Ja Hallo!‏

 

So. My companion is dying. The doctors have given her approximately 6 weeks to live....annnd of course by dying I mean she's going home, and by Doctors I mean President Miles, and by companion I mean....Sister Baxter and I are staying another transfer together in Wels! Mensch! I was SO happy when we got the call Friday. Sister Baxter and I have got some unfinished business here! I Feel like there is still SO much that I need to learn from her! And! Of course we are going to do everything we can to make her last transfer the best transfer. I can't believe she's going home in 6 weeks! She's become such a wonderful missionary in the last 16 months, and I hope to be able to help her to continue to grow and progress every single solitary day of the next 6 weeks, because I know that's what she'll be helping me do. At any rate, transfer calls are over and done with and I am REALLY looking forward to this next transfer. :)

 

..the man next to me just asked if I was from Sweden. Apparently my German has a swedish/holland ring to it. I get that a lot. Weird.

 

Sooo, remember how I told you all that the Prophet was going to be in Munich in a few week? Well! This just in....so is Sister Bice! We got a call from our Zone Leaders last week telling us that our Zone gets to go see President Monson! I am SO excited!! I'll keep ya posted on that:)

 

I got a new bike last week? Well, it's actually quite an old bike, but it's new to me. I actually feel like I down-graded from a Stallion to a Pony. Haha. I have been riding a giant man's bike around for the last 6 weeks. The problem was...it was a man's bike. Which is not very convenient for a woman..wearing a skirt. Thanks to my long Bundy legs however it was working out ok. But! A member in the ward got me hooked up with a girl bike. Which is a LOT smaller...the first day riding it I felt like I small child..or a monkey...but! Though pony she may be, she's the most faithful pony I've ever seen. She rides like a dream:)

 

We also got...2 new investigators last week! They are this really cool couple that has been, thanks to our amazing member missionaries, to church every week for the past 5. She's from Austria and he's from Kenya. They have 2 adorable girls. They also apparently have had a bad experience with missionaries in the past, so they didn't want us over for a while..but! They finally let us come. We were SUPER nervous for the appointment. So was the rest of the ward. Hah. But! It went well, and they said we could come back. Ja Wohl! Now we've just got to trust that the spirit will start (or more likely continue..) working away at their hearts so that they too can be an eternal family. :) The gospel is true!

 

Speaking of the gospel being true....do you know what was amazing? Konferenz was amazing!! We got to see all of the sessions except for the Sunday Afternoon. Annd we had an investigator come to one, so we watched that one in German..which wasn't quite the same...But! No less amazing! I could go on all day about my thoughts about all the different talks but...I will spare you all. A few thoughts that I especially appreciated however were...

-ok first.....THE MISSION CHANGES! Wow! So neat!! When Elder Nelson was here with us, he told us a little bit of how that all went down. He was telling us that it was only through the Spirit that the Quorum of the 12 could ever reach any sort of mutual agreement. He told of a meeting that they had had, that was so led by the Spirit, that they were all in agreement in a matter of 10-15 minutes, which never happened. He said "The decision we made is going to change the future of the Church....but! I can't tell you any more than that!" Hah! We were hoping it would be revealed to us in Conference and..it sure was! At any rate...at first I thought "Mensch, I missed the boat!" But then I realized how perfect the Lord's timing is. My mission didn't even exist 2 years ago! Nope, I was definitely meant to go at 21. But all the rest of you, get on the ball! We need back up out here!! :) ANYwho.. 

-From Linda K. Burton in the Relief Society Session, the thought that we are all $20 bills! No matter how tattered we become, our worth is not diminished.

-From Quinten L. Cook: Don't give first class devotion to second class causes. There is SO much good to do in a day. And only so much time to do it. It all goes back to the principle of good, better, best! We have to find the balance..

-From Präsident Eyring. "Heavenly Father, I will give you all of my time. Please show me how to fill it.' We must consecrate ourselves by consecrating our time. I am loving the once in a lifetime opportunity that I have on a mission to consecrate ALL of my time to the Savior. I know that is a little unrealistic for the rest of the world, but I encourage you to do what you can!

From Boyd K. Packer. We can change our lives, but we can't change our past. We, every one of us, needs the Atonement. And the mistakes and weaknesses that we often so dispise are the very means of our stregthening our dependence on the Savior through said Atonement. Don't make excuses for your mistakes, and don't be content with your weaknesses, but! Don't beat yourselves up about them either! We all have them. It's what we do with them that makes us disciples of Christ.

-From Elder Holland. "What I need are disciples, and I need them forever." The life of a disciple has never been easy. Not even for the Master. We were called to be fighters! Wir sind auserwählt. The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't a religion. It's a way of life. It's who we are. The Lord does not need church members. He needs Saints! The Lord does not need fair-weather friends. He needs our commitment. Our devotion. Our love. And, "The crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty."

-And last but certainly not least, from President Monson. The Savior can. He will. He does. You can take that for what it's worht. I know he didn't say that exactly, but that is kind of the general theme I got from conference. The Savior can help us, he will help us, and He DOES help us. Every day of our lives. Whether or not we choose to look for and recognize His hand is up to us. I loved Sister Baxter's thoughts in comp study this morning. We were talking about Monson's Sunday Morning address. I had found it a little interesting. That of all the things he could have shared, he shared stories of going "to the rescue". Sister Baxter pointed out that, as the prophet, he shares with us the exact message the Savior would share if on the earth. So why did he share what he shared? To let us know that the Savior knows us, He loves us, and He answers our prayers. That is something I have really come to know on my mission. My Savior knows me. About a million and one times better than I know myself. He is so exactly aware of my every moment. He knows my joys, my pains. Happiness and sorrows. Weaknesses and strengths. And He answers my prayers. Not always in my time, or exactly how I thought He would or should. But He is there. He is listening. And He is answering.

..on a side note, while watching Conference, I decided that I want to be in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir someday..:)

 

Meine Liebe Geschwister, the gospel is true. It is perfect. It is a blessing. And it is available to ALL who are willing to "come and see." I rejoice every day at the thought that I have a Father, in Heaven. Who loves me. I can, and do, speak with Him at ANY time, about ANYthing. He loves us so much, that He sent His Son, His Only Begotten, to die for us. But the true beauty of the story lies in the fact that: He Lives. The Savior Lives. I know He lives. And because He lives, so will we. We will sometimes fall, but we can rise. We will sometimes fail, but He will never fail us. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be healed. Through the Atonement of Christ, we can be made whole. Through the Atonement of Christ, we can "come, and be perfected in Him." The gospel is true. It has been restored. And we are indeed led today by Jesus the Christ, through His living servant, prophet, seer and revelator President Thomas S. Monson. What a blessing.

 

I hope you all know how much I love you! I hope you are all enjoying life as much as I am. I am so grateful to be here. Serving a mission for my God. :) Gott sei mit euch bis auf Wiedersehen! Und! Bis nächste Woche. :)

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Bice