Es ist wieder Februar :) (It’s February again!)

Hallo!

Well, it is officially February again. This coming week will mark one year since I have been in Germany. And the weather is right back where it started :) Luckily it isn't quite as cold as my first few weeks in Munich, but we shall see what the rest of February has to offer :) 

This past week we tried our best, but sometimes other things get in the way. But you know what? I'm not even mad about that. I know that the work is WORK and that it goes through ups and downs. I did gain a stronger testimony this week of that fact that God is always looking out for us, no matter what.

I think I told you last week that I lost my planner. Well we are on a roll because this week Sister Ackerman left her backpack at the train station. She realized just as the train doors were closing and she watched it as the train pulled away from the station. We called a member who lives near the station to run and see if it was still there, but it was gone by the time she got there. We got out at the next town, but since it was Saturday, there were no trains back for the next 45 minutes. It was really sad, because Sister Ackerman's scriptures, wallet, and camera were in there. The office at the train station was closed (it being Saturday, Germans really take weekends seriously). The saddest part was losing the scriptures and the memory card in the camera that had all the photos on it. When we went to church on Sunday the members were so sweet and offered lots of help, but Sister Ackerman was still feeling down in the dumps. We had lunch after church with one of the families from the ward, and that was fun and helped to cheer her up a little. Right after we left their house, we looked at our phone and saw that we had 3 missed calls from our ward mission leader. Turns out someone had called the branch president (whose number was on a home teaching list in the backpack) who then called the ward mission leader, who called us. The backpack was found! A man found it at the train station and since the office was closed, he took it home and looked to see if there was contact information inside. We met his wife at the train station (she drove in from a dorf outside Göppingen, how nice is that!) and she gave Sister Ackerman the backpack with everything, money and all, inside! It was awesome! It turned a sad day into a miracle day. We will have to do something to thank them. 

I am really enjoying being on a mission right now. I think this past week I was realized anew how important it is that I really give my all. Ultimately, that's the only thing that I can control. As Preach My Gospel teaches us, our success as a missionary really in based not on numbers, but on our commitment to the work. So, I am determined to be a committed missionary. 

Ich liebe meinen Himmlische Vater. Ich werde an ihm festhalten, wie Jakob es sagt (Jacob 6:5). Manchmal fühlen wir uns allein, aber wir sind nie allein. Er ist immer da. Das weiß ích.

(I love my Heavenly Father. I will cleave unto him as Jacob teaches (Jacob 6:5). Sometimes we feel alone, but we never are. He is always there. This I know.) 

Bis nächste Woche! Mach's gut!
(Till next week! Take care!)

--Sister Stewart