March 17, 2014

Hallo Familie!  

I cannot believe that it is already Monday again.  Where did this last week go?  Troy, it freaks me out when you say that I am half way done.  I still feel like I just got here, and still don't know anything.  I've got to step up my game—haha.  The fact that you are all thinking about coming out here is awesome.  I would also love have you meet all of the incredible people that I have met and to see where I have spent my life.  Pictures just do not do these things justice.  I could never come close to trying to explain everything to you when I get home.  I am sure Troy understands exactly what I mean.  Präsident Schwartz would be just fine with it—a lot of missionaries go into drits for the last few weeks of their mission.  We get a new mission president in June, and so who knows what he is like.  He can't be better than Präs though.   

Have I already said that I can't believe that it is already Monday?  This week is going to FLY BYE, too.  We have Zone Conference this Thursday in Frankfurt, which means we have one less day to go out and do missionary work.  I will be on a split in Darmstadt on Wednesday.  We are so packed this week, and we can’t fit in everything that we want too, but it is going to be GREAT.  I feel guilty writing emails right now because I feel like I should be out proselyting—haha.  But I guess I can tell you what I have been up too. 

Last Monday, after Sister Petersen and I spent P-Day walking around the castle. (Yeah, we took a 15 minute stroll up to the castle, and walked around the gardens.  Just another day in Heidelberg.)  We went over to Gianluca's place and met with his family.  It was great.  His girlfriend was down visiting him and asked if she could go out with us the next night.  We had nothing planned, so she said we could go out finding...man oh man it was so great. 

So Mimi went out with us on Tuesday, and we went up to Boxberg to go see a less active family that Bishop wanted us to visit.  Surprise!  They weren’t home, so we ended up doing doors, and like always no one let us in.  We stopped and prayed and told Heavenly Father that we weren’t going home until we found someone that was prepared.  It was getting late and we had to be home at 9, but we didn't want to leave.  We finally got into this apartment building, and a man answered his door.  I had prepared a Book of Mormon on miracles and we started talking to him about miracles.  He told us how one time he was driving and fell asleep and somehow he woke up, and was still driving on the road, completely safe.  He said it was only through the hand of God that that was possible.  Dad, it reminded me of the time that you fell asleep on your car trip with Troy in the back, and you said that you woke up to feeling a hand guide your wheel back onto the road.  I shared that with him, and he let us in.  We ended up being there for an hour and didn't get home until 10:30. 

 

Our night with Mimi

This man was GOLDEN.  He has a 13-year-old son, Justin, and a wife.  The son was there, and so we talked with them for about an hour.  We read from the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 11, and we were all reading 2 verses and then when it got to Dietmar's turn (the dad), he ended up reading about 10 verses and then stopped and looked at us and just said, "This happened!  This really happened.  Christ died for us and did all of the miracles.  This is true!"  He went on to say that if he knew something was true, he would do just about anything.  He said he has always wondered why there are so many churches.  We are going back tomorrow and praying that his wife will be just as open, but we are just so excited.  There really are prepared people out there!  We just need to find them, and when we show God that we really are serious about it, he will lead us there.  There are so many Dietmars and Justins just sitting there, waiting for us to find them.   

The Taylor Family with Kristin

Naomi and Kristin are also both progressing.  They always read what we give to them, and have amazing questions about them.  The sad part is that Naomi is going to Peru for a month and a half, and Kristin is going to the Jordan desert for 2 weeks on a spiritual excursion, so we can’t meet with them.  We told Kristin to bring the Book of Mormon with her and read from the beginning about Lehi and his family traveling through the desert, because that is exactly what she will be doing over by Jerusalem!  After this, she will be able to relate better to them than any of us can. 



 

Danielle came to church again with her husband!  It was so great to see them there.  She seriously a different person now—so much more confident and happy.



Sister Hull

Sister Petersen and I have also done a lot with family history this week, and I have found out some cool things.  We were showing it to a less active family (which got them so excited, and they are coming to the church this week to check out the family history center) and I saw something really cool.  Everyone always asks me where the name Teeples comes from.  Well I traced the Teeples line back as far as it goes, and guess where he lived...  HEIDELBERG, GERMANY.  How crazy is that?!  I have work to do here, family! 

 Besides that, Sister Petersen and I have just been trying like crazy to find people to teach.  We set a goal to give out 7 Books of Mormon, all personalized with our testimonies in them, and we did it!  We didn’t even have our street display.  It was amazing how much of a difference it made.  These people were really grateful and interested.  They were more excited to get these books and to read from them, than any other time I have handed out a Book of Mormon.  Best part, they knew exactly how to start reading.  That is how we found Dietmar and Justin!  We wanted to do one on miracles, and that is exactly what it took to get them to open up. 



The work really is hastening.  Sister Petersen and I are hoping we stay together one more transfer, because we are getting on fire.  We know what to focus on, and what works for us.  I think that is the key.  Every companionship has something that they are good at and that they can do well, and we are figuring it out.  Time is going by too quickly.  At the end of this month are transfer calls again, and we are not ready.  But until then, we are going to hit the road and go find some more people that are ready to hear the gospel. 

Thank you for praying for all of the people that I am working with.  I love seeing a difference in their lives and seeing the Holy Ghost work in them.  I am hoping that Dietmar’s family is one of those prepared families, just waiting to be baptized.  We have our mission Baptism Day on April 19th, and Sister Petersen and I are praying every day to have someone ready for that day.  I know that if we work hard, it can happen. 

I love you all!  Thanks for the emails and the support.  I am so lucky to have you all as my family (and my friends).  I hope that everything goes well back home! 

Much Love,

Savannah