Hallo! Burrrr.....is all I got to say! Rostock has been colder than
ever. It has been snowing lots here this week. The wind makes it so
much worse too. I remember when I use to complain about winters in
Utah.....hahaha yeah, that wont be happening again! Despite the frigid
temperatures, awesome work was still to be had here!
Last P-day we spent the majority of our day at something we call in
Germany the Weinachts Markt. Which just means Christmas market. It was a
Christmas dream!! I remember watching Christmas movies and seeing towns
that were decked out in decorations and always thinking, "I wish this
really happened, and it wasn't just in movies!" Well I know where
Hollywood got all of their ideas! Germany! It was seriously right out of
a movie.....so incredible! I loved every bit of it :). In addition,
that night for FHE we decorated the Christmas trees for the church. Its
official....I am now in the Christmas Mood!!
This past week was our Christmas Zone Conference. We actually got
to spend the night in Berlin Tuesday evening because we needed to be in
Berlin really early in the morning. We stayed with Sister Child and
Sister Larsen who are currently serving in Berlin. It was a blast as
always to spend the rare and cherished time with others of the female
gender. Zone Conference was amazing! It has been so long that I have
gotten to just sit and enjoy a spiritual message that I understand!! The
only meetings that are in English now are Zone conference and we
haven't had one in ages. It really was such a re-charge of the spiritual
battery. It was also fun to see my trainer, Sister Neukomm there, along
with Sister Dieterich. We are reppin' the Holla-hood(Holladay) well in
Germany!
We got to do a service project this week! We helped a family move.
They use to be investigators and they said that the Elders just stopped
coming by and they aren't sure why. It was a perfect opportunity to
build up contact with them again. However, it provided quite the
workout! They live on the top of the 9th floor. In Germany not too many
buildings have elevators either, so LOTS of stairs and heavy furniture
it was! My calves and biceps are still hurting, but the pain was worth
the gain!
Yesterday was our ward Christmas program! It went so well! We had 5
investigators at church!!! It was so awesome! The elders also had 3
investigators there, totaling at 8. The bishopric came up to us and said
that have never seen so many investigators at church :). The musical
numbers were awesome and everyone felt the spirit so strong. We also had
quite the German feast after the program. The investigators got right
in and were talking to the members.....it was so cool! Most of them
didnt leave until 3pm and church starts at 10am!! It was seriously the
best Sunday I have had on my mission!
Our investigators are all doing well for the most part! Charles and
Patrick who we put on baptismal date last week are doing awesome! They
are both reading lots in their scriptures every day trying to get ready
for December 29th :). We actually started teaching their friend now as
well. Me and Sister Moon actually split up and I teach Patrick who likes
to get really deep in the Bible and she teaches Ali (their friend) and
Charles who need just the basics, It works amazing because that just
fits our personalities better. Than at the end we all come together and
have a testimony meeting/ review of what we learned. They are awesome!
We are also still having such incredible lessons with Anna! Wow, I
love teaching her so much! This week we really felt that instead of
continuing to teach her the commandments, that we needed to do something
else. We prayed all week, but nothing was coming to us. It came to the
point that her appointment was in 5 minutes and we still had no idea
what we really were going to talk about. I still can't tell you exactly
what was said....but the spirit guided that time we had together. We
talked a lot about Christ and what Christmas really means, It was more
of just a discussion but she got emotional at the end and said that she
really needed that and she hopes that we don't stop meeting with her.
Don't worry Anna, we have no plan of stopping!
Spiritual Thought: This week at Zone Conference a missionary who is
going home in just a few weeks was bearing his testimony. He said he
has learned that in his time here that you can either choose to go on
your knees or be forced. He was referring to trials that we all
experience in life. I loved this statement because it is so true! We
need our Heavenly Father....it is just a fact. We can either recognize
that from the beginning and make it easier on ourselves....or we can be
stubborn and wait to the point where we can't take it anymore and get
forced to ask for help. It reminded me of the quote, "Sometimes the Lord
brings you low, so he can bring us higher." And that is exactly what
the process of trials and asking God for help does for us! This is a
gospel of Becoming. We aren't expected to be perfect. There are just
ways of life to become like him that make it a lot easier if we choose
to do them. Take the story of Lehi's family going into the Wilderness.
Laman and Lemuel were obedient just as Nephi was.....they all left their
belongings and traveled away from Jerusalem....but their attitude was
very different. They fought their trials and asked questions such as why
is this happening to me? Such questions can overtake their vision,
absorb their energy, and deprive them of experiences the Lord wants them
to receive. The difference is that Nephi was willing to go to Heavenly
Father for help and put his trust in Him. "Whosoever shall put their
trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and
their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."(Alma 36:3) I
hope that we can all be quick to look towards Heavenly Father this week
in help with our trials!!
Well thank you all again for another great week of emails! I am
excited to hear more of the happenings in your lives next week! Thanks
for all the love and support!! Bis nächste Montag!!
Sister Linford
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