Liebe Freunde und Fam,
So! I
am a little short on time today...Sister Baxter and I are going to try
to do a little field trip to Hallstatt today (..we don't actually know
anything about it excpet that the members told us we should go there...)
but! That's ok because I don't have TOO much to report on from last
week..evern though it was a great week! Mensch...I don't even remember
what we did last week...lemme get my planner....
ok!
Tuesday
we had our last district meeting of the transfer. Sad! I am going to
miss my little district. Two of our Elders were transfered. But! We ARE
getting a Golden, which is always fun:) Our week was a little bit crazy.
Another one of those nothing-really-goes-as-planned week. But! We did
find some sweet new potential investigators! On Wednesday we decided to
go out to a little village called Au bei der Traun. We picked it because
we were sure it hadn't seen missionaries in ages. We were only half
right. We got...a lot...of doors slammed in our faces. But! We kept on
knocking (or rather, klingling..) until finally someone gave us the time
of day. A really funny couple. They had never heard of our church
before (confirming the fact that missionaries hadn't made it out there
for a while..) but also let us in on the fact that Au is apparently a
hot spot for Jehovas Witness missionaries. (Which explained all the door
slamming..) At any rate! We had a great conversation with them and they
happily took a Book of Mormon. :)
On
Saturday we had a ward service project! It was one of the Mormon
"Helping Hands" projects. We went out to a park deal in a village called
Holzhausen and spiffed it all up! It was lots of fun. And there was a
great turn out. The ward here never ceases to amaze me. It really is
just like a big giant happy family..of missionaries! I love them all. :)
After the service project we went to support one of our less active
sisters as she read aloud from the Bible in a Catholic church. Where I
discovered why people are always so horrified when we tell them our
church is three hours long. It really WAS cold in there. And the benches
really WERE hard. Hah. But! I think it was neat that they were
promoting reading the Bible. I love the scriptures. :)
And
yesterday! We were able to teach the Young Womens class in church! A
lesson on missionary work, in honor of the new age limit. One of the
young women said "You know, I just don't think it sounds all that great.
You have to get up early, go to bed early, talk to people who don't
like you, you can't listen to music.." and the list went on. It was
definitely a 15 year old girl perspective:) But! It gave Sister Baxter
and I the opportunity to bear testimony of just how much our missions
have meant to us. Yes, there have been lots of hard days. Weeks. Months.
But! I would re-live the hard times 10 times over for the moments and
the people and the experiences that have made it more than worth it.
What a blessing it is to be here, serving my Savior. Sister Baxter and I
had a great weekly planning session and set some great goals (well, we
hope so anyway..schauen wir mal..) and we were blessed to experience a
lot of miracles last week. At any rate, I am excited as ever about this
wonderful work. It truly is wonderful.
I
was reading in Ether last week, and chapter 6 really impressed me. The
Jaredites finish their barges, and then they "set forth into the sea,
commending themselves unto the Lord their God." I like all of the water
analogies in the scriptures. In order that the Jaredites could make
progress towards the promised land, "the Lord God caused that there
should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters towards the
promised land, and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea...and
they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the
mountain waves that broke upon them..." Yep, that's life sometimes! On
our little ocean of life we often encounter "furious winds" and are
sometimes "buried..because of the mountain waves that break upon" us.
But! "..when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could
hurt them...therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters
they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the
top of the waters". Even though "the wind never did cease", the
Jaredites did not remember to call upon the Lord. In fact, "they did
thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came,
they did not cease to praise the Lord." And every time they cried unto
the Lord, he reached down with loving hands, picked them up, brushed
them off, and set them back on the path. I guess on my mission, I have
oft times felt like the winds have never ceased. But, without the winds,
we cannot progressed towards the promise. Without opposition, we can't
progress towards our ultimate goal of becoming like the Savior. We just
need to learn, like the Jaredites, to be grateful for our many
blessings, even amidst our trials. The words of a song from "White
Christmas" come to mind.."When you're weary and you can't sleep, try
counting blessings instead of sheep..." I am a big fan of that advice!
There are always blessings to be seen, if we know where to look. :)
Alright
I am out of time! I love you all dearly and wish you a lovely week with
lots of smiling! I am looking forward to a wonderful week with
Interviews with President Miles on Friday, and Stake Conference with
President Monson on Saturday!! I'll let you know how it goes! :)
Love,
Sister Bice
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