Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Monday July 13, 2015 Gera, Germany

Der Tempel und die Segnungen davon
Title translation: The Temple and the blessings there from. Or…The temple, and the blessings from it. I don't know how to put that into right sentence structure. :)

Hallo!! Summer here in Germany, or in Gera at least is now in full swing! The kids only get 6 weeks of summer! So everyone in America should be grateful for their summer break! 

Montag: We had a wonderful lesson with the Meckel Family! We talked about the Doctrine of Christ. We made another little puzzle with a bridge that you have to build that gets you to the other side. It's fun for the kids and gets everyone involved. We also made the kids Baptisim calendars and helped them know how to do those. At the end of the lesson we watched a Mormon message about the blessings we can receive when we live the doctrine of Christ. It was really focused on the family. The Spirit was very strong while we were watching it, and I cry anyway every time we watch this film. But, Schwester Meckel also started crying. When it was over I felt the strong impression to just bear my testimony of the family. I got through my tears just enough to bear a short, but very strong testimony of how the gospel could bless their family. It was maybe the strongest testimony that I have ever given. I have never felt the Spirit help me as much as it did in that moment to know exactly what to say and how to say it. As I was set apart by our Stake President, he promised me that I would be able to speak the language as if I was born here. Most of the time I look at that promise and think it will never happen, but...sometimes, when I am talking with the Spirit, I can see this promise fulfilled. 

Dienstag: We taught Michael. He is really struggling right now to find his testimony. We talked a lot about the Word of Wisdom, and his is still hung up on that Jesus drank wine, so he doesn't see why it’s bad. If anyone has any suggestions with this let me know. Also, we were supposed to teach Sandy, but he didn't show up. So, we finally had a little bit of time for finding. We then went to Frau Dhillion! She is an amazing cook and always has some kind of small dessert made for us! We had Gemeinde Abend and watched the Testaments auf Deutsch, which, I have almost memorized by now! It's funny! Then we had a little Gemi-Co with Bruder Krause. 

Mittwoch: We had an appointment with Sch. Morgner. A less active in Werdau that we found a couple weeks ago. Her daughter was also there. We were just talking for a while and then her daughter said, "Ok, I have to tell you something" and she proceeded to tell us how grateful she is that we came at this time to help her and her mom. She talked about the timing and how we were very open and how they connected with us very quickly. It was another moment on my mission that I KNEW without a doubt that I was supposed to be there to help these ladies. Sister Medley and I were in the exact place at the exact time we were needed. I am very grateful that God has a specific plan for each of us. We also taught Frank, English and German this day! 

Donnerstag: We went to Leipzig for a zone conference with our new President! But, before I tell you about that I have to tell you something pretty typical of me! As we were leaving I forgot my name tag, so I ran in to get it and Sis. Medley held the door open. My keys were still IN the door INSIDE our apartment. I didn't even think about it and just walked out and let the door close! Shoot. My keys. But hey, no problem because Sis. M. had her keys with her. Wait...problem, the keys are still in the door so Sis M's keys don't work. Ugh! Looking back it’s funny, because Bruder Krause helped us out while we were in Leipzig! So...Leipzig. President Fingele is amazing! He has 5 kids! 3 of them were with him as well as his wife! During this conference, we focused a lot on the family! Our new mission theme is "Faithfully we Baptize, Focused on the Blessings of the Temple." We talked about setting 2 baptismal dates for our investigators. One for themselves, and then one for a passed away family member in the temple. I LOVE this focus and I'm so excited to see it used in our mission! It is a little hard to do so because both of the temples in Germany are closed right now until 2016...but! We will make it work! 

Freitag: We met with Sandy! Also made an appointment with a contact for next week. Also a little bit of weekly planning! 

Sammstag: We finished our weekly planning, did some finding, an appointment fell out, we had a joint teach with Sch. Dörlitz and Michael! Then we went and ate with Lucy!! We love her to death and she's a very good cook! She even made me fries!! :) 

Sontag: Church, it wasn't so hot so we had all 3 hours. Michael came today which was really good because it was all about temples!! YES! We ate by Sch. Kretchmar! Rouladen! 

That was basically all for my week! I will send some pictures really quick! Love you!! Hope you have a GREAT week!! 

Alles Liebe, Sister St. John 

A garden in Gera! Reminds me a little of temple square, just without the temple! 
We went on a "hike" to a castle here in Gera today!  
And a jumping pic because why not?

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