Lieber Familie und Freunde,

 

Today we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for p-day with the Elders from Erlangen and Bayreuth. We walked around a the top of a castle wall that is older than America, visited a couple shops, bought letter openers that looked like swords, and cried gemeinsam when we realized that the really cool medieval store was closed today. But, we all bought a sneebällchen (snow balls - They're a local pastry that is just dough strips rolled into a ball and fried and covered in chocolate. It's really good.) and drowned our sorrows that way. All-in-all, it's been a good day. A bit cold, a bit slower than normal, but good. Next week all of the Elders in our district are going to wear ft their Lederhosen and come to Erlangen and we'll all play games at the church. I will probably wear my Dirndl, but I promise to take pictures no matter what. 

This week was a really good week. In the list of things I've learned in Erlangen, one is to be happy with whatever we're given from God. And this week, we were given a lot. 

 

Sister Quain and I had a goal to talk to ten people during some of our finding time, so we were just trying to talk to everyone to try and get it over with (we're not perfect, and finding is hard sometimes). So then we talk to this one guy, have the most awkward first contact conversation of my life, and then he asks if he can meet with us. 

 

What?

So to make a quasi long story short, we have a new investigator! He's so sweet! We basically did an overview of the first three lessons with him when we met on Saturday, and we didn't ask him to commit to anything other than meet with us again. He committed himself to do everything else! It was way cool, and he even came to church on Sunday!!!! It was a super great day, and he is incredible. We're hoping to set a baptismal date with him on Saturday. :)

 

Other cool things from the week include: I made dinner. We had pasta with a tomato sauce that I made. I mean, I MADE a tomato sauce. With tomatoes and zucchini and everything. It was way yummy, and I was very proud. I made gingerbread pancakes. Then we added some chocolate chips and buttermilk syrup (which I also made) and it was DELICIOUS. It is officially my favorite recipe. Over brownies, even. 

I bought an intense German scarf. It is very warm, and lovely. 

 

There is a lot of selfishness in that last bit. Sorry. 

 

We also met with a former investigator this week named Annemarie. She is kind of older, very sweet, and very knowledgeable. We talked a lot about the Bookmark Mormon with her and she didn't really have any serious doubts about it, she just thought that she didn't need it. She doesn't need a church to believe in Christ. It was kind of sad, but all we could do was bear testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, which we did. By the end of our visit, she had promised to keep reading and to pray and ask God if it was true. It was a cool moment, and I have hope that she will become a progressing investigator someday. 

 

It really has been a good week. We met with a family in the ward for dinner and did an activity with them about asking God our questions. They have two kids, ages 9 and 7, and the older one asked if he would ever get married. It was a cute moment for us and his mom. It also made me think about how much we do think about the future, and how much we sometimes do wish we could know what will happen. But really, we do know what will happen. We know the Plan that God has laid out for us and where we want to go. The truly hard part is doing what we need to do to get there. And even that isn't that hard. We just need to do our best to be like Christ and trust in the Plan. I'm doing a horrible job at elaborating more on this subject right now, but I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. It really is a plan of Happiness. One thing that really seemed to resonate with our new investigator friend this week was that God loves us, and He wants us to be happy. That I something that I know without a doubt. "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have JOY." (emphasis added) Our Heavenly Father loves us, and He gave us a wonderful plan to help us return to Him. 

 

I don't know everything. I have no idea what the next seven weeks will bring. I have no idea what will happen during transfer calls on Saturday. I have no idea if our investigators will continue investigating and choose to be baptized. 

I am only a person and I do not know a lot. 

But I know that there is a God and that He loves each of us. I know that He is my Father in Heaven and He will always listen to me when I need Him (which is good because sometimes I talk a lot and He is the only one who will listen). I know that the Plan of Happiness is for each of us, and that while the plan is general, it is very individual in application. We choose to believe it, and whether we trust in it's creator or not. We choose to let the happiness in this life, overcome the sadness. We choose to let our beliefs influence our actions or not.

 

This is really ramble, but I choose God, and Christ, and the Plan. I will choose them every single time. 

 

I love you all. I hope that you are having a great day, and an amazing week. Even if it is a normal day and week, look at it with an eternal perspective. Try to figure out how this moment in your life is a part of your Plan of Happiness. And then go and spread the happiness. Spread the love. Life is hard enough without us doing anything to make it harder. So let's all be a bit kinder. 

 

I love you! Have a great day, and a fantastic week!

 

Liebe Grüße,

Sister John 

 

P.S. Transfer calls are on Saturday and I have no idea if I'll stay in Erlangen or not. Whatever happens, I'll be happy. Sister Quain and I are just trying to get her completely ready to potentially take over the area. She is great. I love Sister Quain. I'm going to miss her when this crazy adventure is over. 

 

 The fluffiest of scarves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                            

I heated the pan too much when I made pancakes.... So I tried cooling it off by sticking it outside where it was cold. It kind of worked.