Friends are Friends are Forever . . .Right?

Lunch with Sis. Hart (Elder Hart took the picture

(Christmas) Breakfast with Zeynep and Caroline (Zeynep is on the left

next to Sis. Knutson)

 This week was really fast, and really long. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning flew by. But Thursday day, Friday, and Saturday dragged on for what felt like forever. Even Elder Clawson agreed. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Sister Knutson leaving. Which she did. She is now home and it's weird. I miss her so much. So much more than I thought I would. And taking over the area is way hard. And having a new companion is super weird and then it's even weirder because she goes home at the end of the transfer in six weeks and basically this week was super stressful. But Sunday was awesome, and I love our ward and our Zone Leaders are super cool and life is fantastic. It's stressful, but it's good.

Stuff that happened this week was that Sis. Knutson went home. And Sis. Montgomery came! Also, we ended up four missionaries in one companionship for a day! That was a party. Sis. Riser sent her companion, Sis. Peterson, off to Dortmund so she spent the day with us before going to Frankfurt the next day. But the same day we said good bye to Sis. Peterson, we picked up Sis. Montgomery! It was super crazy, but it was a lot of fun. And companionship study the next morning was really cool with four people all at once. :)

Me and Elena

After that.... Not much has happened. We've had a lot of weird appointments fall out this week. Weird meaning that appointments that almost never fall out, fell out. It left me feeling like I wasn't doing enough and that I must be doing something wrong because these things never happen. At least, I felt like they wouldn't have happened if Sis. Knutson were still here. But, I know that there is a reason and it's not that I'm not doing my part. We have done so many go-boy's the last few days and (tried to) do so much contacting. Neither Sis.Montgomery or I are very good at that. It's good, though. It just means we get to work on it some more. Anyways, long story short, we are going to be fine. I am going to be fine. It is incredibly tough. But it's going to work. I am literally on Heaven's side and working for good. No matter what happens, everything will work out because we are missionaries called to teach the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's pretty darn cool. :)

I love you all. I'm sorry this letter is so short. I'll add some pictures to make up for it. I'm behind on sending those anyways. We're going to the Dokumentationszentrum today and I remembered my camera this time so hopefully I'll get some really awesome pictures. I love you! Have a fantastic day!

Love Always,
Sis. John

P.S. Sis. Montgomery pointed out that there is a post office like, 1.5 minutes from our apartment. We're going to try and get some stamps today during our copious amounts of free time. :P

Humid Winters are COLD Winters!

I'm only saying this once. To everyone who told me that winter here would be colder than in Utah because it is humid and that I should stop being a punk and make sure to pack warm clothes, you were right. Turns out January and February are when it actually snows and gets really cold and sad and I have felt it this week. I'm sorry I was a punk. Y'all were right. It's kind of cold outside and I was not as prepared as I should have been. Yep.

Anyways, it was such a good week!!! We tried to set up a Skype lesson with the Elders in Romania so they could teach a family that we've been teaching but struggling with because the mother doesn't speak much German. We tried to set up a lesson twice and it fell through both times and it was super sucky. But then on the third time, it worked! Elders Johnson and Christensen were able to Skype us and teach a lesson to Georgiana and teach her about the priesthood and it was amazing! Sis. Knutson and I couldn't understand what they were saying but we were able to watch Georgiana's face and she was so happy! The bits and pieces that she'd understood from what we'd taught came together and she accepted a baptismal invitation! It was so cool! We have another lesson set up for two weeks from now (Georgiana has a lot of stuff to do and is going to be pretty occupied until then) and the Elders are going to try and get a baptismal date set up. I'm super excited. Georgiana loved talking to the Elders and it was so funny to watch her speak to them in Romanian and then turn and talk to us but still speaking Romanian. Then we would tell her that we didn't understand (in German) so she'd switch to German but then try and talk to the Romanian Elders again in German. And then we were speaking English with the Elders and it was just really funny to try and figure out three different languages all at once. But it was super cool and Sis. Knutson and I felt the Spirit so strongly even though we couldn't understand what was being said.

Transfer calls were this week. Sis. Knutson is getting transferred to Alpine, Utah. It's kind of sad, but I'm excited for her. She keeps saying how she doesn't want to leave Germany, but she's also super excited to see her family again. She has a brother who was on a mission when she left and he's married and expecting a child now. It's kind of weird for her, but I think there's enough snow in Utah to make her happy. :)

I'm getting a new companion! Her name is Sis. Montgomery and she sounds super nice from what I've heard. I was kind of hoping for a companion who wouldn't be going home in just a few transfers, so of course I get one who is going home at the end of THIS transfer! I guess I'm just super good at sending people home. But I'm super excited to meet her and get to work with her. We pick her up from Nürnberg Haupbahnhof (the main railway station) tomorrow afternoon. And then we're going to be picking up Sis. Riser (one of the Feucht (foy-ck-t) sisters tomorrow morning as she sends her companion up to Dortmund. Basically, we're going to have four sisters in our little apartment for one night. It's going to be a party! But a good, spiritual, missionary appropriate party.

We had an appointment with a less-active member and his wife. We've met with them a few times but we've always really struggled to get a lesson in. Meaning, we have taught an actual lesson exactly once. It was really frustrating and I had already decided that if this last appointment went the way of the ones before it, Sis. Montgomery and I were going to have to Tschüss (ch-oo-ss), or drop them after Sis. Knutson leaves. Yeah. So we go in, and we sit down and we start talking and we talk about the weather, about a TV show Andrea really likes, and about tea and how we can't drink black, green, or white tea. I was kind of starting to despair about getting a lesson in and just feeling horrible because I love both of them, but we can't teach them if they won't listen. But then Rene' (the husband) said, "Yeah, we just need to keep the Gospel in our lives." It was really cool because for the first time EVER he brought up the Gospel first! And then we had a lesson in which we talked about prophets and how they help us and he basically just taught the lesson in a super easy way that his wife was able to understand and also to understand the importance of gaining a testimony for yourself. HE TAUGHT THE LESSON. It was AMAZING. He has some really bad habits that he needs to break, but he remembers everything that the missionaries taught him and he still has a testimony of it all!!! I thought I might cry after that lesson, it was so good. Rene' is a spiritual giant. He just needs to break his bad habits and I am convinced that he could become an apostle someday. It was amazing. 

One thing that I have really come to appreciate is the ability to watch people change their lives as they live the Gospel and follow the commandments. We have an investigator from Russia who came to our lesson and she seemed a lot happier and brighter. We asked her how her week went and if she was able to pray and ask God the questions she had. She said, "Well, I didn't do it every day because I forgot. But I was thinking about it and I was driving to work and I realized that I had some time right then so I prayed as I was driving. I know it's not perfect, but it did help me to remember to say a better prayer later." How cool is that??? She used to be atheist and now she's praying as she drives to work! It is super amazing and I have loved every moment of watching her spiritual development. As you watch people grow and make changes in their lives that lead to make better decisions and be happier, it is impossible to not love them. "Charity is the pure love of Christ" and I have been able to feel that every time we meet with our investigators and get to know them and help them come closer to Christ. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love everyone. They love every single one of us. It doesn't matter whether we're American, German, Romanian, Turkish, Mexican, Asian, or any other nationality. We are all children of God and it is a privilege to be a missionary and to feel that love that He has for all of us. It's a feeling that I don't want to lose when my mission is over. Which is still a ways away, but still. It is amazing and I don't want to lose this perspective.

I love you all, and I hope you have an awesome day and a spectacular week! Find someone to help this week. It could be as simple as helping someone carry their groceries. Sis. Knutson and I did that this week and we're friends with an old lady in our apartment building now. So yeah. Go do some service!

Love Always,

Sis. John

Miracles Happen!

The mission has a new blog address: frankfurtmission.blogspot.com and they have a picture of Sierra's group when they first arrived at the airport in Germany.


We have had some miracles this week and it's been awesome. First off, we had an investigator come to church! It was super cool! Georgiana finally came to church after we've been trying to get her there for two months. It was awesome. She liked it, but it's hard because German is not her first language. But we have iPads! With the ability to have different languages! Sis. Knutson basically just took my iPad and started looking for everything (sacrament prayers, hymns, lessons) in Romanian. We found most everything and it was really great. Now we just have to get her there every week. We'll work on that. The other miracle was that we had the opportunity to be the answer to someone's prayer. There's a less-active sister in the ward with a lot of health problems but she's been doing better as of late. So, at our last appointment we invited her to come back to church. She got really teary-eyed and told us that she misses church, but she can't come by herself and her husband works seven days of the week and rarely has a day off. She was kind of crying about it and hen Sis. Knutson spoke up and said, " What if we came to pick you up Sunday?" Oh my goodness. You should have seen this sister's face. "Really? You can do that?" Yes. Yes we can. And we did. At 8:30 we showed up at her door and picked her up and we all went to church together. And she was so happy. When we meet with her this week we're going to set up a permanent schedule of people to come pick her up every Sunday that she feels well enough to come. But yeah. When we walked her home after church I felt like we were walking on clouds. She had such a good time and loved the lessons and the people and it was amazing. Zeynep has started planning her baptism. She is planning her baptism as hard core as most girls plan their weddings. It's almost scary, but she's just so excited. She's determined to not let this date fall out. It's going to be great, but it's three transfers away. I've started some very sincere prayers asking that I stay in Nürnberg for a long time.

I have learned this week why it is that missions are hard. The answer is that no matter how well you start, how strong you go, eventually all of your weaknesses are brought front and center and you have to face them. That was this week. It was a great week. We've done a lot of good, and a lot of good work. But I've also gotten to know every single one of my weaknesses very well. And it sucks. Really truly. But I read an Ensign article this morning called "Getting Over Feeling Underappreciated." Now, this isn't the problem. Missionary work is a hard, and very often thankless job. But the solution to feel under appreciated (or down or sad or anything) is service. We have the power to choose our attitudes and be positive and then serve people when they are possibly the last people we want to be serving. Turning outward, and not inward. That's the secret and that's what I'm going to try and make a very concentrated effort to do this week. Serve everyone and put them above myself. It's going to be hard, but I've had some amazing examples of service from friends at home, and missionaries here. So yeah. That's what I'm going to do this week. Other than those two things, it's been a pretty okay week. Sis. Knutson started packing this week. It's weird, but it's good. It's giving us a reason to really deep clean the apartment before my new companion comes. Whoever she is. We'll find out Saturday.
I love you all, and I hope you have a great day, and a fantastic week!
Love Always,
Sis. John

Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Finally!)

So first off, sometimes we do fun stuff on P-Day. Sometimes that means we don't do our emails until later in the evening after we do aforementioned fun stuff. Don't worry if an email is late. It probably just means I'm out experiencing history and learning culture and stuff.

Now that that's out of the way, it snowed! A whole heck of a lot! Which, admittedly, is not a ton. But it did snow, and there is about 2 and a half to 3 inches on the ground. So yeah. Sis. Knutson is super happy, and all the Germans are feeling a lot better about the climate. Seriously, that is a legitimate concern. Last week it was impossible to have a conversation with anyone in the ward for too long before it turned into a sob story about how there's been no snow for Christmas for the last five years and we're killing the climate. Which, there might be some truth to. But eventually you get tired of hearing it. So hopefully the snow will stick around for a bit and make everyone happy again.

This week we solidified a baptismal date with Zeynep! Woo hoo! She is super excited and can't wait to tell all her missionary friends! Unfortunately, she isn't excited to tell the ward. But we're working on that. She's just afraid of being judged because she's been an investigator for almost a year now and isn't baptized. I wish I could tell her about some of the ward memebers who were investigators for YEARS before they were baptized. Obviously, it's not ideal. We don't want eternagators (eternal investigators). But there's a man in our ward who was an investigator for seven years before he decided to get baptized. So yeah. We're going to keep working with her.

Also, bonus question time! Who knows where Elder Bednar served his mission? Answer: Germany! And he taught and confirmed a man in my ward here!!! Now, I'm not saying that this man is any better than any other convert to the church. But I am saying that it's a cool story and he is a super awesome member. He and his wife always do everything for everyone in the church. He is the official tech person for the ward and she is an amazing cook and always makes all the food whenever the missionaries have a big get-together or huge meeting (like zone conference) or whenever we have ward parties. They also invite the missionaries over a ton and always feed us a LOT. And it is DELICIOUS. They are a super cool couple, and I love talking with them.

Speaking of food though, I have eaten and liked everything a member has given me. Just the other day, we visited the Schwarm Familie, and Sch. Schwarm lived in America for ten years. She made us the most American food she could think of, and it was chili. It was absolutely delicious and even better than dad's. Sorry, dad. But it's true. It was super great, and her cornbread was just as delicious. It was super yummy. At the Preiss's (see Elder Bednar's convert who he still keeps in contact with), Sch. Preiss made a super yummy pumpkin/coconut soup. Then she pan fried some chicken with some spices I didn't recognize and served it with rice and a greek yogurt sauce with lime juice and mint. It was the first thing I have had here that was actually hard to eat. For those of you who don't know, I detest mint in every shape and form. But, a member made it just for me and made it with love and lots of care and served it to me because she wants to help us in any way she can. So I ate it, and I am stronger for it. Plus, it made Sch. Preiss happy, so really that's all that matters. 

Thanks for telling Tara about the blog, Mom. I realized too late that I forgot to give the link to her before I left. I think it's really funny that she emailed you this week though, because I've had to do a lot of explaining about what I did before I was a missionary and it's made me think a lot about Ally and how much I miss her. So yeah. Chalk that one up for tender mercies from the Lord. :)

We have so many appointments this week! We might actually be late to some of them because of how many we have one day! It's super cool, and I'm really excited. The last of the winter holiday days is on the 6th, so lots of members are inviting us over. It's super cool, and I'm really excited. Plus, it's a great time to get referrals from members, which is what we need. We actually recieved a referral from church headquarters this week. But when we went by, they said they weren't interested. It was kind of sad, but Sis. Knutson said that there must be a reason that we were sent to that building, so we klingled the rest of the building. At least, that was the plan. We actually ended up talking to the first person we klingled for 10 minutes about the Book of Mormon! It was super cool, and I was really grateful for my interview with President Stoddard earlier that day because he'd made me do a role play practicing contacting people. It was a great experience, and it really strengthened my faith in President Stoddard, and myself. We're planning to go back this week and finish that building and then do the rest of the area. I'm really excited.

 

So, last week we went to the Dokumentationszentrum (doe-koo-mehn-tah-tee-ohn-ss-zehn-troom). Basically, it looks like the Colosseum. Except that it's in Nürnberg. I'm not entirely sure what it was supposed to be, but today it's a museum that tells all about HItler's rise to power and how he gained control of the government and became the figure that we all remember him as. It was super interesting, because it tells about the propoganda that he used to keep the people in Germany quiet. Many of them didn't know what was going on. He had a Zeppelin Field built that was used for giant demonstrations of troops and big rallies that were tons of fun for the people, and distracted them from what was really going on. He also had a rumor spread that he was a German messiah, come to save the German people. He was an incredibly smart man. I really believe that. Incredibly evil and had evil desires. But incredibly smart and incredibly good at knowing exactly what to do to keep the people happy and indoctrinate them into his regime. The museum was really sobering, but really informational and super cool. I'm looking forward to going back sometime after Sis. Knutson leaves.

Speaking of Sis. Knutson, she goes home in three weeks! It's so crazy! But it's also so good! I love her to death but we're both getting super distracted by thinking about her going home and families and stuff. I'm going to miss her, but I am looking forward to having a companion who might not be going home in two transfers. As much fun as it is, it does get distracting. But it's fine. We're going to make the most of our time left together and hopefully get me ready to take over the area (which I will never be ready for, but I don't really have much of a choice so we might as well try!). 

New Year's was a blast. Literally! Germans LOVE fireworks so as soon as it was dark enough (or even kind of dark) there were people out shooting off fireworks. You could hear them constantly from 6 pm onward, so it was interesting. We started a puzzle at the Hart's but it was a thousand pieces, so we didn't finish. If we go over there at all this next week and it's still out, we'll work on it. After the Hart's though we went home and watched Meet the Mormons (with permission from President Stoddard) and put together the puzzle I bought for Christmas. It was only a hundred pieces and is a How to Train Your Dragon puzzle. It was awesome. We were allowed to be back in our apartments at 6 pm that day instead of staying out until 9 pm. It was really nice to have a few hours in the evening times to relax. But now we're back to regular schedules and more missionary work. So life is good. :)

We explored the cellar system underneath Nuremberg and learned a lot about beer, today. But it was cool, and we skipped the last half of the tour where they took us through the distilleries and breweries and such. It did not smell nice and the member who took us didn't want to go so we went up to the castle instead. That was super cool. We went to the top of this super tall tower and it was amazing! They had pictures of the view out of each of the windows of what the city looked like after it was bombed during WW2 and then you could look at what it looks like now and it was really amazing. If nothing else, the German people like to keep you informed about history and about all the cool things they have in their country. Especially in Nuremberg since it's so old.

Anyways, it's been a good week and a good holiday season. I'm excited to get a new companion next transfer but I'm more excited to spend the last few weeks I have with Sis. Knutson. She is an amazing missionary and has been a fantastic trainer.

I love you all. If you have a few minutes, I encourage you to watch the Mormon Message "Look Forward to Your Future." It's a super great video about looking forward to the new year and learning from the past, but not focusing on it. Then, if you're feeling super ambitious, 2 Nephi 31:20 goes really great with that video. I set some goals for the new year so that I can continue looking forward with a "perfect brightness of hope." I really hope all of you can do that same. I know that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and if we look to Him and are willing to give Him all of our weakness and failures and work with Him to become better, we can have that hope. We can change and "becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord." (Mosiah 3:19). He is always there for us and He will always be ready to help us to become better in everything that we do. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, and our older brother. He loves us, and He will always be there for us.

Cool. Now that I feel appropriately cheesy and corny and stuff, I love yáll! Have a fantastic day, and a fabulous week!

Love Always,

Sis. John

Sehrvuss!

Sehrvuss! 

Christmas was great and yes, I did Skype with my family and it was a
blast. Also kind of weird, but I did enjoy it and it was good.

We had lots of member appointments this week and it was fantastic! I really enjoyed getting to know the members of our ward better and getting to really love and appreciate them. One family made us goose for Christmas Eve and it was so good! I'm not even joking. It was super delicious. They also made us three different desserts, but we had to go back home and we were totally stuffed. So instead we now have a large piece of cheesecake and half of a pound cake sitting in our refrigerator at home. Yay for Christmas!

So, cool stuff that happened this week. We set a baptismal date! One of our investigators (her name is Zeynep and she is AMAZING) kind of   told us a date about a month ago, but she was kind of tentative about it. Today, she told us that she was thinking of some New Year's Resolutions she could set, and she decided that she wants to try and finish Personal Progress in four months. When Sis. Knutson and I asked her why she had to finish in four months she told us that she wanted to finish before she got baptized. She committed to being baptized!!!! She was first contacted almost a year ago, and she will be baptized just a few months after her year mark. Her testimony is amazing, and she has this AMAZING desire to share the Gospel with everyone. She is incredible, and I cannot wait for April 19. That's the day. I am so hoping it happens. Many prayers and fasts will take place for this girl among the missionaries in Germany. Every single missionary who has ever met her has loved her immediately. She has also been mistaken for a member many, many times. So yeah.April 19. She will be a member, and it will be so cool.

That's basically it. I mean, we got to party for three days, so that was cool. By the way, Germany has three days of Christmas. The first is Heilige Abend (Holy Evening/Christmas Eve) is when kids get presents. They get them from the "Christ Child" who comes while they're out and about and doing other stuff during the day, and then they get to see the presents and open them that evening. Then comes Weihnachten (Christmas), where if you believe in Santa he comes and brings presents. Then come the day after Christmas. I don't know what that's called. They call it Boxing Day in the UK, so maybe that's it. All I know is that it's still part of Christmas, but it's the day you just hang out with family and relax. We had a ton of appointments during the last three days, and it was great because these three days are the only three days during the year that we don't have to limit our stay to one hour. We stayed at one house for 4 hours, and that was super cool. We also have the opportunity to watch a movie if we so desire and if the opportunity presents itself and if it is a good, family friendly, and preferably Christmas-themed movie. Sis. Knutson and I found Der Polarexpress for €5. We bought it, and had a party (with President Stoddard's permission) at the church with the Zone Leaders (who happen to be our area Elders) and two senior single sisters. It was so good, and we now have a really good relationship with those sisters and I can honestly say that I love them a ton. Sis. Grabarz is from Australia but has lived in Nürnberg for forever, and Sis. Kreuzmair is very sweet. She reminds me of Amanda a lot of the time.

We have SO MUCH CHOCOLATE in our apartment right now. It is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do with all of this???? The answer is: eat it. But eat it slowly. Suffice it to say that Sis. Knutson and I are going to be doing a lot more running and work outs in the next few weeks. We got a workout dvd last week, and it hurts. But it's good. We're building muscle and staying healthy, which is what we're supposed to do. So yeah. Good, healthy stuff happening. With a lot of chocolate that we will eat very slowly over the next few weeks. But we did buy vegetables today, so that's good.

Today, our plan is to go and visit the Dokuzentrum. It's a museum/historical site of where Hitler would stay when he was in Nürnberg. And it's right by the Zone Leader's apartment! Yay! We're going to meet up with the Ansbach elders (Elders Hatch and Murphy) and go with them. We invited them last night during call-ins and they just called and said they would come, so yeah. That will be fun. Hopefully not too depressing. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

To everyone who gets to read these, please know how much I love and appreciate you. I know a ton of you are praying for me, and I hope that you know how much I appreciate it and that I'm praying for you as well. As much as I love it here in Germany, I never would have been able to come if it weren't for all the people who have helped me be prepared to be here. Whether it was through church, scouts, colorguard, or just being a friend to me and my family, I have appreciated the influence you all have had on me. You've done more good than you can possibly know. Thank you.

Well, that's it for this week. I love you all! Have a great day, and a fantastic week!

Love Always,
Sis. John

Christmas Time!!!!

Note from Mom: This letter made me cry because I could feel her spirit so
 strongly. Wow! what a message to get for Christmas. 

So on the list of things I learned this week, I learned that I am actually learning to speak Frankisch. It's an accent/dialect of German, and it's actually kind of cool. So I currently live in the state of Bayern (Bavaria for all you English speaking friends) and I was told that in Bayern, everyone speaks Bayerisch. Turns out that's wrong. Bayern used to be two states, but is now one after some wars and Napoleon messing around with borders and all of that. The short version is that the northern part of Bayern used to be "independent" and had it's own dialect and then was forced into Bayern. So, if you live in the north, you speak the old dialect which is Frankisch. If you live in the south, you speak Bayerisch. And if you live in 
the middle, you get in a lot more arguments about who should speak what. It's kind of cool. Also really confusing because the word for 'roll' (like a bread roll) is 'brötchen.' But in Frankisch, it's 'weckla.' They're not even close to each other, but that's how it goes. Also, of somebody tells you that weckla is actually a Swedish term, they're wrong. It's Frankisch, thank you very much.

Anyways, it's been a really good week. The Bayreuth Elders had a baptism in our church building on Saturday that started an hour late because nobody knew how to start the water in the font. But, we got it figured out, and there is now a new member of the church here in Deutschland! His name is Prosper and he's African and super cool. It was a really special thing to get to see him dressed in white and be so excited to be baptized. Unfortunately, Sis. Knutson and I had an appointment and couldn't stay for the baptism. But we found out from our lovely investigator, Zeynep, that his first words after coming up out of the water were, "I made it! I made it!" How cool is that??? It brings me so much joy whenever I hear about people being so excited for baptism, and truly understanding that it is not just a thing we do to make you a member of our church. It is a remission of your sins and a chance to start all over with a clean slate. It's amazing, and if I'm so happy for Prosper without knowing him that much, I can't imagine our Heavenly Father's joy right now. His son has found the truth and is now on the path that will take him back to God. That is amazing. There really is no other way to describe it.

Sis. Knutson and I had a fantastic lesson with Zeynep the other day. She asked us about tithing and how do we pay it and what is it used for. SHE asked US. The law of tithing is usually a really hard thing for a lot of investigators, and she requested a lesson with us so she could ask about how to pay it! Then, she told us that when she gets paid next, she wants us to help her pay it since she's never done it before!!!! It is super crazy!!!! Really, that girl just needs to enter the waters of baptism. That's all she needs. She even asked us about callings and how they work and if we have to have a calling in the church. This girl melts my heart every time we meet with her. She brings us snacks when we have street displays, and she goes street contacting with us. She is absolutely, 100% amazing. Speaking of amazing, we went caroling with the young adults on Wednesday. Oh. My. Goodness. It was, without a doubt, the best experience on my mission thus far. We were just going around the Christkindlesmarkt and singing and handing out cards. It wasn't anything too special. But, it was special because the Spirit was SO strong. There were a few people who were really touched and they waited until after we finished singing and then waited for us to go talk to them. There was one man in particular who I remember who just kept telling me that we had sung beautifully and it "Really was beautiful." It was amazing, and I loved it. Never before have I heard a group of people who most of whom have never really sung in a choir setting before and have limited musical experience, sing so well so fast. We had divine help, and it was beautiful.

While we were caroling, I got to help one of our new converts give out a card. It was really cool, because he is a native German speaker, and I am not. But I managed to say everything correctly and help him give out his first card! It was so cool! Plus, he is a super cool guy. He's taught a few Sunday school lessons and for being so new, he tackles hard doctrines and teaches it clearly, and simply. He is super cool. Also Turkish. Like literally everyone here. I'm hoping by the end of my mission I might actually teach someone German. But, I'll teach whoever the Lord needs me to. And love every moment of it. Because I do. :)

The only thing I do not love right now, is Star Wars. It's kind of hard to focus when on December 17, you are doing a street display and one of the stores right across the way from your street display has two MASSIVE posters for Episode 7 on the front. It was kind of distracting. BUT, I contacted more people that day then I have ever before. Mostly because the best distraction is work. And missionary work is work. So it ended up working out okay, and I am officially tided over until March two years from now.

Sis. Knutson has her flight plans for when she goes home. It's weird. We're trying not to think about her going home, but then we end up making lots of jokes about it. So.... I don't know. She is super awesome, and I'm going to miss her. But this kind of how missions work. You get to know and love someone, and then they leave. It's fine. This is why email was invented.

I love you all, and I hope you know how much I appreciate your love and prayers. I can feel them and I know there is no way I could have made it this far without them. Also, God is amazing. We learned at Zone Conference this week that we should remember to be humble and not brag or compare ourselves to others. But we can brag about God. Alma 26:11-12 - 11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Ammon said I can brag about God, so I will. There is no way I could be here without relying on Him. I am eternally grateful for His hand in my life. We've run into a few of our investigators at such seemingly random times, but I know it was Him. It's amazing, and the longer I'm here, the more I recognize His influence. It is a very humbling thing as well as a very hopeful thing. God is literally giving us help all day, every day. If that's not love, then I don't know what is. I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful day, and an amazing week!!!
Love Always,
Sis. John

P.S. Thank you, family, for the Christmas package. Sis. Knutson made me have someone else open it to make sure that the things inside were wrapped and that I wouldn't get to peek at what get were. But now the presents are under our tiny tree (courtesy of Sis. Knutson's sister) and our apartment is looking more and more festive. Thanks a ton, and I'm sorry all of your gifts will be late. But I really can't speak German well enough to even buy a stamp, much less send a package. I'll get on it really soon though. Promise.

Speaking of Speaking in German ...

As her mom, I want to thank those who follow Sierra's letters. I appreciate hearing from you and that you enjoy reading this, that you're interested in what she is doing. Please feel free to comment in the blog. This will be a record for Sierra after she returns home as well as an update for us while she is serving.

No descriptions with these pictures, and no Sierra, but the scenes are pretty.

Some people have been asking about my language skills and how they are coming. I think I neglected to mention last week that I had to give a talk Sunday. As in yesterday. As in, I am lucky to be alive. I found out two weeks ago when Sis. Knutson volunteered me when our Second Councilor in the Bishopric asked if one of the missionaries would like to give a talk. So, I ended up preparing a talk. Apparently I looked sick this morning because two people in the ward asked if I was feeling alright this morning. Fun fact: I wasn't. But, it was okay. I said some (a lot of) prayers, and fasted that I would be able to get the spirit of message of across.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I believe in the Gift of Tongues. And I believe that there is no way that I could have given the talk I did without divine help that came through the Gift of Tongues. It was truly amazing, and I'm super glad it went okay. I got to talk about the second great commandment, love one another, and I related it to service. I read a primary song, read a bit out of the Liahona (because the Ensign doesn't exist in Europe), and then bore a very quick testimony because my courage was running out and my vocabulary with it. All-in-all though, it was so good, and I am so grateful for the opportunity. Hopefully, I won't have to repeat that experience anytime soon. But if I do, I know it will be easier because I did it today. That's all the proof I need.

This week, I have a picture. The woman in this picture is Schwester Falk. Let me tell you a bit about this woman. She is the German equivalent of Aunt Connie, and I love her. Every appointment with her, you automatically add at least 45 minutes, if not a full hour onto the appointment time. She loves to talk and she will talk about everything. She talks about her grandkids, her husband, her past, her health problems (of which there are many), and everything in between. But she is so spunky, and honest, and loves meeting with the missionaries. Which works out because we love meeting with her! Because of her health, it is hard for her to leave the house. She recently got a statement saying that she is 80% handicapped because of her health. She can't see very well, and had to go to the hospital for a kidney stone that was causing some serious problems. She has a lot of health problems that make it very easy for her to ask God a lot of "why me?" questions. But does she ask these questions? Yeah, sometimes. But she always asks them knowing that she'll understand later. If you want a physical definition of faith, I would say it is Schwester Falk. Because even though her life is hard, and her health is not the greatest, she always has time to meet with us and tell us stories about her life and how she came to know the church and the gospel are true and how holding the standards of the church have helped her life (She told us a story about when she worked with the army after World War 2. She had soldiers staying in her home and they could have parties but no alcohol. A lot of the soldiers that she stayed in contact with told her they were the most fun parties they had while in Germany.). Most of the time after we've met with her, I feel like we're the ones who were uplifted and not her! But, I know it goes both ways. She is just super cool, and she really does remind me of Aunt Connie. When Sch. Falk asks you for something or asks you to do something, you say, "yes ma'am" and then you do it. No questions asked. But really, she is super cool, and I love meeting with her.

Speaking of awesome lessons, we had a super cool one with a less-active couple in the ward. They're called the Foster's, and they're super cool. The lesson we had with them was great. We brought he Relief Society President, Sch. Kirzinger, with us and we taught the Restoration. It was so cool though, because when we got to the end of the lesson and Sis. Knutson, Sch. Kirzinger, and I were all bearing our testimonies, we put so much emphasis on the Book of Mormon even though we didn't focus on that this lesson. Sis. Foster's son, Kai, was there and he's not a member. Last week he was there for the lesson and we challenged him to read one verse out of the Book of Mormon every day. He didn't do it, and he tried to play it off as "whatever" and like it was no big deal. But after Sch. Kirzinger shared her conversion story and how much the Book of Mormon has helped her life and helped her be a better person (which is what Kai is trying to do right now), I think he really started to pay attention and feel the Spirit. It was so cool. So, we recommitted him to read one verse a day. 7 seconds. By the way, when you tell people it only takes 7 seconds to read one verse and that they only have to read one verse a day (to begin with, of course), it makes them feel really embarrassed for saying they didn't have time or couldn't find time to read their scriptures. Elder Hatch, our illustrious District Leader, said that the best missionaries are sneaky. So, we are sneaky. Ha ha ha. :) Anyways, back to the Foster's. I am super excited for our appointment next week. It's going to be so good!


Well, I think that's it for this week. Sis. Knutson and I are going to spend today walking around the Christkindlmarkt again. Last week, since so many missionaries were leaving because of transfers, we ended up standing on a bridge and talking to everyone whilst waiting for the Zone Leaders for 45 minutes. It was kind of boring, but also fun. We did buy some tiny snowmen to decorate our apartment. They are adorable. And they're handmade and were only like, €5. That was super cool! I love it here. The food is delicious (which is a problem because we do go running in the morning but not nearly enough to make the difference I need to counteract all of the delicious chocolate), the buildings are beautiful, I can kind of speak German, and the people are actually super nice. They don't look nice all the time. In fact, most of the time they look angry. But when you actually talk to them, they're really nice. It's really great, and I really love that.

I also really love the opportunities I've had to feel God's love for His children while I've been here. Some of the new Elders in my district are kind of hard for me to get along with and I was really struggling to love them which was a problem because we had a street display and spent a lot of time working with them and when you don't love someone, it makes it really hard to work with them and not be angry. So, with a lot of prayer and asking for help, I have been able to see how special they are and how much they matter to our Father in Heaven. Which, doesn't change them. It doesn't change their personality, or the things they do and say that bother me. But it does change me. And that's what this Gospel is about. Working with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, to change ourselves and become better so that we can come closer to Christ and return to live with our Father in Heaven. Which, ultimately, is the goal. And I am so thankful for that and the opportunity I have to share that knowledge with others. Even if it a little bit hard sometimes. I just do my best, and God makes up the rest.
I love you all, and I hope you are having a great day, and a fantastic week!
Liebe Grüße!
Sis. John

P.S. When I say "sister" before someone's name, that means that they speak English and are a member of the church. When I say "Schwester" it is because they are German. I will try and specify when the sisters are member or sister missionaries.