Funny story- We ran into one of
our investigators in the internet shop just now when we came in. Munich is a
big city, but somehow we manage to see people that we know fairly often.
The weather in Munich has been
very rainy. Lots of days it will rain in the morning but thankfully it mostly
clears up by the afternoon. It's nice because so far the rain has kept the heat
to a minimum.
I forgot to tell y'all last week-
Sister Pingree and I are staying in Munich for another 6 weeks! So I'll be here
at least until July 19th. Last Monday we went hiking with our district. Two of
the missionaries left to go home last week, so it was their last P-Day. It
rained the whole time and the trail we wanted to hike was closed, but it was
still a lot of fun. I can't believe I get to serve in such a beautiful place!
This past week we
"babysat" a sister who was getting transferred and had to spend the
night in Munich. Since we had an appointment, Sister Pingree and Sister Shulze
took the luggage home and Sister Roffler and I went to go teach Sylvia. It was
the first time I have been in a lesson with an investigator without Sister
Pingree. It was very reassuring to discover that I can do this on my own without
my trainer. Sister Roffler and I taught about the restoration. Sylvia asked us
during the lesson why she has never seen an angel. I've been thinking about
that a lot. One answer that Sister Roffler and I came up with is that if we saw
angels every time we had a question, there would be no reason to have faith.
But because we have to read in the scriptures and pray and trust in God and
then listen for the Spirit, we get an opportunity to exercise our faith.
It's funny; we have taught two of
our investigators in the past week about faith. One of the things I have gained
a stronger testimony of in preparing and teaching those lessons is that faith
without works really is dead. The two are inseparable. If we do nothing, we can
never gain faith. We must exercise our agency to do the things that we help us develop
faith (pray, read, go to church, serve others, etc). One the other hand, when
we have faith, it is shown through our actions. There are many things we
do because we have faith (pray, read, go to church, serve
others, etc.). As we develop more faith, we do more to show our faith, and as
we choose to follow God, we develop more faith. It's a positive feedback loop!
(Sorry for the nerdy reference). This concept is something we have been working
really hard to help our investigators understand. They have to take action in
order to develop the faith to get baptized.
I know I am only beginning to
scratch the surface on understanding how faith works, but I am so grateful for
the opportunity I have here on a mission to study the gospel and then help
others to understand.
Embarrassing moment time- (this
just goes to show that even when you have been learning a language for 15
years, you still say stupid things)
Last week we were waiting to get
on a street car and there was a woman helping another woman into a wheel chair.
I reached out my hand to steady the wheel chair while she was sitting down.
Then as she was walking away, the woman said "Danke schön!" (Thank
you!). And what did I say in return? Not the proper response of "Bitte
schön!" (You're welcome!). Nope, instead I said
"Entschuldigung!" (Excuse me!) Dope. Oh well, the street was pretty
noisy, so I'm holding out hope that she didn't hear clearly what I said.
Ich liebe es, Missionarin zu
sein! President Miles sagt immer "Ist es nicht schön, auf Mission zu
sein?" und ich stimme zu! Ich habe so viel gelernt und hoffe, dass ich
viel mehr lernen werde. Ich weiß, dass unser Himmlische Vater uns leibt. Er
will, dass wir alles lernen was wir müssen um zurück zu ihm zu kehren.
(I love being a missionary!
President Miles always says, “Isn’t it great to be on a mission?”, and I agree!
I have learned so much and hope to learn much more. I know that our Heavenly
Father loves us. He wants us to learn all we need to know to return to Him.)
Liebe Grüße,
Eure Sister Stewart
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