! What was funny was all of their companions went to our area. So we had four missionaries following Sister Brown out the door. She was a full-blown mother with all of those missionaries in tow :) It was great.

It has been a crazy week. I really am going to miss this area. We have worked hard here. And so much is happening--people preparing for baptism, the Garcia family, Christmas, and lots of finding.

Love you all! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for :)

Sister Reed

Nicolas and Hno Montoya!

Christmas time!!!

Dear Family,
I am so excited because it is finally Christmas time!!!
Reasons why I love Christmas:
~Everyone is happy and nice
~You get to sing Christmas songs
~Santa Claus times
~the Christmas Initiative the Church has going
~Hot cocoa and treats
~Everyone has work and school off and are at home
~You think of Christ all the time
So we contact with these great Christmas cards and it's basically the bomb .com.
On Wednesday, we had our first snowfall of the year. Thus was ordered the first no driving day of the year. As our area is ridiculously large with zero buses, this is a bigger problem than it was last year in Bayonne. So my dear companion called people all day until we were able to find someone to take us to an appointment we had. Success!
I also had my second Turkey Bowl of my mission. I think this one was more successful than last year because now I actually know how to play football! Go me!
Only one Thanksgiving dinner this year but we came out just as full. I honestly have no idea what has happened to my eating abilities-I used to be able to eat 4 meals in a row back in Kearny and now one knocks me out! WHAT KIND OF MISSIONARY AM I???
Also I met Santa Claus on exchange this week :)

Highlight of the Week: Nelson came to church for the third Sunday in a row!!

We had a really spiritual lesson last night with a part-member family. They were really mad with each other--why won't you go to church--I'm going to move out--it's my salvation not yours--what do you consider failure...it was pretty heated. The whole lesson everyone was angry and yelling and finally at the end I bore a very personal testimony to the family. And with that experience, the whole spirit in the room changed. For the first time I felt peace. That's how you know God is there: peace. The dad offered the closing prayer and he prayed for me and my family :) It just about melted my heart.

This is why I love being a missionary!!

Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for! Love you all!!!

Sister Reed

Awkward moments and tongue-twisters

Dear Family and Friends,
This week we had tons of miracles!
First of all we decided to contact one of the potentials on our list. We dropped by his house and our conversation went something like this:
Us: "Hey, you've met missionaries like us before, right?"
Him: "Yes, and I told them I wanted to be baptized."
Us: "...o.O"
We don't hear that every day! It was pretty fantastic. He hasn't been baptized in ANY church (unheard of for Hispanics, they're usually baptized Catholic as babies) so that probably is a big motivator for him. The great part about it is that he's ready and wants to make a change and the Lord led him to us. Life is pretty sweet that way :)
Also his name is Abelisario. I feel proud of myself for being able to say/spell it. (although it's not as bad as a word I learned yesterday: descorozonar. As in "yo the descorozonare". It means to pull out your heart :P)
Last week we had one set for baptism. This week we have three. So mind-blowing! It's crazy because you can work and work and nothing happens or you can work and work and things happen and it just depends on God. Frustrating sometimes but at the same time it's a really good lesson in leading to be dependent on Him!
I also had two exchanges this week. This always makes my weeks disappear at the speed of light. One of my exchanges was with a Filipina sister who got her driver's license. Love her to death, but driving with her was a very different experience. Fortunately, we only almost died about two times and the rest she was super careful. Yay life!
Funny experience of the week!
We were at a less active's family's house the other day and the kids opened the door. We walk in and neither of the parents or the grandma is there. So we wait while all the kids play like crazy monkeys and finally the three year-old comes up to us and asks us to go with her to find her mom.
So we're like ok and she takes upstairs and we follow her. First she opens the door of her mom's bedroom where her mom is dressing.
So that is awkward.
She then proceeds to the next door, which was the bathroom, and opens that one, where her grandma is going to the bathroom. So after that we decided it was safer to wait downstairs.
And then the mom did come down eventually. And she was so intoxicated I don't think she remembers any of it!!!
Oh, that missionary life.
Last of all, Hermana Brown and I have been battling out to see which is the most correct: "que bien" or "que bueno". Apparently they're both correct but I just know "que bueno" is better.
And I changed my mind. I actually want a Honduran accent. We have so many Hondurans in our area and their accent is so cool!
The Gospel is true! Love you all! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!!
Love,
Sister Reed

That one time we got locked out of our apartment and had to climb up our neighbor's fire escape.

La familia Garcia! Pday Burger King trip! They are the best! Yes and I realize my face is only halfway in it. It's harder than it looks!

It's that time again...winter

Dear Family,
It'll be a quickie today because one of our menos activos called us and asked us to come over and see them! I have no problem with people setting appointments with us although I would prefer it not to be on pday ;)
Two exchanges this week and I went with a brand new missionary on the first one. I love new missionaries--they are full of faith. The second exchange I went to Sparta which SURPRISE if you thought New Jersey was all city you're wrong because Sparta is like wilderness! We drove into the "mountains" and I felt for only the 2nd or 3rd time on my mission the feeling of carsickness. That's one benefit of no mountains--I am a much happier passenger.
On Thursday it SNOWED!!! First snow of the year. Not sure if it counts because it was more like water snow but it was very much snow. IT HAS BEGUN. The snow is here. #shovelingisgreatservice :)
We dropped/got dropped by our Catholic investigator. It was bound to happen. But still it was a toughie. :(
We decided to teach Elmer, a recent convert, inside a house because normally it's on his porch. WE decided that it was no bueno with the cold. So we walked to another recent convert's house and lo and behold, she has visitors! So we taught them. They live in a part of New Jersey I've never heard of before, and it was really great. Poor Elmer though. We never teach him.
Well, love you all, remember the Gospel is true no matter how many investigators drop you!!! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed

Now we kinda know what we're doing!

Dear Family,
It's Hit and Miss time again!
Hit: We taught a new investigator named John and he said he'd go to church!
Miss: He didn't go to church.
Hit: But he still is really awesome so he probably will next week!
Hit: He's reading in the Book of Mormon!

Miss: I had to give a training in District Meeting.
Hit: I got to use a story from Where the Red Fern Grows!

Hit: I'm getting better at soccer from practicing with hispanics!
Miss: I'm still really bad at soccer in comparison to them.

Hit: We found a secret less-active family that lives in the woods between two freeways!
Hit: I got to jump on a trampoline in order to blend in with the natives (aka the children)
Miss: They didn't come to church.
Hit: But one day they will!

Hit: We got to teach Elmer, a recent convert!
Miss: We got home ridiculously late ;'(

Miss: We didn't have any appointments on Friday in the day.
Hit: WE called a random member family and they invited us to come over right then!
Hit: They are awesome!

Hit: We got two investigators at church! They have been taught for like 10 years by missionaries!
Hit: They might actually be getting married finally!
Miss: Won't put a date on it!

Hit: WE taught a lesson with a cucumber and pickles!
Hit: The investigator explained the metaphor even better than we did (all of us are cucumber and we need to become pickles. The Spirit is what helps us become pickles. To have the Spirit we need to keep the commandments. Cucumbers die after two or three days. Pickles don't die! Most of that was our investigator telling us).

Miss: It got cold!
Hit: I got to wear all my winter gear!
Miss: It was still cold!

I love you all! Keep choosing the right! I know the Church is true! I know we can find happiness from following the Gospel. Real happiness. Not lame happiness.

Love,
Sister Reed

Mo-town!

Sister Brown and I!

WEeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll I done been transferred! My new companion and I have been doubled in to MORRISTOWN!!
What!!!
Ok I kinda saw it coming. I figured it would be a great sister training leader area so I guessed we would go there. I also TOTALLY called who my new companion would be, who is Sister Brown! Sister Brown came out with me! We are the same age in the mission and what is even better that we were in the same college ward at BYU!
WEIRD.
But good.
So this first week has been pretty crazy moving out, moving in, seeing all the appointments we have and calling everyone who has lived or lives in the entire Morristown area. Believe me it has been completely crazy!! In the last 5 days we have:
~called bajillions of people
~sent bajillions of texts
~taught lessons
~contacted like crazy
~planned for hours on Halloween
~gone to ze church
~directed a choir (did NOT see that one coming)
~asked the elders in the ward for help with everything.
~had three different companions
I feel like I've been going 1000% for the last few days to et the area going. Sister Brown is a hard worker and we are doing work :)
In addition to that since we are so close to the mission home we get all the sisters who don't have companions due to the fact that they are going home early, have a companion coming in from Temple Square, waiting for their parents to pick them up, etc. So in the last few days we had two different quadpanionships and a trio. Due to this we had to borrow a bed from the elders and also food because we didn't have any. Thank goodness for charity for the poor :)
So I would describe Morristown as a ritzy areas/sketchy areas. We got it all! It's pretty great :)
We've met a few families since we've been here. One is the Garcia family which is a super great family. They are from Honduras (side note: TONS of people here are from Honduras isn't that great!!) and two of them are recent converts! We like them a lot, although they are having some issues with friends. When your friends want to smoke, you want to smoke :( They are so great, thug, and we're pretty excited to get to know them better.
Hermano Carvajal is our ward mission leader and the thing I remember most about him is that you're not supposed to have Jersey pizza with water. It has to be soda. Other than that though he's great!
Lastly but not leastly we were able to have Elmer, who was baptized last Sunday by the sisters who were here, confirmed this week! He got up and bore his testimony afterwards. I've only known him for 2 days but it was seriously the best thing of my life!
I love you all! Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers. Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!!!
Love,
Sister Reed

This is Gloria! We taught her English in Short Hills.

Goodbye Short Hills!

Do we count as clergy?

Dear Family,
It has struck again! As you might have guessed from the title, I am being DOUBLED OUT this transfer! :(
This will be my 2nd time being doubled out on my mission and it's pretty CRAZY! Don't really like it--it means you spend a lot of time in the apartment planning. Yuck. On the plus side, we left a seriously awesome letter for the new sisters that are coming in. I am really proud of it.
We got Maria and Leslie to go to church again! IT was really sad to leave them--they were the people we found and they are sad to see us go!!! But I really think they are going to be baptized one day. Hopefully this next transfer! They taught me to make tortillas yesterday. They thought it was really funny how awfully bad I am at making tortillas. Honestly, it doesn't matter how many times I go to Latin American countries--I come back JUST AS BAD at making tortillas :)
Sister Jarman went on all her departing trips this week and it was crazy because it was like I was going on two extra exchanges because all of us leftover companions just hung out together. It was pretty fun though. Finding people in the rain all day? That's my idea of a good time ;)
To finish off, I will make my "things I will miss from Short Hills" list:
~The trees (and the leaves)
~Maria and Orbelina and Leslie

Maria, Leslie, Orbelina!

~Parking spaces
~Seltzer water
~Sister Jarman
~Our great branch :)
~The cheats food you will ever find
~Fruit ninja
~INTENSE frisbee every Saturday!!!
~Familia Aquino's baby!!! SO CUTE
~Mauricio's ridiculous stories (every lesson: Us: "Well...no idea how to connect THAT back to the gospel.")

Mauricio!

Things I will NOT miss:
~Our ridiculously humid apartment
IT is sad to go :( But I do like change and God knows that! As long as I don't think about anyone I am leaving I am fine! (yep cheesy but true)

The whole fam!

Love you all!!! I know that this Gospel is true! Thanks so much for your support love :) Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for.
Love,
Hermana Reed

The Secret Life of the Trunky Missionary's Companion

Dear Family,
To start off I will clarify that my companion isn't THAT trunky. She's just more trunky than any of my other companions have ever been, because I've never been a dying missionary's companion before. Still, I'm thinking of things like school, boyfriends, work. I do not enjoy it. I like procrastinating the day of making decisions :)
This week was awesome. I'll start off with the higgling because it was just so great:
Highlight of the Week: WE GOT FOUR INVESTIGATORS TO CHURCH!!! WHOOO A FAMILY!
It was so great! They walked in and our Branch President's jaw dropped. We haven't gotten investigators to church for months, so it was nice to see it pick up again.
I feel like I learned a lot from the couple of transfers where I had no investigators. I think I'll just quote the letter I wrote to my mom:
"It only takes two months and THEN you can have investigators :) . I think, though, that I learned a lot from those two months with nothing. I learned how to be closer to God because I had to depend on Him in order to make it. I learned who He was."
Isn't knowing God the most important thing of all? I think so. So even if I didn't like it all that much at the time, I learned much more from it. Missions are hard. But also worth it.
Other Highlights of the Week:
~Went to Ellis Island again! That's always fun.
~Had three exchanges! WHOO that was a blast! Now I just need a nap. I now know Morristown VERY well...I went on an exchange there in English and Spanish this week.
Last week of the transfer! New transfer time...here we go again! Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Hna Reed

1 Year!

This week was crazy because Hermana Jarman's sister LIZA came to visit us! It was SOOOO fun because we got to tell her all about being a missionary. And something I realized while we were explaining missionary life to her: I really like being a missionary :)
My year mark is coming up this week. Aaah! I can't believe I've actually been doing this for a year. It doesn't seem real. Six more months doesn't seem like much.
A tradition that I am apparently supposed to do to celebrate my year mark is to burn a skirt. While this is very appealing to me--I am getting tired of some of my skirts--I don't think I have so many extra skirts that I would actually burn one. So I will probably settle for a sock or something.
This week we taught our investigators Maria, Leslie, and Orbelina who just barely got here from Guatemala. It was really fun to teach them the Restoration with Liza and feel the Spirit as we taught it. Something I realized the other day Sister Jarman and I had never taught the Restoration together! We've never had investigators to teach it to before! So that was a first for us and I'm glad we finally got to do it!
I also found the first Paraguayan I have ever seen outside of Paraguay! I knew they existed, I just had never met one, and yesterday we found one! And he was even interested! Yaaaaaaaaaaay.
Well I love you all very much and I hope you are all choosing the right and knowing what you stand for. If you need any extra prayers let me know! I'm getting really good at praying :)
Love,
Sister Reed

Sick Week :/

This week my comp was sick which means that we spent 5/7 days inside! Sick days are not exactly the funnest but we made it through!!!
Despite that we managed to:
~Do service in a Methodist church! We painted a lot!

Painting!

~Help people learn Spanish and English!
~Get Jaime to go to church AGAIN!
~Get some member referrals! (IT'S BEEN SO LONG!!!)
~Eat ice cream at Rita's the best italian ice/custard store ever.

More attractive pictures!

~Watched Ephraim's Rescue and 17 Miracles at least three times each WITH director's commentary

~Were fed hamburgers by a Chilean

~Were fed empanadas by an Argentinian

Something kinda cool that we will be doing is we are going to spend a day a week in Plainfield, one of the neighboring areas, to give it a boost! I am really excited because it's way sketchy over there!!!

Highlight of the week: Shannon got transferred to Emmett!!!

I am excited for this next week because Sister Jarman's sister Liza is coming to visit! She is going to the Paraguay Asuncion mission and she got special permission to come to the mission so she could see Sister Jarman before she leaves! It's going to be super great! She'll also get to go to every missionary meeting under heaven (Zone Conference, Weekly Planning, MLC, etc).

I love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!!

Love,

Hermana Roja

Vino el Otoño!

Dear Family and Friends

Happy Transfers! Today is the first day of the new transfer! Another 6 weeks come and gone. Days sometimes crawl by but the weeks are faster than lightning. 

I don't have my planner so I'm going by memory....let's see if I can remember anything :/

This week we had TWO ward parties. I think it's a great idea. Why have one ward party when you can have two? These parties involved throwing pies in peoples faces, smashing balloons, and eating ridiculous amounts of food. And we even had someone we're teaching come! Her name is Gloria from Colombia. She's not an investigator but we are teaching her English. She seemed to really like the party :)

This week I got bit by something nasty and I literally could see the poison spread! They say that we're in a nice neighborhood but I'm not sure I believe them because nothing like this happened to me in Newark!! Not to worry my antibodies took care of it quick.

We also blitzed Plainfield, aka all the missionaries in the Zone spent a few hours pounding pavement in the sketchiest part of the zone to give them a little help. It's the missionary way to have fun :) 

Highlight of the week: Our recent convert Jaime who HASN'T BEEN TO CHURCH FOR THREE MONTHS came yesterday!!!!!! 

Love you all! I know the Curch is true! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!!!

Love,
Sister Reed

Happy September!

Dear Family,

Can you believe how fast August has gone by? I literally blinked and it was gone. September entered with scorching 90 degree weather--la venganza del verano (summer's vengeance). This week it has been a beautiful 70 degrees and I am looking forward to fall weather! I love fall!

This week I had a goal to break all social norms! I know that it's a weird goal but it was also necessary. As I missionary I feel that we are completely out of the whole normal social scene. Example:

 "Why are those people sprinting down the street like crazy people? Why are they asking me important details of my life? Oh they're missionaries? Ok that's cool."

It's a strange phenomenon I know. For example if you see a set of missionaries and they DON'T talk to you then that's weird. People just expect us to do crazy things :)

I have had a killer cough for like two weeks! It makes proselyting a little miserable but on the plus side I am getting ripped abs!

Something I learned this week was the whole idea that the best solution to being sad because of your trials is helping someone else whose trials are even worse.

This week as I moped about how annoying it was to that I was sick, we went to visit our recent converts. One of them told us how he was stuck working 12 hours a day for the rest of his life because he had to support children who weren't his own, and that he had little hope of marriage or a family of his own, and had no one to love him.  The other told us how he has been searching for work, has huge debts, suffers from depression and feels like God abandoned him.

Helping people with serious problems was the best way for me to see that life isn't really as bad as I think it might be. God really is blessing us, but usually we can only see the negative side of what is happening.

As I sat with someone who was at the brink of turning down the wrong path and plead with him to have faith, my priorities seemed to fall into line again. God is most important! More important than work, or school, or friends. In times of trials we can't fall away from God. We must go to Him. God gives us trials and He will help us through them. We can't forget Him, and if we have to suffer and fight for what we know is right then it will be worth it!

I know that it is always worth it to believe in God and follow Him. I've seen how the gospel changes people. I know this Church is true! I love you all! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!

Love,

Sister Reed

Que dijo un jaguar al otro jaguar? Jaguar you? Jajajajajaja

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I read a consecration talk and then I reconsecrated. It feels so much better to be a missionary when you know you are doing what God wants!!

Last week I didn't feel like I gave it everything every day. I would say I was giving 70% effort. And I could feel the difference. So this week I told myself I was going to give 100% just like I used to and I now know even more than before that giving it your all is the only way to do it. I can't even describe the difference but it is so worth it!!!

We've been doing a lot of service lately. On Wednesday we handed out school supplies with a service organization here in Summit and that was a lot of fun. I got to speak Spanish with some of the parents! All the children of course speak English better than they speak Spanish. So sad :*(

We went on two exchanges and I stayed in my area for one of them! That's the only time I have been able to stay--all the other exchanges I have left. So I have learned the Morristown area of New Jersey really well! Trees trees and more trees!

A few weeks back we met a woman named Alexandra and after talking to her for a while we prayed with her and we left feeling great because she was just so happy! Yesterday we were walking by her house and went to see if she was there and she said, "I was just talking about you!!!" It was really cool how just being kind to someone affects them so much :) We have been focusing on trying to help people more, rather than the old, "Hello we are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints and we have a message about..." No bueno. And you can tell when you do it right because when you walk away you feel good and they feel good :) (See John 4 for an example of Christ-like contacting)

Highlight of the week: Not going on exchange with a pair of sisters who had bed bugs! Whoo dodged that bullet :) We will see them on Friday so hopefully they are bed bug free by then!

Better Highlight of the Week: Hearing Sister Jensen's story about marrying and baptizing a family in a day. That was soooo inspiring to read!!!

Love you all!!! The Gospel is true! Choose the right and know what you stand for!

Sister Reed

"God is that rock"

Dear Family,

The exciting event of this week is when the Mission President's wife, Sister Taggart, decided to hang out with us for a whole day! On this eventful day we:

~organized men's boxers

~put sketchy clothes into sketchy bags in a sketchy basement

~got juked three times

~taught both of our recent converts (she just loved them)

~got on GOOGLE to search for services opportunities! I haven't been on Google for ever but when Sister Taggart is with you you can do anything! Weeeee look at me goooooo

~Tracted in the richest neighborhood in Short Hills (and Short Hills, I have heard, is the richest town in America. Whether that is true is debatable, but I think it illustrates Short Hills pretty well). This is the story of this memorable tracting experience

     *Driving through Short Hills*

S. Taggart: These houses are beautiful!

S. Jarman: Yeah, they're super nice. As you might imagine we don't do much tracting around here.

S. Taggart: Well why not?!

     *Pulls over and we get out*

S. Taggart: It will be fun just to see there living room.

So we knock on a few doors, one person says they want us to leave, another doesn't answer. But the third door an Indian man answered! He was Hindu and told us that God could be that rock if we wanted it to! (see subject) So we asked him to read the Book of Mormon after discussing who God really was and hopefully something great will come from that!

Overall it was fun and S. Taggart is crazy.

I also had my first exchange as an STL! Yay for me it was fun!

The other exciting event of the week occurred in church yesterday. A less-active of ours names Jose came to church, a 60-year-old man from La Ceiba, Honduras (GREAT place) and so I was very happy he came! So I sat next to him during Sacrament Meting.

After Sacrament Meeting Jose looked at me and said, "Hermana, I have to tell you something."

Me: "What?"

Jose: "I don't know if I feel very comfortable here."

Me: "Why not?"

Jose: "I was wondering if you would be my future wife."

Me: "Well...I don't know..."

Jose: "You don't have to decide right now. I can wait."

Me: *panicked because I think he came to church just because of me* "Do you even believe the church is true?"

Jose: "Of course I do! I believe--"

At this point God answered my prayers and Sister Jarman came up and started talking to us. Thank goodness for companions. After that I ran away with her to Relief Society.

Guess the elders get to teach him from now on. That's one less person we have to teach :/

Well, I love you all and I know the church is true! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!!

Love,

Hermana Reed

PS: I need someone to send me a picture of someone I can pretend is my boyfriend.

Short Money Hills

Dear Family and Friends!

Welp I've been transferred. And as you might have guessed from the title I got transferred to Short Hills! If you remember from last week Short Hills is the "NOT sketch" place I could go. Which is completely true because Short Hills is

NOT

SKETCH.

I am going through reverse culture shock! I've been in semi-ghetto city areas my whole mission and now my world has been expanded to:

TREES

YARDS

FLOWERS

GRASS

SPACE

TWO CAR FAMILIES

1 FAMILY/HOUSE

2 STORY HOUSES

GARAGES

DRIVEWAYS
UNLIMITED PARKING

SELTZER WATER

Missionary work here is a whole new experience. There is so much more space and trees and people here have a lot more things which has lead to the nickname Short Money Hills. There are also not nearly as many Hispanics as there were in Paterson/Bayonne/Kearny but they are there and we'll find them!! 

Because of some different situations in the area I came into an area with 0 investigators. I've never had an area with no investigators, not even in Paterson when we were doubled in, so this was a little overwhelming at first. But we made lots of phone calls and visited lots of people and now we have 2! So I'm feeling much better about life!

I'm really excited for this area! It's different but it'll be fun to have a different experience. 

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: John the recent convert from Kearny who went anti now has a testimony and got confirmed this last Sunday!!! And he invited his friend over to hear the missionaries and bore his testimony to his friend! Aaaah I am just so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Church is true!! And I love it! I love you all and hope that you're August is everything you ever dreamed of! Here it's a balmy 80 degrees! New Jersey has the best autumns ever!

Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!

Love,

Hermana Reed

Bye Bye Kearny!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well it's that time again! Transfers are here and I'm OUT!

Sister Stevens got called to train! That means that Sister Stevens is a MOM! I am SO thrilled she gets to train so soon! Only three months back on the mission and she's teaching somebody else the ropes. She's going to be awesome.

Once she got the call we knew I would be leaving so I have been in the process of long, painful goodbyes. It is just so hard to say goodbye! I really don't like it. It's nice to know that you have been loved but it's hard to tell them that you won't see them for a long time. 

Sunday was hard because everyone was like, "You're leaving?! Wait come to my house!!!" And so we had way more appointments that we normally would. But I got to see Nicolas, my recent convert, and a few other people so that was nice to see them one last time.

Highlight of the week: John is on track to get confirmed! He is de-antied and his doubts are almost gone!!!! So thanks for everyone who sent prayers his way. Prayer and fasting WORKS!!!

Also I seem to have gotten called to be a Sister Training Leader. That was weird. I thought you had to train to be a sister training leader but apparently that is not the case! So basically this means that I will be going on exchanges twice a week for months! WEIRD! I am excited about it! Although a little nervous.

There are three places I could go: Elizabeth (sketch), Short Hills (not sketch), and Bayonne (PREVIOUS AREA! WAT!).  So we'll see! 

Love you all! Thanks for the love and support and the prayers! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!!!!

Love,

Hermana Reed

Toughie

This week was a tough one. We had one of our investigators go completely anti-mormon. It just hurts. But we just keep swimming (figuratively, not literally :) and praying, and reading, and everything will work out.
Highlights of the week:
~ Getting Tino and his whole family to church! Even his wife, who before wouldn't even listen to us. And his three children, one of whom is three months old. It was a miracle :)
~ Another investigator, Antonio, told us this week he is excited to be baptized! He's not even on date yet this is so great :)
~ I gave a talk...again. Seriously this is the THIRD talk I have given in this ward. But on the bright side I got to talk about the Atonement and how it relates to missionary work (one of my favorite topics) and so it was a really spiritual experience preparing it and giving it.
~ Had dinner with our zone at the mission home. Sunday dinners are the bomb . com
We are heading up on the last week of the transfer! Aaaah where has the time gone! Week 6 is the worst cause all you can think of is whether you are going to be transferred or not!
I love you all! Missionary work has the hardest times and the happiest times and in the end it's all worth it. I love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!
Love,
Sister Reed

John's Baptism

Weeeeeeeeellllllllllllll John got baptized! Pictures next week because we didn't take any yet :/ Anyway it was a good baptism and we are excited for John! Next step gift of the Holy Ghost.
We got fed three meals on Wednesday and four meals on Friday. I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father has a sense of humor :)
This week I had my first interview with our new mission president, President Taggart. He is great! Very different from President Jeppson, but just as good!
The weather is beautiful and the Gospel is true! I love you all and hope you are having an amazing summer! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed

Things I love about missionary work

Dear Family,

 

John didn't get baptized because he went to Palmayra with the stake  and didn't get back til 4am. And so he slept through church. I find it ironic that a church activity stopped him from getting baptized, but hey, what can you do. However he is getting baptized next week so that's nice! We're excited for that. He's teaching us gangsta talk. I now regularly say things like, "Imma write it to you," and "imma eat lunch." Serving in New Jersey is definitely making my secret desire to be a ganster worse :)

 

Argentina lost. My life is ruined.

 

To console myself I wrote this list:

 

Things I love (mostly ;) about missionary work:

 

1. Carefully timing dinner and lunch appointments so that I never have to feed myself :)

 

2. That feeling when my carefully laid meal plans fail and I end up having three eating appointments in a row...and looking at the third dinner and wondering how I am possibly going to eat it. This is where the miracles start :)

 

3. Talking to the craziest people (I'm not sure if it's just New Jersey or if there are crazy people everywhere).

 

4. Learning the strangest things about everyone I talk to just because I am a missionary.

 

5. Having a companion there constantly that HAS to listen to all my stories

 

6. That sinking feeling when I've been in someone's house for 45 minutes and the person looks at me and says,

"Sisters, I have to tell you this story that happened when..."

 

7. Babysitting our investigators/less-actives at church.

 

8. Having no worries about backing into anyone because my companion is in charge of it

 

9. Sprinting up 6 flights of stairs to be home at 9

 

Missionary work is the best. Super weird at times and hard at others, but I love it for what it is. I love you all! Thanks for all your support! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!

 

Love,
Sister Reed

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

I'm melting!

I will do a quick email today because the librarian at this library is crazy and we could be thrown off the computer at any moment.

Well it is hot and I am constantly sweating and it is no bueno. Thank goodness that Heavenly Father had pity on my soul and gave me two winters instead of two summers.

We got a new president this week, had transfers, and went to Ellis Island, so it was hard to get the 20 lessons goal that we have for every week, but we did it and I am super proud of us.

I bought a harmonica necklace and I am planning on playing it all pday long.

Our investigator John, who we found two weeks ago, went to church, read the reading, and we have already met with him five times. He is super cool! He's from Ecuador but mostly grew up here (hence the English name). He says he used to be cool but feels that there is a hole in his life, and is trying to fill it. It's really cool to be able to teach someone who is genuinely looking.

Sounds like everyone is having a blast at home! Glad to hear it :) Love you all! Choose the right and remember what you stand for!

Love

Sister Reed

Goodbye President Jeppson!

This week is sad because President Jeppson is leaving! I can't handle it. I love that man and it's going to be weird to be on a mission without him.

However, this does mean that we are getting a new mission president! His name is President Taggart! The only association I have with this name is the name of one of my high school math teachers hehehe. But I'm sure he will be awesome :)

Weeeelllll this week we finished off the transfer which means I've been out in the field for 6 transfers. It's been a good transfer and I'm pretty excited for the next one too. I haven't been transferred and so Sister Stevens and I are staying and we have BIG PLANS! So far our plans are to have crepes every thursday. We've done it for two weeks and it's been a big success so far :)

This week we went to this house of a guy named Diego that the elders contacted in a different area. We met "Diego" (who later revealed his name to be John! Mentiroso!). He wasn't who were were looking for because the guy we were looking for was old and this one was our age. Then we had a great conversation:

Us: "Well you are not the Diego we were looking for but hey can we give you a card anyway?"

Diego (John): "Sure...so is there like a class I can take about this or something?"

Us: "What? Yes! There is! Let us come to your house!"

Thus began the life of Juan our New Investigator!

So now we are teaching Juan from Ecuador and it is going great! He is really cool and I am excited about it.

Other than that our week was pretty tough. We struggled to find anyone until the end of the week. Lots of rejection :( But it happens and we just keep moving forward.

Just want to send a quick congrats on: Janeen getting married! So happy!!

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

Love,

Sister Reed

Look at us gooooooo

I couldn't keep up with Sister Stevens this week. She kept saying things like, "Great!  We got 20 lessons! Can we get 22?" and "Yaaaay! We got 10 contacts! Can we get 15?" As a result, I spent most of my week running after her, both physically and mentally. This girl is not afraid to raise her expectations :) It's pretty inspiring.
We had a great week. We had an All-Mission Conference on Friday and got rained out. When it rains it pours in Jersey. But we were still able to eat cake and watch skits and take lots of pictures, so it's all good. President and Sister Jeppson are leaving us soon so they told us all their story. I have a lot of respect for them. I'm going to be like them when I grow up :)

Highlights of the week:
~Eating Sopa de Pata de Gallina. In other words, chicken foot soup. Apparently you eat the meat off the foot. I'm not going to elaborate. It's painful to think about.
~Running into all sorts of people I haven't seen in weeks! Hahaha WE FOUND YOU!!!
~Getting 9 lessons on Wednesday! And being delightfully exhausted afterwards (that's the nice missionary way to put it).
~Meeting the grandma of our recent convert, Jonatan, who just came from Argentina. She has got to be the funniest and coolest old lady I've ever met. I've decided we are best friends.
~Being sassed at dinner by said grandma and her son at dinner. I had no idea a 70 year-old lady could pull out that kind of sarcasm. It was awesome.
Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Love,
Sister Reed

Free Nerf Guns and Second Temple Trip

I feel like the subject line of this email could pretty much summarize my week, but since I have time I guess I'll elaborate for you.
We won a nerf gun! I don't exactly understand how, but now we have a nerf bow in our apartment that we use to shoot elders, and which I occassionally use to shoot my poor, unsuspecting companion (bless her heart). It's pretty intense.

We also got to go to the temple again!! I LOVE THE TEMPLE! I was really missing it. 6 months is a long time! However I should just be happy we can go to the temple because if I didn't go I would probably die spiritually or something. There is such a peaceful feeling there that you can't get anywhere else.
Afterwards I found FALAFEL AT A STREET VENDOR!!! #jerusalemforlife

However, after the temple trip we were walking down the street, all of us in this great spiritual high, when we saw these almost-naked girls (they were wearing nothing but bikini bottoms) on the street. WHAM! Spirit was gone. It was crazy to feel the two different extremes in such a short period of time. It is really sad to see those things and to feel the difference between them and the peace you feel at the temple. :(
After that experience, I heard one of the elders say something that I think is the best compliment I have ever heard: "If everybody dressed like the sister missionaries the world would be perfect."

On a lighter note, I recently bought stickers that have crazy glue-on eyes and they are SO CUTE! I'm going to give them to all the little children in the whole world!
People-wise, our recent convert, Nicolas, is doing great! He is getting the priesthood next Sunday, then he will get his temple recommend, and then he is going to get a calling! YAAAAAAAAAAAY
We've had to drop a lot of investigators these days, and that's hard. We pray and we sweat and we cry over the people and it's hard to let them go, but you can't force anyone to do something they're not willing to do. Hopefully missionaries will come back later and they will be ready then.
Meanwhile, we are working to find new people to teach, and that's always fun! That's where all my crazy stories come from :) People are just so funny.
I love you! I know this church is true! I hope you all are having a great start of your summer.
Love,
Sister Reed

My Mission Vision

Our Zone at the park

June is here! That means heat, humidity, and mosquitoes (they aren't here yet, but apparently they are coming). I am going to melt like a popsicle in this weather.

This week we:

~Asked our investigator Angel to get baptized and he said yes!!

~Watched Nicolas get confirmed and recieve the Holy Ghost in sacrament meeting! He's awesome. He even wore a tie! I am so proud of him. He hates ties. 

~Found two secret members we never knew lived in Kearny.

~Set up every member we could find with a Family Mission Plan. They're great. You should get one too.

~Were served at least two liters of Inca Cola in one day. I don't know why, but Hispanics love the stuff.

Pretty much summarizes our relationship

Sister Stevens and I have been having a blast together. We have been working on our gringo accents as we walk around finding people ("Me llamar Hermana Reed."). Sister Stevens is an awesome missionary and I've decided that we are going to be friends forever. Too bad if she has other plans.

I've been thinking a lot about my vision as a missionary and about what I want out of my mission. I definitely didn't want to go on a mission, but I felt I should go. The day I entered the MTC, I decided that if I was going on a mission I was going to LOVE IT and do it WELL. I was going to be happy no matter what (and that happiness, I have learned, only comes when I put everything into this cause). I decided that I was going to make my mission my own and to never again be embarrassed about my religion or the fact that I am religious. I was going to give it my all because my Heavenly Father had asked me to and I love him.

That decision has made my mission what it is now. Sometimes I forget why I chose this, but then I remember and everything makes sense. The mission is changing who I am. I love being a missionary, and I hope that as time goes by here I become better so I can better help the people I love.

The Church is true and the Book is blue! Don't forget! Remember to choose the right and know what you stand for!! Love you all!!!
Sister Reed

At Ellis Island.