Anyways, transfers were this last weekend! I am really.... something. It's a misch of excited, happy, terrified, worried, and just plain WAT-ness. I'm still a Sister Training Leader but instead of staying in Nürnberg (which I wish I was, but I'm not :( ), I'm going to FRANKFURT. Literally, one of the coolest places in the mission. I'm pumped, but I'm also really sad. It will be fine.
Sunday was a super sad day because the senior missionary couple (Mike and Renee' Hart) who have been here for the past eighteen months go homeon Tuesday and it was their last Sunday and my last Sunday and we had Gemeinde Essen and it was basically just a lot of time for us all to spend time crying together. I took my camera and got pictures (but then left the cable at home because I'm super smart like that) and they are literally my most prized possessions here in Deutschland. I never want to forget these people who are so incredibly amazing and have influenced my testimony so much. I realized on Sunday that even though I've had a bit of a hard time these last two transfers, I still did a ton of good. I just didn't get to see a lot of it. I think that's how a lot of what we do in the church goes. We work hard to teach in Relief Society or Primary and visit everyone on our Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching lists and a lot of the time, it seems like we're not doing anything that's helping anyone. What we can't see is the behind-the-scenes stuff, like the years of Home Teaching to a less-active that lead to their reactivation, and a kid who grows up and gains a testimony because of the things that they learned from their Primary teacher.
This is what I learned on Sunday as I talked to all the friends I made here in Nürnberg and they all told me how much they would miss me and how much good I had done here. I never saw all the things that they said I did for them, but I guess they never saw all the good things they did for me. It was a great learning moment, and I know that I have been blessed to serve here in Nürnberg for so long. I'm going to miss it, but Frankfurt is going to be a grand adventure, so I'm pumped. :)
As far as the week goes, I said goodbye to as many of our investigators as I could. I also have emails for a lot of them and have been requested that I stay in touch, so I think that I'll have to start writing an english and german letter now. If these letters start getting shorter, that's why.
I'm really going to miss one of our investigators in particular. Her name is Elena, and at the start of my mission she was the most stubborn and annoying investigator out of all of them because she had been meeting with the sisters so long and she wasn't progressing and it was just FRUSTRATING. But now, she's one of our best investigators who is SO CLOSE to baptism. She has made leaps and bounds over the past 2-3 months and has gained a testimony of God being her loving Heavenly Father (she was atheist before), the Holy Ghost being a guide and comforter for her life (she refused to believe that such a thing existed before), and the Book of Mormon being the word of God and being relevant to her personally (she thought it was just history at the beginning). She has been a miracle of my mission and I am going to miss her so much.
Zeynep was really hard to say goodbye to, and I'm going to have to do it again tomorrow morning when I get on the train because she wants to come and say goodbye for real. Apparently all the pictures and tears on Sunday wasn't real. It's fine. I love her so much and I am so glad that I got to stay long enough to see her baptized. She is going to become such a strong member. I'm just waiting for her to become a member of the Relief Society Presidency in Nürnberg. :)
For P-Day today, we went and bought Dirndls!!!! I finally got on on my last day in Bayern. Go figure. But, it's super pretty and I'm really excited to be able to wear it. I would put it on and take pictures but..... It's also raining today. Like, we have had two SUPER AWESOME thunderstorms in the last week with lightning and rain and thunder and I was SO HAPPY. Then, today as we were leaving the church it started raining a bit so we started walking a little bit faster to the U-bahn station. Then, it started POURING. Like, Southern Thunderstorm huge droplets of water that just soak through all your clothes in one hit and there were TONS of them. It was definitely the brightest point of today. :)
So, long story short, I would wear my Dirndl and take a picture and show y'all, but I am still soaked. And my Dirndl is actually really nice, and I am really excited to be able to wear it on a P-Day in the near future.
My district here is so much fun. Definitely the most fun I have had on my entire mission up to this point. This transfer feels like the Breaking of the Fellowship for us because we've all been through so much together in the last two transfers. I'm going to miss them all a ton. Even Elder Clawson. Although the lack of sass might be a good change. Elder Merkley is coming to Frankfurt with me as a new Assistant to the President, so that will be great. I can't decide if we're Frodo and Sam, or Merry and Pippin. I'm kind of leaning toward the second one because I don't want either of us to have to be Frodo. I've never been a fan of Frodo.
Anyways, I am super rambling. It's been an awesome two weeks filled with lots of missionary work, miracles, and fun. I LOVE Nürnberg. It is the best place and the ward is lovely. I'm already looking forward to coming back. That will be such a good day.
I love you all. The Gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and God is our Father in Heaven and He loves us. I know these things without a doubt and I hope you all do too. And if you don't, I know there are some missionaries out there who would just love to introduce you to a little blue book that will change your life. It's changed mine, and it's changed the lives of a lot of people that I've met here. You just have to have a bit of faith, or a desire to believe if faith is too much right now. Really, you just have to start. Just do your best, and God will give you the help you need to go the rest of the way. I have a testimony of that.
Have a great day, and an absolutely lovely week.
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John
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