Austausch Miracles :)

Liebe Familie,

This week was stuffed with miracles. Really, sometimes I like to just sit back and watch as the Lord directs this work. I am sure it brings Him a lot of joy to lead us to the right people, to lead the right people to us and to work miracles so that His work can go forward. The logistics involved must be astronomical, but somehow He makes it all work.

We found more new people this last week! One of them is named C. She was a referral from the Zone Leaders. They met her on the street and got her contact info, but we hadn't been able to get a hold of her yet. On Tuesday we had a slot of time where we were trying really hard to make an appointment, but two different investigators cancelled on us, so (a little bit frustrated) we decided to go by and see C. We rang her bell, she let us in and said "I just got home from work" Miracle :) Then she told us how she has started reading in the Book of Mormon that the Elders gave her and that she felt that this book came at the right point in her life. Miracle :) We had to leave pretty soon, but then we were able to see her again on Friday and it turns out it had been a really rough week and she really needed some peace in her life. So we read Alma 7 with her (one of the most comforting chapters in the Book of Mormon, if you ever have a bad day, read it!) and after she read she just had this great smile on her face. Miracle :) Oh man she is awesome.

Wednesday we did an Austausch ( = companion exchange). Sister Reid went to Graz to work with Sister Pingree and Sister Holmstead came here. Sister Holmstead and I actually entered the MTC on the same day, but since I was fast tracked I don't know her that well. But we will get to go home together. Working with her was so fun. They have seen some miracles in Graz lately so she was on the lookout for them all day and would point them out when they happened. For example, she forgot her ticket at home so we had to buy her a new one which caused us to miss the tram and then while we were waiting we met a woman from Thailand who was so open and friendly. Miracle :) Then later on even though there was something wrong with the trams and they weren't running regularly, we still made it to our next appointment only 5 minutes late. Miracle :) Sister Holmstead didn't have a jacket, but it didn't rain all day long. Miracle :)   There are miracles large and small that the Lord works every day, we just need to be on the lookout for them.

Church yesterday was so fun. We had Linger Longer, so everyone brought food and we stayed after church and visited. W, our Chinese investigator was there. We made sure one of the ward missionaries stuck with her and took care of her. It was so funny because the member (who is Filipino) taught W how to say "How are you?" in Tagalog, and W then proceeded to go up to every Filipino member she could find (about half our ward is Filipino) and practice her newly learned skill. It was a very funny and creative way for her to get to know lots of the members of the ward.

Lots of the time when we ask people, "Wie geht's?" (How are you?) on the street or in the tram, we get the response "Kennen wir einander?" (Do we know each other?). I guess it is really not a normal thing for Austrians to greet each other, and they are so surprised when someone is friendly. I just smile and say "No, I'm just trying to be friendly." Hopefully we brighten a few people's days or make them think more about why those two missionaries are so nice to everyone.

Next week is General Conference! Yes! So exciting!! We will watch the Relief Society session on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Saturday morning session (live with the time difference) and then on Sunday watch the Saturday afternoon session and the Sunday morning session (also live).

Ich liebe es, auf Mission zu sein. Ich bin oft überrascht, wie viel der Herr uns segnet. Er hilft mir, Freude zu haben, egal was passiert. Diese Arbeit ist wirklich die Arbeit des Herrn, und er passt auf alle seine Kinder auf.

(I love being on a mission. I am often surprised how much the Lord will bless us. It helps me to have fun, no matter what happens. This is truly the Lord’s work and he takes care of all of his children.)

Mach's gut! Ich hab euch lieb!

--Sister Stewart