Don't. Cross. This. Line!

Okay, so this was a very fun filled week full of exciting news, congratulations and activities. First off, I would like to personally thank All the Manassa Andersons for their lovely letter. I would like to know what you all were talking about before writing it. A lot of you mentioned Rugby? I like the sport, don't get me wrong, just wondering what the theme was there. Regardless, thank you for the letter. And let me know if you all are going to be moving. You're not going to fit in your house anymore right? Keep me in the DL. Love you.

Anyways, so my weekend. We had a ward missionary activity this weekend. It wasn't exactly a success but was at the same time. We invited everyone in the ward to come and watch the new movie Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. Saturday we're prepping for the day when the member that had said we could borrow his projector calls us to say, he couldn't get it from his office like he thought. So, it's T-6 hours till show time, and the television of the church is very small. So we are scrambling all day to find a projector. I'm almost positive that we called nearly every person in the ward. The good news was, they were reminded about the activity, bad news, no one had a projector. Scrambling, scrambling, lots of prayers. Time for the activity, and no projector. Regardless, we go looking for our investigator, not only is she there but she is waiting for us. Love that. Go back, and watch the movie on the small television. But the spirit is there, and we ate popcorn afterwards. Love that.

And then we had an act of faith this week. So, we had Zone Conference, and the President challenged us to prepare an investigator for baptism, this weekend or the next. The next weekend being General Conference weekend (are you all preparing your questions? Heavenly Father is going to respond, but not if you don't have a questions). So we're preparing for an investigator named Leonel. Leonel's grandma is a member, his family not, but he has been involved/connected with the church for most of his life. So, we call him, set up an appointment. Talk about baptism, he knows he needs to be baptized, but wants to wait for December when he finishes with his school work. We told him to pray about it, and we would call him in the morning. What he didn't know is that we had already planned to have his baptismal interview on Friday. Thursday we call him and he says he can't see us and still wants to wait until December. Me lacking in faith and aggressiveness accepted this response until my district leader pretty much called me on it. So I call Leonel up Friday morning and pretty much just blurt out words which include we want to have your baptismal interview. And miracle of miracles he says yes. So, I call my district leader up, we meet at Leonel's house at the appointed time. He's not there. That kid. We call him up, again. He tells us he had to leave early and didn't have the credit/minutes to call us and let us know. So we ask him where he's at and if we could meet him there. We get the direction and all four missionaries go trucking along to have this baptismal interview. Now he just needs to talk to his mom.

Anyways, I don't have a ton of time this week. But I'm learning more to have acts of faith, and to keep pushing. I need to trust my thoughts and feelings. To know that they come from the Lord, and that they aren't just weird thoughts. One thing we talked about in the Zone Conference was that we shouldn't be afraid, because it is God who is putting these thoughts in our minds. And He's not going to give us thoughts or plans that he knows we won't be able to accomplish.

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to General Conference. To hearing from our prophet. I'm excited for all of you, that you are excelling in your lives, and progressing in the gospel.

I love you all,

Hermana Reed

What´s the matter, Cat got your tongue?

Hello friends and family,

I think it´s been a while since I´ve actually salutated anyone...is that the word? Said hello? Greeted? I don´t know. Don´t ask me. The point is. What´s up? How´s it kicking? I´m good. You know, just keeping it real in Vicinte Lopez. This week has been really fun. Data includes one baptismal date, a lot of old investigators that we´ve re-started teaching, and stake conference with Presidente Gulbrandsen. And let me tell you, there´s not a lot of things more stressful in life then knowing you are going to Stake Conference, where your Mission President is going to be speaking, and knowing you don´t have a single investigator that´s going to show....Yeah, that one hurt just a bit. The good news is the conference was great! All about missionary work. Point being -share your testimony. Read the Book of Mormon, pray, and attend church. You´re going to receive an answer.

Okay, some fun stories. First, so we´re teaching this security guard named Raul. He gives us a reference for another security guard about two blocks away named John. So we go to talk to John and it´s a little weird because me being the very suave person that I am started out with "hey, we were talking with your friend Raul and he said you had some questions about God." the whole "tactful" thing is still a work in progress. What you should all be impresed with is that I started the contact, and that we didn´t really beat around the bush. We´re here to talk about our Heavenly Father. He exists. Bam. Okay, next step.

So we´re sitting there talking about his doubts and we´re sharing his testimony and we find out he doesn´t actually live in our area, so we note down his direction to pass on, leave him with a pamphlet and then ask. Hey, is there anything that we can do for you? (a very common question. It´s very natural now). And to my surprise he starts talking about how he´s kind of lonely, he´s in a new country (from Peru) and he doesn´t really like his job, he´s the only kid in the family without a girlfriend. And it was really interesting to see the change in him. That he was willing to open up to us, and really all we did was ask a simple question and then stop and listen. And after he had opened up a bit, I did what every good missionary should do. I responded with my testimony and told him "yo se que por medio del Evangelio usted va a tener una relacion mas fuerte con Dios and no va a sentir soltera nada mas." Now, why did I write that in spanish. Because there is an error. What I meant to say "I know that through the Gospel you will have a stronger relationship with God and you won´t feel alone any more." How it came out " I know that through the Gospel you will have a stronger relationship with God and you won´t be single anymore." ....hehe, oops. Well, we are very in to families.... luckily I just kept talking and I don´t think he noticed.....my companion did. She gave me a bit of grief over that later.

Story later: So we´re heading out to Stake Conference right? Right. Sunday morning, there´s no one in the streets. We´re at the bus stop when a group of men walk up to the parada and start talking with us. Now, these men may or may not have been highly intoxicated (it is sunday morning, the day after all the parties...) and one of them comes up to me and starts talking with me. In Dutch first of all, and I´m sorry, I just don´t know dutch. But he asks me if I know English. Which I do. and then the following conversation was a mix of English and Spanish. I don´t know why he asked me if I knew dutch.

First off, he asks me why I´m here. I tell him I´m serving a mission, preaching and testifying of God and Jesus Christ. To which he responds. No no! Why here, in Buenos Aires. So I get to explain a bit about how being a missionary means dedicating yourself to the will of God for 18 months. And I get the lucky chance to think solely of him. And it was actually really cool because in the beginning they were just trying to rag me a bit (hello, they were intoxicated) but after a bit they calmed down. Anyways, continue. So, I ask them if they believe in Christ. The dutchman responds, yes, no, I don´t know. He doesn´t (points to friend) he´s a communist. ....okay. Not sure how to respond to that, but "oh, you´re from Russia?" face palm Hermana Reed, what kind of question was that? "No, I´m not from Russia, just a communist". Anyways, we keep talking. And finally the Collectivo arrives. So we´re dashing to catch it but before we leave we shove an invitation for Stake Conference and a pamphlet about the Restoration in their hands. "Read this!" And then I got on the bus. hehe, my first real interaction with an intoxicated person on the mish. Not to shabby. I don´t want to do it all the time, but it was kind of fun. Mildly scary until they calmed down but what are you going to do? Luckily, Heavenly Father loves me and protects all Sister Missionaries.

Anyways, those are some fun stories. One thing I dowant to talk about is the priesthood. I love the priesthood. And I love watching people have it in their homes. Of all things, I´m excited to get married to have the priesthood with me constantly. I say this because last night my companion received a blessing for health. We were at the house of a member and we were chatting a bit and the ambiance was light hearted. But then after a moment, the Dad got really calm, and said okay, before I give the blessing, can we say a prayer. And it was like BOOM instant change in the air. And in him, I´m not sure if I can properly explain this. But it was the time where he was going to use his authority and he was treating it very sacradly. Like, he knew that this power comes from God, and he was going to treat it with respect, and act honorably in the process. I don´t know. I just loved it. I love it when the priesthood holders in our church recognize that the power and order that they have come from God. It is incredible to watch. And I love it. So, to all you priesthood holders, recognize what you hold. You have the amazing opportunity to bless your families. Forever. You are a direct link to the power of God. It is sacred. It is soo sacred. And miracles happen every day because you are worthy to hold that power. You help so many people just by your mere presence. Also, thank you for your examples. You do so much. Keep being worthy of what you hold. Please, don´t ever forget who you represent when you are invoking the priesthood. Don´t ever forget.

Love you all, Keep smiling and keep being you. You all have incredible personalities that help so many people keep going in their busy, hectic, harrid lives. Do good. Be good.

Hermana Reed

How would you describe your pain? uh....two enthusiastic thumbs up!

I´m actually not in that much pain. But I was just trying to think about how to describe my week/all the experiences that I´ve been going through lately. And.....there isn´t a single word that can truly justify all the experiences that I´ve had. I need probably a thousand. Which is probably for the better.

So, my new area is ridiculously big. I counted, and we took a grand total of 40ish (okay, I lost count) Collectivos this week. To show the difference, we probably took 40 ish collectivos in an entire transfer in Nunez. It´s Grand. Welcome to the Grand Mision Buenos Aires Norte. But that also means that there is a lot of work to be done. And there is a lot of work. We actually had to drop quite a few investigators because they weren´t progressing. Which means I got a lot of time to practice talking to people. Score, the good news is that I´m more comfortable doing it. Something about being forced to step up to the plate and learning I actually had the ability all along. Now that I´m Senior Companion I feel more responsibility to initiate conversations, where we´re going and what not. And mostly, I just don´t have time to be scared.

Of the investigators that we have, one is the 9 year old daughter of the Relief Society President and her reactivating husband. The husband is currently working on getting the priesthood, when he does in October, he wants to baptize his daughter right away. As far as investigators go, that one I´m willing to take. I´m excited for the family and that they are working together to become an eternal family.

Others include the grandma of the Bishop - very catholic, loves to chat. And a security God who is from Peru and moved to Argentina because he felt that God had a purpose for him. A couple weeks after moving, he met the missionaries. I don´t know why he had to move to Argentina to encounter the church, but he is very nice and I´m excited to teach him.

Some fun side notes include - one banker asked me if I was from Brazil (because of my accent). That made me feel pretty good about myself. Oh, and things I´ve learned about South American companions - they don´t really get sarcasm. So I have to be careful. How do I know this? Well, Okay, I´ll tell you.

So, the first day we´re driving to the pension, right? Right. And the President of Argentina lives in Vicinte Lopez, with a huge fence, it´s like the size of a football field, her property. So, when my companion points this out, naturally I ask, "Oh, so have you knocked on her door?" Valid question right? She lives in the area, we´re here to share with everyone. Her response: "No, there´s a fence around her home. We can´t actually reach the door." "....*facepalm* oh, what was I thinking?" She didn´t get it. Hermana Campos who was with us for a day didn´t get it either. So, now I´m trying to work on not being as sarcastic.

Oh, rapido, Mom, Dad, could you tell me a bit about the areas that you served in? People keep living/serving in those areas and when I mention that you too served there they keep asking for areas and I have to reply with "...uh, Lima....." Or "....LA, I don´t know!" And then I feel bad.

I wish I had more stories for you. But this week was a bit of a let down. Very normal. We got lost a couple of times. We´ve had a few tiffs over the new companionship. Differences in teaching styles and time management. So that´s fun to try to learn. But, like I told my zone leaders, no ones died yet, so I can´t be doing that bad right? Right!!

Love you lots,

Hermana Reed

Well, well, well, what have we here.

I would like to first point out that I have now completed 6! Count
them SIX months in the mission. Yes I am counting. Actually, I wasn´t
(Fallyn´s doing that for me, thanks babe). But I will tell you the
reason this comes to my head in a moment. First I will tell you what I
did to celebrate. One, I had a little chit chat with my favorite
companion of all time Hermana Whitehead, two had a little meeting with
Presidente Gulbrandsen for all the Senior companions that are going to
be training. Way to go Hermana Cariola, and three (get ready this is
good) - I let President Gulbrandsen tell me that I was going to be
called as senior companion next transfer. WHAT??? Yes, I did just say
that. Yes, I did nearly choke on my saliva. Actually I didn´t, I
started laughing. I don´t think that was the response President
Gulbrandsen expected. But what to do, what to do. And then to finish
my 6 months celebrations, I went home and ate a cookie. Best part of
my day that cookie. It was delish.

Anyways, so yes. Thanks to my wonderful parents who trained me so
diligently in the arts of awesomeness I am currently sitting as Senior
Companion in.......dun dun dun Vicente Lopez!! I know that means less
to you but let me explain a little bit of this delictible situation.
One, I was recently told it is THE largest area in the mission. Score,
two, it used to be two areas. well, that was more of a footnote to
one. okay, for reals, two, Vicente Lopez is where Presidente
Gulbrandsen lives. How´s that for pressure. Literally, he´s could be
looking over my shoulder at any moment. But on the plus side, it´s
gorgeous. And ritzy, calm, province (not capitol, thank you Heavenly
Father for that one). There is a lot of money here because all the
Americans from the Embassy live here. Which means everything is
PRICEY. I would like to thank my father for the churning in my stomach
whenever I think about how much things cost. But in a good way. Thank
you daddy. Love you.

My new Junior companion (sidenote, could not think of the word junior
for a second. oi veh) is from Chile, and since there are not a whole
lot of options for how many transfer you can have less than 3, she has
just finished her 2nd transfer here in the mission. But at least she
speaks fluent spanish, that´s a plus. We´re going to have good times.

Okay, gots ta dash. Today was CRAZY getting everything ready. The good
news is Hermana Whitehead got called as Senior Companion too. I had a
good chuckle over her reaction (think pale, dizzy, not very
excited...kind of funny). Anyways, but because of all the hulabaloo
and switching of locations and everything I don´t have time to respond
to everyone. Or give details of the week. It was good. I taught the
gospel. Love my companion, she´s great, I´m going to miss Hermana
Cariola. And the Band Plays On.

Love you all,

Hermana Reed