Liebe Grüße:)‏

Dear Family and Friends,
Can April really be almost over? I can't believe it. I'm almost 3 months here in Germany now! Bah! However I will say one thing I wont miss about April is the weather..they have a saying here.."April, April, der weiß nicht was er will." Being, more or less.."April, April...it doesn't know what it wants". To that I can testify. The weather has been so bi polar the last week! But! May is supposed to shape up. Fingers crossed. Hah.
I think one of the highlights of this week was..interviews! It was my first interview with President Miles since I got here. And the distrikt meeting we had was with his wife, and it was super. I learned a lot, and set a lot of new goals, etc. I am excited for the coming transfer. Oh! Right! Transfer calls were Friday. Sister Shulze and I received none, which means, we survived the transfer! We'll both stay here in Göppingen:) Which is super. I feel like I still have lots to learn from Sister Shulze. President told me what a blessing it is to have a native companion. I believe it. She's a great missionary, and I'm grateful for the friendship we've developed these last 3 months:) One thing I am ever increasingly learning out here is..the love of the Savior knows no bounds.
At any rate, I was a little spent the last 2 weeks, but interviews were super good for me. It was a good reminder that..God doesn't expect me to take the whole world upon my shoulders, so I can't expect that of me either. Hah.
So this week was really interesting. It gave one cause to ask, "Why do we even MAKE a plan sometimes??" We had a lot of lessons fall out. Which was sad. But it was a really great week. I love seeing all of the little miracles that take place every day as we simply push forward and try to follow the spirit.

One of those little miracles...so last week I said we finally got in contact with Frau Zimmerman, a referral we'd been trying to contact forever. Well! We had an appointment with her. And it was so. Great. I don't know what she said she was reading, but in our lesson she told us that when we stopped by, she had just read "You are a child of God" RIGHT as we walked in the squeaky old gate. Coincidence? I think not. And that is exactly what she needs to hear right now. We talked about President Uchtdorf's "Vergissmeinnicht" Ansprache from last conference. She wept as we read "Forget not, that the Savior loves you". She's had a really hard life, It was beautiful to see how the message touched her. After we left, I was a little frustrated with my German. I bore testimony in the lesson, and I felt like I couldn't say everything I wanted to. I hate it when I want to testify of something and...don't have the language capability to do so. Hmph. I expressed my frustration to Sister Schulze, and she said "Sister Bice, You said exactly what Frau Zimmerman needed to hear tonight. If she'd needed to hear something else, the words would have been there." I think that may be the best thing I've learned from Sis Schulze so far. And perhaps the best thing I'll learn from her. This work isn't about speaking perfect German. It's about speaking through the Spirit. And when I'm doing everything I am supposed to, the words I NEED will be there, exactly when I NEED them. That doesn't necessarily mean the words I WANT will be there when I WANT them, but, this work isn't about me:)

Also! So we've been working with a less active family in our branch. The son, 15, is active and super solid. The mom however is inactive, and the little girl, 9, is not baptized. Not yet anyways! We set a date with her last week:) She wants to wait until August so her brother can baptize her, but she is so excited! I am always amazed at how much the children understand and comprehend about the Savior. It's no wonder Christ has commanded us to "become as a little child"...at any rate, we are super excited for her! We'll keep working with them and getting her ready for her big day:)

And on Friday, we were by Familie Weilguni from our branch. They are super great. We talked with them about trusting in the Lord. We asked for a Volunteer. Hannah, who is 12, was happy to do so. We stood her in the middle of the room and told her to close her eyes. She did so, and we had her mom sneak up behind her. Then we said "Hannah, do you trust me?" She said "yes." And we said "Then fall backwards". And she said "But you're in front of me!" In the end, she finally trusted herself to fall. We compared that to our relationship with the Savior. We KNOW He is always there, but a lot of times we have doubts when it comes to actually relying on Him. A lot of times He asks us to "fall", trusting that He will catch us. A lot of times, the thing that takes the most faith is the initial falling. But I came to the conclusion this week that..sometimes, it's ok to have that fear. Having fear or doubt is part of human nature. It's what we do with that fear or doubt that shows our trust in the Lord. If it wasn't hard to let ourselves "fall", then it wouldn't take any trust or faith. But! When we do finally make that decision to trust the Lord, to take that step of faith, THEN and only then can He catch us, and He will, every time, catch us.
I love this gospel. I love the hope and light it brings into an otherwise hard and cold world. I love the idea that we can change. Through the mercies of Jesus Christ, "It is never too late to be who you might have been." We can always do better. Be better. Become something beautiful through the loving hands of the Savior. I love the Atonement. I love that the Savior can and will heal our broken hearts. Dry our tears. He loves us perfectly, even though we are not perfect. Come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him." That is the message, the invitation, that He extends to each of us, and that I am so privileged to share with the world. My prayers are becoming ever increasingly more fervant to develop the faith and courage to carry on in this great work. For it is truly, a great and marvelous work.
May you all have a wonderful week! Smile, and the world will smile with you!
Love,
Sister Bice