Monday, November 19, 2012

Weihnachten in Wien! (Christmas in Vienna)



Well, we got transfer calls on Friday: We're both staying!! I don't know how we pulled that off. I am excited to be able to spend my birthday and Christmas in a city I know so well, with a companion I get along great with, and with members and investigators that I have really come to love. It will be awesome!

This past week we were able to teach D twice. Once at Family Home Evening with the Bishop's family and one more time before she went out of town for Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for the opportunity that Sister Reid and I have gotten to know her. Sooner or later the Spirit will 'prick her heart' and she will get baptized. It's only a matter of time for that one :)

We also were able to meet twice with W, the music student from China. She is doing great at praying every day and coming to church most weeks, her main problem is finding the time to read in the scriptures every day, so that's what we've really been pushing with her. We read 1 Nephi 17 with her the other day and she really related to the story and was excited to read more!

They have started to put on Christmas lights on the streets of Wien, I'm just waiting for them to turn them all on! Some are on in the evenings, but there are still lots more. Oh, the city will look magical!

This past week we learned a lot about opening up more to the people we meet in the trains and on the streets. We practiced answering questions like "What are you doing here? Why did you come?" Normally I just give some sort of plain vanilla answer "Well, I'm a missionary for my church..." But what we learned and practiced recently was really opening up to the people and telling them the real reason you're here, letting them get to know you on a more personal level, because then they will be more likely to feel the spirit and to open up in return. I have been trying that out recently and the results are amazing! We were talking to this medical student the other day and he asked "So why did you come on a mission?" I was so excited to put my new training into effect. I told him about how the knowledge I have of the gospel really is a sure foundation for my life and how I realized that I want others to have that foundation as well. He really connected with that and we gave him a Book of Mormon and took his phone number! (Unfortunately he's German speaking so we had to pass him off, drat!)

This past Sunday we had a member come who got baptized in Ukraine in 2006, but has since moved here and lost contact with the church. She brought her little boy and stayed for the whole time! I hope we will be able to help her out, communication is a problem but luckily our ward clerk speaks Russian. And we invited the people from our English class to church and some of them came!

Some of the funnier stories from this week-
-We had FHE with the Bishop's family on Monday, at which we played a Ninja Lego game. I am still not too sure on what all the rules were; I just know it involved fighting Guards and finding Golden Weapons
-On Wednesday we ate dinner twice (it was an accident)
-On Saturday we went over to a member's house for dinner and turns out she also invited her friend (who we have taught a couple times) and didn't tell her we would be there. We were able to have a really nice lesson together. The look on the friend's face when she walked in was priceless.

Ich weiß, dass ich in der richtige Ort bin. Egal, wo der Herr mir schickt, werde ich seine Arbeit tun. Es ist wunderbar zu sehen, wie der Geist auf andere Leute wirkt und sie hilft, die richtige Entscheidungen zu treffen. Diese Arbeit ist wirklich die Arbeit des Herrn!
(I know that I am where I belong. No matter where the Lord sends me, I will do the work. It is wonderful to see how the spirit works on others and helps you to make the right choices. This work is truly the work of the Lord!

mit lieben Grüßen,  (with much love!)
--Sister Stewart

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