Liebe Grüße aus Göppingen!‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Transfer #2! Already! Meine Gute! But! So far, so good!
So! Göppingen! I am officially in love with this place. It's funny, I thought it might take a little while to warm up to a new area but...nope! Haha. But, we'll get there...
So our last few days in Ulm were actually really great. Tuesday we had our last district meeting, and then lunch with the elders. It was good. Two of our Elders went home last week, so they shared their testimonies and let us "ask them holes in their stomachs" (the German saying for ask them a lot of questions..) about advice and lessons they learned and whatnot. Then that night, some of the people in our branch had a little goodbye dinner for us.
And Wednesday! We got a new investigator for the Elders to teach! She actually requested missionaries to visit her via the church site. We had a lesson with her, and she is a sweet middle aged lady named Frau Wendt who is really looking for something more in her religion. I think she'll be great for the Elders. It is so neat meeting the people who are just PREPARED for the gospel! Like they always tell us here in the field: we aren't preparing people. God has already prepared them. It is just our job to find them. I truly believe that.
Annnd number one lesson I learned Thursday: Elders. Are. Disgusting. Of course that exscludes any elders whose apartments do NOT look like the one we moved in to on Thursday....I honestly question if that place was EVER cleaned. So! We spent the first solid 3 hours in our new home scrubbing the place down and de-health-hazarding everything. There was moss growing in the refrigerator. Not mold, straight up moss. Gross. Bahah not to mention the lack of anything edible in the place! It was...Elders food. But! At any rate, I actually love the new place. It is on the 4th floor. We live in...a Seniors Residence. Ok not really. We live above the Seniors Residence. And there are lots of windows and lots of sunshine and I love it:) Then we had Gemeinderat (ward council) on Thursday night, so that was a nice little welcome. Hah, so we get there and some of the Sisters said "Oh! Sister Bice! We heard you have a beautiful voice!"..Germany is a big place. But where the church members are concerned, it's like a small town relief society...word gets around fast. Hah.
Umm! Friday we had lunch/a lesson with..Familie Weilguni! They are so cool! The mom reminds me a bit of my dear mother, and they have 3 darling kids. The dad is inactive, so they could never have the elders over, but they are SO excited we are here. I like 'em. It was funny, Schwester Weilguni was talking, and all the sudden stopped and said "sorry, am I speaking to fast?" I said "um..uh..kind of? But it's ok?" And she said "It's just that your German is so good that I forget that you've only been here a month and a half. It really is astounding". That was sweet of her. Some days I feel like I still don't know anything. But I really have learned a lot since being in the field. I kind of had to. I even translated a little bit for a Sister on Sunday! Baha. Don't know how accurate it was but...
Mmk so speaking of the sister on Sunday..her name is Esther. She is african american, with a 2 year old daughter named Fortress. We had a lesson with her Friday....sort of. We got there, then her phone rang and she asked if she could take it. Then she went in the other room and started prayer-singing..in a very traditional enthusiastic African American fashion....for the next 30 minutes. Finally we asked if we could just come back..hah on the notes the elders left us, it says "sometimes she starts singing Jesus praises in the middle of the lessons." We have another appointment with her on Tuesday. Fingers crossed?
So the rest of our week was spent trying to contact potentials, less actives, and visiting people from the ward. I have never met a ward so absolutely ecstatic to have Sister missionaries in my whole life! Apparently they had a bad run of luck with their Elders here? Keine Ahnung. But they sure are happy to see us, which is great. The branch we are in is fantastic. There are so many children! And the members as a whole are just super excited about the gospel and about missionary work, which is awesome! I really love it here. The area hasn't had any baptisms in at least three years, but we're going to change that. The elders didn't really leave us with much, but we've found a few good potentials and we have quite a few appointments for the coming week. Bring it on. :)
Quick thought! So I was thinking this week about what it means to "consecrate your time unto the Lord" and I remembered something one of the Elders in my MTC district said. He compared it to consecrating oil. When oil is consecrated (for blessings..) it is done so 1) by the priesthood 2) in the name of Jesus Christ and 3) it is then never used for any other purpose other than that for which it was consecrated. Well like I said, I've been thinking about how and what it means to consecrate your time unto the Lord as a missionary. As missionaries, we are set apart 1) by the priesthood, 2) in the name of Christ and therefor, we should not use our time for anything other that for the purposes of the Lord. Sometimes that is a little easier said that done, but, it CAN be done. It is all about setting goals, then working to reach those goals. I will admit, that has never been my forte..but I am working on it. I really want to be able to look back at the end of my mission and say "Lord, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 4:7) but! That starts by living each day with that same attitude. There is some really great stuff on accountability in Preach My Gospel. If you have access to one, you should read it:)
Anywho, I am short on time, but I am SO EXCITED for General Conference this weekend!!!!!! I love General Conference. I hope you all watch it! I will forward on to you a challenge I received to write down at least one question before conference, and as you listen, you will get an answer. At the very least...stay awake! What an incredible privilege we have to hear a PROPHET OF GOD speak to US! So neat.
I love you all! I am sorry there isn't a whole lot to report on this week! I got quite ill and was laid up in bed for a day or so which slowed things down but, I am feeling better, and ready to get out there and give 'em heaven!
Much love,
Sister Bice

14!‏

Bahahaha I was a little excited about this. :)

Dear Friends and Family,

Hallo! Wie geht's? What a week I had! I hardly know where to start...

14! So our district had a "competition" this week to see who could place the most Bücher Mormon...Sister Shulze and I came in first with 14. It was really neat to focus so much on the Book of Mormon. We'll have to keep that going.

Mmk! Well! Tuesday, we had our Leadership Training meeting in Stuttgart, and it was SO GOOD! President and Sister Miles came, and I learned so much from both them and from our Zone leaders and the Assistants. It was a great spiritual boost, and a great time to think up some new goals for this new transfer..

After the meeting, we had an...exchange! With the Sisters from Pforzheim. It was so great! I went to Pforzheim with Sister Taysom, and learned a lot from her in those 24 hours! She just hit her halfway mark. I can't believe that will be me before I know it! At any rate, it ended up being the best exchange ever..because we did service for a family..who just so happened to live on the military base..who just so happened to need to go shopping...so! I stocked up on some stuff at the American Grocery store that you can't buy here in Germany. Woo! So the family we visited was darling. 3 little boys, and such a love for the gospel. I always love seeing families like that. Reminds me of home:)

Scripture real quick! 2 corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight". I really love that. I feel like this first transfer has really taught me a lot about "walking by faith". I mean, what choice did I have? Hah. When i found this scripture, I thought of an activity we did one year at girls camp. our leaders took us to an obstacle course in the middle of the forest. And then blindfolded us. They assigned us one person, who's voice we were supposed to follow. Easy enough right? Right. Until you factor in all the OTHER people they had place along the way to distract us. You really had to focus on the voice of that one person, and move forward with faith, trusting that they wouldn't lead you into a tree or whatever. Well! Such is life. We have the voice of the spirit, which, in theory should be easy enough to follow, right? Right. until you factor in all of the other voices. There are always so many voices in the world competing for our attention, that if we aren't REALLY focusing on the Spirit, he will be drowned out, and we will be left to walk by sight. I am still working on getting the hang of it, but I know that as we really, really, REALLY try to listen for the spirit and rely on Him, our days will be led by faith, and not by sight.

Umm! Was noch? We had an ausstellung here in Ulm on Saturday, and it was AWESOME! The 4 elders in our district came, and we had lots of support from the ward members. I love blocking out 3 hours to do nothing but contacting. Because! As we all well know, you can't teach until you find.

Mmk so mom, you asked about Debbie. Well. Sad story. While I was in Pforzheim, she called. At midnight. And essentially..dropped us. I was heart broken when I heard the news. But we continued to pray for her, and on Saturday decided to stop by her house. She wasn't home. So we left a note. And! She called us Saturday night, and un-dropped us! Best day ever! And what's better? She came to church again yesterday! Ah! We were able to have a really great investigator class with her. We talked about the first vision. It is amazing to see how the Lord prepares His children to hear the gospel. Debbie is SO PREPARED! Now we just need to get her to see that. She said, before we even started, "yeah, it's perfectly logical that God would call prophets today like in the bible, because we need someone to guide us too." Uh...it's not every day you hear that here...anywho, she really felt that she could connect with the Joseph Smith story, and in the end concluded that she need to do as Joseph did, and simply ask God. We are praying for her! I am really glad she was there yesterday. Sacrament meeting was so, so good. I feel privileged to have been able to take a part of it. We had a Sister come home from her mission in Russia. Her dad and brother in law spoke on Charity. And then, impromptu and quite unbeknownst to me beforehand, they invited Sister Shulze and I both up to bear testimony. Then Loraine and her mom played a beautiful violin/piano duet that really brought the Spirit. Then Emily (the RM) spoke, and it was so great. Then, I got to sing. i sang "Oh my Soul Hungered." I love that song. It was in English, but they explained the text beforehand. It was a little shaky at first, but I pulled it together. It was really great to be able to share one last testimony with my dear little branch...

Yes, I said one last. Transfer calls came Friday. I am still being trained, so I thought I was safe. Turns out no one is safe in the world of mission transfers. Quite to our surprise, Sister Shulze and I are BOTH being transferred together right next door to Göppingen. They are white washing Ulm and Göppingen both. Göppingen hasn't had sisters in years, and Ulm is now getting elders. I feel like I just unpacked! But come Thursday we will be heading off to our new adventures. Honestly, I think it is great. Saying goodbye yesterday was really harder than expected..and I was exposed to the seemingly cruel traditions of the Ulm branch, as they made us Sisters come up after sacrament and we all sang "Gott sei mit euch bis Aufwiedersehen." (God be with you till we meet again..) But! I think Ulm really needs elders. And white washing an area is really going to push sister Shulze and I to work harder than ever. And I am excited. I love challenges, and change always brings plenty of them. So! My new address is:

Kirche Jesu Christi

Sister Natasha Jan'L Bice

Gartenstr. 15

73033 Göppingen

Germany

And I am still in the same district, so I will still get any mail sent to the old address so...

Annd as if this isn't long enough already..I want to share a quick thought. I think it's my big "take away" from this transfer. Ready? Go!

So I was reading about the atonement in PMG this week, and something caught my eye that I hadn't noticed before. "Becoming clean from sin is being healed spiritually." I always just thought becoming clean from sin was receiving forgiveness more or less. But I love the word "healed." See, when we cut ourselves, of course we bleed. When we sin, we "cut" our spirits. But just as our bodies heal themselves with proper care, our spirit can be healed through the atonement. But of course, we still sometimes get a scar. But just as scars don't hurt after time, we can also be freed from pain of past sins. Nevertheless, God leaves us the "scar" to remind us of what happens when we cut ourselves, or, sin. The scars are really for our sake. They help us remember not to make the same mistakes twice. When I meet new people, one of the first things they notice about me is the scar I have on my face. I have had it my whole life, and of course there is no pain involved, but it is a scar nonetheless. The Savior, however, doesn't see our scars. If i were to meet the Savior tomorrow, I am quite convinced that He would in fact not ask about the scar on my face. He looks past our scars. He sees us for who we really are. He sees past our weaknesses and imperfections. And he loves us anyway. What a beautiful thought. The Savior lives. He loves us. And He invites us ALL to "come unto Him."

Ok! Time up! Sorry it's so long and crazy..such was my week! Long, crazy, and wonderful! Feel free to take the advice in 1 Thes. 5:16 and 'Rejoice evermore!" (exclamation point added..) After all, this is a gospel of joy.

Much love,

Sister Bice

Liebe Grüße!‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Wow, what a week. I can't believe this transfer is nearly over. The time goes by so so fast!
This week, I found out why my companion and I had it off to a little bit of a rough start...she had never eaten a PB&J! I could hardly believe my ears when she told me that! Anywho, we remedied that. She said it was "interesting..."..oh well! more for me! Haha. The Germans really do eat so different though. It is interesting. But! My companion is great. I really have learned to love her. Sure, we have lots of differences, and maybe we don't even have that much in common. But one thing we do have in common? We are both here to serve the Lord.

So! Anywho! I had some super great experiences this last week. First off, we had our first lesson with Deborah. It went really well. She is really searching for the truth, ad she has so many questions. Luckily! We have all the answers. She was quite reluctant about our invitation to church Sunday (she's had some bad experiences with other churches in the past?) but, lo and behold Sunday morning came and there she was waiting for us at the bus stop. Best day ever! I don't know what she thought about it. Of course the sacrament talks were all about the millennium. Perfect. Hah. But! We had an "investigator class" with her, and I think most importantly she felt accepted. She is really something special. I pray she is able to see that she's found what she's been looking for. She's had a hard life. But! We have another appointment with her Tomorrow. I won't be there (we have an austausch..exchange..with the other sisters in our zone) but! I pray it goes well, and hopefully we can set another appointment for later this week.
We also had a neat lesson with our investigator Rodrigo this week. He really opened up to us. He explained that maybe he was satisfied with his life and with being Catholic.To be honest, I think he has begun to see what a life changing thing the gospel is, and it scares him a bit. I thought maybe he would drop us then an there. But, we talked with him a bit, then invited him to say a kneeling prayer and ask God if the church was true (he hadn't yet done that..) So! We all knelt (Me, sister Shulze, and our member Sister Fröhlich) and..waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I peeked to see what was happening, and turns out he was praying, just not out loud. Which was just as well because he always prays in Spanish and we can't understand him anyway. We knelt there in silence for about 5 minutes. I tell you what, I don't know if i have ever prayed for fervently in my whole life! I prayed that he would really be able to get an answer, and know the church was true. Sister Schulze was undoubtedly doing the same. And. It was so neat. In those 5 minutes, I could really feel the love that God has for his son, Rodrigo. These souls are truly precious. At any rate, we finished praying, and he said he'd never really felt like that before, and said he wants to keep meeting with us. So! Fingers crossed?
Quick German thought! The word for "regret" is "bedauern". The word "dauern" means to last, or endure. I find that interesting. My dear papa wrote me in the MTC that he'd once heard "You only have 18 months to serve your mission, and the rest of your life to think about it." How important it is to use our time well, so we can look back without regrets hmm?. I have found here that the only regrets I've had this far are the times where I HAVEN'T done something. I don't have any regrets about talking to people. It's the times I haven't opened my mouth that I regret. I heard a quote once.."Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience."
Also! On Saturday, we helped the Elders with an ausstellung in Aahlen. It was so great! Sister Schulze and I set a goal to place 5 BOM's in our 2 hours and...ta-da! It was truly a miracle. We had just half an hour left and 2 Bücher Mormon, so we stopped and said a prayer. Half an hour later? We had found 2 people. It was so great. We are making waffles today to celebrate;) Also! I talked to so many people! It felt great. I still am a little nervous to start up conversations with people because sometimes..i Have no idea what they are saying..but! Proverbs 3:5-6 is the best way to go. Every time.
Speaking of the ausstellug...I had a little bit of a heartbreak right there in the market Saturday. See, one of the most common things we hear when we walk up and start talking to people is "Nein danke, ich habe keine Zeit." (no thank you, I have no time.) In fact, sometimes people say it as they wave us off, BEFORE we even open our mouths! They don't even know what they don`'t have time for! And to be honest, it happens so often and it's become so rote, that I hadn't really thought about it either. I've always just taken it as they have no time to talk to me. But Saturday, it hit me..quite hard and all at once..that what they are saying (whether they know it or not..) is that they have no time for the Savior of the World. The one Being who is more invested in them than anyone or anything on this earth that they seem to think is so important. And...it broke my heart. I mean the thought that they have time for me has never really phased me. I'm not one to get all pouty and discouraged over something like that. But the thought that they have "no time" for Christ? The thought that Anyone could "not have time" for the Redeemer of their soul? It makes me so sad for them. I pray that I will always be able to keep my priorities straight, and that I will ALWAYS have time for my Savior...
Anywho, this week really taught me how absolutely futile this work would be without the spirit. Without the spirit, we'd be a bunch of kids wandering around, trying to talk to random strangers about religion. No one would take us seriously. But with the Spirit? With the Spirit, we are somehow (that is beyond me..) transformed into a mighty army of God, bearing testimony to His Children of their, our, Lord and Savior. The Spirit is so essential to this work. Without it, we can do nothing. But with it? We can do miracles.
Mmk! Time up! I love you all so much! I am looking forward to another great week here in Germany! Last week of the transfer! Last and best if I have anything to do with it! Remember to smile and always be grateful! ""Keep your face to the sunshine, and you cannot see the shadows." Amen!
Much love,
Sister Bice

Pictures:)

Fresh off the plane! And so excited to go and get rejected! It was good experience :) I'm still working on my contacting skills. My comp doesn't like contacting so we haven't done it much. But we did some today! It was so fun:)
My comp and one of my teachers, Sister Christopher, on our last day of class! I'll admit, packing up and leaving that room was a bitter sweet feeling. Who'da thought?

This is me with my MTC branch presidency. I love them all:)

So! this lil' guy stands in the middle of town. So! Cool! Its called "münster". It was built in 1890. The steeple on the right? There is a spiral stair case that goes all the way up it. 768 steps. We are going to do it when it warms up a bit which I'm praying is soon! haha.
My sisters and I.
Sam.
on the bus.
Leaving the MTC for the first time in weeks.
Also bitter sweet.
But we were so excited :)

Hello Hello! Or should I say Hallo Hallo? Doesn't sound quite as good...‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

Gen. 1:3 "And God said let there be light; and there was light." Ta-da! So, we haven't had a light in our bedroom..since got here..and apparently for the last year. We always just turned on the hall light and used a flashlight for the closet. But! Our new district leader learned of our plight, and sent a man from his ward to fix it for us last week. That was really sweet of him. It is an hour and a half drive. But! Now we have a light, and it is great:)

Wow! I can't believe we have only two weeks left in this transfer! And as of tomorrow, I will have been here in Germany for a MONTH! Meine Gute.

So! Let's see! This last week was really good. We are still on the hunt (with not much luck..)for some new investigators, but we had some good experiences nonetheless. Some lessons I learned..

So! Do you know what is great? Gratitude is great. You can take any situation and turn it around by simply being grateful! I really worked on that this week. Wednesday, I was saying my prayers before personal study, and as I got up from kneeling my button got caught on my chair, and ripped a hole in my sweater. My first reaction was a disgruntled "psh, so that's what I get huh?" But then, as I pulled out my little sewing kit (thanks dad!) I said a little prayer , "Thank you Heavenly Father for the opportunity this morning to brush up on my sewing.." And then went merrily on my way. Sometimes it isn't always easy to keep a smile on your face with all that goes on around you. But I decided this week that in Life According to Sister Bice, real joy is being able to be happy, no matter what is going on around you, because of what is going on inside of you. Smile! And the world will smile with you.

Last Friday, we were walking to an appointment, and I talked to an elderly lady on the street. She was..less than happy with me..annnnnd expressed said unhappiness by yelling "Lass mich in Ruhe!" Or, well, there is no direct translation, but, more or less "Leave me alone !" And. I couldn't help but think that that was a little ironic. The word "ruhe" means calm. And what she didn't know, is that there is no calmness or peace in this world, like the calmness and peace that come from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. As the Savior said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." What a great, comforting promise from the Saviour of the world.

So Saturday we had some extra time and did some contacting. We tried finding some of the people on our potential investigators list, but the first address was wrong, and the second one we tried wasn't home. So, there we sat at the intersection. We decided to walk home and street contact. Sister Schulze said 'Main street or back roads?" I chose back roads. We started up the straße and saw a woman about our age. It was my turn. Sooo sometimes I have this moment of panic right before we get close enough to talk annnnd sometimes I chicken out. And she didn't exactly look like a prime candidate. She has more piercings that I have fingers.(as do a lot of the youth here..)..But! This time I fought it, and said "Darf ich Ihnen eine Karte von unsere Kirche geben?" She stopped saw our nametags, and said, in german, that she had written us once. Then my comp said "..Deborah?" Turns out she had emailed the church once asking for some info, but then never replied back, and the missionaries could never find her for further contact. And! There she was. She said she still hadn't found what she was looking for. We have an appointment for Thursday. Fingers crossed?

I am so grateful for this gospel. What an absolute blessing it is. I think sometimes, being raised in the church, I really have taken it for granted. But then I come here, and see all the sadness in the faces of people here, and think "Wow. I have been so blessed." I am so so SO grateful to be a missionary. To be a part of the Lord's army. What a privilege. After all that my Saviour has done for me, and continues to do for me every day of my life, what an honor it is to take some time, and give it wholly to Him. I am also oddly enough grateful for the times I have felt alone out here in this last month. It is the hard times that REALLY allow us to go to our Saviour. To give ourselves to Him. To helplessly plead with Him to take us, and make of us something greater. I read this week in "The fourth Missionary" and really good quote...

"Just give up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, ambitions, dreams, and hopes. Be true and faithful in your hear and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Turst Him shose love for you is perfect. Turst Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Turst Him that He will make of you, immeasureably more than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity make of yourself. 'He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will creat an oridnary man; He will create a God."-Lawrence Corbridge

THAT is my hope and my prayer. That as I daily strive to give myself and my will wholly unto Him, that He will take me, and make me into something that He can use. May we always remember and serve the One who has done so much for us, and find joy in the Saviour of the World.

So! Time up! I love you all, and thanks again for the ongoing support and prayers!

Liebe grüße.

Sister Bice