Winter in New Jersey

Two snow storms this past week! It is cold! Apparently it's been colder this winter than it has been for like 10 years or something. Once it hit 4 degrees I believed that. On the plus side, 30 degrees feels balmy now :)
Despite the cold, this week has gone quite well.
Highlights of the week:
~Having a Noche de Talentos (Talent Show) in our ward. We had to leave early for a meeting but I heard that there was juggling and also dancing so it must have been amazing.
~Doing yoga in the car with my comp after a particularly stressful day ("Breathe in, now tilt your head to the side, now breathe out." *this is where I start laughing*)
~Volunteering at Ellis Island! This experience has taught me two things: 1) I have forgotten/know almost nothing about American history and 2) cursive is REALLY hard to read. Some of the records we go through it's like, "Well, either that says Wallie or Guisseppe...probably your Grandpa!" *smile at patron convincingly*
~Teaching 10 crazy Dominicans the 10 commandments. We have little hand signals we made up to help people remember the commandments, and they were SUPER into it.
~Taught a new investigator who doesn't like in our area but wants to go to our branch anyway! YES! Poaching without even trying :) No but seriously, he is super ready and I think he might actually be marrying someone in our branch...so he'll probably move into our area anyway.
~A less-active of ours named Ines prayed in church THREE TIMES yesterday. Seeing as she wouldn't even consider praying the week before, I would say that is progress. So proud of her :)
~Helped another less-active set up a new TV  for her mother-in-law. Didn't think I would have to do that on the mission. DIDN'T WATCH IT I PROMISE. Service at its finest.
~Favorite experience of the week!!! On Monday when it was super snowy we were waiting at the bus stop and we see a bus coming. We began to rejoice but then we saw the bus turn on its "no passengers" sign and we were like ah MAN. But then he pulls to a stop ANYWAY and the bus driver is like, "Hey, are you missionaries? Hop in! Where do you need to go?"
So he gave us a ride! It was great!
On the way back he was like, "I saw you making snow letters when I passed earlier..." (Sister Larsen likes to write mormon.org in the snow :)
"Yeah...I've made some snow letters in my day." YES!!! Just became my favorite person ever.
So then he dropped us off on our street and turned the bus around and went back to the terminal. Seriously made the trip just for us.
And that is how we became friends with our favorite bus drive ever. Actually, we had met him a few weeks earlier on the bus. THAT is why it is so important to talk to EVERYONE :)
I love the Gospel! It makes life so much more fun! I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. This is his work! I know it.
Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!!!
Love,
Sister Reed
PS: Sorry, no pics this week but next week I will have a lot! That's one of my goals for the week.

Ellis Island Here I Come!

One of the benefits of serving so close to New York is...

ELLIS AND LIBERTY ISLAND ARE IN YOUR MISSION!!!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Ellis Island is literally 12 minutes driving away from our area. Actually, it's probably IN our area. We would probably take a morning run there (although that would take way longer than the 30 minutes we have to run). We see the Statue of Liberty every day when we are driving between Jersey City and Bayonne. Gotta say, I love the city. It is really fun to be here.

So a plus of being so close is being able to volunteer on Ellis Island! This past week we had an orientation to learn to help people with their family history work. I am SUPER excited to volunteer there.

Other highlights of the week:

~Got fed by members twice! I love Honduran/Guatemalan food! Slash every other kind of Latin American food you could possibly think of. You get people from all over Latin America and, come to think of it, all over the world in Jersey. We just get fed by the Latin American ones :)

~Having a lesson with a member that doesn't talk. He writes down his responses. That was a first for me.

~Had an awesome Zone Conference about repentance and the importance of forgiving others and yourself.

~Found and bought almond milk for super cheap and decided it's the best thing ever.

~Had a lesson with a new investigator whose house is decorated entirely by pictures of Buddha. EVERYWHERE. Also fluffy pillows.

~Saw the TV and realized that TV has definitely changed since I last saw it. WEIRD.

~Helped a nice lady named Veronica take her groceries in and then she let us stay and talk to her! She was super nice. Hope to see her again :)

~Another super big snow storm. Actually, this snow storm is currently happening. We had a lovely walk through said snow storm this morning to get to the library.

~Met a lady on the bus named Faith (haha funny) and referred her to the English-speaking elders. They went to visit Faith and her family and they want to get baptized and are going to church on Sunday! YES! I love it when people are ready to hear the Gospel.

Spiritual experience of the week: In New Jersey you have the bus and then you have wa-was, which are little buses run by a different company that are cheaper depending on where you are going. Well, on the wa-wa this week we were going up to Union City, an hour and a half ride, and an old lady got on the bus. She was struggling, and then a lady on the bus jumped up and helped her and got her seated and then gave her bus fare. The old lady was SO grateful, she started crying. Then the nice lady moved up next to her and prayed with her. Everyone on the bus, including us, were stunned by how Christlike this lady was.

There are so many humbling experiences like that on the mission. We are here to do the Lord's work but so often we are too busy or too distracted to see opportunities to help others. I am so grateful for that lady's Christlike example. I have promised myself that I will NEVER again be the person who doesn't see the lady struggling to get on the bus. I'm going to be the one who jumps up to help her, to give her bus fare, and to pray with her.

I am so happy to be the Lord's missionary. There is so much to learn and I am far from perfect, but I know that with the Lord's help I can be good enough. I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I know that this is His church!

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

Love,
Sister Reed

Friends Come and Go, but the Gospel is FOREVER!

Dear Family,

First of all, I realize that the subject line of this email is EXTREMELY cheesy. I've decided I'm just going to embrace the cheesy :) oh the joys of being a missionary.

This week it got so cold (9 degrees F) that we were told to stay inside unless we had a set appointment. So we called until we got two and went outside anyway :) Success.

It turned out to be a HUGE miracle because that day we were able to find a family of our investigators that we lost! Their names are Miosoti, Edgar (10) and Maria (8). We haven't been able to see them in a month, but we found out that every night Edgar and Maria have been reading the Book of Mormon together every night.

THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE CUTEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE.

They told us all about the First Vision, Joseph Smith, and the first 10 or 11 chapters of the Book of Mormon. They are really good readers. We are waiting for their parents to get married so they all can get baptized! I am SO excited! I love seeing the light the comes into people's faces when they start reading the Book of Mormon. There's nothing else like it.

Other highlights of the week:

~Memorizing a bazillion (and by that I mean four) scriptures in Spanish. It's a goal for the missionaries and sometimes when you try to quote a scripture in lessons and forget it halfway through the scripture gets pretty interesting :)

~Giving my first ever talk in Spanish! It was pretty scary but the worst is over! Wasn't too bad after all :)

~Having my first English class! It was actually hard for me to speak in English to people I knew spoke Spanish. It took some willpower.

~Getting in contact with some members that I have never before met even though I've been in this area for six weeks already. They're great :) Gonna get them to church.

~Going running in 8 degree weather next to the frozen water between us and New York City. It was REALLY cool.

We had one of our investigators, Nelson, move away. Pretty heartbreaking, but I hope that one day missionaries find him again because I know he will be so happy once he gets baptized and receives the Holy Ghost.

So other than it being really cold, finding old investigators, losing one, and eating a lot of Mexican food, nothing too different this week. Just sharing the Gospel. I know it is true, or else I wouldn't be out here. I love this gospel, and what is more, I love seeing people become happier when they receive this gospel. That isn't to say life won't be hard, because it will. But it will be worth it!

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

Sister Reed

It is COLD outside

It. Is. COLD.

This week we hit 15 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity, and bow was it COLD!! Not only that but it SNOWED! So much snow. Ok it wasn't that much but it felt like a lot. 

Which makes missionary work a lot harder, because when it snows everybody in the whole city things, "Look, snow! Looks like I am staying indoors and not going ANYWHERE for DAYS! Yippee!!"

So no investigators at church, but we have high hopes for next week. We are working on convincing people that they can still leave the house even if it is cold outside. Latin Americans have a hard time believing that one. But I'm getting pretty good at it so we will get there.

Also snow usually means that we can't use our car until the roads are clear, so we usually end up walking and our cheeks get frozen! I had no idea that could even happen...

So an interesting week for sure. Highlights include:

~Getting our car out of a pile of snow (our neighbors were super impressed).

~Receiving a box of hot chocolate from a Guatemalan guy who we had met about 20 minutes previous. It's organic when sounds cool so I'm drinking it.

~Being approached by members at church offering to help us (now that the snow is gone). Made my week!!

~Seeing Oneyda and Carol, two of our investigators, both of whom have recently come from Honduras and gotten jobs! Super excited to see them again and at church! They are super nice :)

~NOT being transferred! Sister Larsen and I are in Bayonne for another six weeks together! YES!

I also remembered to bring my camera cord this week, so I FINALLY have pictures.

Last of all, Happy New Years! So excited for 2014! It's weird to think that the my entire year of 2014 will be spent on my mission. Should be a good year :)

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

Hermana Reed

Our investigators Oneyda and Carol (on either side of me) and Hermana Santina, one of our viejitas on the right :) I love them. 

Christmas with all the missionaries at the Ward Mission Leader's house

Snow!

More snow!!

Jose de los Santos and me :)

At church with one of my besties