Conference Was Great :)

I've been doing a lot of thinking this last week. Sometimes I wonder how I have time to do that because we have so much to do and not enough time to do it, but somehow there is still enough time for me to think and ponder. Sometimes I am really grateful for that, but other times I don't want to think about anything. Usually because I don't want to admit that I'm wrong or need to change. The Spirit is really good at speaking to me when I ponder. Or maybe I'm just better at listening then. Either way, I appreciate having time to ponder about life, the Gospel, and my part in the Plan of Salvation. It is a great blessing I have been given.

Today we are going to Mainz as a district for P-Day. We're going to visit the cathedral there. We were also going to visit a museum, but like all museums in Germany, it is closed. Schade. It's fine though. Mainz is a beautiful city. I'm sure there will be photos to follow.

Right now, I am sitting on a train and driving through a beautifully rainy day. The sun is peeking through the clouds, and everything is green and kind of wet. You can see hills in the distance, but no towering mountains like I was used to, and I know that there is a promise of more people and more places just beyond the next hill where you just barely can't see. It's absolutely beautiful.

My district has been super great and has taken almost every single opportunity they can to remind me that I only have three transfers after this month. I have 23 weeks left. I remember at the beginning of my mission I tried counting up all the time in different ways to make it seem not so long. To try and comfort myself that I really wouldn't be gone at long. I finally settled on measuring the time in General Conferences because I would only have three. This weekend marked number three on my mission, and it was so good, but also a bit bitter because it is the last general conference on my mission. But the messages were so good and so spiritual. I really needed every single talk. And the missionary choir on Sunday morning was so cool! Brother Eggett (the choir director) is an amazing man, and he helped change my outlook on my mission in the MTC during choir practices. He is great, and the songs were beautiful. I was especially a fan of 'Called to Serve.' :)

My favorite talk was Linda S. Reeves's talk about repentance and the Atonement. This month we're studying the Atonement and our relationship to the Savior as a mission and I am really looking forward to it. Repentance is such a joyous gift that we have been given. It is the message that we, as missionaries, share with the world. It has been so rewarding to find people who have no idea who Jesus Christ even is, and watch them grow in knowledge and trust that He lived and died for their sins so they could be clean again. It is an amazing thing, and as members of the true and living church of Jesus Christ, we get to share that knowledge with people! How incredible is that! We don't need to shout to the world that we're trying to convert them, but we can bear testimony to our friends and invite them to learn more about their Savior. That is a beautiful gift that we have been given. I wonder how much we think about sharing the Gospel like that? Food for thought.

We are now on the way back from Mainz. We ended up walking along the river for a while to a very small castle that is now a restaurant that was closed. Oh well, we got some fun pictures as a district. :)

I'm sorry I've been so weird and rambling in this email. Too much time to think is a great and terrible thing. We're going to go do a finding activity this evening and then have district meeting because no one has time to have it at any other time during the week.
#leadershipdistrict #wherearetheAPs

Anyways, I love you all. I hope that you're having a great week and that you enjoyed conference. If you didn't get to watch it, you should. It was amazing, and very spiritually filling. We still haven't seen the last session from Sunday afternoon, but I think we'll watch that sometime later this week.

Have a fantastic day, and an even better week!

Liebe Grüße,
Sister John


Transfer Day selfies! There were only 17 new missionaries this time, so it was way more manageable. Sister Siems and I got a ride with the Tech Elders when we picked up the last trainer from Hauptbahnhof!

Elder Vorimo! He went home this week.... But he was a great missionary! He was in my district when I was in Feucht/Nürnberg. He quoted the Pokemon theme song in his leaver's testimony. I have a lot of respect for him, and he is a super cool person.





This is Elder Evans. He is one of our assistants. We love him a lot. :) 










 Drit pics!!! I love my companions. We all get along so well, and we have had bonding moments one-on-one, and all together. I really love my companions. :)