A little note aus Deutschland:)‏

Hallo! Guten Tag! Servuss!

So! I can't believe it's P-day again already. And what's more, it's the first P-day of the new transfer! Insanity! We got a phone call at SEVEN in the morning transfer day. Crazies! But! All's well that ends well! Sister Lin and I are both staying in the game for another round here in Göppingen:) That means by the end of this new transfer, I'll have been here 6 months. Give or take. That is so unbelievable. But! I guess I'd better believe it hmm? I'm really glad I'm staying. One of our young women yesterday told me I wasn't ever allowed to leave. I told her that if President Miles ever calls, I'll forward him on to her:) She's 12. And adorable:) She reminds me of my little sis! No Kiley, I haven't permanently replaced you. Just temporarily.....*wink*

Well! What do I have to say? Probably entirely too much, as usual:P This last week was good! It was a little crazy, but really good:) On Tuesday we had an appointment fall out so we did some walking around and stumbled across a little park. There was a man sitting alone on a bench eating a sack dinner. I turned to my comp and said "What do you think Sister Lin?" She said "I think you're crazy" I acknowledged the fact (or rather, accepted the compliment..hah.) and opened the little gate and walked over to him "Entschuldigung..." He ended up being a really nice guy. He's just had a hard life. He took a Book of Mormon. Maybe he'll give us a call. But! It was a good lesson on how we shouldn't judge people! Sometimes it is easy to look at somebody and say to yourself "hmm...yeah...probably not..." But! You just never know.

And Wednesday! Wednesday was wonderful! We had interviews with Pres Miles! He told me "You and Sister Lin are doing great. You're both really young in the mission, and you're relying on the Lord...because you have to!" Hah! He couldn't have been more right. Anywho. I had a great little chat with him and left feeling ready to take on the world. Afterwards while waiting for Sister Lin, I sang a duet with Sister Miles! She is a really good singer! It was super fun:)

Annnd Frau Hausmann! Is so great! And! Going to be baptized! WHAT?? August 18th. Meine Güte. So great.  I love our lessons with her, because as she talks about her past and experiences, all I can think is "...meine Güte! Frau Hausmann has been being prepared to receive the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ for her WHOLE LIFE!" It's so neat to see how the Lord works with people. She's been through a lot, but she's got a strong spirit, and she's happy. What she probably doesn't fully comprehend is..she's about to become a whole lot happier. And I can't wait. I just...love the gospel. It really is perfect. It makes perfect sense. And while it's not always easy, it's always possible. We don't have to BE the best to thrive in the gospel. We just have to GIVE our best. And while everybody's "best" is different, everybody's best is enough. Daswegen ist das Evangelium..vollkommen. At any rate, Frau Hausmann came to church yesterday, and at the beginning of VHF she whispered to me "..so I've been thinking a lot about what we talked about on Thursday (baptism..)" I sat and waited..."I was thinking it was a little soon for baptism....but then I thought..our gospel learning and progress is like this ---------------------------------(a line). And whether we get baptized here on that line ------*------------------------- or here on that line ---------------------------*-----doesn't really matter does it?" How right she was! I think she was feeling a little like she needed to know EVERYTHING about the gospel before being baptized...but if that's the case, I STILL shouldn't be baptized! But! The Gospel isn't about BEING perfect. It's about BECOMING perfect. One little step at a time. For me, that's the beauty of it all. Christ knows we aren't perfect. But He loves us perfectly. The word "disciple" means "pupil, learner".  "Siehe, ich bin ein Jünger Jesu Christi..." That doesn't mean I'm perfect! That means I'm learning. Thanks for your advice Wednesday. I've been trying to have more patience with myself as I walk this path of discipleship, or, learning. :)
So! I know we're supposed to "lock our hearts" on our mission but...I am in love with missionary work. :) Every day my eyes are opened a little more to how much the gospel and the Atonement actually mean to me. And not just to me, but to everybody. There are still lots of times when I get a little frustrated with myself because I feel like my mission is passing by entirely too fast, and I'm simply not getting done all that I want to get done, but! Then I just have to remind myself that...I wasn't called to be a perfect missionary. I heard in the MTC once "You are not here because of what you are. You are here because of what you have to give, and what you can become." I thank my Father every day for trusting me enough to send me here to the Alpine German Speaking Mission. I can definitely say that I'm not here because of what I am. But I'm grateful for this opportunity to become more like my Savior as I serve my brothers and sisters here in Germany. What an opportunity.

So! I read some wonderful talks this week that I wanted to share but..I left them at home. Mensch. I guess it'll have to wait. I'm out of time anyways. I love you all! Keep on keeping on! And smile while you're at it!

Love, 
Sister Bice 

 We live half our lives on a bus.

remember how I used to be able to sleep anywhere?Yep. Still can

 My DL likes to talk a lot. so! I have learned to multi task! look at me go:)

remember how I used to be able to sleep anywhere?Yep. Still can

So..we rode CLEAR out in the middle of nowhere to visit a less active......could somebody please explain to me how this thing is actually supposed to qualify as a doorbell? It's not even connected to anything! No wonder she didn't answer....oy.

Me and Sister Weilguni! She is like my German mom. She's such a sweetheart! And her family is adorable:)

. This is Sister Lin while I wrote my email last week. She was real sleepy....

Ganz liebe Grüßen! (I have no idea if that is correct German..probably not..hah)‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

Zuerst! Ich habe euch alle sehr Lieb:) Vielen dank für euer Briefe, Gebete, und Unterstüzung! Ihr seid alle super:)

     Ok second...a question to all you Bundys.....how was the reunion?? Meine Güte I hope it was just the best ever! It smelled like campfire here this weekend. A little cruel and unusual but! Next year. :) But I really do hope you all had a good, safe, relaxing weekend out on good old Mount Trumbull.

     As for Germany? Well, I guess I don't really know how Germany is. But Göppingen is great! This last week was..well..it was an adventure. Days in the life of Sister Lin and Sister Bice are always an adventure. Actually we had an exchange this week! With the Pforzheim Sisters:) This time around I stayed here in Göppingen with Sister Marquardt! She was in the MTC with me! It was fun to talk and see how far we've both come since then. It was really fun to work with her! She's such a sweetheart. And so humble. I learned a lot in those 24 hours! But then of course it felt like "home" to pick up Sister Lin and be back here with her. :)

     Speaking of Sister Lin! She's great. Hard to believe this transfer is already coming to a close. It's been so neat to see how much she's grown the last 6 weeks, despite her Trainer! Hah just kidding. But really though. She's had two trainers this last transfer. Sister Bice, and the Lord. Sister Bice has been doing what all she could, but the Lord has been doing all the work. This week we have Interviews with Präsident Miles! I am excited. He's such a great mission president. We also have transfer calls Thursday. I think Sister Lin and I will be staying here for one more round. But who knows. I've kind of had a feeling the last couple of weeks that someone else will finish her training. I guess we'll see oder?

    so! Enough with the Zukunft and on to the Vergangenheit! Some announcements for the week? Saturday, 7/7/12 marked my 7 month mark. WHAT?? I've been in Germany almost half a year! Hard to believe.

     Oh! The 4th of Juli! Don't worry, I didn't lose the American in me. A sister in our ward invited us over for Hamburgers, Hotdogs, chips..and Kool-aid! I don't know where she got it. It doesn't exist here. Germans think it's too sweet:) Anywho, she decorated in red, white and blue and everything. It was cute:)

     Annnd Saturday! We had a lesson with...Frau Hausmann! I was a little nervous because we decided we needed to go over expectations with her, and we wanted to commit her to baptism. So! We did just that. We had a great lesson, and at the end we said "We know there is a lot more to learn, but when you come to the point that you know that what we're teaching is true, will you be baptized by someone holding the proper authority from God?" Annnd she said yes! Now we just need to work on committing her to a date:) Also in the lesson we talked about that first night we met..two months ago. We already knew it was a miracle from our side, because we weren't actually supposed to be on the train we met her on in the first place. We'd had a lesson with a less active, who was 45 minutes late, and then we were stuck in a dorf, and just happened to catch a train that got us home JUST before 9pm. So! In our lesson she told us her side. She said that the train shouldn't even have been in Geislingen (where we got on). They'd stopped there and the loud speaker came on saying they couldn't go on for at least 30 minutes for whatever reason. Which is why Sister Schulze and I were able to catch it. Then, Frau Hausmann was originally in a different compartment, but some drunk kids got on so she moved to the next one and ended up sitting across from..the Mormon missionaries. She thought "..I should talk to them". But then decided against it, got off the train, and started to exit the Bahnhof. But then she changed her mind, turned around, talked to us, and the rest is history! Well, so far. The moral of the story is: is so neat to see how God puts us where He wants us. So many of the things that "go wrong" in any given day, are actually just our Father, leading and guiding His work, just the way He wants it.
     So Saturday was great, but I guess the highlight of our week was Sunday. We had 4 investigators at church! FOUR! In one day. :) AND one of our less active Sisters! It was SUCH a great feeling. I could have burst with joy to see all of their smiling faces sitting in the congregation. It's days like yesterday that make this all worth it. I love seeing the Gospel work in peoples lives. I love watching it change them. And feeling it change me. "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?" I vote yes:)

     Zum Schluss! For district meeting, we were all supposed to pick our "favorite chapter" in the scriptures and share it. It was actually..way neat. I really liked it. Mensch! I had such a hard time choosing a favorite1 I figured I'd make a list and then pick one..I ended up with a list of like 15. Hah. But the one I finally chose was..Moroni 7:) I just love everything about that chapter. For times sake, I only read verse 41 to the end. Charity. When I read about charity in this chapter, I like to replace the word "charity" for "Christ", because Charity is the pure love of Christ, and Christ is Love.

"....he must needs have Christ; for if he have not Christ he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have Christ. And  Christ suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if you have not Christ, ye are nothing, for Christ never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto Christ, [who] is the greatest of all, for all things must fail..." Then of course I love verse 48. That's my goal. That when he shall appear, I shall be like Him. I'm not perfect. But I'm trying. And sometimes I feel like I don't try my hardest. But I'm working on that too. Sometimes I feel like I just don't have much to offer. Annnd to be real honest...I don't. But Christ does. And I'm not out here for me. I'm out here for Him. I love teaching the Plan of Salvation out here, because it reminds me over and over again just how perfect it is. It truly is a plan of Happiness. All the how's and the what's and the why's? I don't know. But I know it's true. And I'm grateful for this opportunity I have to share it.

     Alright! out of time and this is already way too long! Sorry! I wish you all a wonderful week! Don't forget to smile! Someone may need it, even if you don't! 

Much Love,

Sister Bice

Weiter, immer weiter rühmt den Namen unseres Herrn!‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde von mir,

WOO! BUNDY REUNION!! I don't know who is more excited for the Bundy this year...me, or the people actually going! Baha. I have the invitation sitting on my study desk where I can see it and get excited every day! I hope all you Bundy's have a blast this year! I know it will be hard without me there but...*wink* Really though, my thoughts and prayers will be with you all!

Anywho! Ready for some chinese?

我今天很高興Bice 姊妹幫我讓我可以用中文寫信!!!!!!!!!

That means..."I am really happy today that Sister Bice helped me so that I can type in chinese!" Haha. Today I did some exploring on the computer and figured out how to make it type in Chinese for Sister Lin..her mom doesn't really speak english, so she'll be really happy to hear from her daughter in the right language! Sister Lin is still beaming. Cute. :) Speaking of chinese things...fun fact: In China, the word "four" and the word "death" sound VERY similar. So the hospitals there...have no 4th floor. It goes from 3 to 5. Funny huh? I'm learning all kinds of things about Asians:) Also! I feel like my apartment has been transformed into a Chinese Restaurant! Sister Lin loves to cook. Sometimes it's really spicey...but it's always good! I never knew you could do so many different things with an egg....haha. Also, remember how I was worried about my mental well being when I said I started actually liking carbonated water?....I've started craving it. I even bought some this week. Creepy. :P

So! Göppingen! Sister Lin and I had a great week. We didn't have as many appointments as we would have liked to, but we still kept plenty busy! We are immer noch on the search for new investigators. They are out there! I know they are. We've just gotta find them. :) We have a couple of potentials that are really promising....we are just having a hard time getting ahold of them. *Daumen drücken* (That's the german way of saying *fingers crossed*)

ANYwho..on Saturday we went out to Ellwangen to..a baptism! Tobias Stoppe. He's 8 years old, and adorable. We thought it would be eat for Sarah to experience a baptisimal service, and Ellwangen isn't too far from her. Some members from the Ellwangen branch picked us all up off we were! The church is Ellwangen is cute. It used to be a bakery:) And the baptisimal service? Was so great! I talked one of the Elders into playing translator for me. I have to do it every Sunday and it's exhausting. Hah. But a member gave a talk about the Holy Ghost and how it is similar to....soccer. It was actually super! She talked about a lot of different "situations" in which a soccer player might find themself in, and compared them to situations we find ourselve in in life. Sometimes with out limited view, it's hard for a player to make a decision on the spot. But the coach, or our Father in Heaven, can see the whole field, and He can call out to us to tell us what to do. We just need to learn to listen for the right voice. Our coach doesn't put us out on the field because He thinks we're going to lose. He putus out on the filed, in our specific position, because He knows we're ready to play. And he wants us to use all of our talents and abilities to play the best game we possibly can. So it is with our Father. He prepped and trained us in the pre-mortal world, then, when we were ready, He sent us here to earth to show Him what we've got! As so long as we listen to Coach, things will turn out ok:)

Speaking of soccer! For all of you who don't know, the EC (european cup..aka soccer!) has been going on the last few weeks here in Germany. Which means Sister Lin and I...haven't been sleeping at night. The people here are...very loud when it comes to soccer. Annnd they like to drive by our window honking and yelling at all hours of the night. But on Thursday, we got to take part in the excitement! President Miles gave each companionship permission to watch one game. So we went over to familie Zander's to watch Deutschland vs. Italien. Germany..didn't play their best. We.....lost. 2-1. They actually played quite well, especially the second half. Great teamwork. They were on offense almost the whole time, and had lots of chances to get the ball in....they just need to learn to aim! Hah. At any rate, sitting curled up on a couch in my sweats watching a soccer game, I did not feel much like a missionary. hah. But! It was fun. And a good stress reliever:) I love soccer:) But! Not only a very small fraction as much as I love the Gospel. I guess what it all boils down to is just that. I. Love. The Gospel. With all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I had the privilege of bearing my testimony yesterday in Sacrament. I mostly talked about charity. When hearts are full of charity, hearts are changed. Lives are changed. I am so grateful for this beautiful opportunity I have to serve the Lord. I'll be honest, there have been times on my mission where I've asked myself if I#m even doing any good out here. But time and again I've come to the conclusion that even if I haven't helped a single person in the last 6 months (..I hope I have..) that there is always going to be at least one person that will eternally benefit from my being here, and that's me. I've learned so much. I've grown so much. Admittedly, I'm still trying to bridge the gap between learning and then actually applying what I've learned but..slow and steady wins the race? At any rate, I'm really grateful that I am where I am. I'm grateful to be lucky enough to have been born in the Gospel. I am grateful that God loves us enough to have given us a perfect plan to follow. What a blessing.

Mmk short on time! Zum schluss, I just want to share a quote from a talk I read this week! "The strenght of this cause and kingdom is not found in its temporal assets, impressive as they may be. It is found in the hearst of its people. That is why it is successful. That is shy it is strong and growing. That is why it is able to accomplish the wonderful things that it does. It all comes of the gift of faith, bestowed by the Almighty upon His children who doubt not and fear not, but go forward."-President Hinckley. It is my hope and prayer that all of us, each and every one, can and will "look unto God in every thought, doubt not, fear not" and, as President Hinckley suggests, go forward in Faith.

Liebe Grüße!

Sister Bice