I'm putting this picture from the MTC in here, because I can. You can reference one of the first posts on this blog for more understanding. Her first companion, Sis. Bakker.
Lieber Familie und Freunde,
We have had appointments with members every day this week, and it will continue until Sunday. Yesterday we met with the Familie Hartwig for lunch, and per normal we didn't need to eat dinner that evening. It was SO GOOD. It was also SO MUCH. Maybe someday Bruder Hartwig will remember that Sisters typically don't eat as much as Elders. ;)
This week was good. Kind of strange, but good. Saturday we decided to go out and see how far northwest in our area we could get. So a couple hours later we found ourselves in this cute little Kleinbus driving through the Fränkischer Schweiz. Those are the "mountains" here. And while they're not nearly as big as the mountains in Utah, they are still gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the little Dorf we went dooring in. Family, we should go back there whenever we come back.
Sunday was.... interesting. Church was fine and great and I really enjoyed it. Afterwards however, we had a lesson with a potential investigator who said she was bringing her sister because she was curious about our church. Well, what started out as a pretty good lesson turned into an interesting conversation with these two women saying that we needed to be more involved and do more service projects if we wanted to call ourselves "true christians." There's more to it than that, but that's the general gist. It was exciting.
Monday, we had Zone Training. It was SO GOOD. Also, it was my last one. I had to give my Leaver's Testimony. That was hard. But it was good, and I managed to do it without crying. I cried during the closing song, but not during the testimonies, so ich bin zufrieden.
We also learned how to make Schnitzel with Andy and his friend Virena. Virena has met with the missionaries before, but stopped meeting after a while because she felt like she was being pressured. But she still comes to a lot of the weekly activities and other stuff we do during the week. Well, we asked her if she would be willing to meet with us again and she said yes! It was a very productive member appointment, and we had a lot of fun during it. We listened to the 2012 General Conference for the first bit, then about thirty seconds of Motab at which point Andy said, "Wait! You listen to this all the time! I have something better that is still okay for you to listen to!" So then we listened to some really cool Gregorian Chants. Andy never ceases to amaze me with his eclectic span of hobbies and interests.
Tuesday's we met with the Familie Auras for lunch and that was a lot of fun. Their youngest daughter is turning eight in a couple months so we're kind of going through the lessons with her to help her prepare for that. We talked about the Atonement and did an activity where she and her friend go to rub black shoe polish all over their hands and then try to wash it off with just water and no soap. It doesn't work super well. But when you use the Atonement (soap), it works a lot better and your hands are completely clean afterwards. It went pretty well, I think. :)
Yesterday we met with Sis. Pobanz. She is a super sweet woman in our ward. Her husband is also a member, but he got a new job in Switzerland so the whole family will be moving there this summer, but he's already there working. So we went by to see how she's doing and ask how and when we can help pack everything up, and to give her some chocolate. She's so sweet and cute. She drove us back to Erlangen after our appointment and offered to basically chauffeur us around for the next little while because she had time. I love her and her family a ton. :)
Today we just wandered around Nürnberg as a district and talked and explored. It was a lot of fun, and we ended up at my favorite bookstore which is where we're now doing emails. We also have an appointment here in Nürnberg right at 18:00, so it's convenient to just stay here. It's been a good day.
I don't want to drag this out or make it overly dramatic, so I'm just going to say it: I do not want to write this email and say it is the last one. I do not want to write a huge spiel about my testimony has grown. I do not want to leave Germany and go to America.
Honestly, I think I'm having far more negative thoughts about ending my mission than I did starting it. I don't want to leave.
But, I guess that's how it goes when you're a Child of God on this great big world He created. He doesn't let you stay in a comfortable place for too long before throwing you into the next growing experience. Some of those transitions are more traumatic than others, but they're transitions all the same.
I love my mission. I know there are things I could have done better. I know there are things I still have to work on. But I know that I tried to do my best, and as Elder Holland said, "In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we get credit for trying." Thank God for that.
Friends, the Gospel WORKS. And it works WONDERFULLY. Repentance is JOYFUL, and we have the amazing opportunity to repent every day. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and He is also our Brother. He loves us and wants us to one day have all the blessings that He and our Heavenly Father have. Because of that desire, He suffered for our sins and asks only that we follow Him.
I love the Gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. There is no truer book on this planet. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and Thomas S. Monson is God's chosen prophet today. Missionary work is MARVELOUS, and if you're not sure if you should go or not, just get ready to go. Get ready, get clean, do whatever you need to to be able to go. And then if at that point you're still not sure of you should go or not, GO. You won't regret it. I promise.
I love you all. I hope you've had a great week, and that you'll continue to have an amazing one. I know that I want to use all the time I have left to make this last week count. And for some of you, I'll see you at the end of that week. And for others, I'll see you at the end of your missions. Auf jeden Fall, sehen wir uns wieder. Weil es ist nur ,bis auf Wiedersehen.'
I love you. Mach's gut.
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John
P.S. Sorry for the rambles. But I guess that's normal by now. Anyways, I will be giving a talk in my home ward on the 19th of March, at 9:00. So if any of you want to come to thank, ihr seid herzlich eingeladen (you are warmly invited). The church is on the corner of 300 North and 100 East in American Fork, Utah. I'm assuming there will be some sort of Facebook group thing to help Witt the organization, but we'll see.
Love y'all!
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We explored a botanical garden
last week and found a cave!
But it's closed until April....
It was still fun. :)
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District Selfie. :) These Elders and
.my companion are seriously
some of the best. :)
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 Elder Clemente! I love this Elder so much (in a totally appropriate Missionary fashion). We said goodbye after Zone Training and it was super hard. It was so nice having him and Elder Van Dam here for my last transfer, but it also made good byes really hard. I'm tired of saying goodbye in Nürnberg. It hurts too much. |
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