 | |
| Me and Sister Neukomm at the Freiberg Temple! |
Monday, June 18, 2012
Freiberg Temple
The return of Doris - cat woman!
Hallo! I hope everything is going well for everyone! This week inGermany has been a mixture of some disappointments and some amazing miracles. Let’sget right into it all!
Last P-day was particularly fun! We got to play.....beach volleyball!! Oh howthat makes my heart full! It was a blast to play with all the othermissionaries is our district. Something neat happened though while we wereplaying. A girl called over the fence and asked if anyone knew English. When weran over to her we saw that she was crying. We found out that she is 17 and ishere in Germany with her high school German class. She got lost and had beenwondering around for 2 hours, poor thing! When we found out where her hotel waswe knew we couldn’t just instruct her where to go. So, we left the volleyballmatch and me and my comp set out with Hailey on the 30 minute venture back toher hotel. Missionaries can do a lot with 30min. :) haha. We got her backgroundand she was very curious what missionaries actually do. We gave her the wholefirst lesson and sent her with a card to look at mormon.org.I have no idea what will happen with Hailey, but it was a very special 30minutes and I wish her the best in life!
District meeting on Wednesday is always a highlight for me.....but now with theother two sisters in our district, it is just a straight party. We have way toomuch fun together! We get to spend every p-day with them too, good times! Mydistrict is already really close which makes things a lot of fun. The Elders weare working with are fantastic. I have really lucked out so far!
Okay lets update you all on some of my investigators....
DORIS! Shes backkkkk! We had the joyous opportunity to return to the toxicwasteland aka Doris' apartment. We walked in and I braced myself for the smellas always; but the stench seemed to be worse than normal. I realized that everyother time I have been over to her apartment the door to the deck was open, butwith the intense rain storm that was outside, the only source of oxygen wasgone. Oh boy. Me and my companion could only stay for about 15 minutes beforeour lungs literally started burning. The mix between way too much smoke, catwho knows what, and Doris herself was far too much for us to handle. Oh how welove adventures to Doris' house :).
Melanie! She has unfortunately still not told her family, however, she is doingreally well. She is almost completely done reading the Book Of Mormon! Socrazy! She is amazing and I have no doubt that she will get baptized, she justneeds to take her time on being able to confront her family. It’s always hardwhen you set a baptismal date with someone and then have to remove it or pushit back, but I know she will make it through.
Cuong! Well this is well the major disappointing momnet of my week was. Cuongwas supposed to get baptized this week. Thursday night came around andeverything was a go, he just had to have his interview. Well after an hour and15 minutes Cuong comes out of the meeting and my District Leader comes over tous and said the dreaded words, "We have a little problem." ApparentlyCuong didn’t completely understand the Word of Wisdom. The sisters that werehere before I got here taught him that lesson. We were blown away. And Cuongwas too. He had no clue that our religion believed that alcohol and coffee werenot allowed. It is an embarrassing hole that happened as sisters weretransferred and other ones come. We had gone over the baptismal interviewquestions with him previously that week, but didn’t go into depth on everypoint. Unfortunately Cuong is leaving for Vietnam for 7 weeks and the baptismhas had to be postponed when he gets back. It was soooo incredible hard to beso close with him and have him be what we thought was so ready. However, I knoweverything happens for a reason. I know that Cuong will remain strong. It wasstill quite a heartbreak though!
Aros! Well we still have a lot to teach him but we are making progress! AfterAros accepting baptism on the first appointment, we knew we had lots to teachhim and he is taking everything so well! I still don’t know if we can have himready by June 30th but we are looking good for July.
Igor! He has been out of town the past 2 weeks but should be coming home soon.We are excited to meet with him again and I really think he is close to baptism.
Ifeanyi! We met Ifeanyi when we went to visit his roommate who ended up notbeing home. He is from Nygeria. He saw our name tags and said, "Hey I havea mormon friend on facebook! He told me I should meet with missionaries, canyou teach me?" This is every missionaries dream to hear. We have taughthim twice this week and he came to church yesterday! He is so humble and justkeeps calling us angels from god.
Well that is really all the investigators worth mentioning right now. I havenever had this low of people to teach. It has been really hard lately to findpeople who want to listen. In fact, our entire district has been struggling sowe decided to do a fast. We started the fast on Saturday afternoon and it didn’ttake long for us to see the miracle. We went out finding Saturday night andsomething insane happened. We went to this building that I have been wanting togo to for a while. We started doing doors and we made 7 new appointments in anhour and twenty minutes! 7 new appointments is our mission goal for an entireweek......and to see all of that happen in just over an hour was such amiracle! We are really hoping some solid investigators can come from all ofthis.
Germany has been going wild with the EuroCup. Soccer here is life. When thereis a game the city is honestly empty. Is it bad that I am hpoing they lose nextweek so we can get back to having people out and about to find??
My companion and I get along really well. No complaints in that department! Ithas been SO hot this week. We just walk around sweaty and gross....no wonder wehaven’t been getting new appointments! haha. I like chocolate now....yep they aren’tlying when they say this German stuff is good. Still carbonationfree.......such a miracle.
Funny stories: We were at a busy train stop and I see my companion kinda skippast me and jump on the back of some random person. She quickly noticed that itwasn’t me, jumped off in horror, and turned around with the most frantic faceto find me laughing my head off. Also, I convinced my companion to dye herhair. The box said brown....but it most definitely is now red. She isentertaining.
Spiritual thought: brace yourself it is long :)
In D&C 88:15 we read that thesoul of man includes “the spirit and the body.” President Hinckley has taughtthat we all have 3 things – 1) a spirit and 2) a body - and 3) a mind. The mindis a connection point between the two parts of our soul: the spirit child ofour Heavenly Father within us and the body, which I think of as the naturalman. Here is the quote from President Hinckley: “You have the potential tobecome anything to which you set your mind. You have a mind and a body and aspirit. With these three working together, you can walk the high road thatleads to achievement and happiness. But this will require effort and sacrificeand faith.” (Stay on the High Road, Ensign May 2004)
Good positive thinking, setting ourminds to do something, can lift our spirit and motivate us with physicalstrength to do the work. Answers to prayers come by the Holy Ghost “in yourmind and in your heart” (D&C 8:2) and then we put our whole souls, body andspirit, in motion to do it. On the other hand, negative thinking can kill thespirit and make it harder to do the work to fulfill our Purpose in life. The mindcan decide which part of the soul is in command in a particular moment. KingBenjamin taught that “the natural man is an enemy to God” unless he yields to,submits to, “the enticing’s of the Holy Spirit.” (Mosiah3:19)
Our mind is connected to our spiritand to our body and plays a key role in agency – deciding which part of us isin charge – the spirit within us or the natural man. “Wherefore, mean are freeaccording to the flesh…, to choose liberty and eternal life … or to choosecaptivity and death…. Be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life,according to the will of his Holy Spirit.” (2 Nephi 2:27-28) We need to make upour minds to be positive.
Thanks for all the love and support!Life here is amazing! Love you all!
Sister Linford
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Wiesen Str. 8
01277 Dresden
Last P-day was particularly fun! We got to play.....beach volleyball!! Oh howthat makes my heart full! It was a blast to play with all the othermissionaries is our district. Something neat happened though while we wereplaying. A girl called over the fence and asked if anyone knew English. When weran over to her we saw that she was crying. We found out that she is 17 and ishere in Germany with her high school German class. She got lost and had beenwondering around for 2 hours, poor thing! When we found out where her hotel waswe knew we couldn’t just instruct her where to go. So, we left the volleyballmatch and me and my comp set out with Hailey on the 30 minute venture back toher hotel. Missionaries can do a lot with 30min. :) haha. We got her backgroundand she was very curious what missionaries actually do. We gave her the wholefirst lesson and sent her with a card to look at mormon.org.I have no idea what will happen with Hailey, but it was a very special 30minutes and I wish her the best in life!
District meeting on Wednesday is always a highlight for me.....but now with theother two sisters in our district, it is just a straight party. We have way toomuch fun together! We get to spend every p-day with them too, good times! Mydistrict is already really close which makes things a lot of fun. The Elders weare working with are fantastic. I have really lucked out so far!
Okay lets update you all on some of my investigators....
DORIS! Shes backkkkk! We had the joyous opportunity to return to the toxicwasteland aka Doris' apartment. We walked in and I braced myself for the smellas always; but the stench seemed to be worse than normal. I realized that everyother time I have been over to her apartment the door to the deck was open, butwith the intense rain storm that was outside, the only source of oxygen wasgone. Oh boy. Me and my companion could only stay for about 15 minutes beforeour lungs literally started burning. The mix between way too much smoke, catwho knows what, and Doris herself was far too much for us to handle. Oh how welove adventures to Doris' house :).
Melanie! She has unfortunately still not told her family, however, she is doingreally well. She is almost completely done reading the Book Of Mormon! Socrazy! She is amazing and I have no doubt that she will get baptized, she justneeds to take her time on being able to confront her family. It’s always hardwhen you set a baptismal date with someone and then have to remove it or pushit back, but I know she will make it through.
Cuong! Well this is well the major disappointing momnet of my week was. Cuongwas supposed to get baptized this week. Thursday night came around andeverything was a go, he just had to have his interview. Well after an hour and15 minutes Cuong comes out of the meeting and my District Leader comes over tous and said the dreaded words, "We have a little problem." ApparentlyCuong didn’t completely understand the Word of Wisdom. The sisters that werehere before I got here taught him that lesson. We were blown away. And Cuongwas too. He had no clue that our religion believed that alcohol and coffee werenot allowed. It is an embarrassing hole that happened as sisters weretransferred and other ones come. We had gone over the baptismal interviewquestions with him previously that week, but didn’t go into depth on everypoint. Unfortunately Cuong is leaving for Vietnam for 7 weeks and the baptismhas had to be postponed when he gets back. It was soooo incredible hard to beso close with him and have him be what we thought was so ready. However, I knoweverything happens for a reason. I know that Cuong will remain strong. It wasstill quite a heartbreak though!
Aros! Well we still have a lot to teach him but we are making progress! AfterAros accepting baptism on the first appointment, we knew we had lots to teachhim and he is taking everything so well! I still don’t know if we can have himready by June 30th but we are looking good for July.
Igor! He has been out of town the past 2 weeks but should be coming home soon.We are excited to meet with him again and I really think he is close to baptism.
Ifeanyi! We met Ifeanyi when we went to visit his roommate who ended up notbeing home. He is from Nygeria. He saw our name tags and said, "Hey I havea mormon friend on facebook! He told me I should meet with missionaries, canyou teach me?" This is every missionaries dream to hear. We have taughthim twice this week and he came to church yesterday! He is so humble and justkeeps calling us angels from god.
Well that is really all the investigators worth mentioning right now. I havenever had this low of people to teach. It has been really hard lately to findpeople who want to listen. In fact, our entire district has been struggling sowe decided to do a fast. We started the fast on Saturday afternoon and it didn’ttake long for us to see the miracle. We went out finding Saturday night andsomething insane happened. We went to this building that I have been wanting togo to for a while. We started doing doors and we made 7 new appointments in anhour and twenty minutes! 7 new appointments is our mission goal for an entireweek......and to see all of that happen in just over an hour was such amiracle! We are really hoping some solid investigators can come from all ofthis.
Germany has been going wild with the EuroCup. Soccer here is life. When thereis a game the city is honestly empty. Is it bad that I am hpoing they lose nextweek so we can get back to having people out and about to find??
My companion and I get along really well. No complaints in that department! Ithas been SO hot this week. We just walk around sweaty and gross....no wonder wehaven’t been getting new appointments! haha. I like chocolate now....yep they aren’tlying when they say this German stuff is good. Still carbonationfree.......such a miracle.
Funny stories: We were at a busy train stop and I see my companion kinda skippast me and jump on the back of some random person. She quickly noticed that itwasn’t me, jumped off in horror, and turned around with the most frantic faceto find me laughing my head off. Also, I convinced my companion to dye herhair. The box said brown....but it most definitely is now red. She isentertaining.
Spiritual thought: brace yourself it is long :)
In D&C 88:15 we read that thesoul of man includes “the spirit and the body.” President Hinckley has taughtthat we all have 3 things – 1) a spirit and 2) a body - and 3) a mind. The mindis a connection point between the two parts of our soul: the spirit child ofour Heavenly Father within us and the body, which I think of as the naturalman. Here is the quote from President Hinckley: “You have the potential tobecome anything to which you set your mind. You have a mind and a body and aspirit. With these three working together, you can walk the high road thatleads to achievement and happiness. But this will require effort and sacrificeand faith.” (Stay on the High Road, Ensign May 2004)
Good positive thinking, setting ourminds to do something, can lift our spirit and motivate us with physicalstrength to do the work. Answers to prayers come by the Holy Ghost “in yourmind and in your heart” (D&C 8:2) and then we put our whole souls, body andspirit, in motion to do it. On the other hand, negative thinking can kill thespirit and make it harder to do the work to fulfill our Purpose in life. The mindcan decide which part of the soul is in command in a particular moment. KingBenjamin taught that “the natural man is an enemy to God” unless he yields to,submits to, “the enticing’s of the Holy Spirit.” (Mosiah3:19)
Our mind is connected to our spiritand to our body and plays a key role in agency – deciding which part of us isin charge – the spirit within us or the natural man. “Wherefore, mean are freeaccording to the flesh…, to choose liberty and eternal life … or to choosecaptivity and death…. Be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life,according to the will of his Holy Spirit.” (2 Nephi 2:27-28) We need to make upour minds to be positive.
Thanks for all the love and support!Life here is amazing! Love you all!
Sister Linford
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Wiesen Str. 8
01277 Dresden
Monday, June 11, 2012
2 more baptisms
Guten Tag! I hope all is well for everyone this week! Things for me aregoing pretty freaking amazing! So many good things from this week have happenedand I can’t wait to spill the details :).
I am so so so happy to report 2 more baptisms coming up for us in Dresden!! Thefirst is Cuong. I have been teaching him for a while. He is from Vietnam and isin Germany getting his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He has a wife and a sonthat are living back in Vietnam. When I first got in Dresden Cuong was having alittle bit of a rocky road. We have worked really hard with him and on Mondaynight he agreed to be baptized on June 17....yes this coming Sunday! It was soamazing to see him accept this step. Monday night was such a powerful night. Hesaid he knew he needed to be baptized but he was just scared to go back toVietnam with a new faith. I had the feeling to read in Alma 32. He read it andstarted crying looked up and said, "I am ready. I want to show God I havefaith in him. I want to be baptized." It was a very special moment to be apart of.
Next up is Aros. I met with Aros my very first week here but it was only forabout 10 minutes. I thought he was great but for some reason we just never hadtime to meet with him. I had talked to him over the phone a few times andreally felt like we needed to make him a priority. Well last week I got to doall the planning because my first companion got transferred. The firstperson I called was Aros. Aros is a student from Nepal. I went and picked up mynew companion and it was straight to Aros' after that. We watched Finding Faithin Christ and the spirit was so strong. I asked him if he wanted to be baptizedand he said yes! We have A LOT to teach him since that was his first realappointment with us, but I know we can get him ready. His date as of right nowis June 30th, I don’t know if we can make it happen by then but we are going totry! If it does happen that will be 4 baptisms in the month of June.....MIRACLE.My new trainer was quite shocked by my boldness with Aros. She just like mylast trainer has only had one baptism on her mission. She has served nearly 18months and is walking into 3 baptisms :).....so cool.
Melanie was also supposed to get baptized this week. She is the 18 year oldthat is so incredible. However, she hasn’t told her family yet that she wantsto be baptized and she said she needs more time :\. It’s important thatshe tells her family everything that is going on in her life. She is so readyin every other way. She needs prayers! Hopefully we can get her back on datesooner rather than later.
Okay, that is it for the investigators with baptismal dates! Now let’s get tochatting about my new companion! Oh what a change, a fantastic change! Her nameis Sister Kläy (Kla-eye). She just barely extended one more transfer butshe is almost at her 18 month mark. She went to high school in Utah, but rightafter moved to Switzerland. Her Dad is Swiss and her mom is American. Eventhough she is not full American, can I just say it is SO nice having an Americancompanion! Nothing against the European companions, but not having a languagebarrier is SO nice! We have a lot of fun together which is something I reallyneeded after my last companion. We complement each other really well. I amexcited to be able to have the next few weeks with her here in Dresden.
With transfers, my district changed a ton. There are 10 missionaries in mydistrict and only 3 remained in Dresden which is very rare. My new District isa blast though! We all get a lot really well and we have some fun P-daysplanned already :). Another cool change that happened is we got 2 more sistersin my District! The city of Meissen got changed from an Elders city to aSisters city. That means party every Wednesday and Monday when we get to seethe Meissen sisters, yay! haha. We are the only District in the mission thathas 4 sisters. The other two sisters are Sister Niebergal and Sister Curtis.Sister Curtis and me hit it off from the first time we met and we always enjoytalking. I am really excited for the transfer ahead of me, being surrounded bythese great people!
Other quick updates; Igor is doing amazing. I think we can get him on baptismaldate next month :). The food is starting to taste.....good. I said it. It isactually growing on me. I was able to eat sauerkraut without wanting to diethis week! Such a big improvement. My prayers are being answered haha. My companion full on ate itthe other day at the train station and we made a nice big American scene....so funny.She supermaned it right in front of everyone as she was yelling, "Igoooooottttt iiiiiitttttt." Well she didn’t have it. We were laughing sohard, thank goodness she wasn’t hurt. Elina is doing fantastic post baptism! Shehas said some funny things that I am going to pass on. The first was she wastelling me a story: "I was lying in bed and it hit me.....Oh my gosh.....Iam a Mormon. I mean I knew I was a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints, but I am a freaking Mormon!" Just the tone she told thestory in made me laugh so hard. The second one happened yesterday in Church.They were sustaining all of the new callings in the ward, and she leans andbasically yells down the row, "Sister Linford! I get to vote now!!!"She is too cute :).
Well that is it for the week, We are busy here in Dresden! We have a lot oftime this week to go out and find new investigators. We have done a bit of a clean-upjob this past week and we are ready to re-build our investigator pool. I amtruly loving every day here in Germany. It still is so crazy to me that this ismy life, but I am so thankful for it. I am grateful for all the amazing friendsand family I have supporting me! Keep the letters coming; they make life betterover here :).
Keep the faith, Sister Linford.
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Wiesen Strasse 8
01277 Dresden
Germany
I am so so so happy to report 2 more baptisms coming up for us in Dresden!! Thefirst is Cuong. I have been teaching him for a while. He is from Vietnam and isin Germany getting his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. He has a wife and a sonthat are living back in Vietnam. When I first got in Dresden Cuong was having alittle bit of a rocky road. We have worked really hard with him and on Mondaynight he agreed to be baptized on June 17....yes this coming Sunday! It was soamazing to see him accept this step. Monday night was such a powerful night. Hesaid he knew he needed to be baptized but he was just scared to go back toVietnam with a new faith. I had the feeling to read in Alma 32. He read it andstarted crying looked up and said, "I am ready. I want to show God I havefaith in him. I want to be baptized." It was a very special moment to be apart of.
Next up is Aros. I met with Aros my very first week here but it was only forabout 10 minutes. I thought he was great but for some reason we just never hadtime to meet with him. I had talked to him over the phone a few times andreally felt like we needed to make him a priority. Well last week I got to doall the planning because my first companion got transferred. The firstperson I called was Aros. Aros is a student from Nepal. I went and picked up mynew companion and it was straight to Aros' after that. We watched Finding Faithin Christ and the spirit was so strong. I asked him if he wanted to be baptizedand he said yes! We have A LOT to teach him since that was his first realappointment with us, but I know we can get him ready. His date as of right nowis June 30th, I don’t know if we can make it happen by then but we are going totry! If it does happen that will be 4 baptisms in the month of June.....MIRACLE.My new trainer was quite shocked by my boldness with Aros. She just like mylast trainer has only had one baptism on her mission. She has served nearly 18months and is walking into 3 baptisms :).....so cool.
Melanie was also supposed to get baptized this week. She is the 18 year oldthat is so incredible. However, she hasn’t told her family yet that she wantsto be baptized and she said she needs more time :\. It’s important thatshe tells her family everything that is going on in her life. She is so readyin every other way. She needs prayers! Hopefully we can get her back on datesooner rather than later.
Okay, that is it for the investigators with baptismal dates! Now let’s get tochatting about my new companion! Oh what a change, a fantastic change! Her nameis Sister Kläy (Kla-eye). She just barely extended one more transfer butshe is almost at her 18 month mark. She went to high school in Utah, but rightafter moved to Switzerland. Her Dad is Swiss and her mom is American. Eventhough she is not full American, can I just say it is SO nice having an Americancompanion! Nothing against the European companions, but not having a languagebarrier is SO nice! We have a lot of fun together which is something I reallyneeded after my last companion. We complement each other really well. I amexcited to be able to have the next few weeks with her here in Dresden.
With transfers, my district changed a ton. There are 10 missionaries in mydistrict and only 3 remained in Dresden which is very rare. My new District isa blast though! We all get a lot really well and we have some fun P-daysplanned already :). Another cool change that happened is we got 2 more sistersin my District! The city of Meissen got changed from an Elders city to aSisters city. That means party every Wednesday and Monday when we get to seethe Meissen sisters, yay! haha. We are the only District in the mission thathas 4 sisters. The other two sisters are Sister Niebergal and Sister Curtis.Sister Curtis and me hit it off from the first time we met and we always enjoytalking. I am really excited for the transfer ahead of me, being surrounded bythese great people!
Other quick updates; Igor is doing amazing. I think we can get him on baptismaldate next month :). The food is starting to taste.....good. I said it. It isactually growing on me. I was able to eat sauerkraut without wanting to diethis week! Such a big improvement. My prayers are being answered haha. My companion full on ate itthe other day at the train station and we made a nice big American scene....so funny.She supermaned it right in front of everyone as she was yelling, "Igoooooottttt iiiiiitttttt." Well she didn’t have it. We were laughing sohard, thank goodness she wasn’t hurt. Elina is doing fantastic post baptism! Shehas said some funny things that I am going to pass on. The first was she wastelling me a story: "I was lying in bed and it hit me.....Oh my gosh.....Iam a Mormon. I mean I knew I was a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints, but I am a freaking Mormon!" Just the tone she told thestory in made me laugh so hard. The second one happened yesterday in Church.They were sustaining all of the new callings in the ward, and she leans andbasically yells down the row, "Sister Linford! I get to vote now!!!"She is too cute :).
Well that is it for the week, We are busy here in Dresden! We have a lot oftime this week to go out and find new investigators. We have done a bit of a clean-upjob this past week and we are ready to re-build our investigator pool. I amtruly loving every day here in Germany. It still is so crazy to me that this ismy life, but I am so thankful for it. I am grateful for all the amazing friendsand family I have supporting me! Keep the letters coming; they make life betterover here :).
Keep the faith, Sister Linford.
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Jessica Linford
Wiesen Strasse 8
01277 Dresden
Germany
Monday, June 4, 2012
I met Adolf
After last week I have gotten a lot of concerned emails haha, but haveno fear this week was amazing!! The transfer is over tomorrow, crazyhuh?! 12 weeks of my mission down! Let’s get into the week!
Monday- We went to the YSA FHE night just like normal. Nearly every week weteach Melanie, who is getting baptized in less than two weeks, after FHE isover. Just like normal we were walking into the room in the church and Igorasked if he could join us. I have seen Igor from time to time at FHE andinstitute, but never knew his story. He is from Russia and I just assumed theElders were teaching him. Well come to find out, he doesn’t let anyone teachhim. He just comes to activities randomly. So anyway, we watched the movieFinding Faith In Christ. Melanie handled it like a pro as always, but the realsurprise was Igor. He cried he felt the spirit so strongly. He said that itanswered so many questions he had and he agreed to let us teach him. We stolehim from the elders :) muhahaha.
Tuesday- We have been working with a less active Schwester Jander for a monthnow. She is probably 60 and has a problem with smoking. I gave the whole lessonin German! All by myself, yay! It was on repentance and the atonement. My Germanis still laughable awful and really not improving, but I was able to getthrough it. Tuesday not could not have ended better! Cuong is an investigatorthat the sisters have been teaching since January. He is a student fromVietnam. When I got here the sisters were really starting to lose him. I didn’treally see him around my first two weeks, but we have got him back and he isawesome! We did a FHE with die familie Ebisch. They are a young couple that Iam close with, in fact I think I have talked about them before. She is from St..Georgeand he is from Germany. They recently got married and she just moved here. Sheis the one who brings me marshmallows haha. Anywho, it could not have gonebetter! Cuong loved it and they were so good to him. I really think he is closeto baptism. We have an appointment with him tonight and I think we can get himon date!
Wednesday- We had district meeting as always but this time it was a little sad.Our senior YSA couple is going home along with our district leader, plus weknew there was going to be a lot of transfers happening within our district. Weknew this would be the last time together. I have really enjoyed this districtand will miss them all! Wednesday is when the extra 2-day tausch (exchange)began! I went to Freiberg with Sister Schneider. She has only been out 1 moretransfer than me so we are both pretty new. She is also from Switzerland and isa native German speaker. Thank goodness for that too! I love doing exchangesbecause it not only gives you a break from your companion, but you get to seehow other cities and towns are different. Freiberg is a much smaller and morespread out city. There are no buses or trains, just cars and LOTS of walkinghaha. It is beautiful there though, and it is where the temple is which is veryspecial.
Thursday- I had my first complete study day. Like, I actually had companionstudy for the first time! My first companion doesn’t really study and to haveSister Schneider was so nice! It set the day off right! Sister Scheider had afull day planned and it was so nice to just get to work finally. We started outby translating for a member, Brudder Adolf. Yep, just like Adolf Hitler, but noworries there is no relation he was quick to inform me haha. Then we met withMarcus. Marcus is someone we met the day before on the street. Wowza he speaksreally fsat haha. Freiberg is different from Dresden in that most of theinvestigators speak German...go figure! It reminded me of just how bad myGerman is ha. Sister Scheider did amazing though and I was able to help outwith finding applicable scriptures and bearing testimony. We also taught aenglish class! It was so funny to hear all of these people talk with theirGerman accents. "Veeeelllcome" (welcome) "Vas eeez yourneym" (what is your name?) It’s okay to make fun, they do it to me all daylong haha. But the real miracle was saved for the end of the day. It was in theform of Xiang. Xiang is from China and has been an investigator for 1.5yrs. Weran into when we were walking the day before and I had the crazy strong feelingthat I had with Danita. He kinda freaked out over something and has beenrefusing to meet with the missionaries the last month however. After talkingwith him for a while he agreed to meet with us. I was looking forward to hisappointment the entire day! And wow......I know I have said this before, but Ihave never felt the spirit that strong in my life. I honestly can say that Iwill remember that lesson my entire life. The spirit was pulsing throughout theroom. Things were just flowing in my heart to say. It redefined what teachingby the spirit means to me. I am happy to report that a miracle that has been1.5 yrs in the making happened....I asked him to be baptized on June 30th andhe agreed for the first time :). At the end he said the sweetest thing, "SisterLinford you are really good at this. I prayed to God to come and I know heanswered my prayer by sending you. Can I come to Dresden and have you teach meagain one time?" I was flattered but I assured him that It was not me thattaught him in there....it was the spirit. And he did the right thing bylistening to it and letting it into his heart. He made me promise that I wouldcome to his baptism if I could make it work, I agreed to that :).
Friday- My district got to go to the temple! Since I was already in Freiberg,we just made the companion switch back at the temple Friday morning. You don’tget to go to the temple very often on your mission here, in fact some don’t goat all. I was very lucky to have the opportunity this early on though. Thetemple is just amazing that is all there is to say. It is rejuvenating. And isif that wasn’t enough, it was also the day of Elina's baptism!!!! Mensch I havebeen so excited for this! Planning a baptism is a tad stressful but soexciting. The night was amazing! Elina just kept hugging me and saying,"It's here!!" She asked me to be the one to help her so I gotthe best view of the baptism...from the side on the top stair. When she steppedout of the font she stopped....gave me a soaking hug....and said, "I feelit.....the difference." She glowed the entire night. She was so happy andso was I. This was such an incredible night to be a part of.
Saturday- Saturday could not have come fast enough. It was the long awaitedtransfer calls. Well it was worth the wait! I GET TO STAY IN DRESDEN!!! I am sofreaking happy! I mean it’s crazy that I am a first transfer golden and I amalready taking over a city, and furthermore Dresden but I am so ready for thechallenge. My new companion is Sister Kläy. She is dying aka I am killing heraka this is mission lingo for this is her last transfer before she goes homehaha. She is very tall and a little shy but she is a hard worker and I can’twait to share the last moments of her mission with her. I am ready to reallylearn from a trainer the things that I was supposed to learn my first transfer.She is coming to Dresden at a great time and I am excited to get to know herbetter starting tomorrow. Bonus....because she is done in 1 transfer, I get tostay in Dresden for at least 12 more weeks :))))!! Other highlights ofSaturday.....a midget attacked my companions rear end. He had some mentalproblems but it was the funniest thing ever! We got hunted down by JehovahWitness missionaries, also very comical. And last but not least.....I officialgot my first hole in my shoes.
Yesterday was a fantastic Sunday as usual! Filled with many great appointmentsand the spirit of course! I also had a fantastic talk with my companion whereshe agreed she needed to get some help. It has been a really rough time withher, but I honestly feel bad for her. She isn’t happy here, and I want her tofind happiness in this amazing work. I wish her the best with her next transferand figuring out whether a mission is the best thing for her or not.
This week has been freaking amazing! So many miracles. My spiritual thought ofthe week:
If we understand the ways of the Lord, we must understand that we are Hisservants. We sustain him, it is His work. It is not our work. We must submitourselves to his will and purpose. It doesn’tmatter if its priesthood work, missionary work, or any other work in thechurch; we are to do it the way the Lord wants it done. This is the Lords plan.We think about it, we talk about it, but in reality we sometimes forget it. Letus remember we are here as servants of God to do what He wants us to do. I bearmy testimony a disciple of Jesus Christ; this is the work of our HeavenlyFather. Be more Courageous. Be more definite. Be more dependable. Be more of aservant.
-Sister Linford
Send anything for the next few months to:
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Linford
Wiesen Strasse 8
01277 Dresden
Germany
Monday- We went to the YSA FHE night just like normal. Nearly every week weteach Melanie, who is getting baptized in less than two weeks, after FHE isover. Just like normal we were walking into the room in the church and Igorasked if he could join us. I have seen Igor from time to time at FHE andinstitute, but never knew his story. He is from Russia and I just assumed theElders were teaching him. Well come to find out, he doesn’t let anyone teachhim. He just comes to activities randomly. So anyway, we watched the movieFinding Faith In Christ. Melanie handled it like a pro as always, but the realsurprise was Igor. He cried he felt the spirit so strongly. He said that itanswered so many questions he had and he agreed to let us teach him. We stolehim from the elders :) muhahaha.
Tuesday- We have been working with a less active Schwester Jander for a monthnow. She is probably 60 and has a problem with smoking. I gave the whole lessonin German! All by myself, yay! It was on repentance and the atonement. My Germanis still laughable awful and really not improving, but I was able to getthrough it. Tuesday not could not have ended better! Cuong is an investigatorthat the sisters have been teaching since January. He is a student fromVietnam. When I got here the sisters were really starting to lose him. I didn’treally see him around my first two weeks, but we have got him back and he isawesome! We did a FHE with die familie Ebisch. They are a young couple that Iam close with, in fact I think I have talked about them before. She is from St..Georgeand he is from Germany. They recently got married and she just moved here. Sheis the one who brings me marshmallows haha. Anywho, it could not have gonebetter! Cuong loved it and they were so good to him. I really think he is closeto baptism. We have an appointment with him tonight and I think we can get himon date!
Wednesday- We had district meeting as always but this time it was a little sad.Our senior YSA couple is going home along with our district leader, plus weknew there was going to be a lot of transfers happening within our district. Weknew this would be the last time together. I have really enjoyed this districtand will miss them all! Wednesday is when the extra 2-day tausch (exchange)began! I went to Freiberg with Sister Schneider. She has only been out 1 moretransfer than me so we are both pretty new. She is also from Switzerland and isa native German speaker. Thank goodness for that too! I love doing exchangesbecause it not only gives you a break from your companion, but you get to seehow other cities and towns are different. Freiberg is a much smaller and morespread out city. There are no buses or trains, just cars and LOTS of walkinghaha. It is beautiful there though, and it is where the temple is which is veryspecial.
Thursday- I had my first complete study day. Like, I actually had companionstudy for the first time! My first companion doesn’t really study and to haveSister Schneider was so nice! It set the day off right! Sister Scheider had afull day planned and it was so nice to just get to work finally. We started outby translating for a member, Brudder Adolf. Yep, just like Adolf Hitler, but noworries there is no relation he was quick to inform me haha. Then we met withMarcus. Marcus is someone we met the day before on the street. Wowza he speaksreally fsat haha. Freiberg is different from Dresden in that most of theinvestigators speak German...go figure! It reminded me of just how bad myGerman is ha. Sister Scheider did amazing though and I was able to help outwith finding applicable scriptures and bearing testimony. We also taught aenglish class! It was so funny to hear all of these people talk with theirGerman accents. "Veeeelllcome" (welcome) "Vas eeez yourneym" (what is your name?) It’s okay to make fun, they do it to me all daylong haha. But the real miracle was saved for the end of the day. It was in theform of Xiang. Xiang is from China and has been an investigator for 1.5yrs. Weran into when we were walking the day before and I had the crazy strong feelingthat I had with Danita. He kinda freaked out over something and has beenrefusing to meet with the missionaries the last month however. After talkingwith him for a while he agreed to meet with us. I was looking forward to hisappointment the entire day! And wow......I know I have said this before, but Ihave never felt the spirit that strong in my life. I honestly can say that Iwill remember that lesson my entire life. The spirit was pulsing throughout theroom. Things were just flowing in my heart to say. It redefined what teachingby the spirit means to me. I am happy to report that a miracle that has been1.5 yrs in the making happened....I asked him to be baptized on June 30th andhe agreed for the first time :). At the end he said the sweetest thing, "SisterLinford you are really good at this. I prayed to God to come and I know heanswered my prayer by sending you. Can I come to Dresden and have you teach meagain one time?" I was flattered but I assured him that It was not me thattaught him in there....it was the spirit. And he did the right thing bylistening to it and letting it into his heart. He made me promise that I wouldcome to his baptism if I could make it work, I agreed to that :).
Friday- My district got to go to the temple! Since I was already in Freiberg,we just made the companion switch back at the temple Friday morning. You don’tget to go to the temple very often on your mission here, in fact some don’t goat all. I was very lucky to have the opportunity this early on though. Thetemple is just amazing that is all there is to say. It is rejuvenating. And isif that wasn’t enough, it was also the day of Elina's baptism!!!! Mensch I havebeen so excited for this! Planning a baptism is a tad stressful but soexciting. The night was amazing! Elina just kept hugging me and saying,"It's here!!" She asked me to be the one to help her so I gotthe best view of the baptism...from the side on the top stair. When she steppedout of the font she stopped....gave me a soaking hug....and said, "I feelit.....the difference." She glowed the entire night. She was so happy andso was I. This was such an incredible night to be a part of.
Saturday- Saturday could not have come fast enough. It was the long awaitedtransfer calls. Well it was worth the wait! I GET TO STAY IN DRESDEN!!! I am sofreaking happy! I mean it’s crazy that I am a first transfer golden and I amalready taking over a city, and furthermore Dresden but I am so ready for thechallenge. My new companion is Sister Kläy. She is dying aka I am killing heraka this is mission lingo for this is her last transfer before she goes homehaha. She is very tall and a little shy but she is a hard worker and I can’twait to share the last moments of her mission with her. I am ready to reallylearn from a trainer the things that I was supposed to learn my first transfer.She is coming to Dresden at a great time and I am excited to get to know herbetter starting tomorrow. Bonus....because she is done in 1 transfer, I get tostay in Dresden for at least 12 more weeks :))))!! Other highlights ofSaturday.....a midget attacked my companions rear end. He had some mentalproblems but it was the funniest thing ever! We got hunted down by JehovahWitness missionaries, also very comical. And last but not least.....I officialgot my first hole in my shoes.
Yesterday was a fantastic Sunday as usual! Filled with many great appointmentsand the spirit of course! I also had a fantastic talk with my companion whereshe agreed she needed to get some help. It has been a really rough time withher, but I honestly feel bad for her. She isn’t happy here, and I want her tofind happiness in this amazing work. I wish her the best with her next transferand figuring out whether a mission is the best thing for her or not.
This week has been freaking amazing! So many miracles. My spiritual thought ofthe week:
If we understand the ways of the Lord, we must understand that we are Hisservants. We sustain him, it is His work. It is not our work. We must submitourselves to his will and purpose. It doesn’tmatter if its priesthood work, missionary work, or any other work in thechurch; we are to do it the way the Lord wants it done. This is the Lords plan.We think about it, we talk about it, but in reality we sometimes forget it. Letus remember we are here as servants of God to do what He wants us to do. I bearmy testimony a disciple of Jesus Christ; this is the work of our HeavenlyFather. Be more Courageous. Be more definite. Be more dependable. Be more of aservant.
-Sister Linford
Send anything for the next few months to:
Kirche Jesu Christi
Sister Linford
Wiesen Strasse 8
01277 Dresden
Germany
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Leipzig/Dresden Zone Conference - Picture
Just saw this picture on the Germany Berlin Mission Blog. She had a zone conference with Leipzig and Dresden Zones. You can see the blog post here.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Body Odor-----Yes this is from Jess
As the temperature rises here in Germany, so does the famous
European stench known as B.O. Confined areas such as buses and trains are a
special treat to your sinuses. I have two choices: take the risk of passing out
and hold my breath the entire ride, or try and endure the painful burning
sensation that fills my nasal cavity. It’s what we like to consider a win-win.
Well I really don't know where to go with this letter. In fact, I have been dreading having to write it for the first time. My mom wrote me last week and said, "If this is going to be a particularly hard week, know that we are praying extra hard for you!" Well she has never said anything like that exactly, but I remember thinking that it was going to be a great week and finding her comment odd. Well.....mothers do know best don’t they! Unfortunately, this week has been the hardest one yet, no doubt. I have a fear that my email will come across negative and I don’t want that. I will try and focus on the good that has happened this week, but I also want to be honest and will inform you all of the hardships.
Before I came on my mission, if asked what my biggest fear was, I would immediately respond with "Companions!" There was two types of companions I feared the most- first having one that was very un obedient and put me in situations that were not okay, and the second, someone who was extremely lazy and did not want to leave the apartment. Well I am happy to report that I have officially had both! haha. I have really been struggling the last month with my companion. It started weeks ago but has progressively gotten worse. I did my best to ignore and focus on myself and remain faithful and obedient. Through that I was still able to see miracles and continue to see miracles. My companion on the other hand, doesn't want to be here anymore. She became a trainer in efforts to help motivate her. Unfortunately it didn’t work and it has come to peak this past week. I will fill you in more later but I will give you the teaser of....."Do you need an emergency transfer"- My mission president
Okay so Tuesday started out very special. We had a district activity where we went to the mountain that Thomas S. Monson gave the dedicatory prayer for our mission. It is gorgeous up there with an incredible view! There are 6 elders, myself and my companion, and a pair of couple missionaries in my District. We had a Devotional and a testimony meeting on the mountain top. I was so filled with the spirit and just ready to take on the day. My companion however, felt differently and insisted that we go home. After an entire day once again stuck in our apartment, I finally cracked a little. I got really frustrated at the fact that I have been in Germany a month and don’t feel like I speak any better German than when I left the MTC. I got frustrated feeling like there was so much that I didn’t know about the mission in general that I feel I am just not getting from my trainer.
The frustration carried over to Wednesday morning and before District Meeting I asked for a blessing. Some of the things it said were, “You will experience many trials at the beginning of your mission. But it is important for you to know that god has prepared you for very specific things in your first area of Dresden. This is an area that will be a part of you for the rest of your life. There are things that have been waiting for you to arrive for. God has prepared something special for you here." Well to answer your question Alex, it happened finally, I cried. Just a little bit, but it still happened.
At district meeting they made me American cake....yay!! It was heaven in my mouth! The birthday surprises for Wednesday didn't stop there either. Right after district meeting a less active girl named Danita had a picnic for me in the park! She is so sweet! She got me a gift and brought a ton of food. Elina the girl who gets baptized this Friday also came with a gift. I honestly feel so loved by the people of Dresden. And here I am the one that is supposed to be serving them!!
Thursday, was my birthday first and foremost :), but tauches (exchanges) as well! I can’t even tell you how nervous I was for my first tausch! I am so insecure about my language ability, that I was nervous to put a burden on some poor sister When I got the call Tuesday night that I would be going to Leipzig and serving with S. Martinz, my fear managed to increase. My companion told me this was her last transfer and that she was from Austria....my first thoughts, great I won’t be able to talk to her AND I am going to ruin her last tausch. So, unlike most birthdays I woke up less than excited for the day to start. The time came for all the sisters in our Zone to meet together. We all come together in one place and then disperse to the various towns and cities. When I was informed that the Leipzig sisters train was late and that I had an additional 26 minutes, I was overjoyed. It gave me time to talk and get to know some of the other sisters better. But, way to quickly, each one of the precious 26 minutes was gone. She came up and gave me a huge hug and started speaking perfect English.....one word, relief. The next thing I knew we were on our 2hr journey. We talked the entire time. She is freaking awesome!
Right when we got to Leipzig it was straight to work....something I have been longing for! We met with some really cool investigators and even put a family on baptismal date! When we got back to the apartment, Sister Martinz had a surprise up her sleeve for my birthday. Get this....she made a little campfire out of a pineapple can and we roasted marshmallows on the deck! Let me just paint this picture for you.....Outside on the deck, perfect night, stars are out, beautiful scenery, she is playing her guitar, and I am roasting a mallow......It just doesn’t get better than that!
I only got a short time with S. Martinz but I learned so much from her. She is truly an incredible missionary. So much knowledge and so much strength. Her companions are lucky! Plus, I found out this isn’t her last transfer she has one more.....what I would give to be able to work with her before she went home!
Heavenly Father knew I needed her for tauches. He is very aware of me and Thursday he showed that in so many ways. I feel like it was a pretty good birthday present from the man upstairs!
The next day was zone conferences. It was a long 6hrs of listening to people talk but a very uplifting time! I was asked to bear my testimony in German, it went pretty well! This was also the day that my companion agreed that she needed to talk to President about all of her issues she is having. I asked her about it and she said she had. I was excited to hear what he said and also very excited to get the long awaited packages and letters! Thank you so much they are fantastic!! Well back to the story ha, on the train ride home I asked her how it went. She admitted that she didn’t really talk to president. This was not at all what I wanted to hear. That night once again, despite my protest, we ended up at home not doing anything. All I wrote in my journal on Friday was, "I am about to flip."
Well Saturday is when the flip happened. I woke up that morning and had studied really hard and prayed about where we should do finding that day. I got the impression and it was go time, or I thought it was anyway. We got to the building and I felt impressed that floor 12 was where the gold we needed to find was. I rang the first door and turned to what I thought would be my companion, but instead found nobody. I walked back towards the elevator and she was sitting on the floor. Our conversation went a little like this.... "What the crap are you doing?"-me "I'm done. I don’t want to."-companion "You are calling president right now than because I am going ape." "You know I don’t understand that kind of English." Well she called the president and told him everything. He had no idea how bad it was. He asked to talk to me and asked, "Sister Linford, this sounds awful. Do you need an emergency transfer? I know transfer calls are in a week, but it might be something that needs to happen." I assured him that I could wait a week. He insisted that we do an extra exchange for the week though, and this time a 2day exchange. The rest of the day was spent in the apartment with my companion feeling once again too overwhelmed to work. Yesterday was the same.
As frustrating as this whole thing is. I know that heavenly father is very aware of me. He knows that I am doing everything I can. He knows that I have a strong desire to work. And even though I have been beyond frustrated this last week, he is taking care of me.
I am scared for what the transfer call is going to bring this week. I am scared that I am going to have to take over Dresden as a first transfer golden and be expected to know the area for my new companion. I am scared to leave Dresden, because I love it here so much and feel like there is so much more I want to do here. I am freaking petrified that I might have to stay with my companion, even though it is highly unlikely. But in my fear I found a scripture and as always I found the answer I needed in them, "Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord they God is with thee withersoever thou goest...."´Joshua 1:9
It really made me think of Christ. Missionary work is not easy because it's not easy to obtain salvation. It was never easy for Christ. All those that want to come to know the price he paid, will have to pay a price. Christ himself even asked if the cup could pass from Him and if there was an easier way. I have found myself doing the same this week. However, I am learning to let the Atonement carry me. I know that Christ can fix our hearts and dry our tears. He is there for us, we just need to go to him.
I am excited next week to be able to update you with much more uplifting news :). I love all of you and I have felt your prayers with me especially this week. Thanks for all the love and support!!
Sister Linford
Well I really don't know where to go with this letter. In fact, I have been dreading having to write it for the first time. My mom wrote me last week and said, "If this is going to be a particularly hard week, know that we are praying extra hard for you!" Well she has never said anything like that exactly, but I remember thinking that it was going to be a great week and finding her comment odd. Well.....mothers do know best don’t they! Unfortunately, this week has been the hardest one yet, no doubt. I have a fear that my email will come across negative and I don’t want that. I will try and focus on the good that has happened this week, but I also want to be honest and will inform you all of the hardships.
Before I came on my mission, if asked what my biggest fear was, I would immediately respond with "Companions!" There was two types of companions I feared the most- first having one that was very un obedient and put me in situations that were not okay, and the second, someone who was extremely lazy and did not want to leave the apartment. Well I am happy to report that I have officially had both! haha. I have really been struggling the last month with my companion. It started weeks ago but has progressively gotten worse. I did my best to ignore and focus on myself and remain faithful and obedient. Through that I was still able to see miracles and continue to see miracles. My companion on the other hand, doesn't want to be here anymore. She became a trainer in efforts to help motivate her. Unfortunately it didn’t work and it has come to peak this past week. I will fill you in more later but I will give you the teaser of....."Do you need an emergency transfer"- My mission president
Okay so Tuesday started out very special. We had a district activity where we went to the mountain that Thomas S. Monson gave the dedicatory prayer for our mission. It is gorgeous up there with an incredible view! There are 6 elders, myself and my companion, and a pair of couple missionaries in my District. We had a Devotional and a testimony meeting on the mountain top. I was so filled with the spirit and just ready to take on the day. My companion however, felt differently and insisted that we go home. After an entire day once again stuck in our apartment, I finally cracked a little. I got really frustrated at the fact that I have been in Germany a month and don’t feel like I speak any better German than when I left the MTC. I got frustrated feeling like there was so much that I didn’t know about the mission in general that I feel I am just not getting from my trainer.
The frustration carried over to Wednesday morning and before District Meeting I asked for a blessing. Some of the things it said were, “You will experience many trials at the beginning of your mission. But it is important for you to know that god has prepared you for very specific things in your first area of Dresden. This is an area that will be a part of you for the rest of your life. There are things that have been waiting for you to arrive for. God has prepared something special for you here." Well to answer your question Alex, it happened finally, I cried. Just a little bit, but it still happened.
At district meeting they made me American cake....yay!! It was heaven in my mouth! The birthday surprises for Wednesday didn't stop there either. Right after district meeting a less active girl named Danita had a picnic for me in the park! She is so sweet! She got me a gift and brought a ton of food. Elina the girl who gets baptized this Friday also came with a gift. I honestly feel so loved by the people of Dresden. And here I am the one that is supposed to be serving them!!
Thursday, was my birthday first and foremost :), but tauches (exchanges) as well! I can’t even tell you how nervous I was for my first tausch! I am so insecure about my language ability, that I was nervous to put a burden on some poor sister When I got the call Tuesday night that I would be going to Leipzig and serving with S. Martinz, my fear managed to increase. My companion told me this was her last transfer and that she was from Austria....my first thoughts, great I won’t be able to talk to her AND I am going to ruin her last tausch. So, unlike most birthdays I woke up less than excited for the day to start. The time came for all the sisters in our Zone to meet together. We all come together in one place and then disperse to the various towns and cities. When I was informed that the Leipzig sisters train was late and that I had an additional 26 minutes, I was overjoyed. It gave me time to talk and get to know some of the other sisters better. But, way to quickly, each one of the precious 26 minutes was gone. She came up and gave me a huge hug and started speaking perfect English.....one word, relief. The next thing I knew we were on our 2hr journey. We talked the entire time. She is freaking awesome!
Right when we got to Leipzig it was straight to work....something I have been longing for! We met with some really cool investigators and even put a family on baptismal date! When we got back to the apartment, Sister Martinz had a surprise up her sleeve for my birthday. Get this....she made a little campfire out of a pineapple can and we roasted marshmallows on the deck! Let me just paint this picture for you.....Outside on the deck, perfect night, stars are out, beautiful scenery, she is playing her guitar, and I am roasting a mallow......It just doesn’t get better than that!
I only got a short time with S. Martinz but I learned so much from her. She is truly an incredible missionary. So much knowledge and so much strength. Her companions are lucky! Plus, I found out this isn’t her last transfer she has one more.....what I would give to be able to work with her before she went home!
Heavenly Father knew I needed her for tauches. He is very aware of me and Thursday he showed that in so many ways. I feel like it was a pretty good birthday present from the man upstairs!
The next day was zone conferences. It was a long 6hrs of listening to people talk but a very uplifting time! I was asked to bear my testimony in German, it went pretty well! This was also the day that my companion agreed that she needed to talk to President about all of her issues she is having. I asked her about it and she said she had. I was excited to hear what he said and also very excited to get the long awaited packages and letters! Thank you so much they are fantastic!! Well back to the story ha, on the train ride home I asked her how it went. She admitted that she didn’t really talk to president. This was not at all what I wanted to hear. That night once again, despite my protest, we ended up at home not doing anything. All I wrote in my journal on Friday was, "I am about to flip."
Well Saturday is when the flip happened. I woke up that morning and had studied really hard and prayed about where we should do finding that day. I got the impression and it was go time, or I thought it was anyway. We got to the building and I felt impressed that floor 12 was where the gold we needed to find was. I rang the first door and turned to what I thought would be my companion, but instead found nobody. I walked back towards the elevator and she was sitting on the floor. Our conversation went a little like this.... "What the crap are you doing?"-me "I'm done. I don’t want to."-companion "You are calling president right now than because I am going ape." "You know I don’t understand that kind of English." Well she called the president and told him everything. He had no idea how bad it was. He asked to talk to me and asked, "Sister Linford, this sounds awful. Do you need an emergency transfer? I know transfer calls are in a week, but it might be something that needs to happen." I assured him that I could wait a week. He insisted that we do an extra exchange for the week though, and this time a 2day exchange. The rest of the day was spent in the apartment with my companion feeling once again too overwhelmed to work. Yesterday was the same.
As frustrating as this whole thing is. I know that heavenly father is very aware of me. He knows that I am doing everything I can. He knows that I have a strong desire to work. And even though I have been beyond frustrated this last week, he is taking care of me.
I am scared for what the transfer call is going to bring this week. I am scared that I am going to have to take over Dresden as a first transfer golden and be expected to know the area for my new companion. I am scared to leave Dresden, because I love it here so much and feel like there is so much more I want to do here. I am freaking petrified that I might have to stay with my companion, even though it is highly unlikely. But in my fear I found a scripture and as always I found the answer I needed in them, "Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord they God is with thee withersoever thou goest...."´Joshua 1:9
It really made me think of Christ. Missionary work is not easy because it's not easy to obtain salvation. It was never easy for Christ. All those that want to come to know the price he paid, will have to pay a price. Christ himself even asked if the cup could pass from Him and if there was an easier way. I have found myself doing the same this week. However, I am learning to let the Atonement carry me. I know that Christ can fix our hearts and dry our tears. He is there for us, we just need to go to him.
I am excited next week to be able to update you with much more uplifting news :). I love all of you and I have felt your prayers with me especially this week. Thanks for all the love and support!!
Sister Linford
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Happy Birthday!!
Today is Sister Linford's Birthday! Happy Birthday!! We love and miss you lots!! You are doing a fabulous job and we are so proud of you. Wish we could celebrate with you. Keep up the great work!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)