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| ..this is a picture of our Stuttgart, Munich, and Salzburg missionaries...with Elder Nelson. Yep. That's me. Just to the left of his shoulder. SUCH an incredible meeting. :) Love you! |
LIEBE Familie und Freunde,
Note to self: if an elderly member in Austria happens to give you a plant out of her garden to make tea, it may or may not happen to be...stinging nettle. And you may or may not have to find it out the hard way while trying to make your tea. People drink stinging nettle here.
Crazies.
So! Besides our little run in with stinging nettle (it's called brennessle..not sure if that is spelled right..but! "brennen" is "to burn"..that should have tipped us off..buuuut didn't..), Sister Baxter and I had a great week here in Wels. Monday: new investigator. Tuesday: new investigator. Wednesday: new investigator. Thursday: new investigator. We walked away from every situation with our jaws on the ground. I don't know why, but I seem to continually let the Spirit surprise me, even though I know He's always here to help! I think my favorite was Wednesday. We'd decided to take President's advice from Sisters Conference and work with more JAE's (young single adults) by hitting up the cafeteria for the technical school here. Across the way while waiting at the light, a middle aged man greeted us in response to our smiles. We asked what he was up to, and he said he was just going to grab something to eat. We parted and went into the cafeteria, while, unbeknownst to us, he'd went in too only from the other door. We got some food and started trying to scope out some promising JAE's when the man, Luis, waved us over. We sat across from him and blessed our food...which of course started a gospel conversation. We talked through lunch and walked out together. We asked if we could meet him sometime for a lesson and he said "Well, what are you doing now?" So! We all went to a mall, found a place to sit down (which happened to be on a couch in the "quiet" section meant
for mothers and sleeping children..hah), and gave a lesson. He is from the Dominican republic, and seems pretty solid! We are excited to meet with him again this week, as well as the other investigators we found! We are keeping God busy with our prayers on their behalf. :)
Note to self: if an elderly member in Austria happens to give you a plant out of her garden to make tea, it may or may not happen to be...stinging nettle. And you may or may not have to find it out the hard way while trying to make your tea. People drink stinging nettle here.
Crazies.
So! Besides our little run in with stinging nettle (it's called brennessle..not sure if that is spelled right..but! "brennen" is "to burn"..that should have tipped us off..buuuut didn't..), Sister Baxter and I had a great week here in Wels. Monday: new investigator. Tuesday: new investigator. Wednesday: new investigator. Thursday: new investigator. We walked away from every situation with our jaws on the ground. I don't know why, but I seem to continually let the Spirit surprise me, even though I know He's always here to help! I think my favorite was Wednesday. We'd decided to take President's advice from Sisters Conference and work with more JAE's (young single adults) by hitting up the cafeteria for the technical school here. Across the way while waiting at the light, a middle aged man greeted us in response to our smiles. We asked what he was up to, and he said he was just going to grab something to eat. We parted and went into the cafeteria, while, unbeknownst to us, he'd went in too only from the other door. We got some food and started trying to scope out some promising JAE's when the man, Luis, waved us over. We sat across from him and blessed our food...which of course started a gospel conversation. We talked through lunch and walked out together. We asked if we could meet him sometime for a lesson and he said "Well, what are you doing now?" So! We all went to a mall, found a place to sit down (which happened to be on a couch in the "quiet" section meant
for mothers and sleeping children..hah), and gave a lesson. He is from the Dominican republic, and seems pretty solid! We are excited to meet with him again this week, as well as the other investigators we found! We are keeping God busy with our prayers on their behalf. :)
Random side note! It was announced in church yesterday that President Thomas S. Monson...is coming to our mission next month. THE PROPHET! In Munich. We are still waiting to hear whether or not we get to attend...probably not..but! Still super excited! We are hoping he has some good news to announce for Germany! Like maybe that...they are finally recognizing our church as a religion? (They don't at the moment..) But! That's only speculation...he could just be coming to
speak..but we are still looking forward to it:) So! Back to Wels! Remember how we were bike missionaries for one glorious week?? It was glorious. Annnnd also short lived. My tire
decided to give up the spoon (paha. That's what the say in Germany for "give up the ghost" or "throw in the towel" or something like that..). Not to mention only one brake works. Annd the countless other little problems they have that we are currently working on getting repaired. But! No worries, in no time we'll be back on the pavement! Skirts and all. Haha. Love it.
speak..but we are still looking forward to it:) So! Back to Wels! Remember how we were bike missionaries for one glorious week?? It was glorious. Annnnd also short lived. My tire
decided to give up the spoon (paha. That's what the say in Germany for "give up the ghost" or "throw in the towel" or something like that..). Not to mention only one brake works. Annd the countless other little problems they have that we are currently working on getting repaired. But! No worries, in no time we'll be back on the pavement! Skirts and all. Haha. Love it.
Anywho. We certainly had a crazy week. Most days did not at all go as planned. But! We decided at the beginning of the week that we were going to MAKE a plan, do our best to follow the plan, and expect the Lord to take care of the rest. Which we did. And so did He. It was a neat feeling. Sister Baxter ist der Hammer. I remember on Wednesday, we had 10 minutes to get from our house to the train station, buy a ticket, AND get on the right train....I couldn't suppress my doubts. I said to myself.."Psh. Never in a million years." But Sister Baxter said as we ran out the door, she said "If God wants it to happen, He'll make it happen!" And He did. I still am trying to figure it out in my head. But! We got there, bought the ticket, and what do you know, the train was 4 minutes late. Just for us. :) I love Sister Baxter. She is such a great example! I am still running to keep up with learning all the things she has to teach me! I can't believe the transfer is almost over! When did that happen?? She said to me the other day, "Sister Bice, we have GOT to stop enjoying ourselves so much...the time is going too fast!" Hah. Love her. Although she DID try to pawn me off on Saturday. We'd contacted a JAE..a kid from Romania. He's 24, new here, and doesn't speak German. Needless to say,
he was happy to have somebody to talk to. He wasn't overly excited about religion but we gave him a watered down version of the plan of salvation. Then we tried to give him a Book of Mormon. He said "I don't read religious books". We bore our little hearts out in testimony, assuring him that it was OUR favorite book and he was sure to love it. Then Sister Baxter motioned to it and said "Are you sure you don't want to take it home with you?" Well, it just so happens that the book was at that point tucked under my arm (it was cold and raining) so when she motioned to the book, she also motioned to..me. So he said "take what home? Her? Or the book? Fine, I'll take them both, but that's my final offer." Pah. In the end it turns out Sister Baxter really DOES love me. She linked her arm in mine and withdrew the offer. Haha.
he was happy to have somebody to talk to. He wasn't overly excited about religion but we gave him a watered down version of the plan of salvation. Then we tried to give him a Book of Mormon. He said "I don't read religious books". We bore our little hearts out in testimony, assuring him that it was OUR favorite book and he was sure to love it. Then Sister Baxter motioned to it and said "Are you sure you don't want to take it home with you?" Well, it just so happens that the book was at that point tucked under my arm (it was cold and raining) so when she motioned to the book, she also motioned to..me. So he said "take what home? Her? Or the book? Fine, I'll take them both, but that's my final offer." Pah. In the end it turns out Sister Baxter really DOES love me. She linked her arm in mine and withdrew the offer. Haha.
Anywho...I guess I could explain all the little daily miracles Sister Baxter and I are experiencing but..I think most of them are only miracles in our eyes :) So! I will let it suffice to simply say that...I am so happy. I hardly even know what to do with myself. I've never been so happy before. I realized the other day that I haven't cried ALL transfer (except for on account of the Spirit..)! Quite the feat for a Sister like me. ;) In fact, my biggest problem the last week has been trying to figure out where to go from here. I feel liked I've topped out! But I can't stand standing still. So I have been trying to find ways to more fully consecrate myself to the Lord and increase my faith. Yesterday our Relief Society lesson was on sacrifice, and they talked a lot about missions. Somewhere in the middle it hit me that..."sacrifice" is kind of a funny word. I mean, I'm not so sure "sacrifices" exist for us as far as the gospel is concerned. Ja klar, we are asked to sacrifice certain things sometimes, but when EVER we sacrifice anything to the Lord, we ALWAYS receive so much more in return. I would say my mission has been a lot of things so far...but I would definitely not say that it has been a
sacrifice.
sacrifice.
So! I read a quote today from my good friend Elder Christensen. It reads, in regards to missionary work, "We can't be side-tracked by results. Our job is effort." I love that. I think sometimes I tend to
throw those two into the same drawer but, there IS a difference. Obviously we all want to give our best and see good results. But, whether or not we see results, our job ist, immer noch, to do our
best. Our JOB is effort. Our results are just a natural consequence of our efforts, factored in of course with the agency of others. Point being: every missionary is a successful missionary, as long as he or
she doesn't compromise his or her efforts on account of the results that may or may not be visible...and that doesn't just apply to missionaries. Our job in this life? Effort. And while we don't always see the results of those efforts here on earth, we can have faith that God will make good on His promises in His time. We just have to keep on keeping on. :)
throw those two into the same drawer but, there IS a difference. Obviously we all want to give our best and see good results. But, whether or not we see results, our job ist, immer noch, to do our
best. Our JOB is effort. Our results are just a natural consequence of our efforts, factored in of course with the agency of others. Point being: every missionary is a successful missionary, as long as he or
she doesn't compromise his or her efforts on account of the results that may or may not be visible...and that doesn't just apply to missionaries. Our job in this life? Effort. And while we don't always see the results of those efforts here on earth, we can have faith that God will make good on His promises in His time. We just have to keep on keeping on. :)
"One of the great needs in our day is for Latter-day Saints to have balance in our lives – balance between zeal in keeping the commandments, and patience in achieving our goals; balance between a whole-hearted devotion to truth, and loving acceptance of those (including ourselves) who fall short. And in our personal lives there needs to be balance between a type of discontent – in which we are
constantly striving to be better than we are – and what Nephi calls “a perfect brightness of hope” (2 Nephi 31:20), which is the quiet but soul-affirming anticipation that if we trust in the Lord and seek
earnestly to do our best, He will make up the difference in time and eternity." -ROBERT MILLET
Pretty great huh? Also pretty self explanatory. So I won't bore you all by dissecting it. I WILL however encourage each one of you to take a step back, look at your life, and see if you don't need to do a little balance adjustments. And I will do the same. :)
I love the Gospel. I love teaching people about the Plan of Happiness, because it reminds me over and over of how PERFECT it actually is. I ove having a purpose in life. I love having a vision. Both of which wouldn't be possible without the knowledge I have of who I am, why I'm here, and where I'm going. It's wonderful. I wish it for absolutely everybody. But! That's why we're here, isn't it? :)
I hope you all have a lovely week! Danke vielmals für euer Gebete, Briefen, Unterstützung, und einfach Liebe.
Love,
Sister Bice
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