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!