Hello hello hello!
Good morning meine liebe Familie! Wie geht's euch? :) It is a very sunny and pleasant morning here. This week spiked in heat then came back down.
Funny quotes of the week:
A man smoking walked right past us. We both turned to each other and said, "Smoken Sie nicht!" This has been our joke once we started talking about the stop smoking program. Sister Arnold was trying to translate "stop smoking" into German, and it became "Smoken Sie nicht." :)
Sister Arnold: "Wir sind hipster." (We saw it on the news that Karlshöhe, this really pretty place in Stuttgart, was a fun place to go for drinks/ice cream/a place to look over the city. What's up---we found the place before it got onto the news. Hehehe.)
Life is really good here.
We taught Frau S on Monday night. I think we finally made a breakthrough with her.
Wednesday, we taught E with the Zauggs. It was really sweet and powerful. She really needs to understand the Savior's role in her life. She needs to know him. That night was R. ......biggest miracle of our lives.........and I'll get to that story in a second.
Thursday we went to Rathaus for the fourth time to get Sister Arnold's visa. We brought Elder Escher along. :) (It's sometimes handy to have a Swiss elder around when you need to go to Rathaus.....;) ) Thankfully, all the papers worked out. But the one problem was, her passport photo didn't meet the requirements. So we'll go back tomorrow and get that done. Unfortunately, she isn't allowed to wear her nametag until she has her visa (which we didn't know). :(
That night, it was a blessing to be able to help an old woman on the bus. Sister Arnold got to talk with Br. B, who is another one of those wonderful patient people with her learning German. Huge tender mercy for the day.
Friday, we met with S. She's doing fine. Friday was a bit stressful because we didn't get very much planning done, then went to S, then needed to coordinate with the elders to pick up the Zentrum key and the Stop Smoking program, then we were way late and just it was stressful. We went to go meet with C, but then she wasn't there. We went home and had dinner and had a way good planning session for the coming transfer. We set number goals and then non-number goals. It is going to be a MIRACLE transfer, let me tell you.
Saturday, we coordinated with the Zauggs, went and met up with E, an American member who married a German and has lived here for 40 years. Then we met with R again. He's WAY COOL.
Sunday, we went to the international ward, then our ward, then to the Lörchers for dinner. So much food and SO good. They are SO sweet.
Okay. Miracle of the last week: R. So, I mentioned him a bit last Monday. We talked with him on the train. And it was interesting, because I felt strongly that we should talk with him. (Anscheinend, Sister Arnold did, too.) But I didn't really know how, because he had his headphones in and was across the aisle anyways. But at one point, he looked up at me and so I immediately took the chance and asked him how he was doing. Anyways, we talked, he was really interested and searching for answers to questions. We promised to bring him an Italian Book of Mormon, and he said he'd try and come to church. Well, he did, and he loved it! It was really cool.
So we had our first appointment with him on Wednesday. We brought M along, because she got back the Friday beforehand (the 6th) from her mission and had time and wanted to come with us whenever we needed her. So we asked her to be a joint teach. We just started talking about what he expected from us meeting with him. And he told us about how about three years previous, he felt like he heard the voice of God speaking inside him, but that he hadn't heard that for three years. It was powerful to watch the Spirit work with him, because we started talking about the Book of Mormon, and he had already started reading. He said that it first seemed like it would just be a book of fairy tales, but then he kept reading and after about twenty minutes of reading the intro and the testimonies, he said it was plausible. It could be true. And the thing is, he felt it, too. And M asked him if it was the same feeling that he'd had three years ago. He started crying and said yes. He was so surprised at how quickly it had come back. How this was the third time we'd seen him, but how we brought that feeling back so quickly. Oh! It was so good. We invited him to be baptized on July 12th, and he accepted. ("It'd be pretty silly of me to say no, wouldn't it?") The Spirit was SO STRONG. It was actually a longer lesson than we'd planned, but that was okay. And he talked the most. It was so powerful.
So then we met with him again on Saturday. We taught him the Restoration. Again, the Spirit was so strong. He has been so prepared. So prepared. He kept saying, it just makes sense. It explains why the Dark Ages were so dark---it was a people that had pulled away from God. Ah! And he felt that it is true. He is so good. He wants a better relationship with God, because he feels like he pulled himself away from God. We keep testifying that God loves him. It's been really powerful. He came to church again yesterday. Please, please, please pray for him! He is so sensitive to the Spirit, and he feels that the answers to his questions are here, and he feels it is true. AH! Sister Arnold and I are still blown away at how much of a miracle he is.
Anyways. That was our week. It was great. And so will this week and transfer be. :) Full of faith and miracles and becoming consecrated. That's kind of been our theme lately. And that's what we are going to become!
I love you so much!
Love,
Sister Beth Winters
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