Spaghetti!

      Here we come to the last Monday in January! I hope everyone has enjoyed their start to 2013. It has been a good month to us here in Rostock! So many miracles and amazing lessons were witnessed. Its crazy to think that I have been in this area for 5 months to the exact day! I continue to LOVE the people here every day of my life! Enough with the feelings though :), lets get to the facts, of the week that is!
     Last Pday was a great one! We went to a place called Karls. It is a giant strawberry farm but they have TONS of stuff there for families. Such as, ice skating rink, lots of giant playground equipment, stores, amazing food, animals, etc.... really the whole shebang. Along with all of that good stuff, they always have a big attraction, and right now it is a ginormous ice sculpture display. It honestly was fetching cool to see what they can do with ice! I mean I have been to the annual ice sculptures up in Midway, haha but that was kibbles and bits compared to this mammoth! All 6 of us missionaries went together and hand a grand old time!      Sister Heggeman is a woman I talked about in my last letter. She is a less active member that we have been working with and have been able to really see a transformation in her. Well it continues! She came to institute this week as well as church! Whoo, lady is going full throttle! We love it, and so does she :).      Last week, I told of my food experience with some of my African investigators. They made us a dish called FuFu. Well, after we were done they asked us to make them something from America. Me and my companion kinda laughed and said the only thing that is really American is hamburgers.....everything else is adopted from other cultures. They settled with us just making a typical dinner that we would have in American. So......we made a big ole portion of Spaghetti for the Africans! It was straight laughs!! Most of them HATED it hahaha. We had to teach them how to eat it and their faces KILLED me. We forgot our cameras that day and we were so mad, because that video would be worth some serious dollars. Oh how I love my mission!

     Another area of great news.....Manpreet is back!!!!!! My family here in Rostock has finally returned from their 5 week vacation! I have missed them so much and getting to go back over to their house on Friday just made me feel right back at home! She brought some goodies for us from India even! She wasn't able to go to church the entire time she was there, so she also loved just being able to study the scriptures together and rekindle that spiritual fire.

     Right after our appointment with Manpreet and her kids, it was time for our ward GAMENIGHT!! In the 5 months I have been here, we have never had a ward activity. That just didn't fly with me, so we have been working hard on this game night idea. I made some fliers and divided out assignments. It was a blast!!! A big success too :). This ward needs to learn just how to have fun together and how to build friendships with one another. Lots of praises were said about it at church, and this might even turn into a monthly thing!      This week as been absolutely frigid! Literally, my face peeled off it is so cold!! Both me and my comp are getting major facials from this wind.....but not in a good way. We just laugh/cry every time we reach up and feel more come off, haha oh the joys of being by the ocean!! Another funny thing that happened this week....my comp now wears a mask to bed haha. Her eyes have been burning her ever since our first transfer and I discovered she sleeps creepy with her eyes not all the way closed! ha such laughs. I have been telling her to buy a mask so that her eyes stop burning.....she finally caved! It worked like a charm I am happy to report and her burning is gone. Plus, I get to make fun of her every morning and night :). All of our investigators are doing well! I can't wait to see what continues to happen with them in the coming weeks.
     Spiritual Thought: I have no time left sadly, so once again I will just leave you with a quote. "At . . . moments of crisis and challenge, some choose to abandon faith just at the time when it most needs to be embraced. Prayer is ignored at the very hour when it needs to be intensified. Virtue is carelessly tossed aside when it needs to be cherished. God is forsaken in the all-too-human yet mistaken fear that He has forsaken us. The truth is that our only safety, our only security, our only hope is to hold fast to that which is good. As the mists of darkness gather around us, we are only lost if we choose to let go of the iron rod, which is the word of God."

Thanks for everything! Love and miss you all!

Sister Linford

Kirche Jesu Christi

Sister Jessica Linford

Friedrich Str. 14

18057 Rostock

Germany

Zone Training Meetings/Interviews

Posted on the mission blog was a picture of S. Linford during a recent zone training meetings/interviews.

Zone Neubrandenburg 01-13

Mean Girls Movie Moment!

      Hallo Hallo! Another week has come and gone! It really is crazy how fast time is going. This week marks the time where I only have 6 more months before I come home. AH! Its so scary to think about. This past week I had to do some applications for school and it just made me realize just how different things are and how different my life has become. As I visited the U of U website it brought me back to the many times that I have viewed the very familiar page, but also how foreign it seemed at the same time. Then jumping over the BYU's website starting a new application REALLY made me realize how foreign things have become haha. Oh how life goes in ways you would have never guessed!
      Oh my heavens I also got news this week that made me scream out loud.....quite literally. I can honestly say that I have never ever once cared about the SuperBowl. The only thing that gets me excited are the many parties and assemblage of friends and family. However, my world stopped as news was delivered to me on Saturday morning. This news was in regards to the half-time performance. DESTINYS CHILD?!?!?!!!!!!!??? I just about died. My childhood having a reunion on the biggest platform in the world......and I wont be there to see it. TiVO.....bless you. This was a sacrifice that I just didnt see coming...... This week was amazing though! Very busy :). I had some first time experiences such as FuFu, a mouse, and a mean girls scene that came to life.
      Lets start with the first one. FuFu is an African dish. It is nearly impossible to explain so I will attach a picture! It is basically a huge pile of doughy potatoes that you pull smaller pieces off of, dip into a soup, and finally eat. And when I say eat, I mean swallow.....not chew. Haha this is something that is quite famous around the mission. It was quite the experience! I still say it was better than German food though! :) haha I wish I was kidding.

      Okay now onto my next first....a mouse. I will take you back to Wednesday night. Me and my companion were getting ready for bed. I was in brushing my teeth when my companion went out to get a drink of water. All of the sudden I hear a grunt of sorts come from the other room. I finished brushing my teeth and proceed to walk in the other room to check on my companion. There I witness her holding a bat ready to swing away staring intently at the ground. I of course asked her what the heck she was doing. her reply was, "Um.....you really might want to go back in the bathroom. I don't think you are going to handle this well......I saw a mouse." She was right. Very right. I didn't handle it well at all! I screamed and ran back into the bathroom and slammed the door. This is when I am very thankful to have a redneck as my companion :). Anywho....although my companions boldness is worth noting, the mouse was not found. The darn thing is still on the loose :(.

      Last, but not least.....my Mean Girls movie moment that came to life. With temperatures here being chillingly low, and no real form of snow removal in Germany....the ice is wretched. We were on our way to an appointment when my companion and I noticed an old woman struggling to walk. We asked her where she was going and if we could help her. She was extremely grateful and asked if we could assist her to the bus stop. Just as we were saying goodbye, she realized that she was on the wrong side and called out for us again. As I turned around.........a bus whisked by. It came so close to breaking my face that it honestly hit my hair!! MY companion just about died watching it. So moral of the story.....helping old people might get you killed.....haha jkjk....kinda :).
      A very cool thing that happen this week involved a less active member. Her name is Schwester Heggaman. We have really been trying to work on getting her to come to church since my first transfer here. She hasn't been to church in about 7 or 8 months. Well some amazing things have happened the past few weeks! She has come to church 3 times in a row AND even showed up to our Relief Society activity this past week! It has been so amazing to watch her happier than I have ever seen her. She struggles with depression and said that every time she comes to church, she notices her depression isnt as bad that week.....so amazing!

      Another miracle comes in the form of Lambros. Lambros is a name that I know, however it stops at about that. My first transfer here we would go by and knock on his door, but he never was home. I really never learned anything about him. Last Thursday we were loading onto a bus when a guy asks me, "Hey, you speak English, right?" (This is what I hope and dream for!!) I of course replied positively and in no time I found out his name was Lambros. Yes, THE Lambros :). He had actually been living in Hamburg for the last 7 months and only came back for a few days. We stayed on the bus extra long just to talk to him and ended up having an incredible 45min. lesson right there on the bus :). Although he was on his way back to Hamburg, he is returning to Rosotck in 2 weeks and we have an appointment scheduled. He is so amazing and I can't wait to get to know him better!
      William is also doing SO well! He is getting so excited for his baptism on February 9th. He wanted to make sure it was on the Saturday before I left haha. He even is having us teach his friend now! How awesome is that?! Not only that, but he invited some other investigators of ours to his house after church because he wants them to have friends so they will get baptized too :). Dream investigator!
      Spiritual Thought: This week I would like to leave a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley, "I come to you tonight with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we try to 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. Now I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man or woman who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his or her course. What I am suggesting is that you turn from the negativism that so permeates our modern society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom you associate, that we speak of one another's virtues more than we speak of one another's faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my wise father would say: 'Cynics do not contribute. Skeptics do not create. Doubters do not achieve."
      This week has been another amazing one! Things seriously seem to just go better and better every week here in Rostock. President interviews are this coming week as well as a completely booked schedule for us, so hopefully good stories will render! Thank you all for the love and support!
Sister Linford

Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Friedrich Str. 14
18057 Rostock
Germany

Schneeflocken!

      Hallo! Hopefully, everyone is enjoying the winter wonderland that is outside! Snow all around! Things have been great here once again in Rostock. We have had some incredible experiences and hope they continue!This week was full of lots of appointments! Which has been really awesome to see the progress of the incredible people we get to teach. However, I will admit this was a rather boring week and I dont have too many great stories. So, I will just update about people.
      First up...William! We have been working with him for a few months now. He has been living here in Germany for about 13 years. In December we were at a point with him where we needed a make-or-break moment....so we gave quite the intense lesson to him. William responded so well to it, and really allowed it to boost him forward. He has been making so much progress the last few weeks. He has come to church 3 weeks in a row and even bought himself a new snazzy suit to fit in with everyone else :). I cant wait to see him be baptized before I leave Rostock in February!!
    Justice....So I have never talked about Justice because he just came out of no where. We teach some of Justice's roommates. He would sometimes come in the room but he was never really interested. I had the feeling that we needed to show the movie, The Testaments. This is something that I have never done on my mission prior, but felt like it really needed to happen for some reason. Well, Justice was down to watch a movie and it completely hit him sooo hard. The movie ended and I asked if anyone had questions and Justice said, "What do I need to do to get baptized. I felt when I was watching that movie that I need to. Can you help with that?" Um, yes we can Justice!! So we told him the first thing he could do is come to church, and he did! It was so awesome to see him and his roommates come for the first time!
      Anthony- Anthony is Justice's roommate. We have seen a lot of progress out of him as well. He is always calling us and seeing if we can meet with them. He is reading so much every day it's crazy! He is loving everything we teach him and really has been the driving force behind all of his roommates making progress such as coming to church.
      Anna and Degol- School finally started this week so we cant wait to finally meet with them after a very long winter break! We have had contact with both of them and should hopefully squeeze some appointments in this week!!
      Bodo- we have found with Bodo what we like to call in mission talk, his "iceberg". This is the little thing that holds them back from making progress or being baptized; and is often times not easily detected. He has a really hard time thinking he can be forgiving. The idea of Repentance is a hard one for him. He still wants to be baptized but keeps pushing it back out of fear he wont be ready. So this past week we worked really hard on a big repentance lesson for him. It went so well!! He said that he sees everything in a very different light and he said that he feels like a weight has been lifted off of him! We cant wait for our appointment on Wednesday to hear more and to figure out a suitable date for his baptism. He really wants to get baptized in the ocean, so it might be a early summer baptism :). He continues to come to church weekly.

      Mark- Oh marky mark. This is my best friend here in Rostock. He is so awesome. He has had some really crazy things happen to him, but he is still finding ways to overcome them. We just found out that he might have to move out of Germany in a month. It just about broke my heart, but I am confident that this will not mess with his plans to be baptized in a few months. He really is ready, and so prepared. He has taught me so much. He has so much faith and such an incredible relationship with his Savior. We meet with him 3-5 times a week and it still isn't enough for us :).
      Mario- He is one of the investigators that has been around for 6 years! We have seen a lot of great things come from him the last few weeks though. He continues to come to church, institute, and FHE every since week. He and Bodo are really good friends. Mario is also ready for baptism and said that when Bodo decides, he will be baptized with him on the same day!
      Owoe- Owoe is my french lady! Whoooo! Oh how I love it. She is about 60 and is from Africa. Speaks no English, French and a little German. Communication is sometimes a struggle, but we have really been able to make due. It has allowed me to practice up on some of my French which I love and so does she. There arent too many people she knows that speak french, so she is patient with my memory loss of my school french knowledge. It is a neat story with how we started teaching her actually. We had our first appointment and at the end we asked if we could come back. She declined, but agreed to letting us say a closing prayer with her. After the prayer, she looked up and asked, "So when are you coming back??" The power of prayer is real :)! haha. She is also attending church, and we couldn't be happier for her. She moves slow, but there is nothing wrong with that.
      Also another update on my last city of Dresden: Chang and Melanie have now been baptized! So amazing!! I remember each of their first lessons and to think of where they are now is just amazing! I was planning on returning to Dresden for Melanie's that was just yesterday, but last minute my permission was retracted :,(. However, I was so excited for her to finally be able to make this step in her life! I know we will remain friends for years!

      Spiritual Thought: In Mark 12:41-44 it tells of a story that I love, of a widow who gave everything she had: 41 ¶And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain ^apoor widow, and she threw in two ^bmites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this^apoor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their^aabundance; but she of her ^bwant did ^ccast in ^dall that she had, even all her living.
      This woman literally gave everything she had. She had enough faith in God that she knew the more she gave to him, the more blessings she would receive. She had enough faith, that even with a hungry family, she still came and gave of her wages. She was a window, with the entire weight of her family riding on her shoulders alone. She was humble enough to know that she could not provide for them all by herself, as well as she could with the help of God. Sure to many, her two mites would not have seem significant enough to bring blessings. However, it was EVERYTHING she had. Are we willing to do that in our lives? Truly have enough faith in the Lord, to give him EVERYTHING? Only by aligning our wills with God’s, can we find full happiness. Anything less results in a lesser portion (see Alma 12:10–11). The Lord will work with us even if, at first, we “can no more than desire” but are willing to “give place for a portion of [His] words” (Alma 32:27). But we must desire and provide it. I hope that this week we can all focus on giving more to the God who granted us this very life.
      Thanks again for all the love and support! I hope this week goes great for all of you, miss you tons!! See you in just over 6 months!

Sister Linford

Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Friedrich Str. 14
18057 Rostock
Germany

Hello 2013!

    Hello!! I hope this email finds everyone happy and healthy! Well happy New Year!! 2013 is going to be a good one, I just know it! Things started out with a bang here.....quite literally! Holly cow, the fireworks here are so different! I may be silly to once again be surprised that something is completely different than in the states....but it seriously felt like World War 3 had hit. See in Germany you are only allowed to use fireworks one time in the year and it is for New Years. Well people just go crazy with these things! Plus, they are SO much louder here. Mission regulations were that we had to be in by 6pm. We planned our day to the very limit and walking home was just nutso! There was no sleeping that night either but it was kinda funny. My companion and I just chatting about what we were doing the year before and how different life is now. As with many times in life, when we approach an ending of sorts, it is naturally to look back and review. 2012 was definitely the craziest year of my life, but I know it will be a year that I look back on as a monumental one. It has been a year where life became more real and many lessons were learned that I am extremely grateful for.
    With the craziness of Germany combined with the Holiday, we were asked to stay inside for January 1st. Which we weren't that sad about because when we looked out the window, it looked like a ghost town. When holidays happen here, seriously you wouldn't even know civilization existed! It definitely could have been contributed to the famous after affect of alcohol, hang-overs! This week was excited for us and our apartment! haha we have the worst sisters apartment, no doubt. To add to this already less than great place, many items have decided to retire recently. The last month we have been living without a washer, toaster, or microwave. These are just missionary musts! haha. Anywho, last week we got to do a little appliance shopping. We purchased a new microwave and a washer that will be delivered tomorrow! Whoo! We are so stoked to be moving up in the world :). Sadly, this truly was a highlight of our week!
    Our investigators continue to do so well. We really always find ourselves at the end of the day saying, "Things here are just too good to be true!" It makes me nervous for when I have to go to a new city haha. A funny experience that we had this week was with William. A few weeks ago he was asking us about food that we miss from America. My companion blurted out Mac N' Cheese. He said that we needed to make it for him when we got our next package. Well my package came and so did the blue boxes that are worth gold. Who knew Kraft could bring so much happiness. We all got together and cooked up so good old cheesy goodness. He was like...."THIS is what you crave?!?" haha, he like it, but was definitely expected something more extravagant! It was just laughs.

    Spiritual Thought: In Matthew 14:22-33 we can find the story of when Christ walked on water. As many of you know, he invited Peter one of his apostles to join him on the water. He was nervous, but proceeded out of the boat to step on the water. He was amazed as he was able to do as Christ promised and walk on water as well. However, he quickly became distracted with the wind and started to sink. Christ had his hand outreached and picked him back up to safety. This story reminds me of our trials. For us to leave the boat and walk towards the promises of Christ is sometimes very difficult. But as we do, we see that the promises of our Lord always do come true. However, we often get distracted and lose faith as our trials appear dooming or overwhelming. Questions of "What if?" and "Why?" flood our mind and destroy our focus in the Lord. Will we take ahold of the outreached hand from our Savior when we find times like this in our lives? If Peter would have remained focused on the Savior he would have never found himself sinking. This is a lesson we can apply to our lives. Do not lose focus on the Savior. For he is our example and as we center our lives on His, we will never find ourselves sinking in face of our trials. This doesn't mean that we don't ever have to overcome our fear and step on the water, but it means we need to let our trust and faith in Christ be our focus. So this week I ask then we focus more on Christ. I know as we do, we will find the difficulties of life to be easier!

    Sorry this week is extremely short and boring, but I hope next week to be able to make up for it! I really am grateful for every one of you! I hope school and work and whatever else life is bringing is going well! KEEP THE FAITH!!!

Sister Linford
Kirche Jesu Christi
18057 Rostock
Germany