Monday June 15, 2015 Gera, Germany

Hallo!! Sorry if this email is a little short...I forgot my planner. Does that sound like me? Probably. So, I don’t know if I remember all that I have done this week! 

Montag: We met with the Meckel Family! The mom is a less active, she has 3 kids, and then a boyfriend. Her boyfriend is our investigator, and now two of the kids are too. I love that family! We had a pretty good first lesson and talked about reading and praying together as a family. We also had another appointment with a guy who makes those wooden puppet things on strings! He's cool! But talked a lot, so we didn’t get a lot in! 

Dienstag: We had a lesson with Michael. He’s cool. Still doesn't have his answer, but it will come! I promised him it would...so it better! :) We met with a less active and showed some videos about the atonement. She almost cried! Which means I almost cried too! I don’t think she’s had visits from the missionaries in a long time. I would like to think we really brought the Spirit back into her home. People have hard lives...I’m glad I get to help just a little bit. We also gave out 2 Books of Mormon this day! Sister Medley just accidently grabbed a Russian one and guess what?! A lady on the street only spoke Russian! So we gave her a card and a book! Things work out! 

Mittwoch: We had Distrikt meeting! I like Distrikt meeting! Our Elders are really good missionaries and I learn a lot. We got to drive the car back! That’s always fun! I like the Auto Bahn. We can’t go very fast, but I like watching all the other nice cars go by! We then met with Herr Strauss. He's a golden investigator! Has tons of questions about if God is there and how he can find him. He doesn’t really do anything in life, so we can meet with him a lot. We did our best how-to-begin-teaching we have ever done and really set up what we do as missionaries and how it can help him really well! 

Donnerstag: It rained a ton this day! Which made it hard to do anything, because we do everything outside! Even German and English class! Because we don’t have a church building! But, it worked out today because we met with a lady who wanted to come to English. She invited us over and she made us tea (the ok kind) and she is now a new investigator! 

Freitag: We went to Werdau to visit a member! She was sooo sweet and fed us TONS of food! They Elders didn't eat a lot, so that means we had to eat a lot! Good thing it was good! Sauerkraut, Bratwurst, and potatoes. We then did weekly planning. It still takes forever! 

Sammstag: This day was crazy! Had a lesson with Lucy, and in the middle of our lesson outside it started to downpour! The hardest rainstorm I’ve ever been in! We went to McDonalds and finished our lesson! Then, later that day as we were finding, this very old lady asked us for directions and so we tried to help her. But then realized that she was not really all there in her mind. We walked with her for about 45 minutes and she led us right back to where we started. It then started to rain for the second time that day. And this time it was harder than the first! We called Sch. Dörlitz and she saved us! This lady lived like 4 miles away and was trying to walk all the way back! I’m glad we got to help her though! 

Sontag: Very normal. Church! Always good! I’m going to run out of internet time! Love you! Thanks for your emails! Have a great week! I'll try to send some pics!

Whoa...just kidding! I still have 20 minutes! Good! Because I wanted to tell you about Sunday! We did ALL that we could to get the Meckel family to church. Set up rides…a couple members were helping us…we were in touch with them often. They told us 3 times they were for sure coming! Then...at 10 pm on Saturday they called. They said they decided to go over to a friend’s house and sleep over so they weren't going to make it! To say the least...we were heartbroken. Totally heartbroken. It’s hard when we do all that we can, and then people choose to not do something. I honestly don’t think I’ve felt so sad on my mission! Oh if they just knew the blessings that come from church! It’s ok though! We will try all we can this week too! 

I think the hardest part of serving a mission is loving people with all my heart! It’s not hard to love the people, it’s really easy! Loving them just makes it hard! Every time someone doesn’t keep a commitment, or can’t meet with us, it breaks my heart! Every. Time. Oh it’s harder than I ever thought it would be! I imagine it being a little like how parents feel when kids make the wrong decision! Or how our Heavenly Father feels when we don’t keep our promises to him. That makes me want to be really good! Because the feeling of sorrow that I have when the people don’t keep their commitments is awful! Do good! Don’t let your Father in Heaven feel broken hearted! 

I love you all so much! Thanks for all of your great emails, prayers and support! I feel them! 

Alles Liebe, Sister St. John

Car ride from Berlin with the Elders! that doesn't happen every day! 

 Thüringer Bratwurst. The best in Germany. Which is the best in the World. Just look at it! Oh! so good!

Typical life in Germany.

 Including the Porsche

Monday June 8, 2015 Gera, Germany

Poked and Prodded…

Hallo!! Meine Gute (my goodness)! Your week was crazy busy! I forget how busy summer is sometimes. But at least you can go swimming. For some reason, I have missed that this week. Wait...maybe it’s because it was like 85 degrees, and I was wearing garments and a skirt and not swimming like everyone else was in all of the public fountains. Germans do not wear very much clothing while it is hot.

I am also so glad to hear about your good temple celebration! It has been my dream to go to one, or be in one. So you should feel lucky that you all lived my dream! I can't wait to actually go to that temple! It’s beautiful!

Really quickly my week!

Montag: I ate SO much crap today! I don’t know why, I was just starving when we went shopping and bought a bunch of chocolate and candy. Stupid. Then we ate a Döner which is like 3 times the size of my stomach, but I eat the whole thing anyway. Colten would like it. We did contact sheets at night after P-day (but really hours) ended because it was raining. Sometimes we feel that we need inspiration to translate the things written in the area books by the Elders! But then we also got to talk to Pascal and Sch. Meckel on Markt because we saw the Elders talking to them (the Elders were sleeping over in Gera in the empty couple apartment). That was good because all of our appointments had fallen out these past weeks.

Deinstag: I woke up, and threw up. Awesome. If you know me, after I throw up I’m like done for the day. Except for today. We were supposed to go to Berlin for our last Zone conference with President! We had to go. So by some small miracle, I got ready for the day and felt fine the rest of the day! I got to see so many old companions, and I learned a lot. President talked a lot about Joseph Smith. He was an extraordinary man. We also had to say goodbye to President and Sister Kosak. I cried to say the least! If I would have known that I would have to say so many goodbyes…ugh! But! This day was also fun, because we drove with the Elders to Berlin! (President told us to)

Mittwoch: I went to bed a half hour early, and woke up a half hour early because I did NOT feel good at all on Tuesday. It really helped and I was able to do the work today. It was SO hot! SO SO hot! I don’t remember the last time I’ve sweated so much in my life! To make it better we had a white day of finding (nothing scheduled)! We also had a spantan (?) lesson with Lucy! She is amazing!

Donnerstag: We went by on some less actives that we are trying to get in contact with. None of them were home. We had German and English class! In English class 2 teenage boys came and asked us a lot of questions about the church. That was really cool because that just doesn’t usually happen to us! Then, we did more finding, with little success. It was also very hot this day. And yes, I have been wearing sunscreen!

Freitag: We helped Sch. Dörlitz in her garden again! It was SO hot! Like 80 in the shade! Then we went by on less actives that were also not home. And then did some finding. I think we switched numbers with someone today, and made out an appointment for next week. All the finding pays off, slowly. But it does. We then did weekly planning.

Samstag: The Meckles said they wanted help in their garden, so we went over, not in dresses to help, but it was too hot so everyone just hung out, and Pascal wasn’t even there. Kind of sad, but it was good because we met some of their friends and got to know Schw. Meckel a Little better. We then met with Lucy, and made some good goals. She is really awesome! Tells everyone she knows about the church, and brings people to English! I love her! Went by on the less actives again...and again...they weren’t home! None of them! We then met with Raymond. He is very African. We will see if we can make any progress with him.

Sontag: Church! Then to Schwester Kretchmar's house. She taught us how to make Klöße (dumplings)! She talked a lot about the DDR which is cool to hear now that I’m back in the East and actually understand what they are telling me. She served a mission in this time and it was very cool to hear about how it was all really about strengthening the members! We then tried to find a couple contacts in Bieblach (City part) and had no luck. But! We talked to a few people and they actually had interest. Also, I used my photography skill and there was a guy who was just about going to walk away when I asked him about his camera he had around his neck. He did photography real estate for a job. Not many people do that here. So we talked for a while and he actually wanted a Book of Mormon. He wasn’t from Gera, but he knew the missionaries number from where he was from and said he was going to call them. Sometimes...just sometimes I feel like I have my talents for specific reasons! Also, our old lady neighbor wanted to show us her cats so we went in and she was amazed by my blue eyes, like she had never seen blue eyes before! She said I looked like I came straight from heaven. I told her I did! She laughed and actually, we then had a really good talk about heaven. She had a Book of Mormon already and said she was going to read it again.

This week is called poked and prodded because....ugh! I have to go, but we are going to McDonalds in a couple hours to finish our email time! I will tell you more about it in a few hours! Love you all!

Ok, as I was saying....poked and prodded because, well for a lot of reasons! I've been physically drained! Emotionally drained! I get very attached to people, and having my mission president leave is kind of very sad! It's like losing my mission parents! Also, finding just drains me. Especially this week! Everyone that we talked to said something mean about the Book of Mormon, or Joseph Smith. It just really makes me realize how strong my testimony has become. I don't think I realized until this week how much stronger it has become. When I can testify with the utmost sincerity of my heart that I KNOW Joseph Smith was a true prophet. That he was called of God. That he translated the Book of Mormon. That the Book of Mormon is the truest book on Earth. It changes lives. I've seen it. I've seen people change with this Gospel. I've seen myself change. God loves us, he wants the best for us. Ask him for help. He will answer your prayers.

I love you! I hope you have a good week! But never forget what is really the most important in life. Never lose sight of that. Love you!

Love, Sis. St. John

 Our study room

Our bedroom

 

 The hall with towels we need to get rid of (Elder's towels)

 Kitchen

 Us

 Bathroom

 

From the final Zone conference with President and Sister Kosak

Monday June 1, 2015 Gera, Germany

Well...Hallo! It’s kind of nice to just sit down and write an email! I don’t usually have time to just sit and write here! I am exhausted. Completely worn out. Going, and going and going sometimes is hard. However, somehow we all manage to do it! I'll go through my week
really quick!

Montag: P-day. But as usual a member wanted us to come over and feed us. (2hrs) then she wanted to take us to this mini zoo thing where her granddaughter was playing in a band that her son runs. It was cool! (2hrs) and that was our P-day. Luckily we had time for a 15 min nap before we had to go out finding in the rain. As I said...I’m exhausted! Oh! And we also met this guy from Africa who was the Elder’s investigator a long time ago! We made an appointment for Saturday!

Dienstag: We had to anmeld in our city. So...I guess that’s like signing up or something. But it took FOREVER! We were waiting for 2 hours! We both slept. Then we had 2 appointments fall out! One lady wasn’t there where she said we could meet, and she wouldn’t answer her phone. Then Pascal, he’s on baptismal date, but he was sick. :( So, we did finding.

Mittwoch: We had Distrikt Meeting in Werdau! Our Distrikt is us, sisters from another little city and then our elders in Werdau! I like it! It was a good Distrikt meeting and we discussed the question that we always get. "I can’t believe in God. There has been so much fighting, so many bad things! Why would God do that to us? Or to all those people? If he was really there, he would make those things not happen!" That quote about sums up my mission. If you have any suggestions for me... let me know! We also had a fireside at a member’s house in Gera. And it was just for the "Gera" members! It was interesting!

Donnerstag: We went and tried to get me a German driver’s license. I have to get one. Weird. We then went by on contacts. No one was home, or they couldn’t understand us over the klingel. It happens. We then had a termien (appointment?) with Michael. We invited him to be baptized and he said that when he finds out it is true, he will be baptized! Oh this just about made me want to do a flip for joy right there in the park! YES! We will be working very closely with him! The members are always surprised here when we tell them that we find new people, or that Michael wants to be baptized. They keep saying "Wow sisters! You are doing more work than the Elders did here in like a year!" I don’t think that’s true. But I do think this area was ready for sisters! Where our Elders are serving, before it had Berlin missionaries there they only had 1 lesson in 3 transfers! That’s NOTHING! The work is being sped up! We just have to work hard! We also helped Schwester Sorge in her garden! That was fun!

Freitag: Went by on contacts. I was NOT feeling it this day. I don’t know why, but I just was not my happy self! I didn’t feel motivated, I didn’t feel happy, and I was tired. But I did the work anyway. We went by on like...a lot of contacts and did finding along the way. We then did weekly planning at the end of the day! Good idea came from Sister Medley! It was WAY better than at the beginning!

Sammstag: We helped Schwester Dörlitz in her garden! She is one of my favorite members! She loves the missionaries and has a record and a picture of every missionary that has served here since like the 1970's, it’s so cool! We also had a lesson with Lucy and used some conference talks from our Ipads (still weird!). We also talked about making a plan to actually start making steps to her baptism date! It will be really good! She is only 20, so planning is still a little hard for her. Especially with money. Which is really what she needs in order to move out. But then after that we went by on MORE contacts! (We have a lot if you can’t tell!)

Sontag: Church! Good as normal! I sat by a lady and it turns out she is married to Pres. Kosak’s brother! Everyone here is related to him! Funny! Then after church we went to Pres. Kosaks other brother’s house for lunch! It was SO good! Typical East Germany food! Potatoes, gravy with pork in it, and rohtkohl (that red cabbage stuff). So good! Then we took the car back to Gera. Sister Medley drove on the Autobahn for the first time! It’s crazy! Kind of just like the freeway, without a speed limit! Ah! Then we ran into Raymond. The African from Monday (his appointment fell out on Sat.) He talked to us for like an hour! Then one of his friends came up and was all interested in why we spoke such good English. That’s one of my favorite questions to answer! So we got this kid’s number so we can tell him when English class is! He’s black, but was born in Germany, so he wants help with his English homework and stuff. He’s cool and like our age. Hopefully he will bring friends too! We also met with some less actives. We have a lot here. I have NO idea how to help people become reactivated. We will see.

So, this week was good! Just tiring! Friday was hard! Sister Medley asked me on Friday if I thought the transfer was harder than I thought it would be. At that moment, I realized that it maybe was! I put my whole heart, and soul into the people in Stadthagen! It’s hard to leave
a place when you have your whole heart there! Even when I put my whole heart here, everyone in Stadthagen will have a piece of my heart. I really am better now. Back to my normal happy self. But I just wanted to tell you that yes, a mission is wonderful. But it’s not all blissful. I have HARD days! But it’s worth it! Have such a fun week! Enjoy summer! It’s still cold here. Like in the 60's.

Alles Liebe, Sister St. John

 From Pday a few weeks ago, before we left Stadthagen.
*click on the picture to see it bigger*

 Gera...very East German, and green.

We live here...on Markt!

Monday May 25, 2015 Gera, Germany

Monday May 25, 2015

Hallo! Seems to me like we have all had a busy week! I did fit everything into my suitcases which is a miracle in of itself! We had a really fun couple of P-days with Schwester Keiser! She took us to see those big trees that grow all crazy. And I guess they only grow in a strip of Europe! So that was cool! Also, that windmill was built a long time ago by Napoleons brother who was king in that part of Germany for a while! Then this past week we went to a castle the Schaumburg Schloss! The Elders came with us, so that was fun! Then we had 3 eating appointments. I almost threw up! Way too much food! But then....

Deinstag: we finished packing. Lugged our stuff down all 4 flights of stairs by ourselves. Got dropped off at bahnhof (train station) and were on our way! We traveled to Leipzig with Elder Thomas, and elder Benitz who is German! So that was fun to talk to him about American food and stuff! We then went from Leipzig to Gera. We met the Elders who were serving here in Gera and they showed us to our HUGE apartment! This is a weird
situation because this area was part of the Frankfurt mission. But it got added into the Leipzig stake, so our mission took it over. Rules are a lot different in our mission, (we have a German president. Things are stricter.)  So the members are still trying to get used to all the new rules! But yeah. The Elders showed us around. We went to a geminde abbend (?), met some members, and an investigator Lucy! She's awesome, and 20. So young! She is on baptismal date for February! A long time away...we are working on moving it. She has a hard situation with one of her roommates. But yeah. Gera is good! We live 1 hour away by train from our church, and also our Elders.

Mittwoch: The Elders showed us around a little more. We had English class and then then we met up with some other Elders, they switched companions so that Frankfurt missionaries were now with Frankfurt missionaries, and Berlin with Berlin. We then went with our Berlin missionaries to teach an investigator Pascal! He is on baptismal date for August! He just has to get married, and stop smoking! They have a wedding date! So that's good!

Donnerstag: We went finding! Cleaned (it was an Elder’s apartment) and we found a new investigator! Not while cleaning...but while finding! His name is Michael. We set up an appointment for Samstag. Then Lucy showed us around Gera a little bit.

Freitag: we had ZTM in Werdau which is where our ward building is. We got IPADS! Crazy! We had to spend a lot of time trying to get them set up. They are really cool! They are specially made for the church! They came with a bunch of apps already on them! Cool! We can't use Facebook yet. But hopefully soon! It took us forever to get home because our trains kept falling out! We didn't have lunch and I was starving! So
we ate, did our studies, and went to bed. We do a lot of traveling as missionaries!

Samstag: We helped a member in her garden. That was fun! We met with Lucy. Very complex situation, but we will try to get her baptized soon. She's very involved! More than some members actually! We then met with Michael. He is a little socially awkward...but we are too so it all works out! He said he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He was very open to everything we were teaching. We then had weekly planning. My FAVORITE part of the week! Ha! But it was good, because we got to get caught up on the area.

Sonntag: Schwester Dörlitz picked us up and we drove the prettiest drive I've ever made to church! We are in the Thüringen forest! It's the green heart of Germany! Very pretty! Church was good! The members we're excited to get Sisters! They haven't had Sisters in these cities for a really long time! Bishop is President’s nephew. He called us one day and we thought it was President because he sounds just like him. President’s brother is also in our ward. We serve with two really good Elders. Elder Young, who goes home in August, and Elder Thompson, who reminds me of Dad! There is a little separation in our ward because they just joined 3 branches into one ward three weeks ago! The Gera members got all offended that the people in Werdau wanted us over for lunch! We will have to work on that. I've lived in wards where they have split and been added to, so hopefully I can help a little! Oh! And we found another new investigator! She already had a Book of Mormon! We are meeting on Deinstag!

Surprise! Today is another holiday! So we are on our iPads at McDonalds emailing! So...that means I don't have pictures this week! I'm sorry! I don't send all the pics I take either! So trust me! I have plenty of pictures of how the places look that I am serving! Gera is the biggest city that Sister Medley has served in. But it's smaller than Halle! We have strassen bahns. And we live on markt! It's really pretty! I’m loving it here!

Sister Medley really thinks that we were put together to serve here! We are on the same page, and are a really good team! We also came from a good ward, so we know what to do for member work! Everything is inspired! We have seen blessings from going the extra mile! Both times we found someone, we could have been home, but because we went the extra mile and went finding, we found people! We are truly blessed when we show that Heavenly Father that we are willing to work!

Love you so much!
Alles liebe Sister St. John

Cassidy's zone with their new iPads!

Monday May 18, 2015 Stadthagen, Germany

I’m apologizing right now...this letter will be short! I will make up for it next week. But GUESS WHAT?!  We are closing our area! SO sad! To say the least it was kind of like leaving my home ward...sad. But...WE GET TO STAY TOGETHER!!!! If you can’t tell... I’m excited! And we are whitewashing in Gera. A city in the new Erfort area of our mission! President Kosak’s nephew is going to be our bishop! The interesting thing is that we are taking over an Elder’s program. So we come in both not knowing anything and also living in an Elder’s old apartment! We also have to get almost everything out of our apartment! (Sisters leave EVERYTHING when they go home!) It has been a pain, and some very late nights since we found out only on Friday. I’m very excited though! I don’t know why President trusts us to do this, but I guess the Lord qualifies his servants for the work right? 

This week has just been crazy! We handed off our investigators to the Hannover Sisters, and to our Elders. We met with Elmis, He had TONS of questions! It was cool! He said he would read the Book of Mormon in 2 days. He came to church and sat by the Elders. Turns out...he read the whole book, in 2 days! Who does that?! What a golden investigator! The elders will do good with him! Also, we got a referral from the buro, went by on her! She was friends with some members (do your member work!) and she wanted a Book of Mormon! She has 2 girls! Sad that we don’t get to teach her! But fun that we got a referral! There is not much to update other than that! I have a lot of pics to send! And they are all worth a thousand words! 

PS. we have 4 member appointments today, and one of them is taking us to a castle! That will be fun! 

Love you!! Hope you have a great week! Thanks for your emails and pics! Oh! And tell Savannah that the weather here is really nice! I usually just have to wear a cardigan. No tights. Sometimes it rains, but not often! It’s like in the 60's! 

Love, Sister St. John 

Note from Mom: There was recently some realigning between the two missions in Germany. The Berlin, Germany mission received a few cities that are at the bottom of this map and make up the new Leipzig Sud area. This was especially exciting because Cassidy's Mission President's father and siblings all live in this area! Cassidy will be in the "pink" area in the city Gera.

 Our apartment. Don't judge. We are a mess these few days.

Sister Peters & us.

Some of the young men. 

Typish German! Last P-Day was fun!

Monday May 11, 2015 Stadthagen, Germany

Hallo!! How are you? Talking to you yesterday was great! I’m so so glad that skype worked! We made sure to write it down in our member book to always skype at the Metzig’s house! I wish you could have met them. But they were skyping their daughter. Anyway...I hope you learned a few new things, and I hope it wasn’t too boring for you. I feel like all my little details aren’t very exciting, but maybe it’s just because it’s normal life for me now. So wie so....
Montag: We practiced our music. And our appointment fell out for that night. Schade! But, it’s alright. We will get another appointment with him soon. 

Dienstag: We had a White Day (no appointment day) so...we decided to do what any missionary would do, and go finding. But we also decided to go on a few contacts. Grace, who we found on the street a few weeks ago, told us she didn’t have any time as she was smoking inside her house, with her 3 month old baby in her arms... :( We then went by Frau Wolf, she is 95 and we are working on her for the Spirit World! She likes to talk about the Cosmos. She was also very upset because some of the old people in her home were eating chicken legs for lunch and she couldn’t believe that they would eat meat off the bone like that! “Sie haben es rein gebissen!” (They have bitten it clean!) Kind of funny! But sad at the same time! She likes reading, so we gave her a couple chapters in the Book of Mormon. We also went by Schwester Oschiena. She is also 95, but a member. We sung for her, and she just kind of laughed at us! Then we went by Schwester Ruf who made us strawberries and some really good whipped cream! Also, Brudder Klinge was there. They have been friends since kindheit (childhood)! Then... we went to the Graffs, they have us over every other week! The food is always interesting, BUT!! They made this ice cream and it was SO SO good! It is just vanilla ice cream from the store, then they mash up avocado and stir it in! Trust me mom, you would love it! 

Mittwoch: A strike was going one for Deutscher Bahn. The trains that take us everywhere! So...that makes missionary work hard! But, manageable! We had distrikt meeting, then went to back factory. The McDonalds of bakeries here in Germany. We saw a member there and he ate with us! We then did studies and then Gemi Co. I’m sorry, but meetings are SO boring! Wednesdays are not my favorite. But its ok, because they are necessary I guess! 

Donnerstag: We visited schwester Phillippen. She is a cute old lady and likes talking about her recipes. We then had English class, where I learn more about English then the Russian ladies do I think! We then made cookies (the weather was bad and we needed service hours) and we made like 5 batches of chocolate chip cookies. It was fun! And then we delivered them to people! Good service! 

Freitag: Weekly planning! Woohoo!! But we made it quick! So that was good! We also went by on Grace again, because she said we should come back on Friday! She wasn’t home sadly. We also had Geminde Sport! I’m living Colten’s dream and playing Soccer with a bunch of German guys! It’s pretty fun to watch. 

Samstag: We had a 2 hour train ride to Hameln. We ate a Döner! SO good! And we visited Irean, who is Russian. She made us eat so much candy! And also talked to us about the Law of Chastity made sure we were keeping it. Funny, because she’s not a member of our church! We also then visited Fana! She asked us for clothes last time we talked on the phone, and so we brought some from our apartment that we had laying around. She was SO happy! I love service! 

Sontag: Church!! And guess what?! We had an investigator there!! I told you this in German, but I don’t think you understood, because you weren’t very excited! But his name is Elmis! He’s an older Turkish guy that we talked to for like 5 minutes on Friday! You never know who is prepared! He asked us for a Book of Mormon, a Bible, and an appointment after church! Sweet!! It was sister Medleys first time ever with an investigator at church! So that was really exciting! Then, we skyped! SO fun! And...the zone leaders called us and asked if we could give a 15 minute thema in zone training meeting this week. It’s in German...not excited. I get really nervous for things like this! Dang! But it’s ok!

This week I really have been trying to pay attention to things that matter. It’s cool to see how happy I get over the little things that matter! How serving people, and just the simple things always help me be happy! Remember to live in the moment! Don’t dwell on the past, or the future! Live in the moment! Love every moment! 

Love, Sister St. John

A field of raps - from the train. 

 Waterloo monument in Hannover (I dont really know what it is or why its important. It just is cool. and I had the waterloo song from mama mia stuck in my head all day!)

*The Waterloo square was built at the beginning of the 19th century together with the Waterloo column. Both served to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Waterloo, by the troops of the Kingdom of Hanover in 1815 against Napoleon.

Top of the Waterloo

 Rat Haus (Town Hall) in Hannover  

Sisters in the district 

Sister Medley & Me

I play the cello! 

Typical Sunday night! Abend Brot, and a (church) movie in German! 

Monday May 4, 2015 Stadthagen, Germany

Thanks for your updates! The Payson temple is beautiful and it might be my new favorite! Spring is definitely in the air! Everything here is green! I’ve never seen things so green in my life! 
Woche (week)....
Montag: We practiced our music that we will be doing next Sunday! Where Can I Turn For Peace? I thought that was better than Love at Home for Mother’s Day. (Mom, you should kind of think that’s funny!) 

Deinstag: We opened the door to our apartment, all the way up on 4th floor, and our bags of glass bottles that we put in the garbage outside were returned to our door. SO embarrassing because we don’t know how to recycle here! And someone from our apartment building saw us, or knew it was us and brought them all the way up to return it! SO funny! We came back later that night and there was a nice (not so nice) note for us telling us how to throw away our garbage. Germans. We went on Tausch (exchange)! I was here with Sister Walker. Leider (unfortunately)...we didn’t take a picture! I really learned a lot from her about following the Spirit! 

Mittwoch: We had interviews with President today. I love him! I cried...he teared up. It was our last interview with him. He is like my dad out here on the mission! He asked Sister Medley how it was working with his "little princess" and when he called me in for his interview he asked where his "little lightning" was. He's pretty funny and Sister Medley and I have been having fun quoting him lately. My favorite thing in my interview that President said to me was that He would send his children across the plains with me! That right there is one of the biggest compliments he could have given me! Sometimes I just need a little reminder that I am good! 

Donnerstag: We taught English to the 3 old Russian ladies. That’s always fun. Then we had Distrikt meeting. I had a spiritual thought, and DM is always a little boring, so I decided to share a funny spiritual thought. In Proverbs 28:25 it says something about trust in the lord and you will be made fat. So I shared that scripture and told everyone that we gain weight on a mission because we are trusting in the lord. Everyone laughed! It was pretty funny! But then, of course I bore my testimony about trusting in the Lord in all things. He knows what is best for us, and in the end, we will be happier if we just trust in him. 

Freitag: It was a holiday. Not sure why, or which one, but it was. We ate at a member’s house, then we practiced music again, (I was a little rusty on the piano) and then we went by on some contacts.

Samstag: We went to Hameln. It takes 2 hours by train, so we got some good German study in, and also some good naps. We met with Fana. We were planning on showing the restoration video, but she didn’t have a dvd player. (We need the iPads) but we had a good lesson anyway. We also were dooring apartment buildings. This guy let us in and we go up like 3 flights of stairs to then see him in just his underwear, standing in the door way. He was old, on the fatter side, and hairy. Awesome. Missionary work is awkward! (Another word they don’t have a translation for in German) but it makes for funny stories! 

Sontag: We went to church, then ate by the Stake President! He looked a little like Pres. Uchtdorf! Very German. It was really fun, and I had just been fasting so it was like the best food I’ve ever eaten! Chili (not spicy) over rice. (They don’t really eat soup on its own here) And bread! And then ice cream! Which is my favorite here in Germany! I like it way better than America! 

Sorry it was a little shorter today than last week! But this week we talked to more people than I think I have ever talked to in Stadthagen! We made it a goal to go finding where ever we are going! It’s been really good, and I feel as we show more effort into this work, then Heavenly father shows more effort on his part! I think that goes with everything in life. When we put all our effort, really ALL that we can do, Heavenly Father will bless us with what we need to help us get through! I’ve really learned that we can do anything and everything with his help! No matter how crazy it sounds! We can do it! I’ve also been studying a talk called "The Fourth Missionary" By Lawrence E. Corbridge. It is one of the best talks I have ever read! It really has changed my attitude around, and I think it will change my mission! You should read it if you haven’t already! Or, if you have, you should read it again! 

Follow the Spirit, try to recognize how it talks to you! I love you so much! Have a great week! I will talk to you in a few days!! Love you!! 

Sister St. John

(Note from mom: these are all unedited pictures which means...it is really pretty there right now!)

 Sunsets, I still love them!

 These yellow flowers are all over! Fields and fields of them! They are called raps and they make oil out of them for cooking! But they are beautiful! 

Just a few pictures of me.

Plus a selfie!

Just one more! Sorry that these are all the pictures that we took this week!