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

Week 4 in the Mission Field

Hola Familia!

Virginia is so beautiful! On Monday we sat on the beach and wrote letters. It was a little bit chilly, but it was pretty. Also, I love the people here. The Branch is so awesome and it's growing! So there are three sets of missionaries in the branch and we all cover different areas. It's cool though because we get to know each others investigators because they all come to the same branch. I love Sundays because I love seeing everyone and meeting all the people that the other missionaries are teaching. And Hispanics are so friendly which I love. Something that I realized as we were contacting this week is that Hispanics are so trusting of people. They let anyone in their house. All we had to say was Hola, como esta? and they tell us to come in. Hispanics are great.

We didn't have very many lessons again this week. People kept cancelling. We're kind of in a rut right now looking for new investigators. Por favor, pray that we can find new people. We've found some people that have some potential if we could just find a time to teach them. But we did get to teach Priscila! She is so dang awesome. We taught her about the Word of Wisdom and she has been drinking coffee since she was a little kid. She's from El Salvador and drinking coffee is like a social think. They just all do it. She told us that will be hard for her but it's a commandment from God so she is going to do her best to keep it. She told us she would just throw away her coffee maker so that she isn't tempted. We told we could bring her hot chocolate to help her out. When we came back later to give her the hot chocolate she told us mission completed. She is so cute. Her baptism is coming up! We weren't able to teach her on Friday or Saturday because there was something wrong with her washing machine and the water pipe broke and flooded her apartment. So that was crazy and she had family coming into town this weekend. She still came to church though! She had breakfast with her family and then told them she had to go to church so she just left them there. She is seriously so great.

On Sunday we taught Adolfo who is the roommate of Miguel. Miguel wasn't there which was good so we were able to teach the Restoration. Adolfo is so funny. He knows that I'm learning Spanish and so that's why I usually don't talk very much. I'll usually just teach one part of the lesson and then my companion and the member we have with us will talk the rest of the time. So whenever I talk his eyes get really big and he has this big smile on his face like he's saying in his head, yay! she's talking! So I taught the part about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. The Spirit was strong and he was listening intently. When I finished he said, Wow, me gusta eso. A few minutes later some of his friends walked in and his attitude changed. He became closed off which was a bummer so we didn't invite him to be baptized, but we're hoping next time we can commit him to baptism.

Speaking of baptisms we had one on Friday! Edwin and Miriam are actually in our area, but the Elders were the ones that started teaching them a year ago so they just kept passing them down to the Elders. We still visit them every once in a while though. So they have been taking the lessons for almost a year and the reason they hadn't gotten baptized is because they needed to get married first. So in December they were married and finally, on Friday they were baptized. It was a good night. We're gonna see if we can start teaching them now. We have to talk with the Elders about it. Miriam told us on Friday when we went over there to see how they were feeling about there baptism that she actually had wanted the Hermanas to teach her, but she didn't want to offend the Elders. So we'll see if we can make that switch.

Well, I love you all! I'll talk to you next week!

Hermana Reed 

The Lord Brings Us Low Before He Lifts Us Higher

Hola!

This week has been slow and fast at the same time. On the mission your day feels like a week and your week feels like a day. I've lost all concept of time here. So being Spanish speaking in Virginia is weird because we're teaching and talking to people in Spanish and then when we get into the real world and go to the store or something these people have thick southern accents! I never realized before that Virginia is part of the South. So if I can't get my Spanish accent then I'll at least come home with a Southern one!

Another fun fact about Virginia is that gas is only $1.89 here! Isn't that crazy!? Also the weather here is so weird. On Monday it rained a ton and was like 50 degrees. On Tuesday everything froze because it was all wet and 30 degrees. The roads were fine though. Don't worry Mom and Dad! ;) It was so cool though because everything was an icicle. I'll send a picture of it. The trees looked they had snow on them but it was just ice.

Now I can actually talk about my investigators! I finally got to meet most of the people that we teach in our area. Our golden investigator is named Priscila. She's getting baptized February 7th! She is so amazing. We go over to teach her but really she good teach us. After we read a scripture she'll start to explain it before we even say anything. On Tuesday we were talking about Faith and we read a scripture in the Book of Mormon first and she started talking about how important faith is and how it says in the Bible faith without works is dead. She totally understands! It's so awesome teaching her. She's been coming to church and she loves it! Yesterday was her second time. When we were talking to her about how Satan will try to put doubts into her mind and make her second guess her decision to be baptized she said, No he won't because I pray every day and the Lord gives me strength to overcome. She has definitely been prepared.

On Tuesday we met the cutest couple. Their names are Anna and Miguel. They're my favorite! They are also prepared for the gospel. So we didn't have a chance to teach them because they talked the whole time we were there explaining their religious background. What they were saying though was crazy! They were explaining that they have been to many different churches and what they've noticed is that they each have a little bit of the truth, but there are some teachings of each of the churches that they know are wrong. Anna said that she found a church that she liked in Texas when she was living there but it wasn't the same up here. Basically they were explaining the Apostasy about how many different churches were formed and each had a little bit of the truth but none of them have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I just can't wait to teach them the Restoration on Wednesday and to tell them that we have it all! We have all of the teachings and truths in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. That's one lesson that I am super excited for. I can't wait to see their reactions!

I have been fed three times now by members and Hispanics feed missionaries a lot differently than Americans. Hispanics fill your plates with mass amounts of food and then either watch you eat or sometimes they go do something else. They never sit down and eat with you. But they serve your food and you have to eat all of it. It's like Thanksgiving. I have to fast during the day so that I have room for all of the food they feed me. They food has been good though, thankfully. Each time we get fed I ask my companion if we'll have to eat something gross. Sometimes it's a hit and miss with some people. But for now it's been great!

This week was a little rough. Most of our appointments got cancelled so we only taught a few lessons this week. So we went contacting for my first time! That was a different experience. Most Hispanics here live in trailer parks so we knock in trailer parks. When we get Americans we ask them if they know of any Hispanics in the area. Our numbers for lessons may have been low but we had high numbers for referrals and contacted this week.

I think this week was a trial, but with patience, the Lord brings blessings. Yesterday we went to an investigator's home and we were going to drop him because he just wasn't progressing at all. But his roommate was there and he was super interested and wanted to learn more. So it would have been awkward to tell Miguel that we were dropping him but coming back to teach his roommate Adolfo. So we didn't tell him, but in reality he's dropped and Adolfo is our new investigator. And then this morning we got a call from a guy named Daniel who is the other roommate. My companion taught him when she was last in the area and he was actually gonna get baptized but things feel through. So he called us and asked us to come and teach him too! Crazy! Another little miracle that happened today...Tomorrow we're doing exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leaders so I won't be able to go to the lessons with my companion because I'll be in the STL's area. So I'll miss the lesson with Miguel and Anna that I have been waiting for all week! But we called them this morning to confirm the appointment for tomorrow and they switched it to Wednesday! God is good. He answers prayers. He loves His children.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Reed

I'm in Virginia!!

I made it! I'm finally in the mission field! It has been a crazy, rough couple of weeks. Saying goodbye to everyone at the CCM and especially my district was awful. Luckily, though, I got to fly most of the way with my district and then in Atlanta the Elders and Hermanas parted ways. The hardest part though was saying goodbye to my companion at the transfer meeting. So only two our of the five Hermanas were assigned to a Spanish speaking area. And...I'm one of them! The other ones have an English speaking ward and area but they still have to do their language study everyday. That would be so hard. Well, Spanish speaking is hard, but it will be a blessing. I was assigned to the Newport News North and Williamsburg area.

My first day we had two appointments that we went to that night. I didn't say anything except read a scripture from the Book of Mormon. The next couple of days were rough because I wanted to talk and say something, but my companion is so good at Spanish already I was afraid that I would look dumb because I didn't completely understand what they were talking about sometimes. Speaking of my companion...Her name is Hermana Camps which is funny because my last companion's name was Hermana Fields and campos means fields in Spanish. Anyway, she's from Moab, Utah and she just hit her 11 month mark in the mission field.

So Spanish has been getting me down these past couple of days, but yesterday was amazing. I had been praying so hard for the strength and confidence to open my mouth and just speak. Yesterday my prayers were answered. I got called up to bear my testimony in the Branch yesterday and I was able to say the things I wanted to say. And then during our lesson that night I taught almost all of the lesson on the Restoration. We taught this super nice couple named Jenny and Elizar. That was our first time teaching them and they seemed really interested. Elizar kept saying they want to come to church on Sunday so we'll see if they come. At the end of the lesson she fed us papousa which was really nice. So they're our new investigators!

Last night our district leader called and told us that our district has the highest numbers in the zone. So our district has two Elders and four Hermanas and we all are in the same Spanish branch. We cover different areas though of Newport News.

On Saturday we're moving apartments because our lease is about to end. So we're moving into the Elders apartment which is in the same apartment complex we're at now and the Elders are moving into a different apartment complex. I feel like it'll be a lot of confusion and chaos on Saturday with all the ward members and everyone trying to help, but I'm used to confusion and chaos. So my new address will be:

708 Bellows Way #204

Newport News, VA 23602

And now I can get letters! Well, I love you all. Thanks for your prayers and support. Por favor, pray for me to have the gift of tongues. Have a great week!

Hermana Reed

There's a picture of my district with one of our teachers. A picture with me and my other teacher. She's so cute. I love her. I found Melissa! I mean Hermana Christensen!

Happy New Year!! Almost.

I hope you all had a great Christmas! On the 23rd it rained! It hadn't rained the whole time I've been here so the rain was fun. We got to get out our umbrellas!! I'm still a child still so when we had our service on Christmas Eve we got to wear jeans and tennis shoes. On our way back home I jumped in a puddle because I just couldn´t resist. Another Hermana joined in the fun after awhile. I love the rain! Christmas morning though it was cold and dreary and I just wanted more than anything for the sun to come out. We went to an MTC devotional broadcast and when I walked outside it was sunny and beautiful!! It was my Christmas present from God.

So for Christmas we basically just watched devotionals all day. They were really good devotionals! But i thought would would have done something else. The best part about Christmas though was at night. We got to watch Meet the Mormons! I had never seen it before so I was really excited that I finally got to watch it. After the movie we went back to our classrooms and our district had a little Feliz Navidad fiesta. My companion's mom sent her sparkling cider so we popped it open and took pictures. Our Christmas presents were letters that we had written to each other. Our teacher told us to write about the Christ like attributes that we all have. When it was time to go home we took our letters and read them before bed. They were so sweet. Such good Christmas presents. 

This is my last week in the CCM! It's crazy! I fly out at 7:30 Tuesday morning which means we are leaving the CCM at 4 am! 

Sorry this email is short this week. My spiritual thought is on prayer.  We heard a lot about prayer this week and heard some cool stories. Elder Richard G. Scott was the speaker that we heard on Sunday for our weekly devotionals. He explained how God is waiting to hear from us. He will answer our prayers in the manner that will be best for our growth and development. When you have no desire to pray, pray. When you are feeling confused, alone, or in need of comfort, find a quiet place and pour out your heart to the Lord. He is there and He is listening. I want to testify that God hears our prayers. He answers them. I am gaining a bigger and bigger testimony on prayer each day on my mission. I have to rely on the Lord and I have faith that He will help me with all the things that I need to do. One day I was having terrible pains in class (they were cramps. Sorry for that little detail boys.) I couldn't concentrate on anything being said. We were about to start practice teaching and I had to teach a lesson. There was no way I would be able to think of words in Spanish let alone how to teach a lesson. Before I started I said a quick prayer and asked Heavenly Father to make this pain go away or at least make it not hurt as bad so that I can teach and focus on the lesson. As I was praying the pain instantly subsided. I'm starting to have more and more experiences of the Lord answering my prayers when I need them answered. God is good. He loves you all. I challenge you when you are feeling down, or frustrated, or stressed, or anxious, or lonely, or afraid, or in need of comfort, to pray to our Heavenly Father. I know that He will hear your prayers and answer them in a way that will best benefit you. 

I love you all! Have a Happy New Year!

Hermana Reed

Feliz Navidad!

Hola!!

This has been a crazy week!  On Thursday we had TRC again and we had to teach a lesson about prayer and how to receive revelation on prayer. My companion and I are not very good at planning things out, but we're learning. So we're waiting in this room and my teacher comes in to tell us which rooms to go into. Someone asked him if we're teaching one or two people and he said one. Then my companion says, YES!!!, really loud and he looks at her and says, maybe two. SO we taught our first person. She was a nice lady. She was a member and very understanding, probably in her 50's. When we finished teaching we went back to the room where we started and our teacher stops us and says, wait you have one more. Just us. We were the only ones that taught two people. At that moment I started to have a little panic attack because the lesson we just came out of was not great and then we had to do it again. But we said a prayer before we went in and as I was praying, peace came over me and I knew this was a good thing. We were getting more practice, and heaven knows we need it! So our second volunteer was an 18 year old girl. She seemed a little impatient with our slow, broken up Spanish, but we were doing the best we could. It was good practice and I'm greatful for the opportunity. 

We got a new district in our zone (branch) on Thursday. There's an Elder Reed in my zone too!! Actually I've seen another Hermana Reed and another Elder Reed. Kinda funny. Oh my goodness. Can I just say I love my zone! And my district. The Lord really does know us better than we know ourselves and I know that we were placed in our districts and zones through inspiration from the Lord. The Lord knows the kind of people I need in my life. These people have been my strength and support during my stay at the CCM. And boy do I love my companion! I'm so glad we are going to the same mission. We might even be companions again!

Speaking of my zone, I have a really funny story about one of the Elders in my district. He cracks me up. So one time in class we were talking about how to manage stress and we went around the room and said what we do and how we feel when we're stressed. Now this Elder is constantly trying to speak Spanish. It's usually wrong but at least he is diligent and trying. When it was his turn he said when I'm stressed...Estoy en fuego! Which means I'm on fire. He was trying to say I'm frustrated, but we all just started laughing. He's always our comic relief and he loves it. 

This week when we taught our two investigators we got one of them to commit to baptism! During the lesson I was able to speak fluidly and say almost everything I wanted to say. I was talking and flowing so well it been like 10 minutes until I realized I hadn't paused to let my companion say anything. So then she started to talk and we were able to bounce off of each other which usually never happens. It was awesome! When you are teaching by the Spirit you can do anything. WIth our second investigator everything we said came from the heart. Usually we have to read a few sentences from a pamphlet or preach my gospel because we don't know how to say something in Spanish, but we didn't read anything the whole lesson. We were able to look him in the eye and bear testimony of our message. We got him to pray and commit to read the Book of Mormon. It was a good teaching week.

Sunday was the Best. Day. Ever! For Relief Society we had a Reader's Theater where some of the girls read the story of Christ's Birth and we had musical numbers with violins and sang hymns. It was so pretty. There were things in the narrative that I had never heard or thought of before. An inn like the one that Mary and Joseph were trying to get into was actually just a big common room where people were drinking, and smoking, and cursing. It was definitely not fit for the Son of God to be born into. There was no privacy. Heavenly Father knew this and made sure that they were led to a place that would be acceptable. They had to stay in a stable, but really that was how it needed to be. Jesus was laid in a manager which is a feeding trough for animals. The way Christ was born foreshadowed His life. Then our devotional speaker was amazing! Every Sunday we watch church movies for an hour or so and this time we got to see the new Mormon Message He is the Gift. If you haven't seen it I recommend you look it up and watch it! And then we watched Joseph Smith:The Restoration. Ahh IT was so good! After the video we got together with our zone and the Latino zone that we're singing with on Christmas Eve. Holy Moly. That was an ordeal. For some reason these Latinos don't know that we are down in Mexico to learn Spanish to go to a SPanish speaking mission. They insulted us a few times and thought I couldn´t understand them, but when you say Americano I'm pretty sure everyone knows who you're talking about. It was good though. There were some nice people who came up and wanted to help me translate. We practice with them one more time tonight. Hopefully we can make it sound adequate enough. After I was talking with one of my roommates and she was saying how they don't have music programs or anything down here so these Latinos are trying but they just have never been around music enough to know how to read it and sing the right notes. Maybe I'll teach music to Latinos when I graduate from college...

So my spiritual thought comes from the devotional from Sunday. It was so good!! 

- When he was in his mission Elder Holland came and spoke to them and told them a promise from the Lord: Give me your heart and I will give you my power and together we will change the world. 

- If we want to be the best missionary we can be (or best person) we need to be humble enough to change. We may have things in our life that may not be bad, but that aren't helping us. Garbage. Baggage. Whatever you want to call it. And when we are doing what we are supposed to be doing and we have the Holy Ghost with us, He will come to take away that garbage to mold us, and shape us to become a better person. Are we willing and humble enough to let this change happen and to let Him take it from us? Or do we keep the garbage and push away the Spirit?

- There is a part of a poem that I want to end with. 

 Come to the edge He said. No, we'll fall.

Come to the edge He said. No, we'll fall.

Come to the edge He said. We came to the edge, He pushed us, and we flew.

Come to the edge where there is high fear and inadequacy.

Man's extremity is God's opportunity.

The Lord is going to push us. Life is difficult but the Lord has promised that He will not let us suffer above that which we are able. He will be with us every step of the way. Heavenly Father sent us His son, Jesus Christ, so that He could understand everything that we will be called to pass through. I am so grateful for my Savior and I hope He is in your hearts and minds this Christmas season because He is the gift. 

I love you all! Feliz Navidad!

Hermana Reed

Another week in the CCM

Hola!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! They're putting lights up on the trees and they set up a Nativity scene. AND there are hundreds of Poinsettias everywhere that they planted. On Saturday we got a little treat and saw a Mexican Christmas performance of the story of Christ's birth. There was a lot of dancing and costumes and it was so great. It made my whole stay at the CCM totally worth it. I'll send some videos so you can see how awesome it was. Mom, you would have loved it! So for Christmas Eve we're having a big Christmas program and each district is being asked to sing two songs. I got asked to conduct them so now I'm a choir director. We're singing Joy to the World and O Little Town of Bethlehem but in Spanish. We're combining with a Spanish district. The instructions told me that "it will be really fun and offer a few challenges." Ha I'm pretty sure i'll speak enough spanish to be able to communicate with them, but I guess we'll see. 

On Thursday we did our fast from English day. We only made it to lunch time then we broke. But it was good to realize what words we knew and what we could talk about and what words we needed to learn. I can say the basics and get my point across, but I am definitely not fluent yet. Thursday night we had something called TRC I´m not really sure what it stands for but it's where we get to talk to real people who volunteer their time so that we can practice our teaching. Some are members, some less active and some are investigators. Our assignment for this for one was just to get to know them and share a spiritual thought at the end. Actually, we weren't really given any instruction on what we were supposed to be doing. Our teacher just told us to bring our scriptures and all our books. So the girl we talked to was 18 and a dancer. She ended up being in our Mexican Christmas performance. She's way good. So we just talked to her about her family, what she liked to do, and told her a little about ourselves. Then when I couldn't think of any more questions to ask her she asked if we had something to share with her. I said oh yeah of course and whipped out a scripture about prayer and gave a quick little spiritual thought on prayer off the top of my head. I'm getting good at thinking on the spot. 

So this is how our Sundays go. We study in the morning, eat breakfast, and the Hermanas have Relief Society and the Elders keep studying. And then after the Relief Society the Hermanas have study time. Then our Sunday school is just with our district. Our district is the people that are in the same class as you. You stay with them your whole time in the CCM and you all learn in the same class. Then we have Sacrament meeting with our whole zone with is multiple districts. I'm gonna put a picture of my district with our Branch President and his counselor. I love my district and zone. So in Sacrament meeting the way they do talks is everyone prepares one on the assigned topic and then they call your name on the spot and you have to give your talk. That happened to me on Sunday. But luckily I had actually prepared a pretty good talk and didn't just copy things out of Preach my Gospel and the pamphlets because that's what everyone does. The topic was the Atonement and I can talk for hours about the Atonement and bear testimony about it so it was a good topic. Sacrament meeting is all in Spanish, but all of our other meetings are in English. So I gave my talk in Spanish and I have never been that nervous before in my life. My entire body was shaking. But when i read the scriptures that I was using I was actually able to read them like a fluent Spanish speaker. My companion and I have been reading The Book OF Mormon in SPanish out loud and it has been helping so much with pronunciation and some other things. So I felt good after my talk. It's pretty nerve racking though when you're just sitting in Sacrament meeting and then they say and now we will be hearing from Hermana Reed. But the idea is when we are in the field and they need a speaker we can have something prepared for when the missionaries are called on to speak. 

Last night we said goodbye to a district in our zone. They're the people that I knew the longest here so I was pretty close with them. It was so sad. So every Monday night we play a game called Signs with our whole zone so we played last night for the last time with district 12-A. For the last 15 minutes we split in half and played just the our district and 12-A. It was the funnest time I've had at the CCM. Let me just tell you that saying goodbye with a handshake is a terrible way to say goodbye. I'm just gonna have to get used to it. I dread having to say goodbye to my Elders in my district. Every day we get closer. But we're already planned our reunion after our mission in Rexburg, Idaho so it'll be okay. So now our district is the oldest. We have the zone leaders in our district now and the Hermana trainers. 

Today we go to go to the Visitors Center! It was so beautiful. Mexico really knows how to make a Visitors Center. They have some cool rooms and exibits.

I just wanted to share one last thing with you all. This week I was studying charity and made some connections that I had never thought of before. In Moroni 7:45 it says that charity suffereth long, is kind, envieth not, not puffed up, seeketh not her own, not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth all things. Charity is the pure love of Christ.  In 1 Corininthians somewhere theres a scripture about how the people spat on Christ and he suffered it, they whipped him and he suffered it, they did all manner of afflictions to Him and He endured it because He had love for all mankind. When we have charity we are able to endure all things and beareth all things like Christ did. When people make us mad we can forgive quickly. When we are called to pass through tribulation we can endure it. When we have charity we are able to love anyone and everyone regardless of what they have done to us. Because Christ endured it, we can too. And we do not have to be alone as we strive to have charity and suffer all things. Christ is always by our side. He is always there, but we need to be the ones to go to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in prayer and ask for help. I know that if you do, you will not be left alone in your trials. 

I love you all! I hope you have a good week. Thanks for your prayer!

Hermana Reed