Miracles ABOUND! (May 16)

We put the zone to sleep with our thema

Zone Training was this week and we talked about our Zone Vision which is #ThinkBIG (the Zone Leaders came up with that, not us) and what that means for our missionaries and our investigators. Basically, the idea is that we trust the Lord in all that we do and most especially when we set our goals for the transfer, week, day, etc. we trust that we will do everything we can, and He will help us achieve our goals.It's a big, lofty vision and it puts a lot of personal responsibility on the missionaries. And oh my goodness, let me tell y'all what has happened.

Zone Training
I gave a Thema on being personally converted which was immediately followed by a Thema on iPad usage and how we need to be more focused on our missionary purpose in EVERYTHING that we do. Then, we had an activity about finding which was super great because we're all role playing really bad contacts for one set of missionaries who had to sort through all of us to find the one Golden Contact. It was a ton of fun. Then, we had a Thema on the importance of planning and having the Lord be a part of every phase of our plan and goal setting. Then another Finding Thema about how finding is how we help our brothers and sisters make their first steps back to God.

The final Thema was from the Zone Leaders about #ThinkBIG. It was great, and they did a fantastic job on getting everyone excited to set a vision for themselves with God and work towards it with His help. It was great, everyone loved it, and we got to beat up piñatas at the end of it. It was great, and super inspirational. I LOVE Zone Training.

Street Display
So in case I haven't mentioned this, we do street displays here in Germany! And usually they are not a ton of fun! There are a lot of Romanians who want to argue with you and tell you you're polytheist because you don't believe that Jesus Christ is God in physical form (that happened), Zeugen Jehovahs who try and tell you you're crazy for believing that God speaks to us today through modern prophets (that also happened) and people who tell your they believe in your book but that it's only history and not actually the word of God at which point you try and talk about priesthood power and how that relates to the Book of Mormon and then the member who showed up to your street display just swoops in and argues for 20 minutes without letting you get a word in and completely drives the Spirit away (I was actually really upset by that one). Street Displays are kind of hard. But they're so great! They are a fantastic way to talk to a lot of people and they can actually be a lot of fun. Our Street Display on Saturday was FANTASTIC. I gave away my second ever Book of Mormon (it's really hard for me for some reason....) and the guy I gave it to was actually really excited to read it! When I contacted him, he said he used to believe in God but not anymore. We had a great conversation about war and when it's okay to go to war and when it's not. I showed him the book of Alma and the war chapters and when they talk about how God does not delight in bloodshed but in the protection of the freedoms of His people. It was super cool, and he went away with a way better attitude, so I consider it a success.

On Splits

Also, miracle number two, a guy I contacted came to church!!!!!!!!! He is so cool, and he believes in nature and science, but he said he believes that there might be a higher power and he's on the search!!!!!! He is so cool, and it is such a testimony builder to me that we set a goal this last week to talk to 10 people every day and really believe that they are the prepared people that God meant for us to find. He really does want us to achieve our goals and do our best and when we have the faith that He will help us when we've done our best, He really does.

The miracles we've seen this week have been astounding and I am so glad to be a missionary. The Coburg sisters are doing AMAZING in one of the hardest areas in the mission (they taught 7 other lessons this week!!!), and the Feucht Sisters are working incredibly hard and finally seeing the fruits of their labors. A wonderfully prepared woman from Erlangen entered the waters of baptism (even though she had to be baptized 3 times) and in one year, she can go through the temple just in time to be able to see her daughter get married and sealed in the temple. It's incredible. Nürnberg Zone is on fire! And I am so privileged to be able to be a part of it.

I LOVE missionary work. Being a missionary is literally the best thing I have ever done and even though it's tough, I would NEVER change a thing. Everything at has happened has prepared me to be a better, more hard-working person. The person I am now is completely different from the person I was before my mission. It's kind of scary, but I'm really excited to see who I'll be by the end. I hope I can live up to the vision I set for myself. Also, the baptismal goal that I set because President wanted us all to do that and I have and that is terrifying. It's fine. It's going  to be great. Personal growth!!!! Woo hoo!!!!

I love you all. Have a great, sunny day and a brilliant week!!!!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

Skyping, Missionary Work, and Beautifully HOT Days (May 9)

Germany is hot. Like, not as technically hot as Utah, but WAY more humid. It is crazy. We have been drinking so much water, but there's still SO MUCH fizzy water in this country! It's a good thing I like that stuff now.
 
Skype was awesome. I am only mostly distracted, but it will get better, I'm sure. I do feel really motivated, so that's great.

I feel good today, but I am really distressed/discouraged/completely freaking out right now. We went to try and figure out my visa this morning and it turns out that the PACKET of papers that explain how I am working for the church and they pay me money and take care of my living requirements for the duration of my time here in Germany, wasn't clear enough for the office so they are trying to just kick me out of the country right now. It's fine. It is not the first time, and if I get transferred, all of my papers get transferred with me, so it might actually be easier to get a visa in a different city. It's fine. Everything will work out. Eventually.

Today is gorgeous. I love Utah, and I love the desert. But the sunrises and sunsets here are absolutely STUNNING literally every day. It's amazing, and the sky is incredibly blue and the trees are green and everything is just so herrlich. I love it.

We had stake conference this week, and a member of the Seventy came and talked to us. His name is Elder Homer. I shook his hand. I had no idea that he was the member of the Seventy who came to speak to us when I shook his hand. This is the second time this has happened on my mission. I keep having all these blonde moments and my hair is still mostly brown. It's fine, it's fine. The conference was fantastic, and we had an investigator come! And she told us afterwards that she wants to get baptized!!!! What???? We have some stuff to talk about first, but it was a really great experience. :)

We set a baptismal date with another one of our investigators and it is so great! Nürnberg zone is on fire right now!!! President Stoddard said he's never seen our zone doing so much good work before, so we're all really happy. We're not sure what's changed to make this all happen though, so we're not sure how to keep it going. I'm chalking it up to obedience and happiness. We have a really excited Zone with hard-working, obedient missionaries. They're so great and it is such a privilege to work with them. :)

I can't really think of anything else, so I'm going to end it here. I love y'all! Have a great day, and a fabulous week!!!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

April 25 Awkward Moments Abound!

Note from Mom: Sorry, again, this was buried in an attachment and it took a bit of finagling to get it out for posting.

Tuesday was a very good day.

As for the rest of the week, it was awkward. I have learned that I am an exceedingly awkward person. I thought I'd grown out of it, but it turns out I haven't. It's great.

Anyways, we had an appointment with a potential investigator we'd met last week so we went over to the Altstadt to go meet him. He forgot, and it was sad because we were supposed to have a member come to this lesson with us. Well, she was late anyways so we call her to let her know the lesson is ausgefallen and could we just meet with her (which was the original plan, but we had then asked if we could bring an investigator to the lesson on Sunday). She then responded by saying, "What? I thought you were just coming to my house for an appointment." Well, we can still do that! But she was actually at work and wouldn't get out until 4:30, so she asked (I THOUGHT she asked. This is the awkward part.) if we could meet another time. So I was like, "Sure thing. How about Friday?" Then she said something about Friday that I totally misunderstood and we went on our merry way thinking that we had just set up an appointment for Friday.

We did not set up an appointment for Friday.

We get a call about two hours later from this member asking if we were on our way yet and how long would it be until we got to her house. Oops.

Luckily, no major harm was done and we are making brownies to make it up to this member. But, lesson learned, next time I'll give the phone to my companion who can German better than I can.
I can speak German. Sometimes. Occasionally. On alternate Tuesdays. It's fine. Being humble is a commandment anyways and I still have a LONG way to go before my German is good.

Anyways, moving on! I'm moving fotos off my iPad to my flash drive right now, but I'll try and take a picture of the weather right now. It's SNOWING. Which is CRAZY because I got SUNBURNED this week. Yeah. If you think Utah has crazy weather, come spend a week in Germany. Please. It was pouring snow this morning, shorts and t-shirt weather when we went to get groceries at 11, and then back to snow an hour later when we went back to our apartment. It's crazy.

Splits! We did our first STL split this week with the Coburg sisters! Sister Carroll and I worked in Nürnberg and had some fun times contacting people on the way to the best Eis café in the Altstadt. Es hat viel spaß gemacht. :)

As far as working investigators, we went and started teaching the sister of a member of our ward and she is so sweet! She has two little boys and they're adorable and SUPER energetic. But she is really interested in learning more about God's plan for her and her family so we're going over this week and I am really excited. :)

We have a lesson with Elena today and I am so excited! Our lesson last week fell out so we haven't seen her for two weeks. But we called yesterday to make sure we could meet and she was so excited to meet with us. It's going to be so great. :)

An actual run-down of Zeynep's baptism...... It was so great. She had wanted to Skype a few missionaries who are home so they could see her baptism and we had gotten permission from Bishop to do just that. But then the day before the baptism the Internet crashed....... It was so sad! Also, she had invited every single companionship in the zone to attend! She wanted it to be just missionaries and no one from the ward.... But then President reminded us that the missionaries had to have an investigator to come, and they all tried to have investigators there but all the appointments fell out!!! It was so crazy, and we didn't know what to think about it. The only missionaries were us, the Elders who serve here with us, and the Elders from Ansbach. We were so worried that Zeynep would be so sad! But then the night of the baptism, literally THE ENTIRE WARD showed up!!!!! It was so crazy!!!! There were so many people and SO MUCH FOOD. It was incredible. Zeynep was so happy, and I think she finally realized how much the ward members love her. It was a great moment for her.
And then, ZEYNEP GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Literally the best moment of the week. Then Sunday, she got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. It was incredible.

I literally have no words to explain how joyful it is to see someone enter the waters of baptism and be completely ready to start a new, sinless life. When she received the Holy Ghost on Sunday, she was so filled with joy and happiness and she has such a bright future! I love it. It makes me so happy and really my only wish for her from the beginning is that she could have all the blessings in her life that I have in mine. And now, she can! She's already set a goal to go to the temple and she wants to serve a mission and it's so wonderful! It has been a privilege to be just one of the missionaries who got to teach her. :)

And to all of the missionaries who have taught her: THANK YOU. You laid the groundwork and provided the support that she need to make this important decision. I feel bad that I got to be one of the only ones who got to see the fruit of your labor, but you all played such an important role in Zeynep's conversion story. Thank you for your service. You are super heroes.

Man, this is a long email this week. Sorry about that. But last thing, I've been studying a LOT about repentance lately. Don't worry, nothing's wrong. But I have a Thema in District Meeting this week about what an investigator needs to do/feel/experience to experience complete conversion. And we had Zone Training this week and something that President Stoddard said has really stuck with me. He said, "Don't get a check-box mentality about your investigators. When they really truly want to repent and have repented, they will have the desire to come to church and make the changes necessary to be baptized." That just really stuck with me. Especially since repentance is JOYFUL because it means we can be clean again and do better and become better. It's great. I love it. Repentance is so cool and it is such a cool thing to be able to teach our investigators about because that's where the changes in their lives start. It's so cool. I love repentance.

Anyways, I love you all. Sorry this is so long. But I guess it's better than a super short email, right???
I love you! Have a fantastic day, and an awesome-filled week!!!!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

MLC, Zone Training, and Sunshine (May2)

Note from mom; Sorry to be so slow to post these last few weeks. It has been LIFE!

Mission Leadership Council. Oh my gosh.
We started off with two hours of talking about the mission and what things we wanted clarification on and what things needed to change. It was really cool. After that we had some Themas about helping our investigators who might also happen to be refugees (of which there aren't a ton of in our zone, but there are a LOT of in the other zones). It was so good. It was a lot of traveling. Like, 4 and a half hours in one day. I got a head ache halfway through MLC that turned into a migraine on the way home. But three tylenols (Spaced out over 6 hours) and a bretzel later, everything was okay. Yay for drugs!
 
We have spent so much time planning for Zone Training. I am really excited. I have a Thema on True Conversion, so that will be fun. I really like what it says about Conversion in True to the Faith. It gives four specific points on things that truly converted people do, so I'm trying to think of how to incorporate those specifically for the missionaries. I'm really excited.

Other than that, it's been a pretty normal week. We're working with a less-active member and trying to help him quit smoking. He's tried a few times before, but it's really hard for him so now we're working with him now. He can do it !! We believe in him!!!

This is super short. Well, I guess last week was super long. It works out. I think.
I love y'all! Have a great day, and a fantastic week!!!!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

P.S. Mother's Day is this week! It's super great! I have no idea what
time we're skyping!!! I will let you know. Hopefully before the end of
today. We'll see.

What Did We Even Do This Week???

Week one of being an STL!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Seriously. What did we even do this week? I honestly can't remember. We met with some people, talked about the Gospel, did some REALLY awkward role plays. We were basically missionaries. We did call-in's for the first time yesterday. That was fun. We have call-in's every Sunday night where we talk to our Disteict Leader, STL's, and the Zone Leaders if you have a baptismal date set. Now that we're the STL's though, we have to call all the sisters (which is only two companionships so it's not too bad), the district leaders of the sisters, our District Leader, and the Zone Leaders. IT IS SO MANY PEOPLE. Actually not, but it definitely seemed like a lot. But I didn't even participate in half of the calls because Frau Bezold came up to our apartment and asked us to help her read her electricity meter thing because she's too short to read it but it took her an hour for her to actually ask us because she talks for FOREVER. But she's cute and we're friends and she agreed to let us bring a Book of Mormon to her! Finding through serving tiny old ladies. It's great. :) So, the beautiful Sister Clifford is training. Her New Missionary is actually German, and she is fantastic! She get's to come to Nürnberg on her first split, and it's going to be great.

Zone Training is Friday Sis. Riser and I are giving a Thema on Emotional Stress. We're still not entirely sure what we're going to do for it. It's fine. We'll figure it out. Hopefully before Thursday night/Fridayy morning. We'll see.

....I really have nothing. This is so bad! I promise we did stuff! Even proper missionary stuff!!! I just can't remember..... It has been pretty rainy this week. We went by on a less-active member and it started raining, but it was an awesome, spring rain that wasn't too cold. We had no umbrellas and were appropriately soaked. It was so much fun. :)

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ZEYNEP IS GETTING BAPTIZED TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How could I forget that!?!?!?!?!? Oh my gosh! I have not been this excited since EVER. Zeynep has not been this excited since ever!!!! It is tomorrow!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh. We still have so much to do, but EVERYONE is super excited. Zeynep has been so ready for this since long before I got to Nürnberg and I can't even tell you how happy I am for her that she's finally made this decision. She is so incredibly excited and she KNOWS she is making the right choice. It's hard for her, because everything in her life isn't perfect and the reasons that kept her from being baptized last year aren't entirely resolved, but she is committed. Her testimony is strong, and she is ready to receive the Holy Ghost and start preparing to go to the temple next year. By the way, I will be home by the time she goes to the temple. And she wants to go to the Salt Lake Temple. Elder Clawson and I might have already planned her temple tour of Utah..... It's going to be fantastic.

Friends, family, random acquaintances who really are just not friends yet, I really can't explain how ecstatic I am for tomorrow. Zeynep is making the first covenant that will put her on the path to Eternal Life. She is going to be cleansed of all her sins, and receive the Holy Ghost through the proper priesthood authority of God. How incredible is that? This beautiful Daughter of God has been waiting for over a year to receive this ordinance, and then 23 years before that wondering who God was and if He really cared about her. Tomorrow she gets to take her first big step back to Him. The Gospel is a beautiful thing.

Well, I think that's it. Really, my mind is totally blank because I can't stop thinking about Zeynep. It's going to be so great. I am so excited. I KNOW that this Gospel is true. The last few weeks I got slammed with this wave of depression that was not fun, but I know that I am only going to be stronger because of it. There's a quote from Jeffrey R. Holland that I read during personal study his morning that I really liked. He said that when life gets tough, just remember that we have help from both sides of the veil. If we could see the Angels with their chariots of Fire racing to our rescue, we would never be worried about anything (I would quote it exactly, but I don't have the quote on me). It just really made me think about how much I think about the help we have from Heaven every day. It's incredible, and it just strengthens my faith and encourages me to continue to make my prayers to Father in Heaven more meaningful and to have the courage and faith to ask for bold things for my investigators. Because really, they are His children that we have been allowed to teach and when we ask for the things that will help them progress and come to recognize the truth of the Restored Gospel, those prayers WILL be answered. That is truly incredible.


I love you all! Have a fantastic day, and a wonder-filled week!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

Welcome to Nürnberg! Again!

To be quite honest, I am convinced I will never have a normal transfer on my mission.
This is week one of my fifth transfer, and the only "normal" transfer I've had was the very first one, and even that doesn't really count because I kind of changed countries that first transfer. Anyways, not to keep y'all in suspense for too long, but there has literally been something super crazy happen every transfer of my mission. Changing countries, sending two companions home, taking over two areas and being in a drit, and now this! We had transfer calls on Saturday and we all got a text saying at President Stoddard would be doing the leadership calls starting at 14:00 and then the Assistants would do transfer calls at 17:00. We were doing district finding in Regensberg, and it was like, 13:30. And then we got a call from President. Sis. Clifford answered and promptly got called to be a Trainer! She is going to be so great. I'm so excited to see her work with her new missionary. She'll be great. So yeah. That was all well and exciting. Until President Stoddard said he needed to talk to her companion. "Oh yeah? Which one?" "Both of them, actually."

WAT.


Sis. Riser went first, and she got called to be a Sister Training Leader!!! She is going to be the best STL. Really. Her leadership skills are phenomenal, and she loves the people she works with. She will be so awesome.

Anyways, after Sis. Riser talks to President she gives me the phone. Keep in mind that I have been convinced this entire transfer that I would be leaving Nürnberg. It was bad. I have been very, very sad about that because the last thing I want to do is leave Nürnberg. I was super sad and now President wanted to talk to me, and I was freaking out. When President does leadership calls, if you're a sister you're either getting called as a Trainer, or a Sister Training Leader. I kind of don't want to be a Trainer right now, and there is NO WAY I could get called as an STL. Right? WRONG.

They have re-opened the Coburg sisters area, and we now have STL's in Nürnberg! Of which I am one. Which is kind of overwhelming. But I get to stay! And it's great! Never mind the fact that neither I, or Sis. Riser know what we're doing!!! Yay for adventure!!!! Anyways, that was the crazy thing for this transfer. At least, I hope that it's the only crazy thing for the transfer. With the whole added responsibility and lack of training and all that, I am ready for a normal(ish) transfer. We'll see if that actually happens.

Well, we don't have a lot of time for emails this week. Ugh. What even happened? We found two SUPER FANTASTIC potential investigators in Regensberg (which is BEAUTIFUL by the way), had a surprise birthday party for Sis. Clifford, and visited this AWESOME family in Feucht. They're from Russia. I love them a lot.

ALSO!!!!! Two of the Elder's investigators got baptized and it was SO COOL!!!!!!!! Their names are Rick and Thomas, and they are incredible. I love them both so much. After church on Sunday, we went and had a barbecue at their house. It was delicious. There was much happiness. Anyways, it was a cool week. The church is true, and I know that with all of my being. Our Heavenly Father is God Almighty. How cool is that?
I love you all! Have an awesome day, and a wonderful week!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John

Of Conference and Baptisms!

Okay, actual weekly email!!!!
General Conference was amazing!!!! We watched it in English, but it was so cool! Also, we still haven't watched the Sunday afternoon session, but we'll do that Sunday during Relief Society. It will be awesome. :)

Also, can we just appreciate Elder Ballard's talk? It was so good. I really liked the emphasis on talking as a family and just being loving and giving correction in a loving manner and having love as the motive for aforementioned correction. I know it's definitely something I want to apply to my future family. That won't be for a long time though, so I'm excited for the practice with my future roommates in college. :) As for Präsident Uchtdorf's ansprache.... You all heard it from a General Authority. German is the Celestial language. So you'd better start studying. ;) But really, I love German. It is a beautiful language and the more I learn the more I love it. Also, the more I love the people, the more I love the language and vice versa. It is fantastic, and basically I just really love Germany. :)

We haven't had to wear tights the past three days. It has been heavenly. We're going to Bamberg today. I've never been, but it's supposed to be really pretty. Hopefully I will get some good pictures to send to y'all. Other than that, it's been a pretty calm week. By calm, I mean super crazy with lots of traveling between cities, but it's been great. :) Oh, and we also set a baptismal date this week. No big deal. ;) But really, Conference brings miracles!!! One of the investigators from Feucht said that he was going to come to General Conference on Sunday. Then Sunday morning he texted us and said he wouldn't come after all. We texted him back saying, "God will bless you if you come to General Conference today." He did not reply.... :( Then, one hour before conference is scheduled to start, he calls us and says that he's coming!!!! And he came!!!!!!!!! It was super cool. We sat and watched conference together and he was kind of confused because we watched Saturday Afternoon and the sustaining of general authorities is kind of confusing if you don't understand what's going on, but then we got into the talks and he was okay, but not blown-out-of-the-water okay, which is what we had been hoping for. BUT THEN. The choir sang Israel, Israel, God is Calling and SOMETHING HAPPENED. He said, "I love that song! I want to be a part of Isarael! I know I missed the last baptismal service, but can you tell me when the next one is? I want to be baptized." IT WAS SO COOL!!!!

This man had denied a baptismal invitation two weeks earlier, and had discontinued meeting with us, and now he's getting baptized. If that's not the power of the Holy Ghost unto conversion, I don't know what is. I cannot even begin to tell you about all of the miracles that happen every week. Being in a drit has been tough sometimes, but we've been able  to balance two areas, two investigator pools, and two wards. We're going to transform the Nürnberg ward, and work even harder than ever. It has been such a blessing. We've had to work for these miracles, but every moment has been worth it. I am happy. :) I love you. Ea ch and every one of you. I don't know all of you personally, but I want you to know how grateful I am that you take the time to read these emails. I know I'm just a punk 21 year old in Germany, but I'm also a missionary for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Your support means the WORLD to me. Even if all you do is feel good while reading an email. That makes a difference. And that good feeling? I'm pretty sure that's the Spirit. I hope it's the Spirit. And I hope you pursue that feeling and try and keep it with you all the time. Because it's really cool when you can. Maybe you can ask your local, lovable, LDS missionaries to help you out. ;)

I love you all! Have a fantastic day, and a herrlich week!!!!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister John