Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Wow I just can't believe that it is
DEZEMBER already! When did that happen?! Obviously while I wasn't
looking....anywho, today is the 3rd. Which means Friday is the 7th.
Which just so happens to be my ONE YEAR mark! I. Can't. Believe it. I
feel like I just got here! OK, not really..but I definitely don't feel
like I've been here a whole year. I mean, I can't even begin to express
my gratitude for this last year of my life. I
have learned so much, grown so much, changed so much, and I am looking
forward
to the next 6 months that I have to continue to serve and try and show
the Lord just how
much I love Him. I know I'm still in the middle of it, but I can tell
you right
now that my mission has changed my life. I feel
like the lessons I am learning on my mission are going to bless me for
the rest
of eternity. What an opportunity.
So! This last week was a little
slow..but good! But that shouldn't surprise anyone because I am STILL a
missionary...and therefor every week is a good week. :) I guess it was
all good except for...lunch on Wednesday. We went and helped an old lady
in the ward, then she fed us lunch. We sometimes eat crazy things
there, but never too bad. She put some rice on my plate, and I thought
"oh good! Rice! Rice is normal..." Then out of the next pan she
pulled...a big, slimy, jet black piece of sausage. "Blutwurst" she said,
and my stomach dropped. Blutwurst is blood sausage, and though I don't
REALLY know what that means, the name is bad enough and then the look of
the thing? Not to mention it crumbled all over the place when I tried
to cut into it...bleh. I didn't translate for Sister Drury. I figured I
would let her eat her sausage in peace. She asked me part way
through.."Sister bice..are you ok? You don't look so good...." But! No
worries. I managed to wrestle it down..AND keep it down. Now let's just
hope I don't have to eat another one of those, and I will be a happy
camper. :)
Anywho! Just for the record, things are still going well with my new
comp! We definitely come from different pasts....but! Our present is
united in purpose. "To invite others to come unto Christ..." And so!
What else matters? :)
So Thursday! Thursday was a little bit crazy. But! It was great! We
visited an older Schwester in the ward. She is always sick and mostly
deaf, but never loses sight of hope. We had a lesson, then she had
Sister Drury say a prayer...annd then she had me say a prayer....then
she said a prayer. And it was beautiful. It really hit home what it
means to "become like a child" for me. It was so simple, yet so fervent
and so full of faith and gratitude as she pleaded with the Lord. At the
end she said "..I know you can heal me.." and in that moment, I knew it
too. That little prayer was a testimony to me that not only can the Lord
heal that dear sweet sister, He can heal all of us. And He will, if we
come unto Him "as a little child". I was really grateful for the
experience and the lesson I learned from it:) And! Thursday night! Also
wonderful! We had a lesson with Familie Martinez. She is a single mom
and we have met with her a couple of times, but this time her two kids
joined us as well and we had a great lesson on the Book of Mormon. At
the end, Sister Drury suggested we say a kneeling prayer together. We
all kneeled and Sister Drury reached to grab something, and Carmen (the
mom) thought she was going for her hand so she offered it out to
her..then they were both a little awkward and embarrassed so to save the
situation I said "That's a great idea Sister Drury! Why don't we all
hold hands while we pray?" Sooo we did. Hah. We laughed about it later,
but I really think it was good for this little family to kneel in a
circle and join hands in prayer. I love the gospel. And I love what it
has to offer families:) Anywho, after our lesson we rode the train out
to Linz. Sister Drury had some concerns she had expressed to me the
night before and she wanted to get a blessing from the Elders. It was a
neat experience as well. She hadn't told the Elders anything, but as I
listened to the blessing I was amazed as every one of her concerns were
addressed. It was just one more testament to me of the power of the
priesthood. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I was really sick for about 5
days and not sleeping at night and..it was awful. Then on p-day I got a
blessing from the elders, and the next day, I was totally fine, and
have been fit as a fiddle ever since!
Annnd of course the ward here in Wels is as wonderful as ever. Our ward
Christmas
party is all centered on missionary work and visiting the less active
members. The darling members here make Wels a little bit of heaven on
earth. :) Yesterday in church we talked about enduring to the end, and
someone shared a thought along the lines of...enduring to the end
doesn't mean reaching a point and then flat lining it until "the
end"...it's
not a straight line. There will still be ups, and downs. The important
thing, is that the overall line is always going up! I love it. We are
not called to be perfect, we are called to make progress. :) Anywho,
Bishop shared another good object lesson in his testimony. He was
talking about his washing machine (..i think..) and some little valve on
it that broke. He'd said to the repairman "I just don't understand how
it broke..I never even USE that little valve..." And the repairman said
"..which is exactly WHY it broke." Then he likened that unto us and the
gospel. Take our testimony for example. I don't think a testimony could
ever be diminished by sharing it "too much". When it comes to sharing
testimonies, there is no such thing as "too much"! It is when we don't
use them ENOUGH that they are in danger of "breaking". Hmm. Simple but
true! I also had the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament
yesterday. Which always makes me nervous. And also makes me forget all
the German I ever learned..hah. But! I've just been so impressed with
the joy I have been able to find on my mission. I heard in seminary once
a quote that said something along the lines of "There is nothing that
could happen in any given day, that could take away the joy we
experience through the restored gospel.." Back then I thought to myself
"psh, there is PLENTY that could happen on any given day to take my joy
away!" But! I have really come to know the truthfulness of that little
quote here on my mission. I mean, I have lived an incredibly blessed
life. I have a wonderful family, friends, and and and. And yet I have
never been happier than I am now on my mission. Which, according to one
of our young women shouldn't really add up because on a mission "you
have to go to bed early, you have to wake up early, you can't listen to
music, and you spend all day talking to people who don't want to talk to
you and probably don't even like you..." Which! I guess is true to some
extent..hah. So WHY do we experience so much joy on a mission? The
conclusion I came to was 1) on my mission, I have tried harder to be
EXACTLY obedient to ALL the rules (commandments) more than ever before
in my life, and 2) on my mission, I have tried harder to spread the
gospel and share my testimony more than ever before in my life. Which
leads me to believe that if any of YOU are looking for a little more joy
in your life, there is the key! Try a little harder to keep the
commandments and try a little harder to share the gospel. And so! That
is exactly what I would like to invite you all to do! After all, who
ISN'T looking for a little more joy in life?:)
Annd on that note I have to scamper! I am every day grateful to my
Father in Heaven for this wonderful opportunity to be here, serving Him.
I am also grateful for my wonderful support squad back home:) Thank you
all for your prayers and your love! Have a lovely week and, as always,
don't forget to SMILE!
Love,
Sister Bice
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