Monday, February 13, 2012

Herzlichen Grüßen aus München! (Warmest Regards from Munich!)

Servus! (Hi!)

I have successfully made it to Germany. To get here we flew from Salt Lake to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Munich. The flight was looooong. I probably only slept about 3 hours on the plane. When we landed in Germany, it was about 8 in the morning. The very first thing they do is hand you a Book of Mormon and tell you to go place it. I talked to a couple people on the train. They were very nice, but not so interested. At least I talked to somebody!

When we arrived at the mission office, the Assistants to the President had lots of training for us. We were only allowed to take a 20 minute power nap. They used to let the missionaries sleep for three hours when they first got here, but they decided to try something new this transfer. So I went about....30 hours without sleeping. Fun times. I did sleep very, very well my first night in the mission home.

My mission president is President Miles. He interviewed all of the missionaries who arrived on our first day. As I was talking with him, I felt the Spirit confirm to me that he is called of God to lead this mission. I know as I follow his counsel, I will be blessed.

After all our training, they took us to the mission home and we got to meet our trainers and find out where we would be serving. My first area is the München 3 Ward and Sister Pingree is my trainer! There haven't been sisters in this area for a long time, so Sister Pingree and I get the fun task of "white-washing" which basically means starting from scratch. I think I am serving in an area where Kevin Göhring served, his name is in our area book, so that's pretty cool.

We got in our apartment on Wednesday (after forgetting the keys and having the Assistants bring them to us-whoops). The apartment is VERY nice. It is a little bit out of the way, but Munich has a great public transportation system that we've been getting ourselves familiar with.

The first thing I noticed when I landed in Munich is that it is COLD. There is snow frozen onto the streets everywhere. I am very thankful for my boots and my black poofy coat. They have done a very good job of keeping me toasty.

On Sunday we got to meet the ward. There are some amazing members here. Sister Pingree and I introduced ourselves and bore our testimonies. In sacrament meeting one of the speakers was talking about the parable of the talents (in Matt 25). What he was saying really hit home for me, especially when he then read in D&C 60:2-3,13. The Lord has given me this amazing message to share with other people. It is my task to have courage and open my mouth to share it with others.

One thing that makes it easier for me to talk to people is that I already speak German. I have gotten compliments from lots of people on my German. The only reason it is so good is that I have been studying it for over 10 years! I hope that as I spend more time in Germany, I will be able to improve my German even more.

I am so grateful to be here serving in Germany. I know the Lord will help me as I seek to find His elect and invite them to hear His voice and come unto Him.

You can always write me at the mission office address, but here is my most recent address. NOTE: Be sure to include the "Kirche Jesu Christi" otherwise, they won't deliver it to me! Send packages to the mission office address

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Sister JeanMarie Stewart
Francestr. 6
80997 München
Germany

I love you all, thank you for all the support you give me!! You can e-mail me and I'll read it on Mondays. Include your address if you want me to write you back! Time is limited, but I'll try to write to as many as I can.

Ich weiß, dass ich ein Himmlische Vater habe, der mich liebt. Er wird mich in dieser Arbeit helfen und segnen, wenn ich seine Gebote halte. Ich bin so froh, hier in Deutschland zu sein.
(I know that I have a Heavenly Father. I know he loves me. He will aid me in this work and bless me when I keep His commandments. I am so happy to be here in Germany.)

mit herzlichen Grüßen, (Warmest regards,)
Sister Stewart

Caramellas- thank you so much for the cupcakes in the MTC! I shared them with my district and they loved them!

Aimee- thank you for the cookies and bread! They were amazing!
Translations by her father based on College German, the mistakes are his.

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