Durch den Herrn ist alles möglich (Through the Lord everything is possible)

Guten Tag!

I can hardly believe I've already been here in Germany for over two weeks! After the first few days, the time has started to go by a lot quicker.

One of the coolest things we get to do in this area is work with the young single adults. There is an outreach center here where they have Family Home Evening, Institute, and other activities. We've been able to help out a lot with that. There are some awesome young adults here and I have really enjoyed getting to know them. They come from all over the world and have such strong testimonies. At Institute last week, we talked about David and Goliath. One of the things that the teacher pointed out was that David prepared 5 stones, but then only used one to kill Goliath. The lesson I took away from that is we need to prepare as much as possible for whatever might come our way. I have learned as a missionary that when I am well prepared, I am better able to carry out the tasks that are expected of me. I may need to study more scriptures than I think I'll need for a lesson, and then when I'm teaching the Spirit will tell me which one will be best. I have to build up the spiritual reservoirs for the spirit to draw on.

One of the first days in our apartment when we were leaving we met our downstairs neighbor, Frau Brandl in the stairway. She is very nice. She asked us what we do and a little bit about the church. We told her we were missionaries who teach people about Jesus Christ. She said "Sure, feel free to come by sometime." So we did! We baked her some cookies and took her a Book of Mormon and taught her most of the first lesson. When we asked her if she prays, she said “No she doesn't really pray like they do in the Catholic Church, but that she just talks to God.” That's exactly what prayer is, talking to God! She is so prepared for this message. She is Catholic but has problems accepting some of the things the Catholic Church has done in the past. When we explained about the Book of Mormon, she said "So I need to read it. I'll find a time when I'm not distracted to read it." I don't think a missionary could ask for a better answer from an investigator than that. We couldn't get her to commit to making a return appointment, but we live right above her, so I think we'll be able to sufficiently bug her :)

On Thursday evening, we went to a Zumba class that they have at the outreach center (don't worry; we got permission from the Mission President!). The reason we went was to meet a friend of one of the young adults who goes to the class. We met a lot of really great young women, and hopefully we'll be able to invite them to church this week! (We ran out of time last week- we live kind of far away and we had to run to catch the S-Bahn).

On Sunday I translated Sunday School and Sacrament meeting for a new convert, Hui. Hui is a Student from China who speaks pretty good English and is learning German. She got baptized in January. Translating is hard work! Sometimes German words would slip into my English, or my English sentences wouldn't make a lot of sense. Thankfully Hui got most of what I was saying.

Ich habe gelernt diese Woche, dass ich dieses Werk nur durch den Herrn machen kann. Er weißt, wer bereit ist. Er kann durch mich wirken, um Leute näher zu ihm zu bringen. Ich bin so dankbar für die Gelegenheit, die ich habe, den Herrn zu dienen.

(I have learned this week that this work (missionary work) can only be done with the Lord. He knows who is ready. He can work through me to bring others closer to Him. I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord.)

Ich liebe euch! (I love you!)

Sister Stewart

Maddy- E-mail me your home address and whatever mission addresses you have, please!

Herzlichen Grüßen aus München! (Warmest Regards from Munich!)

Servus! (Hi!)

I have successfully made it to Germany. To get here we flew from Salt Lake to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Munich. The flight was looooong. I probably only slept about 3 hours on the plane. When we landed in Germany, it was about 8 in the morning. The very first thing they do is hand you a Book of Mormon and tell you to go place it. I talked to a couple people on the train. They were very nice, but not so interested. At least I talked to somebody!

When we arrived at the mission office, the Assistants to the President had lots of training for us. We were only allowed to take a 20 minute power nap. They used to let the missionaries sleep for three hours when they first got here, but they decided to try something new this transfer. So I went about....30 hours without sleeping. Fun times. I did sleep very, very well my first night in the mission home.

My mission president is President Miles. He interviewed all of the missionaries who arrived on our first day. As I was talking with him, I felt the Spirit confirm to me that he is called of God to lead this mission. I know as I follow his counsel, I will be blessed.

After all our training, they took us to the mission home and we got to meet our trainers and find out where we would be serving. My first area is the München 3 Ward and Sister Pingree is my trainer! There haven't been sisters in this area for a long time, so Sister Pingree and I get the fun task of "white-washing" which basically means starting from scratch. I think I am serving in an area where Kevin Göhring served, his name is in our area book, so that's pretty cool.

We got in our apartment on Wednesday (after forgetting the keys and having the Assistants bring them to us-whoops). The apartment is VERY nice. It is a little bit out of the way, but Munich has a great public transportation system that we've been getting ourselves familiar with.

The first thing I noticed when I landed in Munich is that it is COLD. There is snow frozen onto the streets everywhere. I am very thankful for my boots and my black poofy coat. They have done a very good job of keeping me toasty.

On Sunday we got to meet the ward. There are some amazing members here. Sister Pingree and I introduced ourselves and bore our testimonies. In sacrament meeting one of the speakers was talking about the parable of the talents (in Matt 25). What he was saying really hit home for me, especially when he then read in D&C 60:2-3,13. The Lord has given me this amazing message to share with other people. It is my task to have courage and open my mouth to share it with others.

One thing that makes it easier for me to talk to people is that I already speak German. I have gotten compliments from lots of people on my German. The only reason it is so good is that I have been studying it for over 10 years! I hope that as I spend more time in Germany, I will be able to improve my German even more.

I am so grateful to be here serving in Germany. I know the Lord will help me as I seek to find His elect and invite them to hear His voice and come unto Him.

You can always write me at the mission office address, but here is my most recent address. NOTE: Be sure to include the "Kirche Jesu Christi" otherwise, they won't deliver it to me! Send packages to the mission office address

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Sister JeanMarie Stewart
Francestr. 6
80997 München
Germany

I love you all, thank you for all the support you give me!! You can e-mail me and I'll read it on Mondays. Include your address if you want me to write you back! Time is limited, but I'll try to write to as many as I can.

Ich weiß, dass ich ein Himmlische Vater habe, der mich liebt. Er wird mich in dieser Arbeit helfen und segnen, wenn ich seine Gebote halte. Ich bin so froh, hier in Deutschland zu sein.

(I know that I have a Heavenly Father. I know he loves me. He will aid me in this work and bless me when I keep His commandments. I am so happy to be here in Germany.)

mit herzlichen Grüßen, (Warmest regards,)
Sister Stewart

Caramellas- thank you so much for the cupcakes in the MTC! I shared them with my district and they loved them!

Aimee- thank you for the cookies and bread! They were amazing!

Translations by her father based on College German, the mistakes are his.

In which you get to guess when I will be leaving the MTC

Hallo Meine Familie! 

So I have the date I will be leaving the MTC, but I'm not going to be giving it to you until the end of this e-mail (no peeking, Dad). Suffice it to say I am SO EXCITED to be flying to Munich!

One of the most exciting things that happened this week was that Michael, excuse me, "Elder Stewart" came! When I got to dinner on Wednesday I searched the whole cafeteria looking for him. When he saw me, I gave him a big hug! (Which freaked all the missionaries around us out.) I'm so glad he's here. I know he's where the Lord wants him to be and that he will be ready to preach the gospel in St. George in three weeks.

My companion and I are working together well in our teaching. We had to work out some kinks at first, but I absolutely love teaching with Sister Belnap! Sister Vaetua continues to just go with the flow, she has so much patience with my hilarious attempts to communicate with her.

Since I am the only German speaking missionary in my district, I have had to teach a couple of lessons in German completely alone! It has been very nerve wracking, to say the least. A couple that I taught on Friday night told me that I didn't speak "Missionar-Deutsch" which was very comforting. I have also taught one of my teachers who served his mission in Germany. He pretended to be an investigator named David who turned out to be Muslim! So that was an interesting lesson. I know that as I continue to work on my language skills the Lord will continue to bless me. 

I know I have said this before, but the Elders in my District are awesome. The other day, Sister Belnap and I were trying to teach two of them, Elder Chang and Elder Oh, how to cross their eyes. Since they're Asian, they couldn't do it very well (not meant to be racist, it's just the truth since their eyes are narrower). They thought it was hilarious to watch Sister Belnap and I cross our eyes, because since we're American you can really see it well.

 On Sunday at the Devotional the Speaker said something that I have really been thinking about. He read the scripture where Christ says "Come, follow me." He then defined the two verbs, "Come" and "follow." "Come"=exercising fatih, repenting, getting baptized, and receiving the Holy Ghost. "Follow"= enduring to the end. Sometimes I think we forget about the enduring to the end part, but I know that as we continue to be faithful and follow Christ, He will bless us in ways that we can't even imagine.

Jetzt werde ich euch sagen, wann ich die MTC verlassen werde. Ich werde am 6. Februar abfliegen! Ich freue mich so sehr darauf! Ich kann kaum erwarten, in Deutschland zu sein!

(Now, I will tell you when I am leaving the MTC. I fly out on February 6^th. I am very excited! I can barely wait to get back to Germany!)

 mit herzlichen Gruessen,

(with warmest regards)

Sister Stewart 

I'm here! And still alive! (mostly)

Well, I have arrived at the MTC. Since I came in on Wednesday it feels like I have been going, going, going ever since. The spirit here is so amazing and I'm so lucky I get to be a missionary! Thank you so much to everyone who sent me a DearElder. They were awesome!

On Wednesday, one of the first things they had us do was teach lessons. We were in a big group of missionaries, and "investigators" (not sure if they were real or not) came into the room and we taught them. On the last one, the teacher pulled me and my companion Sister B. out of the class and asked if we would be the first ones to sit down and get to know the investigator and start teaching. It was very nerve wracking! We said a quick prayer to love Carlo and to know what he needed and then went in and met Carlo. As we started talking, the most amazing thing happened. Carlo completely opened up to us and shared some of the big problems he has in his life. I know the Spirit was working through us, and I'm so glad that was our first teaching experience in the MTC.

I guess I should tell you a little about my companions. I have two! The first is Sister B. Her family lives in Georgia, but she grew up in China and then Switzerland. She already speaks fluent Mandarin and is going to Taiwan Taichung on her mission. (she also speaks a little French, that will be important later). She is very energetic and outgoing, a little bit the opposite of me, but I love having her as a companion. We laugh a lot and have so much fun together.

My other companion is Sister V. She is from Tahiti and only speaks French (the little French Sister B. speaks is very handy). She is going to Madagascar on her mission! Even though we don't speak the same language, I can tell that she is a very loving and kind person, with a huge testimony. She is so brave! This is the first time she's been away from her family and she doesn't even understand the language people are speaking around her. I know that I am with the right companions. I can clearly see Heavenly Father's will in putting us together. I hope to learn so much from these awesome sisters.

Since I already speak German, I'm in the accelerated program and the international branch! It is so great to be surrounded by missionaries from all over the world. Sister B. and I are the only Americans in our entire district. Others are from Korea, Singapore, Poland, and Taiwan. They all bring such different talents and insights to our classes. I don't get to speak much German, but I'm learning some of the words I will need on my own, and I’m sure I'll learn a lot more German once I get to Germany!

It was a little hard to sit still through classes all day at first, but I'm learning so much from my teachers. Last night we had a devotional and the speaker taught us that sometimes, the reason investigators aren't progressing is that they don't know how to read the scriptures or how to pray, so we need to be sure to teach them. We can't just assume that they don't want to learn the gospel. I will be sure to remember that once I get to the field.

Love,

Sister Stewart

P.S. this computer has most of the letters rubbed off, sorry for any mistakes, hopefully my Dad fixed them :) 

Alexandra/Jessie Carter- If you see Jessie Carter, could you please tell her to write a letter using DearElder in French to my companion Sister Vaetua? I want her to get some mail! Her box number is the same as mine

Adrienne- girl, I was so glad to see your letter! You're awesome!

We love him, because he first loved us

This is my farewell that I gave in church on Sunday. Enjoy!

          When I started preparing this talk, I looked for something that would give me a clear focus and I found it in 1 John 4:19. This verse says, simply “We love him, because he first loved us.” God loves us, so He sent His son. We in turn show God we love Him by following the commandments. That simple concept has come to hold a lot of meaning for me in my life.

            So what is love? Love is a feeling that can be felt no matter how far away you are. It is universal to all of God’s children. It is making a choice to open you heart and really care about someone, and then never failing in that choice. I know that love is a powerful force. That is why it is so important that we understand how much Heavenly Father loves us.

            The very first part of the first lesson that missionaries teach is that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us. It is explained this way in Preach My Gospel-

          “God is our Heavenly Father. We are His children. He has a body of flesh and bone that is glorified and perfected. He loves us. He weeps with us when we suffer and rejoices when we do what is right. He wants to communicate with us, and we can communicate with Him through sincere prayer.”

          It doesn’t get any simpler than that. God is not some impersonal force. He loves us more than we can even imagine. President Uchtdorf has said “Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.” God’s love is so overwhelming that we cannot even comprehend it. It is endless. He loves us because we are His children. He sent His son to die for us so that we could return to live with Him. Once we understand that Heavenly Father loves us, we see our true purpose and worth.

            I can remember when I truly became aware of the depth of Heavenly Father’s love for me. It was at EFY when I was sixteen. Something one of my counselors said to us the first day really stuck with me. He challenged us “I know you’ve been taught all your life that God loves you. But have you ever really gotten down on your knees and prayed to know that God loves you and knows you individually?” He challenged us to pray every day that week to know that God loves us. So I did it. I got down on my knees and asked Heavenly Father to know that He loved me. Slowly, the witnesses started coming. Something a teacher said in a class seemed perfectly tailored for my needs. The Spirit would witness to me that it was a demonstration of Heavenly Father’s love for me, individually. Heavenly Father was just waiting to answer my prayer; He knew what I needed, if only I would ask Him. I know that prayer opens up the windows of heaven for us to feel of God’s love. He is always watching over me, and all He wants is for me to return and live with him.

            God’s love for us shows us what we can become. We are God’s children, with the ability to become like Him. And the way to do that is to love God. President Uchtdorf teaches that “God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God! For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become.” By loving God, we choose to put Him above everything else in our lives, to make returning home to live with Him our priority. So how do we love God? Simple. Christ tells us in John14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” When I stopped seeing the commandments as just rules and starting seeing them as an expression of my love for God, it helped me a lot. My obedience represents how much I love God.  By choosing to love God, I choose to follow His commandments.

            There are many commandments, but one of the most important is to share God’s love with those around us. Christ commands us in John 13 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” So I get to take the love I receive from God, and pass it on to other people. As I have been preparing for my mission, I have been reading letters posted online of missionaries who are serving in the Alpine-German Speaking Mission. One sister wrote a few weeks ago

          “This week I was reading in John 13 and something hit me for the first time. Christ says, "By this shall men know ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Christ tells us that others will recognize us by our love one to another. It's so simple, but I have never understood that principle so plainly before. Love is what sets us apart as we interact with the people we meet.”

          As I read her words I realized that I want other people to recognize me as a disciple of Christ by the way I treat other people. I want to become a conduit for the Savior’s love.

            Sometimes it may not be easy to love one another, but luckily, God can help us with that. Just as prayer can help us to feel God’s love for us, it can also help us to develop that love in us. Mormon tells us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.” Heavenly Father stands ready to give me love so I can become more like Him and as I show love for those around me, people will recognize me as a disciple of Christ.

            When I think about the reasons I want to go on a mission, it all comes back to my love for Heavenly Father. I want my mission to be an expression to God of how much I love Him. I want to give Him my best, because ultimately, what we have to give Him is our obedience. I know He loves all His children and wants them to hear to gospel, so I will become the vehicle by which people come to Christ. I know that will require a lot of prayer and humility, because I am certainly not yet perfect disciple of Christ.

            What I came to recently understand about love is that it has the power to make us true Disciples of Christ, to make us divine, to make us ready to meet Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Moroni 7:48, which I quoted earlier, goes on to promises us that

          “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” 

          So how does love purify us? It changes our desires so that godly choices become part of our nature. I was reading an article by Dennis Peterson, who wrote about a realization he came to while serving as a missionary in Japan. He had been struggling with temptations and feelings of inadequacy. He resented the commandments and felt they were restrictive, until he came to a realization about why Jesus Christ was perfect. It is because Christ is filled with God’s love, and he loves the things God loves. Peterson explains it this way-

         “It was a moment of real revelation for me. I understood finally that Christ’s ultimate defense was not his supreme willpower but simply that, nurtured by the Spirit, he had no desire for Satan’s grimy alternatives. He loved the things his Father loves. Thus, as his desires flowed into deeds, those deeds reflected a spontaneous righteousness that came from the very depths of his being.

         That was the key: to love the things God loves, to make his desires my own, and thus to be truly like him. My problem was that I had been trying to act in godly ways while wanting ungodly things. If I could change the desires of my heart, then my actions would spontaneously become godly.”

         That’s how love purifies us. As we seek and pray to be filled with God’s love, we start to love the things God loves. We can pray to Heavenly Father to help us love the commandments and those around us the way He does. I know that He will help us love like He does if we just ask. And that’s when the commandments change from restrictions into being a part of us, an expression of what is in our souls: love.

         As we exercise love of God by following His commandments, it will bring us closer and closer to Him and help us become more like Him. The promise is that we shall “be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” This promise is also made in 1 John 4:16-19 which says

        “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

        Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

        There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

            We love him, because he first loved us.”

         I used to get scared thinking about judgment, but Heavenly Father does not want us to fail, he wants us to return to live with Him, and has given us the way to do that: follow the commandments. Love of God propels us to take action, to continually change to become like Him, so at the last day we can stand perfect before God, because His love has made us pure.

            Sometimes it is hard for me to feel God’s love or to share that love with others because I get caught up too much in things in the world, but one of the moments when I felt God’s love the most was when I got my mission call. I have been learning German since I was 6. I took classes in it all through high school and have been to Germany twice. I love Germany. I love the language, I love the people. Once I submitted my papers, I hoped and hoped that I would get called there, but I knew that whatever call came, I would accept and serve wherever the Lord needed me. That was a hard decision to make because I wanted to go to Germany so badly and felt like that was the place where I could do the most good. Then the call came and I opened it. Alpine German-Speaking Mission. God KNOWS me. God knows and loves ME. I feel like my whole life has been preparing me for this moment.

            So, in closing, I would encourage you to pray for two things. First, pray to know that God knows you and loves you individually. Don’t just pray for this once. Spend a week or two asking God every day to know that He loves you. You will be surprised by the ways in which God answers this prayer. Second, pray to be filled with God’s love and to love the things that He loves. If there is a specific person in your life that you are having a hard time getting along with, pray to love them as God loves them.

          I know Heavenly Father loves each one of us, and wants nothing more than for us to return to live with him.I know he sent His son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon for us to have in this day, and that if we will obey what God tells us in the scriptures, we will find our way back to Him.

A Note on Contacting Me

So, here's the deal people. While I'm on my mission, you can e-mail me, write me letters, and/or send me packages. No phone calls, no texts, no facebook. I can only send weekly e-mails to family (which will be posted here), but I can write everyone letters.

Just so you know, you should definitely check out Dearelder.com
This website is an AWESOME way to send letters. While I'm in the MTC it's FREE and it only costs 98 cents once I get into the mission field. What you do is write your letter on the website, then they print it out and send it to me! If I'm in the MTC, I get it that same day! It's super easy to use, I recommend it highly.

Here are all my contact infos:

E-mail Address:
jeanmarie.stewart@myldsmail.net
This is the ONLY e-mail address I will check. Be sure to include your snail-mail address when you e-mail me so I can write you back!

Letters:
In the MTC(January 18th to hopefully sometime in February) :
Sister JeanMarie Stewart
MTC Mailbox #332
ALP-GER 0320
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793
United States

In Germany, I will be moving around. I will let you know my most current address is when I go somewhere new, but you can always write me at the mission office:
Sister JeanMarie Stewart
Alpine German-Speaking Mission
Lommelstraße 7
81479 München
Germany

(for those of you wondering, that funny B looking thing in my German address is a double s. German is pretty cool like that. So "ß"="ss")

Packages:
In the MTC:
Nothing can be hand delivered, it must come through the mail. Baked goods of all shapes and sizes will be accepted and eaten gladly by me and my companion :)

In Germany:
Send packages to the mission office. You will need the phone number of the mission office, which you can get from my mom, Amy Darger-Stewart.

p.s. Sign up to follow this blog by e-mail! It's over on the sidebar under the "About Me" section

Very Excited with a Hint of Terrified

Well, here we go! I report to the MTC in...10 days! I just have to get together a few last minute things, and then I'm off. I'm getting more and more excited and trying to keep the apprehension to a minimum.

Since I already speak German, I called the MTC to check in and see if I could get placed in an accelerated class. I spoke to the person who evaluates German speakers and got put in the advanced class! If all goes well and my visa comes through, I will only be in the MTC for three weeks, and then I'll be off to Germany.

I've been thinking about all the things I'm looking forward to when I get back in German speaking realms and here are just a few of them--

• chocolate, chocolate, chocolate (Ritter Sport of course, none of this Milka nonsense)
• Happy Hippos
• buying a Dirndl
• the yogurt. Oh my goodness the yogurt is good. I don't know what it is, but after having German yogurt, American yogurt tastes like cardboard.
• drugstores where the clerks are actually helpful
• old town squares and cobblestones and church bells
• Spaetzle
• German people and Austrian people and Swiss people

As time winds down before my mission, I am becoming more and more aware of all the people I have in my life that have done so much to help me get to this point. Thank you so much for all your love and support! I would love to get lots of mail on my mission and promise to try and write everyone who sends me a letter back. If you would like to get e-mail updates when letters and photos and things are posted to this blog, there's a little gadget on the sidebar where you can follow by e-mail.

p.s. Next Sunday (the 15th) Michael and I will be speaking in church at 3, and then there will be a little farewell party with cookies at 6. I would love to see anyone who is in the area!