Liebe Grüße:)‏

Dear Family and Friends,
Can April really be almost over? I can't believe it. I'm almost 3 months here in Germany now! Bah! However I will say one thing I wont miss about April is the weather..they have a saying here.."April, April, der weiß nicht was er will." Being, more or less.."April, April...it doesn't know what it wants". To that I can testify. The weather has been so bi polar the last week! But! May is supposed to shape up. Fingers crossed. Hah.
I think one of the highlights of this week was..interviews! It was my first interview with President Miles since I got here. And the distrikt meeting we had was with his wife, and it was super. I learned a lot, and set a lot of new goals, etc. I am excited for the coming transfer. Oh! Right! Transfer calls were Friday. Sister Shulze and I received none, which means, we survived the transfer! We'll both stay here in Göppingen:) Which is super. I feel like I still have lots to learn from Sister Shulze. President told me what a blessing it is to have a native companion. I believe it. She's a great missionary, and I'm grateful for the friendship we've developed these last 3 months:) One thing I am ever increasingly learning out here is..the love of the Savior knows no bounds.
At any rate, I was a little spent the last 2 weeks, but interviews were super good for me. It was a good reminder that..God doesn't expect me to take the whole world upon my shoulders, so I can't expect that of me either. Hah.
So this week was really interesting. It gave one cause to ask, "Why do we even MAKE a plan sometimes??" We had a lot of lessons fall out. Which was sad. But it was a really great week. I love seeing all of the little miracles that take place every day as we simply push forward and try to follow the spirit.

One of those little miracles...so last week I said we finally got in contact with Frau Zimmerman, a referral we'd been trying to contact forever. Well! We had an appointment with her. And it was so. Great. I don't know what she said she was reading, but in our lesson she told us that when we stopped by, she had just read "You are a child of God" RIGHT as we walked in the squeaky old gate. Coincidence? I think not. And that is exactly what she needs to hear right now. We talked about President Uchtdorf's "Vergissmeinnicht" Ansprache from last conference. She wept as we read "Forget not, that the Savior loves you". She's had a really hard life, It was beautiful to see how the message touched her. After we left, I was a little frustrated with my German. I bore testimony in the lesson, and I felt like I couldn't say everything I wanted to. I hate it when I want to testify of something and...don't have the language capability to do so. Hmph. I expressed my frustration to Sister Schulze, and she said "Sister Bice, You said exactly what Frau Zimmerman needed to hear tonight. If she'd needed to hear something else, the words would have been there." I think that may be the best thing I've learned from Sis Schulze so far. And perhaps the best thing I'll learn from her. This work isn't about speaking perfect German. It's about speaking through the Spirit. And when I'm doing everything I am supposed to, the words I NEED will be there, exactly when I NEED them. That doesn't necessarily mean the words I WANT will be there when I WANT them, but, this work isn't about me:)

Also! So we've been working with a less active family in our branch. The son, 15, is active and super solid. The mom however is inactive, and the little girl, 9, is not baptized. Not yet anyways! We set a date with her last week:) She wants to wait until August so her brother can baptize her, but she is so excited! I am always amazed at how much the children understand and comprehend about the Savior. It's no wonder Christ has commanded us to "become as a little child"...at any rate, we are super excited for her! We'll keep working with them and getting her ready for her big day:)

And on Friday, we were by Familie Weilguni from our branch. They are super great. We talked with them about trusting in the Lord. We asked for a Volunteer. Hannah, who is 12, was happy to do so. We stood her in the middle of the room and told her to close her eyes. She did so, and we had her mom sneak up behind her. Then we said "Hannah, do you trust me?" She said "yes." And we said "Then fall backwards". And she said "But you're in front of me!" In the end, she finally trusted herself to fall. We compared that to our relationship with the Savior. We KNOW He is always there, but a lot of times we have doubts when it comes to actually relying on Him. A lot of times He asks us to "fall", trusting that He will catch us. A lot of times, the thing that takes the most faith is the initial falling. But I came to the conclusion this week that..sometimes, it's ok to have that fear. Having fear or doubt is part of human nature. It's what we do with that fear or doubt that shows our trust in the Lord. If it wasn't hard to let ourselves "fall", then it wouldn't take any trust or faith. But! When we do finally make that decision to trust the Lord, to take that step of faith, THEN and only then can He catch us, and He will, every time, catch us.
I love this gospel. I love the hope and light it brings into an otherwise hard and cold world. I love the idea that we can change. Through the mercies of Jesus Christ, "It is never too late to be who you might have been." We can always do better. Be better. Become something beautiful through the loving hands of the Savior. I love the Atonement. I love that the Savior can and will heal our broken hearts. Dry our tears. He loves us perfectly, even though we are not perfect. Come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him." That is the message, the invitation, that He extends to each of us, and that I am so privileged to share with the world. My prayers are becoming ever increasingly more fervant to develop the faith and courage to carry on in this great work. For it is truly, a great and marvelous work.
May you all have a wonderful week! Smile, and the world will smile with you!
Love,
Sister Bice

Liebe Grüße aus Göppingen :)‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Well! I must say this week has been..interesting. A little bit eternally long, and yet it went by so fast..
I want to send a quick shout out to all the people from whom I recieved letters from this week! You know who you are..I think..at any rate, you all are great, and really help with all your spiritual thoughts and motivation. Thanks so much:)
Sooo this week was..a little bit of a bumpy ride. I may or may not have had a minor breakdown on Wednesday..hah. But I think it was mostly God just bringing me to my kneews. Testing me. He does that sometimes. Like in Alma! The book of Alma has the best missionary stories. Alma 26:27 "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the..Germans..and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." I feel like this week, God let my heart..break a little bit? But only because broken hearts are humble hearts, and humble hearts are teachable hearts. God only breaks us down, so that He can lift us higher. What great trust he must have in all of us! At any rate, I'm really grateful that I am a missionary. Truly. I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned, the ones I'm learning, and the may that are yet to come. What a truly great calling it is to be a servant of the Lord.
So! We can't forget about the second half of that scripture now can we? After a long week of streeting and dooring, we did at last see some success on Friday! As we were streeting Wednesday, we met a woman walking her kids to Kindergarten. She said "Sorry, I have no time.." We asked if we could stop by her house sometime and she said..yes! After fumbling for pens and planners we got her address and said we'd stop by. And so we did on Friday. We rang the bell and there was no one home, but there was a lady out back. We THOUGHT that MAYBE it was her...but we couldn't really remember. But we took our chances and stood awkwardly at the gate and shouted across the yard.."..Guten Tag.." She looked up and recognized us (phew..) and let us into the backyard. We then all sat at the table and talked a bit. Her name is Frau Lippl. Turns out she was raised in Communistic Czech, and has little to no concept about God, but is interested in learning more. We talked about God and how He is our Father, and she said that would be pretty hard for her to believe. But! She was excited when we told her we could get her a Book of Mormon in Czech, AND we have another appointment this week!
So as soon as we left her house, we turned the corner and there was a lady walking her dog. We stopped to talk to her and she was busy but she also gave us an address and we set up an appointment for today! And THEN we stopped by a referrals house for the 10th time this week (she is never home..) and there she was in the front yard enjoying the sun! We have an appointment with her this week too. :)
So! Point? If we want the rainbow, we've gotta put up with the rain. "My son, peace be unto thy soul. Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high, and thou shalt triumph over all thy foes..." ALL our foes. That includes Satan. Who of course is always working around the clock to drag us down with discouragement, fear, inadequacy, etc. But! "If we keep our eyes to the sunshine, we cannot see the shadows."
Well! That's about all I've got for this week! Or rather, that's all the TIME I've got for today. But! I am looking forward to another great week here in Göppingen! Even the rough weeks are great weeks when you're a missionary:)
I love you all! Thanks again for your prayers and support:)
Sister Bice

Tür zu Tür‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Frohe Ostern! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and really took some time to ponder the true meaning thereof.
As for me! Easter here was super. It's actually a three day holiday here in Germany. And the members in our branch were so kind as to think of us, and I now have more chocolate than I could...or should...eat in a lifetime! Sie wollen uns mit alle Schokolade mästen! In times like these, I remember the counsel of a missionary friend of mine, "Go big, or go home, but don't go home big!" Bahaha. I don't THINK I'm plumping up..yet. Only time will tell?

At any rate, as the title for this week suggests, most of the week was spent in...Tür zu Tür. AKA...dooring. I actually realized this week that I haven't knocked on a single door my entire mission! They have a very interesting system here in Germany. Most people live in apartments, and all of the buildings have a little thing out front with little "klingles" (like a doorbell..kind of..) and a speaker. So, you klingle someone, they come on the speaker, ask who you want, and if you're lucky, they unlock the door. Occasionally they just open the door. It just so happened on Wednesday, all of the top floor-ers just opened the door, so we had to race up all the steps, and THEN they told us they weren't interested. But! I have full faith and confidence that if we talk to enough people, we will eventually find the ones the Lord is preparing to listen. We have a little motto as of late, and it's "Fourth floor, last door." It comes from a talk I heard in the MTC from President Uchtdorf. The missionaries that converted his wife were out dooring. They were discouraged and about to throw in the towel when they decided to try just a few more. The last (fourth) floor, last door. So! Despite our much work and seemingly little "success", we have managed to keep walking, keep klingle-ing, and keep smiling. :) That is one thing I have learned in the mission field. When it comes to those times that it seems there is absolutely NOTHING you can do, you can ALWAYS smile. :)

Speaking of throwing in the towel..(hah ok not really..) but! We'd had a long day of dooring Thursday and decided to make our way towards home in the rain. (It rained. All. Week.) We passed a house that had some nice Easter eggs hanging on the tree so we decided to klingle. An old lady came to the door, and we were afraid we were going to get railed on because we had ended her phone call. But she let us in and sat us on her couch. Then, she started crying. She explained to us that her husband had passed away in December. They'd grown up together, and now she was all alone. We had the opportunity to share our testimonies about life after death, and we sang her a song. She wasn't especially interested in converting from her Catholic faith, but I think the visit really helped her. She called us her "little angels", and we both ever received a nice, big, wet kiss on the cheek zum schluss. (bahah). Anywho, it was a neat little experience, and reminded me of how grateful I am for the knowledge that we have as members of this Church. The Plan of Salvation is truly a Plan of Happiness.

Umm! As I read in the Book of Mormon this week, I really liked the "Wise man and the Foolish man" story in 3 Nephi 14: 24-27. Obviously most of us know the song from the good ol' primary days, but God shed a little more light on it for me this time around. It occurred to me that, both the wise AND the foolish man built a house. They both labored under the heat of the same sun, put in the same long hours, and used the same materials. So why did one withstand the storm, and the other was washed away? Where does the difference lie? The only real difference was in their foundation, which coincidentally is the most important factor. If we don't have a sufficiently strong foundation, we can spend a lifetime building, only to find that when the storms come, all our efforts will have been in vain. In this life, we are all out in the same sun, putting in the same hours, using the "same materials", etc. But only those who build their foundation on Christ will be able to withstand the storms of life. It was a good reminder for me that everything about this gospel and this life is centered on, and dependent on, Jesus Christ. And Christ gives us a beautiful promise in Helaman 5:12 that He will be our Rock. If we build our foundation on the Rock of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, the devil may "send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon us, it shall have not power over us to drag us down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which we are built, which is a sure foundation whereon if we build we CANNOT fall." Pretty great promise huh? May we all take a little bit of time to evaluate where our heart are, and on whom we are building our foundation.

Well! I am out of time..again. Sorry that I don't have more to share! At this point we are just working working, and appreciating the little day to day miracles that come in this wonderful work. Bis nächste Woche!
Love,
Sister Bice

Pictures From the Mission

My birth district. They were all great. Two of them are home now and one is in Switzerland. The elders from left to right are:Elder Volz, Elder Webb, Elder Anderson, and Elder Zarse. Elder Webb was my DL. Now Elder Volz is. Volz and Zarse are duetschers. Anderson is from Utah. Annd of course in the front is Sister Schulze and Yours Truly:) Love Ya!

In front of the city-city hall maybe- in Ulm. It's simba Mom, that face was just for you. *Sticks out tongue*

So! this is Hao and Loraine from Ulm. I love them so much! Hao is the ward mission leader. This was taken our last night in Ulm.

Our last day in Ulm we found this car with a Göppingen license plate. We figured it was a sign. It's even a VW!

This is me looking like a cheese-ball amidst a patch of Krokus flowers. I love spring!


This is the adorable baby Fiat I found. It's so small! There are a lot of very small cars here. They are more practical for the limited space. At any rate-I thought it was cute :)


Me & my comp with the Ulm Münster as the backdrop.

So, I look like a spook in this picture. But! The street vendor food here? Delicious! This scone was huge and tasty. It has sour cream and cheese on it. Who'da thought? Also, behind me is the Münster.

Liebe grüße und Frohe Ostern :)‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Happy April everyone! I can hardly wrap my brain around the fact that März ist schon fertig! And! This week marks my 4 month anniversary in the mission field. Insanity.
This last week was good. We are still mostly trying to figure out the ropes here in Göppingen. And we've been busy making rounds trying to visit all the members and inactive people in there area. There are..a lot of inactives here. And lots of part member families. I honestly think the key to getting the work moving in this part of the Lord's vineyard is through the members. So we are really trying to build good relationships with them and whatnot. So! Yeah. We've stayed busy. And! We have a new investigator! Which is great because..the Elders didn't really leave us with any. His name is Joachim. He is a little older, a bus driver, and I honestly have no idea where it will go. Up to now religion has played relatively no part in his life, but he is really open, which is a great start. We've only met with him once, but we have another appointment this weekend so..hopefully!
I learned something really interesting in a lesson this week. We were speaking with a woman name Frau Seyock. She is what they call an "ewige untersucher" or, eternal investigator. She has been meeting with missionaries for 8 years, and says she will get baptized when God gives her a sign. At any rate, she is really religious, and really bright. As we spoke, she said that "there are only really 2 reasons for which we do anything in life. Love, or fear. Everything we do is motivated by one of those two things." Which! I found interesting. Mostly because, as far as I've been able to conclude, it's true. We do most all of what we do as a result of love or fear. An interesting thought...
Also! I was reading in an old conference ensign this week and found a talk on change. It said "the Lord gives us the power to change." In my life, I've prayed a lot for the Lord to help me change. But what have I been doing about it? Sometimes not as much as I could be. God gives US the power to change. But WE must do something about it. And as WE do all we can to change our lives to be more in tune with His will, HE will change our hearts. That's a pretty great promise.
And of course! General conference!!! I sincerely hope you all had the chance to listen to it. It was so wonderful! Sadly, we didn't get to hear ALL the sessions due to the time difference here, but I am ever so grateful for the inspired talks I heard, and I am anxiously awaiting the Liahona next month! I won't go into too much detail, (because I'm assuming you all heard the talks already..) but! I think the main theme that struck a chord in me from conference was: love. That's really the biggest thing I've learned on my mission I think. How to really love others, and also how the love manifested through the Atonement changes our lives. In this life, we have been commanded to love. To love everyone. And as we serve others, out of love, we will have more bounce in our step, more meaning in out lives, more sincerity in our smiles, and more light in our eyes.

As for the work? Göppingen is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Contacting is more difficult here. I don't remember if I said this in my last email but...there have been zero baptisms here for over 3 years. But, as President Eyring said in his conference address last weekend, "great challenges=giant opportunities to be met." I think maybe the work here in Göppingen is one of those "great challenges". But, we are hitting the streets and trying to find ways to..find. Because as we all know, we can't teach the Lord's elect until we find them.
In my BOM reading this week was one of my favorite scriptures. 3 Nephi 5:13. It's actually my "mission scripture". I thought a bit this week about what it means to be a "disciple". I found in the bible dictionary that "disciple" is "a pupil or learner". I really liked that. I think about this scripture often, and have at times been a little overwhelmed with the thought that I must live up to the standards set by all of the disciples we read about in the scriptures. But this week I realized: we are all learning. Even the Apostles and Prophets had to work for their testimonies in the same way we all do. I like that. I am not a perfect missionary, but I wasn't called to be. I was called to give my best. To LEARN to BECOME a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Anywho! Happy Easter! I love easter time. I think I have been gifted more chocolate here in Germany than I've eaten in my whole life but..hah. But, as great as c chocolate and bunnies and colored eggs are, we all know that that isn't the reason we celebrate Easter. Easter is about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One of my favorite talks is by Elder Holland and is called "missionary work and the Atonement." The first line states "all things 'which pertain to our religion are only appendages' to the Atonement of Jesus Christ." It is this culminating end of Christ's divine mission that gives us any meaning at all to our lives. Without Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we would all be lost. But Christ loves us more than that. He was lifted up upon the hill of Calvary, that He might draw all men unto Him. I think sometimes we forget the Saviors great suffering in our behalf when we get caught up in our own suffering. Elder Holland said "If you wonder if there isn't an easier way, you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn't an easier way." We all know that salvation is not a cheap experience. It cost the Savior His life. But "because He lives, so will we. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him--the Way, the Truth, and the Life." I would like you all to know that, I know that my Redeemer lives. But those precious words would mean nothing if He had not once been dead. The Savior gave His life for us, but He miraculously took it up again. The Atonement is real. It is powerful. We are never beyond the reach of His mercy. The Savior once suffered, utterly alone, so that we don't have to, if we come unto Him. I am so grateful for this Easter time to reflect on my Savior, and all that He does for me, and I pray that all of you will take a few moments to do the same. :)
Sorry this is long! But fear not, I'm out of time:) I love you all! Thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, letters, and support:) Mag Gott sei mit euch!
Love,
Sister Bice