Liebe Freunde und Familie!
My, what a week!
Monday was super!
We went to Salzburg and did us a little sight seeing. "The hills are
alive with the sound of music!" But really though. The place was alive
with music! It was so great! Little bands on every corner...I love
music:) Fun fact: "The Sound of Music" was filmed in Salzburg, but none
of the locals have actually seen it. Totally an American thing.
As wonderful as Monday was, the week really started rolling on
Tuesday! Tuesday started at 4am. Which, for the record, is WAY too early
for a missionary to be awake...hah. But! What a day. What a marvelous,
wonderful day. We rode out to Munich and met with about 50 other
missionaries in the Stake Center there. Then, Elder Russel M. Nelson
came! You know how they say, "the eyes are the window to the soul"? I'm
quite certain that Elder Nelson looked right past my eyes and into my
soul. He did the same to all of us. He took our hand, first
looked at our nametag (..which happens to be right over our heart..) and
then his blue light filled eyes looked right into our souls...or so it
seemed. I can't
help but wonder what he saw in there...hopefully something good! :) At
any rate, my favorite part about seeing an Apostle of the Lord is always
their eyes. So full of light. We then went up to the chapel and spoke
to us. He opened it up into a Q&A session. It was inspiring to watch
him answer our
questions. The sincerity and thoughtfulness with which he handled each
one was humbling. I definitely got enough notes and inspiration to keep
me busy for the next little while. Sister Baxter and I had a great chat
after Sisters Conference about all the ideas we'd gotten for our work
here in Wels the last week. We've made some goals and hopefully we can
get things rolling! Last week just made me realize, all over again, how
much I love this work. It's a "marvelous work and a wonder." The biggest
impression that I got from Sisters Conference as us sisters were all
able to
talk with each other is that...miracles are really beginning to flow
into our mission! If any of us miss out on them, it's definitely not the
Lord's fault.
After Elder Nelson left we split into Zones and
had zone conference. I LOVE my new zone! The Salzburg zone. We have as
many senior couples as we do companionships! And they are SO cool! Love
them! At the end I was shaking hands and Elder Erlacher (He's one of the
senior missionaries..he's german) shook my hand and..didn't let go. I
thought "Oh no, what did I do this time?" THen he took me by the
shoulders and said "Sister Bice....you have GOT to speak slower
English!!" hah! My old curse. He and his wife don't speak much english,
and apparently had a really hard time understanding me. I wonder
why...hah. The best part though? He then asked me "Where did you learn
English anyway?" I said, confused, "English?" "Yeah, english" "Uh...at
home?" "Oh! You're from America! I thought you were a German!" Ja wohl!
Best compliment ever:)
So! *We interrupt this broadcast for a short commercial break...* I
feel like our work in Wels this week was more like...a short commercial
break. We were pretty much only here on Wednesday. We did service by
Schw. Mörtelbauer. She. Is. Hilarious. So our job was to clear her brick
drive way of weeds. It wasn't so bad. Then it started to rain. When we
finished, she drenched the thing in dishsoap, and then gave us a couple
of brooms. Can you say....sudsy mess?? She stood there with the hose a
good 15 minutes spraying down, instructing us to sweep the water off the
drive way. Then down the side walk. Then...down the gutter. Yes, sister
Baxter and I swept up....a puddle. In the rain. We were instructed to
sweep it 20 feet down the gutter into the drain. I am pretty sure it was
the weirdest service assignment I've done in my life. It the end we
were soaked. But no worries! Sister Mörtelbauer didn't want us getting
sick. She provided us with dry clothes. Her clothes. Underwear and
everything! (Which we did in fact not wear..) Walking home we took the
back roads as to avoid being seen in public until we could change into
our OWN dry clothes. Haha.
Anywho! Sisters Conference! Was so fantastic. All 24 of us out of
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland! I won't bore you with all the details
(aka I don't have a lot of time..) but it was so great. I am pretty
sure I am serving with 23 of the best Sister Missionaries this world has
ever known. I felt a little small in their midst! We got to Munich on
Thursday and left Saturday. Friday, we definitely rented 26 bikes and
went on a joy ride through Munich. Which was beautiful!! I think one of
my favorite parts was Friday night. Präsident Miles had a talk with us
about forgiveness and repentance. I feel like he confirmed all of the
things I've been slowly figuring out the past 9
months. I've never understood the Atonement so
well. Elder Nelson said "Through the Atonement, immortality became a
reality." Then how does eternal life become a reality? Through the
application of that Atonement. The price has already been paid. I love
that we are able to love ourselves, despite mistakes we've made or
imperfections and weaknesses we
have. One thing that Elder Nelson said that I loved was "Don't waste a
single moment of today's time thinking about something dumb you did in
the past. Believe that the Lord will forgive you and get moving!" I pray
that you can all take that advice and apply it! I've
never been able to actually do that until now. It's a great feeling. :)
I can't believe time is going by so fast. Long story short...I am so
happy. I love the gospel. I love the time we are blessed with to study
it and increase our understanding of it. "The gospel is perfect. We just
need to understand it better." Elder Croft used to say that all the
time. And as my understanding of the gospel increases, so does my desire
to share it! It's a beautiful thing. I am so grateful for all I'm
learning here. I hope to keep learning and keep changing. For me, the
beauty of the gospel lies in the fact that we can change. We can always
improve. Surely not all at once, but if we keep on keeping on and edure
to the end, we will someday be able to say that we have become who the
Savior intended us to. Of that I am certain. Now I just need to work on
my patience a little. ;) Forwärts immer Forwärts! :)
With Love,
Sister
Bice
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