BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (28.2.11)

Hallo meine Lieben

THis week was jam-packed with too much goodness for one email.

Mon - we scrimped the final cents of our MSF money for the month and bought groceries and one Chinese food box to share....using 1, 2, and 5 cent pieces. Let's just say I'm glad I didn'T have to balance the cash drawer.

Tues - Leadership training in Stuttgart. Because we're the only Sisters in this zone (and only 2 of the total 20 in the mission) we were specifically invited. Because of a train strike (again) all trains were delayed\cancelled but we made it there eventually...and legally.

Thurs - Had district meeting. Went well. Our district is amazing.
Fri - Transfer calls came.....and went. Sister Dietz and I are staying together here in Ulm. I am way excited to finally keep a companion fro more than one transfer (6 weeks) and to stay in Ulm. It's amazing and I love it. That night as we were walking to the bus from the church, I felt like I needed to call Jenny Zimmerman (our new investigator from America with perfect Spanish and German). As I was takling to her about her new job she starts next week and the new apartment she's getting so she can get a baptismal date, I felt like I needed to start simply asking her questions about the church and what she knows and understands. Schw Blaschta has been telling her that she can'T get baptized because she doesn'T have a testimony and she's been accepting that as law. When I'D asked her the questions (baptismal interview questions unofficially and in my own words) I told her that what she had just told me was her testimony. She then paused and told me that that day she had received her answer that the church was true and Joseph SMith was a prophet. I about leaped out of the bus window! Then, I felt like I needed to ask her one more questions. I said 'Jenny, are you prepared to act upon that faith and the snwer you have received and be baptized on Mar 26th'. She said 'I have been waiting for someone to ask me that question and for me to give this answer YES!!! So, we have a baptismal date with Jenny!

Sat - We had an Austellung in Göppingen (Austellung being a street display). It was an absolutely beautiful day and it went A LOT better than the last one\first one I had (where I was cursed out 5 times in a row from old ladies). People actually listened to us and we felt like we needed to door one particular building and there we found a lady who really wanted to know more. Sadly, we had to give the information up to the Elders there and not keep her for us here in Ulm. BUt, it'S her salvation, not my glory so I really hope something comes of this.

Congratulations to Gracie and the Mabry family. That is super exciting. Maybe I'll get to have two shadows when I come home. Lots of love to thhem and I can'T wait to hear more about the adventures.

MOM - I loved the msg from Carolyn's brother. Where are they serving?? I can'T figure out who they were talking about. For those who are still reading this email but don't know what's going on. My mom's great friend has a brother and his wife who are serving in my mission. Through the grapevine I received this msg:

''I went out teaching with one of the Assts to the Pres last week and we
taught a man and his 9 year old daughter. In the course of the evening
appointment I asked how the man had been "found" by the missionaries. The
Asst. informed me that "Sis Lind" had found him through her contacting.
Even though she is now in another area of the mission and I may never meet
her, I thought that was pretty cool to have that happen right away after
arriving. Tell Peggy we are already proud of her product.''

DAD - no worries. I have had a backup plan for my career since my second semester at BYU. I love literature, but teaching more and more makes me realize that I love teaching about thoughts and feelings (and the gospel) and not so much right or wrong answers. Then I took a Technical Communications class and LOVED IT!! I want to work for a company writing memos, formatting handbooks, proofreading documents, formatting websites and brochures. TEaching was a first choice but since the market is bad, that's become the backup.

TOEJOE JR. - sounds like you are loving your area. I received your letter this week and loved it. Tic Tac TOe is coming back your way...and a letter of course. I really appreciate your letters and I canr really see that this mission is the best thing for you. YOu are growing up super fast. Now, take the concenration and focuy your are learning and practicing and apply it in daily life. High school life ends at graduation (some people from home haven't learned that lesson) so move on. Let the past die, but learn from it and move on. Become who you want to become not what fits right now.

P.S. my district is amazing and sadly we're losing two of our members. One is going home and the other is getting transferred. Elder Svoboda (from Vietnam, Switzerland, England, ...) reminds me of Tay more and more everyday. He has a lot of the same mannerisms and sayings and even facial expressions. It blows my mind everytime.

Apparently everyone thinks M&Ms are my favorite (21.2.11)

Guten Fasching Alle,

THe easiest way to do this email is day by day - - helps me keep things straight and not forget anything. REason behind subject line will be explained later on.

Mon 14th - Dr appt. Got an X-ray. It's really cool looking and was quite an experience being in a German hospital not visiting someone, but there for yourself and learning\hearing big medical words you wouldn't haveknown in English let alone German

Tues 15th - Planned to meet with Claudia (referral Sis Dietz brought with her from Singen), but during District meeting she called and canceled, saying 'Ich melde mich' meaning that we don'T call her she'll call us. NOT GOOD!! We freaked out because of our devastation, but decided to wait a day or two before doing anything so as not to scare her away. It's sad when someone feels the spirit so strong and WANTS the truth, but then some little red someone (with horns and a tail) sits on their shoulder and pinches them another way.

Sister Condie called and gave me permission to pick up the prescriptions from the Dr. I feel like Grandma Hailes who has to sit down each week surrounded by pill bottles and fill up the weekly pill box. It'Sreally not THAT bad...just 4 a day. I'll live. That tied with Physical therapy will have me better in no time. CAN'T WAIT!!!

Wed 16th - Went to go vorbei on an older Schwester who wasn'T in church on Sun. Took us 45 min to get there, she not home, bus drives right passed us as we are standing at the busstop, have to wait 45 min till next bus, get home chilled to the bone. It'S getting colder now instead of warmer.

Was so excited because of Valentine's package received from Pope's (THANK YOU SO MUCH). Received some M&Ms and awesome card and hand sanitzer (WAS GREATLY NEEDED AND GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED).

THurs 17th - Sandra (a weniger Aktiv) called us and asked us to help her pack her stuff from her boyfriend's apt and take it to her new one. We loved theidea as it was in the morning hours and we could then wear pants because it's service. (we love weraing pants whenever we can...which is not often at all). We were so grateful and glad that Sandra called us because we've been trying to get an appt with her for 6 weeks but her interesting relationship situation hasn't allowed her to want to. She comes to church every week though so we were at aleast able to make contact weekly. We decided to take flowers to Claudia. She let us in the apt building but met us on the stairs saying she was just going out. We didn't want to go in anyway, but it was sad to see her that way. As we were walking back to the bus stop (within 5 feet of it) the bus pulls away. Knowing that the one we planned on taking came in 5 min we didn'T worry. Then, I look at the schedule again and notice the 'rb' means Rufbus, meaning that the bus only comes if you specifically call for it the day before. Another hour of dooring. After about 20 min of no one being home, we were frozen so we went inside an Evangelisch church to warm up a bit till the bus came. Oh yes for 24 hr open churches with bathrooms.

Received Valentine'S package from home with more M&Ms. Thank you very very much for the dark chocolate and the peanut M&Ms. We love them and Sis Dietz teases me that M&Ms must be my favorite candy...funny how I never knew that, but I am extremely grateful for a bit of Americanism in our crazy German lives. I love getting any mail and it is always a blessing to have Sis Dietz brnig me a letter from the mailbox as that doesn'T happen often and she always feels bad when we get the mail and there'S nothing for me. THough focusing all my efforts on my mission, it is equally important to receive a bit of uplift and love from people who really care. When a hundred doors slam in your face you're so blessed to go to bed having read a line from home or see a card from Christmas and know that though no one here wants your msg, there are others whose lives have been blessed by it. FAlling asleep with the last thing you saw beig someone giving you the finger or shouting in your face makes the days and nights go so slowly and no fun, making the next day so hard to want to leave the apt so I want to thank anyone who has sent me a letter, it was greatly needed and definitely always an answer to my prayers. I reread all my tiny stack of letters often and I love the pictures and cards. Thank you!

Fri 18th - First session of Physical Therapy. Got poked and prodded and twisted in all directions. There is a problem with the bloodflow and a pinched erve in my deep lower back. The therapist, named Bruno (always joked that if I ever got a massage or therapist he'D have to be named Bruno) said that 85 percent of people between 20-35 have this problem but usually it goes away with a week or two. Since mine has lasted 6+ weeks, they really need to do something. Then, after sessions of massages and exercises, I'll never have a problem with this again because my back will have strengthened itself. The problem is that my spine is out of coordination with all the moving and twisting we do so it just has to lose some inflamation and learn how to coordinate itself and I'll be fine in no time. No worries at all. My session ended with me getting to take a 35 min nap on a slab of heated mud (a process called Fango). That was quite enjoyable but I left the office in pain because of the prodding and twisting and then laying completely flat, but I have noticed a decrease in the intensity and frequency of the pain. Thanks for medical technology. Can'T wait for next time as I get an electric massage...Sis Dietz is quite jealous.

Sat 19th - We felt like we should call Karin THurs night to see how she'S doing. As she picked up the phone she exclaimed that she was just about to call us for an appt. YEAH!!!!! We met with her and her mom and Sister. After the appt we realized that we had just gotten 2 new investigators and they were coming to church. What a blessing to see and find people who are ready for this message which will bless their families. Especially when this family has already been exposed to the church in Columbia and knew all about Temples and the WoW. We can'T wait till next Sat when we will extednd baptismal commitments for them all. They had already accepted a 'soft committment' meaning that when they knew it was true they'd be baptized. Now comes the real thing with a date and a commitment. PLease pray for the Horn family. OH, and Karin got the flight attendant job with Lufthansa, but decided not to take it because it would take her away dfrom her son too often and wasn't paying enough for her to live close enough to the headquarters to work for them. What a blessing she said, because now she can meet with us and be close to her family all at the same time.


Gotta go.
Alles Liebe
Sister Chocolate............... who apparently has M&Ms as her favorite candy....and they are starting to become so.

Pic 1 - the flower I 'filzed' meaning felted.
Pic 2 - my x-ray.

Frohe Valentin Tag (14.2.11)

ALLES LIEBE VON DEUTSCHLAND!!

I got the Christmas box!! We had Zone Conference this week (Feb 8) and I got it. Thank you thank you. I LOVE the PJs and Pillowcase and I have the little tags hung up above my bed as the 12 days of Christmas is still above my desk. Love it all and both with follow me to every apt. I mixed the letters up to spell HOME FANS as FROHE WEIHNACHTEN is a little too late. Under the HOME FANS I have the picture of mom and dad in front of the temple. I LOVE IT TOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Zone conference this week was AMAZING!!!!!!!! We learned so much about overcoming certain specific fears and teaching a 'Zero' lesson. This lesson is what we do at the first appointment. We get their religious\family background, give an overview of the doctrine in the lessons, ask for questions they have (about life or the doctirne), commit them to a 3x4 (3 lessons a week for 4 weeks plus church, prayer, scriptures and then they'll know the church is true), then we extend a baptismal commitment to them for when they know it's true they will get baptized. THe Area Presidency introduced this lesson to the mission in July of this past year and I really and truly have a testimony of it. IT WORKS

WE GOT 2 NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK.....stay tuned for the stories

Had Dr appt today. Found out that parts of my spine are crushing each other right above my tail bone. I had to get an xray (really cool) and I've been prescribed pain medication and Physical Therapy for 2 weeks (maybe this means I'll get to stay in Ulm another transfer. This transfer ends (we move) on Mar 2nd and we get transfer calls on the 27th.

We may get to go on the Ward temple trip to Frankfurt in March if we're still here. Keep us in your prayers that for once on my mission, I won't get a new companion each transfer. It'd be nice to get to stick with someone longer than 6 weeks.

THis week we did a surprise service project for Schwester Blaschta. We reorganized, redecorated, and dejunked her entire apt minus bedrooms. When she came home from the hospital she called us in tears thanking us for what we did for her. Then, she asked us what we wanted for dinner on Sunday (since we wouldn't take any money or anything for our work...we voted on Tacos. She made them (amazing soft shell) and came out with multiple cans of A&W ROOT BEER. Saliva was rolling down our chins. What a wonderful Sunday Evening.

Sis Dietz and I have been making calls to all of the former investigators in our Area BOok and have made some great contacts of potential new investigators. We made contact with 21 yr old Jenny ZImmerman (an American) who is great friends with Schw Blaschta. We invited her to SUnday dinner with the Blaschtas and she fell in love with us. We're all great friends now and we'll be working with her a lot. AND, shes our new investigator no 1.

We have kept our committment to talk to the first person we see each day and this week we saw blessings from it. We walked out the door on Friday and stopped a man who was on the phone. That day was my turn to talk to someone and I was super super nervous. I asked him about his belief in after death existence. He said 'that's a really good question' and asked if he could meet with us. His name is Illija from Croatien.

Sis Dietz and I have been making calls to all of the former investigators in our Area BOok and have made some great contacts of potential new investigators. We made contact with 21 yr old Jenny ZImmerman (an American) who is great friends with Schw Blaschta. We invited her to SUnday dinner with the Blaschtas and she fell in love with us. We're all great friends now and we'll be working with her a lot. AND, shes our new investigator no 1.

When SIs Dietz came from Singen, she brought with her a referral from a member there. That member had become super close with Sis Deitz and since she left Singen has called us multiple times a week to talk to Sis Dietz. We set up an appointment with Claudia (who lives in the middle of nowhere). She was very receptive to us though we were told that she doesn't do well with new people. SIs Dietz had never really done a full zero before so she'D asked me to kind of take the lead. When we got to the Überblick, I basically was able to give a shortened first lesson. When I bore testimony about the First vision and recited it to her, I felt chills run down my entire body and now I KNOW that JOseph Smith really and truly did see Heavenly Father and hear his voice. I've kind of known it was true before, but now I know that my thoughts before were nothing compared to my firm conviction now. New Investigator no. 2.

This area is slowly blooming and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to watch the spirit work and I just turn it on and guide it like a dog on a leash. I love the people and I love the work here like no other area I've served in (part of that has to do with the fact that this is the first area where I have been able to stay longer than 6 weeks.

Sister Dietz and I discovered abrand new ice cream shop this week. We got Spaghetti Eis (Ice cream). It reminds me of Nordhorn and the shop even has all those funny shaped ice cream creations. We were so excited! (picture attached). TO those who aren't familiar with Spaghetti Eis - it is Vanilla Ice Cream put through a press to come out like noodles then covered with Strawberry sauce and shaved white chocolate. Prety creative and amazing!

MOM - - YOur question 'Got any suggestions as to how to work best with people who aren't investigators yet?' will be answered in my next letter as time has run out. THe scripture reading challenge I extended (to finish the BoM by Mar 1) ends of course on Mar 1st. I am a little behind, but will finish on schedule. Lucky for me I get a whole hour a day just to read.

Gotta Go,
ALLES LIEBE
Sis Chocolate

DAD - Got your Valentine Letter to Ulm. Did not get Amanda Link's address. Please get her email address and have mom add her to the list of who gets my emails.

QUESTIONS\REQUESTS - What is Lauren Harris' address? Would you send me a copy (not the original) of a Jim Brickman CD?

SIS NELSON - HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER!!!!!!! Hopefully you got my card today as I sent it last Monday. If not, please watch out for it.

SIS THURSTON - Do you know an Elder Peters from Kearns UT?? My companion SIs Dietz is a good friend of his and we both discovered that we have friends when both of us received a letter from NC Mission.

SIS PALMER - What was that ward game you said you made? What it is about?

ASHLEY - DId you get my Valentine's day card?? It had your name written all over it and I included some really great German photos just for you.

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