A Mission Life....

Today was crazy, I don't even know what happened, I will try and make this make sense. Ha ha.

As I mentioned last week, on Monday we had interviews and then Tuesday we went on a hike. After P-day our wonderful friend Marie came for a lesson and stayed for Institute!! It was her first time, and I think she really enjoyed it!! She has a baptismal date for August. Unfortunately she is moving outside of the mission before then. On Friday we called her new missionaries. The elders there are so funny. They are very excited to welcome her!! I hope she fits in well there.

On Wednesday we went finding for most of the day because two of our appointments rescheduled. It is mentally really hard to know 6-7 hours of finding, but we did it. We were about to take an ice cream break, and then my companion sees someone she has talked to before, so we stop her and she gets ice cream with us. We end up having a lesson about God, and she wants to meet again, so we have an appointment for this Sunday!!

Thursday everything fell out too, and it was a little awkward because we didn't know that they fell out until the middle of the day and we didn't know if we had enough time, etc., but we ended up doing some planning and then we taught Jane!!! She is super cute. We picked out songs for her baptism and taught her about enduring to the end!! She is so cute and so ready!!

Friday we visited a less-active and it was so funny because the first thing she said was "Why are you here? I am a little confused". So we explained how we were missionaries and we are trying to get to know the members and we wanted to share a spiritual thought with her. Later in the day we had a lesson with Marie (she has a baptismal date!) and we taught the guy who talked to us at the restaurant awhile back!! Both were really good!!

Saturday we did a service project for a less-active who came to church the next day!!! That was so exciting!!! We painted and cleared out her yard! We then went to the Ausstellung (street display) and the missionaries had found two potentials for us and had given away six copies of the Books of Mormon in one day!!! Crazy!!! After the Ausstellung, we had an amazing lesson and one of the elders stayed in for it! It was so cool to watch how he taught the principle of prayer. I learned so much about keeping it simple and relating it to the person! 

Sunday was crazy busy; we had two investigators at church and we have a baptism next week so we were trying to figure out the time. And Jane was sick so she wasn't there. It was crazy but really good!! Both of our investigators really enjoyed church and they both came with us to a member’s afterwards for lunch and really enjoyed it. We played games and the elders were laughing so hard at one of our investigators. He is so funny!! We ended the day though with a calm member appointment with all the missionaries from our Distrikt!! It was fun!!

Yesterday we set another baptismal date!!! The guy who is super funny came to church yesterday!! We taught him last night with Marie because they both speak French (he is still learning English and German). Another member was there and shared his conversion story. It was a really awesome night!! We asked if he would prepare to be baptized on September 9^th! Marie, our new baptismal date. Chris and we stayed for the family home evening that night! So much fun!!

Miracle of the mission: Saturday night!

We went to the park to wait for another appointment. He did show up so we finished our dinner on a bench and this guy came up and he looked at us as if he knew us and he looked a little familiar. He sat down, and Sister H. asked if we knew him. We began talking. Apparently he had heard us talking English to someone else (English is often a good conversation starter because we start by asking where they are from, etc.) and wanted to talk to us. Turns out he is a Christian but wants to be a better Christian. We explain our purpose and ask if he has time for us to teach a little something! We teach the Restoration and then I feel like Sister H. is going into explain the Book of Mormon. I feel a little hesitant but instead she says our goal is to help people be baptized by the proper authority and asks if he is willing to find out if this church is true. He says yes then she looks at me and asks how long it would take. I say 6 weeks. Then she explains that we like to set goals with people so they have something in mind, that we would want to meet with him once or twice a week and if he would prepare for September 2nd!        

WE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE IN THE FIRST CONTACT/LESSON!!! 

I hope you all are having a great week!!! Keeping studying the scriptures, keep praying. It's gonna be a great week! Here are some pictures from the hamsters we held on Sunday and Frozen auf Deutsch!

Please pray for Jane. Her baptism is this Saturday at 11!!!! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson 
Alpenländische Mission

 

 

Das Leben der Missionare

Hallo Freunde,

This week was full of appointments and finding!! 

Baptismal Date with Jane: 

We had two wonderful lessons with her this week. She is truly amazing!! She is motivated to make friends in the ward and she is so excited for her baptism on the 29^th. Sunday was full of planning her baptismal program with members and her and the ward!! 

Dienstag: After P-day we did quite a bit of finding on a street called Königstrasse. Once you serve in Stuttgart there is no place like Königstrasse. We find so many people there, it is truly amazing! I really feel like my abilities to find have quadrupled here, I love it!!

Mittwoch: Today was quite the day-to-day. We had transfers so we said goodbye to Elder Kaufusi and Sister Howsmon. It took me like 3 days to realize Sister Howsmon wasn't here; she is so cute! We had a great lesson with Jeanne, and she shared her testimony with us, and it was so cute!! She can really feel the spirit. We also had a four-hour Bible bashing appointment.... it wasn't all bad, but it was so hard to leave; people kept coming in from nowhere, and we had to start all over. Basically, everyone, the Church is oh so true!! It is designed to help us recognize the truth from trusted people and how to interpret the Bible the way God intended!! Surprisingly, my testimony grew from it, the Church just makes sense!! 

Donnerstag: We had 2 amazing appointments: one was a first appointment and the other was a member present lesson with Jane!! We talked about the temple and marriage! It was such a great lesson!! I love talking about the temple; it is such an amazing place!! I am trunks for the temple. Ha ha!! 

Freitag: We met with another investigator who is a friend of Jane and we have a baptismal date with her!!! She is super cute and knows the Church is true!! She is literally sooo sweet!!  We also found a potential when we went out to dinner with the Stephensons. How does that work? I don't know, but the Lord works in mysterious ways!! 

Samstag: Today we tried to visit a less-active in the hospital, but we missed the bus in both directions, so we walked all the way up the hill to the hospital and then all the way down the hill to our train!! It was quite the adventure. Ha ha!!! She is literally so cute and so funny, she doesn't care what she says. She just tells you everything whether you know the vocab or not and whether you want to know or not. Ha ha. She is so funny!!!

Sonntag and Montag: We had amazing member appointments with cute adorable children and Jane came to the one on Sunday and both families were American so English!!!!!

 

Montag: We had interviews with President!! He is so sweet and we spent 15 minutes talking to him as a district of how to make our street display better. President and Sister Brown are so motivated and ready to take on the mission, I am excited!!!

Dienstag (today): Today we did a hike to these waterfalls, and it was so beautiful!! The hike was so fun. We went with the other sisters and it wasn't too difficult but reminded me of home.  

This week we are asking people if you could ask God one thing what would you ask?

One guy said, “What can I do to make the world a better place!!” I think that is the best answer!!! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission

 

 

Missionary Work at a Glance! -- It's Like Chocolate!

So much happened this week but also want to touch on what I have learned this past year because I hit my year mark!!! So I decided to copy my companion's hilarious weekly! 

From the words of Sister Hunter (all but one of the following things happened this week and the other own happened a few weeks ago).

“Missionary work is like a box of chocolates

You never know what you are going to get...

Sometimes you give out a Persian book of Mormon in the middle of a police-blockaded Stuttgart 21 protest.

Sometimes you share a cinnamon roll with a Jehovah's Witness named Frank.
Sometimes you can speak the mission language.
Sometimes you can't.
Sometimes you notice how out of control your missionary tan lines are.
Sometimes 5 appointments don't show up in one day.
Sometimes you find 7 new people to teach in an hour and a half.
Sometimes your new mission president breaks out into song in the middle of his conference.
Sometimes your eyes swell shut for no apparent reason.
Sometimes old German ladies feed you 6 chicken nuggets for dinner.
Sometimes people yell and swear at you.
Sometimes people we just met on the street ask you to come over to their house to teach their family and neighbors.
Sometimes you find a box of real, delicious American Jell-O in your cupboard.
Sometimes transfers come around and you don't get transferred.
Sometimes that's a major relief because you didn't want to be transferred anyway.
Sometimes you fake it until you make it (and dang, you make it well).
Sometimes you fake it, and you still don't make it. 

But despite it all, you still have a box of chocolates, and personally I've never had chocolate I didn't like. So what I'm really trying to say is that I'm enjoying the unpredictable deliciousness of missionary work.”

What does a missionary even do? They learn a lot about everything! They learn how to be themselves and to not care what others think but at the same time how to care and be loving and charitable towards others. A few things I have learned from companions, exchanges, members, other missionaries...

1) Who cares? It doesn't matter. Some details just don't matter enough to worry about.   As I have left my companion who said this so often, this phrase has often come into my mind, “Will someone actually care? No? Then no worries!”

2) Be patient, loving, charitable! Sometimes towards others and sometimes with myself, and sometimes with time, but the principle is always the same.

3) Lets do this baby!! That's missionary work!! Just do it!! I have seen this attitude in my companions, and although it comes through in different words, sometimes you just have to do it and the joy comes through seeing the Lord work through you!

4) Fear God, Love God, He is our Creator! The creator of the universe has created US!! He is our literal father! He loves us so much!! Faith in the Gospel can bring peace to our lives! Faith is action, hope, assurance, and evidence. Hebrews 11 and Ether 12

5) The Reality of the Infinite Atonement! The Atonement can help us forgive, heal, be forgiven, comfort, endure, and extend beyond our capabilities... The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the way we can become like our Father in Heaven!

I agree with my comp. that missionary work is like chocolate; it's all different but it's all good!! I am loving watching the Lord help me and be right there by my side, especially when I don't know if I could do it on my own!! There was an instance this week when I felt the whole world was against us and as I prayed for the strength to push through, you can feel the Savior through the Holy Ghost walking beside you!! It is an amazing experience! Faith is an action!  

Sorry I don't have very many pictures this week because technology is slow. 

Celebratory milkshake!! Chocolate and pistachio: a match made in heaven! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission

 

Special Welcome to President and Sister Brown, Fresh from the Land of the Free! USA USA. I Am Proud to Be an American, Where at Least I Know I'm Free! USA

To all of my American Friends HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!! God bless America!!! USA

This week was a little interesting; one of our investigators was "cheating" on us, but with other missionaries. Ha ha!! We have no idea how it happened, but do you remember the miracle story from 2 weeks ago? Well that same investigator couldn't come to his appointment so he rescheduled for Tuesday, but then we called him to confirm the day of, and he rescheduled for Saturday. We were planning on meeting him at the Church at 4. Just before 4, the International Sisters say they have an appointment out on Königstrasse (King street) so they leave. Our guy doesn't show up. We call him, and he answers and guess who he is with?? The International Sisters. The poor guy is probably as confused as we are. We finally figured it out and we have another appointment for next Saturday!!  He is awesome, we are so excited!

Our Baptismal Date with Jane! We had an amazing lesson about tithing and fasting and then that evening a member invited us and her over for dinner!! It was so good for her to get to know other members better!!

We have a member who is home bound and therefore a less active, and we visit her every week to share a spiritual thought with her and this week she felt so good. We stayed twice as long as normal because she was so talkative! It was great to see her in a little less pain!!

We had Tausch!! Which means we did exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and I stayed in Stuttgart. I learned a lot about being bold and detailed when explaining the Restoration!! It was a super fun Tausch. We got smoothies to celebrate our year marks together!! Wahoo!! 

Something that my Tausch companion and Sister H. mentioned this week was that when I mention the Gospel, I often talk about the peace that it brings to me. It is so true!! The one of the biggest blessings of the Gospel for me is the peace that it brings me!! That has been one of the best things of my mission, seeing people find peace in the Gospel!! I love that!! Through Jesus Christ we can find infinite peace!! What an amazing blessing that God has given us!!

Hope you all have a great week!!

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson

Alpenländische Mission

 

 

 

European Bus Drivers Are Heros - They Can Literally Do Anything

So I think I would trust European bus drivers with literally my life; they drive around all day in the craziest of situations and somehow make it out all right!! 

Mittwoch - Lessons:

We had a lesson with our baptismal date investigator!! She even has a friend who is investigating too!! We also had a lesson with a less-active and saw some cool statues on the way home!!! (Pictures attached)

Donnerstag - Cleaning Day:

So this is an exciting day. We cleaned and cleaned and took a break to visit a less-active and then cleaned and cleaned some more!! 

Freitag - Sharing our beliefs:

On Thursday we got a random call from a lady, and she said she was doing a project for school and she needed to compare different beliefs on the Bible because she was Catholic. So we made an appointment for the next day; she was very surprised!! We started out describing our beliefs in German and we explained the Book of Mormon and prophets, and she was writing our answers down. She then asked about evolution.... We got the Senior Couple in to help answer that and the conversation switched to English. After a while she was done with her written questions and she was just asking questions that interested her and she wasn't writing down the answers. We ended up giving her a huge pile of materials to help her with her paper and she offered to give us a tour of Stuttgart some day!

We had another amazing lesson with Jane (baptismal date)

Samstag - Referring people and Member support:

This week we got the opportunity to refer two of our investigators to other missionaries in our zone. It is sad to not be able to work with them, but fun to help out other missionaries in our Zone!!  

We had 5 members come to our Street Support. They add a whole other level to the street display. It was amazing. Now we just need to work on their confidence!! 

Sonntag - Gathering the Elect:

We had amazing lesson with an investigator from China. He is so ready. This shows that the Lord is gathering his people despite restrictions that some countries have. The gathering of Israel is happening in Germany; who would of thought? 

Montag - Translating:

I got to translate for a member at FHE and it was fun experience!! 

We had a couple of member appointments this week, which are always fun and five members came to our street display. The ward is so supportive!! 

One thing that I have been thinking a lot about lately is the idea of how God is literally always there. We just need to reach out and ask for His help. No matter how small we think our problem is, He is always there! That is a doctrinal truth; that He is always there!! I hope you all know that!! I invite you this week to find three ways the Lord has blessed you and write them down so you don't forget!!

Happy Birthday to my cousin PAIGE this week!!! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission

Pictures:

Me and my crazy companion LOVE HER!!
A gift from President Kohler
Cool statues
Fountains

 

When it's Raining Potentials and an Investigator Falls Out of the Sky

Hallo Freunde!!

Happy Father's Day everyone!!! ‍(because my dad works at a computer place)
 

Miracle Story of the Week!!!! 

Okay remember from last week how we went finding with our investigator and found 7 people that day (5 with her)? Well one of the people I had stopped, trying to just get out there, were two people from India who spoke English and were just here for a business trip or internship. I did a survey with them, asking them what they thought about God and the meaning of life (big questions, I know). They were super nice. They were willing to meet again before they went back to India, and so I got one of their numbers. On Wednesday I called him and for some reason he was speaking German to me.... I was really confused, but quickly switched into German and made an appointment. The time comes for the appointment, and I am still confused, so we plan to teach Lesson B if the guy I think it is comes and Lesson A if it is someone totally new. Well, he shows up to the center, and I have never met this man in my life!! We teach lesson A and we get to know him better. He has a different religious background, comes from Morocco, and he is living here because he married a German. Wait, what??? But he totally had interest!!! We were going through the Restoration and he randomly interrupts and asks if I know French. Uh, nein. BUT our investigator who had decided to stay is from France and explained Joseph Smith and defined ordinances in French to him!! We were able to give him a Book of Mormon in Arabic, a language he can understand better than German and we gave him a German one for his wife!! How weird is that?!?! I have no idea how we got this golden guy's number, but it was a miracle he found the center and that our investigator was there to help!!! I am so excited for him!! 

 

Besides having a great finding week!!! We had Zone Conference and it was President and Sister Kohler's last zone conference!! It was so fun to hear them speak and to hear their testimonies!!!  We are able to watch a slideshow of the Kohlers whole time here!! It was really fun! I will miss them, but am excited for the new ideas and testimony the Browns will bring!! President talked quite a bit about transition and it was so interesting to view the mission as an ever-going train, and we are blessed to be able to ride it for a little while!!! 

 

One of our investigators has a baptismal date for July!!! We are so excited for her!! Please pray for her. Her name is Jane!!

 

We went to Ludwigsburg and saw the castle. We were too cheap to go inside with the tour so we took pictures from the outside. Ha ha!!

I hope you are all straying strong and remember God loves you and is waiting for you to ask for His Help! Let Him walk with you or even carry you!!! The Gospel is true. Jesus Christ is perfect. Let Him perfect us!

 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson 
Alpenländische Mission

 

Pictures:

This is the Ludwigsburg castle we went to see today

A sandwich they call the New York, so I had to eat it,

The International Sisters came over for dinner on Sunday,

Dinner with the Internationals and our investigator after finding,

President and Sister Kohler--last picture with them as a missionary

 

 
 

Wunder der Woche (Miracle of the Week)

Hold on. Sorry this one is so long 

Hallo Friends!

This week had so much happen, but it was all just regular missionary stuff!

         This past week we had a goal of getting 10 Potentials (someone who is willing to listen, exchange contact information, and learn more). We reached that!!! So this week we wanted to try again and yesterday alone we got 7!! It was so cool!!  Sometimes when you meet people off the street you don’t know if they really will have interest or not, but you stop them, just hoping that they will want to listen for a few minutes! Well with our miracles day yesterday, we had a really cool experience. 

     It was towards the end of the day, we had been finding since about 3 or 4 in the afternoon and had a ton of success (thanks to our investigator; she wanted to come finding with us and stayed almost all day and helped us find 5 of our Potentials). We were doing one last stroll and Sister H. says, “Let’s stop that guy.” And so we stop this man from China and we do a survey with him, asking him what he believes and we also just got to know him a bit by asking him questions. He was so cute!!! He said he didn’t believe in God because he hadn’t grown up with that knowledge. Sister H. felt inspired to give him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet – we don’t usually do that, but it felt so right, and he accepted it!! He also was interested in meeting with us and discussing it more! I am so excited!! I had a similar feeling with a man my companion and I stopped last winter, and this guy is doing amazing!! I am really excited to call and make an appointment!!!

          I want to show the members were such a support this week. As a missionary, members are the best! They help you out when you need some physical help. They are joint teaches and they can do things that we as missionaries can’t do and they know things we don’t. On Saturday we were at our Ausstellung (street display), and a man walks up holding a bunny. First of all, anyone that knows me, knows that just made my whole day right there. So I walk up to him and just ask him about his bunny and then he says his bunny has interest in learning about the Plan of Salvation. Wait, what? Turns out he was a member, and I am too new to know that. Ha ha. He offered to bring us lunch and so an hour later he brought us homemade omelet things, bread, and yogurt. It was so good and so sweet of him. I also got to hold the bunny twice!!! (I think I can count him as an investigator right?)  

          Another member on Sunday was willing to go with us to a less-active’s house and bring her the sacrament and give her a priesthood blessing!! They drove us there and then also fed us lunch, and were able to share a spiritual thought with them before we left! It was so sweet!! Members just make my day!!! 

         So I was asked to give a talk on Sunday, Sister H was so shocked because she hadn’t been asked yet and it was that they asked me to give a talk on my second Sunday. My talk was on the power of the Holy Ghost. I thought I would attach my talk for anyone who wanted to read it! 

Who is the Holy Ghost? 

He is a God, a member of the Godhead, He is a Man, He is also a Spirit
The Godhead includes Heavenly Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and 
"The Holy Ghost, [who] is the revealer and testifier of all truth."
The Holy Ghost  "teach[es] us what is true. He will testify of Christ" 

Without the Holy Ghost, we could not have a testimony that Jesus is the Christ and that His Church has been restored to the Earth. Through the Holy Ghost, we can feel the truth in our hearts. This comes from the attribute that the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit. In Doctrine and Covenants 130 we learn of the nature of God, how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and blood " ... but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." He is able to directly speak to our Spirit and leave a lasting impression on us, one that is not easily erased. This attribute of the Spirit allows us to build our testimonies.

Along with the Holy Ghost testifying of the truth, which is His primary task, He also guides, directs and warns us. God uses the Holy Ghost to warn of us dangers and give us answers to our questions.  As Penelope Allen wrote in the Hymn: 

"Let the Holy Spirit guard;

Let his whisper govern choice.
He will lead us safely home
If we listen to his voice."

He will lead us safely home to our Father in Heaven, if we listen to His voice. His voice is a still, small voice; he speaks to us with feelings of joy and peace and sometimes the whisper of words. We know that what we are doing is right when we can feel calm, happy and peaceful! We can feel the Holy Ghost answering our questions as we pray, read the scriptures, and attend Church. He is ready and waiting to guide us and guard us!  If we live worthy of His presence.

The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead and therefore one must be worthy to have Him with them. We must have good thoughts and words, choose the right, and try to be like our Savior. In 3 Nephi 27 it says "And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end." 

We can all have the Holy Ghost with us, if we live worthy, and enjoy the blessings of His guidance and care.

I have definitely noticed the Holy Ghost in my life, as we had a lesson on Sunday night with one of our investigators; we read Alma 32 together and just studied it! We had the senior couple there with us as well, and it was amazing to have your mind enlightened so much by reading a scripture and analyzing it. Everyone was making comments that I hadn’t ever thought of before and ideas were coming to my own mind that were totally new! Have you ever thought of the sun scorching the plant as anything but negative? (verse 38), but every plant needs sunlight; it just needs sunlight supported by water and healthy soil. What about light in verse 35? When you have the gospel in your life, you have light in your life, but you also feel lighter! As in the sins and sorrow of the world don’t weigh you down!!

Sorry my email was so long today! I hope you all have a great week and stay strong! The Lord is always there for us!

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson 
Alpenländische Mission

 

Pictures of Fun Stuff: 

Book of Mormon in multiple languages
Sis. H. had her first KitKat (she is allergic to the ones in America). 
We made cookies for our neighbors and landlord!! 
At the member appointment, they showed us Liahonas (called Der Stern back then) from the 1800's!!! The German is so pretty!!
When you don’t have a dryer you use fans! 
Bunny!!