Germany is the Greatest!

HI Everyone! 

We had a great week in Ludwigsburg area. It has really been awesome. On Thursday, all of the missionaries were given permission to watch the Germany vs. USA game for the World Cup. Sister Powell and I were pretty pumped. A family from our ward invited us and the Elders over for dinner and then the game. Of course Germany won, but it was still super fun to watch. Afterwards, we walked from their house to the train station to go home. Usually they drive us to the train station, but this time, it would have been so unrealistic. Because Germany won, everyone was driving their cars around and honking their horns so it was pretty epic. We walked through this little village and watched everyone celebrate. It was such a cool cultural experience. Germany is so passionate about their soccer.

On Wednesday we had a mission-wide cleaning day. There are some pretty new apartments in this mission (ours is only a year old) and there are a pretty good amount of apartments that date back to when Elder Bednar served here. They needed some work. Ours required pretty basic cleaning and we spent a lot of time organizing shelves and closets and stuff, but it was good and our huble abode looks lovely now. We were told to literally spend the whole day cleaning. No appointments or anything. They said that if we thought we were done early then we should clean the undersides of our refridgerators, but it was necessary because a lot of apartments needed it. We had fun doing it too. We listened to music and told lots of stories. It was good companionship bonding time. 

On Saturday our district got together in an area called Pforzheim. There is a branch there and one set of Elders and we had a "finding day" where you literally spend the day just finding people. We were all given different areas of Pforzheim to go to visit some former investigators and just talk to lots of people. It was raining so that was kind of a bummer, but there were still people out because this is Europe and people walk everywhere. Sister Powell and I talked to some nice people, handed out a lot of passalong cards, and almost got a Book of Mormon out, but it didn't happen. One guy took the passalong card and said that he didn't want a Book of Mormon until he met with the missionaries and talked to them more about what it was, so that was good enough for us. It was just a fun day with the district. I enjoyed it.

 

Friday, was a super long day. We had loads of appointments that were all on opposite ends of our area so we were running around all day, and it was pretty hot and muggy. Our appointments went pretty well. We made some progress with people, but on the bus ride from the train station to our apartment at the end of the day, we were exhauseted. We were kind of just sitting dead on the bus which isn't good because we should have been talking to people, but this man saw my name tag and was just staring at it for a long time. In my head I was thinking, that's kind of creepy, but he got off at the same stop as us and stopped us to ask loads of questions. It was amazing. He had questions about how we can know when someone is a prophet and why would the Book of Mormon be true. We were tired and ready for some food, but we still gave everything we had to talk to this man. In the end he said he wanted to meet with us to learn more. Does it get any better than that? Heavenly Father sends us these insane miracles sometimes and you have to scoop them up when He does.

 

Yesterday was ward conference and in relief society we were being taught by the Stake Relief Society President. I got to talk to her a little bit before sacrament and she is so sweet. But my conversational skills are far better than my deep doctrinal skills, as far as German goes. During the lesson she asked me to read a scripture and then gave me a corresponding question to answer. I had NO IDEA what the question was or what the context of it was though, so I was pretty lost. I kind of threw some words out there about how "he wants us to succeed" because I thought we were talking about what God wants for us, but it turns out we were talking about what Satan wants for us...so that would be my bad. She kind of just kept going, but once I figured it out, I had to try really hard not to freak out laughing in the middle of the lesson. Oops, well, I've only been here for a transfer and a half, so life goes on. Moral of the story: don't take yourself too seriously. Life is way happier that way.

Well, anywho, I hope you have all had a wonderful week. After emails, Sister Powell and I are going to do the tour of the Ludwigsburg palace, so expect pictures.

Have a great day and MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Sister Smiley

Pictures: watching the soccer game, walking in the rain to an eating appointment, and on the bus this morning going to do emails (we take a bus and then a train and then a bus and then walk to get here, it's a bit of a journey)

Hi Everyone!!

How is life going??? I'm doing just fine. Ok, so our numbers kind of tanked this week. We had loads of appointments set up, but one by one they all fell through, so that was a bummer, but I guess that's just how things roll sometimes. It was a really good week though. We had some really cool experiences.

On Tuesday, we went out to this little village that is quite far away, to go contact a potential. They were not there, and we decided that we could not just have lunch and leave. There was a reason we were in this village. We picked an area and just started ringing door bells. Eventually, an old lady let us in. When we told her we were the Mormon Missionaries, she cut in right away and talked about how she can not possibly believe in a God when she has lived through something as horrible as WWII. In the MTC they prepared us for this scenario and said it would happen and we did role plays and stuff, but it is totally different when someone tells you that for real. WWII really was horrible and there is no possible way for me to imagine what it was like so I was kind of dumb-founded, but Sister Powell just complemented her on a picture hanging on the wall (it was a picture of two cats), and the lady brightened up and asked if we would like to see more. We ended up just talking and looking at pictures in her house and talking about her trips to America. She still did not want to hear our message, but we could tell she wanted a friend. We wrote down her address, and intend to write her letters and keep in touch. It was just a really cool experience for me.

The next day, Wednesday, I was doing personal study and felt like I wasn't doing a very good job of just talking to everyone. I wanted to be better. It's easy to say that, but it's totally different when you are sitting on the bus and don't know how to start a conversation with the person next to you. Well, I have a method now and it's working just fine. I talk to people with dogs (I like dogs, they're cute) and when I'm sitting by someone, I scan they're outfit really quick and then compliment them on what I like the most. There's usually more than one thing I like because everyone in Europe is gorgeous. That's been working for me and I have been having way more meaningful conversations and enjoying just talking to people. Almost everyone I talk to asks about what I'm doing in Germany or what my name tag is for, so BOOM! It's actually a blast. Missionary work is the bomb.com.

Thursday was transfer day. Sister Powell and I were both not transferred which is nice, because packing and suitcases and stuff is such a hassle, but we still had to help. Transfers in a mission that includes four countries is insane. We went to the Stuttgart train station to pick up Sister Motto. Her companion got transfered to Passau, and her new companion would not be coming until later in the afternoon, so we met Sister Motto and helped everyone get on to the trains and waited for the new missionaries to come in. Something kind of exciting is that Sister Motto's new companion is Sister Penz. She was in the MTC with me for about a week, so I know her and she is awesome, and she is my sister training leader now!!! Sister Arnold was also at the train station helping out another set of sisters so we both freaked out when Sister Penz got of the train. We love her. I can't wait to work with her.

Well, this week was really something for sure. Sister Powell and I have this thing going on right now called the Avon Lady Theory. We are learning that if we are more persistent than an Avon lady (and they are pretty persistent) we can have so much more success. We call a lot, we text a lot, we contact people a lot, and eventually they will come around. There is one couple we are teaching and they both want to come to church and be baptized, but there are certain changes they need to make in their lives first. They are exceedingly slow with making these changes, but we had a really good appointment with them on Friday. They are just really scared of making these changes because it is a super big deal, but essentially, they thanked us for not giving up on them and not judging them. It was really sweet because I know they both have testimonies and want to make progress. We just need to keep encouraging them and praying for them and then the Lord will make it happen in His time.

Oh and one last thing!!! At an appointment this week we were given this stuff called Coro Coffee. It's fake coffee, so Mormons here drink it a lot. I learned why we shoudn't drink coffee though, because that stuff is so good. I would be addicted in a second if I wasn't a poor missionary (actually, I think I must be one of the richest missionaries in the world, they give us a lot here cuz everything costs a million bucks but yeah). That was just kind of a random tangent.

I hope everyone is having a great day and making good choices!

Love,

Sister Smiley

One last thing: So the World Cup is happeining and that is insane! It is basically a second religion here. You can literally hear all of Germany screaming when they score a point. It's so cool. WE get to watch the Germany vs. USA game on Thursday. I'm so pumped! I'll let you know how it goes.

Pictures: Sisters Powell, Motto and I invested in some Oreos at Stuttgart Bahnhoff when we were waiting for Sister Penz (it was a big deal, they don't just have those here). Us at Schwarzwald last Monday, and then the little town we went to when we saw Schwarzwald. It was super cute.

Another Week in Ludwigsburg!

Hi everyone! So today we are emailing super early because we are going on a district p-day today to Schwarz Wald!!! I am so pumped! It's gonna be great. We got all prepared last night and whipped out of our apartment super fast this morning to do emails. It's exciting. You can expect to see pictures next week for sure.

 

This last week has been amazing! On Tuesday, we had zone conference and zone training all in one day. It was so great to get together with other missionaries. People just have super smart things to say. It's like an MTC crash course. I also got to see Sister Arnold and Elder lynch again from my MTC district which was great. We talked a lot and took an obligatory picture together. They're both doing great in their areas. 

 

Sister Powell and I ended up doing the musical number for zone conference. She borrowed a cello from a ward member and I borrowed a violin from another ward member and we played a super pretty arrangement of "Savior Redeemer of My Soul". The violin I played was gold, so that was epic, but I actually really enjoyed doing this musical number. Usually, I hate playing in front of people, but I was just super happy to be playing at all and enjoyed it. I'd say it went quite well. I am super blessed to be with a companion who likes music too.

 

After zone conference, I went on my first exchange (we call them tausches here) with Sister Motto. She is from Linden Utah and the same height as me, so that was fun. We went to her area, Tübingen. It is a super pretty college town south of Stuttgart. We did a bunch of vorbeis and went to a YSA activity, beach volleyball. I am usually not a fan of volleyball, but I had a great time and loved talking to the YSAs; they're great. Sister Motto is hilarious. I was basically just being entertained by her for a day. She should be in Tübingen for about two more transfers, so I'll see her again for sure. It was just fun.

 

On Thursday, we had an appointment with an investigator who is meeting with us because she already knows she wants to get baptized, she just needs the lessons. She is nine and her Oma is an active member who has been taking her to church her whole life. Her mom is not active in the Church, but we're working on it. This appointment went so great! The Oma made dinner for us first (she's Italian so it was amazing) and then we taught the lesson. The really cool part was that the Oma had her other daughter who is also not active in the Church come over to "help" with dinner. She is in her twenties and asked so many questions about serving missions and how the ward is doing. This Oma is great. She told us at church yesterday that she wants to incorporate her family in this baptism as much as possible because most of them are either not active in the Church or not members, so this could be what turns things around. We'll just have to see. Well anyways, after the appointment, we went out to their yard and picked cherries. These are the best cherries I have ever eaten! It was just a really great day.

 

On Saturday, we went to go see a potential investigator and hopefully set up an appointment, but we got there and got shut down pretty fast. We decided we were in the area so we should go visit an elderly member of our ward who lives there alone. We got there and she was working on her talk for Church the next day. She was super stressed out and had no idea what to say, so we asked what the topic was, and she said the Book of Mormon; how convenient. That was exactly what I studied that morning for an appointment with a different investigator that fell out. I got to share what I studied with her and she ended up using those things in her talk. IT WAS AMAZING! Her talk went great and it strengthened my testimony like crazy. This church is just so great.

 

Well, I hope life is good for everyone. Keep being the fantastic people that you all are and make good choices!

 

Love,

Sister Smiley

Oh My Goodness!!

You guys would not believe what Sister Powell and I went through to be able to email you today. It is a holiday in Germany today and that means literally everything is shut down. Both of our internet cafes are closed, and we couldn't get to the church because the bus to get there was not running, so we took a train to Stuttgart to use the internet at a cafe there that our zone leaders said was open. Talk about stressful, but our President really wants us to email on Mondays so people at home won't worry. We will have to get groceries tomorrow. That's life though. You just have to learn to work with the uncontrollable circumstances sometimes. Anyways, what a week!

So there is a student from our english class that we teach every Wednesday. She is 16 and I love her so much. We learned that we both love the same books and she is reading some of my favorites right now (City of Bones for those who care). She wanted to get together with us to talk about books one day, so on Saturday, we met at a crepe place and did just that. It was really good. She showed me her book list and I pointed out that one of the books on her list was written by a Mormon author (Matched, for the same people who care), and then she asked what Mormons believe. Perfect right? Well, Sister Powell, being the beast she is, just threw down the first lesson right there. It was amazing, and our friend totally appreciated it. I can't wait to see her again at English because I love her a lot. 

One thing I have learned about missionary work is that it gets you excited about things that you would have thought were super dumb in the past. For example, I really want to do family history now and watch Mormon Messages. That is not something you would have found me begging my Mom to do in the past, so that's interesting. But speaking of family history, here is another story. Yesterday, we were coming home from an eating appointment and ran into a neighbor on our way up the stairs to our apartment. We started talking to her and ended up inside her apartment talking all about her grandma and the stories she used to share about her travels. It was so fun. We told her we want to come back to hear more stories about her grandmother. The goal is to tell her about our family history center and get her interested in the church through that because I know she would love it. She really is the sweetest old lady.

 

Another exciting thing that happened yesterday was that I gave my first talk in sacrament meeting in German! It was incredibly scary, but pretty good actually. My topic was missionary work, believe it or not, and I discussed Ammon. Before he went out to the land of Ishmael he fasted and prayed that he could be an instrument of the Lord. After plenty of trials, afflictions, and enduring, he reached a point where King Lamoni ASKED to learn more about the gospel. How cool is that! Sometimes, we need to show Heavenly Father that we are willing to work for our miracles. I was pretty happy with that talk, and throughout the week, I asked ward members to check the grammar, so it wasn't too bad I think.

 

Anywho, sorry it's a short one today, I'm just grateful that we get to email today, it's been a really weird day for us, but I'm going to put in a couple pictures: one is of our district eating lunch at the chinese gardens after a district meeting, and the is from our p-day last week. We went to visit a castle in our area called the Seeschloss which means sea castle. It is basically the German version of pemberly and super beautiful.

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

Love,

Sister Smiley

Life is So Good!

I just love missionary work so much. Mondays are fun because I get to look back on the week and think about how fantastic it was. 

There is one moment in particular that I really want to share. It was just amazing. One night, Sister Powell and I were doing our planning and we realiezed that we had a pretty depressing day ahead of us. We were going to drop an investigator. Just as we were talking about how unfun that would be the phone rang. A friend of someone we are teaching called us and said he wanted an appointment with us. Did that really just happen? Yeah it did! It was so awesome, so the next day we went to see him. We met in a park right by his apartment because we couldn't get a joint teach, but it was a good park so no worries. We talked to him a bit (his name is Bernard), and just started teaching the first lesson, the restoration. Usually, my German is fine. The grammar needs an abundance of work, but I can get my point accross, and my accent isn't too terrible, but this time, it flowed SO WELL! It came better than it ever has before. Sister Powell and I were really teaching as unified companions and I was able to talk about dispensations, the apostasy, give my testimony, and it all just came out so well. It really was a miracles. After that experience, I know that the gift of tongues is a real thing. I could not have done that by myself and Bernard was amazed too. I told him how long I had been in Germany, and I think after listening to me talk, he knew that we had to be from God, because people can't just talk like that. Also, after the lesson, my German was gone again, so I know Heavenly Father gave me that gift to let Bernard know that He is there and that He is real. It was amazing. I hope we can continue to make progress with Bernard because it was a really great lesson.

Once a week, we are given an hour to go online and email investigators (this is separate from our email time on Mondays for family). We don't have the techiest mission in the world, but this one hour really is a luxury, because sometimes investigators are out of town or they just can't meet that week, but we can send them an email with a spiritual thought and a Mormon Message attached to it. It's great. We were on the Mormon Channel picking a Mormon Message for an investigator and it was so fun! I hope everyone can find some time to do that. It's actually a great Sunday thing to do because these videos are really good. They teach principles and are relatable. Ok, so some of them are pretty cheesy, but that's life. We got dinner from a grocery store across the street and then sat down and started our hour, but I wish someone could have seen Sister Powell and I eating our ice cream watching the anti-bullying one. It was so intense. That's just something I thought was pretty cool this week. The Church really has made technology a tool through which they can further the work even more.

I also started doing something new this week. They have little cigarette vending machines here which I think are a horrible idea because they are way too convienient, but I have started putting a pass-along card in the slot for credit cards so that people have to take out the pass-along card before they can get that pack. I think it's pretty clever. Someone will pick up that card and realize that there is something missing in their lives and then call us. I know it.

We had a training meeting in Stuttgart on Saturday. It was for goldens (that's what they call greenies here) and our trainers. This was such a fun day. How many people can just take a train into Stuttgart Germany for a day? AND it meant that I got to see Sister Arnold and Elder Lynch from my MTC district. I was pretty much pumped because they really are siblings to me. So after studies, Sister Powell and I hopped on the train to Stuttgart. The meeting was going to cut right through lunch so we got something at a bakery to hold us over until we could get real lunch; I had the most amazing pastry of my life. It was this apple thing with a flaky crust and I wish I knew the name, but it wasn't a streudle. It was just fantastic. Then we got to where our meeting was and up came Elder Lynch with his companion first. Then came Sister Arnold with her companion. We were all super duper happy to see each other. We talked about how we were doing, shared stories, and really enjoyed catching up. I feel so blessed to be in the same zone as two missionaries from my MTC district. After the meeting, a handful of us went to a pizza place in the center of Stuttgart that one of the Elders knew about. We were going down this pedestrian street where there were street performers, and shopping, and resturants, and I had one of those crazy moments where I looked down at my name tag and realized: I'm a missionary in Germany with other missionaries in Germany experiencing German things and talking about missionary stuff! Life is just so good! I feel SO blessed to be out here in this beautiful part of the world doing this. Heavenly Father loves me so much. It is hard, yes. Is is worth it, ABSOLUTELY. I am only in my first transfer, but I would not change this experinece for anything in the world.

So that's my spiel for this week, but I hope you all count your blessings and recognize the small miracles in life. Make good choices.

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures:

One is a walk from the bus stop to an inactive member's house and is is just so pretty, so I thought I'd take a picture. Another one is us right before we cut up a pineapple we were super excited about. Sister Powell insisted on that picture. And the last one is us on our way to an investigator's house. It's in a village that looks just like fantasy land from Disneyworld. Magical? I think yes!