Letter #4 (6-23-08)

This week has been interesting. I feel like we spend more time traveling then anything else. It is a little difficult when we could be knocking doors or something, but our area is really big and it takes usually a half hour to an hour to travel to anyone we are teaching or meeting with. We went and visited this one member who just joined the church a months ago and it took us almost 2 hours to get to her house!! 2 HOURS!!! It was crazy. I´m mostly just trying to figure out how to do missionary work. We are asked to talk to everyone, but my comp hates talking to people on the buses and Bahns (subway) because she doesn´t know what to say to start a conversation. I want to talk to them because I LOVE to talk, but I´m at a literal loss for words. I can teach a simple version of the Gospel, but I don´t know how to talk to a stranger in German on a bus or Bahn. On the streets we just approach people and talk about the Gospel, but then they have the choice to walk away or stay and talk. On the Bus and Bahn you don´t want to force the person to talk to you about the Gospel, so you have to bring it up some other way. Or so they say. I can do it easy in English, but my limited vocab makes it a bit more challenging in German. I will get there though. That is one of my goals for my mission is to be able to talk to everyone , no matter where I am at, street, doors, buses or Bahns...I want to gain a vocab that will help me accomplish all of those aspects of missionary work. I have a long way to go, but I will just keep working at it. I´m still not sure what missionary work is, but I will just keep trying and see if I can figure it out.

We got to meet with Andrea this week 4 times. She is really struggling, but she is praying everyday and reading the Book of Mormon. She wants to come to church, but she has to work. So we are praying for a miracle. She wants to get baptized on Aug. 8 (my birthday!! Although she doesn´t know that) but she has to come to church at least 3 times and then be able to come to church after her baptism as well!! So we are praying for a miracle, so that she can come to church. Another thing we are working on is how to get new members and investigators to church. That is not much of a problem in the US because almost everyone has a car. Well hardly anyone has a car and the buses and Bahns make travel a little longer. We have a new member Stella, who was just baptized, who would have to travel about an hour and a half with 2 small kids to get to church. The hour and a half isn´t that bad...it´s the fact that she would have to take a taxi and then a Bahn and then a bus. That is a lot of work to get to church, so we are trying to get her there some other way. It is hard, but possible. It is just a test of their faith. I know that Lord will provide them a way and make it worth their while.

We unfortunately had to "tschuss" and investigator this week. (tschuss means bye and that is what they call it when someone drops you or when you drop someone) She wasn´t making any progress and she wouldn´t really keep her commitments either. She said she was coming to church last week (not yesterday, the one before that) but she slept in. She has been an investigator on and off for years and she still doesn´t want to get baptized. It was sad, but time to say Tschuss.

We got 4 contacts this week, which was exciting. We stopped a woman and her daughter on the street and set up an appointment for Tuesday. I really hope it goes well.

It was a good week and next week I will let you know if I have figured out missionary work more!! :o)
Love,
Sister Jones