Oktoberfest!

Hi everyone! You may or may not be noticing right now that I am writing you particularly early today. Well, the reason for that is I am going to Oktoberfest in Munich with my district and some ward members for our p-day today. Our schedule is really funky today, but I am still writing my email as always and am super pumped to go see what Oktoberfest is like. We are all wearing our traditional trachten. Sister Mehr has an orange dirndl and mine is purple. Expect an abundance of pictures next week. 


But anyways, last week during p-day, we just did some shopping and afterwards we explored Augsburg a bit. We went into the Rathaus (court house) and found a super pretty golden room. Sister Mehr and I were freaking out a bit becuase is was so pretty. There are loads of buildings in Augsburg that are older than America. You just have to wander into them and you will see some amazing things.

So the drama in the mission right now is Sie sprache vs. du sprache. In German there are two forms of you: the formal and the informal. For the longest time they made missionaries use the formal you on everyone. About a year ago they changed it so we could use du sprache when it was appropriate (other missionaries, those younger than us, and people we work with a lot who we have a good relationship with). Well, just this month they changed the rule again to using Sie sprache on any missionary who isn't the same gender as you (so all of the Elders) and anyone who is over the age of 18. Among missionaries, it really doesn't matter what form of you is being used because we are all just learning German here, but when you are working with someone who is about 23 or around that age, they think it is so weird for a 19 year old to be using formal you with them. Also, it is kind of insulting to switch back to formal when we have been using informal with someone, so it's been kind of interesting. We have to be obedient and use the formal you. Especially because word on the street is this rule came from President Uchtdorf, but we have gotten into some heated conversations about it for sure. It's an interesting situation that we are working with. So yeah, that's the drama in the mission right now. 

Sister Mehr and I are working really hard on getting to know the Ward right now because we know we can't do this work without their help, so we're just trying to build relationships and now we have a plan! We do this thing called EXTREME PERSONAL TOUCHING!!! Basically, our area is really big and everyone is quite spread out, BUT that will not defeat us, so once or twice a week, we pick a family in the ward or someone on the list to "Extreme Personal Touch". We then call them and see if we can come over to give them a Preach My Gospel lesson or just say hello (no food required). If they have time for us, that is awesome, if not, we now know a little more about them from talking on the phone and we bake something or get flowers to drop off at their house and leave a nice note. Getting to their house can easily take a whole day with public transportation, but it's been working. We are slowly but surely building relationships with the members in this ward. We are also really big on writing thank you cards and sending them in the mail because everyone loves getting mail...at least, I really like getting mail.

So on Saturday, there was a lady in our ward moving from a three story house to a one floor apartment, and she had to get everything from the old house into the new apartment in one day. Like a good missionary, we were there with the Elders and a bunch of ward members. Our big group seemed invincible at the beginning, but mensch she had a lot of stuff to be moved. It was an extremely long day of moving stuff and figuring out what goes where but it was good. We managed to get everything into the new apartment. It was kind of funny because there was one point where literally the only thing to do was move the gigantic pieces of furniture around and heaven forbid a sister touches something heavy, so Sister Mehr and I had about an hour of "What do we do?" We ended up just talking to the lady who was moving. She was pretty stressed, so I think it was a good thing. After we got everything moved, we went to KFC. That's right, KFC in Germany. It was fun. It was pretty fatty, but it was fun. It made me think of going to Taco Bell after doing baptisms in the temple when I was in Young Women's. Good times.

Yesterday at church I walked through the doors and there were two familes from my ward in Ludwigsburg visiting. We all made eye contact at the same time and it was so fun! Seeing all of them was a nice tender mercy for me. They were the people who invited us over for eating appointments on a regular basis, so it was like seeing family again. That's the cool thing about a mission...or one of the many cool things, you just build bridges everywhere you go. The Ludwigsburg people have such a special place in my heart, just like the Vienna people, and now the Augsburg people. It is just so amazing the people you get to cross paths with. It is a real honor to be able to be here and be doing this. I hope I and other missionaries never take this experience for granted. 

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

Love, Sister Smiley

Pictures: The golden room in Rathaus last week, extreme personal touching a member (they told us to leave it under the stairs), and we treated ourselves to dinner last week because we wanted to and we could.

Another Week and Still Going Strong

Hi Everyone! How are things going? I'm doing pretty good. Augsburg is a great area and I feel like I'm really settling into it. Basically, since Sister Mehr and I are relatively young missionaries (as in we have both not been out that long), we rely on the Spirit way more than I have before in my life. We literally don't know what we are doing without the help of the spirit. 

This week has been really good actually. We started out the week with a lot of teaching appointments. It was great. There is one investigator that Sister Mehr was working with before I got here and then there are two other women who we found in the area book and were able to set up appointments with. The theme for things we taught this week was how important the Book of Mormon is, and that is SO true. I really would not be surviving my mission if I did not have the Book of Mormon in my life. For those that don't know, we have an hour of personal study in the morning every day. When I came on my mission, I thought that would probably be one of the longer hours in the day, but that hour is probably one of the best parts of my day. I usually read four pages of the Book of Mormon in German and then do whatever other studies I need to do in order to prepare for lessons or spiritual thoughts that day. I recieve so much personal revelation in that one hour and it gets me so pumped up for the rest of the day.

On Wednesday we went to the home of a sister in our ward to help her pack because she is moving. She had the biggest closet full of porcelain that I have ever seen and Sister Mehr and I had to wrap that up and put it in boxes while the Elders took apart furniture. I was happy doing the porcelain wrapping job. It was actually a really good time just hanging out with Sister Mehr while helping someone else. We did that for about two hours and then we ate a really yummy dinner that the sister in our ward made for us. It was schnitzel and potato salad. The only thing was, she really loaded up our plates and you can't really say no when they fill up your plates for you. Sister Mehr and I looked at each other and then dug in, and I don't want to brag, but we kind of beasted it and packed it in. The Elders struggled. One of them tried switching his plate with his companion, but she caught him and he had to try and finish it. It was a funny moment. Sister Mehr and I fist bumbed under the table.

 

On Saturday a super duper exciting thing happened here in the Augsburg Ward. THE ELDERS HAD A BAPTISM!!!! It was so exciting. It was a couple that they have been working with for about six months. They got baptized because they knew it was the truth. Sister Mehr and about four other missionaries were at the church early to set things up and make sure everything was ready. Everything went smoothly and everyone was all smiles. You can just feel at a baptism how right it is. It was a really good time, and I am so happy for the couple who made that decision. It was just so cool to be a part of. 

Yesterday (Sunday) we had an eating appointment with my Bishop from Ludwigsburg and his family. They just moved into the ward and you have no idea how happy that made me. Ludwigsburg is kind of my home on the mission because it is where I started out. We went to their house for a really good scwäbisch dinner and Family Home Evening. For the activity, we carved pumpkins. It was just so fun. It was kind of a breather from trying to figure out the Augsburg Ward because I already know this family pretty well. I got to ask them about how things are going in Ludwigsburg AND I found out that one of our investigators is still going to church regularly!!! I was exploding inside when I heard that because Sister Powell and I worked with this investigator quite a bit and it sound like she is still progressing. That was such a good feeling. I was really happy to hear that.

So yeah, that's my week. I realized this morning that I will be hitting my 6 month mark this coming week which is INSANE!!!! Time is the weirdest thing on a mission, but I really don't know where the first third of my mission went. It has been jam packed and it has also been amazing. In that short amount of time I have witnessed so many miracles. I love being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I can't wait to see what the rest of my time has in store. This really is a marvelous work.

 

I hope everyone is doing well. Make good choices.

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: us with our pumpkins, Sister Mehr and I with the couple that got baptized, all of the missionaries at the baptism

Augsburg!

Well I made it! I am officially in Augsburg with my new companion Sister Mehr. The trip went super smoothly actually and was way less stressful than when I went to Vienna last transfer. The trip through the mountains to Munich was so pretty, I tried taking pictures, but they were all pretty pathetic and did not do the scenery justice at all. 

Saying goodbye to Vienna was pretty hard. I was only there for one transfer, but the people there were family. On my last P-day, some ward members took us and the Elders to a restuarant accross the opera house in the city underneath the Albertina Museum. We had schnitzel and potatoes and salad. It was a super Austrian meal. It was the husband`s birthday, so that is why they had it, but it was so nice of them to invite us. For dessert we had Sacher Torte of course and it came from the Sacher Hotel, so it was the original Sacher. It was pretty magical.

On Tuesday, I taught English class for my last time and that was just depressing, because I loved teaching English at the YSA center in the middle of Vienna, but it was really good. The Mongolian lady I taught gave me her email address and wanted to keep in touch, so I will be emailing her for sure. She is the sweetest thing in the world. 

After a lot of packing and goodbyes, I finally got on the train on Thursday morning. It was just me and two Elders leaving Vienna, so that was interesting because they were technically my companions for the two and a half hour train ride to Salzburg. Fortunately, they could help me with my suitcases, so that was good. The train we were on was a Harry Potter style one with compartments and everything. It was me, a red head, and an Elder with dark brown hair, so we were basically reinacting Harry Potter. It was fun. One interesting thing, is that they both figured that this train ride was the perfect time to start pouring out their hearts about all of their girl troubles from home. For some reason, they thought I could help. I don't know anything really, but it was interesting. I don't think I will ever understand Elders, but it was kind of funny. Well anyways, we got to Salzburg and I got to see Sister Powell for a few minutes. It was so good to see her and catch up with her. This is her last transfer, so she is at the tail end of her mission. She's a beast. 

Anywho, after another two and a half hour train ride, I got to Munich where I met Sister Mehr. She is so cool! We get along really well. She comes from South Jordan Utah, this is her second transfer in the field, so I am training her for the last half of the training program, and she is just great. She was at BYU for a year before coming on her mission so we get to talk about BYU together too, which is fun. We are both fairly new at this whole thing, so we are figuring life out here in Augsburg together. It's been an adventure for sure. We are working really hard to get the ward on our side. The thing is, this ward has had really experienced missionaries for a long time now, and they loved them a lot, so we are trying to get them to hopefully like us even though we don't exactly know what we are doing all the time. Yesterday, I was praying throughout church that we would leave with at least one eating appointment that week. Well miracles happen and we did manage to get one eating appointment this week which I am super excited about. It may sound bad, but eating appointments are really the best way for us to get to know members. We cannot do this work if the members are not on our team, so the better we can get to know them, the better we can do this work. I believe in us, I think we can do it.

 

So yeah, that's my life lately. A lot of packing and unpacking, but that is just part of the adventure. You just have to keep moving and do what you know you're supposed to. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep making good choices.

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures:

Sister Mehr and I about to eat a dönner box after trying to find our way around Augsburg all day (don't make fun of my hair, it happens sometimes), me and the Huy's at Brother Huy's birthday party, us on P-day last week. We went to the Belvedere with one of our investigators (the Belvedere is the summer palace in Vienna).

TRANSFERRED AND TRAINING!!!!!!

HOLY COW!!!! I got the most insane transfer call of my life on Saturday. I`m leaving Vienna. Actually, I`m leaving Austria and I`m going to Germany to train in Augsburg. It`s in Bayern. I can`t believe I`m leaving Austria already. And to top things off, I am going to be a trainer!!!! My golden has actually been in the field for a transfer already, I am just going to finish up her training with her. The only thing is that I have no idea what I am doing so we will just have to see what happens. I really did not want to pack my bags up again, but President called and said that he needed me in Augsburg so I am going to augsburg. One cool thing is that my Bishop from Ludwigsburg just moved into the Augsburg Ward actually, so I am excited to see him. It is just crazy that I have to leave here already. I love the people here so much, but that is just the way it goes. I am in my fourth transfer and am going to my fourth area. That is about as crazy as it gets. We will have to see how long I am in Augsburg. It's supposed to be super pretty actually. I guess it's one of the oldest towns in Germany, so we are going to find out what adventures await me there. 


Oh and do not send any more mail to the Vienna address. Here is my Augsburg address:

Josef-Prillerstrasse 30

86159 Augsburg

You should all google it because I have no idea what to expect really. I am so sad to be leaving Sister Bushman and Sister Freimann. They are both so great and we have had lots of fun adventures together. They will just have to get along without me somehow...They will be fine. It is just always sad to leave an area. Oh well. Next time you hear from me, it will be from Germany :)

Aside from our crazy transfer call, this week has been great. On Wednesday we were walking down the street in Wiener Neustadt going to visit a less active member and a guy was standing in his yard just hanging out I guess. Well, we said hello, but walked passed him. About two seconds later, we all stopped at the same time and looked at each other. We all knew that we needed to talk to this man. We just stated that we needed to talk to him and then turned around to go back to his house. He was still in his yard and we just started up a friendly conversation. After talking for a while we learned that he used to believe in God, but then he got sick, and the doctors give him shots to make him better. He just doesn`t know if its the doctors making him better or God, so he picked the doctors. We talked to him about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. He wanted to learn more, so we gave him a book and said we would come back to teach him. It was a really cool experience. This man just wants to know the truth. That is all everyone really wants, and the thing is, I know that the Book of Mormon is the truth. That knowledge makes me so excited to share it with people. 

The next day we had a meeting with our ward mission leader in Wiener Neustadt. He is a really cool guy and he got pretty pumped up about missionary work at this meeting. Right there he decided that we would all go out on the streets and just do some contacting. It was super spur of the moment, but we were excited to go contacting with him. We went to the main square in Wiener Neustadt and split up so we could talk to as many people as possible. Well, this was Sister Bushman`s first time doing hard core contacting. It is usually something that we do on our way to appointments. One thing about contacting is that you have to realize you are going to get rejected a lot. It just happens, but Sister Bushman got pretty frustrated, so she came to the point where she was kind of yelling at people: "Ich mag Ihre Schuhe und das ist alles!" That means, "I like your shoes and that`s it." It was kind of hilarious. Normally you approach people and they just say thank you and walk away, but she was pretty tired of this so she just started yelling compliments at them. It was so fun. I have loved working with her so much. 

Anyways, yesterday, we were at our ward mission leader`s house here in Vienna and we kind of pulled a prank on the Elders. We found this demon duck in our apartment. It looks like a littlle plastic rubber duck, but when you push its wings, it gives you an electric shock. So we took the duck to our meeting with us and told the Elders it was broken and we could not fix it. We are sisters and we are too weak to do such a thing...haha. Well anyways, they told us they could fix anything, and took the duck from Sister Freimann`s hands and squeezed the wings quite hard. It was so funny. They got a shock for sure. Our ward mission leader was cracking up. We are going to try to get our zone leaders at zone training tomorrow too. I will let ya know how it goes. 

Well, that`s all for this week. If there is anything I have been learning it is that we just need to do our best and then trust our Father in Heaven like crazy, because He really is the only one that actually knows what He`s doing. 

I love you all and hope life is good. Make good choices.

Sister Smiley

Pictures: us in our Trachten on Sunday on our way to church, us with one of our investigators for my last time, and my district here in Vienna

Last week of the transfer! What?

 HI everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I'm doing quite well. This week was really something. I'll start with last P-day because it was so fun! Basically, when we met up with the other sisters after their interviews with President, we ran all over the city and saw lots of cool stuff. We went to a really old library, we walked the ring (a block with lots of old buildings and museums), went to get a slice of sacher torte, and then saw the opera house. Everything there was blocked off because surprise, surprise, Tom Cruise is in town. He is filming Mission Impossible 5 and there were a bunch of scenes to be shot at the Opera House. He basically got the whole city of Vienna shut down, so way to go Tom. It was such a fun day though. I'm pretty sure my life is a movie. 

On Tuesday, we had English class with our two Mongolian friends here in Vienna and it was just so much fun. We talked about prepositions. It's really cool to see their English skills actually get better. After class, we asked them if they knew anything about the Mormon church. They said not really, but they would love to learn more! It was every missionary's dream come true. So we got some Mongolian Book of Mormons and are working on setting up an appointment with them so we can start teaching them what we're all about. They are the two sweetest people ever. I'm excited to see them tomorrow. 

On Friday morning we went to go see a woman in Wiener Neustatd who is less active. She is middle aged and is divorced with a teenage daughter living with her. We went just to say hi, to get to know her better, and hopefully make another appointment. What actually happened was way better though. She invited us in and gave us something to drink and told us why she didn't come to church anymore, but that she wants to come back. She's just scared. At that appointment I really saw this woman as one of God's children who He loves so much. He wants her to come back to church and is really proud of the desire that she has to change things in her life around. She asked us to come back. She said that she needs people in her life to be consistent, so we are going to do our best to help her and get the ward involved too, because she really just wants to do what is right. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever.

On Saturday we had a ward activity in Wiener Neustadt. Basically, for the past two weeks, we have been running around and making phone calls trying to invite everyone under the sun to this activity. It's a really great way for less active members and investigators to get integrated with the ward and see that we really aren't different than other people. The theme of this activity was like country western...so basically American. It was kind of trippy being at an American party in Austria, but they did a great job with it actually. They hired out a square dance caller for the night, so everyone got to square dance, and they had musical chairs and jump roping too. It was a lot of fun and there was SO MUCH FOOD. They basically had every variety of meat, lots of salads, and torte, and cakes, and puddings. It was hard not to eat everything. There was a really good turn out at this activity. We invited about 14 people; less actives and investigators. We had 10 of them show up. It was great. We got to know them all better, and the ward got to know them better too.

Yesterday, we went to church in Vienna. It was all good and normal, and then in Sacrament meeting an American woman asked me to translate for her. I have never translated for anyone before and I really didn't know if I could do it. I can understand what is going on, but I don't know if I can put that into coherent sentences for someone else. Well, I didn't say no, because I feel like you can't really do that as a missionary, so I sat down and started praying in my heart like crazy. The meeting started, and I was able to translate just fine! It was literally a miracle. I don't know how it happened, but I was able to tell this woman everything that was going on in sacrament. Tender mercy for sure.

Anyways, last night we had an eating appointment with a lady from the Vienna ward. She lives about 25 minutes away from us by foot. When we left the apartment, the weather looked great, so we just walked out. WELL about 5 minutes into our walk, it started pouring. We didn't have umbrellas with us, so we got soaked. We kind of just threw our arms up in the air and enjoyed it anyways because what else could we do. We just got wet. The eating appointment itself was a bit interesting. This lady invited the Elders over as well as five male friends (one of them is a member, the rest were not) and she wanted us all to exchange religious ideas. Sounds harmless right? It was until the quiet guy in the corner said that we were all wrong because Jesus is a communist so we should all believe in communism. Then the other mormon guy yells back, JESUS IS NOT A COMMUNIST. One of the Elders tried to calm everyone down, but there was some tension in the air, so we left after a few minutes to go do some language study. We all just laughed about the whole thing later. holy cow it was interesting.

Well anywho, that's all for this week folks. I really love being a missionary. I consider it a privilege to wear Christ's name over my heart every day. I hope that things are going well wherever you all are. Make good choices.

Love,

Sister Smiley

Pictures: us getting super rained on, the second one was supposed to be in front of a sign that says "everything happens in threes" but it kind of didn't work out, us and the sister training leaders sitting in front of the opera house