***The Letter from Woche 3 was an adapted personal letter from Sister Riser. She realized the next week that she had written an actual group Woche 3 email, but just forgot to send it. HERE IT IS!***
Finally we got to play the worlds favorite sport: Fußball! We got
shown up by a couple grade schoolers with mad skills before the game
started. We played with the Mainz elders, the ward mission leaders
family and a few investigators and other members. Elder Cloward
sacrificed himself for the ball and has a couple glory scrapes and a
good story to tell now.
There's been so much time for contacting this week!! We already know
that people wouldn't even think about listening to two American girls
talk about religion for two minutes. Thankfully, they have the spirit
to listen to if they stay long enough to feel it :) There's no end to
the Spirit that's invited and the miracles brought when you OPEN YOUR MOUTH!! We're trying to make the best use of our time in between
appointments and we've devoted the first few minutes of our language
study to memorizing German hymns to sing as we walk. I'd forgotten how
much I love that German Gemeinden stand for their intermediate hymns,
it's like a stretch/snack break because the toddlers next to us kept
putting pretzels on my lap ;)
I've spent a lot of time thinking about covenants this week and how we
continue to honor them. One of the qualifications and questions for
baptism is to have a determination to serve Christ till the end- how
do we continue to do that?
We have a temple trip date!!!!!!!!!! One of the first things my
trainer told me I would love about where we were serving is that we're
less than an hour from Frankfurt temple which means we can go once a
transfer! Unfortunately the temple closes for 2 years in September so
hopefully we get in twice before then! In the MTC we went altogether
twice and the on the day that everyone went finding in Manchester, the
three Americans that didn't have visas to proselytize outside Germany
stayed and went to the temple. It was just us and the temple workers
and so incredibly quiet and peaceful.
We're continuing to study attitudes and the powers of desire-
"Become a creator of circumstances instead of a creature of
circumstances." - Elder M Russell Ballard (from the talk "Do Things That Make a Difference"). The way we approach a day
makes the biggest difference! Being proactive can turn the slowest of
days into the most fruitful. Turn your day over the Lord! Don't wait
to be told what to do but be a ready recipient!
We taught our first English class this week! The members that wanted
to teach were on vacation so we had Adrielle- a less active Peruvian
who moved to Germany with his wife a few years, and Martine- a soon to
be Albanian student at the university here who called in from one of
our flyers AND he speaks 5 languages :) something tells me he'll be
teaching us quite a bit too. After class he brought out a bottle of
wine from his backpack to say thank you to us. I'm not sure if it was
the 'subtle' eyebrow raise or what that convinced him but we were
finally able to tell him that no we don't drink and no were not
allergic and yes were as young as we look. Note: contrary to
popular-ish belief, grandma shoes do not make you look more mature.
But it was great! He went from having no interest to wanting to know
more!!
Fun fact: Blue street signs run parallel to the R River, while red
signs point you towards it #themoreyouknow. Thank goodness for my
companion, we would never make it anywhere. I'm growing more grateful
for being geographically challenged, it makes me appreciate her even
more :
Nierstein is splendidly quiet and beautiful. And the sunsets outisde our window are the perfect setting for our daily planning and call ins :) Mainz has been in the high 90s or topping 100 this week and we've been melting just a little so today we're rejoicing in singing patriotic songs and wearing street clothes!! We may be two days late but our zone is meeting up for an All-American cookout and soccer!! We already celebrated with a failed attempt at solar cookers at the Fugels haha
Remember Zig Ziglar!! Opportunity + Preparation = Success!! God gives us opportunities to share the gospel all the time! Be prepared, study your scriptures, be brave, answer questions and BE AN EXAMPLE
We have loads of time for emails today so I can chat with most of you later when you're awake!!
Side note: American matching was completely* accidental.
PS- Kannst du mir unsere Familie Fotos schicken??
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