Let it Snow!!!

IT'S SNOWING!!! It's kind of funny because I Skyped my parents on Christmas and told them that we hadn't gotten much in the way of snow here and that it was just bitter cold, but that night it was like the weather angels dumped a bucket of it on us. It really hasn't stopped since then and man, it is cold. You would not believe our walk to get to the tram this morning. It was snowing in our faces. It was actually quite funny, but all I'm saying is, thank goodness for fleece lined tights. Those things are genius. 

Anyways, how was everyones Christmas?? I must say, mine was pretty fabulous. For one reason or another, they take three days to celebrate Christmas in Germany, so basically, we had no idea what to do with our time this week that would be a good use of it. People don't really do teaching appointments when they are with their families celebrating the holidays SO we sandwiched our Christmas between service projects. On the 23rd we went up to Inglostadt and helped the branch there make packages for homeless people. There was food, hats, gloves, tooth brushes, tooth paste, and some other goodies in all of the packages. Then on the 27th, after Christmas we cleaned the church here in Augsburg. The person on the calender to do it this week, was one older lady, so we helped her out and did it together. It was a really good time. I can't think of a better way to have spent my Christmas week on my mission. 

But in terms of the actual holidays, I'm pretty sure I'm going to explode any day now because all we did for those three days was go to members' homes and eat. On Christmas eve we went to a Macedonian family's home and ate some really good Macedonian food. I really can't describe what it was, but it was delicious. In addition to eating, we sang some Christmas songs and I got to play the violin (because they just happened to have one). Basically, a lot of my music ability is gone, which was pretty depressing, but I can still read music (you kind of have to try to forget how to do that one) so I played a bunch of hymns and one of the Elders accompanied me on the keyboard and we jammed...as much as a missionary can. 

The following day was Christmas and in the morning, Sister Baker and I listened to my favorite Christmas CD (Sing Choirs of Angels by MoTab) and opened our presents from home. Basically my parents are awesome. We got supplies for making chocolate chip cookies and have already made a batch. It made my day because I love chocolate chip cookies and they just don't have the stuff to make them with here, so I have an awesome family who knows me well :) We went to brunch at one family's home on Christmas. We played all sorts of card games and even did soft archery (which is legal for missionaries to do because it it a suction cup, not an actual arrow) and then after that we went to Markus and Alexa's home for Christmas dinner and to Skype our families. Markus and Alexa got baptized in September and are just super great. We Skyped our families at their home which was really nice of them. Seeing my parents was great. I just love my family a lot. It was really great to talk to them and hear their voices. My sisters and their husbands were even conferenced into the call, so I got to talk to them too. A lot of people talk about getting homesick after talking to their family, but I kind of just got even more excited about being here. Of course I love my family and miss them, but this is the time for me to be here doing this and I know that when the time is up, my family will be there pick me up at the airport, but until then, I'm going to enjoy this awesome adventure ahead. That's just how it is.

On the 26th, we had one last eating appointment for Christmas in a little village literally in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, when the train stopped, there wasn't even a platform. We just stepped onto dirt. We ate more food and had a good time. We played some Uno, and then went home and died. Basically, I never want to eat again...but alas, this week is New Years, so we have three more appointments to go. I just need to give my stomach a pep talk or something. I can do this.

But anyways, that was my Christmas. It was really great. People are just so kind. Being a missionary continues to be the bomb diggidy. I hope you all have a great week. Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: The snow today, fake archery, and me sitting at the table on Christmas right after I skyped my parents

Frohe Weihnachten!

Tis the season everyone! This is it. Christmas is actually this week and I can't believe it! The members in this ward are amazing and made sure that we were taken care of for the 24-26 of December. Basically, all we are going to be doing for those three days is eat. That's ok with me though because these people really know how to cook up some really lecker specialties. It's kind of weird being a missionary on Christmas. I keep trying to decide how I feel about it and I'm still not entirely sure. Yesterday at church a lady in our ward talked to me about how sad it must be to be so far from home on Christmas and all of this stuff, but when I walked away from that conversation I decided that this year, there is really no other place I would rather be. Yes, I love my family and miss them and easily think about them everyday, but there is just something about this work that sucks you in like a magnet. I just know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now.

Oh! and speaking of places I'm supposed to be, I had a really nice conversation on the tram this morning on my way over here to do these emails. I sat across from an old-ish man and I just got into a good conversation with him. He was actually Italian and spoke really good German (which is good because then I didn't have to try my 8 weeks of BYU Italian on him) and he just told me what he believed, so I got to tell him what I believe. It wasn't a very long tram ride, but I got to give him a Christmas pass-along card, so it was a good start to the p-day. 

Oh! And another thing! Katherina came to church yesterday!!! She is an investigator who we have been working with for about a month. She walked right in and all of the sisters who we have had be joint teaches at our lessons were awesome. They scooped her right up and explained how everything worked. I basically wanted to cry when she walked through the doors because we have been waiting for her to come to church since we met her. I think all went well. She had a positive experience and was all smiles the whole time, so I couldn't ask for much more. 

It's kind of interesting. I came up with this thing in my head last night, but anyone who knows me knows that I really like flowers. I think they are evidence that there must be a God because they are just so beautiful. Over the summer, I really like working in our yard, ask my parents. My favorites are dahlias. If you don't know what they are, google them or something, but they are just so pretty. And at the beginning of every summer, my mom and I hit up Lowe's were we get the plants. We put them in the dirt, and then throughout the rest of the summer we take care of those plants pretty diligently. I usually do about three dahlia's a year. Well every day after they are planted, I like to go out in the morning and water them and make sure they are doing ok. Sometimes they get enough sun, and sometimes it is too much. If you water them too late in the day, the afternoon sun will burn them and if you miss a day or two of watering them, they get weaker. You can still keep them alive, it is just harder. After a while though, they really flourish. There are more dahlias and they are just so pretty. I think about that and I think about the people I work with here. Right now, I am a crew member of the Ship SS Augsburg. I'm trying to care for and help all of the passengers on this ship so that they can have the smoothest possible sailing experience. Sometimes, it's really hard and I just want to do something else, but then something happens like Katherina coming to church and I see how important it is to keep doing this. I love doing this so much. It's flying right by and I'm trying to treasure every bit of it because one day, I won't be doing it anymore. I love being a missionary here doing this work!

But anyways on another note, we had exchanges this week and guess who came to Augsburg with me for a day? SISTER MEHR! It was fun to be reunited a little bit. She's awesome. And then on Monday last week, I took Sister Baker to one of the big Cathedrals in Augsburg. It's called Dom and is really pretty, but yeah, that's my life in a nutshell lately. I hope you all have a great Christmas and make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: The cathedral, Sister Mehr and I together, and Sister Baker and I, last p-day

#DasGeschenkWeiterGeben

Hi Everyone! How's it going? Things in Germany are pretty darn good. We had our Christmas Conference this past wednesday AND IT WAS SO GREAT! It was my zone (Munich Zone) combined with Stuttgart Zone which is just loads of fun because I ran into lots of friends from former districts and areas. Some ward members made us a delicious meal of ham, potatoes, and sauerkraut. It was really delicious and I probably gulped down more than I should have, but it was so good. People over here really know what they are doing with potatoes. Anyways, we also had a gift exchange. We all had to bring a small gift and before we started eating we did this switch-aroo thing where we passed them all around in crazy directions. I ended up with a German Christmas CD and some little LED lights. It was fun. AND as a Christmas present, President Kohler did not hold back. He has lots of connections and so...drum roll please... we got to watch Meet the Mormons. We were all freaking out. It was really good. It just kind of explains that while we are "Mormons" we are normal people with jobs and families. I will admit though, it was SO American. It was really funny. Everyone kept pointing out thing things about it that were "so American" while we were watching it. It was really good though. I wish it was translated into German so we could show it to people here. 

But, as part of the more spiritual side of our conference, President talked to us about the Church's Christmas Initiative. If you haven't seen or heard of it yet, check out mormon.org because it is so cool. Quite honestly, I don't know what it would be in English, but there is a video online about why we really celebrate Christmas. The Church even made special Christmas pass-along cards for us to use. The theme is Er ist Das Geschenk or He is the gift. We are just trying to talk to literally as many people as possible about Jesus Christ and share with them why we celebrate Christmas. We have already had so many cool experiences with this Christmas initiative. 

On Friday actually we had a painter in our apartment, because our landlord felt that the wall needed to be painted. So, while he was at the wall painting, I sat down in a nearby chair and just started talking to him. It wasn't anything too intense, but I then asked him if he was excited about Christmas. He said no. I asked him why and he said that it is because Christmas is all about money and he just thought it was pointless. I asked him if he believed in Jesus and he chuckled a bit and then said no, and then I asked why not. He said Christ just can't be real because it is too amazing. At that point it did kind of hit me how depressing Christmas would be if there was not a birth of the Son of God to celebrate. It would be totally commercial without Christ. Well anyways, I didn't really push anything on him, but looking around our apartment and seeing my tag, he could tell I was a missionary for some sort of religion, so he asked me what I believe. This was probably one of the coolest moments of my mission. I just got to tell this man what I believed about Christ and the Book of Mormon and why I celebrate Christmas. He was very sincere about everything, so I gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to watch the Er is das Geschenk video and he said he would and I really feel like he did. I didn't get any of his contact information or make an appointment with him or anything, but I got to talk to him about our Savior Jesus Christ and why he means so much to me. It is moments like those that just make a mission so worthwhile.

On Saturday we had our ward Christmas party and this ward has a tradition where they go into the forest with lanterns for a little bit and sing songs and read Christmas poems. The missionaries were asked to sing the first Noel in English (because we can do that). So we did and I think it went ok considering one of the Elders is tone deaf, but it was a fun time. I really like talking to the young women in this ward. They are great. It was just a really good time to get to know the ward better.

But yeah, that is my week in a nutshell. Things in Augsburg are good. I'm glad that I get to be here doing this. It's a privilige actually and I don't think I could take this time of my life for granted if I tried. I hope you all have a good week and make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: Us wondering what the heck we think we are doing going out into the pitch black at 5:00 in the evening, me and some of the young women at the ward christmas party, and just a random shot at the party (Sister Baker is a goofball)

It's a Girl!

Hi Everyone! Well transfers happened and I said goodbye to Sister Mehr which is always sad, but I went to the Munich train station and picked up my very own brand new golden missionary! Her name is Sister Baker. She is from Teton Idaho (I guess it is close to Rexburg) and her mission is her first experience leaving the States. She is such a beast. So far, she has handled everything like a champ. She beasted her first Sunday, and her first eating appointment, and we had a lesson with a less active family with the Elders on Saturday which went a little crazy, but she just rolled with it which is a really good trait to have as a missionary. She never learned German before she came on her mission, so I'm trying to help her with it because it is really frustrating when you can't communicate with people. Normally, the rule is that you speak German whenever you aren't in the apartment and English or your native tongue when you are inside the apartment. She got here and asked to speak German all the time. I don't really mind because it's good practice for me, but of course, I'm not mean so we switch into English if something needs to be explained. It hasn't even been a week, but I already feel like I am learning so much from her. It is going to be a growing experience for both of us I think.

All in all, the week has been good though. On Friday we hosted a movie night in the attic of our ward building because it's perfect for that kind of thing. The movie was the Polar Express. Obviously, we the missionaries did not watch it, but we invited all of the ward members, their friends, our investigators, and basically anyone we saw on the streets. The turn out was pretty good. We got an appointment out of it with a family who is investigating the Church, so that makes it worth while. We made lots of popcorn that night and decorated the attic with loads of snow flakes that the Elders cut out. It was quite magical. 

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to take Sister Baker street contacting for her first time. It was just about 30 minutes because we had an awkward gap of time between appointments, but it was really cool. Sister Baker wants to share this gospel so bad, I can tell. I really love that about her. I love the desire that she has to really bring others unto Christ. We are going to channel that desire and really make things happen. This is the Christmas transfer. Miracles happen during the Christmas transfer. 

Oh! And speaking of Christmas, I didn't even tell you yet what our p-day was like last week. Sister Mehr and I demolished the Christmas market in Augsburg. Needless to say, it is beautiful. The Elders and a ward member joined us as we walked around to all of the stands and looked at all of the pretty things. The Elders made fun of us though because we were actually shopping. Why else would you go to a Christmas market? It was fun. We all got some things and some really good food. There is one stand where you can get everything imaginable for a nativity set. There are little buckets with baby Jesus in just about any size. We laughed at that one a bit. It was really fun though. I am just so blessed to be serving in this part of the world. 

I am taking Sister Baker to the market today :) This week we have a couple of exciting things coming up. On Wednesday we have the Christmas Conference for our zone. President is basically traveling all around the mission and doing this conference for all of the zones. I'm really excited though. I don't know what exactly we are doing, but Christmas is in the title, so it must be great. On Saturday, we have the ward Christmas party, and the missionaries were asked to sing The First Noel. I don't even remember the last time I sang a hymn in English, so we'll have to work that out. It should be fun though. I'm excited. We have been inviting people to that like crazy. 

But yeah, that's what my life is like these days. I hope you are all doing well and making good choices.

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: Sister Baker and I with our tiny little Christmas tree, Sister Mehr and I on transfer day after getting her suitcases onto the bahn with some miracle, and Sister Mehr and I at the Christmas market last week

TRANSFERS!! I'm Being Trusted with a Golden...

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a great week. We got transfer calls this past Saturday and I get to stay in Augsburg. Why? BECAUSE I'M TRAINING A BRAND NEW MISSIONARY FRESH FROM THE MTC. Sister Mehr is going to Munich which is really funny because she is going to be my Sister training leader which means we are going to go on exchanges. We are pretty pumped for that because then we are only kind of split up and I will see her again on the 10th for the Christmas conference. 
Transfers are just always crazy. We were dying on Saturday morning when we were waiting for the call. There just aren't enough Sisters coming into this mission, so they have been closing down Sister areas like crazy and Sister Mehr and I were scared that we were going to be closed, but lo and behold, we are getting a little baby missionary here and I'm going to have to act like I know what I'm doing. I'm pretty nervous to train for real this time. Technically I've trained before, but I've either done it in a drit or have come in half way through the training program, so this time I'll actually be starting from scratch. I'm going to the Munich train station on Thursday, say goodbye to Sister Mehr and then look for my golden. It's going to be an adventure for sure. Stay tuned to see what happens!

Anyways, we had a good week in addition to our transfer call. On Monday we were wandering around in the main square of Augsburg waiting for the Christmas Market to open and we found out that in a few minutes they would be having the opening ceremony for the Christmas Market, so we stayed and watched. There was a stage set up, the Mayor gave a speach, a local choir and brass band played some songs, and then in the Rathaus there was this thing where ladies dressed up as angels came out of the windows and did a little performance thing. Then the Mayor's voice came on and he said "Der Weihnachtsmarkt is öffnen!" and at that moment all of the lights came on in the town and all of the little stands opened their windows. It was pretty magical. It belonged in a Christmas movie for sure. Sister Mehr and I roamed around, got some bratwurst and kinderpunsch and my first purchase was a really cute Santa ornament. It is just so beautiful. I can't believe I get to serve in this part of the world. Sister Mehr and I are going back today for her last p-day in Augsburg and we are going to tear it up. 

On a different note, we had a really good lesson with our new investigator this week on the Plan of Salvation. It went so well. We talked to her for a bit and asked how reading in the Book of Mormon has been going and she said she prayed about it and just felt good. I couldn't possibly ask for anything more. Moments like that just make you so happy to be doing this work. I feel so priviliged to be doing this. Sometimes, the German is tough, and running around to catch trains and busses is exhausting, but when things like that happen, you just love everything about being a missionary.

On Wednesday we had a member to visit. They told us to come by, so we made some brownies and prepared a spiritual thought and found the train station where we needed to get off. Well, we got to the right train station, hopped off, held up our map and literally all we saw was fields. It was pretty comical actually. Sister Mehr and I just gave each other the kind of look where you say "What on earth do we do now?" Well, after a great deal of searching, we found a street sign that led us into the right direction and after only an hour and a half of walking, we found the address...And the member wasn't home when they said they would be. So we left the brownies, wrote a nice note and began our journey back to the little train station in the middle of nowhere. That's basically my life right now and it's just funny. We do waht we can and that's all we can do :)

Oh and guess what!? We actually did get to celebrate Thanksgiving!!!! Turns out, a member in my ward is half American and her American father happened to be in town the week of Thanksgiving, so she invited all four of us missionaries over and we had a German version of Thanksgiving. Instead of potatoes we had knödel and instead of cranberries we had purple cabbage. It was really good. It was so nice of them to think of us and invite us over. We had a good time and shared a killer spiritual thought about gratitude.

So overall, I'm not gonna lie, life as a missionary isn't the easiest thing I've ever done. I think about what I was doing before my mission and that was just peaches and cream, but my goodness, there is just something about this work that makes you excited to wake up in the morning and exercise even though it is pitch black outside and you know you'll be walking forever. It is just amazing.

I hope you all have a good week and make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: Us and Sonja at the Christmas market, what the market looks like from above, I was an idiot and burned my finger on the stove so I spent the evening with it in a cup of cold water. Sister Mehr laughed at me...

Seriously, When is Thanksgiving?

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all having a good week and doing good things. I'm doing pretty well. Sister Mehr and I had a good week in Augsburg. Last Monday we went on one of the most killer p-day adventures of my mission. We went to Neuschwanstein which is the giant castle that the Disney princess castle is based off of. It's in my district and we all hopped on a train and went over and IT WAS SO COOL!!! It was really weird being among tourists and hearing people around us speak English, but it was just so amazing. We hiked up to the castle, walked around the courtyard and saw some stuff, and then went over to this bridge that has a super pretty view of the castle and ate lunch. Lots of pictures were snapped and we stopped at a gift shop and everyone got their souvenirs. I got an edelweiss necklace. It was just so much fun and I feel SO blessed to be serving in this part of the world. 

On Tuesday we went to Munich again. We had training with President Kohler and interviews. It was a really good day. We got to see the Munich Sisters which is always fun. Sisters are few and far between in this mission, so when you see another set of sisters, you enjoy the time with them while you can. During the training with President, there was a part where we could ask him anything we wanted. Sister Mehr and I were wondering when Thanksgiving is, because seriously, we have no idea. I think it's this week, so we are going to be eating chicken for dinner in our apartment. We'll probable wear brown and orange or something and make some hand turkeys. We'll have to see. 

Training was really good though. President wants us to vamp up or finding skills and try dooring differently than we already do. Well, Sister Mehr and I did what he said. We tried dooring a little differently than holding out the Book of Mormon. We used pamphlets and family search and basically any Church resource we could think of, but gosh people can be mean. You would not believe some of the rejections we got. You would think we are trying to come into your house to brain wash you and feed you to zombies or something. Geez. We've come to the point where we are successful if people give us a nice rejection. Quite honestly, it's not my favorite thing in the world, but we are missionaries and we do it and there are promised blessings, so I'm going to keep going.

Anyways, this week we were the activity for the young men in our ward. They made dinner for us and the Elders. They told us to come to Church at 6:30, so we did and they pulled out the Foosball table and told us to play while we waited for the food. We were obedient, so we did what we were told, and I hate to brag, but I crushed everyone. Apparently, I've got game. It was fun, but yeah, so the food came out and it was delicious and we got to hang with the young men in the Ward. That was pretty fun. It was super nice of them to think of us for their activity and give us some delicious schnitzel. 

Last week we got a new investigator, and this week we went over to teach her about the Restoration. Sister Mehr and I role played it like crazy because we really just wanted it to go well and for the Spirit to be able to be there. We had a joint teach there and my goodness, it went really smoothly. She was happy to see us when we got there, she had already been reading in the Book of Mormon and was just excited to learn more. We taught the lesson and it was probably one of the most powerful lessons I've had on my mission so far. Everyday I am more and more impressed with how far Sister Mehr's German is coming, but in that situation, she was able to say everything she wanted and I know that is is because the Holy Ghost was there helping her. It was a really cool experience. I am just so fortunate to be able to be a part of moments like that. Being a missionary really is the coolest thing. Yes, you do have moments where people tell you to get out and don't like you the second they meet you, but then you have the moments where the Spirit is there bearing witness to those that need it, and it is moments like that that make a mission so worth it. I just love being here so much.

On a different note, more than half of our light bulbs went out this week and our shower head snapped in half. Don't ask me how, but it just did. So we were living in a dark apartment and essentially hosing ourselves off in the morning. Well, we called the senior couple responsible for our apartment, and they told us we could go to a hardware store and get light bulbs and a shower head. Sister Mehr and I went to the German version of Home Depot and did some home improvement. It was pretty fun. I can tell you all about watts and stuff now. We got what we needed and now are apartment is lovely. We can see and everything. It was one of those moments where you're just kind of proud of yourself :)

Anyways, I hope you all have a great week. Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: us at Neuschwanstein, and selecting a shower head at Bauhaus

Miracles and Stake Conference

Hi Everyone! What a week! It was really something, so I guess I'll start with zone training. We had zone training on Tuesday and it was super cool. We talked about how to really use pamphlets when teaching. The Church has these awesome pamphlets that we can use when we teach and it just helps to make things really clear when we are teaching, so we had a whole shindig about how to use them to the fullest. As a part of that we had to do role plays practicing using the pamphlets and I got put with one of the AP's (Assistant to the President) AND IT WAS SO SCARY. This is probably bad, but in my mind, AP's do everything right. We sat down and I did my role play with some wrong German grammar and mess ups here and there, and then he did his role play and basically, he crushed it. It was actually kind of funny, but also super intimidating. The thing is though, I learned a lot. I understood it a lot better after seeing how he would do it, but just wait. This ties into something that happened later in the week, so stay tuned.

On the same day, Sister Mehr and I got a referral from Salt Lake in the mail which is pretty exciting because we have been working really hard with the ward and on our own to get a new investigator. Seriously, we have been praying and doing everything we could to find someone to add to our teaching pool and we freaked out when we got this refurral. It was a tender mercy for sure. WELL we went to contact this referral (because the phone number didn't work), so we pulled out all of our maps and train schedules and figured out how to get to the address, (that is honestly half the battle). We got to the right train station and walked a bunch and GOT THERE!! She knew who we were as soon as we came to the door. She invited us in and wanted to learn about the Book of Mormon and what we believe. She went to the mormon.org website and liked what she saw so she just wants to learn more. Well, in that moment, I remembered that I had the Restoration pamphlet in my bag from when we practiced at zone training and we totally got to do the whole role play! It was awesome! It just went really well and we have another appointment this week! When we were walking back to the train station, Sister Mehr and I called our Zone Leaders and freaked out to them about how we got to use the role play. It was a party over the phone. Actually, it was a miracle. There is always someone out there who wants to learn more about the gospel.

Well anywho, we also had Stake Conference this week or Pfahl Konferenz. It meant that we had to go to Munich AGAIN, but that's ok because Stake Conference is cool. There was a meeting on Saturday night that we went to. It ended at seven and with trains and stuff we didn't get home until about 10 p.m. which is not ideal, but it happens. At the Saturday conference though, they talked A LOT about missionary work. There is a solid handfull of missionaries from the Munich Stake who are out, and they had them all write letters to the Stake about missionary work and then read them over the pulpit. That was pretty cool. The next day (Sunday) a couple in our ward drove Sister Mehr and I to Conference which was really nice of them. They picked us up and started driving and asked what our rules were on music. We gave them the white handbook spiel and explained that it should be uplifting, invite the spirit, no romantic undertones etc. They said "perfect! we have a really good song to listen to!" and started blasting "Eye of the Tiger". It was actually hilarious. Sister Mehr and I were just sitting in the back seat looking at each other trying not to laugh, because yes, it is a pretty uplifting song, but it is not exactly something we would have playing in our apartment when we are getting ready in the morning. 

Well anyways, we got to Conference and walked in and just started talking to people like crazy. We talked to people in our Ward and people not in our Ward and just talked and talked and talked. For a second, I looked up on the stand and noticed our Mission President (President Kohler) sitting on the stand with his wife (as he was speaking) watching us all like a hawk. It is a really good thing Sister Mehr and I were talking to people, because whether we know it or not, we are being watched all the time. Moral of the story, be the best missionary you can be all the time. It was a really good Conference though. The youth sang, and I thought back to the time in my life when I participated in youth choirs like that. It is so weird to be where I am now, and look at the young women and know that I was there not that long ago. It's just crazy.

But yeah, that's my life in a nutshell. Some of you may or may not be noticing that I am writing pretty early today. That is because we are going on a p-day adventure to Neushwanstein! It's the castle that inspired Cinderella's caslte at Disney World. I'm pumped. I'm wearing pants. It doesn't get much better than that! I hope you all have a great week and make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: Cake at a cafe, me doing some mapping before heading out to an address, and a simple yet charming picture of Sister Mehr and I.

Exchanges, Ward Council, and Scripture Mastery!

HI everyone! So I would say Sister Mehr and I had a pretty good week. Last Monday we had a pretty chill p-day. We went into the city and ran some errands and then ate pizza at this family run place that is pretty well-known in Augsburg. It's called Il Dragone and was really good. Sister Mehr and I tend to take a lot of pictures with food because this mission is such a culinary experience. Well anyways, we also went to Sonja's store to go visit her. I call is a makeup castle, but to others, it is a cosmetics boutique. We were trying out moisturizers and she started asking us about the kind of husbands we were looking for. It caught Sister Mehr and I off guard because her questions are usually about Jesus and prophets and things like that. So our first response was the joking Sister missionary response that we are not looking for husbands right now because we are missionaries, so we just tell awkward dating stories when we are bored, but we started to talk to her about it even more and we realized her real concern. It was an interesting one to me: are we going to love a man for his money? She just wanted to know our thoughts on this. Do we want to be really rich in temporal things when we are all grown up and stuff, or are we ok with living a humble life, and what is the church's stance on that. I wanted to tell her exactly the right thing in that moment, and at first, I just racked my brain a bit, but then it just came: Jacob 2:18-19. Before you seek for riches, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and after ye have obtained a hope in Christ, ye shall obtain riches if ye seek them and ye shall seek them for the intent to do good. That was my pathetic translation from German, but her face lit up when we said that because it made perfect sense to her. It was just really cool. The scriptures can answer basically any question. So after we said that, Sonja pointed at us and said we could marry brain surgeons or something that makes loads of money, but it's still ok as long as we seek the Kingdom of God first. That was exactly it. It was just such a cool moment where you can see the lightbulb go on. 

On Tuesday this week, we had Gemeinderat or ward council and quite honestly, it scares me to death every time. Germans tend to get worked up about things, so there are a lot of opinions that get thrown around the room, and the goal is to not get stuck in the middle of it. Well, the Sister Mehr and I and the Elders were getting pumped up before we went in and gave ourselves a little pep talk. It was kind of funny actually, because we were all legitimately nervous. Well, we went in, and IT WENT GREAT!! We did our bit and got a lot of head nods and smiles and then moved on. I think you could hear all four of us sigh with relief once we got passed our part. It was just a good moment. Ward council is really something. 

On Wednesday and Thursday I went on austausch (exchanges) with the Munich Sisters. I was in Munich and Sister Mehr stayed here. The fun thing is that I got to go with Sister Motto who was in my zone in Stuttgart and she was the first Sister I went on exchanges with on my mission. She is awesome. We are the same height and everything, so it's always a good time. Well anyways, the first day of the tausch went well and everything was fun, but then the next day we headed out to go to an appointment and when we got to the train station, we learned that the Deutsch Bahn system was on strike AGAIN. So all appointments had to be cancelled and we had to figure out how we were going to switch back. We went to the church and looked up train times to see if there was anything at all going to and from Augsburg and there was one train in the evening. Needless to say, I was in Munich for much longer than I expected, but Sister Motto and I had a good time. 

Yesterday was November 9th, and for you history buffs out there, you already know that on that day in 1989, the wall came down in Berlin. Let me tell you, November 9th is a really interesting day to be in Germany. We had an eating appointment with a member who lived on the east side of Berlin before the wall came down and gosh her life was interesting. She told us the differences she noticed when the wall came down, and how her life changed. There is just such an interesting history here. The people have really experienced some crazy things. 

But anywho, my life is going pretty well. I hope you are all doing well. Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: The first one is our pizza date last Monday, the second one is Sister Motto and I at the München train station, and the last one is what it looks like when Sister Mehr and I do emails every week.

And It's Official!

Hi Everyone! So Sonja got confirmed yesterday and it went really smoothly, so we couldn't have asked for anything better. It's kind of funny actually, Sister Mehr and I were freaking out before church because we hadn't had any contact with Sonja since Wednesday, and that is so not ideal AT ALL so we were really worried. We were thinking she wouldn't be at church and that we would be failiures because she wouldn't be at church the week after she got baptized. Basically, we took the walk of shame to Relief Society (we have Relief Society and then Sunday School and then Sacrament here) and we walked through the doors, and there she was. Sonja was just sitting in Relief Society chatting it up with other ladies before it started. Basically, Sister Mehr and I realized we have no faith. She got to Relief Society BEFORE US. It was kind of funny because we were freaking out for nothing. Sonja has a testimony and we should not have thought the worst and expected her to go inactive the week after her baptism. We learned our lesson there. 

OH, and I hope everyone had a good Halloween this year! Sister Mehr and I wore orange and black, and for companionship study, we found the most Halloweeny song in the hymn book we could sing: All Creatures of Our God and King. That was the best we could do. Halloween is kind of a thing here, but it is nothing like my street in Libertyville on Halloween. It is flooded with kids every year. No one came trick or treating at our aparment or anything...not that we would know, because we were't home, but this young married couple in our ward invited us over for Halloween Dinner. They are the cutest people in the world. They have this tiny apartment, and she loves Pinterest, so it's totally a Pinterest apartment, and there were Halloween cupcakes and chilly, and rolls, and ginger ale, and pudding with gummy worms in it. It was so much fun. That was our halloween in a nutshell. Simple, but still fun. We'll see what Thanksgiving is like in Germany...

On Tuesday, transfers happened. Sister Mehr and I got to stay here in Augsburg, but my trainer went home this transfer which is just depressing because she is awseome, but she served a solid 18 months, so I guess America is worthy of having her now and she can keep helping the people there. We also said Tchüss to our District Leader. He got transfered to Wiener Neustadt (where I used to be), and left bright and early in the morning. We all went to the main train station in Augsburg to say goodbye and off he went. It's always a bit depressing when one of the crew ships out, but we welcomed in a new member, Elder Parkinson. He was just working in the Stuttgart zone (my first zone) and is our new District Leader. I have already been given his pants to hem up for him and Sister Mehr and I were volunteered to make lunch for district meeting. There seems to be this misconception that because we are Sisters, we must be domestic goddesses. It's really interesting, but oh well. We have made it work, because we can't afford to make a big meal like that every week, so we have the Elders pay a few euros and when they want pants hemmed up, they need to give me the thread, because I only have so much. It works just fine. I don't mind helping them out, but sometimes all I think in my head is "Elders, why did that sound like a good idea?" It's ok though, we are all learning. 

Last night we went to a family's house for dinner and Family Home Evening. We had cheese fondu and it was SO good. It was as legit as fondu gets. We dipped just about everything we could think of into the giant pot of melted cheese. Sister Mehr and I taught the Family Home Evening lesson. We talked about Captain Moroni and that Title of Liberty and had everyone made their own banners of what they stand for. It was fun and went over well. The family has three kids: a 13 year old daughter, a 12 year old son, and a 5 year old son. They are just really cool.

Something I am realizing more and more on my mission is just how badly I need the atonement. I make mistakes all the time, and there are always things that I wish I could do better, but if there was no atonement, I would probably go into a state of depression or something knowing that I mess up so much. It's not that I'm a walking talking disaster, but I'm human, so stuff happens, but you can ALWAYS turn to your Father in Heaven and ask for forgiveness. When you do that, He really will shove those mistakes behind you. He helps pick you up, and dust you off so you can keep going. I wish more people were aware of that because it is amazing. It's one of the many things that motivates me to do this work every day. We can get past the tough spots. It's just so cool. 

But anyways, life in Augsburg is great. Sister Mehr is still awesome. We laugh so much. I think you can't go through your mission being serious all the time because then it just wouldn't be a positive experience. The truth is, Sister Mehr and I really have no idea what we are doing, but we are trying our best and we keep a smile on our face along the way. It's one big soul saving party...or something like that :) Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well and making good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Picture: Us sending Elder Jensen off at the train station.

SHE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!

IT HAPPENED!!! SONJA GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!! It was so amazing. Honestly, it was probably one of the most insane Sundays of my life because we were also working really hard to get a less active member to church and making sure she had a good experience and helping advertise for this ward movie night that is going on this week. It was pretty cray. Sister Mehr and I were running around the building all day trying to make sure things were going the way we wanted them to. And for some reason, the world seems to think that because I am a missionary, I must be an expert and organizing baptisms. I just act like I know what I'm doing, I don't actually know what's going on, BUT somehow everything worked out. It was amazing. Ward members were really great and helpful with things and Sonja was all smiles the whole day. Sister Mehr and I got to be the ones standing at the side of the font holding a towel for Sonja when she came out of the water. It was a really great moment. Elder Jensen performed the baptism and he did a great job. Overall, I think it went pretty well. Sonja is great because she told us yesterday at the end of the baptism how the temple is really something she is going to work towards now. I couldn't ask for anything else. Now, we are just going to keep working with her and the ward to keep her on that track and help her accomplish the goal of going to the temple. It just went really well, and now, I know how to turn on the water heater on the ward building here. I guess that's a handy skill. When it was all over and everyone left, Sister Mehr and I just died a little bit. We broke open a bar of chocolate to celebrate. 

Needless to say, it was a pretty intense day, but there was one point where a member just approached me and asked, "is there anything I can do for you? What do you need?" I wanted to sit down and start crying when she asked that. You have no idea how much it means to a missionary to have a ward member just ask how you are doing and if you need anything. Seriously, if you ever want to make a missionary's day, approach them, introduce yourself, ask them how they are doing and if they need anything. It is the best thing in the world to hear. It lets you know that they recognize that you are just a teenager trying to do your best. That is my challenge to everyone who is reading this email who is not a missionary. Just walk up to the missionaries in your ward on Sunday and let them know that you are there for them and that you are on their side. They may not show it, but they appreciate things like that SO much. Trust me, I know. 

OH and we got transfer calls on Thursday! Sister Mehr and I get to stay together in Augsburg!!!! We were pretty happy about it. We really like working with each other, so it was a happy moment that we get to stay together for a little while longer. We are just coming out of a seven week transfer and this upcoming transfer is a five week one. It got a little messed up because there was a Mission President's conference in Portugal, so we had to change the schedule, but basically, this transfer is going to fly. Seven weeks didn't even feel like seven weeks. Time is the weirdest thing on a mission. Anywho, Elder Jensen (who is one of the Elders here is Augsburg) got transfered. Tomorrow he will be going on a train journey to Wiener Neustadt. Weird right? I was just there. He's going to work with my people. I'm prepping him for his adventure he is about to go on. We are going to be getting a new Elder here and I am anxious to see what he will be like. He's going to be our new district leader too, so we'll see what happens.

But yeah, that's my life lately. Oh and last p-day! Sister Mehr and I had a good one. We went to this Cathedral called St.Ulrichs, took lots a pictures because it was BEAUTIFUL and we went to this cafe that gets a lot of hype here in Augsburg. They have really good cake and hot chocolate. I'll attach a picture in this email, but it was awesome. We just kind of sat there, ate our cake, and watched people walk by. I keep saying it, but gosh, we are so spoiled. 

Well, that's it for this week. I hope everyone is doing well. Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures:

Us at the baptism and Sister Mehr and I exhausted after the baptism. The Elders actually took that picture without our knowing. Don't worry, we were only there for like five minutes.

Keep On Keeping On

Hi everyone! Let me just take a minute and tell you about our P-day so far, really quick. It was going to be one of those nice mellow ones, and it still is, but this morning, we went to take our laundry out of the machine so we could hang it up and we were both standing there so we could take it over to the drying rack. Sister Mehr opened up the washing machine and it literally exploded all over us. We don't really know what happened, but it was done with the cycle for sure, it just didn't drain at all, so when we opened the little door, our washer literally puked water all over. I wish there was a video of it, because it was totally unexpected, but yeah, we gotta figure out our washing machine now. Well, we figured things out as best as we could for now and then left our apartment to go do groceries. We walked down the stairs and both looked at each other because we both realized that no one took the keys. We were locked out of our apartment...that is not the best feeling in the world. BUT we are clever Sister missionaries and we gave the spare key for our apartment to the Elders just this week, so they have already dropped off the key for us, but man that was a bit stressful. Fortunately, Sister Mehr and I are the kind of people who can laugh at ourselves when these things happen. We think that one day, our laughing will get hysterical and then turn into sobs, but we're fine. It's been an adventure of a day already for sure. 

Anywho, last p-day was really good. We took a beautiful drive into the mountains with a member, and then we went on a hike to this waterfall and IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! Needless to say, we got an abundance of pictures. It was super cool, so that was fun.

Aside from P-day stuff, life in Augsburg is going pretty well. We are focusing mainly on getting Sonja ready for her baptism. It's this Sunday after Church! And needless to say, we are thoroughly excited and nervous and stressed. She is great and has such a strong testimony. Sister Mehr and I just don't want to do anything wrong, I think that's inevitable though :) We have the baptism interview tonight. We have taught all of the lessons, and been over everything, so I think she's ready, but gosh, at this point we are just hoping and praying that everything goes smoothly. I think one of the many things I have gained out of working with Sonja is how important joint teaches are. It is vital to have a member at every lesson with you when you are teaching someone about the gospel, and sometimes, it is SO hard to coordinate schedules. Sister Mehr and I really wanted to do everything we could to get joint teaches though, so a few times we have come to the point where we were literally just going through the ward list seeing if anyone is available, and for some reason, Heavenly Father has ALWAYS given us the joint teach that is perfect for whatever lesson we are teaching. Either they have had experiences with what we are teaching them or they are really good at explaining what we can't, it has always been perfect. It's so amazing to see.

On Wednesday, we went to the funeral for the Stake President's son. All of the missionaries in our zone were there, so about 40 or 50 missionaries from all over Baveria. It was really cool that we could be there. There were so many people there, so we had to sit in an overflow room and watch it on a TV. There was the service at the church and then afterwards, we were all supposed to go to the burial and the cemetary and the missionaries were supposed to sing while people paid their respects. WELL after the service at the church, our Mission President came into the room where we were and told us that there is a train strike going on and that he doesn't really know how we are all going to get home. The funeral was about an hour and a half train ride from Augsburg, so we were kind of stuck. There were some trains going to Munich, but that wouldn't really do us any good because we needed to go farther than that. Not to mention, there were plenty of other missionaries there with the same problem. WELL, there happened to be a member of the Augsburg Ward there who happened to have just enough seats in his car for us and the Elders. It was a miracle for sure. He offered to take us back to Augsburg and it worked out really well. Let me tell you, Heavenly Father looks after His missionaries. It was so nice of that ward member to do that for us.
 

I have come to this conclusion that being a missionary is literally just trying to do nice things for people all the time. We want to bring people unto Christ and the best way to do that is to be like Christ. What did Christ do? He served and taught the people. That is what we as missionaries are told to do, so that's what I'm going to keep doing. It is such a wonderful thing to be a part of. I get to wear Christ's name over my heart and represent him every day. What an honor. It is easily the hardest thing I have ever done. I have never ever done anything as challenging as this, but I would not trade this experienc for anything. 

I hope that you are all doing well. Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: The first two are us on the hike last p-day, and the last one is me eating a giant piece of pizza on saturday (a member took us out)

Going to the Mountains!

So you may or may not be wondering why I am emailing super early again. Well, today, a member is taking us on a trip to the southern part of Bavaria and we are seeing the mountains. The rule for P-day is that we can go anywhere within our zone, so that means I need to stay in Baveria. We're going South today and I think we're going to see a water fall or something. I don't know really, we'll just see what happens. I'm just excited because it means I get to wear pants for a whole day. This is pretty exciting stuff.

Anywho, this week has been pretty good. On Thursday we had zone conference and it was awesome. It was combined with Stuttgart Zone which is my first zone so I got to see a lot of my old friends. That was great. They are all doing well, and I got a report that Ludwigsburg is doing good. There are Elders living in our apartment in Ludwigsburg and I guess they have a problem with the fact that the walls are pink and purple, and that the shower is too short. I thought it was a great apartment. One funny thing about Zone Conference here is that you can tell how long and Elder has been on his mission based on where his fashion sense is. The ones who have been out for a while wear the fitted European suits, fancy shoes, a skinny tie, none of those marshmellow white American shirts, and a swatch, with a leather side bag. It's pretty funny. The newer Elders wear the boxy American suits and puffy white shirts, and their ties are usually pretty wide too. It's kind of an observation that you can't help but noticing. I think as Sisters, we get more frumpy on our missions as time passes. You don't really want to hit the frump stage though because people here look good and you feel like an idiot if you walk out the door looking like you just stepped off a 17 hour plane ride. Just an observation. It's hard not to notice because with two zones combined, there are 12 Sisters and 68 Elders. We are pretty outnumbered. That is a lot of teenage boys in one room, but the thing is, it's not like we get together and talk about video games and basketball. We are talking about how we can help bring people unto Christ. That is just so not a normal thing for a group of teenagers to be doing at this point in our lives. We are out here in Southern Germany running around speaking a language with too many forms of the word "the", trying to tell people that there is so much more to life. There is no way that this work isn't directed by a loving Father in Heaven, otherwise, we would all probably be failing miserably. It's just so cool. Zone Conference was great. President Kohler was awesome. He is so great at putting things into perspective. Sister Mehr and I are working really hard to apply what we learned. It was great.

Every Thursday here in Augsburg we have a "Sport Abend" which is like a sports evening. It's someting easy that we can invite investigators to and ward members like to come. We usually play volleyball or field hocky, but here's the thing, if you know me, you know that I am not the most athletic person in the world. I can manage in field hockey because you have a stick to protect you from oncoming danger, but seriously, volleyball is dangerous! My game has gotten a bit better since I've come to Augsburg, but you know you have reached a new level of low when both teams cheer for you when you've gotten the ball over the net...It's just not my thing, but no worries, I am really good at loosing at sports. At least I'm small. It's a fun activity to have though.

A little bit ago, I talked about this thing Sister Mehr and I do, called "Extreme Personal Touching". Some people pointed out to me that it doesn't have the best title in the world, but it's how we're getting to know the members in our ward and it's going great. Anyone who ever tells me that I'm not adventerous needs to put a sock in it because the area of Augsburg used to be an entire zone when this was just the Munich mission. It is a pretty large area and lots of things are spread out, so when we decide to go drop off flowers or something at a member's house we have the name of their town or village and then their street name and house number and that's it. We don't have maps of all of these little villages. We just kind of show up at the train station and start walking. The other day, we ended up in a village called Schwabmünchen. We asked a bunch of people where the street was that we were looking for and no one had any idea at all, so we went to the main square and there are usually maps of the towns there, but there was nothing. We went into a few stores to ask, and no one knew, so we ended up at a dinky little gas station and had our prayers answered when we found a map of the village for sale. We bought that along with some candy too and WE FOUND THE ADDRESS. It may sound simple, but it's a mega victory. We don't have a GPS, or anything, but we did it! We had potential investigators and such to check on there, so we needed to be able to figure the town out and Heavenly Father really helped us out. Situations like that just shouldn't work out, but with some heavenly help, anything is possible.

Some sad news that we recently found out is that our Stake President's 11 year old son died suddenly of a heart defect. All of the missonaries in our zone are expected to go to the funeral in Landshut on Wednesday which is on the other side of the Zone, so we have a bit of a train journey ahead of us, but I guess there are going to be a lot of nonmembers there, and we need to be ready to answer as many questions as possible and really use this experience to bring more people unto Christ. The Stake President has asked us all to bring lots of Book of Mormons and passalong cards and be ready. It's interesting, because I just could not imagine thinking that it is all over when you die. I know that it is not. I know that there is more than just this life here on Earth. This is just a part of the journey. We have the opportunity to share that on Wednesday and I'm interested to see how it all goes.

Last week, I told you we have a baptism on the 26th of Oktober and that is still true! She is so great and has such a strong testimony, she knows that this step is the right thing to do, the only thing is that she invited all of her friends and family to the baptism (she's 23) and literally everyone said no. She called us on the phone last night crying. It crushes your heart to hear someone you love cry like that. It's like being a parent and hearing that someone was mean to your kid at school. It was just so sad, we talked to her for a bit, and decided that we REALLY need to get her involved in the Young Single Adult(YSA)scene. There is only one other YSA in Augsburg, but the Munich Stake does a great job of getting things put together so the YSA's can stay in touch. We are working with the senior couple in charge of the YSA's in this stake right now so we can get her to the YSA center in Munich and show here that she is not going into this alone and that she has SO much support. Being born and raised in the church, I literally will never understand what it is like to make that big change in my life, but I know that the ward members who are converts know exactly how it feels, and we have been working with them a lot in giving her the support she needs. 

But yeah, it's been a great week. Still working hard and still acting like I know what I'm doing (I really don't). Being a missionary is great. I love being here and doing this.

Hope all is well. Make good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: what a super happy Sister missionary looks like when she's received a package from her parents, we took ourselves out to lunch last p-day and got some SUPER good Italian food, and then us being super happy when we found the address in Schwabmünchen.

How Did We Get to Oktober?

Hi everyone! Can you believe it's Oktober already? I'm pretty sure that the world just froze on March 26th the day I left and that is what it'll be when I get back. But anyways, this week was really good. Sister Mehr is so fun to work with. We have lots of fun together and have both acknowledged the fact that we really have no idea what we're doing, but we're doing our best.

Last Monday we went to Oktoberfest and that was to cool! It was the actual Oktoberfest in München. Sister Mehr and I wore our dirndls, so we looked the part. I have never seen so much trachten in my life. Trachten is the traditional Alpine clothing that people wear here and it was so cool. It was like a trachted fashion show. Sister Mehr and I were just walking around pointing at the dirndls we liked  and stuff. There are some pretty crazy ones out there too. I got a pretzel the size of my head and it was so good! We mostly just walked around and watched people, but there were plenty of beer tents and rides. Gotta love Germany.

On Friday we had a lesson with an investigator and it was AMAZING!!! We were talking about tithing and fast offerings and I was so nervous for this one. This investigator has made a lot of changes in her life in the past month because she understands the truthfulness of this gospel and really wants to come closer to Christ. I was just nervous about telling her another thing she needed to change in her life. The thing though was that we had a joint teach who was PERFECT. We taught the lesson and it went really smoothly and our investigator was accepting it and understanding just fine, but at one point we asked our joint teach how being a full tithe payer has been a blessing in their life and they just did an amazing job of really explaining with the Spirit what tithing and fasting has done for them. It was so cool. The Spirit was really strong in that lesson and Sister Mehr and I were extremely glad to have that particular joint teach there. We were trying really hard to get a joint teach for that lesson and we just could not get ahold of anyone. This member was the only one who picked up their phone and after that lesson, we knew it was because they were the only one that could be there with us for that lesson. It was great. After that lesson, the joint teach invited us over to her house for dinner. Of course we said yes, and she drove us to her house. She comes from England and makes really good food. She taught us how to make a pumpkin pie from scratch and it turned out beautifully. We just had a really good time getting to know her and her family a bit better. AND we can make a mean pie now. Sister Mehr and I were really counting our blessings that day. 

This past weekend was General Conference and it was so great! Basically, as a missionary, you camp out at the church for the weekend and watch session after session, but we came prepared. We had lots of snacks and goodies. We got to watch Saturday and Sunday morning live and we watched a rebroadcast of Women's Conference and the Saturday afternoon session. We haven't seen the Sunday evening session, but I guess we will just wait for the General Conference edition of the Liahona to come out. Sister Mehr and I were the only ones there for the Women's conference, so we kind of took over the Relief Society room and spread out. It was a good time. Our investigator who we had just taught about tithing and fasting came to the Sunday morning session of conference and she said she was fasting with a question. Sister Mehr and I were so impressed. This investigator is awesome. After conference she just looked at me and said she got her answer. SHE'S GETTING BAPTIZED ON OKTOBER 26th!!!!! Sister Mehr and I basically just wanted to sit down and start crying. We have about 3 weeks-ish and are so excited to help her get ready for this awesome step she's about to make. 

It's been a good week. Doing this work and helping bring others come unto Christ is such and honor. I love being here and I love being a missionary. This is hands down the hardest thing I have ever done, but it is easily the most amazing thing I have ever done. 

I hope you are all doing well and making good choices!Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: Us at Women's Conference, on a train ride home one evening, us at oktoberfes


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