Called to Serve Him

 Liebe Familie und Freunde,

 So, some of you might be wondering to yourselves, "Hmm....how many Kilometers did Sister Bice ride on her bike this week?" (Ok, I'm sure none of you were actually wondering that...or at least I hope not...if you were, you should probably find something better to occupy your thoughts with..hah..) At any rate. .....I don't want to talk about it. It was a lot. But! Like the old saying goes, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" Hah.

 Meine Güte! Schon wieder eine Woche ist vorbeigegangen hier in Wels! The time is flying. We get transfer calls..THIS WEEK! But Sister Baxter and I are confident that we are both staying. That is what we are praying for anyway. Hah. I know the Lord knows what's best for me, but, in this case, I hope what the Lord thinks is best for me and what I think is best for me happen to agree one with another:) But! You know what they say, "Come what may, and Love it!"

 So! This week? We did a lot of service this week. We had an exchange. We baked some pumpkin muffins last p-day! It was a lot of work. We had to make our own pumpkin mash. But it was so worth it:) We didn't have a lot of lessons, so we a lot of contacting. We got lost a couple of times (most of which were my fault..and by most I mean all..good thing I have a great companion, who is patient with me..hah). We met a lot of WAY cool people. Who are momentarily not ready to accept the gospel, but! They say it takes 7 times to make a convert. Or something like that. You have to plant the seeds before you can reap the harvest! Mostly we are just doing all we can and leaving the rest in the hands of the Lord. And! We are finding joy in every day of the journey. Ja klar, it will be awesome when we get some solid investigators and get the ball rolling, but! If you always put off happiness in missionary work until everything is going the way you want it to.....you are not going to have a very happy mission. The trick is finding joy in the little daily miracles that the Lord sends our way. Sometimes they are harder to see than others, but they are always there to be found for those who are looking. Of THAT I am certain.

 So! The big news of the day!! Still no baptisms set here in
 Wels...still no solid investigators for that matter...but! Frau
 Hausmann!! Has a baptismal date for Oktober! Mensch I read that this morning and almost died for happiness! I am so excited for her. Feel free to keep her in your prayers! :)

 Have I mentioned how much I love my ward here. I love them. So much. Yesterday was the annual...sacrament primary program. I almost died laughing. We have so many kids in the ward here, and they are just a hoot! I loved it. And! I learned a good lesson! The theme for the program was WdR, or CTR. The kids at one point sang "Choose the right way and be happy"..whatever that is in English. They were a little all over the place during the verses, but when the chorus came along, they all sang about as loud as Carson Wall, "WÄHL DAS RECHTE...UND SEI GLÜCKLICH..." At first I couldn't help but just laugh. But! Then I realized just how right they were. When we choose the right way, we are happy. Every time. Not only that, but choosing the right way is the ONLY way TO be happy! Oh, the simple primary truths. :)

 Annd now you will have to bear with me as I share what I learned in my personal study today. :) I am reading in 3 Nephi. I have been thinking a lot about the whole pride cycle thing lately, and what a miracle it is that we have 1000 years worth or history in one nice little 530 page book. It really is a testimony of how merciful the Lord is to His people. And yet, they always seemed to fall again. In 3 Nephi Chapter 5 verse 7 says "..and all this iniquity had come upon the people because they did yield themselves unto the power of Satan." For some reason the word "yield" caught my attention. So I followed the footnote to Romans 6:16 "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." I read that and thought the use of the word "servants" was interesting because it generally has a negative connotation. So I busied myself looking up a few other scriptures and found the following. -John 12:26 "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor." -Galatians 4:7 "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." ...And so we see that being a "servant" of Christ isn't about being in bondage, rather than SERVING He who came to serve. We serve right along side with the Lord. "and where I am, there shall also my servant be". An in the end, we will be "no more a servant, but a son (or daughter); and if a son (or daughter) an heir of God through Christ. Our Father in Heaven wants to give us, literally, EVERYTHING that He has. All He asks is that we serve Him. He invites us to be His Servants. On the other hand we have the servants of the Devil... -Alma 12:17 "Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will." The Lord will raise us up. Satan will bind us down. Even "chain us down to an everlasting destruction, according to his power and captivity..". I think it is clear which one sounds like a better deal. And the kicker? We sometimes CHOOSE to be a servant of the devil! We yield ourselves to him. Obviously we aren't perfect, and Satan is really good at what he does, but! My beloved brothers and sisters, the choice is ours. "Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.." but as for me? Well, I'm gonna do my very very best to serve the Lord!

    Before this gets any longer let me just tell you all how EXCITED I am for General Conference! Then I will skedaddle:) But! Mensch! I hope you are all as excited as I am! And in typical missionary fashion, I have a commitment for you all! Yep, every single one of you reading this. Hopefully some of you already do this, but, your commitment is...to listen to conference with a question. At least one question.  And not just one that you thought up as they were singing the opening hymn! Rather, take some time in the week and do some pondering to come up with a question. Because, as we all know, if we don't ask questions, we can't get answers. I try to do this every time and I can testify that when we seek, we will find. When we ask, we shall receive. And when we knock, it shall be opened unto us. So take advantage of this beautiful opportunity to learn from the Lords SERVANTS! And enjoy your week:)

 I love you all! Keep smiling:)
 Love,
 Sister Bice