Hallo Familie! Happy Birthday, Dad! 52. Wow, you're getting old! I hope Troy and Alyssa are doing something nice for you out there in Colorado. It sounds like you have all had a good time together, so that is great.
Well, I really like Münster. And I really like my companion. Its great.
Every moment we are not in a lesson, we are out working and trying to
find people. What’s even better is that
we enjoy every moment of it. Sister
Busath LOVES knocking on doors and talking to new people, especially student
dooring. She is teaching me to love it
too. We have found a few potentials that
we have to go back to this week, so its sweet.
I feel like I did at the beginning of my mission, just refreshed and
ready to go out and see miracles. Not to
brag or anything, but this companionship is going to rock Münster.
Last week went by pretty quickly, and
yes mom, we have things to do on P-day.
Last P-day was sweet. A member,
Luckie, took us and the elders out for the day.
We are pretty sure he is a Jamaican prince. He is from Jamaica, and has traveled the
world, and has a ton of money, but he works for the bus system.... there’s got to be a way that he got all of
this money. But regardless, he took us
all out to a way good lunch and ice cream, and then drove us around to a couple
Bergs. They were all really pretty. Today, we are going over to another members
and playing games and stuff. Also, we
are piercing Sister Busath's ears...
pretty excited about that one!
I love the branch here! It's pretty small, but it is like one big
family, and I already feel apart of it.
We have FHE at the church every Monday night, and last week was a big
FHE. The sweet part of Münster is that
there are always a ton of non members at activities too. So all of the members and investigators came
to FHE, we all had dinner together, and played games, and Sister Busath and I
gave a thought about how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul. It was really powerful, and we challenged
every one to think of a question, and then we all read Mosiah 4 together. Every single person in that room got an
answer to their question. That was a
spiritual experience.
The next day, we spent a lot of time in
the Hospital--haha. There were a few
members / less actives in there that we visited. We also talked to a bunch of random people,
and we realized that people in the hospital are really open to hearing happy
news, a.k.a. the gospel. Look at the
scriptures. They would go and administer
to the sick all the time, these people are definitely humbled! Well, we will try and see how it works
out. Can’t hurt, huh?
On Wednesday, we had Zone Conference and
we all said goodbye to President Schwartz and Sister Schwartz. That was a sad day. The Düsseldorf Zone wrote a goodbye song for
them and sang it, and they both started crying, and it was just a really tender
moment. Then our zone showed a video
they made of missionaries doing their best Präs interpretations. That was classic. "But above all, keep your
face". (faith). Ah man, I am going to miss President. We are meeting our new president tomorrow,
and I am sure that he is a great man, but there is just something special about
President Schwartz. He really is the
definition of love. Sister Schwartz
too.
That night, we had a lesson with Anna
and her family. I love this girl. She is seriously something special. She just loves the gospel and is so happy and
is just great. Her family loves the
church too, but they just don’t quite get it yet. But one day, they will all be baptized and it
will be great and they will be able to be sealed as a family for time and all
eternity. Until then, we are going
through the new member lessons with Anna, while teaching her family at the same
time. It makes for a great appointment
where Anna just bares strong testimony and we all learn so much. The family can notice a change in Anna, and
it makes them want that peace and happiness just that much more.
Thursday morning, I got to meet a less
active named Bianca. She wants to work
towards getting her Patriarchal blessing, and so we are going through the
lessons again, and helping her. She came
to church on Sunday, so that was awesome!
She also wants to quit smoking, and so next week, we are doing a fast
with her. The first day, we will fast
from food and water, and then the second day, we aren’t going to eat any
sweets. She is going to go two days
without smoking. I am praying that she
will really have the Kraft to do so. I
think she can do it. She definitely has
the desire, and that is the most important part.
That night was probably the most
depressing night ever. We went to
Janeide's house, a less active from Brazil, and watched the Fußball game again
Germany. My American pride was hurt a
little bit that night. We had decked out
in red, white and blue, and then America lost.
That was sad. That travel home
was pretty depressing. Everyone was
outside cheering, waving their Germany flags and celebrating. Oh well, we still went forward. We have a member giving us the updates on
everything, so it’s all good. At least
we weren’t watching the game with a native German...
Friday we went back and met with Anna
and her cousin, Sophia. We helped Sophia
with her English homework, and then she sat in as we taught Anna again. We are teaching Sophia’s mom, Maikl, and she
is pretty promising, but Sophia doesn’t believe in God at all. But after listening to Anna talk, and say how
much God has helped her, she found it interesting, and agreed to sit in next
time we came back. So hopefully we can
help her too.
Saturday, we had a sweet street display
about the Familie. We contacting people
on eternal families, and how to do FHE, and it was amazing how much more open
these people were. They love talking
about their families, and we had a ton of great conversations. We also had a table laid out with tons of
books of Mormon in all different languages.
Best part of that day probably was a family came up and they were from
Brazil. They had interest, but no one
could understand them, so I tried speaking Spanish with them, and we were able
to communicate enough where I gave them a book of Mormon and explained our
basic beliefs. They said they would read
the Book of Mormon and look up the church in Brazil, so that was sweet.
Yesterday was also great. Dooring, visiting teaching, and a less active
appointment. We realized this week was
the fourth of July, so we are having a big American party with the youth this
week. It is going to be SICK.
I love my mission. I don’t want it to end. I have learned so much in this last week
alone, but the thing I have probably realized the most is how necessary it is
to have a Savior. Somebody asked me that
question. "Why do we need Jesus
Christ when God is all powerful and can save us?" Not going to lie, I
didn’t know how to answer that question.
So I made it a topic of my study.
I was reading a lot about grace and justice, and what I learned is that
without Christ, God could not extend grace.
He would be a just God, and give us punishment according to our works,
but He could not extend grace to make up for our mistakes. He could not be merciful. But luckily we have the atonement, and we
have a Savior, and we have grace and mercy.
I am so grateful for that, and grateful for the peace that comes from
this knowledge. God lives, Christ
lives. This church is His church, and it
is true.
Have a great week everyone! Love you all.
Sister Teeples
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