Week #3 in Hannover (10 March 2014).  It was another joyful week for Reese.  A sister, whose husband is a member, was baptized and Reese felt blessed by a small miracle associated with making the baptismal service happen.  They also had their zone training meeting.  Here are two photos of the zone, one serious and the other silly:

Week #2 in Hannover (3 March 2014).  Reese titled his email "Who Needs Sleep Anyway," and concluded by saying:  "This week was chalk full, but a lot of fun.  I am super tired, but happy."  It sounds like they are working hard and having the opportunity to teach a number of investigators, including a couple of new ones they found during the week.  The busiest part of the week was a trip to Freiberg for a missionary leadership council.  President Kosak arranged for a special session at the temple for mission leaders, which Reese said he truly enjoyed.  Here are a couple of photos of Reese and Elder Atkinson outside the Freiberg Temple early in the morning and another one of Reese on his own:

The following photo is one of the entire mission leadership council taken later that same morning.  Reese said that he really enjoyed the chance to be with this group:

President Kosak, who grew up in Cottbus, in former East Germany, was present when the temple was dedicated in 1985, before the Berlin Wall fell.  He posted these two interesting photos from the time of the dedication on the mission website.  It's fun to see all of the trabants in the first photo and to see President Hinckley and President Monson in the second photo.  Now that the Berlin Wall has fallen and Germany has been reunified, it is easy to forget what a remarkable blessing it was to build a temple in Communist East Germany:

On the way to Freiberg, they spent the night in Meissen with the Meissen elders and Reese went out to do some finding with the junior companion, Elder Clarke.   Meissen is the city from which most of the Timpview exchange students come (from a school called Fransiskaneum Meißen).  Reese's brother, Jimmy, and his father had visited Meissen a few years ago and so it was fun to picture Reese doing some missionary work in the same city. Below is a picture of the Meissen Cathedral and Albrechtsburg Castle along the Elbe River, which runs by Meissen.  The photo isn't great but it gives some sense of the area through which Reese traveled from Meissen to Freiberg.

The way back home required a 3:00 am start and a bus to Dresden followed by a train to Leipzig and then back to Hannover.   Elder Atkinson took a photo of a tired Reese waiting for the bus from Meissen to Dresden:

During the layover in Leipzig, they made a quick stop at Lukas Donuts:

On the trip to Dresden, Reese was able to spend some time with Elder Ruckaure, who was in Reese's very first Chemnitz district and who is now a zone leader in Dresden.  Upon their return, they had a couple of lessons and then the next day, Sunday, they were able to eat dinner with a family of Fijian saints who, in best Polynesian fashion, prepared a true feast for the missionaries.  Here is a photo of the group and one of some of the food at the feast:

Finally, I include one more photo of Reese and Elder Atkinson with a group of happy students on Faschingsfest, which is something a bit like Halloween:

Week #1 in Hannover (24 February 2014).  Reese said good-bye to Osnabruck.  On Monday evening he said good-bye to the Kosters and to Matthias and Bernard.  Here are four photos:

Tuesday was transfer day.  Here are a couple of photos of Reese at the Osnabruck train station before his 70-minute train ride to Hannover.  Notice that he and Elder Hogan are wearing their "companionship ties," a tradition in the Berlin mission.

The "selfie" above is of Reese and L-R, Elder Hale (headed for Schwerin), Elder Saunders (staying), and Elder Hogan.  Here is one more of Reese and Elder Hale with Elder Hogan in the background.

Reese sounded like he was happy to be in Hannover.  The work is moving forward and they will have a number of opportunities to teach the gospel.  Reese said he and his new companion, Elder Atkinson, "get along really well and he has really good German."  He said Elder Atkinson "just knows how to work," which is very high praise from Reese.  Here is a photo of Reese with Elder Atkinson:

 Here is a photo of Hannover from the back window of his new apartment:

Reese and Elder Atkinson have responsibility for the Hannover East zone.  Here is a map with a basic outline of the zone, in dark blue:

They share their apartment with the ZLs for the Hannover West zone--Elder Haid and Elder Smith.  Elder Smith was Reese's district leader in Osnabruck and they also served together in the Chemnitz zone.  Reese has great respect for him.  Here is Elder Smith after some cupboard tidying work:

Overall, Reese simply sounded joyful.  He enjoys his companion; they have opportunities to teach the gospel; they both want to work hard; and the ward appears to be supportive.  He concluded his letter:  "All in all, Hannover is super cool. . . .  This week is looking good.  We have my first Mission Leadership Council (MLC) on Friday, at the temple in Freiberg!  I am looking forward to that.  It is fun being here and we are going to do really well."