Quick note on how incredible companionship study is! Because she's been taught all the lessons and has been to church many times and has had over 15 missionaries teach her, were sometimes unsure of what to share with her. But we looked over a few videos and both felt like that's what we needed to prepare. That's sometimes a scary moment when you prepare something so specific not knowing what's going to happen. Thankfully the Lord knows exactly what people need :) On Monday we read together and shared the Patterns of Light video (II) by Elder Bednar. She talked about the answers and comfort she received that weekend while fasting but how very soon afterwards she convinced herself that she would have done those things and found those things regardless. She loved this video and we went on to watch a few more Mormon Messages after dinner.
While teaching Suellen we heard a crack of lightening so loud we thought someone took a shotgun to a mockingbird. The sky was dark gray within just a few minutes! She gave us some of her sons shirts so we would we look presentable for our next appointment. I can't say I think it worked hahaha we booked it to the station and made it on time
Notes of Interest
-American potato salad has NOTHING on Germans!! It's delicious and will forever have a place in my heart and tummy
-Ward Sommerfest! They had tug of war and a bounce house and waffles and chess and handpicked lavender and anything else you think might entice people to come and it WORKED! A woman named Birget has been semi interested in the church for a couple months and she came with her daughter AND a friend! She met almost everyone there and as she was leaving, asked us if maybe we wanted to come by sometime- cue internal rejoicing. She's fantastic!!! They also had face painting and the YSAs all got wrestlers masks. Maybe they could audition for Nacho Libre 2
-At zone training we talked about changing everything that's within our power (aka hustle factor) we can invite and ask for referrals but we can't make someone say yes or accept a Book of Mormon
-we had our weekly planning down by the Rhein and the swans kept hissing at me but no worries, I'll win them over with bread this week.
-Johannisbeeren (Black Currant) are divine! They're red or white and have tiny seeds inside that you can pop! Oppenheim has gardens on the outskirts that people rent for a few years. Apparently they can kick you out if you are growing enough. It's like survival of the fittest for apple trees. We worked with Schwester Frübel in hers and she gave us two big bags to make muffins with!
Other thoughts from training:
~Dangers of rationalization: doesn't feel like sinning, makes bigger mistakes easier, easiest thing to give into, you're asking yourself how best to spend your time instead the Spirit.
~With any lesson, it can be brought back to the Restoration. Ex: why do you believe that? How can man do that? How can we be forgiven? Why do we have that commandment? Etc. It's not a question as to whether a commandment is really important or whether a doctrine is true, it's a question of if they know that Joseph Smith was a prophet.
~Many choices are not evil but they absorb our time from the best choices.
First splits with our STLs! (Sister Training Leaders)These girls are gems! Sister Gardener and I went dooring, sharing a video about Christ. On our last floor, at the last door, with a doormat that said 'oh no not you again', someone invited us in. Whattt
We blinked a solid 7 times before finally saying something. It was incredible!! That was the first that had happened for either of us and Sister Gardner's been out for over a year!!! The family is from Paraguay and normally went to a Protestant church. The only Book of Mormon we had was in German whoops :/ but we did talk to someone from Ghana on the Strassenbahn so that was good :)
We also had our first street display in Frankfurt!!! I learned so much, one of which would be to not wear full skirts on windy days downtown. I love the excitement you get from others!! No matter how many times you get shut down, when someone finally watches a video or talks to you or accepts a Book of Mormon- you want to Napoleon dance in market square because it's worth it! Every single day is worth it for the one person you meet.
"As significant as these trials can be, they must not distract us from rejoicing in and celebrating Christ’s supernal intercession in our behalf." -Elder Quentin L Cook
Whether they be trials, preoccupied thoughts, or tough decisions- we can't let them overpower the absolute JOY that we have because of our Savior.
We listened to 'Gods Grace is Sufficient' by Brad Wilcox this morning while cleaning the apartment. It had a wonderful emphasis that YES we are saved by grace but are we becoming changed through grace? There will always be things required of us but it's not to repay our Savior, it's us learning to become like Him. ~We're not earning heaven, we're learning heaven.
We had a referral about two hours by train so the Jarrards offered to take us out there but she didn't end up being home so we go to door the whole neighborhood and then they took us out to dinner and we found out that Elder Jarrard's sister lives across the street from the Risers now!
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| "Experience How it Really Was" |
Sometimes when you're one month a missionary, you make tacos in your room. It's for fun.
We spent today at Freilichtmuseum in Bad Sobernheim (Open Air Museum) with Schwester Dahlke! 'erleben wie es wirklich war...' (experience how it really was) I'm happy to report that it was very educational. I also feel very sorry for anyone living there over 6 foot in 1607. They must have had a permanent bar on their forehead announcing to the world that the doors weren't tall enough. Thankfully society has made leaps and bounds.
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| Crossing the a bridge at the Barfußpfad |
We also did the Barfußpfad (Barefoot Path) which was so fun!! You got walk through mud and and a river and all sorts of wood platforms and at the end, pull yourself across the river in a boat! We definitely embraced the no shoes rule. It was so quiet and started to rain a little towards the end so there weren't many people there. We walked through wheat and corn fields and Sister Godwin took so many pictures I felt like a reality TV star. (Having experienced this, I've decided that it's not a career I think I'll pursue)
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| "The Cutest" Border Collie |
Temple day next Tuesday!!! we switched our PDay to Tuesday so Monday well go work at the Hirschs farm! Schwester Hirsch trains and breeds border collies and they are the cutest. She brought them to the Sommerfest and they were a hit with the kids. Ok ok the missionaries too :)
Love you wonderful people! Thank you for sharing the missionary experiences that you've been having!!
Liebe Grüße ❤️
Sister Riser
