Friday, June 14, 2013
Second to Last
To: RAY BICE, Ray Bice, Michael Baxter, Justin Christensen, T Weid, T. Bice
Liebe Familie und Liebe Freunde,
We checked our mail last week. Sister Jencks, "Sister Bice, There is a letter for you! It's from the mission home!"
"Dear Sister Bice,
In case enough other
people haven't been bringing this to your attention your every waking
moment the last few weeks, you are going home soon. Here is some stuff
you should probably know before you do...."
...Ok, maybe that wasn't exactly what it said...it went more like,
"Dear Sister Bice,
Thank
you for your faithful service as a representative of the Lord, Jesus
Christ, in the Alpine German Speaking Mission. The time and effort you
have sacrificed on His errand have not gone unnoticed. I congratulate
you as you approach the successful completion of your mission!...."
.....but the two read about the same to me when I opened it.
At any rate, I feel pressure that since this is my second to last email, it needs to be escecially good..but...my brain is soooo no cooperating right now..and I can't really think straight..but..I will do my best!
At any rate, I feel pressure that since this is my second to last email, it needs to be escecially good..but...my brain is soooo no cooperating right now..and I can't really think straight..but..I will do my best!
Soooo Stuttgart! I do love Stuttgart. I tell you what, I never knew I could love so much as I have learned to love on my mission. It really is a crazy thing. You grow to love an area and the people there so much, that you think you'll never love another area or people so much again. But then! You do. With the help of the Lord, you do.
So! Last Monday, we got to play with...Frau Hausmann! It was
so fun. She drove down her for P-day, and I get to see her one more time
before I leave because this weekend we have Stake Conference. :)
We also had an AWESOME lesson with our AWESOME investigator Neyber. (We
actually had SEVERAL really awesome appointments last week. With
investigators. Look at us go!) Anywho, Neyber is so cool. He is 20 and
from Venezuela, AND has the light in his eyes. Annd I think I already
mentioned that he doesn't speak German or English, but his member
friends translate for us and he is super ready for the gospel. We met
with him twice last week and are excited to continue to meet with him
this week! Besides which the member family that we meet together with
are some of my FAVORITE people in the world. They are so great. Mensch. I
love them. I feel like these last couple of weeks have been just so
full of miracles and love. It's like the first transfer here we were
just doing all we could to get in people's doors, and now that it is
almost time to go we have been building these great relationships with
everybody! *sigh* But like someone once said..no idea who..."The
righteous never have to say goodbye.." I love that.
Have I mentioned that Sister Jencks and I have..get..to move
again? Yep. The international ward was supposed to be getting 2 more
elders but, surprise, they will be getting sisters instead. Which means
we need to move into the apartment that will fit 4 people. We are going
to be moving on Saturday, which means I will just pack my stuff
and..leave most of it packed. Naja. As if the last weeks on a mission
aren't crazy enough..but! Don't worry about sending anything to a new
address. Just use the old one and the Elders will get me my mail..oh,
the madness. Bring it on.
Naja. There are always stories I could tell but I suppose at
this point it is almost just worth it to wait until I can tell them in
person. I feel like more important than what we do as missionaries
anyways is what we learn. So! I will share with you a little of what I
learned last week. :) So! Yesterday at church one of the Brethren in the
ward that I hardly know shook my hand and said "..You sure don't look
like you are going home in two weeks.." I thought to myself.."Now what
could he mean by that? I still look like I'm 15? I haven't gained enough
weight..?" Then he continued "..You are still so excited about the
work. You're just like a greeny". Daw. Best. Compliment. Ever. It was
probably partly due to my testimony that I bore in church last sunday. I
realized AFTER I had sat down that I was a little like a 5 year old
girl on Christmas as I talked about missionary work and the gospel and
how great it all is. But! That is exactly how I feel! I have never in my
life been as happy as I have been on my mission, and I have never on my
mission been as happy as I am now. And it has NOTHING to do with my
surroundings, rather, what is inside of me. I thought about it yesterday
during testimony meeting, and the reason I have been so happy here is
1) I have been more obedient to God the last 18 months than ever before
in my life and 2) I have spent the last 18 months laboring to give the
thing I love most to other people. Obedience+sharing the
gospel=happiness! Not only happiness, but joy as well! Mosiah 2:41 "And
moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and
happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. [annnnnd share
the gospel..] For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal
and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are
received into heaven,
that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending
happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord
God hath spoken it." Of THAT I can testify. There truly is no other way
to happiness. We certainly are not perfect but we are all down here
trying. The trick is to make the best of it, and help as many people
along the way as we can. I am every day increasingly more amazed at the
example our Savior set for us. He showed the way and He is the way. I
have been amazed at how ALL of the little bumps and hiccups, and even
the mountains and earthquakes of life can be stilled by trying to do as
Jesus did. His divine attributes help us overcome EVERYTHING that life
throws at us. We can't get 'em just simply by asking and we can't have
'em without his help, but, as we try to become better with every little
decision we make, we truly CAN "be like Jesus". I feel like I repeat
myself all the time in these emails but...eternal truths are eternal
truths! The gospel is just a beautiful thing. I can't believe I am
really "dying". My mission life is swiftly coming to an end. I feel like
I won't hardly know what to do with myself afterwards but..wir kriegen
das schon hin. I am excited to apply all the things I've learned here to
my life at home. Spannend. It's funny, people are scare to even say the
word "home" around me for fear it will make me trunky. Psh, yeah right.
I am here HEART AND SOUL until the very end. :) I love you all and hope
you have a lovey week and pray every day for an unseen opportunity to
bless the life of someone else!
Love,
Sister Bice
oh where oh where did my sunshine go??
Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Sooo I still can't
believe it is almost June. And! The sun hasn't even showed its face the
last WEEK! And it is supposed to rain the whole coming week. But! What
can you do? I would say dance in it..but the people here already think
we are weird enough..hmm..I will think of something..at any rate..it's a
good thing I'm not made of sugar! :)
So! Last week! Flew by. In the end, we didn't have a
whole lot of lessons....but! The ones that we did teach were AWESOME! We
are privileged to be working with some really special people here in
Stuttgart. I love them. And Tuesday we FINALLY got Sister Jencks's
Visa...so she is FINALLY legal to be a missionary here in Stuttgart!
Jetzt geht's los! ;) We also had a really neat District meeting. I love
missionaries.
Annnd Wednesday Sister Jencks woke up sick and was bed ridden
all day. Which left sister Bice cooped up in the kitchen. All. Day.
Well, mostly all day. We did make it to Ward Council. Which
was...hilarious. I love the German members. So. Much. I may or may not
have been laying in bed trying to sleep the other night..and I was
thinking about the fact that well..my days are numbered...annd I shed a
little tear or two. I really do just love these people so much. All of
them. Not just the ones I know, but the ones walking around on the
street, the ones in the bahns...just the German and Austrian people. I
guess that is one of the dangerous beauties of a mission. We are asked
to give our hearts to these people, and then we are asked to leave. But!
If they think they can get rid of me THAT easily...they've got another
thing coming. I'll be back some day. And until then, I'll be keeping in
touch. :)
Umm! We also had a Finding Day this week. Our distrikt
got together and tore up Stuttgart for 4 hours. I LOVE finding days. I
love working with other missionaries because whether the people decide
to listen or not, we just keep each others spirits up. And! We did
manage to find some WAY neat people! Boah. It just felt great. Finding
day is awesome because you get to share your testimony SO much, in such a
small time frame. Love it:) After finding day, we met the Bensons at
Stuttgarts one and only Pizza hut for a district dinner. Which was way
cool because...our waiter? Was a member! From Africa! But lost contact
with the church when he came to Germany. So we got his number. :) And!
Ok..now time for my
probably-should-be-embarrassing-but-I'm-more-proud-than-embarrassed
moment. Long story short. I ate a whole pizza. By myself. Not that I was
necesarrily hungry after half of it, but the Elders didn't think I
could do it and..well..sometimes my pride gets the best of me. They
looked at the pizza and looked at the size of me and so there was no way
but...where there's a will, there's a way. Ha. Yeaaahhh...I think our
Senior Couple was mildly shocked and appalled...haha. My mother would be
proud? Well..maybe not..perhaps my father....:)
So! Quatsch aside....yesterday was Sunday. Which is
always lovely. Apparently one of the Sacrament speakers didn't show up,
so they asked Sister Jencks and I to bear our testimonies. For which I
was really grateful. I still am not a fan of talking in front of
people..but my personal study was so good all last week that I felt like
I just had to get it out! Anywho..I was thinking about how neat
testimonies are. Behind each testimony lies lives, feelings,
experiences, etc, that lead an individual to know certain truths. Which
totally makes sense because our Father knows us perfectly and
individually. Anywho. Our testimonies just never stay the same. Sie sind
lebendig. They are constantly either growing..be that stronger, or
weaker. And yesterday as I sat thinking about it, I was almost
overwhelmed with how much my testimony has grown over the last 18
months. I am SO grateful for the opportunity that we have to change. As
children of our Heavenly Father, we have been granted, through the
Atonement, the ability to become better. It just is so neat. That we,
imperfect as we are, have the ability and potential to become like our
Savior, who is perfect. I have thought a LOT this last transfer about
missions and change and how I can retain the change I have experience d
on my mission AFTER my mission and decided that perhaps the greatest
things one can take home from a mission (and may I add perhaps the
greatest things we can take "Home" from this life..) are Christ-like
Attributes. What we have become. I truly do just LOVE reading about
Jesus Christ. And although I stand all amazed at all of His perfect
attributes, I think Charity leaves me the most in awe. The bible
dictionary calls charity "the greatest in the trio of things that abide
forever." Meaning of course faith, hope, and charity. And Joseph Smith
once said “Love is one of the chief
characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire
to be the sons of God.” To manifest="to be apparent; obvious.." Naja. I
read this and thought "Hmm..well Sister Bice, YOU are aspiring to be a
daughter of God..do YOU manifest His love..?" The answer..."Umm..not
always.." I mean I feel like most of the time as followers of Christ we
at least try to be loving people..but is it always obvious and apparent?
Just a thought...
Ok ok! I know that I am already way past most of your
attention spans..but! Neat little german scripture moment! 1 Samuel 3:10
"Rede Herr, denn dein Diener hört.." The english, "Speak Lord for thy
servant heareth.." And! Naja. The german is cool because you have DENN
and you have DANN. Denn meaning "because" and dann meaning "then".
Samuel doesn't say "Speak Lord, THEN thy servant will listen up.."
rather, he says, "Speak Lord, because I, thy servant, am already
listening.." I love that. I feel like sometimes I want an answer to a
prayer, but have more of the attitude that "as soon as God starts
speaking up, THEN I will certainly pay attention and listen!" When
really, we need to be listening, because as our loving Father in Heaven,
He is always speaking to us and trying to help us out....we just need
to decide to listen. :)
Ok! I will let it be before this thing gets any longer
and you all start drooling on your keyboards...*wink* I love you all!
Thanks for your love and prayers and support!
Love,
Sister Bice
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
subject line..bane of my existence...
Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Sorry
for the lame subject line. The district and I went to the rittersport
factory today. For those of you who don't know, Rittersport is a
chocolate company that makes ridiculously good chocolate. I may or may
not have bought..quite a bit..but! When in Rome?.....
Love,
Rain, rain, go away..come again...in 6 weeks or so...hah.
Hallo und liebe Grüße aus Deutschland. :)
Once again, you will have to bear with my scattered brain today..but! Es hätte schlimmer sein können...:)
It's raining. In fact, it has been raining the last several days...and is supposed to rain for the next several...
Rain is great for the flowers.
Rain is great for the flowers.
Bad for the missionaries.
But! We love it anyways. :)
But! We love it anyways. :)
So! Funny little story..we were on the way here to write
emails and we were waiting for the bahn when a girl about our ages
says.."...aren't you guys Mormons?" We said "You bet!" She said "...I
thought Mormons always wore skirts." We explained to her that today was
our p-day and and and. She was actually way cool, but unfortunately had
to get on the bus right then. Lame. But! I hope we bump into her again
sometime..in our skirts next time. :P
So! Highlights of the week? Well I actually had a real rough
day on Tuesday. Hit me out of nowhere. I even cried at the bus station.
I hate crying. But! Sometimes it's for the best? You gotta have the
water to make the rainbow, oder? Naja. But! I got a blessing from the
Zone Leaders and it was, again, exactly what I needed. It never ceases
to amaze me how well Heavenly Father knows me. I mean, I have been
living with me for 22 years now and sometimes I like to THINK that I
know what makes me tick..but then I have days like Tuesday and realize
that...I have no idea! So yeah. I still have some figuring out to do.
But! The gospel gives us direction. oh how I do so very much love the
gospel. It's only when I lose sight of the big picture that I have
problems. Otherwise, the gospel makes life make sense. Ok lets be
honest...most of the time, life makes no sense. But! The gospel always
does. :)
On Wednesday, I shook the hand of a 106 year old woman. She
was a sweetheart. And did I mention that she was 106? Wow. Hah. We
visited a member of ours in the old folks home where she lived. It was
good. We brought our member some flowers, and she was so excited to have
visitors that she showed us off to all of the other residents.
Thursday. We had two lessons Thursday! With less actives. We still have no investigators. But I have had the feeling that the WARD is the reason they called Sister Jencks and I here. They need some missionary love. And there are some GREAT members here. Active, inactive, less active, they are wonderful.
Thursday. We had two lessons Thursday! With less actives. We still have no investigators. But I have had the feeling that the WARD is the reason they called Sister Jencks and I here. They need some missionary love. And there are some GREAT members here. Active, inactive, less active, they are wonderful.
Friday we had a hilarious eating appointment with the Elders.
A cute old lady from the ward. We asked her if she had a favorite song.
She said yes and asked to see my book. Then she flipped through every.
Page. All 210 of them. Annnd never found it. Hah. Naja.
Saturday we went to a baptism!! Olena Weichelt. She. Is. A
gem. She is a single mom with 3 daughters. Her mother joined the church
in the Ukraine in 2000, and her daughters are both members, and on
Saturday, after many many years, she was baptized. Sister Jencks and I
have had the opportunity to teach her a few times with the Elders. She
is such a doll. Little Lena. Oh! I almost forgot! I sang at her baptism.
Surprise? Yes, it was. the Elders called 2 hours before and said
"Sister Bice, our musical number just cancelled on us...could you
sing??" So I did. Come thou Font of Every Blessing. It felt good to sing
again, even though I was WAY nervous because the Stuttgart ward is
chalk full of professional musicians. But! I love music:)
Naja! I still can't believe my last transfer started...today.
What? Transfer 12? Already? Meine Güte. But! I am loving Stuttgart. It
has been hard, but it is helping me learn and grow. I am a little
nervous I won't learn all the things the Lord wants to teach me before I
come home but..I am trying. The Gospel is wonderufl. In a world where
perfection is always seemingly just out of reach, the restored gospel of
Jesus Christ is perfect. Missionaries aren't perfect. Members aren't
perfect. We all know that I am not perfect. But the gospel? Is perfect.
Alright! Time to scamper once more! Sister Jencks and I have
quite a bit to get done today. And! There is a carnival in town. Where
there are carnivals, there is cotton candy. And where there is cotton
candy..well, Sister Bice loves cotton candy. :) So! Ich hab euch alle
lieb! Alles Gute gel?
Love, Sister Bice
April, April, er macht was er will...
Liebe Familie UND liebe Freunde,
Meine Güte. Seriously...another week gone...boah.
Hah ok I feel like 17 months of emails is starting to get to me...sometimes I sit down and think.."hmm...what happened last week...?" Hah. My brain is slowing giving up the spoon as the Germans say...naja!
This last week. We had..interviews! Yay! Interviews are always great. Crazy to think that this week we have transfer calls already too. What the what? And THAT means that after next Thursday, I am the OLDEST Sister in the entire mission. I don't know how I feel about that.... but! Mag kommen was will..
Ok! Now I will try to concentrate for reals...Meine Güte. Seriously...another week gone...boah.
Hah ok I feel like 17 months of emails is starting to get to me...sometimes I sit down and think.."hmm...what happened last week...?" Hah. My brain is slowing giving up the spoon as the Germans say...naja!
This last week. We had..interviews! Yay! Interviews are always great. Crazy to think that this week we have transfer calls already too. What the what? And THAT means that after next Thursday, I am the OLDEST Sister in the entire mission. I don't know how I feel about that.... but! Mag kommen was will..
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