We just call ourselves the pre-MTC!

Grüezi!*

This week has been all sorts of crazy; let me tell you just how crazy-

Monday- We sent Sister Behrndt off to the airport and then did the rest of our P-Day activities in a zombie like state because of lack of sleep. That evening we contacted the J family, which were a referral from Mormon.org and set up an appointment with them for Friday.

Tuesday- We had District Meeting. After District Meeting, Sister Pingree and I went out to do some work but ended up sitting on a park bench for over an hour just calling people because we were so far behind. One of the calls we got was that we would be getting another companion! The mission office called us and told us that there was another Sister waiting for her visa to go to the US. She is Swiss and has been called to temple square. That evening we had a meal appointment with a member and then ward council.

Wednesday-We picked up an Apfelstrudel that one of the sisters in the ward made for another sister who just had a baby. We taught a lesson to A in the park. We ate lunch. We taught a lesson to K (with a member present!) and invited him to come to all the young single adult activities. We delivered the Apfelstrudel. We ate dinner. We taught Herr S (with another member present!) and then we came home.

Thursday- Was "Finding Day." All the missionaries in our mission spent all day Thursday out looking for people to teach. It was very, very hot. Sister Pingree and I worked hard, but did not see a lot of success. That evening we cleaned our apartment in preparation for our new companion.

Friday- We picked up Sister Roffler! We took her and her luggage home, ate some lunch, and then went to go meet a less active. Unfortunately that appointment fell through, BUT we met with Sister J (the woman from the mormon.org referral). She and her family moved to Munich in December from the US. She had lots of LDS friends there and they participated a lot in the ward, and she really misses it. We are going to start teaching her and her family and help them get integrated with the ward here. They're awesome :)

Saturday-We did weekly planning. Then we met with Maxi. Then we ate dinner. Then we went and visited P since she had the week off.

Sunday- I played in Nursery during church :) We did some study and then went to a member's house to eat dinner and call our families. Then we went to sleep.

Also keep in mind that all of these activities are spread out all over Munich, often travel time between appointments using public transportation can take around an hour.

I've been thinking a lot about sacrifice lately. When we sacrifice something, we give up something. But it's more than just that. Through the act of sacrifice, we have the opportunity to sanctify ourselves. When I first came on my mission, I viewed it as an opportunity for me to show Heavenly Father how much I love Him by giving up this time in my life to serve Him. And that's true, but it's much, much more than that. The Lord has given me this opportunity to sanctify myself through making the sacrifice. The saving act of the Atonement was the greatest sacrifice of all, so it makes sense that sacrifice is one of the most important tools Heavenly Father uses to help us become more like him.

I also thought of this quote from Joseph Smith (sorry I just have it in German, hopefully you can find it in English)--

"eine Religion, die nicht verlangt, dass man alles opfert, niemals genügend Macht hat, um den Glauben hervorzubringen, der zum Leben und zur Errettung notwendig ist."

(“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation”, Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith)

Ich weiss, dass wir auf diese Erde sind, um zu lernen wie wir zu unserem Himmlischen Vater zurückkehren können. Er hat den Weg vorbereitet, wir müssen es nur finden und dann darauf bleiben. Er erwartet von uns dass wir um Hilfe bitten, wenn wir sie brauchen. Er hat Menschen und Mittel für jeder einzelne von uns vorbereitet, die uns helfen kann, die richtige Entscheidungen zu treffen und das Rechte zu wählen.

(I know that we are here on earth to learn how to return to Heavenly Father. He has prepared a way, we just need to find it and stay on it. He expects us to ask for help when we need it. He has prepared other people and the means to help each of us make the right decisions and choose the right.)

Bis bald! Tschüss! (See you soon! Bye-bye!)

-Sister Stewart

*Swiss greeting. When Sister Roffler speaks Swiss German, I understand about 50% of what she says. Hopefully I will be able to learn some more.