And another week bites the dust

Hello everybody! 

This past week went by so fast! I can hardly believe that it is Monday again! 

We were able to meet with R and D this past week, with members at both lessons! That was great. We made R a CD of music from General Conference (you can download it for free!). We watched the Restoration video with D; he has already read a little in the Book of Mormon and to quote him "I think I fell in love with this book" :) He didn't make it to church yesterday, but our hopes are still high for him. This week we are going to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. 

We also had lots of Zone activities this past week. Zone P-day on Monday and Zone Training on Tuesday. Want to know something funny? So I don't know who remembers, but back when I served in Munich, I had a Swiss companion named Sister Roffler who had to wait for her visa before serving her mission on Temple Square. Well, her brother got his mission call to Brazil, but also doesn't have his visa yet, so he is serving in Waiblingen, one of the others areas in the Stuttgart Zone! It was so funny, we took a picture of him to send to Sister Roffler :) 

Saturday we had a Finding Day here in Goppingen, where the Elders from our district came and we all went out together. We went to this Dorf about 15 minutes outside Göppingen. The weather was a little crazy, it would rain and then be sunny, but we saw a lot of success. Plus the German countryside is beautiful, so I can't really complain. 

The weather here in Germany has finally warmed up. In fact, it got warm really, really fast. Yesterday we wore jackets to church in the morning but then by the afternoon it was so warm we didn't even need them anymore. Today is also sunny :) It is a good change of pace. 

Yesterday we visited Schwester D in the hospital. She is an elderly member of the ward. She has trouble seeing and hearing. Recently she fell and broke her leg, so she had to get surgery and now she is in the hospital for a couple weeks. We went by and read her a story out of the Relief Society manual. Then she prayed before we left and in her prayer she said "Bless the missionaries that they can be cheerful even though it is hard sometimes." The Spirit just filled up the room and I got tears in my eyes. I have so much respect and love for her. The fact that she prayed for us to be happy touched my heart. Here she is in the hospital with a broken leg, with poor eyesight and vision (did I mention her arm is also in a cast?) and she just radiates peace. She is a perfect example of how the gospel can influence our lives and help us through hard times. 

Ich weiß, dass Gott immer da ist. Manchmal merken wir es nicht, weil wir einfach nicht zuhören. Wir müssen unser Herzen öffnen, dann werden wir die Liebe Gottes spüren. 

(I know that God is always there. Sometimes we do not notice Him because we do not listen. We must open our hearts then we will feel God’s love.)

Tschüss! Mach's gut! (Bye! Take care!)

--Sister Stewart

The one time we went to Stuttgart four days in a row

Hi everybody! 

I hope you all enjoyed General Conference! Here in Germany we got to watch three of the four sessions, two of them live! It was awesome and I enjoyed every minute. We even had one of our investigators come! Our ward mission leader drove her in to Stuttgart and she watched the Sunday Morning Session (broadcast on Sunday evening) with us!

So, we went to Stuttgart both Saturday and Sunday for Conference, and we will be going again today for P-Day and then on Tuesday for Zone Training. It's crazy, we get to see the other missionaries in the Zone a lot!

This past week we had lots of things fall through, which was unfortunate, but we also had some pretty awesome days and miracles. One of the best days was Thursday, and so I will tell you the story of Thursday. 

So, we had an appointment set for Thursday afternoon with J, but we hadn't been able to confirm with him and the member that was going to be able to come couldn't do it until later anyway. We woke up Thursday morning with that appointment completely up in the air. I remember thinking in the shower "What in the world are we going to do?" Of course, all normal people who aren't missionaries are at work during the day, so it was super hard to get a hold of anyone. We planned our day very tentatively (written in pencil) and decided to try our hardest to make the appointment work. Around 12 we went out to take some Books of Mormon to some people we had contacted last week in a little town about 20 minutes by bus outside Göppingen. While there, we got a text from J saying he couldn't meet, BUT THEN we got a phone call from one of our potential investigators saying he had time to meet that evening! So we scrambled to pull together a joint teaching appointment (the member who was going to come help with J was able to meet with us at the church) and went about our way. We were able to give a Book of Mormon in Albanian to this awesome family and hopefully we can go by again this week and start teaching them! Then we went to a different town and rang some doorbells and were able to give away another Book of Mormon. Then we went home quickly so Sister Clark could use the bathroom (no public restrooms in Germany) and guess what was in our mailbox! A media referral from Mormon.org! We almost never get those! (It’s the third one I have gotten on my whole mission) 

Then Thursday evening we taught D, the potential investigator who called us. He is from Nigeria. When we met him, I asked him where he was from, and he told me to guess. I said "Nigeria?" And he said "How did you know? Most African people here aren't from Nigeria, they are from other places!" Which is funny, because almost all the Africans I have met on my mission are from Nigeria :) Since coming to Germany, he feels like he hasn't really found a church to worship in, so he wants to come and see how we do it. He is a little apprehensive about reading the Book of Mormon, but we just encouraged him to pray about it.

All in all, Thursday was great. What I learned: sometimes, you try your hardest, but you still need a little extra help. It was amazing how all the pieces seem to fall into place that day. The timing of our appointment worked out perfectly. We were able to find buses that left at good times (sometimes that can be a problem) and we were able to reach lots of our goals for the day! I know it would not have been possible without the Lord's help. I am not saying that every day is as awesome as Thursday (because there are lots of days that are pretty discouraging, I am not going to lie) but when a day like Thursday comes around you just have to treasure it. 

Ich liebe es, auf Mission zu sein. Ich freue mich, meine Familie zu sehen, wenn ich nach Hause komme, aber ich werde meine Mission vermissen. Ich bin gespannt zu sehen, was in den nächsten Paar Monate passieren wird!

(I love being on a mission. I will be happy to see my family when I get home, but I will miss my mission. I'm curious to see what will happen in the next couple months!) 

Lots of love,

Sister Stewart

It snowed on Easter again!

Frohe Ostern! (Happy Easter!)

So, we woke up Easter morning and guess what, it was snowing! Just like last year in Munich. It made me think about what we did on Easter last year and how much has happened since then and now. 

Today when we got to the church to do e-mails, the internet was down. We said a prayer that Heavenly Father could help us fix our problem. We were really sad and worried that we wouldn't be able to do e-mails because 1) today is a holiday so nothing is open and 2) we don't know where the internet shops are anyway. We called the Branch President and he didn't know how to fix it. There was no instruction manual for the router to be found. Then Sister Clark got down on her knees behind the router and said "I'm really tempted to just unplug it and then plug it back in." She did that and hooray! It works now! That's why we have companions. I was out of ideas and was just feeling sad that the internet was down. Meanwhile, Sister Clark had thought of something we could try and then it worked! So today I am more grateful than usual for the fact that we can use the internet to communicate with everyone :)

This past week we have been tearing it up here in Göppingen. Sister Clark and I have really just been going to work and we have been blessed to see some of the fruits of our labors. 

Probably our craziest day this week was Thursday. We studied in the morning. Then we had to run to the grocery store during lunch to grab some groceries (side note-Did you know that in German grocery stores eggs are not necessarily in the refrigerator?). Then after lunch we went to go apply for Sister Clark's visa. They told us that we would have to come back this week because she isn't in the system yet! I don’t know why she would not be in the computer since we registered her on Monday.  Don't ask me how German bureaucracy works. Then after that we took some cookies and a conference talk to a less active member (and were able to make an appointment with her, yes!). We took some more cookies to an investigator and they were home and we were able to teach a lesson to them (double yes!). Then our next appointment fell out, so we went home to eat some dinner quickly before Ward Council (side note- Our Relief Society president attends ward council via Skype; it's pretty cool). After Ward Council we went home and planned for the next day and then we were done. It was just awesome to see how the Lord guides our work and how many things we can do if we just make the plans and then follow through.

Our mission is really putting a big focus right now on working with the members. We have this program where we visit the families and help them make a family mission plan. I am really excited to go around the branch and see what ideas everyone comes up with. Everyone is so different, so I am sure all the Family Mission Plans will all look different, but that's the best part! There is no wrong way to do missionary work, the only wrong way is to do nothing at all! 

Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt. Ich habe seine Liebe gestern so stark gespürt in der Kirche als wir über sein Sühnopfer geredet haben. Es ist wunderbar, daran zu denken, was er für uns alle getan hat. Ich bin so dankbar, dass er alle meine Sünden auf sich genommen hat und dass er von dem Tod wieder auferstanden ist, damit ich auch ewiges Leben haben kann. Er lebt!

 (I know that my Redeemer lives. I felt his love very strongly yesterday in the Church as we talked about his atonement. It is wonderful to think of what he has done for us all. I am so grateful that he has taken all my sins upon Himself, and that He rose again from the dead so that I can have eternal life. He lives!)

 mit lieben Grüßen (Best Regards)

-Sister Stewart

Winter does not want to give up!

Hello everybody!

It is snowing as I write this. Doesn't Germany know that Spring is supposed to be coming? Oh well, last year it snowed on Easter, so this should really come as no surprise.

I am training again! My new companion is Sister Clark from American Fork, Utah. Just in case you were wondering, she is 21, not 19. She put her papers in just before they changed the age limit. She is awesome, she has so much faith. We have been practicing talking to people and even though I know it's scary to talk to people in a language you don't know very well, she has been doing great so far.

Also, I got to go to Munich to pick her up! I didn't get to go to the mission home, just to the Bahnhof, but that meant that I got to see Sister Pingree one last time before she went home! I cannot believe she is home now, that means my days are officially numbered. I have three transfers left, which is still a fairly good chunk, but it is a lot less than the 10 transfers I have behind me. I am just going to try my best to sprint to the finish!

On Sister Clark's very first day in Göppingen we taught a lesson to a less active member and were able to give away a Book of Mormon on the street! It was an awesome afternoon! The next few days we spent a lot of time on trains, going to Stuttgart for a training meeting and then going out to our Relief Society President’s house to help her in her garden. She lives in a town that is 1 1/2 hours away by train from Göppingen, but it is still part of our area. So Sister Clark got to see a lot of the German countryside!

This past Sunday in Relief Society we discussed President Uchtdorf's talk about regrets. In it, he talks about the choice we all have to be happy. In addition to that, in our Book of Mormon reading we read Alma 62:41. Sister Clark and I discussed how it is also a choice to be humble. It doesn't matter what our circumstances are, if we humbly accept the Lord's will in our lives, we will be a lot happier. Especially as winter is hanging on for dear life and everybody in the streets seems to say no, we just need to remember that our will is not what is important. It is the Lord's will that is important. 

Ich bin sehr dankbar für alles, das ich auf Mission gelernt habe. Ich weiß, dass ich noch mehr lernen werde. Gott kennt mich und weiß, was ich brauche. Ich muss einfach auf ihm vertrauen. Ich weiß, dass mein Erlöser lebt. Wenn wir zu ihm kommen, wird er unsere Last auf sich nehmen. Ich bin dankbar für Das Buch Mormon und dass ich es mit anderen teilen darf. 

(I am very grateful for everything that I have learned in the mission field. I know, that I will learn even more. God knows me and knows what I need. I need only trust him. I know that my Savior lives. When we come to him he takes our burden. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the opportunity to share it with others.)

Mach's gut! Tschüss! (Take care!, Bye-bye!)

--Sister Stewart

Get ready to train again!

Hello everybody! 

First a piece of news: we got our transfer calls! Sister Ackerman is going to Graz and I am staying here and training a brand new missionary! That means I will be here at least until May. Who knows I may stay in Göppingen until I go home in July! It will be interesting to see what happens as we get more and more new missionaries in the coming months. Because there are so many new missionaries coming this transfer, the mission home doesn't have space to host all the trainers, so we will just be meeting the new missionaries in Stuttgart. So I don't get to go to Munich, which is a little sad, but I am so excited to meet my new companion and to help her get her mission started off right :)

Funny story: Sister Ackerman LOVES German potato salad (Kartoffelsalat) with an undying, passionate love. Since she is getting transferred, the members want to have here over to eat one last time, and they asked her what she wanted to eat. She said: Kartoffelsalat! So this week we are having Kartoffelsalat at least two days in a row.   I am sure it will make Sister Ackerman very, very happy.

Last week we had a little bit of a rough time on Wednesday.  For some reason or other we were just a little sad. But then I remembered what my mission prep teacher taught us about overcoming sadness. One of his tips: count your blessings! So while we were tracting, we started playing the "Grateful Game" We took turns naming categories and then the other person had to name 10 things in that category they were grateful for. For example "Name 10 living people you are grateful for" "Name 10 foods you are grateful for" "Name 10 prophets you are grateful for" and one of my personal favorites "Name 10 smells you are grateful for." We hadn't been playing very long before we were both smiling and laughing again. Try out the "Grateful Game!" It will put a smile on your face, guaranteed.

We had lots of good lessons last week. We met with J again. He hadn't had time to really read in the Book of Mormon :( He still has lots of questions, though which we are looking forward to answering. We also met with Frau S and talked a lot about love, which is always one of my favorite things to talk about. 

This past week we had some training from our Zone Leaders, and one of the things they talked about was Virtue. They made the analogy that we need to be like a river, not a pond. When bad thoughts come, we need to just wash them out with good clean thoughts, like a river, and not let them stagnate in icky water, like a pond. I liked that and have been trying to keep good thoughts filtering through my mind all week, hopefully they wash out some of the not so good thoughts. 

Ich weiß, dass das Buch Mormon wahr ist. Ich lese jeden Tag darin, und darin Tag lerne ich etwas neues. Es ist für uns geschrieben, damit wir lernen können. Ich bin so dankbar, dass ich auf Mission bin und dieses Buch mit anderen Menschen teilen darf.

( I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I read it every day and every day I learn something new. It is written for us, for us to learn. I am so thankful that I am on a mission and can share this book with others.)

Ich hab euch liebe! Mach's gut!

(I love you! Take care!)

--Sister Stewart

To Stuttgart!

So, the past few weeks it seems like we have spent a lot of time in Stuttgart. We have gone twice for P-Day, once for Stake Conference, once for Zone Conference, and we will be going again tomorrow for another training meeting. It has been fun to be back in the "big city." 

The past week was pretty great. The weather was WARM. There were some days we didn't even need jackets! I am certain that March will get cold again, but it was nice to have a little break from winter over the past week. 

Tuesday was Zone Conference. We learned a LOT about member missionary work. We practiced a lot helping members to do missionary work, so hopefully we will be able to implement our new skills here in Göppingen. 

On Wednesday we were able to meet with J again! He had read in the Book of Mormon! He talked about how important his family is to him. When we asked him why he decided to meet with us, one of the first things he said was "Well, you're American!" Fair enough :) I think he misses home. His family, especially his grandma, gave him a really solid religious foundation in his life, but I think he has lost sight of that a little bit. He loves baseball and spends a lot of time playing/reffing in various places, so when spring comes I am sure we will have a harder time nailing him down for appointments. 

Saturday was the big cleaning day in the mission. All the missionaries were instructed to not schedule appointments and to just spend the day cleaning out their apartments. Sister Ackerman and I scrubbed and scrubbed, and now the place is sparkling clean. The one thing we have left is the basement storage unit, basically anything we didn't know what to do with we stuck down there... Hopefully though some of the members will be able to help us cart things away. At least for now everything is out of sight :) 

On Sunday we went over to a nursing home to visit some of the older sisters that live there. That was a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I think we will try and get over there about once a month or so. 

This past week Sister Ackerman really helped me to understand something. Hopefully I can express it well without it getting too muddled. It is something that I have heard a lot, but that I have never really understood with my heart. In this life, we are all given trials and problems. Some of us have the tendency to lean towards committing certain sins, some of us never have a problem with those things. Sometimes I feel like my testimony came "too easy." Because I have watched others struggle with things that I never really had a problem with, I wonder sometimes if I really "worked hard enough" to gain my testimony. But you know what? That's false! As mom wrote me recently "Fair does not always mean equal." God is perfectly fair. He gives us the experiences we need in our lives to learn and grow. Because we are all different, those experiences will be vastly different and may look unequal to our mortal eyes, but it doesn't mean that we don't learn as much as others. God treats us all with fairness, because He loves us! 

Ich weiß, dass ich an der richtige Ort bin, wo Gott mich haben will. Ich weiß, dass wenn wir einfach auf Gott vertrauen, wenn wir beten und in den Schriften lesen, können wir nicht fallen.

(I know that I am where God wants me to be. I know that if we simply trust in God when we pray and read the scriptures we can’t fail.) 

Ich hab euch lieb! (I love you!)

--Sister Stewart

God lives.

Hello everybody!

Last Monday we had Family Home Evening with one of the member families in our branch. The dad gave us an "almost" referral, he has a friend he wants us to go visit, but he couldn't remember the address :) 

On Tuesday we were trying to visit a couple less active members in one of the nearby towns. However, we got very, very lost. On the map it looked like the streets connected, but in real life that was not so much the case. So we were about to turn around and go back to the main area of town when I had the feeling we should ring the door bells of the houses in that neighborhood. So that's what we did. We found an American! His name is J, he was telling us how he used to go to church in the US but since moving to Germany hasn't really found a church to go to. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we are going to go by again on Wednesday! That evening we had an appointment with A, who is from Afghanistan. The list of countries from which my investigators come from is just getting longer! It now includes Afghanistan, Nepal, China, Poland, Italy, Columbia, the U.S. and Nigeria, and that's not all! Oh, I have also taught a few people that are actually German :)

We did an Autausch (Exchange) this week! I went to go work in Pforzheim with Sister Garrett! It was a lot of fun. It is always a treat to go to another city and just do missionary work without worrying about all the other stuff. It was almost like a little vacation. We found three people that were interested. They all lived at house number 10, just on different streets :)

Yesterday was Stake Conference. It was held in the stake center in Stuttgart. It basically looks like any of the churches I grew up with back in the states, which is super weird. The talks were great. The funny thing is we will be going to Stuttgart today for P-Day and then again tomorrow for Zone Conference! Three days in a row! 

This transfer is one week shorter than normal, which means we will be getting our transfer calls on March 15 and transfers will then take place the following week. Crazy! Sister Pingree, my trainer, goes home this transfer! Our mission is getting 14 new sisters and only 2 are going home (or so I've heard), so the likelihood is high that I will be training sometime in the very near future.

I have been thinking lately about "knowing" versus "believing." We were doing a role play and one of the Elders said "I know God is there. It's just true. Just like the table is there, God is there." There are some things that I have to rely on my faith for, some things that I just have to believe for now because I can't see them from my earthly perspective. But there are other things that I just KNOW. I can't really explain it, but I could never deny the fact that God is there.

Ich weiß, dass Gott da ist und das er uns liebt. Davon bin ich überzeugt. Egal was kommt, ich weiß es.

(I know that God is there and that he loves us. This I know for sure. Whatever happens, I will still know it.) 

Tschüss! Bis später! (Bye-Bye, Later)

--Sister Stewart