This week has been great....lots of ups and downs.
I´m Staying in Bremen for my 4th transfer here!! And Sister Sayson is still my comp!! WAHOOO!!
On Tuesday we had an appointment with Barbara (our batisimal date) but she wasn´t there...that is when we freaked out!! AHHHH....but she just forgot. Then we had another appointment with her on Friday and again she wasn´t there, but her boyfriend was there and let us in. We called her and she had again forgot, but got there in a few minutes. We went to the park and read in the book of mormon with her and then played a little soccer with her son...yes, in skirts!! lol!! It was fun!! She is super cool, but I just think she is really stressed right now. She also came to church again on Sunday and had a great time there.
Olga (Frau Frizler) is doing great. We answered a lot of her questions about the Book of Mormon. She is reading it all the way through and had a lot of questions. We also gave her the stop smoking workshop to read through and this week we will be making goals on when to start and how we are going to do it!! She is amazing and she loves us so much!!
The ward is really starting to trust us. When they have been asking us to do things we got them done and then report back to these people and they are really relying on us. I love it because most of the time the Elders get asked to do everything, but now a lot of people are coming to us. A woman in the ward just had her 4th baby and the RS Pres. asked us if we would offer to help her clean and what not this week, not just ask, but really get her to let us help her...most women would just say no. So we found her about a minute later and cornered her (literally) and said that we wanted to help her this week and set up an appointment and the the RS Pres. walked by us about 2 or 3 minutes after that and I told her that we made an appointment with this other woman and she was totally surprised and very happy that we already did it and that we were pushy enough to get an appointment. :o) It made me feel really good to be able to accomplish the things that the wards asks from us!!
Sorry my email isn´t as exciting as last week, but not that much new stuff happened. We taught the YSA on Sunday about Missionary work and one of the guys came up after the class and told me that it stirred something in him...that is what we were going for!! I think it went pretty good.
Well I hope you have a great week!!
Sister Jones
27 April 2009
20 April 2009
Week #47 (4-20-09)
I just LOVE the spring in Germany!! It is so beautiful!! The flowers are blooming, the trees are turning green and the Lord is sending us baptisms!! Yep that is right...WE HAVE A BAPTISM DATE HERE IN BREMEN!! So Barbara....the girl we met in the park who´s aunt had been praying that she will meet the missionaries...she came to church last sunday and had a great time. We then had an appointment on Friday and we had planned to extend a baptism date to her. We were really nervous...I was the one that was going to be commiting her and I was nervous because last time I did that was with sister Jones and the girls said no and then I didn´t know what to say. On the way to the appointment I just imagined her saying yes. I wanted to be really positive. So Sister Sayson taught about baptism and then I taught about the holy Ghost and then asked her if she would follow Jesus Christ and get baptized on the 17th of May and she said YES!! AHHHHH!!! I was so excited. She needs to work on quitting smoking, but she has a strong desire to stop smoking so we can totally get over that hump!! She is AMAZING!! I then invited her to come to Hamburg for stake conference on Sunday and she said yes even though she would have to leave at 7am and be in the train for 1.5 hrs there and 1.5 hrs back and she would have to bring her 8month old baby!! She came and really enjoyed it and it was cool because quite a few members were on the train and she got to meet a lot of cool people!! When the members said bye to her they said...see you next sunday!! :o) It was perfect! We have 2 appointments this week and will be going through the lessons again and teaching her more of the commandments!! It is cool because she was a drug addict and has already overcome a lot and changed a lot and she really relys on God for everything and follows her inner voice (the Holy Ghost). We are just here to help her finish making the progress she needs to return to God in Eternal Life. I called pres. and he didn´t answer and so I left him a message and even screamed a little...really quiet though...I think it was something like..."Präsident, we have a baptismal date in Bremen AHHHHH!!!" When he called me back later he told me that he had never gotten a message before where a missionary sounded so excited about something!! Well I was excited!! That was probably one of the best days of my mission so far!!
We had Zone conference this week and so we went to Hannover the night before to stay with the sisters and also so I could get to the church early to practice a song with an elder. Elder Nabratskie (sp?) is serving in my zone and asked if we could sing together sometime. So we planned it and then the only time we could get together and practice was the day of conference!! Well It was interesting. He did fine, but I just couldn´t get this one part...it changed keys and I was having issues getting my first note. I was frustrated with myself because I didn´t have problems like that before my mission, but I just prayed and trusted in the Lord to help my talent that I´m not able to practice and develop at this time in my life. Well it came time for us to sing and we did fine. I really miss singing with people, so it was fun...and guess what?? I got my note and had no problem!! YEAH!!
We did splits this week, as well, with the sisters in Hamburg. It was fun. Sister Heiner came here and Sister Sayson got to go to Hamburg. We had a good time together and I learned a lot from her. It is weird to think that I am one of the "experienced" sisters. I really feel like I just got here, but in 2 weeks I will only have 4 transfers left!! I mean that is still a lot of time, but for people who have only been out 3 or 4 transfers....they think I am almost done!! I really do feel new and am not ready to go home. I stil have way to much to do here and too much to learn. I´m excited to see what will happen these last 4 transfers.
Well, Frau Frizler is also doing great!! We met with her and she has started reading the book of Mormon from the beginning. She wants to read it all the way through. :o) She also smokes and wants to quit so we are going to do the workshop with her as well. I´m so grateful for people in my life before my mission that have had experiences similar with the lives of my investigators because I can use those success stories to encourage and strengthen my investigators. It is so wonderful!! She loves meeting with us and is so excited everytime we come. I love Bremen!! :o)
This week was one of the best weeks ever!! I love the Lord and I´m so grateful for his blessings on me and all the other missionaries in the world!!!! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that we have a living prophet today. I know that we have all the knowledge and authority to do the things we need to do in this life to return and live with God for eternity. It has all been restored through Joseph Smith and has been passed down to every prophet after him. I love this Gospel and I´m happy to be a part of this great work...to bring others unto Christ.
Sister Jones
We had Zone conference this week and so we went to Hannover the night before to stay with the sisters and also so I could get to the church early to practice a song with an elder. Elder Nabratskie (sp?) is serving in my zone and asked if we could sing together sometime. So we planned it and then the only time we could get together and practice was the day of conference!! Well It was interesting. He did fine, but I just couldn´t get this one part...it changed keys and I was having issues getting my first note. I was frustrated with myself because I didn´t have problems like that before my mission, but I just prayed and trusted in the Lord to help my talent that I´m not able to practice and develop at this time in my life. Well it came time for us to sing and we did fine. I really miss singing with people, so it was fun...and guess what?? I got my note and had no problem!! YEAH!!
We did splits this week, as well, with the sisters in Hamburg. It was fun. Sister Heiner came here and Sister Sayson got to go to Hamburg. We had a good time together and I learned a lot from her. It is weird to think that I am one of the "experienced" sisters. I really feel like I just got here, but in 2 weeks I will only have 4 transfers left!! I mean that is still a lot of time, but for people who have only been out 3 or 4 transfers....they think I am almost done!! I really do feel new and am not ready to go home. I stil have way to much to do here and too much to learn. I´m excited to see what will happen these last 4 transfers.
Well, Frau Frizler is also doing great!! We met with her and she has started reading the book of Mormon from the beginning. She wants to read it all the way through. :o) She also smokes and wants to quit so we are going to do the workshop with her as well. I´m so grateful for people in my life before my mission that have had experiences similar with the lives of my investigators because I can use those success stories to encourage and strengthen my investigators. It is so wonderful!! She loves meeting with us and is so excited everytime we come. I love Bremen!! :o)
This week was one of the best weeks ever!! I love the Lord and I´m so grateful for his blessings on me and all the other missionaries in the world!!!! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that we have a living prophet today. I know that we have all the knowledge and authority to do the things we need to do in this life to return and live with God for eternity. It has all been restored through Joseph Smith and has been passed down to every prophet after him. I love this Gospel and I´m happy to be a part of this great work...to bring others unto Christ.
Sister Jones
13 April 2009
Week #46 (4-13-09)
This week was SO beautiful!! I loved it...the sun was shinning...I didn´t have to wear a big coat...and it´s getting lighter in the morning and at night!!
On Tuesday we had a joint teach for a new member. We wanted to teach about the priesthood and thought it would be a good idea to bring her home teacher. So we decided to take the train and then ride our bikes to her house. The train ride is about 25 minutes and then about 15 min with bikes. Well the weather had been SO beautiful all day, but once we got off the train it started to sprinkle a bit, but it held off till we got to her house. As we were teaching her it started to pour and there was even thunder and lightning. Then when we left it was sunny again!! It was SO amazing. The member we took is a return missionary and when we were in the train we thanked him for coming with us and he just said that he just loves going out with the missionaries. It was such a compliment to me, but a lot of people think of sister missionaries as being different then the elders...almost like we aren´t REAL missionaries. Well I can tell you that we work just as hard as the Elders...we may not be able to move as many heavy things as them, but we can still help with service and other things for the ward!! :o)
On Wednesday we had District meeting and we watched "The Testiments" movie!! It is one of my favorites. The Elders were a little silly at the beginning with the love story in it, but it was interesting to hear them become more and more serious as the movie went on and told more and more about Christ. At the end of the movie the spirit was so strong. We sat in silence for a few moments to ponder, but after only about 5 minutes or less the Spirit was pulling at me from inside to stand up and bear my testimony. I resisted at first, but the Spirit almost just pulled me out of my seat and I just stood up and bore my testmony about Jesus Christ. It was such a great experience. I love feeling the Spirit...it is so great to think that one day we will be able to have the Spirit that strong all the time!! The Celestial Kingdom is going to be so amazing!! :o)
On Thursday one of our best Investigators, Frau Frizler, called and had to change our appointment to next week. She had family coming in for Easter and was not able to meet with us. She was a little disappointed. She said that she was really looking forward to meeting with us. We had commited her to read in the book of mormon and to pray about Joseph Smith and the book of mormon and she had only read in the book of mormon, which is still good, but she needs to pray as well. We recommited her and on the phone she told me that she had been really diligent and that she is really excited to meet with us next week!! I was so happy!! WAHOO!! I really hope that means that she read and prayed!! She is so amazing. Her brother is a member in Russia and talked her into meeting with the missionaries to learn really what we believe...so she referred herself!! She is going to get baptized someday I just know it!! We are meeting with her tomorrow.
We ate with my favorite member today. Sch. Hofmann...she is so cool. We played this game that I will have to play with you and the family when I get home. The hair fight!! I played it with her for the second day of Christmas. It´s so cool!! We also met with Sch. Meister, an inactive sister. She is making good progress and I really like meeting with her. She is really loving and really easy to have a conversation with. She also loves to meet with us..she asks us when we are coming back before we can ask!!
On Saturday we got to help Sch. Müller in her garden again!! I love it and the weather was so beautiful. we then went to the church and got ready for the baptisms of 2 8 year olds in our ward. I got to sing at it too. I got to sing 2 songs and one of the elders made a recording of it, but I will have to get it from him and then past it on. I was pretty nervous, but the Lord is really helping me to be confident when I sing and to sound decent because I am out of practice I can notice the difference in my voice, but no one else can. I got some great compliments after...someone even asked me where they could buy a CD of me!! I just laughed...it wasn´t THAT good!! One of our investigators came to the baptism...she really enjoyed it. She is Catholic and said that she had never seem a baptism like that before. She looks forward when she could come to our church on Sunday. The Spirit was really strong and I think that she felt it too.
Sunday....my favorite day of the week. Normally we have a meeting, but we needed to pick up an investigator instead. Barbara...one of my other favorite investigators, was going to come to church with us. She lives only a few streets away from us. She has 5 kids, but only 2 live with her and they were going to stay home with her boyfriend, but when we got there with our bikes she came down with the kids. One is 8 months and the other is 5. I was a little worried how we were going to all ride bikes to church together, but the Lord works in Mysterious ways!! Her 5 yr old can already ride a bike, but the 8 month old can´t even sit up. Well she has one of those kids things that you attatch to the back of a bike and it rolls on the ground and kids can sit in it, well at first when she tried to attatch it she thought it was broken, but I said a silent prayer and in a few minutes she had it attatched. So we were all off...on bikes to church. We were a few minutes late, but it turned out great. We were also planning on teachíng primary so I had paper and markers to keep the 5 year old busy...miracles!! I tell ya!! She really enjoyed it. The elders taught her sunday school class and they just think that she is amazing. Her son even made friends with one of the American boys in the ward. The American boy said bye to him and started to run away and then turned back to him and yelled..."Sind wir Freunde?" ..."Are we Friends?" It was the cutest thing ever!! It was Sister Sayson´s first investigator to come to church!!
This last week was amazing and this coming week will also be very exciting!!
Love,
Sister Jones
On Tuesday we had a joint teach for a new member. We wanted to teach about the priesthood and thought it would be a good idea to bring her home teacher. So we decided to take the train and then ride our bikes to her house. The train ride is about 25 minutes and then about 15 min with bikes. Well the weather had been SO beautiful all day, but once we got off the train it started to sprinkle a bit, but it held off till we got to her house. As we were teaching her it started to pour and there was even thunder and lightning. Then when we left it was sunny again!! It was SO amazing. The member we took is a return missionary and when we were in the train we thanked him for coming with us and he just said that he just loves going out with the missionaries. It was such a compliment to me, but a lot of people think of sister missionaries as being different then the elders...almost like we aren´t REAL missionaries. Well I can tell you that we work just as hard as the Elders...we may not be able to move as many heavy things as them, but we can still help with service and other things for the ward!! :o)
On Wednesday we had District meeting and we watched "The Testiments" movie!! It is one of my favorites. The Elders were a little silly at the beginning with the love story in it, but it was interesting to hear them become more and more serious as the movie went on and told more and more about Christ. At the end of the movie the spirit was so strong. We sat in silence for a few moments to ponder, but after only about 5 minutes or less the Spirit was pulling at me from inside to stand up and bear my testimony. I resisted at first, but the Spirit almost just pulled me out of my seat and I just stood up and bore my testmony about Jesus Christ. It was such a great experience. I love feeling the Spirit...it is so great to think that one day we will be able to have the Spirit that strong all the time!! The Celestial Kingdom is going to be so amazing!! :o)
On Thursday one of our best Investigators, Frau Frizler, called and had to change our appointment to next week. She had family coming in for Easter and was not able to meet with us. She was a little disappointed. She said that she was really looking forward to meeting with us. We had commited her to read in the book of mormon and to pray about Joseph Smith and the book of mormon and she had only read in the book of mormon, which is still good, but she needs to pray as well. We recommited her and on the phone she told me that she had been really diligent and that she is really excited to meet with us next week!! I was so happy!! WAHOO!! I really hope that means that she read and prayed!! She is so amazing. Her brother is a member in Russia and talked her into meeting with the missionaries to learn really what we believe...so she referred herself!! She is going to get baptized someday I just know it!! We are meeting with her tomorrow.
We ate with my favorite member today. Sch. Hofmann...she is so cool. We played this game that I will have to play with you and the family when I get home. The hair fight!! I played it with her for the second day of Christmas. It´s so cool!! We also met with Sch. Meister, an inactive sister. She is making good progress and I really like meeting with her. She is really loving and really easy to have a conversation with. She also loves to meet with us..she asks us when we are coming back before we can ask!!
On Saturday we got to help Sch. Müller in her garden again!! I love it and the weather was so beautiful. we then went to the church and got ready for the baptisms of 2 8 year olds in our ward. I got to sing at it too. I got to sing 2 songs and one of the elders made a recording of it, but I will have to get it from him and then past it on. I was pretty nervous, but the Lord is really helping me to be confident when I sing and to sound decent because I am out of practice I can notice the difference in my voice, but no one else can. I got some great compliments after...someone even asked me where they could buy a CD of me!! I just laughed...it wasn´t THAT good!! One of our investigators came to the baptism...she really enjoyed it. She is Catholic and said that she had never seem a baptism like that before. She looks forward when she could come to our church on Sunday. The Spirit was really strong and I think that she felt it too.
Sunday....my favorite day of the week. Normally we have a meeting, but we needed to pick up an investigator instead. Barbara...one of my other favorite investigators, was going to come to church with us. She lives only a few streets away from us. She has 5 kids, but only 2 live with her and they were going to stay home with her boyfriend, but when we got there with our bikes she came down with the kids. One is 8 months and the other is 5. I was a little worried how we were going to all ride bikes to church together, but the Lord works in Mysterious ways!! Her 5 yr old can already ride a bike, but the 8 month old can´t even sit up. Well she has one of those kids things that you attatch to the back of a bike and it rolls on the ground and kids can sit in it, well at first when she tried to attatch it she thought it was broken, but I said a silent prayer and in a few minutes she had it attatched. So we were all off...on bikes to church. We were a few minutes late, but it turned out great. We were also planning on teachíng primary so I had paper and markers to keep the 5 year old busy...miracles!! I tell ya!! She really enjoyed it. The elders taught her sunday school class and they just think that she is amazing. Her son even made friends with one of the American boys in the ward. The American boy said bye to him and started to run away and then turned back to him and yelled..."Sind wir Freunde?" ..."Are we Friends?" It was the cutest thing ever!! It was Sister Sayson´s first investigator to come to church!!
This last week was amazing and this coming week will also be very exciting!!
Love,
Sister Jones
06 April 2009
Week #45 (4-6-09)
I really really enjoyed conference this last weekend. I only got to watch 3 sessions, but it was still really good. For me I really learned that I need to have more faith and less fear because fear and faith cannot exsist together. I also really noticed quite a few talks that will be great for investigators....the one by Elder Holland about Jesus Christ (man can he bear great testimony of Jesus Christ) and also Elder Cook about the plan of Salvation. I also really lived all of the talks that talked about how to overcome sadness from the death of a loved one. I meet a lot of people who have lost their faith because of the death of a loved one and I think that a lot of things that were said could help them. WOW. I love when they teach us...you can just see the authority with which they teach. The Priesthood is amazing!!!
So, this week was an interesting week. We had a lot of ups and downs..well emotionally I did.!! :o) Wednesday the Elders called and said that Tobias Berzbach (who sis Sayson and I found...the man who always said Gerne when we asked to meet together) he called them and told them that he doesn´t have anymore interest and he doesn´t want to meet with the Elders any more. I was so shocked. He came and heard me sing in church and said that he really enjoyed my singing, but also that he really enjoyed the meeting. He was so prepared and ready for the Gospel and I was really upset and confused. I started to cry a little because I was so sure that he was going to get baptized. Well, I was sitting on the bus a little bit later praying to my Father in Heaven for understanding and comfort. Well, He gave me the comfort that I needed and I cheered up a bit by the time we got to our appointment with a less active. As sister Sayson taught her part she said something that really touched me. She said that in our lives we need to have pain and sorrow to know what it´s like to be really happy. I already knew that, because I have also taught that many times to others, but this time it really hit me...if I didn´t know what it felt like to lose an investigator and feel really sad and depressed from it then how could I know how much joy I could feel when one of them chooses to step into the waters of baptism. It was an eye opener for me. It really helped me to be ok with his decision...although Sister Sayson and I are still trying to get a hold of him to see if we can do anything for him or answer any questions!! :o)
Some other personal things happened this week, but I won´t bore you with the sadness I feel when I am so hard on myself. I need to let up, but it is really hard for me. I expect perfection and if I can´t do it perfectly then I either don´t want to do it at all or I beat myself up for not doing it without flaw!! I´m hoping in the next 6 months to learn that I can´t live my life that way. :o)
We also got to help in Sch. Müller´s Garden this week. That was a lot of fun, but I decided that I don´t want to have a garden when I am older. Here in Germany they have such small homes...mostly apartments...so they don´t have room for a garden. Well, they have these places that are just gardens. It´s hard to explain so I will just have to send a picture next week. So anyway she owns this plot of land with a bunch of other gardens in the area and it is pretty big. Bigger then I think she can handle alone...that is why we were there!! We are also helping her this week again I really like to help her and to work in HER garden, but I could never have my own that bit...too much work...and it hurts the back!! lol!!
Well until next week!!
Love you, Sister Jones
So, this week was an interesting week. We had a lot of ups and downs..well emotionally I did.!! :o) Wednesday the Elders called and said that Tobias Berzbach (who sis Sayson and I found...the man who always said Gerne when we asked to meet together) he called them and told them that he doesn´t have anymore interest and he doesn´t want to meet with the Elders any more. I was so shocked. He came and heard me sing in church and said that he really enjoyed my singing, but also that he really enjoyed the meeting. He was so prepared and ready for the Gospel and I was really upset and confused. I started to cry a little because I was so sure that he was going to get baptized. Well, I was sitting on the bus a little bit later praying to my Father in Heaven for understanding and comfort. Well, He gave me the comfort that I needed and I cheered up a bit by the time we got to our appointment with a less active. As sister Sayson taught her part she said something that really touched me. She said that in our lives we need to have pain and sorrow to know what it´s like to be really happy. I already knew that, because I have also taught that many times to others, but this time it really hit me...if I didn´t know what it felt like to lose an investigator and feel really sad and depressed from it then how could I know how much joy I could feel when one of them chooses to step into the waters of baptism. It was an eye opener for me. It really helped me to be ok with his decision...although Sister Sayson and I are still trying to get a hold of him to see if we can do anything for him or answer any questions!! :o)
Some other personal things happened this week, but I won´t bore you with the sadness I feel when I am so hard on myself. I need to let up, but it is really hard for me. I expect perfection and if I can´t do it perfectly then I either don´t want to do it at all or I beat myself up for not doing it without flaw!! I´m hoping in the next 6 months to learn that I can´t live my life that way. :o)
We also got to help in Sch. Müller´s Garden this week. That was a lot of fun, but I decided that I don´t want to have a garden when I am older. Here in Germany they have such small homes...mostly apartments...so they don´t have room for a garden. Well, they have these places that are just gardens. It´s hard to explain so I will just have to send a picture next week. So anyway she owns this plot of land with a bunch of other gardens in the area and it is pretty big. Bigger then I think she can handle alone...that is why we were there!! We are also helping her this week again I really like to help her and to work in HER garden, but I could never have my own that bit...too much work...and it hurts the back!! lol!!
Well until next week!!
Love you, Sister Jones
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