Week #16 in Osnabruck (23 December 2013).  Reese continued to be upbeat and cheerful in his letter:  "It is fun to talk with a lot of people about Christmas and see what they believe.  (We use it for finding lately.)  I am thankful to remember Christmas for what it truly is - celebrating Christ." He was a bit disappointed because an investigator who has felt such a great spirit about the gospel did not come to Church but the branch had another missionary farewell that Reese enjoyed.  On Christmas Eve, we received the following three photos from the ward mission leader of Reese, Elder Mitchell and Sister Hayden and Sister Brown.  They look like a joyful and good group of missionaries.  Merry Christmas to all!

Week #15 in Osnabruck (16 December 2013).  Reese began his letter with "Wow."  They had an exciting week of missionary work, highlighted by the opportunity to teach three lessons to an investigator who indicated he had a desire to be baptized at the end of the month.  It sounded like a wonderful experience and Reese was plainly joyful.  Reese also had his Christmas Zone Conference in Hamburg this week.  Here is a photo from the mission blog (Reese is toward the back on the right):

At the HoHo ZoCo, Reese was thrilled to learn from Elder Karlen that another college student, whom they had found in Chemnitz, was baptized.  Reese also took these photos with other elders at the HoHo ZoCo:

Reese and Elder Duncan, his trainer

Elder Karlen, Reese and Elder Duncan

 Reese and Elder Dzierzon

Reese and Elder Noorda

Elder Mitchell, Reese, Elder ?, Elder Noorda

The Bremen train station.

On the 14th, the Osnabruck branch had a Christmas party.  Here is a photo of Reese, Elder Mitchell and the sisters singing a part in the Christmas program.

The last highlight of the week was a flood in their bathroom.  A hose broke on their washing machine and resulted in about an inch of water.  Reese said:  "We McGuivered a vacuum hose to make the leaking water go into the sink and then ran upstairs to our landlord."  A couple of hours later, it was fixed by a handyman.  Reese was just happy they made it to the Christmas party that evening.

Week #14 in Osnabruck (9 December 2013).  The work was a bit slow this week with what seemed like more rejection than opportunities to teach.  Still, there was one wonderful event.  One of the sisters' investigator's was baptized.  Reese was able to do the baptismal interview and had a nice experience.  He said:  "The baptism was great.  I am really excited for the sisters; they have been working really hard."  Reese noted how happy the new convert looked and observed:  "Just another testimony that it is true.  It is pretty neat to see others find the happiness they were looking for."

During the week Reese had to travel by train to Oldenburg for a day for "district leader school."  He said it felt a bit strange because he was the least experienced district leader.  Reese said he was looking forward next week to the 1/2 mission Christmas party in Hamburg during the week, which he dubbed "HoHo ZoCo."  He also sent along a couple of photos to show his mother that he had received a recent care package, which included a cheap Christmas table-cloth and paper tree.

 
She also sent some "Reese's" Peanut Butter Cups, a long-time favorite, that were apparently a source of fun for Reese and Elder Mitchell:

Reese also said that it had snowed for the first time during the winter on Friday and he took this photo out the back window of their apartment of the snow falling on their neighborhood:

Finally, Reese said that for p-day they had returned to the Christmas Market and he sent this photo of a large Christmas tree in the city center:

Week #13 in Osnabruck (2 December 2013).  Reese headed his letter this week with "The Gospel Will Find You. Always."  He and Elder Mitchell had a wonderful experience of finding a member who had been baptized, moved soon after his baptism and lost contact with the Church.  He saw Reese and Elder Mitchell at a bus stop, came up to them and said that he and his family had been reading the Book of Mormon every night.  It turns out he was moving to Bremen but he is now in touch with the missionaries and his ward there.  They also had a couple of good teaching experiences with other investigators, one of whom came to church for the third time.

Reese also mentioned that he had been interviewed by a journalist in front of a live audience of 25 students.  The interview will be posted in a local paper and blog.  Before he did the interview, Reese received permission from President Kosak and from his ward mission leader.  It sounds like an interesting experience.  I'm proud of him that he had the courage to do it.

The week also saw Thanksgiving.  Reese commented that the day had been "true American missionary status," with two eating appointments.  They ate a Thanksgiving meal with a kind American family and had a wonderful time.  Reese did say:  "Instead of pumpkin pie :( we had sweet potato cupcakes.  They were awesome, but I miss pumpkin pie."  I think it's the first time he's "complained" about food in Germany, which he has truly loved.  After the Thanksgiving meal, they went immediately to another dinner appointment and managed again to eat plenty of food before, Reese said, they "rolled" home.

Finally, last week, Reese had indicated they were heading off to the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market) for an evening p-day (they worked during the day so they could take the evening).  This week Reese reported that the market had been "awesome."  Here are a couple of photos from the Christmas Market and a picture of Reese with enchiladas he and Elder Mitchell made and of which they were quite proud:

Week #12 in Osnabruck (25 November 2013).  Reese learned that he and Elder Mitchell would be staying together in Osnabruck for another transfer.  This will mean 4.5 months with Elder Mitchell.  I'm glad they will both be able to stay in a familiar area for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Reese truly enjoys the members in the branch.  The ward mission leader sent us a couple of pictures he had taken.  Here's one of Reese, Elder Mitchell, Sister Hayden and Sister Brown at the home of the mission leader.  (The mission leader is taking the photo; his roommate is in the photo on the left.)

Here's another photo of Reese, Elder Mitchell and a young branch member following a sacrament meeting that was a farewell for a young man in the branch who is going to New Zealand.  The second photo gives some sense of where they have sacrament meeting.

Reese finished the Old Testament this week and enjoyed Malachi.  The work was hard--a few appointments fell through--but they did have some nice opportunities to teach and found a couple of new investigators who seem to have real interest.  One evening they went on splits with members in the ward.  Reese reported, in his typical matter-of-fact tone:  "B and I did some doors while M and Elder Mitchell did some other doors. . . .  Apparently I missed some good action. Some kid ran at M and Elder Mitchell with a baseball bat.  First question that came to my mind: how did a kid in Germany have a baseball bat?"  Reese has mentioned they sometimes get sworn at or jeered at but this one caught his attention.  It's a reminder to me of the sacrifice that young elders and sisters make when they serve.

Reese was disappointed that no investigators made it to church but noted that the "sisters had two investigators come though, which is awesome.  They are rolling now."  One of the sisters' investigators is scheduled to be baptized in a couple of weeks, which means that Reese will have an opportunity to do his first baptismal interview.  He's excited but nervous. 

We received Reese's email a little later than usual because they had worked in the morning so that they could go to the Weihnachtmarkt (the Christmas market) that evening.  Osnabruck is reputed to have one of the nicest Christmas markets in the western part of Germany.  Here are a couple of photos I pulled from the internet that give a sense of what they saw:

Finally, Reese mentioned that the branch has a Christmas party scheduled for December 14 and that he and Elder Mitchell will be taking invitations to investigators.  I asked Reese if the branch had a choir so that he could participate in it as they had in Chemnitz.  Reese replied:  "Unfortunately no.  I have actually gotten decent at singing now because we do it so often."  Another wonderful part of missionary service.

Week #11 in Osnabruck (18 November 2013).  Reese had a "pretty good" week.  For P-Day, they went to a zoo in Rheine.  Reese indicated disappointment that the monkeys did not climb on them as promised but he did enjoy being able to enter a goat pen and watching the goats battling each other.  The number of photos Reese took of the goats suggests this caught his attention.  Here is one of Reese and one of Elder Smith, his district leader from Bad Bentheim:

In the absence of monkeys, Reese improvised:

The missionary work continued apace during the week.  They had several appointments and, while knocking doors, found a man whose sister was a missionary in Canada and made an appointment.  Sunday seemed like a good day.  A young man in their ward had his mission farewell and one of their investigators came to church.  They had a couple of other productive teaching appointments that day and Reese concluded "good week, all in all."  I close with a photo Reese sent of the sky near Osnabruck that I thought was beautiful:

Week #10 in Osnabruck (11 November 2013).  From Reese's letter it sounds like he and Elder Mitchell had a good productive week.  On Tuesday they took a double-decker bus up to Bippen (about 47 km from Osnabruck) to help an investigator paint his home and to talk about the gospel.  Here are a couple of funny photos from the front of the upper-deck during the bus ride to Bippen:

Reese and Elder Mitchell taught a "thema" at the zone training meeting on the subject of worthiness and both thought it went quite well.  They also had a fulfilling teaching appointment with a couple of Russian investigators that Reese was excited about.  Otherwise, it was mostly a week of finding.  The work remains challenging and they did not have investigators to church.  Still, the letter seemed upbeat.  My guess is that they are feeling optimism because they continue to work hard--says Dad proudly.

Week #9 in Osnabruck (4 November 2013).  Reese had a half-mission conference in Hamburg this week at which Elder Patrick Kearon and Elder Christian Fingerle (Area Seventy from Germany) did training.  Here is a photo of the missionaries gathered in a stake center in Hamburg.  Reese is five rows back in the middle:

Reese met up with a couple of former Timpview classmates--Elder Randall and Elder Karpowitz--and also saw his former companion, Elder Karlen, who is now serving in Hamburg.  Here are three photos:

To get to the conference, Reese and Elder Mitchell took a train to Hamburg and spent the night there with the zone leaders and the assistants.  On the way to Hamburg, they had a stopover in Bremen and visited a large carnival next to the train station for about thirty minutes.  Here are a couple of photos:

                                                                        Elder Mitchell and Elder Hale

The work in Osnabruck moved forward this week, albeit mostly by way of finding.  Reese and Elder Mitchell continue to work steadily and found a couple of new investigators in Bramsche.  They were excited about it. 





Week #8 in Osnabruck (28 October 2013).  Another solid week of finding, although the work continues to be a challenge.  They did find a couple of new investigators with promise, which Reese was excited about.  They also helped a young man in their branch, who will be serving a mission, fill out paperwork for his visa.  Reese commented that one of the things he enjoyed about the branch was that he was able to pass or bless the sacrament every week because there is only one deacon and one priest.  I like the way Reese concluded his letter because it is an insight into how the work in Germany sometimes goes:  "All in all, a long but good week of finding.  I wish we could have had a little more appointments, but that is just the way it is sometimes.  I guess I am thankful that we can actually find people.  I know sometimes you can do a whole week of finding and have absolutely nothing.  Life is pretty good."  I'll conclude with two photos Reese sent--one of him and one of Elder Mitchell:

Week #7 in Osnabruck (21 October 2013).  This sounded like a fairly tough week.  Reese and Elder Mitchell worked hard but had a lot of appointments fall out.  Still, they had a great experience with an investigator who came to Church and who loved Elder Nelson's conference talk. 

Week #6 in Osnabruck (14 October 2013).  This week concluded Reese's first transfer in Osnabruck.  He and Elder Mitchell will be staying together for another transfer.  Reese seemed pleased:  "All in all, a good week.  The work is going forward, and I am confident we will see a baptism soon.  Just gotta keep working.  Our whole district is staying together, and I think we will all do well."  Reese had a zone training meeting in Oldenburg on Wednesday.  Here is a photo:

Here is a photo of Reese's district (top Sister Brown, Sister Hayden, Elder Smith, Elder Mitchell; kneeling Reese and Elder Hale) taken at the zone training meeting:

And here's a photo of Elder Mitchell resting on the bus on the way home and one of the countryside through which they were passing:

Finally, here is one more photo of Reese's district taken this week:

As seems quite common for Osnabruck given the size of the area, Reese taught a promising investigator couple in Bippen, which required a two-hour bus ride.  Reese went on a tausch with his district leader, Elder Smith (in the red tie in the center above) and they did a lot of successful finding in two small towns--Rheine and Nordhorn.  Reese said they went "fuchsteufelswild," which translates to we went crazy, in other words, it was a great day.

Week #5 in Osnabruck (7 October 2013).  Reese had another solid week of finding efforts.  He indicated that he was beginning to understand why missionary work needed to be evaluated on the quality of the effort rather than the numbers.  It's an important principle and, I suppose, the blessing and challenge of serving in Germany.  One night they did a lot of doors and were rejected and "laughed at" a lot. We admire him for pressing forward even when it is tough.  Reese closed his letter as follows:  "All in all, things are beginning to pick up. We are really beginning to find some solid investigators, and branch is getting behind us.  I am excited to keep pushing forward with the work."  Here's one fun GQ picture of Reese (holding camera) and Elder Mitchell.  It looks like they bought a couple of bow ties for styling in their apartment:

Here is another photo of Reese (holding his camera) and Elder Mitchell cooking some sort of sausage dish in their kitchen: