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.