Week #12 in Oldenburg (20 October 2014). Another happy and productive week for Reese.  For P-Day they went laser-tagging with a member friend.  Here is a photo:

The next day they had the chance to tausch with the assistants and Reese reported having a fun and productive time knocking doors with Elder Nelson.  Here is a photo of Elder Nelson (on left, with Elder Weisner, the other assistant, on right) taken at their Leadership Training Meeting, apparently teaching that the reason the Savior's yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30) is that we are yoked beside him:

Later that evening they had another delightful teaching appointment with the sister and her daughters who have been investigating the Church so seriously.  On Wednesday, they drove up to Hamburg for a Leadership Training Meeting.  Here is a photo:

On Sunday, they had eight investigators at Church and Reese was thrilled with how many investigators were making progress.  Finally, I include a photo of Reese gagging a bit over some Chinese food.  Notice the wall behind him with photos of family and some of those whom he has taught and baptized during his mission.  It's a real source of joy to him.

Week #11 in Oldenburg (13 October 2014).  Reese reported another busy week of missionary work.  They had a zone training meeting on Wednesday.  Here are a couple of photos, one serious and the other silly:

They also had the chance to teach a sister investigator who, from the first visit, has been eager to learn more.  She also came to church on Sunday with her two daughters.  They made her some cookies, which Reese said tasted okay but turned out quite flat, probably because of old baking soda.  On Thursday, they traveled to Leer for a baptismal interview.  On Saturday, they had an open house at the Church and 15 people came.  President Kosak spoke at a fireside after the open house and Reese thought it was a great talk.  In an interview with President Kosak, Reese was told that, at the next transfer, he could choose to stay in Oldenburg or move to a new area.  Reese told the president that he was happy to do whatever he wanted him to do.  We shall see in a couple of weeks.  Reese concluded his letter:  "All in all, I am excited for the coming weeks.  We really have quite a bit going for us now (that would be one reason why it would be sad to leave here), and life is good."

Week #10 in Oldenburg (6 October 2014).  They had a Mission Leadership Council in Berlin and were able to visit the Berlin Wall.  Here is a photo of Reese and Elder Schaal at the Wall:

They also spent their p-day exploring Oldenburg with a friend who is investigating the Church:

Reese made some donut-looking item about which he seemed quite pleased because there were several photos.  Here is one:

 Finally, here is a photo from the Mission Leadership Council:

Week #9 in Oldenburg (29 September 2014).  Another good week for Reese.  They stayed busy with teaching and finding.  Here is one photo at a train station on p-day:

Week #8 in Oldenburg (22 September 2014).  Another wonderful week for Reese.  They were able to baptize an investigator who Reese respects a great deal.  He remarked that it was awesome to see her afterwards because she was "glowing" with happiness. It sounds like she will be a wonderful contributor to the branch.  Reese was also grateful for how the branch rallied around her.  The week was busy with a tausch to both Bremen and Wilhemshaven.  Not much in the way of photos.  Reese took this road sign shot, perhaps as a reminder that it was good to be back home after his tausch.

Week #7 in Oldenburg (15 September 2014).  Reese had a good and busy week.  One favorite investigator decided that she wanted to be baptized next week, which was a cause for rejoicing.  Reese met and began working with his new companion, Elder Schaal.  Here is a photo that Reese took, from arm's length, of the two of them:

One fun part of the week was the chance to drive over to an All-Mission Conference in Berlin to hear from Elder David A. Bednar.  Reese loved hearing from Elder Bednar.  Here is a photo of all the missionaries.  Reese, in best Rasband tradition, is in the back toward the left.

Finally, here are a couple of fun photos or Reese doing some sort of leaf trick:

Week #6 in Oldenburg (8 September 2014).  Reese and Elder Savage had another wonderful week, culminating in the opportunity to baptize the young son of some long-time investigators in the branch. The only blemish on the week was that p-day was spent with car problems;  Reese reported their car battery went kaput.  On Tuesday, they had a combined zone conference with the Hannover Zone, which Reese enjoyed because he saw many missionaries from his former zone.  Here is a photo of everyone together:

It was also transfer week in the mission.  Elder Savage is headed to the office in Berlin and Elder Schaal, who is from Stuttgart, will be joining Reese in Oldenburg.  Reese was sad to see Elder Savage go.  They've had a good experience together.  However, he was excited at the prospect of working with a native German companion.  It is something he has wanted since very early in the mission.  Here is a photo Elder Schaal (with black sweater) taken on the day he arrived in the mission from the Preston MTC in January 2014:

Finally, here are a couple of photos of an interesting hay configuration that Reese and Elder Savage found:

Week #5 in Oldenburg (1 September 2014).  Reese had a joyful week.  An "awesome" investigator was baptized.  Reese said the young man was absolutely glowing after his baptism and he looks like he will be a wonderful addition to the Oldenburg Branch.  Other investigators continued to make progress.  Reese and Elder Savage also made cookies for one of their investigators.  Here is a photo:

On Friday, they were in Berlin for Mission Leadership Council, which he really enjoyed.  The focus of the meeting was on finding, which Reese noted "is the hardest part of the mission, or at least the thing with which the mission struggles (I think it is a European mission problem)."  He and Elder Savage taught a thema on Elder Bednar's talk "Converted unto the Lord," and felt like it had gone well.  Here is a photo of the Mission Leadership Council:

Reese closed his letter:  "The work here is great and we are loving it!"

Week #4 in Oldenburg (25 August 2014).  Another happy week for Reese. Several investigators made progress and one set a date to be baptized.  Reese seemed completely joyful.  He had the opportunity to go on a tausch in Osnabrück.  He said: "At night we rode down to Osnabrück in the train - tried to do some "Rawky" (talking to people in public transport) and nothing came of it unfortunately. Elder Simmons and I rode back up to Oldenburg. I would have wanted to tausch down there, but Elder Savage didnt have his license yet."  The next night, "they drove back down to Osnabrück and spent the night there. (lots of memories - good but melancholy)."  On Friday evening, Reese went on another tausch, this time with Elder Young in Wilhelmshaven, with whom he was very impressed.  Reese concluded his letter:  "Things are really awesome in Oldenburg. We feel super blessed and are loving it!  Cool verse I read this week D&C 3:3. It totally is true this week. Sometimes all we have to do is keep pace with God - he is not the one slowing things down. :)"  Not much in the way of photos this week.  Here's one though:

Week #3 in Oldenburg (18 August 2014). It sounded like a busy week full of missionary work.  They are doing a lot of teaching and meeting a number of persons who have felt the Spirit and have been drawn to the Church.  Reese ended his letter:  "All in all it was a great week. We keep seeing a lot of miracles, and the city is awesome. Thanks for all of the support!  Love you!"  He seems joyful about the work.  He and Elder Savage kindly sent the selfie below just to make sure their parents stay stressed about their driving on the autobahn.  Luckily, the mission rule is nothing over 130 km.

Here is a photo of their Oldenburg district at district meeting:

Week #2 in Oldenburg (11 August 2014). It was another busy week.  One of the fun things to happen during the week was a visit from the Smith Family.  (Professor Gordon Smith works with Reese's father at the BYU Law School.) They were in Germany picking up their daughter, Eve, who had just finished her mission in the Alpine German mission.  Their son, Elder Smith, had just arrived in the Germany Berlin mission and is a "Golden" in Reese's zone.  They received permission for Eve to see their son, lest they go three years without contact.  The Smiths showed up to Oldenburg just as the missionaries were completing a zone training meeting and President Kosak gave permission for them to take Reese and Elder Savage to dinner along with their son and his companion.  Here are a couple of photos from the dinner:

And here is a photo of Reese, Elder Savage and Elder Smith driving away from the dinner.  Apparently, they inherited the sunglasses from the prior ZLs but, as Gordon pointed out, they have embraced the look.

Finally, here are two photos of the zone at their training meeting.  It's fun to see the joy in their faces--both when they are serious and when they are silly.

Week #1 in Oldenburg (4 August 2014).  Reese sounded happy and productive in his first letter from Oldenburg.  The outgoing ZLs had been teaching several persons that Reese and Elder Savage were eager to get to know.  They were excited that four investigators came to Church.  He said that one of the outgoing ZLs, Elder Brown, had been able to stay a couple of days with them in a drit (threesome), which had been very helpful to assist them in getting to know the area.  The week was a bit busy because they had a mission leadership council in Berlin, which required them to leave on Tuesday night and return very late on Wednesday night.  Reese enjoyed the MLC and seemed eager to put the principles to work.  Here is a photo of Reese and the MLC in Berlin and another photo of Elder Savage with their Opal Corsa.  (Reese noted that it was odd to drive again after 18 months of not driving.)

Here are a couple of photos of Reese's apartment building: