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. :)

Can't catch a break :)

Well, it's transfer time again AAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDD I am being transferred!
Not only that, but my companion is getting transferred too.
DOUBLED OUT.
Can't believe it!
Transfers are always bittersweet. On the one hand you love the people of your area but on the other hand you are excited to go to a new place and see something new. I am really sad to leave Bayonne :( But I am excited to see where I am headed!
The 10 things I am going to miss most about Bayonne, New Jersey are:
1) Being so close to the Bay. Water is seriously cleansing to the soul.
2) All of the CRAZY people who live here. Life is not the same without them :)
3) Our best friend and bus driver, Anderson.
4) Our Egyptian gas station friend who calls us hani.
5) The 7-foot high snow piles in front of our house that are only getting bigger, since we just get more and more snow
6) Sister Larsen and her hilarious sense of humor.
7) All of the wonderful members we work with!!!
8) Our investigators. It is very tough to leave them :(
9) Our neighbors upstairs who gave us a giant basket full of chocolate for Christmas.
10) The beautiful New York skyline.
Things I will NOT miss:
1) No parking

2) Getting stuck in the snow while parking
3) Looking for parking
Obviously I am not a fan of parking...
It will be tough to leave, but we have worked really hard so that the new sisters will have a good foundation when they get doubled in. They better like Bayonne because it is AWESOME.
This week was a good one. I've decided the theme of Bayonne is Egyptians. There are bazillions of them here! The other day we were trying to find a referral and we ended up in this building that was almost all Egyptians. It was great!
Things I have noticed about Egyptians:
1) They are SUPER nice.
2) They like Jesus.
3) They smile!
Egyptians are great. We had one ask us for 20 Books of Mormon to send to their friends in Egypt. And of course we have our gas station Egyptian friend :) We gave him an Arabic Book of Mormon and he was super excited. My only regret is I don't speak Arabic! SO frustrating sometimes.
Also, one of our investigators, Jennifer, is thinking about going on a mission. We told her she should probably get baptized first. She said that was a good idea.
It's been a great week, and a great time in Bayonne! The work is great :) I love this Gospel! Remember—it's true!

Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Sister Reed
P.S. Hold off on any letters or packages this week! I will send you my new address next week. If you've already sent some they'll get forwarded to me so no se preocupe! I will send my new address next week :)

P.P.S. Random picture I know but I promised myself I would sent one and my companion has the rest of them :)

But hey found a cool dolphin. I love parks!

Who Needed Toes Anyway?

My toes have officially frozen off, but who needed those anyway? Or fingers? Completely unnecessary.
Ok, that was a bit of an exaggeration. I am fine here. It's cold and I'm finally used to it. Don't even feel it anymore. Yay :) Life goes on!
So this week it snowed big, gloomy wet snow. This snow is very hard to drive in and makes it very slippery. HOWEVER, shortly thereafter it dropped to freezing temperatures and all the soggy snow then froze.
So the sound of cars' wheels spinning uselessly against ice has become very familiar :) Including ours. Luckily we have had many helpful people help us dig/push our car out of the ice. I love nice neighbors!
Highlights of the Week:
~Listening to the "Charity Never Faileth" choir on a CD we got from our Senior missionaries. I was like, "Really?..."
~Getting stuck at least 5 times in the snow.
~Becoming best friends with the gas station man from Egypt who doesn't really speak English and calls us "Hani". ("Hello Hani! How are you doing Hani!") Is that an Arabic word? Hopefully it's a term of endearment :)
~Eating at least 20 apples this week.
~Stake Conference! Emphasis: missionary work. YES!
~One of the members we work with has stopped drinking her coffee. YAY! She is literally my favorite. She calls us her daughters. I'm cool with that.
Spiritual Experience of the Week:
One of our investigators named Carol has recently been in the hospital. However, she has a LOT of faith and has improved so much. This week we were meeting with her and we had the following conversation.
Us: Carol, why do you think we ask you to be baptized if you already have been baptized?
Carol: Because this church is the one that has authority. You need to have authority to baptize.
Us: How do you know our church has the authority?
Carol: Because I read the Book of Mormon and I know it's true, and because Joseph Smith was a prophet.
Us: :)
We were awestruck. She understood everything the first time we ever taught it to her. That THIS is the only way, and we know that through the Book of Mormon. We don't have to believe anyone else. We can figure it out by ourselves, just by trying it out. In Carol I have seen how faith can move mountains. She is so faithful and so ready to actually demonstrate her faith! I LOVE her.
Love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!
Sister Reed

And another snow storm...

Snow storms used to be big news. After the fourth one though...everybody's tired of it. I am developing some serious respect for the pioneers. I am beginning to understand what it would be like to walk for miles and miles in the snow. Except they didn't have shoes...
So I am glad I have shoes!! So many blessings :)
Sister Larsen and I both got sick this week. It made getting up at 6:30 a little harder than usual. Not to mention exercise...that's what stretching is for!!! Anyway, this week is the first time I've ever slept during the day on the mission. But I could only sleep for an hour at lunch before I had to get up and start doing something. So after we felt a little better we got out of the house to teach some lessons!
Highlights of the week:
~We found one of my favorite investigators, Carol, this week! She is seriously the sweetest thing. She has been in the hospital and she can hardly walk but she let us in and talked with us and says she needs to go to church. I believe she will go even if she just got out of the hospital. She is that awesome.
~Quoting a scripture in unison with an investigator--that was weird.
~Getting two investigators to church! YAAAAY! One of them is an investigator we have named Jennifer who can't get baptized until she turns 18 because her mom won't let her. She loves going to church and she seriously is amazing. I want to be friends with her when I get home.
~Seeing a bumper sticker that said: "Relax. God is in charge." SO TRUE. I tried to take a picture of it and failed.
~Doing WORK!
~Getting lost on the freeway and ending up on a dirt road...didn't know they had those in Jersey.
Doing the work of the Lord :) I also illustrated Jacob 5 (from the Book of Mormon) during personal study. That chapter is SO much more exciting now.
I love you all! Choose the right and know what you stand for!