Remember that one time....

....when you thought life was tough and anything would be better then what you were doing? Yeah, don´t ever say those words, in your head or out of your mouth. Because Heavenly Father is always listening, and when he hear´s those words he chuckles and says"just you wait."

Now, of course with this little header you have to be wondering. Oh gee golly wolly, what could Hermana Reed possibly be talking about. Well, today is the day of transfers. I am staying in Vicinte Lopez. And guess who my companion is! You´re never going to guess. Why? Because I don´t know her name. I´ll let you know Tuesday when she flies in from the United States...... Yes, I am going to be training this transfer, and yes, I do know for certain, that she is going to be American. Welcome to the grand mission Buenos Aires Norte. We are a mission built on faith and trust in God, because we are so well aware that we have no idea what we are doing. It´s a good thing the church is true.

Want to know the best part of this though?? I´m with Hermana Whitehead RIGHT NOW! I love this woman, she is crazy, and we´ve had the most ridiculous adventures together. And her life is hilarious, and I´m so glad I get to be a part of it. She was telling me today about how last week she yelled at her companion for eating her banana (the said fruit had been offered to the companion just days before). She was having a rough day. But I love it. And we´re companions for a day because she´s training too! And Elder Mower, I don´t know if you remember much about him, he was an Elder in my district from the CCM. He went from Companero Menor to Trainer. He´s going to be AP in next to no time. He´s such a studly, savvy spiritual missionary. Anyways, so yeah. I´m training. That´s cool.

Want to hear about my last week? Okay, so this week we went to visit Raul and he told us that he had worked it out with one of his work buddies so that he could attend sacrament meeting this Sunday (to come) and the Sunday after. Which gives him 3 assistencias and he can get baptized on the 30th! Whoopah! I literally squealed out loud when he told us that. He was pleasantly embarrassed. You know the drill, when he acts like I´m being ridiculous but really he´s pleased that we´re so stoked for him. Yeah, that one. And it was crazy because that same day we tried to go to a baptism with him but no one would come in to work for him. Pucha. And then he bailed on us going to the despidida yesterday. Less then cool, because we were sitting outside for the better part of an hour waiting for him. That man. But he has the most incredible faith. I´m so blessed to be a part of his baptism.

Oh, and the best part is that we were able to meet the guy he shares a house with. His name is Noé and he´s from Peru (all the cool people are, there and Argentina), he´s been to church, received the charlas, but never actually read the Book of Mormon or prayed about it. At the time, he didn´t have the time to do it. But now he does. He also has a baptismal date for the 30th of October, so he and Raul can be baptized together. Aww, so sweet. So stoked.

Oh, so want to hear about how I knew I was going to be training? Okay, so last transfer Hermana Cariola received a call during our weekly planning session to go to a meeting Friday at the Mission Home. We went, she learned she was going to be training, I learned I was going to be Senior Comp. Remember this story? Yeah. Me too, so everyone and I mean everyone has been telling me I´m going to be training. All the Elders in my district, yeah. so like 3 people. That´s not the point, the point is, I was scared stiff that it actually was going to happen. And I knew that if I could make it through weekly planning without receiving "the phone call" I would be fine. Which meant, everytime the phone rang my palms started sweating like Niagra Falls. I´m pretty sure I could have washed...something in the amount of water. That´s just gross, I´m not going to finish that thought. Point is, usually planning is a quiet process, with maybe one phone call from the Zone leaders to check if we have any miracle baptisms that we´re planning. THIS week? Like 5. I was so scared for all 3ish hours until we received the call from the offices. Which, tricky little devils, they started out with "oh, we have a reference for you" got me all calm, and then whabam! "You´re invited to a meeting tomorrow"....curses. The only thing that made it better was walking into the meeting and seeing Hermana Whitehead there as well...haha, I´m such a bad person for thinking that. But oh well, if I have to do it, she does too. And that´s called justice!

But the really cool thing is that I´ve gotten some additional training to help my new companion. And the focus of the two capacitaciones has been, essentially, that we don´t know anything. And I know I´m going to be thinking about this a lot too, because I only have, what? 8 months total? Something like that, including MTC. I sure don´t feel like I know what I´m doing. And I´ve made enough mistakes to know i don´t know what I´m doing all the time. But that is the great thing about the mission. We´re here, to learn how to completely rely on the Lord, and to realize, that really, we don´t know anything. We think we know, we have examples to help us out. But the only person who knows exactly what would help and knows exactly what to do in every situation? Is the Lord. And when we rely on him and trust his instincts, our lives are going to be better and happier for it. I love the mision. I mean, I knew this before, but it was more like a mathematical theory that I never fully applied. And so I kept getting the wrong answers in my life. I´m going to try it out with more enthusiasm now. I´ll let you know how it goes. But, here I am. Hermana Reed, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I will follow his perfect example because I know it is the only way to fulfill my purpose and to live a happy life. True happiness comes through God, because every day is a gift, every breath a loan. And it doesn´t bother me one whit that I need to depend completely and totally upon my Heavenly Father, because I know that his sole purpose in life is to help me be happy. Who can say no to such a loving gesture? "I want you to do this so you can be happy." "uh...don´t think so, I´d rather be miserable." Don´t think so. You´re crazy if you think this. This is the scriptural reference Presidente Gulbrandsen used in training today. Alma 37:37. It talks about counseling with the Lord, in literally all that we are doing. There is not part of our lives in which God does not have an interest. And this is a counsel, not a petition. Which means discussion, pauses, listening, and re-evaluating our plans. During the prayer. I know I need to step up my prayers. I´m going to need it to, because all the sudden I´m the "native" speaker in our companionship. CRAZY!

Anyways, thank you for your prayers, encerio, you all mean so much to me. And your counsel and advice has always been well timed and well received. It means a lot to me that I know I have such great friends and family that love me so much.

Take Luck. Do Good. The Lord is on your side.

Hermana Reed

When is it not a holiday in Argentina?

That really is a valid question. We have ferridas nearly constantly. Well, that´s not actually the word, but it´s close to something like that. THe point is, the people of Argentina like to celebrate, and they don´t have to look very far to find things to celebrate. The bummer to all of this is my reaction to these days are pretty much the same. Preach, Teach, Eat, Pray, Sleep. I love it!

So some fun things that happened this week. This week was the week of birthdays. Hermana Alfaro had her birthday and our district leader Elder Simper. Elder Simper is going home this week so he is very optimistic. He´s been a very good district leader and helped us out a ton, always. I´m grateful for his service. But mostly that meant we had cake at our district meeting. Love cake. But the best part of all of this is that when we were going to our district meeting, we were on the Collectivo and and on this same collectivo there happened to be a highly intoxicated Argentinian. And let me tell you, I have no idea what I do to attract these men, but drunks love talking to me. On my honor, I did not walk up to him, he got up walked over to a seat near me and started talking to me. There were like 10 other people on the bus, including another missionary. I don´t know why he chose me. Nevertheless, start up a conversation with me he did. I ended up teaching him the plan of salvation. More or less, I don´t know how much he remembered. Not the point. THe point is, it was actually kind of fun. And he was very easy to talk to and teach. I don´t know why I have an easier time teaching intoxicated folk, but I do. For me, it´s less nervewracking, and we have a very nice, amiable conversation, flowing back and forth, questions answers, questions answers. And then we were at the church and I had to leave. I left him a pamphlet with the direction to the church.

The point of that story is that I´m getting better at talking to people. Other than that, I just thought it was funny. The other cool thing that happened this week was that I got to see Hermana Decker and Mark! What made it really exciting is that Hermana Alfaro and I were dashing to the church hoping to make it in time for the sacrament because it was a sunday and the collectivos pass by very infrequently on Sundays. So we were speed walking like grandmas to make it in time. And it is very obvious when you walk in late. so we walk in late and the whole congregation turns to see who came in...including Hermana Decker and Mark. That was cool. I did get to talk with them after the meeting, so that was cool. p.s. my mom is pretty much the coolest mom in existence. Thank you for everything you sent mom! I know it took a lot of time to compile all the stuff and find the skirts and hem them and sew the pockets. Hermana Decker told me about how you were sewing like crazy to get everything ready on time. Seriously, thank you so much.

Lastly, I want to share a spiritual thought that one of the members shared with us when we were eating lunch with her this week. So, we showed up late to her house because someone decided to need time to recuperate her feelings (alright, it had been a bad day, I was emotional) so we get to her house and we explain why we were so late and everything. And as we are eating lunch she shares this insight. How deeply have you looked into the significance of the scriptures where Jesus is sleeping in the boat in the middle of the storm while the rest of the diciples are fearing for their lives? Here was the thought - literally Christ is once again being the perfect example for us. When we have complete and utter trust in our Heavenly Father, we can have the peace and tranquility to make it through whatever storm is passing through our lives. When others are fearing and do not know what to do, we can take a nap knowing that God knows what He is doing and is there to protect us. So the questions is, do we have the perfect knowledge that God is our Heavenly Father and is there to protect us?

I thought that was an interesting thought. Because the world is full of storms and trials and our lives are anything but easy, but when we are faced with troubles, how do we react? Surely we have to do things to pass the storm, but do we face the storm with the peace and calm that comes from God? Or do we fear because we do not know what is to come. Something to think about. I loved it.

Then rapido, something for mom. You talked about your studies in Moises a long time ago. And I was thinking about why eating the fruit of the Tree of LIfe would have frustratd the Plan of Salvation. And the more I thought about it the more I wanted to study it. In my studies, this is my conclusion. The reason it would have frustrated the plan of salvation is because it would have meant that Adam and Eve never died. Part of repenting means returning to God. There is that spiritual separation. When Adam and Eve received bodies, they were physically separated from God. To overcome this obstacle we need to die, and then be resurrected with physical, perfect bodies. Because no imperfect thing can dwell in the presence of God, no? Death is a part of the plan of happiness, it allows us to become perfect - literally in this sense because our bodies become physically perfect. God is so smart. I hope to be that intelligent some day. I love the plan of salvation, there is so much hope, and so many opportunities and ways to become closer to and more like God.

And lastly, Read Mosiah 7: 3-4. This is how I feel about my first transfer as a senior comp. And now that it is coming to a close, we will see if I have learned from my mistakes. I will let you know if there are any changes next week, but this transfer is closing this Sunday. CHANGES!!!! Oh, the joy of a new 6 weeks. Being a missionary is awesome.

Love you all,

Hermana Reed

General Conference pretty much rocks!

General Conference is pretty much one of the best weekends of my life, here on the mission. I just love listening to all the people talking and giving great counsel, and telling me that I need to be a better person and knowing that they are absolutely correct in everything.

And, like you, mom, I cannot even begin to think which is my favorite, or which I learned more. I will admit, I absolutely loved Hermana Elaine Dalton´s talk about father´s love their mothers. For two reasons. 1) I have seen time and time again, women of my age and those that are still growing beat themselves up for not being pretty enough, smart enough, cool enough, witty enough. It´s never enough what they have. And they think this because they do not truly understand that they are daughters of God. And in today´s society it is incredibly difficult to develop this identity. But when we truly understand that we are worth every moral, every standard, it is then that we can be truly happy. And we feel beautiful every day. And because we as women think so much about how others view us, the way a father treats his wife is crucial. Because they are the example. The women of today need to know that they have worth and that they will one day have a husband who will treat them like the daughters of God that they are. Which means that the men need to step up to the plate and treat the lady´s like the daughters of God that they are. Do not use and abuse. I will smite you with the word of God if I see you doing it. And don´t test me, I´ve got three Books of Mormon in my bag. 2) My dad has been an amazing example to me of how I should be treated. And while I haven´t always been treated the way my dad treats my mom, my husband will need to talk to my dad and take lessons. Because I love the way my family functions (as dysfunctional as it can be sometimes). And one thing that is never lacking is a stable, pure, Christ like relationship between my mom and my dad. So, way to go Dad. You have been a great example for me. He also treats me very kindly, so thank you for that to. Love you! I love you too Mom!

Well, how´s that for a soap box? Hmm, interesting. Anyways, loved General Conference. It was fun because I went in with about 5 other United State Native Elders to watch the Conference in English. I love America. These Elders are great, but I will admit, we made comments about the ability to stay still of the Primary Chorus. Loved it.

As far as this week in teaching goes. We almost had a baptism this weekend. We have an investigator who has had all the lessons, and just needed a little push to be ready for baptism. Many people feel the need to be 100% sure of everything and know everything before getting baptized, but this just isn´t going to happen. I don´t know everything and I´ve been a member my whole life. So we go over, have her try on the baptismal clothes, she says she feels like an angel, And then accepts the invitation to be baptized this weekend. I´m elated. We call her the next day.......and she wants absolutely nothing to do with the church, she wants us to come over, take our books back, she never wants to talk to us again. You confused? So am I. I have no idea what happened in those 24 hours, but it´s been rough trying to get a hold of her just to ask her what happened and why she changed her mind. I may never know. Whenever we call, she cuts the line. What are you going to do? I don´t know, I´ve been praying a lot though. It´s too bad she didn´t make it to any of the sessions of Conference this weekend. They sure would have helped her feel more prepared.

Other good news is that we were talking to another investigator who just hadn´t caught the fire yet. But when we went to talk to him this week he told us that he had been talking to his Pastor in Peru. He was talking to him about us, and our religion, and how he feels like there is something here, but he´s not really sure what to do. And what advice does this Pastor from Peru give? That it is important to do the will of God. And as long as you are sure it is the will of God, you need to follow it. Now, Raul was telling this story, and he was using flowery language, that was a bit advanced for me and my native spanish speaking companion. So we were just nodding our heads and going "uh huh" for a while. Until he stopped talking and looked at us expectingly like we were supposed to respond. Uh..Wait, what? Oh, you want to be baptized. Okay. You only have friday´s free so you can´t be baptized on the 15th (saturday)? No problem, we can have your baptism on the 14th, it´s a friday. Score. The good news of this story is that he went to the Priesthood session saturday night without us. Yes he has a testimony. Now he just has to work with his boss to get work off Sundays. Pray for him please.

That has mostly been my weekend. General Conference was the absolute highlight. And pretty much took all our day. We have studies until 11, General Conference was from 1-3 and 5-7, it takes an hour to get there. Which means we stayed at the stake center for lunch. Which means for 2 days in a row we had from 11 - 11:30 to visit people and from about 8-9 at night. We didn´t have many lessons in these two days. But I am very spiritually edified. I hope you all are too. I know that President Monson is a prophet of God. And his words are direct counsel to us from our loving Heavenly Father whose soul purpose is to guide us back to him. That is the goal and purpose of this life, and we have the scriptures and living prophets to help us do it.

I love you all, keep on the straight and narrow. You will do great things.

Hermana Reed

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