How is it Only Week Three?!?!?!?

 

I feel like transfer calls should be this weekend, not in three weeks. Time moves so strangely here.

Anyways, hallo!!!! Wie geht's euch? Gut, gut. Mir geht's auch, gut, danke. Diese Woche, hatten wir viele Terminen und wir haben zwei neue Untersucheren bekommen! Es ist so gut gelaufen, das wir haben gedacht das wir „on top of the world" waren. So wir haben ganz hoch für P-Day geklettert!

Es war so cool, den ganzen Stadt zu sehen. Ich denke das jeder soll auch so hoch klettern. :)

Okay, I'll switch back over to English, but I hope you got at least part of that. I got to translate for church on Sunday and it was a ton of fun! So I'm really making an effort to use German more often. 

After we made our way back down the super narrow, steep, and dangerous staircase of doom, we went inside the Dom and it was so cool!!!!We climbed up 328 stairs to the top of the cathedral here in Frankfurt, and it was a ton of fun! It was my second time there, but it wasn't as cool (temperature wise) as it was last time. That made it a bit harder, but still good. We had a fun time with the International Sisters, so that was awesome. :

This explains the week  

 

 

Sister Jameson was also tired this week........

Also! We totally ran a 5k this week! Because we literally have half the state of Utah in our mission, we ran a 5k for Pioneer Day! It was great! It was fun! No one died, including me! It was great. :)

The "young" missionaries after the race. 

As far as the week goes, it was WAY busy. We found two new investigators through the area book, so that was super sweet. We only had one split, so that was good. We have.... Two? Planned this next week. I honestly can't keep track of them anymore. It is in my planner, I promise. 

I have been kind of struggling this last week. I have been super tired and fatigued lately, so we are going to make sure we eat super healthy and get to bed on time. So hopefully that will help. 

Miracle of the week! We did a district finding activity after church on Sunday and while we were dooring a building the elders called us and asked if we happened to have a Book of Mormon in Serbian with us, which we did. Then they asked us to come and meet us with this woman who spoke Serbisch. Which we did. And she is now an investigator. It was super cool and she even showed us pictures of her grandkids. She is adorable, and we're going back this week. :)

It was a super great week, and I love being a missionary. Sometimes it's really hard, and you just want to take a break for a week but you can't. But then you ask God for help. You ask Him to help you see the good, and see the miracles that happen everyday. Then you make the decision to be happy and do your part and guess what? It WORKS. The Gospel really works, and it is so good. This week was hard, but I know that He is there and it is awesome. 

I love you all! Have an awesome day, and a fantastic week!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister John

Other Sisters, spaghetti Eis, Hydrangeas outside the ice cream place.

     

An Analysis On Why I Get No Sleep, and a Miracle!

Sometimes I ever wonder if I will ever get enough sleep. Then I just take a breath and keep going.

Life is still going, and this week I learned a lot about what it means to truly love someone and care about them. Which is why I am getting no sleep. There are some sisters in the zones that Sister Jameson and I watch over, and they are struggling a bit. And from going on splits with these sisters and talking with them and their district leaders and talking as a companionship trying to figure out what to do to help them and praying and staying up trying to figure it all out, it has honestly made me appreciate my parents a lot more. I know that my parents probably stayed up a lot more nights than they ever said, just to make sure I got home okay. I know they spent a lot of time and effort worrying about me and about the problems I was going through and creating for myself.

They worried, they waited, and they loved.

And that is my calling right now.

Obviously, I'm not actually a parent to these sisters. Nor do I want to be. But my calling is to help lift them up when they feel small, and help them do and be their best. It has really helped me gain a very great appreciation of what my parents have done for me. So, thank you, mom and dad, for everything you've done for me.

Moving on to how the week actually went, it was great! I went on a split with Sister Freeman and it was a ton of fun! It was her first split ever, and we got lost! It was great and fantastic and then a bus driver got mad at us for not waiting "right underneath the bus stop sign" and then not going in through the "correct" doors. It was an adventure, and I'm sure he was just having a bad day.

After that, we had district meeting in Darmstadt! We visited their district meeting and it was awesome! We ate yellow watermelon and had lunch together. It was super yummy.

Then that night we had our district meeting! We've had it at the end of the day the last two weeks because that's just when it works out. But it was super great! And the Elders aren't scary and can actually be nice! We might finally be unified as a district which would be AWESOME. So yeah. Good things happening in Frankfurt. :)

On Thursday we went on a split with the Friedrichsdorf Sisters and they are just adorable. I love them both so much. :) Sister Madsen and I stayed in Friedrichsdorf and she did an awesome job at taking over the area for her first time. I think she's going to be an awesome Trainer someday. :)

Sister Jameson and I started taking selfies every day to track our progress throughout the transfer. We've only taken three, but the progress is.... Interesting. I have hope that someday we will get enough sleep, and that I will not have to keep hiding the chocolate from Sister Jameson. It's for her own good and she told me to, so it's fine. It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't good at finding it. :P

We found some awesome potential investigators this week! We were dooring in an area where a previous investigator had lived, and everyone in the building before us had shut the door in our faces. So we moved onto the next building, said a prayer, and klingeled the first name on the door. A man answered, and Sister Jameson said, "Hi, we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ," and before she could continue her sentence he man buzzed us in! Then, he opened his door and said, "I don't have any time right now because I have some visitors, but can I give you my number and then we can make an appointment on Monday when I get home from work? I really want to talk to you more."

Um.... WHAT.

It was so COOL!!!! His name is Petrus. We're going to be meeting him and his wife later this week. I am super excited, and super grateful for the blessing that he and his wife are. And I am super grateful for the blessings that they are going to receive through the Gospel. I'm already so excited for them. They're going to get sealed in the temple. I should probably calm down. It's going to be great. :)

So, yeah. It was a great week. :)

Oh! I haven't really said anything about my new companion! That's awkward. Well, her name is Sister Jameson and she is from San Diego, California. She's incredibly talented concerning music, movie quotes, and facial expressions. She is super loving, super caring, and generally just one of the best people ever. It is an honor and privilege to get to serve with her, and I am so excited to see how the rest of this companionship goes. :)

I love you all!!! Have a fantastic day, and an incredible week!

Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

Some Rain, Some Sun, and It's the Fourth of July!!!!

I dressed in red, white, and blue on purpose today. I look very much so like a sister missionary but that's okay because that's what I am! It's great! :D

Last week..... We went on a photo scavenger hunt..... But then the International Sisters told us hat Sister Porter was actually going home early so we spent the day with them instead and did not do a scavenger hunt. So yeah. That was a thin that happened. The longer I'm here in Frankfurt, the more I am realizing that just how often missionaries go home early for medical reasons. It's really kind of sad, but I know that their missionary service is all the more precious for it. It just makes me want to make sure I give everything I have to this mission and to the Lord because it may be a part of His plan that I go home before my eighteen months are up. If that were to happen, I want to say that I gave EVERYTHING to my mission. I want to leave it all on the field. :)

But sadly, I have no photos from our scavenger hunt. But I do have a photo of a bunch of swans!

We saw them as we walked back to the bahn haltestelle after meeting with a member of the bishopric and his wife yesterday after church. They are the cutest little family. Their daughter is adorable. :) We talked about service in the church and how we can serve other people through our callings. Bruder Wiborny (that would be the dad) made a comment that I really liked. He said that the church has all here programs that really help out a lot of people, but it's only when we focus on the One that it really starts to work and has the greatest impact. It reminded me of how Elder Bednar looks for the One everywhere he goes. There's actually an awesome article about it on LDS.org right now if y'all wanted to go read about it. I highly recommend it. :) But really, the whole thing just reminds that about the greatest paradox of the Gospel; the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ is for US. But if we look at it like that, and focus on making ourselves better, it doesn't work. It's only when we truly use it, and apply it, and follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ in serving others that it really works and changes us and our desires. I think that's why missions are so great at changing young men and women into such power-house return missionaries with firm testimonies: they spend all that time away from family and friends serving others and truly learning to follow Jesus Christ. It's a miraculous thing, when you think about it.

Anyways, sorry for my ramblings. You have a lot of time to think, on a mission. It makes you kind of turn philosophical sometimes.

We met with our investigator with a baptismal date this week, and her son made us cupcakes! He made them since it was Sis. Jeppesen's last time there. He is so sweet. I am really enjoying building a friendship with him. And hopefully this friendship will lead to his being baptized with his mom. But mal schauen. He's a sweet kid either way. :)

Burgers at Jamy's 

We went to a restaurant called Jamy's Burgers for P-Day last week. Oh. My. Gosh. It was SO GOOD. They use all fresh ingredients and their "special sauce" (which is really just fry sauce. In Germany!), and they have sweet potato fries!!! It was super delicious, and I was a vey happy Sister John afterwards. :)

We're meeting with the Turovski family today and making brownies together! Also, Sister Turovski is going to teach me how to make Weiss Kohl Rolladen. It's a cabbage roll stuffed with beef, rice, and some other stuff and then marinated in a sauce and served warm. It is DELICIOUS. Recipes will follow, but she said that it's kind of hard to make unless someone shows you. So, Ellie and I will just have to make it together when I get home. :)

Can I just tell you all how much I love being a missionary? I mean, it is super hard most days. A lot of people don't want to talk to us and give us weird looks and cross to the other side of the street when they see us, but then sometimes you're walking back to your apartment at he end of the day and the man who runs the Döner laden right below your apartment runs out and asks you for two cards with the church number and address on them because he wants to come to church on Sunday and bring his friend with him. And honestly, you're not sure if he'll show up. You're not sure how interested he actually is and if he wants to really learn more about Christ. But the fact that he recognized you and asked and was so excited to get the cards is enough. It is enough to know that he has the beginnings of desire and it makes you feel like God is watching out for you and helps you out even in the tough days. It is a good feeling. :)

Aside from that, transfer calls were this week and I'm going to be companions with Sis. Jameson!!! She's awesome and I'm super excited. Super sad for Sis. Jeppesen to leave, but it will be good for her. And we're going to keep writing so it will all be good. :)

Random realization: all of my past companions who are still in the field are all going to be at MLC. Wow. That is super crazy.

I love you all! Have a great day, and a spectacular, firework-filled week!!!!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister John

Humidity!!!