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| ..the senior couple here took these. They are at the concentration camp..I can't really pull them up big but! This is my new district. Funny story: 4 of the 6 of us were in the same MTC districk. Annnd I was in Cadence with one of them at snow. Good times! |
Hallo for the week aus Salzburg! Yep. I am sitting in Salzburg at the moment. We have to go to Munich tomorrow, and so we are staying the night with the Neumarkt Sisters tonight...so we decided to take a little field trip this p-day and come here:) Which means you'll all probably get shafted on letter writing..again..but! One of these days...
So! My oh my where to begin? Ok let's be honest, I don't have SO much to tell. I am still just loving Wels. It's super wonderful. The actual work is still a little bit slow going. We are trying to get the bikes in the basement fixed so that we can get around a little more quickly and efficiently. Right now we have been focusing on working through the ward list and the area book. It takes time, but it'll be worth it. I still feel like there is tons of potential is Wels just waiting to be discovered. Sister Baxter and I were talking in companionship study this week and decided that the problem we as missionaries have with miracles is that we don't EXPECT them. Sure, we hope for them and believe in them...but if we are obeying with exactness and giving our best, we are entitled to EXPECT the Lord to fulfill his promised miracles. Our new little motto on our front door is "Wunder: Erwarten und DANN erfarhren!" I truly believe that. Sister Baxter and I see countless miracles every day. This is the Lord's work. How could we NOT see miracles? I have come to the conclusion that if I am not experiencing miracles every single day of my mission, I'm doing something wrong. I think a lot of times we just need to know where to look. :)
Tuesday we had a wondeful district meeting. I am loving our district already. 3 of the 4 elders were in my MTC district! And Elder Johnson was in choir with me at Snow. Hah. Small world eh? But! We had an ausstellung (Street Display) on Saturday and our Elders came to help out, as well as the Sisters in Neumarkt and the Zone Leaders. And we had members there!! Now THAT is a miracle. It was a super great day. We even sang some hymns for a while in front of our display to get peoples attention. It was super. :)
Sooo this week I also had my first lesson at a bar. Hah. Ok, it was outside of a bar. We were contacting and ran into a lady who met with the missionaries once before. She said "let's have a seat somewhere". She bought us drinks (don't worry. we ordered soda:P) and we had a lovely little lesson. It is amazing to me how much I have really taken the gospel for granted in my life. I mean, the very fact that as members, we have a purpose in life is something that I never realized so many people DON'T have. I am SO grateful for a "gospel perspective". If we know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, we don't need to constantly be asking "Why?", and the challenges in life that would do most people in are made light through the Atonement of Christ. With repentance and the Atonement, we are never, ever left hopeless. President Miles shared a quote this week from Tad R. Callister's "The Infinite Atonement"...
“That is true repentance. It is a melting, softening, refining process that brings about a mighty change of heart. It is manifest by those who come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits. It is a burning resolve to make amends with God at any cost. Such a change means “we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” Mosiah 5:2
I love that. A "burning resolve to make amends with God at any cost." And the best part? This wonderful, beautiful "mighty change of heart" is available to all of us. We just have to want it. Seek. Ask. Knock. And the promise? We WILL recieve.
So! Like I said, tomorrow we will be in Munich. Why? Because Elder Russel M. Nelson is coming to visit our mission! President Miles called me yesterday morning and asked me to lead the music. Hah. If I can't do anything else, I can at least stand up anywhere in the world and wave my hand around. ;) I am REALLY excited for tomorrow though. It is going to be wonderful. And then back to Wels for one day, and back to Munich again for....Sisters Conference! There are 21 Sisters in our mission, and we are having a little conference from Thursday to Saturday. Mensch! I can hardly contain the excitement. This week is going to be glorious. :)
Sister Baxter said something this week in a role play that I really liked. "Der Glaube ist lebendig." Faith is living. It's alive. I have been doing a lot of study on faith lately, and it is increasingly more and more fascinating. Faith is what makes hope possible. It is what makes everything worth it. Our ward mission leader (who is, by the way, heaven sent) said yesterday in an INCREDIBLE investigator class, that "Durch herausvorderungen, wird unser Herz Gold"..."Through challenges our heart becomes gold". Yes, sometimes, the "heat" of trials and challenges is uncomfortable. But the end result is worth it. The Lord is doing nothing but trying to shape and refine us to help us become our best selves. He does not send us trials just to see us suffer. He gives us what he knows is best. It is up to US to develope the FAITH to acknowledge that He knows better than we do. It's not always easy, but it is always possible. Nobody is more concerned with our success than our Savior. I sometimes envy the small children and their ability to trust so wholly in people. I think we often lose that as we get older. We learn that sometmes when we invest too much in someone, we get hurt. But Christ knows exactly what we feel. Think. Desire. And He is the One that will never, ever let us down. If we trust in Him, He will lead us safely home. "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." May we all strive to "become like a little child" and put our trust in the Lord. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's uncomfortable. But it us, without a shadow of a doubt, worth it. For He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
So! I am once more out of tme. But! I hope you all know that I love you all so very much! I am ever so and immer noch grateful for your support and your prayers! I wish you all as good a week as I'm gonna have! Bis nächstes mal:)
Love, Sister Bice
Oh! Right! My address is, officially,
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Natasha Bice
Spöttlstr. 8/14
A-4600 Wels
Austria
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