BAH! It's SO GOOD. Go watch it and share it with all your friends. Post it on my Facebook page. :) Because of Him
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you? :) How was that treasure hunt? That looks like a lot of fun. Yes, I still have the family Bible sheets. (P.S. I am LOVING family history right now.) Since I've got a lot of things here, I took a 4-ring (yes, 4-ring) binder and put everything into sheet protectors. Oh my goodness, it's SO MUCH FUN. All the stories, all the letters, I LOVE it. Would you be willing to send me more information about Valentine Feser?
Now that I'm halfway, I've learned a whole lot. And changed a whole lot. And the thing is, I want you to sit on your bed and show you all of the wonderful things that I'm learning and how I've changed. I want you to see me, different me, more me than I have been in my life. And still figuring it out. I've learned and felt much, much deeper that this gospel is true. I am learning to understand the Atonement. I learned that I am simple and it is beautiful and wonderful to do things simply. I am learning about healing. I have learned of the sanctity and beauty of the law of chastity and of womanhood and marriage and of having children and creating. I have learned so much more (and am definitely still in the learning process) of how to listen to the Spirit. I've learned how to study. I'm learning how to serve and love in ways that will help me when I come home from my mission. I have learned the importance of obedience. I'm learning about myself. I'm seeing connections in the gospel. I definitely have a stronger testimony of the gospel and especially of the Plan of Salvation. I am learning to love. I have a lot broader vision and ideas and I am hopefully more sensitive to the Spirit and to doing things. I am so much stronger and deeper (I still have a lot to learn, though). I KNOW, more than I ever did, that Heavenly Father is real and He is there and He loves us so much. I am learning how to use the Atonement in my life. I'm still kind of figuring out how I work, how Sister Elizabeth Jill Winters serves and spreads the gospel in the most normal way and loving way possible, how Heavenly Father wants me to work. I have a deeper gratitude for the Priesthood, and for friends, close friends and for my dad who worthily hold and exercise that priesthood. I'm so much more grateful for the things you taught me and how you raised me, because it's a HUGE strength to me. I'm farther ahead, I have more view, I understand more because you brought me up in the gospel.
Whew. That's a lot. Just a start. I'm different, and that's good. :) I'm still figuring it out. I just really want you to be here to see me and see the things that I'm learning and seeing and how I'm growing. AH.
Quote of the week/heard on the bus in Stuttgart:
"Fährt dieser Bus durch Bahnhof?"
"Durch nicht, aber drüber!"
Hahahaha.
I don't know how well I can explain this. "Does this bus drive through Bahnhof?" (as in, literally drive through Bahnhof) "Not through, but over!" (As in, it stops there.) Bahahaha. SO FUNNY. Sister Gilmour and I about DIED laughing. I know I did.
This week was.....good, I think. Weekends are rough, I feel like. We hold together the front end of the week, but by the end, the ends are frayed and we're a little frazzled and stressed. But that's why it is so beautiful and wonderful to be able to take the Sacrament. It's such a source of strength.
So.....the week! We had a TON of contact with members, but less contact with investigators.:P Still trying to figure out that balance. Things we did on Monday:
- Had a picnic with our district and Lucie and Johann (JAE) at Killesberg (again.) :) I LOVE them SO MUCH. We're best friends, and it's wonderful. These people are great.
- Lesson with E: she's less active, but wonderful.
- FHA.
Tuesday was interesting. District meeting, lunch, and then we wanted to talk to the Bensons about a couple things and ended up talking for an hour---all about JAEs (young adults) and things that they're going through. It's rough. There are some tough problems. Satan's got a pretty big influence---and it's terrible. Which is why we're here, right? Satan's awful. But the Gespraech was really good.
Then we went to the Familie W, which was wonderful. They're so sweet and happy and I love them. :) We talked about family history. They're pretty pro. It's so much fun to see and do and talk about.
Okay. Other things.
- Visited Sr. M in the hospital. :( I watched the nurse draw blood. I'm so weird. ;) Sister Gilmour got a little light-headed, but I was fine. Maybe I'm supposed to be a nurse. ;) Hahaha I love this.
- Visited Sr. G, a really good appointment.
Thursday.
- Visited J and M. J's a member; M isn't. We don't really know why he isn't yet. Working on that. But they are so GOOD. Inherently (innately?) good people.
- Visited the Ws. Oh my goodness, you should have been there for the ride. Again. I am in LOVE with Germany. In love. Everything was so GREEN, and then to ride through the towns with the beautiful red rooftops and ah! I was in heaven. They live out in the Pforzheim area. But they come to our ward anyways...... So we went out and had lunch with them, and then did some family history with them.
- No one showed up for English. So we stayed at the JAE Zentrum (young adult center) and worked on Spanish until the elders came because they had the key to lock up. But then. A tender mercy. We were trying, things were a little rough, and by the time we got home, we would have had another funny twenty minutes to fill before starting our dinner hour. But then when we got out of the Bahn, there was this man who kept looking at us, and so we talked with him. He's from India, he's Christian, and he has a family (wife and baby girl) who are coming over in about a month. And he lives up the street from us, coincidentally. :) And we talked with him and told him about the Book of Mormon and things and it was SO GOOD. And then when we went inside, we were exactly on time to just do dinner. Oh, Heavenly Father is so good.
Saturday......was interesting.
- We went shopping for Lebensmittel. I love the food we buy.
- We went to interviews (9 a.m.) with President Miles. It was really good. We talked about the ward, about lots of things. During district meeting, we talked about health and lots of good things. :)
-Put together an Easter egg hunt for our lesson with S and O and L (S's kids).
- We were joint teaches for D again. This is where our day starts to get interesting. A couple of her questions revolve around Adam and Eve and the fall. It's really interesting. And we talked about the Book of Mormon and how we came to know it's true. And in that lesson, the elders dropped her, which made me really sad, but she's really tricky. The thing is, though, she keeps borrowing different church books and reading different things to understand what the Church says about the Fall. And so she was talking to Sister Benson about it and she showed D a book that she loves, and so she was staying and reading.
Meanwhile, we studied. And I kind of started studying one of the questions she has, but then wanted to read about the Atonement, so I did. But before I did, I saw a couple new things that I wanted to tell her about. After our studies, we had to go down to Bahnhof to do emails (because we have the Erlaubnis (permission) from President Miles to write emails twice a week), and so we started talking a little bit. And either it was me or the Spirit, but I really felt like I wanted to sit down and talk with her. Watching the elders teach---they're wonderful, but Damaris needs someone to slow down with her and work through the issues she has. So.....three hours after she was dropped, we picked her up and are meeting with her on Thursday......... Crazy. Either the Spirit was talking to me or I'm crazy. (The latter is an already established fact.) ;) Or both.
- We went and wrote emails, then went up to S and J's to meet with S, which was really good.
By the weekend I just felt like I was making mistakes and I didn't know where to start, which is why I was so grateful to take the Sacrament---because I just felt so much peace and love and security. It's huge. And my whole study this weekend was around the Atonement and earlier in the week, grace and mercy and justice, but mostly grace. And I keep thinking about this in Bezug auf myself. I just keep feeling a lot of love. That Heavenly Father can have mercy with me. And just what love Heavenly Father and Christ have for each individual. The Atonement is so great, and as I have been reading about what happened in each of the four gospels, I see how much He went through for us. That He might make it possible for us to repent and return to Him. We need mercy. We need it. And Christ made it absolutely possible to receive forgiveness and to try again and again and again. And I'm learning---still learning---how to not beat myself up, but to trust and to try again and again and again. I think that's one thing that may be exaggerated for missionaries---maybe some pressure I feel. We are held to such a high standard, and so when I fall short, I feel terrible. I feel like I'm a bad missionary. And that's DEFINITELY not the point. But it's okay, right? I'm still trying and I'm aware of where I need to improve, and I keep trying o do that which Heavenly Father tells me to do. And I am so grateful for that love which I feel and that He offers me a chance again and again and again. And that all came because of Christ. It's beautiful and I love Him so much.
I love this work. I'm trying and picking up and hoping that I'm accomplishing something here. It IS the Lord's work; I do know that. And I am so grateful for it.
I love you SO MUCH. You have no idea how much I love you all. :)
Love,
Your favorite sister missionary in all of Germany, Sister Beth Winters. :)
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