April 21, 2014

Hallo Familie!  Frohe Ostern!  I hope that you all had a great Easter yesterday.  Germans, like always, love their holidays, and so things have been closed since last Friday...  all of the shops are still closed today.  We had to get someone to unlock the computers at the church so that I could write you today.  It’s like Christmas all over again—haha. 



We walk under this everyday on the
way home from the train station.

First things first, yes, I have seen the video Because of Him.  Probably a hundred times by now, and every time I watch it, I get goose bumps.  I just found it in German, and watched it again, and now I am super excited.  Which means that we will be showing it to EVERYONE now.  Watch out Germany.  In case anyone doesn’t know what I am talking about, go check this out, NOW.  http://easter.mormon.org/?cid=HPTU041514694



Also, I got the Easter Package!  The elders brought it to church yesterday, and as I was walking out with it, Damien and his mom came over and saw it, and were just like, "Oh Hermana, there are probably Reese's in there, huh?" Hahaha, I just started laughing so hard.  They are just great.  Also, I am wearing my new purple skirt as we speak.  Thank you, so, so much.  It is great. 

As for this week, it has gone by pretty quickly.  Sister Wrathall and I are finally figuring out how we best work together, and things are going well.  This week, we were able to meet with Danielle and we had a really good lesson with her and Martin.  I have just grown to love them so much, and it makes me so happy to see the progress and joy that Danielle has made.  She is so much more confident and happy now, and I just love it.  We also had some really great member appointments this week.  Like I said, we have just gone crazy with the Because of Him video, and showed it to practically everyone that speaks a little English…that, and He is Risen.  We invited them all to bring a friend to church on Easter, and surprisingly a few did.  It was really cool to see them put their faith forward and invite their friends. 



Anna

Probably my favorite part of this week though was our lesson with Kristin.  Oh man, it was intense.  We finally got to meet with her again, after her trip to the Jordan desert!  The thing that she has the most doubt in is the Restoration and Book of Mormon (which is a SLIGHT problem, seeing as how that is the basis of our beliefs, and what makes our church different from others.  We showed her the Restoration DVD.  Can I just say that those short 20 minutes probably changed everything?  After we watched it, we tried asking her how she felt, and she just said that she needed a minute to think about it.  She then proceeded to talk about how it all just made sense now.  It just made sense.  She said that while she was watching it, she was able to relate a lot with Joseph Smith, and the confusion that he was going through.  She then quoted a bunch of lines from the movie that she loved.  The spirit was so strong, and we gave testimony, and so did the Taylors.  We then proceeded to ask her to be baptized on May 17^th.   It was silent, and she didn’t say anything for a really long time.  And then she started asking questions, like "What happens if I don’t feel ready by that date?"  In the end, she ended up saying that she needed the weekend to pray and read in the Book of Mormon and think about it.  She will be giving us her answer on Thursday, which scares me, because it is an entire week after that appointment.  But I have been praying my heart out that she will finally get an answer knowing that it is true, that this is really the direction that she should take.  I just hope that she feels so, also. 

Cathy was in the hospital this week...I still don’t know what exactly is wrong with her, but she is internally bleeding, and it is really serious.  I am nervous, but I also feel at peace that it will all work out.  We have visited with her a couple times this week, and she is doing a little better.  She still wants Michelle to be baptized, so once Michelle comes back from her camp, we will go over and start teaching her. 

Our weekly street display

This week, Sister Wrathall and I were getting desperate about finding people to teach (like I have been pretty much my entire mission—haha), so we have been praying and fasting about it.  This week, we have seen some really cool miracles.  We made about a million phone calls to past investigators, and potentials, and were able to set up three appointments for this coming week.  We also found two people on the street that want to meet us to learn more.  That is something that has never happened to me before.  I am constantly amazed at how much Heavenly Father blesses us.  This Saturday, we had another street display, and I started talking to a man about the Plan of Salvation.  When a Jehovah Witness came up to us (that happens A LOT), he was telling us how wrong we were.  The man just turned to him and said, "Stop, I want to hear what she has to say.”  That was a really cool moment.  We got his phone number and made out an appointment with him for this week. 

Our latest project that we are working on right now is getting big volleyball night for May 5^th started.  We are meeting with our ward mission leader and his wife tonight to plan out the details and get fliers made and everything.  I am excited, and hopefully it will be a big success. 

This week is going to be sweet.  As I said, we have a couple new people that we will be meeting with and we are meeting with Kristin.  Also, I get to have a split with Sister Lyons!  I am super excited about it.  We will be down here in Heidelberg, and it will be great.  She is just my favorite.  Two of the young women also want to go out with Sister Wrathall and me, so we are going to do a mini split with them on Friday.  It’s going to be great. 

I just want to let you all know how grateful I am to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I know that this is the true church, and that it is Christ’s church.  As I study the lessons that we teach people, I have come to realize that our real message is God's love for His children.  That is the first point that we teach—the nature of our Heavenly Father, and who he is.  Everything else that we teach is centered on this fact.  It tells people the blessings that He has given us, how we can obtain more blessings, and everything He has in store for us.  That is our message…God's love and how to receive blessings.  How great of a message is that? Why would I NOT want to share it with the world?! 



Beautiful as always, right?

I love you all so much.  I am so grateful for the love and support that you all show me, and again, thank you for the package.  It was great!  I pray for you daily.  I want to give you the same advice that my mission president gave me.  He looked me straight in the eyes and asked, "Sister Teeples, who are you?" I answered, “I am Sister Teeples.”  He looked at me again, and said, "If our Heavenly Father was here with us right now, He would look at you and tell you, 'Vergiss nicht wer du bist.  Du bist meine Tochter." (Never forget, you are my daughter).  The feeling that I got as he told me that was overwhelming.  Now, whenever doubt or fear creeps in, I just hear that voice in my head, "Vergiss nich wer du bish.  Du bist meine Tochter".  I cannot describe how much peace and strength those few words have given me. 

So, I give you all that same council.  Never forget who you are.  You are God's child.  I know that to be true with all my heart.

Love you all! 

Savannah 

Oh, I forgot to tell you all about another cool thing that happened this week.  On Sunday, we went to the Spanish sacrament (which is always my favorite), and there was a guy there that I had met a couple Sundays ago.  He lives in Dortmund, which is the top part of our mission, but his family came down here for Easter to stay with Damien’s family.  He isn’t a member.  Well, anyways, last time he was down here, I gave him a Book of Mormon that I had written my testimony in (in Spanish, of course).  Yesterday, I asked him if he had read in it, and he said that he had.  He read the part that I told him too, and he really liked it.  He then continued to say that he was so grateful that I had given it to him.  He said that he had met a lot of missionaries before, but none of them had ever given him a Book of Mormon.  I was so grateful for the opportunity to share with him why it was so important to me, and that he was so glad to have it.  I wish he lived her in Heidelberg, but wherever he lives, he now has the book. 

Just another cool experience I wanted to share.  Oh, also check this out!  It is our carolling activity from Christmas in Nurnberg.  Sweet, huh? http://frankfurtmission.blogspot.de/