Week #18 in Oldenburg (1 December 2014).  A joyful week for Reese.  Thursday was a delightful, Reese said "legendary," American Thanksgiving at Brother and Sister Benson's home.  Here are a couple of photos:

                                                     Bro. & Sis. Benson with table set

                                       L to R:  Elders Wilde, Smith and Youngblood

The following day Reese wrote, "freitag gings richtig los," which, roughly translated, means, "on Friday things really took off."  That day they felt prompted to tract in a particular complex and found a woman who had been searching for the truth.  She came to Church on Sunday, had a wonderful experience, and asked to be baptized and so they set a date for just before Christmas.  Then, Saturday was a joyful day because of the baptism of the two daughters of a wonderful sister who was baptized a couple of weeks ago.  Reese was excited to see the whole family so happy.  They will be a wonderful addition to the Oldenburg branch.

The other big news of the week is that Reese is being transferred to Berlin for the last five weeks of his missionary service.  The mission lingo is that he is being "ghosted."  I suppose this is because he will be such a short-term presence in his last area.  This was probably necessary because Reese is coming home one week early to enroll in BYU, albeit a couple of days after the semester has started.  In Berlin, Reese's new companion, Elder Borgholthaus, should be able to work in a threesome for that last week.  Reese is excited to make the best of it.  His new district actually includes two former companions from Oldenburg (Elder Schaal and Elder Savage), the Oldenburg ZL who Reese replaced and who introduced him to the area for a couple of days, as well as Sister Blake, another Timpview High School alum, and Sister Toma, both of whom, like Reese, served in Osnabruck in the Oldenburg District.  As Reese described it:  "It is pretty much the Oldenburg Hall of Fame."  Here is a photo of Elder Borgholthaus from when he entered the mission in July 2014.  He's on the right.

Reese closed his letter:  "Oh Oldenburg, I will miss you!"  He surely will.  He has loved the members and those who have investigated and in some cases joined the Church while he served there.  He took several photos of beloved branch members who have been so kind to him.  The photos convey something of what a joy it is to be a missionary in Oldenburg, Germany:

 

    The Fulda Family

                                                                   The Hermann Family

                                                                  The Tulp Family

                                                                  The Schlalos Family

                                                                  Brother Brederhorn

                                                                   Brother Lehmann

                                                                       Brother Schoppa

                                                                           Ijeh

Week #17 in Oldenburg (24 November 2014).  Reese continues to be happy in the work.  The exciting news of the week is that the two daughters of the sister who was recently baptized themselves want to be baptized.  Reese was excited for them and was pleased with how integrated they were with the branch, noting that the older daughter had attended an overnight youth activity during the week.  He also had the chance to attend district meeting in Osnabruck.  It's always a treat to return to an old area.  Reese mentioned they taught one investigator on her doorstep rather than in her house because their joint teach wasn't able to make it and they aren't allowed to teach single sisters.  Reese wrote:  "That is a tough rule, by the way, but obedience is important."  As mentioned last week, they had a Turkey Bowl on p-day.  Here are a couple of photos from the Turkey Bowl of what appears to be a happy group of missionaries:

 

Week #16 (17 November 2014).  Another joyful letter from Reese full of progress for investigators and visits to Bremen for a district meeting, to his own district meeting, and to Hamburg on Sunday evening.  He closed his letter:  "It has been, as usual, another solid week in the O-Zone. We are having a Turkey Bowl with the zone today, and I am really excited. Time is going by way too fast.  Love you and have a great week!"  One of the week's surprises was a Sunday evening performance by "The Piano Guys" in Hamburg.  The Piano Guys are an LDS group of musicians who do all kinds of fun music videos, some of which are viewable at this link.  Here is a photo of the gathered missionaries.  Reese is toward the back on the right: 

At the event, they had a mini-reunion of former Oldenburg Zone Leaders and took this photo:

From L to R: Elder & Sister Benson, Elder Brown, Elder Savage, Elder Rasband, Elder Schaal, and Elder Youngblood.
 
At the recent mission leadership council in Berlin, there was another reunion of sorts of mission leaders who attended Timpview High School.  Here is a photo of the group, sporting T-Bird wings:

From L. to R.:  Elder Randall, Elder Rasband, Elder Christensen, Elder Karpowitz, and Sister Blake.

Week #15 in Oldenburg (10 November 2014). Reese was joyful in his letter, quoting his former German companion Elder Schaal and saying "this week was bombastic."  The wonderful news was the baptism of the sister who first learned about the Church on the internet several weeks ago and who has come to church and eagerly learned all she could about the gospel ever since.  Reese reported that he "had the privilege of baptizing [her], and it was awesome. She was absolutely glowing afterwards and there was a lot of support for her there."

On Wednesday they had a Zone Training Meeting.  Here are a couple of photos:

Reese also told the story of singing happy birthday to an investigator who said "it was the first time in her life that someone has sung to her. I guess it showed me that sometimes I take the little things for granted."  Reese also said that "[a]nother thing we put into motion this week is a study of Preach My Gospel in the whole District Oldenburg. We went to District Council on Sunday and proposed it. We are going to start in January and study one section together per month in all the branches.  Elder Schaal and I had that idea, and we had a goal for October that every member gets a copy of it, and we are super excited that it is finally getting rolling. I hope that we really can stay at it, and create some more unity in the District!"  He concluded his letter:  "I'm excited for the work in Oldenburg, and the members here are eating it up. Life is great, and I'm continuing to enjoy the mission. Have a great week!"

Here are a couple of more photos from the week.  It looks like they had a fun Halloween party.

Week #14 in Oldenburg (3 November 2014). Reese reported another "solid" week.  The most exciting news was that the wonderful sister they have been teaching decided she wanted to be baptized the following Saturday.  On Wednesday, Reese returned to Osnabruck to conduct a baptismal interview, which would have been thrilling news for the branch, except that the baptism ultimately did not happen.  Too bad.  On Thursday evening, they took the train to Berlin and stayed with the Tiergarten elders in anticipation of the mission leadership council the next day.  Here is a photo of the council:

 
Because it was President Kosak's birthday, all of the leaders and all of the missionaries serving in Berlin did a flash mob and sang "Lead Kindly Light" at lunch.  They had three investigator families at Church and then after church had the chance to give a priesthood blessing to a recently baptized member of the branch.  Reese closed:  "Great week and the next week is also looking great.  I'm excited for it."

Week #13 in Oldenburg (27 October 2014).  Transfers were the primary news this week.  Elder Schaal is headed to Berlin to be an assistant and Reese will be staying in Oldenburg where Elder Youngblood will join him.  This will be the third new ZL companion in a row.  Here is a photo of Elder Youngblood (he's the red head on the left):

In other news, a couple of investigators continued to make progress.  In fact, one expressed the desire to be baptized and they set a date.  Elder Schaal left for the mission office on Sunday and so Reese is spending a couple of days working with the Wilhelmshaven elders.  Fortunately, Reese did not have to miss his branch meetings on Sunday because there was a district conference in Bremen.  Reese was thus able to attend with his Oldenburg branch as well as see friends from Osnabruck.  Three investigators came and a baptismal service was held after the district conference, at which Reese handled the translation.  One bit of fun news:  at the district conference, Reese met Bishop Bunting of the Bremen ward.  Bishop Bunting is the son of President Bunting, Reese's home stake president.  Here is a photo from their meeting:

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: