grüß euch! schon wieder..:)‏

This is the Von Trapp family mansion from the Sound of Music

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
Alright, I think you all need to take a seat, because I have some big news...
WELS HAS AN INVESTIGATOR!!! Ja Wohl! The long search has...definitely not come to an end..but! It HAS decided to take a turn for our favor! Actually in all honesty, he found us. Like Frau Hausmann! Acually..I got the story second hand because it happened while we were on an austausch so I was in Neumarkt..
Oh! Our austausch! Well we actually had zone training meeting in Salzburg on Tuesday (which! By the way, was wonderful. I think the Salzburg zone is the best zone in the world..) and then afterward we had our exchange. Sister Drury and Sister Marquardt headed back to wels and I headed out to Neumarkt with Sister Armstrong. And I...have never been so afraid in my whole life. Hah. Neumarkt has a car. A car which Sister Marquardt drives. Unless of course Sister Marquardt isn't there, in which case Sister Armstrong drives. That however has only happened...once. Last Tuesday. Yep, I got the..privilege..of experiencing Sister Armstrongs first time behind the wheel. And if her panicking wasn't enough to scare somebody, her driving was! I mean, I am not saying I could have done any better but..naja. Turns out there were miracles happening in both our areas. The Welsers were found by a new investigator, and us Neumarkties..made it home in one piece!
I think the only bad thing about exchanges is..the food. It is always awkward eating other peoples food. I never know what to do with myself. I was trying to feed myself breakfast and saw some cereal. It is actually the cereals that Sister Drury is obsessed with and buys every week, but I had never tried it. I thought to myself, "oh! Sister Drury's favorite cereal! That should be safe..." So I poured myself a bowl and....it tasted more or less like dog food. I told Sister Drury that if I had to start off every day eating that stuff, I would be eternally in a bad mood. Hah. Naja. To each his own. ;)
So! Our new investigator! The sisters were sitting on the train talking about zone conference, when the guy across from them just quotes a bible scripture to them. They had a nice little chat, gave him a Book of Mormon, and made out an appointment. Which appointment took place on Saturday, and was SO good! It was our first real live appointment here in Wels for a long time. Mensch, it felt really great to teach again! We also noticed that we were  a little out of practice..but! We had an awesome couple from our ward along as a joint teach, and the Spirit was there, And! Danny is just straight up awesome. Such a solid guy, and totally eats up everything about religion. He ended up pretty much giving himself all of the commitments we had planned to give him. Towards the end of the lesson he said "sooo if you are a church you must have a ward..and you must meet sometime..." "Yep, sure do..every Sunday in Wels.." "...how should I dress? When does it start? How do I get there?" Hah! What?? Naja. Sadly he didn't end up being able to make it. But! The will was there! And we are meeting again with him this week. And we are real excited about it. Feel free to pray for Danny!
My other big news for the week..I fell in love. We got on the bus home one night and a boy came to the back and sat next to me. His name is Stefan. We had a nice little chat.
Stefan is 3.
Baha. He this kid was a crack up. He totally just ditched his mom and came and sat with us in the back. He was a big fan of my fingerless gloves. We are friends. Cutest. Kid. Ever.  I gave his mom a pass along card.:)
Anywho..aside from a new investigator, we also found some new potentials this week! Quite a few! Which is a big deal for us! Hah one of them was funny..we had actually went by on somebody who had asked for a BOM but they weren"t home. We went to leave and...I couldn't open the gate. (Yes, you CAN get locked INSIDE peoples gates here...) Mensch. Soo I was contemplating the chances of us getting over the 7 foot spiky beast (..and by us I mean Sister Drury..hah I have hopped my fair share of fences in my life, and she was in..a pencil skirt..) when..Sister Drury walked up and..opened the gate. Uh..fail? I blame the mittens. But! It was perfect timing, because the little delay allowed us to cross paths with a man a few moments later, to whom we gave a Book of Mormon and exchanged numbers so that we can meet. Afterwards we were talking about the irony and Sister Drury said "..I love that God's way of stopping us is putting Sister Bice in front of a perfectly normal gate because He knows she can't open it..." Hey! Ok..maybe that is sometimes true..but..beggars can't be choosers? Haha. I really do LOVE being a missionary. :)
Annnd of course I learned some really neat things this week during study...buuuut I forgot my study notebook and I don"t remember what they where...hah. Oh! I did learn a cool quote from Sister Armstrong. She said "We can't just pass through our mission. Our misison must pass through us." Such. A big. Fan. But really though! This very topic has been busying me quite a bit lately. I mean when it all comes down to it, the end of our mission is more-or-less-in-a-strange-sort-of-way like the end of our life. (They DO say that we "die" when we go home...) The only things we can REALLY take with us are the friendships we've made, the lessons we've learned, the knowledge we've accumulated, and the person we've become. Whiiich is actually..a lot. And I am so so grateful for the opportunity to be here finding out what life actually means and how to deal with it using the gospel. I read in an old notebook of mine sometime this week, "The atonement should be applied daily. Not because we are great sinners, but because we all fall short and the Atonement is what brings us closer to God." I really love that. I feel like before my mission, the "Atonement" or at least "repentance" always had kind of a bad connotation. But! That is not at all how it us. Repentance, the Atonement, is a gift, that we are ALLOWED access to...EVERY DAY! Now THAT is amazing! What a blessing. There was an awesome talk in the Liahona several months back that talked about how the gospel doesn't just make bad people good, rather, to make good people better. Applying the Atonement in our lives does not at ALL mean that we are bad people. It just means that we are taking advantage of the opportunity to become better. So neat. :)
Ok I am here in a room with my whole district and they are talking and I can't concentrate and so I am just gonna give it up and scamper..I will do better next week. But! I love you all! Thanks for your love and letters and prayers!! And as always...don't forget to smile:)
Ich hab euch liäb!!
Sister Bice

Grüß euch miteinand!‏

Lieber Familie und Freunde,
Sooo I am assuming that most of you have probably already heard the news, but for those of you that haven't....
MY BABY SIS IS GOING ON A MISSION!! She has been assigned to labor in the Colorado Springs mission (including the states of Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Kansas), and enters the MTC on February 27th! And! I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited for her!! My mission has changed my life, and I can't wait for the wonderful experiences that lie ahead of her. Mensch! Look out world! Here comes another Sister Bice!! :D
Naja. That may or may not have been the highlight of my week. Hi, my name is Sister Bice, and I love missionaries. :) Speaking of missionaries! Sister Drury and I had another great week here in Wels. We are still on the search for the Lord's elect, and we still have smiles on our faces! Sister Drury really is a blessing. Except for the fact that as I was innocently sitting on my bed writing in my journal last week, I got attacked by a vicious slobbery SNOW BALL! What the what?? Nasty little stuff. But! Appalled as I was that Siste Drury would stoop to such a childish act, I decided to play the bigger man and not to get mad, rather to get even. She may or may not ahve ended up with a handful of snow down her shirt. Why? Because I love her. :)  Haha. Really though, I have been SO blessed with companions on my mission. All of them are like sisters to me, and I would do anything for 'em. I am so grateful for the best friends I have found in all of them...at any rate, Sister Drury and I somehow manage not only to keep sane in Wels, but to LOVE every day of it. One thing I have learned out here is that happiness is completely independent of what is happening in your life. Happiness has to come from within. And! I am happy. :)
Soo we were walking home on Friday after getting stood up for an appointment, when we bumped into a girl named Rebekah, that I also happened to bump into my first day in Wels. Her parents were members of the church when she was younger, but when they left so did she. She is really nice and open though. And! She had her darling 4 year old daughter with her. Lily Sky. She was super shy when I asked her what her name was. She whispered it like a little church mouse and her mom had to help her out. Hah. So we stood and chatted with her mom a bit when all of the sudden little Lily came and hugged up to me as I was standing there on the sidewalk and hung on for the rest of the couple minutes of conversation. So. Adorable. I don't know what came over her. We decided that children can just feel the spirit because they are just a little bit closer to heaven. I really do believe that. Anywho, we are hoping to get an appointment with her one of these days. She's is super neat.
So! I have decided that one of the things I will dearly miss about my mission is...comp study. I think I am going to have to sucker my mom into doing it with me when I get home. (Did ya hear that mom? Consider yourself warned..hah.) Sister Drury and I were talking in study the other day and she said something that President told her in interviews last week. Something along the Lines of.."You (so, us as missionaries..or as people in general) are the tool. When the Lord needs you, He'll pick you up and use you." But! Until then! You gotta keep the rust off! Keep doing whatever it is you can do (..that includes not worrying about what all the other tools in the shed are doing..) so you re ready so that when He DOES need you, He can, and will use you. I mean we hear all the time that we are "tools in the hand of the Lord" But! A tool can do nothing of itself. This work isn't about us! It is about the Master. In his hands, we can do wonders. What a beautiful concept. And there are all shapes and sizes of people for the same reason there are lots of shapes and sizes of tools. When you build a house, you need lots of different tools for lots of different tasks! Sometimes you need a saw, other times you need a hammer, or a screwdriver, etc. Well in building the Kingdom of the Lord, there are also lots of tasks to be done, and each person "has a work to do". So! The goal is just to be patient and worthy, and trust that when the Lord does need you, He will pick you up, and use you to further the building up of His Kingdom.
Annd before I go I also wanna share a line from a song I heard this week. It is one of those "little bit cheesy" church songs that sometimes drive me crazy, but I really like it. It is called "back into the Light" and says
"You've tried to ignore the mistakes, you've tried to ignore the pain...bring it into the light where mercy can reach you."
...Big fan. I have definitely played that game before in my life. The "ignore the mistakes and ignore the pain" game. Why? I have no idea. I wouldn't recommend it. It always ends in tears. I love that my mission has taught me that mistakes are made to be confronted and learned from, and pain is there to teach and then be healed. If we are always trying to hide our "wounds" with band-aids when in reality we need stitches, they never get properly taken care of and a lot of times they get infected. We rob ourselves of the healing power of the Atonement. We all know how much we hated the big brown bottle of peroxide as kids because we knew it meant pain, but our loving parents knew that in the long run we would be better off for it. The Lord knows that making mistakes and learning from them is sometimes a little uncomfortable, but in the long run, we are better off for it. The fact of the matter is: it is ok not to be perfect. We may have scars, but that doesn't make us scarred. The Savior heals us lovingly, if we allow Him to. We need only place ourselves in a place "where mercy can reach us". And we are the ones with the ability to do so..
Annd the other line.."You don't have to stay on this path, you can change with your very next step. Bring yourself into the light where mercy can reach you.." I just loved it because it goes along with all of the things I have learned about change on my mission. I used to look at change as kind of an abstract principle that was hard to grasp. I mean I always had goals and visions and would do things that I HOPED where bringing me in the right direction, but for the most part I guess I figured that one day I would just look around and realize I was there. Welll we all know how false that is. Hah. We are very much in control of change. At least to a large degree. If I want to change something, the place is here and the time is now! Regardless of where I am at in life. Change begins with "the very next step." I heard a quote once.something like.."Our biggest challenge in life will be to believe that we can change." I forget who said it but it's true. Satan tells us that we are failures from the get-go and that we can't change. I feel like that is one of his favorite lies. But that goes against the entire plan of Salvation and especially against the Atonement. Not only CAN we change, but we are EXPECTED to change. And! We are promised divine help as we do so. Ether 12:27. :) The last 13 months have been full of changes in me and around me. I feel like I just got here, but in reality I am on the downhill slope! Which means my steps are numbered and I need to make every one of them count! Which I plan on doing to the best of my ability, which coupled with the help of the Lord will be enough. :)
Ok I am once again out of time. But I love you all so very much and thank you once again for your love and prayers. Have a lovely week and don't forget to smile!
Love,
Sister Bice

Grüß euch! (sorry..I tried to think of a creative subject line...I got nothin..)‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
      So! Sister Drury and I had..an interesting week this week. It was actually a great week, even though..we didn't have a single lesson. Well, that isn't entirely true. We didn't have a single lesson with an investigator. We did however have 2 member lessons (where we go to members homes and teach them the lessons while they pretend to be investigators) which were both AWESOME! It felt so good to teach again! (And it should be noted that Sister Drury and I were blessed with the ability to down an entire KILO of spaghetti at one of their houses. As in, a kilo each. I have never been so ill in my life. It hurt to breathe afterwards. But! We both managed to keep it down..at least it tasted good. Count your blessings eh? Hah.) A couple of weeks ago we talked with the Zone Leaders to try and figure out what we can do for our little vineyard, and they counseled us to try and work more with the ward, so that is what we are doing. We are at the moment without a Ward Mission Leader but we had a great meeting with our Bishop last week where we did some brainstorming and whatnot. He encouraged us to use our "downtime" to get to know the members more, so we are working on it. We also have a meeting this week with a member and our mayor (fancy huh?) to talk about some service opportunities. Other than that, the week was filled with finding. Like Thursday for example. We were out and about finding for 7 straight hours..which! Was actually great. We didn't find any solid potentials, but it was a great testimony to me that this really is the Lord's work. I mean, Missionary work is missionary work, whether it be finding, teaching, etc. We all know before teaching comes the finding. So! Sister Drury and I are just trying out new ideas and are in for another week of hitting the streets! I am really grateful for Sister Drury and the ability we have to keep smiles on our faces (..it's not necessarily the norm to be able to come home from 7 hours of dooring and STILL have smiles on your faces...) and finding joy and miracles in every day, regardless of how our "success" looks on paper. We are giving our best, and the rest is just trusting in the Lord that, in his time, some of our seeds will begin to sprout.
      As for little old me, I am doing great. I really am so happy. I love this work. It scares me a little that I only have 5 months left to accomplish all the things that the Lord wants me to accomplish but, I also know that "in His strength, I can do all things.."
     Sooo yeah. I could attempt to entertain you all with details of "finding" last week but...instead I think I will just share some things that I learned and then let you off the hook. ;)
     I have been reading the Bible in german the last month, and thoroughly enjoying it. I am currently in Acts and I found a verse last week that I really liked. Actus 14:22 "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." I like that last part there. "Durch viele Drangsale müssen wir in das Reich Gottes gelangen." It reminded me of a Sacrament talk I heard a couple of weeks ago. It was about a butterfly. I really like butterflies.:) It was a story about a man who say a cocoon with a butterfly, struggling to get out of a teeny-tiny hole. He felt bad for the butterfly, so he went into the kitchen, got a knife, and made a little slit in the cocoon, enabling the butterfly to ease its way out. Excited he watched his new little friend emerge with ease, but was then puzzled as it tried to fly away and couldn't due to a defect in it's wings. The man was very troubled by the occurrence and asked a friend who was in the science field about the poor crippled butterfly. The friend asked "well, what did you do to it?" The man replied that he had simply helped it out by making a slit it it's cocoon. The friend then explained that that was the worst possible thing he could have done, because it is in the last step of fighting through that tiny hole that a butterfly fully develops it's wings. I really loved this little analogy, because sometimes, I feel like the little butterfly. Sometimes I feel like I am struggling and struggling to get through a little hole that is CLEARLY too small for me. Or so I think. Sometimes I get frustrated and throw my hands up and think "Ok seriously though? I am trying my best. Can't God just step in and help me out a bit??" But! It is THROUGH much tribulation that we become fit to enter the Kingdom of God. We can't become the disciples the Lord needs us to become-we can't fulfill our full potential-without passing through the small and uncomfortable hole called "much tribulation". (..on a side note...for New Years we did a little Austrian tradition called "bleigießen". You have some lead and melt it on a spoon, then tip it into a bowl of cold water. The lead makes a "figure" which predicts what you have coming in the new year. Well! My lead turned into a butterfly. Which, according to the little paper meant "i would make many new friends" in the year..but after hearing that talk...I wonder if it didn't mean I was going to have a lot of trials...hmm...hah. Naja. Come what may! And love it!) So! Moral of the story? In those moments when you become discouraged and waver at the thought of passing through what seems to be the impossible, just try to keep an eternal perspective and trust in the Lord until you recognize that it is only for OUR good that He lets us fight things out a little bit, because it sets us on the path to the Kingdom of God, and enables us the wings to fly...
Alright! I am, once again, out of time! But, once again, I thank you all for your love, support, and prayers! I can't imagine this mission experience without the army of support I have back home. Annnd once again, don't forget to SMILE! I was reading today in personal study about "happiness". "Your happiness can be contagious! As other observe you, they may desire to know the source of your joy. Then they can also experience the happiness that comes through living the gospel of Jesus Christ."-TTTF pg. 80. THEY TOO can experience the joy! Who knew that missionary work could be so easy as simple being HAPPY?! Every member a missionary is indeed not only possible but easy when we just remember to express the joy we find through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all and wish you a lovely week!
Love,
Sister Bice

Grüß euch miteinand!‏

Liebe Familie und Freunde,
"I, Sister Bice, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my fathers; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my mission, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowldege of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make an record of my proceedings in the days of my mission." 1 Nephi 1...well, sort of. Hah. I started the Book of Mormon over today, and read this verse, and thought "Hey! That's me!" Sometimes, I feel like these emails are "a record of my proceedings..." so! Hang on tight cause here we go again...
What a week! I am not going to lie, I thought to myself yesterday, "hmm..what am I going to email home about this week? What has happened" I even asked Sister Drury and she said "uhh...new years?" Oh! Right! I forgot that was just a week ago...crazy. So! Short, sweet, and simple? New Years was AWESOME!! You know those little dinky fireworks we all get to light off in the States? And you know the big fancy ones the city always shoots off for the 4th of July? Well, in Austria, everybody and their DOG shoots off those big fancy ones. Loud? Very much so. Dangerous? Most likely. Worth it? Yes!! Hah. Anywho, we spent New Years with Laura and it was just wonderful. And now it's 2013! Oh, the madness.
Sister Drury and I just had a little miracle on the way to write emails just barely! We wanted to do some contacting beforehand but the weather was bad so we decided on some dooring. We came to a corner and said "Hmm. Now what?" I saw a yellow building up the street and said "let's try that one". We walked over to it and were actually planning on going to another one in the complex when I looked at the klingle box as we passed. There was a name on there that I had recognized as a younger girl Sister Baxter and I had once tried to reach at another address, but she had moved. I thought "hmm..maybe...nah....well, why not?" We klingled and asked if she had a few minutes for a message. She said yes and let us in. Turns out, it is the same girl. She just moved to the other side of town. She still had the BM the elders gave her a year ago sitting on her shelf. She had given up on reading it, but we recommited her to and she gave us her number so we can make out another appointment with her next time she is in Wels. It was a testimony to me that oft times, the spirit is leading us, even when we have NO IDEA that that is what is happening. This is the Lord's work and even the smallest of miracles can bring the greatest joy, if we only let them.
Ok funny German moments!! At the expense of Sister Drury. Don't worry, I have her permission. ;) We were teaching Laura last week about prophets and why we had them. Sister Drury wanted to say "We have prophets so that we don't have to have any doubt when it comes to knowing how to get back to our Father in Heaven..." So! She says "...wir müssen kein...Zwiebel?..." *looks at Sister Bice...Sister Bice has nothing to offer but a very confused face, trying to figure out why in the world Sister Drury is wanting to talk about ONIONS when we are teaching about prophets...then, Sister Bice realizes that Sister Drury was wanting to say ZWEIFEL, meaning "doubt", not zwiebel, meaning, onion.....Sister Bice cracks up and is useless for the next 3 minutes of lesson...* Soo...that probably isn't funny unless you speak German. I thought it was hilarious. We were also dooring the other day and she said "Hallo, wir sind von der Kirche Jesu Christi und wir sprechen mit Jesus Christus..." Which means..."Hello, we are from the Church of Jesus Christ and we speak with Jesus Christ..." Bahah. She meant to say we talk to people about Jesus Christ...and just forgot a couple of words. I told her later and we both died laughing. She is such a trooper. If I had to put up with me, I am pretty sure I would request a transfer...
Speaking of Sister Drury, she said something in comp study this morning that I really liked. Her and I talked last week about the "band-aid" approach to fixing problems in ourselves and in our lives. How many times, we will have a problem, and instead of fixing the problem, we "slap a band-aid on it" by brushing it off, getting rid of it temporarily through an outlet like music or sports, pretend like its not there, avoid it, etc. But! She said "My mission is forcing me to solve my problmes using the Atonement of Jesus Christ." I love it so much because that is what my mission is doing to me. Before I used to just cover a lot of things up with a band aid. But now, with all of my other "outlets" gone, all I have is my Savior, which is exactly how it should be in the first place. I have learned a lot of things about myself on my mission, and a lot of things about my Savior. But the best lessons I have learned are the ones that have taught me to Come unto Him and let Him lead me by the hand as I humbly try to become the Child of God He knows I can be.  "You are in your prime missionary mode right now, make the most of every second of this wonderful privilege."
I read my email from President Miles this week, and this is the first thing it said. Actually, this was all it said. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I'll be honest, it makes me a little nervous. Sometimes more than a little. But at the same time I have been reading through my journals lately and am astounded at all that I have learned so far on my mission. And now the trick is just applying it! I am so grateful for Sister Drury and the opportunity to train. I feel like her excitement and readiness to get out and do missionary work has really fed my fire and given me lots of opportunities to put things I have learned into practice and stretch myself as well. I don't want it to end. But! "I have a work to do.." here in the mission field and after I am done doing it I will have another work to do, but until then, I am indeed going to do my best to make the most of every second of it. This IS a wonderful privilege. I found in some notes this morning a quote from President Miles.."Be as excited as you can be about this great work. Your time is but a moment." He said that once in a Zone meeting. I know it is simple but it really hit me. And now more than ever I am feeling the reality that my time is but a MOMENT! And it keeps going faster! But I am in love with this great work and will eternally be grateful for this opportunity. I feel like I have so much farther to go to become the missionary the Lord wants me to be, but, one day at a time, I am trying to give Him my best. I read an AWESOME scripture this morning in study. Acts 3:6. Peter and John are going about the ministry and enter the temple where they meet a lame man begging. They go to him and he expects them to give him money, but Peter says, (I like it better in german, so bear with me...) "Silber und Gold besitze ich nicht. Doch was ich habe, das gebe ich dir: im namen Jesu Christi, des Nazoräers, geh umher!" So...to the effect of, "I don't possess Silver and Gold, but what I do possess I'll give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk"..Love it! I realized that, like Peter, I don't possess silver or gold. But what I do possess is of great worth. What I so possess is a testimony that CHrist is my Savior and that He lives. And in that testimony is immense healing power. Just as Peter healed the lame man in the name of Jesus Christ, I too can help and heal people with things not of this world, rather, things of much greater worth. Namely the testimony of  the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that is available to every soul who seeks it. THAT my dear friends is something greater than silver and gold and all the riches of the world put together. That is why I am here. Many of you, my dear friends and family, have this precious knowledge as well. What are you doing with it? And for those of you that haven't yet come to this knowledge, I echo the invitation of the Savior to "Come and see."
I love this gospel. I love this work. I am so grateful for the lessons my Savior is teaching me here in Austria and I am looking forward to the miracles that He certainly has in store for the coming week. I thank every one of you for your love and especially for your prayers. Remember to have a lovely week, and never forget to SMILE!
Love,
Sister Bice

..guten Rutsch!!‏

 Liebe Familie und Freunde,
 
 "For ye were sometimes in darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.
 Walk as children of Light."--Ephesians 5:8.
 
 For those of you who can remember (..which is probably..nobody..hah) that was my last years "new years resolution/theme scripture". I remember reading that in the MTC this time last year and really being touched by it, because it touches on past, present, and future. Obviously none of us are perfect and we all have done things in the past that we probably might change if we could. All of us have been, at some time or other, "sometimes in darkness" but! What is important in this scripture is the NOW. But NOW are ye light in the Lord. One of the greatest lessons I have learned on my mission is that...it's ok to look back. But only long enough to learn what the Lord wants you to learn, and then you just have to move on. You have to WALK. Preferably forward. :) And of course, in the light. For that is exactly what we  are: Children of Light. My journal from December 31st last year reads "I'm excited for the New Year, and all the opportunities and experiences it will bring. I pray that the Lord will guide me in it, that I may bring His children to the Light." Those simple two lines are my continuing prayer. I can't believe I only have 6 months left out here! People back home are already starting to ask my mom "..isn't she coming home soon?" No way! I would appreciate it if ya'll would kindly stop trying to short me of the 6 months I have left! Because they are going to be the best 6 months of my mission. I hope I can apply all that I've learned in the year of 2012 to not only help me become a better missionary, but also to help me in the "after-mission-life". I still haven't quite decided on a scripture for 2013 yet, but I still love 2012's enough to hang on to until I do. :) I read a letter from a friend this morning, that pretty much summed up what I was feeling about 2012. "So many lessons learned; among the great ones, is learning that you have a lot more to learn!" I am SO amazed at all that I have experienced and learned this last year, but even more amazed at how much more I have to experience and learn! :)
 
 ANYwho...last week! was great! It was one of the longest and shortest weeks of my mission. Monday was...CHRISTMAS! Yay! We got our p-day errands out of the way, and then Bishop Lehmann (and fam) picked us up! We spent the whole day at their house experiencing a wonderful, authentic Austrian Christmas! Christmas is way different here. But it was so great! Thanks so much to the 'Lehmann's for adopting us!! And then Tuesday was, of course, CHRISTMAS!! Again! Which we spent doing "personal touches" and then spending some time with our Senior Couple, the Weidmans! It was great. And the highlight of it all? SEEING MY FAMILY! Gotta love skype! Annd Wednesday was...CHRISTMAS...again. Hah. Actually we didn't have anything planned so we went to work! (We weren't allowed to go dooring though..so we were trying to street contact..when one of our members drove passed us, took pity on us, and invited us to dinner. Hah.) Anywho. It was all good and great and wonderful. But! I will admit. I am excited to be back to real live missionary work! Hah. We had "finding day" in wels on Friday. Annd we didn't find anybody. But! I went on splits with the Bishops daughter, which was great! She is going to make a wonderful missionary. :) Naja! Other than that we are just trucking along here in Wels! Experiencing daily miracles and loving every minute of it. We don't have TOO much planned for the coming week...which means...lots of time to find! Feel free to keep us in your prayers. :) Umm! We are really short on time today. All the stores close early for the holiday and we are going to starve if we don't get some food. Which is ok because Sister Drury is putting me on a diet anyway. Hah, ok, we just made a goal to not eat sugar for a week. Normally I would never agree to something so absurd, but I have eaten more sugar in the last 2 weeks as I have in my entire LIFE and I am SO sick of it. Hah. We'll see if I make it a week. :P So! I will leave you all with a little thought from personal study. I read part of my favorite missionary talk today (The Fourth Missionary) and the author, paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, says "..the Lord says to us: 'Give me all. I don't want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man, bt to kill it. No half-measures will do. I don't want only to prune a branch here and another there. I want' the whole tree out. Hand it all over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.'" This is my ultimate goal for the new year. And for my life. To give myself over to the Lord. All of me. So that he can make me something new. Can give me himself. Can change my will, and change my heart, so at the last day "[I] may become [a daughter] of God; that when he shall appear [I] shall be like him, for [I] shall see him as he is; that [I] may have this hope; that [I] may be purified even as he is pure." (Moroni 7) I hope you all have a great start to a great new year! Of course it is important to make goals on all the other days of the year too, but New Years is just a clean slate that I hope we all take advantage of! I love you all! The Gospel is true! 

Guten Rutsch!!
 Love,
 Sister Bice

FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!!‏

..our senior couple is adorable, and they made us these:)

...annnd the bloopers. Always. Hah

LIEBE Freunde und Familie,
Fröliche Weihnacht wünsche ich euch alle! Oh! And Merry Christmas too! I can't believe it is already here! And next week is already...2013! Sheesh! Congratulations, by the way, that you all survived the end of the world. *rolls eyes* Hah. ANYwho!
So! Last week in Wels! You know, it is a really good thing they give us these handy-dandy planners, or I would never ever remembered what I had done in the past week...hah. Tuesday we spent the day in Linz to help the Elders find new investigators. They decided to shake things up a bit, so instead of street contacting, we rode the S-bahn (umm..kind of like a subway?) back and forth across Linz  for a couple of hours and contacted the people that sat next to us. It was actually a lot of fun. :)  We met a way cool guy on the train ride over and gave him a Book of Mormon! Unfortunately, he doesn't live in our area..hah. On Freitag we went...caroling! With the young men and young women..and the ward. Hah. It was actually really neat. We went caroling to some of the inactive members, the elderly widows, and to some of our investigators! I actually wish we had more investigators to go to because it was a really neat experience. I was really impressed with our bishop as well. You can just tell how much love he has for our little ward. It's really inspiring actually. We also met a cool french guy that day. He may been a little bit intoxicated. He said he would come to church on Sunday though! Then he didn't. But! We just keep on looking for the Lord's elect! Hah I think all of my journal entries from the last week look something like "...today was a really great day...I am really tired though...I don't know why..." Hah. Welcome to my life:)    Annd last but not least, Sunday! I LOVE Sundays in Wels Austria! We had our Christmas Sacrament meeting, which was all musical! We have SO much musical talent in our ward. I love it! Sister Drury and I sang in the ward choir, and then I sang in a little "womens group". I knew I was supposed to sing alto on a duet for part of "Silent Night" but last minute they nailed me with a soprano verse too..I haven't sang that high in forever! But I prayed real hard and it all worked out. Hah. The meeting was really powerful though. And there were a lot of part member families there, and a couple members even brought their neighbors. It was great. I love my ward. :)
SO! Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, ya'll get to bear with me as I share what I've learned this week! And the last couple of weeks in general. While it IS weird not to be home for Christmas..again..I HAVE  really enjoyed this Christmas season, because I haven't been caught up in the madness of presents and parties and and and...I had a wonderful personal study this morning as I pondered about what the Savior means to me, and the relationship I have built with Him over the last year. With some of our members and thanks to Handel's Messiah always being stuck in my head, this last week we have read Isaiah 9:6 together. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." I love all of the different titles for Christ in this verse. And, fun fact, in 2 Nephi 2,9, 30-32 alone are 19 different names. Nineteen! But! My all time favorite of the Saviors titles from the scriptures is the German, "Heiland". We don't have that one in English. Healer. The verb "heilen" means to heal, which is exactly what Christ does for us. The adjective "heil" means "in one piece, in tact, whole" which is what the Savior makes of us. I spent the morning reading of scriptures of healing. Brace yourselves....
2 Kings 20:5 "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold, I will heal thee..."
Psalms 30:2 "O Lord, my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me."
Psalms 147:2 "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds."
Isaiah 53:5 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed."
Malachi 4:2 "But unto you that free my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings..."
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the 'Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, preach deliverance to the captives, the recovering of sight to the blind, tho set at liberty them that are bruised."
2 Nephi 25:13 "Behold they will crucify him; after he is laid in a sepulcher for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
Alma 15:8 "..if though believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed..."
...and the list goes on. Hah. Those are some of my favorites though. Christ really is our Healer. And how?
1 Nephi 17:41 "And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod: for they hardened their hearts, even as e have: and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them: and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished."
Mensch. The "simple labor" we must perform to receive the healing that is possible through the Atonement of Christ is simply to "look" to the Savior. To try to become like Him. To follow His example, and to invite others to do the same. What a wonderful work to be engaged in at this special time of year. Psh, at any time of year!  I will admit, this last week has been filled with battles "in the silent chambers of my heart." I LOVE Wels with my heart and soul, but the work here has just been dragging lately and I guess my fear is that "it's my fault". Which I obviously know isn't entirely true, but I have been searching my soul for things I can give up, things I can change, ways I can be even more obedient, so that we will be able to find the Lord's elect that I KNOW are here. I can feel it. I have a testimony of it. I am just still trying to figure out how to put all that into a plan of action. Hah. I am trying to bear everything with patience, including patience with myself as I come to terms with my weaknesses and try to work out my imperfections in an effort to better serve my Lord. I love this work. I love my Savior. I have a wonderful companion and countless friends out here, and back home. And I am, as always, inexpressibly grateful for the opportunity I have to be on a mission, representing my Lord.
"Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
Such were the words of the angel who appeared to the shepherds, and declared the glorious birth of the Shepherd of us all. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6. Let us use this wonderful time of year to remember with gratitude our Lord and Savior, our Shepherd and Healer, Jesus Christ, and try, in our own little way, to be more like Him. I love you all! And! Wish you, once more, a very merry CHRISTmas. :)
Love,
Sister Bice

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. :)‏

we have been doing a lot of caroling on the streets of austria lately. It is loads of fun! Annnd also really cold..hah

LIEBE Familie und Freunde,
Wow, I can hardly believe that Dezember is halfway over! And Christmas is so close I can smell it! But before I get too caught up in the coming events, lets talk a little about the past, shall we? :)
Mensch, this last week was so great! Ok let's be honest, every week in the life of Sister Bice is so great. I just love being a missionary. :) But! Last week we had...Zone Conference! Wow it was so good! Unfortunately..I left my notebook at home. Hah. But! I guess mostly it just made me think a lot. We talked a lot about Christ, and our relationship with Him. We read the account of Peter walking on water. That story never ceases to teach me. As I reflected on it this time around, I realized truly what the Lord is capable of. I love the quote, "The work of the Lord is done by ordinary people, who work in extraordinary ways." Christ could walk on water, but He was the Son of God. Peter however was an "ordinary" man, who Christ enabled to experience the extraordinary. Peter, so long as He kept His eyes focused on the Savior, was capable of miracles. In fact, he was LIVING a miracle as he walked across the storm tossed sea. And Peter was successful...until! He began to doubt! Peter had no doubt as he lept over the side of the boat to embark across the water to his Savior. The doubt snuck in after his journey had begun. And when it did, Peter began to sink and cried out "Lord, save me!" I thought about myself in Peter's shoes. I too had no doubts when I lept out of the plane in Munich last February! I was ready to hit the streets and convert Germany! There have however been times in the last year where I have perhaps lost sight of my Savior, and doubt has crept in, causing me to begin to sink. But! The beauty of the story? "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him..." Yep. Time and again has that become a reality on my mission. Regardless of how many times I have been "of little faith" and begun to sink, all I have had to do is cry out "Lord, save me!" And IMMEDIATELY He's been at my side. I mean, we all know I am a terrible swimmer. But these last 12 months, the Lord has been teaching me not only to swim, but to have the faith to walk on water...
So! Besides zone conference Sister Drury and I have been busy delivering cookies to less active members and! We have even had a couple of appointments! Look at us go! We even got to meet with Laura this week! I just love Laura. :) I've missed her! Annd she also taught us how to make Austrian Christmas cookies! Gotta love family home evening! It was so great. Well, mostly great. I woke up that morning not feeling overly well, but kind of just wrote it off. Well there I was mixing cookie dough when all of the sudden...nausea. Hmm...long story short: The last time I got the stomach flu I was in the 8th grade. Since then, I have often asked myself if my body was even capable of throwing up anymore....mystery solved. Annd then Laura fed us dinner. Chili! I should have said no, but it smelled so delicious...and tasted even better! Anywho, after dinner we even got to talk to Laura's mom for a bit (who is WAY cool! And! Asked us a couple of questions about the church!)  At any rate, her family has a great spirit about them. Wonderful people. And Laura is continuing to read in the Book of Mormon and develop her testimony. The gospel is wonderful. :)
......For those of you who were wondering about the delicious chili....it definitely tasted better going down than coming back up. (My apologies to those of you with weak stomachs..) Luckily it was just a little 24 hour flu and I am in tip top shape again! Just still haven't gotten my appetite back..
ANYWHO..At church this week I was in with the young women's class and we watched a little video that said "..Just brighten up the little corner where you are". I really loved that. Sometimes I get a little (hah, a little. Yeah. Right...) overwhelmed in this great work. Annnd in life in general. I mean if we think about it, there is just so much to do! And so many people to please! And never enough hours in the day! And, and, and! But! I am fully convinced that if each of us just focuses on the little corner in which we are found at any given moment, I am sure we can accomplish great good :)
Annnd in reading  the Bible this morning I was just really impressed with Luke 2. (I think it was Lukas 2...) where Gabriel tells Mary she is going to have a Son, namely, the Son of God. The only question she asks is "How?" Which! Sounds a little like doubt, but it was the "perfectly ok" kind of doubt. She doubted her OWN ability, simply not understanding how that was physically possible. She didn't however doubt the Lord, who, as Gabriel explains, had already taken care of that part of the equation. I likened it unto myself. I will admit that sometimes I DO have doubts out here. But they are all concerning MY abilities. But! As Neal A. Maxwell once said, "The Lord doesn't ask about our ability our inability but only about our availability, and if we prove to Him our dependability, He will take care of our capability." Luckily, this work isn't about me! It isn't about what I can and can't do. It's about what I am WILLING to do. What I am willing to do for the Lord. The Lord has a work for me to do, and I know that as I do my part, namely, prove to Him my dependability, He WILL take care of my capability. He did it  for Mary, and He can do it for me.
   Hmm. I feel like this email is a little scatterbrained. Sooo I think I am going to call it quits in an attempt to salvage it before it gets any worse. Hah. I hope you are all lookig forward to Christmas Spirit it brings. :) We are looking forward to another great week here in Wels with some caroling, an exchange with Neumarkt, and of course all of the new people we are going to find that want to learn about the Gospel. :) As for you all,  I hope you have a wonder-filled week! Take some time to read about Christ in the Gospels this week in preparation for CHRISTmas! I love you all and thank you once again for your love and support:) Frohe Weihnacht! 
Love,
Sister Bice