Week #21 in Chemnitz (July 15, 2013).  Reese said that the week had been a full and busy one and that he was "thankful to be in a bigger city."   They had a zone training meeting and here are two pictures from that meeting:

Afterward, Reese and Elder Karlen went to KFC at Chemnitz Center for an American chicken feast with Elder Bendixen and Elder Frenkel (Hohenstein Elders).  Here are three pictures from the lunch.  I suppose one can't have a cultural experience every day.  Reese said he ate so much he used his own funds:

Week #20 in Chemnitz (July 8, 2013).  Reese had a solid week, although without the wonderful success of the prior week.  Still, he and Elder Karlen continued to work hard.  They celebrated the 4th of July with a district lunch with burgers, chips and rootbeer floats.  After lunch, they set up a street display but apparently a group of hooligans bugged them the entire time and it didn't work well.  Reese and Elder Karlen have begun singing in the ward choir to get closer to the ward members.  He commented that this week they were the only two men in the choir, which he noted was quite awkward and quite difficult.  Here is one photo from the week:

Week #19 in Chemnitz (July 2, 2013).  Reese took P-Day on Tuesday this week so that he, Elder Karlen and their Chemnitz district could attend the Freiberg temple.  Reese said they had a great time at the temple.  The session was actually in Czech but Reese listened to it in German on headphones. Here is a photo of his district at the temple:

 

It sounded like they had a wonderful week of missionary work.  They taught several Germans and a couple accepted challenges to be baptized.  It sounded like he and Elder Karlen were working hard and having fun together. At the tierpark (zoo) this week, Reese worked with Elder Brindley, who is 6'8".  He sent a great picture of the two of them that I can't locate.

After one of those rare, awesome mission weeks filled with joyful teaching, Reese concluded his letter by saying:  "I am doing pretty well. I think it is fun to work with Germans, finally.  I am enjoying my mission and I finally feel like I won't really run into many problems with German.  I still have a long way to go before it is perfect, but it is fun to be able to talk with all the members and to not be as scared on the street. I am pretty tired all the time, but I know it is the good kind of tired. I still think of the law of consecration a lot. I finished Jesus the Christ, and am now going to start reading more in the D&C. I am excited.  I read the Pearl of Great Price.  I . . .  like how our church is continually learning....."

Week #18 in Chemitz (24 June 2013).  Reese said they had a jam-packed week.  And a hot one.  Apparently, the temperature got up to around 36 Celcius (almost 97 degrees Fahrenheit).  On Thursday, they took a train to Leipzig for a Zone Conference.  Reese thought it was a great conference and was particularly energized by the emphasis on scripture study.  He said that, since the conference, he had been reading slower but much more effectively.  He also enjoyed the testimony meeting. Here are two pictures from the zone conference, the first of the entire zone and the second of the training portion of the meeting:

It sounded like they met a few new investigators, a couple of whom expressed sincere interest in the gospel.  It will be fun to hear of any progress next week.

Week #17 in Chemnitz (June 17, 2013).  Reese had another good week.  On Tuesday, he put Elder Pack and Elder Roberts (from Annaberg) on a train.  He then spent a couple of days with Elder Mitchell who is serving in Annaberg, which is to the south of Chemnitz.  They spent some of Tuesday and Wednesday in Chemnitz and then taught a lesson in Annaberg.  On Thursday morning, they woke up and headed for Berlin where he met his new companion, Elder Karlen.  He is enjoying Elder Karlen.

The big news of the week was that on Sunday they were able to baptize a university student who Reese and Elder Pack had met just before Easter.  Reese was able to perform the ordinance.  Reese also introduced Elder Karlen to Doners:

Here's another picture of Elder Karlen, just before knocking his first missionary door:

 

Week #16 in Chemnitz (10 June 2013 letter).  Reese learned this week that Elder Pack will be going to the mission office in Berlin and Reese will also go to Berlin to pick up a "Golden," a new missionary.  It sounded like a good week.  One beloved investigator continued to make progress with the Word of Wisdom and came and enjoyed the full block of church meetings.  Reese said that they were out tracting and a man screamed at them for ringing his doorbell.  Reese noted that they had a permit (Ausweiss) for knocking but the man still ran inside to call the police.  Reese said they moved on but noted cheerily that in Germany calling the police requires paying a fee.  Reese said that, as part of his service at the zoo, he had to dress up as a mouse (Elder Haas was a lion), and play with a group of disabled children.  He said it was fun but hot inside the suit despite a relatively cool day.  He noted his newfound respect for Disneyland workers.  Here is a photo of the two of them and then one of Reese:

Reese also said that on Thursday, after district meeting, they did a street display that mostly involved singing without much in the way of interest. Oh well.  Here are a couple of fun pictures of his Chemnitz district:

Because Elder Pack was leaving for Berlin, they visited a few friends at the university to take pictures.  Here are a couple of those photos:

On his last p-day with Elder Pack, the district went bowling.  Here is a picture of Reese with Sister Schmidt and Elder Dzierzon at the bowling alley.

Reese was pleased that he managed to bowl a 202 and join the 200 club in Germany as well.

On Thursday (June 13), we learned on the mission blog that Reese's new companion will be Elder Casey Karlen from Glendora, California.  Here's Elder Karlen's "I'm a Mormon" page.  Here's the regular photo of Reese with Elder Karlen and President and Sister Kosak:

Here is one more photo of all the June 2013 trainers together in Berlin:

Week #15 in Chemnitz (June 3, 2013 Letter).  Reese said that Chemnitz was one-half underwater because it had been raining for 2.5 weeks.  Half of Zwickau had been evacuated.  Here are some photos of the flooding in Chemitz:

It sounded like they had a good week.  Brother Liu went with them on a joint teach that Reese said had gone very well.  Another investigator came to a young ward member's baptism and had a good experience.  They continue to teach an English class every Thursday evening.  Here is a picture of Reese at the English class:

Reese also put a few more pictures in dropbox.  Here are three.  We're choosing to assume the first picture is Apple Beer. :)  Ahh, the life of a missionary.

Week #14 in Chemnitz (May 28, 2013 Letter).  Reese wrote one day later than usual because they took their p-day on Tuesday so they could go to the temple in Freiberg.  The big news for the week was that one of Reese's investigators accepted the gospel and was baptized.  Here are a couple of pictures taken just before the baptism, which Reese said was attended by about 30 ward members:

L to R:  Reese, Litse Liu, Elder Pack

A copy of the program from the baptismal service:

Reese has been teaching Brother Liu since he arrived in Chemnitz.  (Remember the story of Reese and his companion foregoing chocolate while their investigator was giving up coffee.)  I think this was a happy day for him. 

As I mentioned above, Reese also went to the temple.  He and Elder Pack not only did a session but were able to do confirmations in German and serve as witnesses for baptisms for some members from Poland.  Reese sent along these photos from the temple:

His district also went to the temple.  Here are a few pictures of Reese and his district at a beautiful garden in Freiberg:

Reese and Elder Pack

L to R: Sister Schmidt, Sister Pitek, Elder Pack, Elder Dzierzon.

L to R: Pack, Dzierzon, Ashby, Rasband

 L to R: Pack, Dzierzon, Ashby, Rasband

   L to R: Pack, Dzierzon, Ashby, Rasband

Week #13 in Chemnitz (May 20, 2013 Letter).  Before I turn to Reese's letter, I thought I would post two photos of Reese's Chemnitz zone.  They had a zone training meeting this week.  Reese said he enjoyed his interview with President Kosak and that the President "loved" his planner, which was pleasing to him.   Sister Kosak posted two photos from the zone training meeting.  Reese, and the rest of the missionaries seems quite happy.  The first photo is a standard zone picture.  The second is the jovial zone picture.

Here is another picture of Reese, Elder Pack and an investigator at SchlossTeich Lake in Chemnitz:

Reese also sent these two photos.  I'm not sure where they were taken.

Reese's letter this week sounded cheerful.  They had stake conference this weekend.  Chemnitz is part of the Dresden stake.  Sixty missionaries sang at the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference.  The following photo was posted on the mission blog of the missionaries singing.  We can't see Reese but he was part of the group. 

Reese had the chance to go on splits with the APs after the zone training meeting.  They visited a less active member who Elder Bangerter had baptized earlier in his mission and so it sounds like Elder Bangerter served in Chemnitz.  They had a couple of very good "joint teaches" of investigators with members of the Chemnitz ward that Reese seemed pleased by.  Overall, it sounded like a good week.

Week #12 in Chemnitz (May 13, 2013 Letter).  Before I get to the letter, I have to mention that we had the chance to talk with Reese via Skype for Mother's Day on Saturday, May 12.  The technology actually worked quite well.  We were able to patch in Rachel and Blake (although we didn't have a video link to them because they don't have a "Premium" account.  On our end, Mom, Dad, Jimmy (and for part of it, Grandy and Papa) participated.  Even Noosa made a quick appearance.  It was great to see Reese.  He was in a private booth at an internet café.  We also had the chance to say a quick "hi" to his companion, Elder Pack and also to the zone leaders, who were calling home from the same place--Elder Ashby and Elder Dzierzon.  Both of the zone leaders made nice comments about Reese.  It was evident that they were all getting along well.  Here is a photo of Elder Ashby and Elder Dzierzon on a bus:

Reese looked good.  It made us miss him more, particularly when he said that the next Skype conversation would occur at Christmas.  Reese, however, seemed unfazed. In his letter on the following Monday, he said the call had spurred him forward.

As far as the letter, Reese said that although it wasn't a great "numbers" week, they actually accomplished a lot.  The highlight of the week was that Reese had four investigators come to Church.  They really seemed to enjoy the Mother's Day sacrament meeting.  On Wednesday, Reese said that their finding efforts had been somewhat limited because of "himmelfahrt" (Heaven Travel), which he said was "pretty crazy" with a "lot of people [who] were really drunk."  Overall, though, Reese said it had been a fun week that was uplifting for him.

Week #11 in Chemnitz (May 6, 2013 Letter).  Reese's letter this week was cheerful and it sounds like they've been quite busy with missionary work.  They continue to conduct a FHE for investigators, teach an English class and do service every week at the Zoo.  Interestingly, he mentioned that at the end of one discussion, the investigator had a guitar and Reese "played him a song I learned on it. I think he liked that, because he doesn't know how to play it. Did I mention yet that I am sort of learning to play some guitar from other Elders?  I can play 2 pretty cool songs, and it is pretty fun. I can play all right because of the experience with the bass."  (If you are wondering, no, he hadn't mentioned it.  Interesting.)

It sounded like Sunday went very well.  One of their investigators came to Church and had a good experience.  They had a nice dinner with the bishop.  Reese also had a nice compliment from one of the Zone Leaders, who is from the German state of Bayern, about his German being "already way good."  It made Reese's day.  Here is one funny picture that Reese sent of his body with a Karl Marx bust.  I assume this was taken in the City Center.  During the East German era, Chemnitz was known as Karl Marx Stadt.

Week #10 in Chemnitz (April 29, 2013 Letter).   Reese said that his "German is coming along little by little, I think. As they say here, schritt für schritt." They did quite a bit of street contacting this week and had some success--at least they had a number of good conversations about the Church.  A couple of his investigators came to sacrament meeting and had a good experience.  Transfer calls came this week and Reese will be staying with Elder Pack for another six weeks.  He also said that they were splitting the Hanover zone into east and west.  Here is a mission map with the new zones:

Reese also sent a couple of photos.  The first is with him and a brother in the Chemnitz Ward who they visit every week and for whom they buy groceries.  The second is a random picture of Reese with a bouquet of flowers.  I'm not quite sure where the flowers came from but at least it is a picture of Reese.