Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Transfer #2! Already! Meine Gute! But! So far, so good!
So! Göppingen! I am officially in love with this place. It's funny, I thought it might take a little while to warm up to a new area but...nope! Haha. But, we'll get there...
So our last few days in Ulm were actually really great. Tuesday we had our last district meeting, and then lunch with the elders. It was good. Two of our Elders went home last week, so they shared their testimonies and let us "ask them holes in their stomachs" (the German saying for ask them a lot of questions..) about advice and lessons they learned and whatnot. Then that night, some of the people in our branch had a little goodbye dinner for us.
And Wednesday! We got a new investigator for the Elders to teach! She actually requested missionaries to visit her via the church site. We had a lesson with her, and she is a sweet middle aged lady named Frau Wendt who is really looking for something more in her religion. I think she'll be great for the Elders. It is so neat meeting the people who are just PREPARED for the gospel! Like they always tell us here in the field: we aren't preparing people. God has already prepared them. It is just our job to find them. I truly believe that.
Annnd number one lesson I learned Thursday: Elders. Are. Disgusting. Of course that exscludes any elders whose apartments do NOT look like the one we moved in to on Thursday....I honestly question if that place was EVER cleaned. So! We spent the first solid 3 hours in our new home scrubbing the place down and de-health-hazarding everything. There was moss growing in the refrigerator. Not mold, straight up moss. Gross. Bahah not to mention the lack of anything edible in the place! It was...Elders food. But! At any rate, I actually love the new place. It is on the 4th floor. We live in...a Seniors Residence. Ok not really. We live above the Seniors Residence. And there are lots of windows and lots of sunshine and I love it:) Then we had Gemeinderat (ward council) on Thursday night, so that was a nice little welcome. Hah, so we get there and some of the Sisters said "Oh! Sister Bice! We heard you have a beautiful voice!"..Germany is a big place. But where the church members are concerned, it's like a small town relief society...word gets around fast. Hah.
Umm! Friday we had lunch/a lesson with..Familie Weilguni! They are so cool! The mom reminds me a bit of my dear mother, and they have 3 darling kids. The dad is inactive, so they could never have the elders over, but they are SO excited we are here. I like 'em. It was funny, Schwester Weilguni was talking, and all the sudden stopped and said "sorry, am I speaking to fast?" I said "um..uh..kind of? But it's ok?" And she said "It's just that your German is so good that I forget that you've only been here a month and a half. It really is astounding". That was sweet of her. Some days I feel like I still don't know anything. But I really have learned a lot since being in the field. I kind of had to. I even translated a little bit for a Sister on Sunday! Baha. Don't know how accurate it was but...
Mmk so speaking of the sister on Sunday..her name is Esther. She is african american, with a 2 year old daughter named Fortress. We had a lesson with her Friday....sort of. We got there, then her phone rang and she asked if she could take it. Then she went in the other room and started prayer-singing..in a very traditional enthusiastic African American fashion....for the next 30 minutes. Finally we asked if we could just come back..hah on the notes the elders left us, it says "sometimes she starts singing Jesus praises in the middle of the lessons." We have another appointment with her on Tuesday. Fingers crossed?
So the rest of our week was spent trying to contact potentials, less actives, and visiting people from the ward. I have never met a ward so absolutely ecstatic to have Sister missionaries in my whole life! Apparently they had a bad run of luck with their Elders here? Keine Ahnung. But they sure are happy to see us, which is great. The branch we are in is fantastic. There are so many children! And the members as a whole are just super excited about the gospel and about missionary work, which is awesome! I really love it here. The area hasn't had any baptisms in at least three years, but we're going to change that. The elders didn't really leave us with much, but we've found a few good potentials and we have quite a few appointments for the coming week. Bring it on. :)
Quick thought! So I was thinking this week about what it means to "consecrate your time unto the Lord" and I remembered something one of the Elders in my MTC district said. He compared it to consecrating oil. When oil is consecrated (for blessings..) it is done so 1) by the priesthood 2) in the name of Jesus Christ and 3) it is then never used for any other purpose other than that for which it was consecrated. Well like I said, I've been thinking about how and what it means to consecrate your time unto the Lord as a missionary. As missionaries, we are set apart 1) by the priesthood, 2) in the name of Christ and therefor, we should not use our time for anything other that for the purposes of the Lord. Sometimes that is a little easier said that done, but, it CAN be done. It is all about setting goals, then working to reach those goals. I will admit, that has never been my forte..but I am working on it. I really want to be able to look back at the end of my mission and say "Lord, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 4:7) but! That starts by living each day with that same attitude. There is some really great stuff on accountability in Preach My Gospel. If you have access to one, you should read it:)
Anywho, I am short on time, but I am SO EXCITED for General Conference this weekend!!!!!! I love General Conference. I hope you all watch it! I will forward on to you a challenge I received to write down at least one question before conference, and as you listen, you will get an answer. At the very least...stay awake! What an incredible privilege we have to hear a PROPHET OF GOD speak to US! So neat.
I love you all! I am sorry there isn't a whole lot to report on this week! I got quite ill and was laid up in bed for a day or so which slowed things down but, I am feeling better, and ready to get out there and give 'em heaven!
Much love,
Sister Bice
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