Schnitzel Zeit!

      Whoooo! Beautiful week, right? Some cool things happened, I am in the beautiful city of Vienna, and the sun was shining, what more could one ask for? Lots of great things happened this week, and I cant wait to share the excitement ....butterflies inside me right now :).
      Might as well start out with some food talk. Not just any food, but schnitzel of course! So this is a food that I have never had on my mission! Every missionary about falls over when they hear I have gone my entire mission without eating schnitzel. Its a rarity. Well when my district heard this, they concluded that it just could not go on any longer.....so, they organized a district lunch to the most famous schnitzel restaurant in Vienna. It was a blast!! I could only eat 1/4 of the massive schnitzel that came out on not just a plate, but a platter! So, I feel like I am more legit now that I can say I have had schnitzel :).
      I haven't talked much about Doris before now, because somehow my emails just get taken up by Oyuka's awesomeness. However, Doris has got some awesomeness of her own worth talking about! So Doris is a referral from members that live quite far away. They were insisting that sisters teach this woman and so being the only German speaking sisters in the mission, we had the opportunity to teach Doris. Doris has a whopping 6 kids...which is just unheard of in this country. She is in her 30's and is so cool! Well anywho, we have been teaching Doris the last few weeks and things are going well with her! The members that gave us the referral are so fantastic and always are there helping her with anything she needs. We went in depth over the Plan of Salvation last time. She has a 6 month year old baby that has a lot of medical problems such as no hands and a really bad cleft pallet. When she heard that we will all be resurrected to a perfect state, she looked at her baby and said with almost desperation in her voice, "Even laura?? She will have hands??" It was such a tender moment for me to be able to look her in the eyes and bare testimony that her daughter will not always have to face these challenges and tell her that I know that her daughter must be sooo strong and one of God's elect to have the challenges that she does. Tears streamed down Doris's face and the faces of the members that were present as well.
      This week we had a really special opportunity. There has been some bad flooding happening in Germany and Austria. We don't get to hear too much because we are missionaries and don't have access to news. But, we knew that many places outside of Vienna had been hit hard. Saturday, all of the missionaries in our Zone along with many many other volunteers got bussed out to places where they needed help. The morning started at 5am and we worked harder than ever until 7:30pm. It was exhausting as we shoveled mud for hours and hours. But, it wasn't about the blisters or aching backs.....no it was about the poor people that just lost so much! It was so heart wrenching to see their faces wear so many emotions. What was incredible, is even in there state of loss, they always were so thankful to us. They would cry as they saw our torn up hands on their behalf. Whooo talk about an emotional and incredibly humbling day. I am so thankful for ever service opportunity I get to be apart of, and this one was just special. Best part is, we get to go back again this week and help more.
      Well this email is already incredible long, but some many more incredible things happened! One of which being I survived transfer calls! I use to be so excited for them, and now....I just hate them haha. But good things came for me on my last transfer call. I get to stay in Vienna!!! That is all I wanted for my last 6 weeks. Plus, I am getting a freaking awesome new companion named Sister Judd! She is from Las Vegas and if I could choose someone in this mission to serve with, it would be her! So I am stoked!
      Spiritual Thought:I came across a scripture that hit me hard this week. It is simple, but powerful and resulted in many thoughts. It is found in Psalms 35:9, "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation." Do we really look to lord for our happiness. Or do we rely on other sources such as music, cars, etc. Now God gave us all those things to help us be happy, but we must check ourselves and really ask if our TRUE SOURCE of happiness is in the Lord and his masterful plan for us. In that we will find more piece, joy, contentment, and ultimately salvation than anything else can bring us. Are your actions showing that your soul really is pointed to God or not?
      Thanks for your love and support! Miss you all! KEEP THE FAITH!!!!
Sister Linford

Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Hormayr Gasse 59/Top/9
Wien A-1170
Austria