3 Months Down, 15 To Go!

Wow! I can't believe I'm already done with 1/6 of my mission! I just need to soak up every minute because time flies when you're on the Lord's errand.

So this week we got a snow day! Which isn't as fun for missionaries because the only thing to do inside your apartment is read the Ensign, or study some more, or watch the Restoration video. Actually we were able to watch 17 Miracles because our mission president approved it so that was cool. On Monday afternoon a big snow storm started so Monday night we weren't allowed to go out, well we couldn't drive. On Tuesday we couldn't go anywhere all day. After we did our four hours of studies we went walking down the street trying to find service opportunities, but nobody wanted help. So then we just made cookies and tortillas and playing some games. It was a good little break but we were ready to get back to work on Wednesday.

Although it only snowed that one day it has been freezing cold. The high for the next couple days after the snow storm were 22 degrees. 22 degrees! So the snow turned into ice. Thankfully, they had plowed the roads, but neighborhoods and parking lots were like sheets of ice. I fell right on my rear end walking from the car to a member's home. It was the worst. But luckily I had leggings on and no one was around so no one saw. Actually, that's a lie. When we went to one of our less active's house she asked which one of us had fallen. She said that her friend who lives over where we were saw me from her window slip and fall. I guess there's always someone watching you.

On Friday after District Meeting we got a message from the two people that we had appointments with that day and they both cancelled. We were bummed because one of them was Priscila and the other one is an investigator who we only see once a week and we had a great lesson plan for her. Also, we teach her in English because she prefers speaking English so I love teaching her. Anyway, we had to use our backup plans which was a lady named Yvette. She had been on our backups for a few weeks now and we had never had the opportunity to teach her yet. So we taught her the Restoration and that was the most amazing lesson I have ever taught. The Spirit was so strong, I was able to explain the Restoration in a way that she understood. As I stated the First Vision and bore testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon the Spirit was so strong and I started to cry. I asked her what she thought about the Restoration after I finished teaching it and she said she knows this is the true church and she knows it's going to take a lot of changing in her life. She understood that she was going to have to act and do some things that may be different for her. She is definitely ready for the gospel. Hopefully, we can set her up with a baptismal date next time we teach her.

My mission president announced on Saturday that we're gonna have a one time opportunity while on our missions to go to the temple and do an Endowment session! He got permission for us to got to the Raleigh temple and then do our zone conference up there in a stake center next to the temple after our session. I'm so excited! I love the temple! I miss being able to go twice a week.

I just finished reading the Book of Mormon today! That book is so good! Really. I'm excited to start reading it again. Actually, I've also started reading the Bible all the way through. I just love reading the scriptures now. They're so interesting to me. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it contains the fullness of the gospel. The only way you can know it's true is if you read it!

Another thing I want to bear testimony of that I learned this week is that God is always listening when we pray. If you just kneel down and tell Him all of your frustrations and what you're thinking and feeling He will listen. And ask you humbly as for His help His love will fill your heart and He will give you answers if you are sincerely listening.

Well, I love you all soo much! Have a great week!

Hermana Reed

First Transfer Completed

I made it through my first transfer. I'm finishing my training in the same area, but one of the other Hermanas that came in with me is changing from an English area and will be in a trio with the other Hermanas. So we'll have FIVE Hermanas and two Elders in our Branch. The missionaries will make up half of the congregation! Just kidding. Actually, our branch is growing. We had another baptism in the branch on Friday. So that's four in the past month or so which is awesome! Hopefully, it will continue to grow.

It snowed this week! Actually it's snowing right now. Our mission president postponed transfers until Thursday instead of Wednesday because there is supposed to be a big storm coming tonight. If it gets bad tomorrow then we'll have to stay inside.

So this week was really slow because we had a lot of meetings, but it was good. We had a Sisters Specialized Training which was so good! It was all day Tuesday with all of the sister missionaries in the mission. So I got to see my Hermanas from the MTC again! It was fun to have a little reunion.

Priscila is doing amazing! We're working on getting her to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Hopefully, this week or next week we can help her do her family history so she can bring some names to the temple with her. She's a member so she can come to lessons with us! We're hoping we can bring her to our lesson with Miguel and Ana.

We had Branch Conference yesterday so some people from the stake came and spoke. It was all white people speaking Spanish so I could understand everything! Church was really good yesterday. My stake president is so awesome. He speaks Spanish and he gave such an amazing talk. I just love all of these people over here. Virginia is great!

I just want to leave you all with some things I learned from the meetings I went to these past couple weeks. My mission president (who is the greatest, by the way) spoke and said that this church is a church of discomfort. There's a price for knowing the truth. We may be asked to do things that make us uncomfortable such as performing a calling, or changing wards. But Elder Holland said, "The joy of the gospel is greater than any of the demands it asks." This gospel pushes us, but we came to this earth to progress and grow and change. Only by being pushed out of our comfort zones will be able to reach our full potential. Okay I have some scriptures for ya'll to look up. They're really good! The first one is Moroni 9:25 and the second one is Hebrews 12:1-2. Another thing I learned this week is about joy. Joy is not the absence of sorrow. We need to experience sorrow to experience joy. And only when we are resurrected can we experience a fulness of joy. Also, we choose to be happy. Okay, one last thing. It's a quote from my mission president because he's just so awesome. He told us that we need to "slug the adversary. Knock the tar out of him!" Don't let the adversary control you.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Reed

Feb 9

Hola,

I can't believe the ward boundaries changed in the Poway Stake!! I hope ya'll are adjusting okay to that. So this week was another great week. Priscila got baptized on Friday!! It was a great service and she is so amazing. One of the last things we taught her before her baptism is that as a member of the church we have to responsibility to share the gospel with others and be a member missionary. And then on Sunday she brought a friend to church! And now her friend wants us to teach her! She's going to be the next Relief Society President. She's great.

We taught our first family last night! They are such a cute family. The parents are in their 30's and they have three kids that are like ages 12, 6, and 3. The parents were really interested when we taught the Restoration. It would be awesome to have a family that we teach and baptize.

We had a lot of success again this week and found 6 more investigators. Our branch is starting to grow and it's awesome!

Sorry this email is short this week. I love you all! I know Heavenly Father loves you. Have a great week!

Hermana Reed

Patience is a Virtue

Hola!!

This has been the best week yet! We got SIX new investigators! Usually we only get maybe one or two, but this week we got six! Also we taught a ton of lessons this week. A lot of times our appointments get cancelled so we only end up teaching maybe half of the appointments we originally planned, but none of them got cancelled this week. We needed to learn patience I guess and how to work hard. The past couple of weeks we've had to do a lot of contacting and we only taught maybe six lessons a week, but this week we taught 11. It was awesome. So let me tell you about these awesome people that I'm teaching.

First, Priscila is getting baptized on Friday!! We are all excited. She is so cute. She is inviting everyone she sees to come to her baptism. She's gonna be baptized on my one month mark in the mission field and my companion's one year mark. Crazy! So this week we're gonna be teaching her everyday so that we can make sure she is taught all the lessons before her baptism. Anyway, that's where we're at with Priscila. I just love her!

So on my very first day in Newport News we taught a girl named Edith and her "husband" Jose. Jose wasn't really interested, but Edith had a lot of questions. We never had been able to get in contact with them again since then. Every time we call or text they never respond and whenever we go over there they are never home. So it had been three weeks and I thought we were just gonna stop trying because obviously it just wasn't happening. On Wednesday we went up to Williamsburg because we were going to check on one of our investigators who lives in the same apartment complex. We had planned to stop off at Edith but we were running behind schedule and my companion asked me if we should go see Edith first or Jenny. Edith kept coming to my mind and I thought well we'll just make sure she's not home so I don't feel bad and then we can go to Jenny's. But Edith was home! And she had been reading the Book of Mormon! And she had awesome questions for us! It was a miracle. So we taught her the Restoration and were able to explain the Book of Mormon some more and answer her questions. She has a sincere desire to learn. The hard part though will be when she wants to be baptized and Jose doesn't. In order to be baptized they would have to get married or they would have to not live together anymore. But they have two little kids...but we'll figure that out when we get to that point.

Every Sunday we teach this cute, little, shy man with a member in the branch, Sister Self. Her and her husband aren't Hispanic, but they both went on Spanish speaking missions. So they help out the branch a lot. They are the cutest family. Anyway, they come with us to teach Adolfo. Yesterday, I invited him to be baptized! He got really nervous and said he would have to think about it. So we told him to pray about it and we'll talk more about it next Sunday. He is also very interested and open and receptive to the gospel. I hope things work out with him.

Miguel and Anna. I love them, but, man, do they love to talk! We only made it through a third of the Restoration because they have so much to say. It's good though. They are definitely ready to hear the gospel, but they need to stop talking so that we can teach them! Hopefully we can finish the Restoration with them tomorrow and invite them to be baptized.

We had exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leaders on Saturday so I got to teach in English which was weird. I learned though that I was supposed to be working with the Hispanic people and now I appreciate my companion more. I felt like I teach more in Spanish lessons then I did in the English ones. I just have never taught lessons in English. We always practiced in Spanish in the MTC. So that was a different experience.

I found something cool during my studies this morning! A lot of investigators ask why the Book of Mormon is called that and who is Mormon and why are we called Mormons? I think I knew this before but I was reminded that Mormon was the one who compiled all of the plates and made an abridgement. And in 3 Nephi 5:12 it says "And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression." So Mormon comes from the place that the church was first established by Alma. I thought that was cool little fun fact.

Well, I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Hermana Reed