I´m dreaming of a white Thanksgiving....just like the ones I never knew!! lol!! Ok, well they don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here, but that doesn´t mean that we can´t!! We moved our P-day to Thursday so that we could have a thanksgiving party as a district. We are not going to have a turkey, but we are going to try our best to make it normal!! I love Thanksgiving...It´s one of my favorite holidays. Plus, guess what?? It SNOWED!!! Yup that´s right...snow!! It´s pretty to look at, but kind of miserable to walk around in!! Lol. Funny story....so I bought boots to keep my legs warm for the winter and was so excited to have them. Then it snowed and it was really wet melty snow and I found out that my boots are NOT water proof!! That was a fun day. We went to the church to prepare for a music night thing that we were putting on and I took my boots and socks off. We were in the kitchen making cookies for the people at the music night and so I put my socks on the heater in the kitchen to help them dry faster!! I think I grossed out some of the Germans!! LOL!! It was so funny!!
The music night was a success. We had a few members bring friends to it so we got to talk to them. We didn´t get any referals or appointments from it, but one older lady I talked to said that she would come to church!!! That will be cool. It was so cute because I was in the bathroom washing my hands and this little old German lady came up to me and told me how she had invited her friend to come and that she came. It was so cool to see the excitement in her eyes and voice as she told me about it. I told her how cool that was and what a good job she was doing. She is such an old member, but so cool. She is excited to bring her friend to church on Sunday!! I got to sing a few songs which was so great!! I sang "Wishing You were Somehow Here Again" because that is one of my favorites and I also sang "If thou had been here" from the Woman at the Well CD!! My comp...the opera singer...can play the piano really well and made me sing it. Before I sang it at the Music night I explained to them what it was about because it was in English. It was funny because at the end of the night some people came up to me to tell me I did a nice job and some of them even complimented my German!! I was so excited!! I think my German is horrible, but if the German´s say nice job then I must be making progress. Especially since they NEVER compliment anyone!! I love Bielefeld and will be sad when I have to leave!!
This last week has been good!! It has been hard...it´s really hard to get anything done with 3 people. We talk 3 times as much, we are 3 times as slow and we are 3 times more PMSy!! lol!! It is so funny!! Normally it takes us 10 minutes to walk to the church because we normally walk fast...well now it takes about 20 minutes!! Geduld Sister Jones, Geduld!! (Geduld-Patience) I´m learning just to laugh at things and not take it so seriously!! Sometimes it is harder then others, but i´m getting better!! I love this time of my life and I´m so grateful that I chose to serve a mission. It is hard, but SO worth it!!
O is not doing too well. A friend of hers died and so she will be gone for a few days. Please pray for her and her friend's family. I´m just afraid that when people die that the families will become mad at God. It happens way more then I ever knew. I don´t think that she will get mad, but please pray for her anyway.
I don´t have much an update with Frau A because we are not meeting with her till Thursday morning. How is it that even when we move our P-day to another day we still teach her on P-day...naja, so ist das!!
I want you to know how much I love this Gospel. This really is Christ´s Church and we really do have His Authority to baptise and to seal families together forever. I love this mission thing and I´m so glad that I have plenty of time left to spread this happy news with others!!
Alles Gute,
Sister Jones
24 November 2008
17 November 2008
Week #25 (11-17-08)
So this last week was interesting. You know how they say that 3 is a crowd?? Well I don´t know about it being a crowd, but it sure is crowded!! One more person is a lot more then I thought. When we go to appointments we always try to have a member with us. It helps the investigators have friends in the ward and also see that there are people in our Church that have normal lives....the life of a missionary is not normal. So normally there are 3 of us and the investigator...which is the perfect number. Well we went to an appointment the other day and there was the 3 of us, the member and the investigator around a tiny little table. It actually worked out fine, but it was just crowded. We teach pretty well together, so that is really good. It´s hard, but is also fun....for now!! :o)
Frau A is confused. We meet with her every Monday morning and it is always really good. We have the Spirit when we teach her and everything. When we commit her to do something or keep a commandment she always agrees and I can see that she feels the Spirit....I can see it in her eyes. Last week we committed her to coming to our church on Sundays and she agreed. Then I called her on Saturday and she said that she was confused about what to do and she wasn´t going to come. Well...she doesn´t just meet with us she also meets with the JW´s. We found out today that she meets with them on Saturday mornings...that is why she is confused!! They are confusing her. Our goal this week is to have more contact with her during the week so she won´t forget the Spirit that we bring when we meet with her!! The Elders also have contact with her during the week because they teach her kids English. Please pray for her to understand what is important and that she will recognize a difference from when we are there and when we are gone!!
O is doing good as well, but also confused. The ward is pressuring her to get baptized...they are not meaning it that way, but they keep asking when she is getting baptized and that they are excited for when she gets baptized. She is so wonderful and I think that one day she will get baptized, but she is not ready yet. She won´t pray about the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith yet because she is nervous for an answer!! She is praying now for the courage to pray!! Please pray that she will get that courage!!
I love our investigators in Bielefeld and the new members...well and the other members as well!! It is so great here and the work is moving forward!! We found a new investigator last week who comes from Gana, Africa. She is cool and I hope it goes well with her!!
Thanks for your prayers and for the support!! I hope you have a great week!!
Love,
Sister Jones
Frau A is confused. We meet with her every Monday morning and it is always really good. We have the Spirit when we teach her and everything. When we commit her to do something or keep a commandment she always agrees and I can see that she feels the Spirit....I can see it in her eyes. Last week we committed her to coming to our church on Sundays and she agreed. Then I called her on Saturday and she said that she was confused about what to do and she wasn´t going to come. Well...she doesn´t just meet with us she also meets with the JW´s. We found out today that she meets with them on Saturday mornings...that is why she is confused!! They are confusing her. Our goal this week is to have more contact with her during the week so she won´t forget the Spirit that we bring when we meet with her!! The Elders also have contact with her during the week because they teach her kids English. Please pray for her to understand what is important and that she will recognize a difference from when we are there and when we are gone!!
O is doing good as well, but also confused. The ward is pressuring her to get baptized...they are not meaning it that way, but they keep asking when she is getting baptized and that they are excited for when she gets baptized. She is so wonderful and I think that one day she will get baptized, but she is not ready yet. She won´t pray about the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith yet because she is nervous for an answer!! She is praying now for the courage to pray!! Please pray that she will get that courage!!
I love our investigators in Bielefeld and the new members...well and the other members as well!! It is so great here and the work is moving forward!! We found a new investigator last week who comes from Gana, Africa. She is cool and I hope it goes well with her!!
Thanks for your prayers and for the support!! I hope you have a great week!!
Love,
Sister Jones
10 November 2008
Week #24 (11-10-08)
So guess what?? I´m still in Bielefeld!! I was so sure I was going to be transferred because I have been here for 4 transfers now, but the Lord has other plans for me....it´s called 2 companions. Yep...Sister Buynak and I are still together and we have another companion coming this week. Sister Cha is her name and she is from Korea. She is 32-yrs old and is on her last transfer...so she will be dying here in Bielefeld. (That´s what we call it when someone goes home). I´m pretty sure I will be transferred the week before Christmas...which is pretty dumb. It is possible for me to stay for Christmas, but that would be 6 transfers in the same city....that´s half of my mission in my Golden City!! 5 transfers is already 7 MONTHS!! WOW!! I´m excited though!! It will be a good change and this transfer is only 5 weeks (starting Thursday) so it will go by really fast!! I love Bielefeld, but it is hard to know what to do with the same contacts, investigators and families after so many months!! I will just continue to work hard and see if I can find out why the Lord still wants me here!! :o)
This past week was good....they seem to go by so fast!! Nothing really new happened. It´s still hard to get O to meet with us. She came to church which was good...but she has still not read in the Book of Mormon. She has a total social conversion, but we are trying to work on her spiritual conversion!! She has to have the Spiritual to get baptized and the Social to stay active. Normally the Spiritual is first and we have to fight to get the Social.
We contacted a referral from a member this week...well actually 2!! The first one was super cool because we just said the name of her friend and she invited us in. We had a great talk, but she is too busy making Christmas cards to meet with us now, but she said maybe after Christmas...lol. The other didn´t have any interests, but she was really nice and we gave her our card and said she could call us if she changed her mind. I think that if I could give any advice to members of the church it would be to pray about their friends and then give the missionaries referrals. Not everyone that is referred will get baptised, but just saying the name of a member that the referral knows gives us a way better chance of getting in and teaching the lessons. The first referral kept telling us that her friend (the member) is super smart and if she thinks that this book is true then there must be something right about it. She is just too smart to be fooled into something like that. It was just cool to hear her rave about her friend and the difference that she sees in her compared to other people. I hope that it works out and even if it doesn´t this non-member has more knowledge about the church and knows she can always go to her friend with questions!! So...moral of the story....be a good example and give referrals to the missionaries. :o) We LOVE referrals!!
Frau A is good....I think. We were supposed to have an appointment with her this morning, but she changed it to tomorrow morning!! We have quite a bit to do before our new companion comes, so it will be an exciting week!!
Oh...I do have a funny story (Sorry, I´m sitting here racking my brain to know what to write. Some weeks it is a whole bunch and others not so much!!) So we were sitting on the Bahn and this drunk old man walks on....well stumbles on. He walks towards us to sit in the seat right in front of us and was about to sit down when the Bahn started to move. Well, when the Bahn moves and your still standing up most people almost fall till they grab onto a poll or something...but when someone is drunk there is no control. He fells right on top of me!! I mean full on...all weight on my body for a few seconds before my companion and I pushed him off into the seat across from us!! Then all he said was "Oh Entschuldigung"....Oh Excuse me!! It was so funny, but also really gross. Most people here in Germany smell especially the bums, but when a person is drunk and kind of bumish together....that is pretty disgusting. I wish I could bottle it up and send it to you for Christmas...just so you could smell it!! lol
Well that is all the exciting stories!!
Have a great week,
Sister Jones
This past week was good....they seem to go by so fast!! Nothing really new happened. It´s still hard to get O to meet with us. She came to church which was good...but she has still not read in the Book of Mormon. She has a total social conversion, but we are trying to work on her spiritual conversion!! She has to have the Spiritual to get baptized and the Social to stay active. Normally the Spiritual is first and we have to fight to get the Social.
We contacted a referral from a member this week...well actually 2!! The first one was super cool because we just said the name of her friend and she invited us in. We had a great talk, but she is too busy making Christmas cards to meet with us now, but she said maybe after Christmas...lol. The other didn´t have any interests, but she was really nice and we gave her our card and said she could call us if she changed her mind. I think that if I could give any advice to members of the church it would be to pray about their friends and then give the missionaries referrals. Not everyone that is referred will get baptised, but just saying the name of a member that the referral knows gives us a way better chance of getting in and teaching the lessons. The first referral kept telling us that her friend (the member) is super smart and if she thinks that this book is true then there must be something right about it. She is just too smart to be fooled into something like that. It was just cool to hear her rave about her friend and the difference that she sees in her compared to other people. I hope that it works out and even if it doesn´t this non-member has more knowledge about the church and knows she can always go to her friend with questions!! So...moral of the story....be a good example and give referrals to the missionaries. :o) We LOVE referrals!!
Frau A is good....I think. We were supposed to have an appointment with her this morning, but she changed it to tomorrow morning!! We have quite a bit to do before our new companion comes, so it will be an exciting week!!
Oh...I do have a funny story (Sorry, I´m sitting here racking my brain to know what to write. Some weeks it is a whole bunch and others not so much!!) So we were sitting on the Bahn and this drunk old man walks on....well stumbles on. He walks towards us to sit in the seat right in front of us and was about to sit down when the Bahn started to move. Well, when the Bahn moves and your still standing up most people almost fall till they grab onto a poll or something...but when someone is drunk there is no control. He fells right on top of me!! I mean full on...all weight on my body for a few seconds before my companion and I pushed him off into the seat across from us!! Then all he said was "Oh Entschuldigung"....Oh Excuse me!! It was so funny, but also really gross. Most people here in Germany smell especially the bums, but when a person is drunk and kind of bumish together....that is pretty disgusting. I wish I could bottle it up and send it to you for Christmas...just so you could smell it!! lol
Well that is all the exciting stories!!
Have a great week,
Sister Jones
04 November 2008
Letter #23 (11-3-08)
This last week has been so fun. We kind of went on a mini vacation/trip!! lol...not really, but really!! :o)
On Tuesday we went and visited a contact and we taught her a lesson. She is from Russia and her German is not very good...her daughter had to translate a lot of what we said. She was a JW, but she doesn´t go to their church anymore. We taught her about the plan of salvation and also showed her a short Joseph Smith film in Russian. We started out with Joseph Smith, but as with all JW´s they care more about the millennium and the after life...so we switched gears and laid out this super cute plan of salvation puzzle. I think that she really started to understand. The problem is really the language barrier. If she comes to church we have no members that can speak Russian...except for O our other Russian investigator. She might be able to translate for her...we will see. She didn´t know when she had time this week so we have to call her and set up and appointment. She is super cool!!
O didn´t show up for our appointment on Wednesday night, but she called us on Thursday morning and apologized...she was at the University and couldn´t get out of what she was doing. Normally she is really good about calling us...she is not flaky. I told her it wasn´t a problem and reminded her about Stake conference in Hanover on Sunday. She said she would be there!!
We didn´t get to meet with Frau A last week because she was sick!! But we met with her today and she is doing so good...she had a few word of Wisdom problems, but we can work through them. She was reading in Acts 3 in the Bible and she was thinking that the Scripture (vs. 21-24) was talking about Joseph Smith...we turned there together and OH MY GOSH!!! She is SO spiritual and understands WAY more then me. I had written a note in my English scriptures about this scripture...that it was about the restoration of the Gospel. (We teach her in English...did I tell you that??) And so it was totally about Joseph Smith....I know that the Spirit was speaking to her and helping her to understand that the prophets of old really have foretold of Joseph Smith!! We had a really good lesson and at the end I asked her if she would get baptised when she found out that this church was true and she said yes....but she will only do it if her Husband joins as well!! She has hope for him and she wants the elders to teach him (we actually set up an appointment for them). He is a little stuck in the Catholic church, but that doesn´t matter. I think her example will help him. She is so ready, but she will only come if her whole family comes....that is one of the only excuses that I except. I don´t think God wants us to break up families!!! I just hope that he will meet with the Elders and try to find out if it´s true or not!!
On Wednesday night we carved pumpkins with the JAE´s (YSA). It was so much fun....they don´t really have good pumpkins here, but we did the best we could with what we found. They sell them, but they are REALLY small...I will try to send pics next week!! We had fun though. The young people here are SO cool!! I love them.
Then on Thursday we had Zone Conference. It was so good and I learned so much....almost tooo much...it´s sometimes hard to know what to work on, but I have a small list of things that I want to do better with!! After Zone Conference Sister Buynak and I rode to Hamburg with the President and his wife. Sister Buynak had tooth problems a few transfers ago and so she had to have her last check up. She was serving in Hamburg when it all happened. It was just easier to go there and not to have to explain everything to a new dentist. So we got to spend the night in the Mission home!!! WAHOOO!!! That doesn´t ever happen...unless you pick up a new missionary of course!! It was cool!!
Then on Friday we took our p-day and went to the dentist and then went shopping with Sister Thompson. She even took us to lunch. Then she had to leave so we toured around Hamburg for a few hours. I was kind of grumpy because we had to pull our suitcase around everywhere and it was kind of big and heavy, but I sucked it up and had fun anyway!! Then we traveled down to Hanover that night and did an exchange with the sisters there. So we spent Saturday with the Hanover Sisters and then on Sunday went to conference at the church with the whole stake!! Then we took a bus back down with the ward. O came!! She is so wonderful!! I love that girl...I´m just sad that she is so busy!! She is practically a member, but she has to meet with us to get baptised!! Hopefully she has time this week!!
I love doing exchanges because I learn so much. I learned so much about myself and what I want to change to make my comps life easier and also to help us work more in unity!! That is so important. Sister Jones and I taught the same way so it was easier, but now we teach a little bit different and we just need to figure out how we can teach together a little better. It is not bad, but it could be better. I have learned so much this last week and I hope that I can take that and do something to change and be better.
So that was my exciting week!! We were kind of all over the place so our numbers weren´t very good, but we learned a lot to help our numbers and our missionary skills. I´m excited for this week!!
Love Sister Jones
On Tuesday we went and visited a contact and we taught her a lesson. She is from Russia and her German is not very good...her daughter had to translate a lot of what we said. She was a JW, but she doesn´t go to their church anymore. We taught her about the plan of salvation and also showed her a short Joseph Smith film in Russian. We started out with Joseph Smith, but as with all JW´s they care more about the millennium and the after life...so we switched gears and laid out this super cute plan of salvation puzzle. I think that she really started to understand. The problem is really the language barrier. If she comes to church we have no members that can speak Russian...except for O our other Russian investigator. She might be able to translate for her...we will see. She didn´t know when she had time this week so we have to call her and set up and appointment. She is super cool!!
O didn´t show up for our appointment on Wednesday night, but she called us on Thursday morning and apologized...she was at the University and couldn´t get out of what she was doing. Normally she is really good about calling us...she is not flaky. I told her it wasn´t a problem and reminded her about Stake conference in Hanover on Sunday. She said she would be there!!
We didn´t get to meet with Frau A last week because she was sick!! But we met with her today and she is doing so good...she had a few word of Wisdom problems, but we can work through them. She was reading in Acts 3 in the Bible and she was thinking that the Scripture (vs. 21-24) was talking about Joseph Smith...we turned there together and OH MY GOSH!!! She is SO spiritual and understands WAY more then me. I had written a note in my English scriptures about this scripture...that it was about the restoration of the Gospel. (We teach her in English...did I tell you that??) And so it was totally about Joseph Smith....I know that the Spirit was speaking to her and helping her to understand that the prophets of old really have foretold of Joseph Smith!! We had a really good lesson and at the end I asked her if she would get baptised when she found out that this church was true and she said yes....but she will only do it if her Husband joins as well!! She has hope for him and she wants the elders to teach him (we actually set up an appointment for them). He is a little stuck in the Catholic church, but that doesn´t matter. I think her example will help him. She is so ready, but she will only come if her whole family comes....that is one of the only excuses that I except. I don´t think God wants us to break up families!!! I just hope that he will meet with the Elders and try to find out if it´s true or not!!
On Wednesday night we carved pumpkins with the JAE´s (YSA). It was so much fun....they don´t really have good pumpkins here, but we did the best we could with what we found. They sell them, but they are REALLY small...I will try to send pics next week!! We had fun though. The young people here are SO cool!! I love them.
Then on Thursday we had Zone Conference. It was so good and I learned so much....almost tooo much...it´s sometimes hard to know what to work on, but I have a small list of things that I want to do better with!! After Zone Conference Sister Buynak and I rode to Hamburg with the President and his wife. Sister Buynak had tooth problems a few transfers ago and so she had to have her last check up. She was serving in Hamburg when it all happened. It was just easier to go there and not to have to explain everything to a new dentist. So we got to spend the night in the Mission home!!! WAHOOO!!! That doesn´t ever happen...unless you pick up a new missionary of course!! It was cool!!
Then on Friday we took our p-day and went to the dentist and then went shopping with Sister Thompson. She even took us to lunch. Then she had to leave so we toured around Hamburg for a few hours. I was kind of grumpy because we had to pull our suitcase around everywhere and it was kind of big and heavy, but I sucked it up and had fun anyway!! Then we traveled down to Hanover that night and did an exchange with the sisters there. So we spent Saturday with the Hanover Sisters and then on Sunday went to conference at the church with the whole stake!! Then we took a bus back down with the ward. O came!! She is so wonderful!! I love that girl...I´m just sad that she is so busy!! She is practically a member, but she has to meet with us to get baptised!! Hopefully she has time this week!!
I love doing exchanges because I learn so much. I learned so much about myself and what I want to change to make my comps life easier and also to help us work more in unity!! That is so important. Sister Jones and I taught the same way so it was easier, but now we teach a little bit different and we just need to figure out how we can teach together a little better. It is not bad, but it could be better. I have learned so much this last week and I hope that I can take that and do something to change and be better.
So that was my exciting week!! We were kind of all over the place so our numbers weren´t very good, but we learned a lot to help our numbers and our missionary skills. I´m excited for this week!!
Love Sister Jones
27 October 2008
Week #22 (10-27-08)
I can´t believe how fast the time flies when I am here!! I feel like every few days is Monday. So Last Monday we had an appointment with a nice older couple. We brought a man from our ward, Bruder Wächter, that was about there age. The investigators just asked him question after question. It was pretty good because Bruder Wächter served a few missions with his wife over the last 5 years, so he did a great job. We kept trying to get into the conversation, but it didn´t really work....good thing the Tea tasted good...only kidding!! They ended up saying that they weren´t really interested in meeting with us again. The man said that he didn´t really believe in God and he wouldn´t even let us pray. You can´t find out that God is there if you don´t pray, but he is just not ready to accept an answer even if he got one. They are a really friendly couple and maybe one day they will accept our message. Then we went to FA (FHE) with the JAE´s (YSA) and we played a board game...in German of course. You pick a card that has a word on it, then you have to either draw a picture, act it out, or explain it in words. They let us use our dictionaries, but otherwise they weren´t very easy on us. It was really fun and we did pretty well...we actually won!! I didn´t like it at first because I feel so bumb auf Deutsch, but I sucked up my pride and played and actually didn´t do that bad!!
We took our P-day on Tuesday last week and Sister Buynak and I went to Detmold. It´s about 30min on the train and it is the cutest city!! It is very German. We saw so many cute buildings and even took a tour of the castle there!! We had so much fun...it is so amazing here!! The Castle was so HUGE and amazing. We didn´t get to take any pictures on the tour, but it was cool. They had HUGE portraits on the walls of people who had lived there and also family members....I didn´t get all the details because it was in German, but I understood enough to know what she was talking about. There was this one room with animal heads and antlers all over the walls!! It was so dark and scary...she said that it was the men's room, which was obvious compared to the other rooms that are so open and bright. There was this one room that looked like a ballroom and it had red walls with nudie angels on the celling. I took a design class at BYU-I and it was cool because as I was looking at the furniture and the designs on the walls I remember learning all about it and the time periods and what they mean, but I have forgotten it all now...I just remember learning about it!! I also forgot the word for my pitch pipe the other day....4 years of college are escaping my head. Oh well...life goes on. I just hope it comes back quick when I need it!! :o)
On Wednesday we met with O!! She is SOOOO amazing. We found out that she is married and that her Husband lives in another city because of work and she lives here because of school. She said that they see each other usually once a week!! WOW...I wouldn´t be able to do that. We brought Schwester Adler along as our Joint Teach and it went well. It was a really long appointment...like an hour and a half or more, but we taught her a lot and answered a lot of her questions. Normally we meet 3 times a week for only 30-40 minutes...so since we are only meeting once a week then if it´s longer it´s ok. She agreed to read in the Book of Mormon and pray and she is really excited to meet with us again this week. She didn´t come to church on Sunday, because she was out of town, but she is coming to Stake Conference in Hannover on Sunday!!
On Thursday we went and visited a Russian girl named N. She normally comes to our English class on Wednesday, but hasn´t been there for the last 3 weeks. I´m so glad that we stopped by because her mother-in-law is in a coma and she was really fragile. We sat and talked with her for a while and I really had a gift of tongues experience. I have a hard time knowing what to say to console people in English let alone in another language, but the Lord really helped us to know what to say and what to ask. I didn´t understand all the specifics, because I don´t know German medical terms, but through asking questions I found out that her mother-in-law has blood in her brain and she is only living because a machine is keeping her alive. It was really sad, but we bore our testimonies about God and His love for us and a little bit about the next life. We even prayed at the end and the Spirit was really strong and I know that she felt the Spirit while we were there. It was a really cool experience. We are going to go back this week and see how her mother is doing.
So there is this new member in our ward, K. She was baptized in Jan of this year. Her daughter was just baptized in August. We went and visited her this week and we were a little nervous. Kerstin works on Sunday so she can only come to church one time a month. She has a really strong testimony, but the ward and us as well are worried that if she keeps this up that she won´t be able to progress anymore. She can´t go to the temple unless she comes to church on Sunday...it is one of the 10 commandments to keep the Sabbath day holy and that includes going to church. She knows all this, but we want her to understand that if she puts her trust in the Lord that everything will work out. Her fear is that when she finds another job that she will have less time with her kids...she has a 2 year old and a 10 year old. She only works 2 or 3 times a week...here in Germany if someone works on Sunday then they get paid double...they do that because it is really hard to find people to work on Sunday. All the stores are closed and most resturants as well...it´s like a Ghost town in the city on Sunday. She works on Sunday so that she gets more money and doesn´t have to work so many days. I can totally understand that, but if she keeps the commandments the Lord will make it up to her somehow. My comp and I both have personal experience...we lived with single mom´s who never worked on Sunday. We didn´t see them much during the week, but they were always there on Sunday in Church. We bore testimony to her about how much our families were blessed and the wonderful example that our mothers set for us. I also told her that God has blessings for us, but he waits for us to keep the commandments and then he gives them to us. When we don´t do what he has asked then he can´t give us the blessings that he wants to give us. She knows what is right, but the sad thing is, is that she won´t do anything about it. We told her that we love her and that her family will be SO blessed if she will set a goal of going to the temple in January. The temple blesses familes so much, but she said that she couldn´t do that because she had to work on Sunday. She understood what we talked about, but she is just not ready to trust the Lord completely. It was really sad.
This week has been a hard week because we have talked to so many people and no one really listened to us. We don´t have very many investigators and we aren't finding people either....but the thing that I am excited about is that we only have 2 investigators, but they are both progressing and that is amazing!!! I love this work and I know that the Lord is in it. It is his work and this is his Church! It is true and I know it. I am here in Germany because there are people who need my testimony and I will shout it from the mountian tops to make sure that they all hear it!!
Ich liebe dich!
Deine Sister Jones
We took our P-day on Tuesday last week and Sister Buynak and I went to Detmold. It´s about 30min on the train and it is the cutest city!! It is very German. We saw so many cute buildings and even took a tour of the castle there!! We had so much fun...it is so amazing here!! The Castle was so HUGE and amazing. We didn´t get to take any pictures on the tour, but it was cool. They had HUGE portraits on the walls of people who had lived there and also family members....I didn´t get all the details because it was in German, but I understood enough to know what she was talking about. There was this one room with animal heads and antlers all over the walls!! It was so dark and scary...she said that it was the men's room, which was obvious compared to the other rooms that are so open and bright. There was this one room that looked like a ballroom and it had red walls with nudie angels on the celling. I took a design class at BYU-I and it was cool because as I was looking at the furniture and the designs on the walls I remember learning all about it and the time periods and what they mean, but I have forgotten it all now...I just remember learning about it!! I also forgot the word for my pitch pipe the other day....4 years of college are escaping my head. Oh well...life goes on. I just hope it comes back quick when I need it!! :o)
On Wednesday we met with O!! She is SOOOO amazing. We found out that she is married and that her Husband lives in another city because of work and she lives here because of school. She said that they see each other usually once a week!! WOW...I wouldn´t be able to do that. We brought Schwester Adler along as our Joint Teach and it went well. It was a really long appointment...like an hour and a half or more, but we taught her a lot and answered a lot of her questions. Normally we meet 3 times a week for only 30-40 minutes...so since we are only meeting once a week then if it´s longer it´s ok. She agreed to read in the Book of Mormon and pray and she is really excited to meet with us again this week. She didn´t come to church on Sunday, because she was out of town, but she is coming to Stake Conference in Hannover on Sunday!!
On Thursday we went and visited a Russian girl named N. She normally comes to our English class on Wednesday, but hasn´t been there for the last 3 weeks. I´m so glad that we stopped by because her mother-in-law is in a coma and she was really fragile. We sat and talked with her for a while and I really had a gift of tongues experience. I have a hard time knowing what to say to console people in English let alone in another language, but the Lord really helped us to know what to say and what to ask. I didn´t understand all the specifics, because I don´t know German medical terms, but through asking questions I found out that her mother-in-law has blood in her brain and she is only living because a machine is keeping her alive. It was really sad, but we bore our testimonies about God and His love for us and a little bit about the next life. We even prayed at the end and the Spirit was really strong and I know that she felt the Spirit while we were there. It was a really cool experience. We are going to go back this week and see how her mother is doing.
So there is this new member in our ward, K. She was baptized in Jan of this year. Her daughter was just baptized in August. We went and visited her this week and we were a little nervous. Kerstin works on Sunday so she can only come to church one time a month. She has a really strong testimony, but the ward and us as well are worried that if she keeps this up that she won´t be able to progress anymore. She can´t go to the temple unless she comes to church on Sunday...it is one of the 10 commandments to keep the Sabbath day holy and that includes going to church. She knows all this, but we want her to understand that if she puts her trust in the Lord that everything will work out. Her fear is that when she finds another job that she will have less time with her kids...she has a 2 year old and a 10 year old. She only works 2 or 3 times a week...here in Germany if someone works on Sunday then they get paid double...they do that because it is really hard to find people to work on Sunday. All the stores are closed and most resturants as well...it´s like a Ghost town in the city on Sunday. She works on Sunday so that she gets more money and doesn´t have to work so many days. I can totally understand that, but if she keeps the commandments the Lord will make it up to her somehow. My comp and I both have personal experience...we lived with single mom´s who never worked on Sunday. We didn´t see them much during the week, but they were always there on Sunday in Church. We bore testimony to her about how much our families were blessed and the wonderful example that our mothers set for us. I also told her that God has blessings for us, but he waits for us to keep the commandments and then he gives them to us. When we don´t do what he has asked then he can´t give us the blessings that he wants to give us. She knows what is right, but the sad thing is, is that she won´t do anything about it. We told her that we love her and that her family will be SO blessed if she will set a goal of going to the temple in January. The temple blesses familes so much, but she said that she couldn´t do that because she had to work on Sunday. She understood what we talked about, but she is just not ready to trust the Lord completely. It was really sad.
This week has been a hard week because we have talked to so many people and no one really listened to us. We don´t have very many investigators and we aren't finding people either....but the thing that I am excited about is that we only have 2 investigators, but they are both progressing and that is amazing!!! I love this work and I know that the Lord is in it. It is his work and this is his Church! It is true and I know it. I am here in Germany because there are people who need my testimony and I will shout it from the mountian tops to make sure that they all hear it!!
Ich liebe dich!
Deine Sister Jones
20 October 2008
Week #21 Letter (10-20-08)
Here it is definitely winter...ok well I guess just fall because I heard it gets a lot colder. It is still really beautiful. The leaves are all over the ground and are all kinds of colors. The sun is still shinning and so that makes the cold wind and weather not seem so bad. It gets dark really early here...earlier then I remember at home. It´s dark by about 6:30pm and when we change times this upcoming weekend then it will be 5:30pm when it is dark. It is really hard to do missionary work in the dark. We will just have to try and have more appointments at night, so we can do street contacting during the day when it is light. We shall see.
So this week was a challenge, only because our Präsident has asked us to teach 15 lessons a week and if we can do that we will receive many blessings...more happiness in our lives, better teachers, see more success and a bunch of others. So we plan and we plan and we plan and then we go to our appointments and the person is not home. We had so many appointments that fell out this week, but that is just the way it is. We are still trying to work hard to get our 15 lessons...we are doing our part and it is up to the people to be there!! :o)
We had an appointment with an older couple this week, Herr and Frau E. They are pretty courious about our church. They were an investigator in our area book, so sister Jones and I went by and made an appointment with them and then Sister Buynak and I taught them last Monday. The Man refused to let us pray and he said that he was very sceptical about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. We told him that if he would pray and ask God, then he would find out it is true. He told us that he doesn´t really believe that he would receive an answer if he prayed. They are one of the nicest couples. It was never an argument...it was just a conversation. We have another appointment today and we are bringing a member with us...Bruder Wächter. He is about their age and him and his wife just got back from their 3rd mission..or something like that!! We wanted to bring them both, but we thought that maybe 2 members, 2 missionaries and 2 investigators would be to many people!! :o) We then went to Family Home Evening with the YSA and O came with us!! It was pretty good. They didn´t have a game or activity or anything...it was just us sitting around talking. Which is fine, but I think it would be more exciting if we did something. We can sit around and talk anytime (well not sister Buynak and me), but we get together on Monday to have fun!! We then had a lesson and that was good. O asked a lot of good questions and the YSA did a good job answering and explaining it. All in all it was a good night!! O was too busy again this week to meet with us!! She did come to church again though and she even stayed for and brought something for our ward lunch. She loves coming to church...she even takes notes. She has a lot of friends there already. It is so good to watch!! I love O, she makes me so happy. I really want to get her baptized so that she can have the fullness of joy that only the Gospel brings!! We have an appointment this week and I really hope that she will commit to be baptized!! She is so ready!! We shall see!!
We had interviews this week...which feels like so long ago!! lol!! They were really good. We had a zone meeting and then we had our distrikt meeting and then we had interviews. I love seeing Sister Thompson because she is always so happy!! It really boosts my spirits!!
We met with S this week and she is doing so amazing. She is reading every morning and evening in the Scriptures and praying as well. She is really excited for her new calling as well. She is so wonderful. She just needs more friends in the church. That makes it a little hard, but I think it will come with time. She is not like O...she is a little more quiet and reserved, but when you get to know her she is really fun and funny!!
So we were at the Wächter´s for dinner on Friday and Schwester Wächter said something really nice to me. The Elders and Sister Buynak were talking about all the cities that they have served in and when it came to my turn I said that this is my first. One of the Elders said...Oh yeah, I forgot that you are still in your Golden City. I was like, yeah...I think that some people in the ward have forgotten that too because they talk to me like I understand everything that they say. Schwester Wächter then told me that they probably think that because I talk like I understand everything. That my German is good enough that people wouldn´t think that I have just learned it. She said that ever since I got here she has thought that my German was good. That was a surprise to me because I think my German is bad. I mean it´s way better then when I first got here, but it is still not very good, but I was really flattered when she said that. A German thinks that my German is pretty good!! I still don´t have a very big vocab and I still struggle understanding people, but it´s coming. I love the German language...it´s a lot harder then what I thought it would be because I always heard how hard English is, but then again learning a second language is never easy!!
We had a street preach in Paderborn on Saturday and it was pretty good. Sister Buynak and I were only there for about an hour and a half because we had 2 appointments...which fell through...but it was still fun even for a short time. Paderborn is where the other 2 Elders in our Distrikt are. It´s about an hour train ride southish. It was pretty fun, although most people said that they didn´t have time. I really want to know what Germans do during the day because they always say that they don´t have time. I don´t know what Americans say, but I would be interested to know if it is the same thing or if it is just the German´s who never have time!! It just makes me laugh inside...mostly because I don´t want it to bother me.
We met with Frau A this morning. She left on vacation after S´s baptism and she just got back last week. She said that she only has time to meet with us one time a week...which is better then none. She said the Spirit was so strong. She asked us why Joseph Smith had so many wives. (a friend told her that) So we spent the first little bit explaining that. It´s hard to explain because I don´t full understand why. It went really well and I even told her that I don´t fully understand, but that God doesn´t do anything without a purpose. I think it went well. Our Joint Teach also really helped because she was a convert and also wondered the same thing before she got baptized. Then we taught her the Word of Wisdom and she commited to live it. She said that ever since Sister Jones and I told her that we don´t drink coffee, she stopped as well. Funny story. So we went and visited her before Sister Jones left and she brought us Coffee. We told her sorry, but we don´t drink coffee and I swear that we told her that we also don´t drink green and black tea. She then made us tea, but I guess she didn´t hear that, because I just found out today that she had given us black tea!! Oooppss!! Tea is huge here in Germany and we can drink fruit tea and herbal tea, but not green or black tea!! So she commited to stop drinking that as well!! She is still a little confused with there only being one true church on the earth, but we will hopefully clear that us next week!!
Sister Jones
So this week was a challenge, only because our Präsident has asked us to teach 15 lessons a week and if we can do that we will receive many blessings...more happiness in our lives, better teachers, see more success and a bunch of others. So we plan and we plan and we plan and then we go to our appointments and the person is not home. We had so many appointments that fell out this week, but that is just the way it is. We are still trying to work hard to get our 15 lessons...we are doing our part and it is up to the people to be there!! :o)
We had an appointment with an older couple this week, Herr and Frau E. They are pretty courious about our church. They were an investigator in our area book, so sister Jones and I went by and made an appointment with them and then Sister Buynak and I taught them last Monday. The Man refused to let us pray and he said that he was very sceptical about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. We told him that if he would pray and ask God, then he would find out it is true. He told us that he doesn´t really believe that he would receive an answer if he prayed. They are one of the nicest couples. It was never an argument...it was just a conversation. We have another appointment today and we are bringing a member with us...Bruder Wächter. He is about their age and him and his wife just got back from their 3rd mission..or something like that!! We wanted to bring them both, but we thought that maybe 2 members, 2 missionaries and 2 investigators would be to many people!! :o) We then went to Family Home Evening with the YSA and O came with us!! It was pretty good. They didn´t have a game or activity or anything...it was just us sitting around talking. Which is fine, but I think it would be more exciting if we did something. We can sit around and talk anytime (well not sister Buynak and me), but we get together on Monday to have fun!! We then had a lesson and that was good. O asked a lot of good questions and the YSA did a good job answering and explaining it. All in all it was a good night!! O was too busy again this week to meet with us!! She did come to church again though and she even stayed for and brought something for our ward lunch. She loves coming to church...she even takes notes. She has a lot of friends there already. It is so good to watch!! I love O, she makes me so happy. I really want to get her baptized so that she can have the fullness of joy that only the Gospel brings!! We have an appointment this week and I really hope that she will commit to be baptized!! She is so ready!! We shall see!!
We had interviews this week...which feels like so long ago!! lol!! They were really good. We had a zone meeting and then we had our distrikt meeting and then we had interviews. I love seeing Sister Thompson because she is always so happy!! It really boosts my spirits!!
We met with S this week and she is doing so amazing. She is reading every morning and evening in the Scriptures and praying as well. She is really excited for her new calling as well. She is so wonderful. She just needs more friends in the church. That makes it a little hard, but I think it will come with time. She is not like O...she is a little more quiet and reserved, but when you get to know her she is really fun and funny!!
So we were at the Wächter´s for dinner on Friday and Schwester Wächter said something really nice to me. The Elders and Sister Buynak were talking about all the cities that they have served in and when it came to my turn I said that this is my first. One of the Elders said...Oh yeah, I forgot that you are still in your Golden City. I was like, yeah...I think that some people in the ward have forgotten that too because they talk to me like I understand everything that they say. Schwester Wächter then told me that they probably think that because I talk like I understand everything. That my German is good enough that people wouldn´t think that I have just learned it. She said that ever since I got here she has thought that my German was good. That was a surprise to me because I think my German is bad. I mean it´s way better then when I first got here, but it is still not very good, but I was really flattered when she said that. A German thinks that my German is pretty good!! I still don´t have a very big vocab and I still struggle understanding people, but it´s coming. I love the German language...it´s a lot harder then what I thought it would be because I always heard how hard English is, but then again learning a second language is never easy!!
We had a street preach in Paderborn on Saturday and it was pretty good. Sister Buynak and I were only there for about an hour and a half because we had 2 appointments...which fell through...but it was still fun even for a short time. Paderborn is where the other 2 Elders in our Distrikt are. It´s about an hour train ride southish. It was pretty fun, although most people said that they didn´t have time. I really want to know what Germans do during the day because they always say that they don´t have time. I don´t know what Americans say, but I would be interested to know if it is the same thing or if it is just the German´s who never have time!! It just makes me laugh inside...mostly because I don´t want it to bother me.
We met with Frau A this morning. She left on vacation after S´s baptism and she just got back last week. She said that she only has time to meet with us one time a week...which is better then none. She said the Spirit was so strong. She asked us why Joseph Smith had so many wives. (a friend told her that) So we spent the first little bit explaining that. It´s hard to explain because I don´t full understand why. It went really well and I even told her that I don´t fully understand, but that God doesn´t do anything without a purpose. I think it went well. Our Joint Teach also really helped because she was a convert and also wondered the same thing before she got baptized. Then we taught her the Word of Wisdom and she commited to live it. She said that ever since Sister Jones and I told her that we don´t drink coffee, she stopped as well. Funny story. So we went and visited her before Sister Jones left and she brought us Coffee. We told her sorry, but we don´t drink coffee and I swear that we told her that we also don´t drink green and black tea. She then made us tea, but I guess she didn´t hear that, because I just found out today that she had given us black tea!! Oooppss!! Tea is huge here in Germany and we can drink fruit tea and herbal tea, but not green or black tea!! So she commited to stop drinking that as well!! She is still a little confused with there only being one true church on the earth, but we will hopefully clear that us next week!!
Sister Jones
13 October 2008
Week #20 (10-13-08)
Sister Jones and Sister Jones with really "useful" umbrellas, in the rain (good thing Christi is from Seattle and use to this weather).
Hey mom...I think a new pair of slippers may be on Christi's Christmas list.
Crepes...
Sister Buynak (her new/current companion)
Smores....are all German women this short, or is Christi just extremely tall!
S...at her baptism
Couple questions mom asked and Christi answered:
Do you get to speak English? We ALWAYS speak German to each other. This transfer is an only German transfer. We speak German day and night. Sometimes a few English words come out when we don't know them, but not too often during the day. We are aloud to speak English, but our Mission President has encouraged us to speak German from 9 am-9 pm...so we took it one step further and just speak it non-stop!! It's fun.
How was the ICE train? IT WAS SO COOL!!! Ok, so normally it takes about 1.5 hrs on the train to Hannover, but with the ice train we were there in like 30 minutes!! Although it was a long day. Our first train was 20 min. late which made us miss our train in Hannover. Although, we ended up catching another and were only about 30 min later coming into Hamburg. I then picked up Sister Buynak and got back on a train 30 min later, but this time it was a slow/normal train. We left Hamburg at about 3 pm and didn't get home until 8:30 pm. We ended up missing one of our trains and we had to change trains about 3 times!! It was fine though....we were just really hungry!! :o)
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