Woah! February! When did that happen? I feel like somewhere inside of me I keep holding on to the hope that the time will slow down a bit out here, but I guess it is futile because the time just seems to keep going faster...
Well! Or should I say, Wels! I do love Wels. Do you know what we had in Wels this week? SUNSHINE! Wednesday and Thursday were little "teasers" for Spring. The sun came out, all the snow melted, and it was like 50 degrees! Herrlich. Annnd then Winter decided to rear its ugly head again..we are back to cloudy skies and cold and wet..and snow. But! If Satan thinks that is enough to dampen my spirits, he's got another thing coming. ;)
So! Other than the weather, the week was great. On Wednesday Sister Drury and I had the awesome opportunity to go to Salzburg and do some contacting with..the Zone Leaders. Wow, we learned so much! Our zone leaders here are just straight up great missionaries and it was neat to spend a few hours with them seeing how they street contact. I learned a ton. We talked about it later and I think one of the best things we learned is that they don't necessarily do anything wildy different from us. We are just all out here in the same boat looking for the Lord's elect! Our contacting for the rest of the week was awesome though. We didn't find many potentials, but we talked to TONS of people and...it was just great. AND a lot of fun. :) We also met with Danny again. We talked about the Plan of Salvation but didn't get all the way through because he had lots of questions. Which is also good! He did come to church again though. :/ But! We will keep on it! We also found another investigator named Jabab, who is a total sweetheart but doesn't speak much German. We did however find a persian translator, so we hope to be able to make some progress with him in the coming weeks as well. :)
As for this coming week...we have....zone conference!! Wait..that is a lie..we have Zone Training Meeting. But! I am really excited for it. I do believe that the Salzburg Austria Zone is the best Zone in the world. We also have an appointment with this WAY neat family that comes to church at least twice a month...but hasn't really ever felt the need to meet with the missionaries. Please feel free to pray for Familie Bauer!! We are also meeting with Danny again and...naja. We have a good and busy week planned. Which is good because on Friday come..
Transfer Calls.
Yep. You know what I realized last week? More like.."You know what hit me like a ton of bricks last week?"....How much I am going to miss Wels if I get transferred. I will confess, I have been more of the opinion lately that I am more or less ready to be transferred. Ready for a change. Like I need..well, let's be honest, I have no idea what I need. Mostly I have an inner turmoil on what is going to happen. I have no idea. But! The Lord knows and that is enough for me. :) I will let ya'll know how it goes next week.
Also! Do you know what this week is? By the end of this week, I will have been in Europe for ONE YEAR! One whole year. In honor of the occasion, I did some journal reminiscing this morning....
February 5 2012 "...Tonight we had a little testimony meeting with the departing Districts. It was in the same room we met in when we first got here. Strange. We all shared the biggest tings we learned here at the MTC: I think mine is just the power of Chapter 6 in Preach my Gospel, Christ Like Attributes. I love reading and studying about Christ. He truly is perfect. Never not once did He falter in His course of perfection. And the incredible capactiy He had to love everyone was..well..incredible. Over the course of my mission, I really want to strive my best to follow in His footsteps and become like Him. It all goes back to the simple "What would Jesus Do?" I firmly believe that every problem I will face on my mission and in my life can me overcome or avoided entirely as I work for and master the attributes of the Master..."
..I forgot about this little experience from the MTC. I forgot we ever even had a "share what we learned" testimony meeting. But as I read it this morning, it rang so true that I was surprised I could have ever forgotten it. I am glad that my "firm belief" from the MTC has been tried, tested, proven, and turned into a knowledge out here these last 12 months in the mission field. I can testify that every problem I have faced on my mission has been (or at least could have been..) overcome and/or avoided entirely as I have tried to apply the teachings of the Savior. And I am confident that it will be the same with every trial I face after my mission. It really IS as simple as "What would Jesus do?" Elder Bednar gave a beautiful address in the MTC last Christmas, where he talked about how Christ ALWAYS turned outward, when the "natural man" would be inclined to turn inward. He always. Just. Loved. President Miles has encouraged us to work on 1 christ-like attribute a month this year, and February is my Charity month. I opened up my bible this morning and just so happened to be in 1 Corinthians 13.
"1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing..."
Without Charity, we can accomplish nothing, and we are nothing.
"4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
I encourage you all this next week to try to have a little more Charity. One little test I like to give myself is to plug my name into the above scriptures and see how true it us. "Sister Bice suffereth long, and is kind; Sister Bice envieth not; Sister Bice..." Etc. Sometimes it is a little bit uncomfortable but only in the good kind of "Hmm, you really COULD do better on that.." way. I know that as we try to have just a little more love for those around us, our Father in Heaven will help us and bless us with opportunities to serve others. "To every man there comes that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour." –Winston Churchill. We never know when our moment will come, but I believe that if we are truly doing our best to become more like Christ every day of our lives, we will be ready when it does. :)
Ok! I am sorry this is so eternally long. I will cut you all some slack and let you go. I love you all! Thanks for your thoughts and your prayers! Have a lovely week! And remember, there are only 14,441,346 members of the church, out of 6 billion people on the earth. That means we are all privileged to be 1 in 14 million! And that there are a lot of people out there still waiting to hear the truth. So Smile! I dare you to see what comes of it. :) Liebe Grüße!
Love,
Sister Bice
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