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