Oh, the weather is frightful!

Meine Familie,

Sister Dorsey

Ahhh.... I cannot believe I am back in Kiel and it is rockin' as ever!!!! So to answer a bit of Mom's questions... I was in Rostock last week for a day because once a transfer we do companionship exchanges and I got to go back to Rostock.  My new companion is Sister Dorsey and she goes home on December 13th.  She is from Utah, as are most of my companions. Naja.

Anyways, this week was really awesome. I am so happy that Mom had some awesome missionary work and that you are going to be giving Amy a Book of Mormon.  I really hope she starts meeting with the missionaries. That would be cool. Anyways... Everyday is so amazing and I love this work everyday.

On Monday, my last day in Hamburg, we went on the Haffen tour. That was fun.  I will be getting pictures because my camera was dead.  The others are going to email me the pictures. But it was a really nice relaxing p-day.

So yes, I am back in Kiel and it is awesome. We have had a busy week. We met with Dorothea, who was that member baptized back in May. She is so excited to be getting her patriarchal blessing and I am so grateful to help her prepare for it. We are also teaching two English classes and that is so much fun....although I realize that I have forgotten a lot. But I love it because it reassures me that when I go home I still want to finish majoring in English. It is a great finding tool as well and we have a couple nonmembers in the class.

We also visited Schwester Hardel, then right after, Schwester Bourwieg, and then Schwester Christenson.....all of which fed us something. I now know the three members in the ward to not visit on the same day...ahh..but it was good.

We also visited the Begeman family in the ward. They are so sweet and wonderful. They cannot get around much and so they cannot come to church but they told us that they do their own sunday school together and the ward brings them the sacrament...such a strong couple.

Wang

So, I am sure this would interest everyone, but mostly Eric...lol... I am actually learning a lot of chinese and I think I will continue the rest of my time here. It is cool. Wang is this guy who was baptized on conference weekend that the Elders taught.  He is so cool and is from China. We have this guy name Le Zhou that we found in our area book and called him up and he agreed to meet with us. We asked Wang if he would come too and it was awesome. We told Wang about this guy we would be visiting and he was like...man, I already know him.  That was cool and so he came. Now, Wang does not speak any German...he only speaks Chinese and English.  Le only speaks German and Chinese.  When we went over to the house, Le and his mom both sat in. Le's mom does not know any German or English and so we taught Le in German and then he told his mom everything.  We then translated for Wang and then Wang told them his story in Chinese.  It was the coolest appointment and I got to hear alot of Chinese. Lot's of fun. We are going to be meeting with them again this Saturday. It is really awesome and  I look forward to keep teaching these two chinese investigators!!!!

We also met with Douglas again this week....he is from Ghana. So cool, and he gave me a Ghana soccer bandana. lol. He is really awesome, we are just trying to get  him a little more interested in what we teach.

hmmm...what else this week? On Sunday we had an awesome appointment with Ben.  He still is not praying, but I think that after our appointment last night he will. We had a very powerful appointment as we talked about the plan of salvation and prayer and the only way to find out if it is true.  He told us that he is looking for truth and that he is curious. I just keep praying that he will actually pray.  

After Ben we went and did some doors...really funny. We did the doors in this neighborhood and we knocked on a couple and the people were very not nice. Then we knocked on this other door and some kids answered. We asked if their parents were home and they said no and that they were next door. We said ok and gave them a card to give to their parents. Well, we went to the next door where those kids parents were and this lady that lived there answered the door. She was so friendly and told us she did not have time at the moment because she had guests over. Then, a man came to the door and said, you are mormons...although he said it very negatively and so we said...no, we are from the Church of Jesus Christ. He then said "Well, do not knock on the next door because my kids are over there".  Little did he know that we had already went to his house and he had a card waiting for him there...lol. I hope he was not mad when he went home.  Then, the next door we knocked on, the guy was very nice and invited us in. But, as soon as we walked in, his wife jumps up and says...no we do not want y'all here. So, we had to leave...but the guy was really nice and he would have talked to us. So yeah, that was doors last night. Maybe we will find someone in that neighborhood...we will see.

This has been a great week and I know that this coming week will continue to be so...we have some great appointments set up!!!!!!! Keep sharing the gospel with your friends and I love y'all!!!

In the harbor at Kiel

love Sister Britt

It has POWER!!!





Meine Familie,

So I have very much enjoyed my two weeks in Langenhorn, but now I will be going back to KIEL tomorrow and Sister Dorsey will be my companion. I am so excited to be going back to Kiel. But, before that, this week had to be one of the most amazing weeks of my mission!!!!!!! Well, the week started out with an awesome guy named Adam that we met. He is so Golden. In our appointment he was so excited when he found out that we have a living Prophet on the earth today...it was so funny and he was like "Why have I never known this before?" He was so enthusiastic about everything and I loved the excitment that he had to learn more and more!!! That was a sick appointment... Later, we had a thing called ChiKong which I guess is some sort of meditation thing that this member here does...we participated in it and  it was very interesting..lol.

Now for the best part of the week...if i may say so....ROSTOCK!!!! I got to go back to my golden city...my first city on the mission.  It was amazing.  I got to see Bruder Schmidt and this time I could actually understand what he was saying. lol. He was so surprised and excited and he gave me a big hug...it was funny. 

Bruder Schmidt in Rostock


 Julie and Danny were also there at ping pong. It was so much fun and I literally felt that I was home again and so much more confident with my German.



Julie and Danny



Marie, me and Schwester Hageman



Me, Bruder Schmidt, Sisters Neukomm, and Wakefield

On the train ride to Rostock, Sister Wakefield was giving me some updates on what has happened. She said that the Hagemans never meet with them because after I left the sisters treated Marie rude and they did not want anything to do with them. Well, I gave Schwester Hageman a call and said that I am back in Rostock for a day and would love to see her.  Sure enough, she was excited to agree. We went over there and had a fun time teaching Marie and laughing. Schwester Hageman is once again going to let the Sisters come over. I really pray that Marie gets baptized one day and that her Mom becomes active once again. I love them so much and I told them that I would write.  Marie was so sad to say goodbye, but I told her that we will for sure see each other again. It was so much fun. I loved going back to where my mission began and where I have probably learned and grown the most.



Marie





The experiences and the emotions and the miracles that happen everyday on a mission are something that can never be replaced. I think about how long I have dreamed for this mission and now I am here. I am living this dream that I have had since a child.  I can say with out a doubt that Jesus is the Christ. He is the only way to find true joy. He is the only way to our Father in Heaven. The Book of Mormon is the most correct book on the face of the earth. It has the witness that Christ lives and gives testimony to the bible. It is the foundation of what we believe and the strength to open many doors around us. I know that without a doubt that I have seen God's hand in this work.  I have seen his children come to him and reject him. I have seen the power of the priesthood through blessing and through baptism. I have much more to see and witness and I am so excited to be a part of this great message to bring his children into the truth. 

General Conference was so amazing. I got to see the Relief Society and the Saturday morning session on Saturday and then Sunday I got to see the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday morning session. The talks were amazing.  I loved President Monson's talk. It reminded me about the package that y'all sent me because it had not arrived yet and it had the wrong address on it.  I actually remember that the night before the package came, I prayed really hard that it would arrive and somehow make it with the false address. The next morning when I woke up I prayed about it again. lol. Well, Sister Bush and I got home about 9:30 that previous night and we left our apartment at like 9:00 the next morning. So, sometime between 10 p.m and 9 a.m somebody delivered a notice that my package had arrived. lol!! Wow! I would say that I had a testimony builder of prayer, so I just laughed has President Monson told that story, because I had the same story, just with a package..lol. President Uchtdorf's talk in the Relief Society meeting was so amazing. I felt like it was speaking straight to me and just what I needed to hear. I loved the conference even more as it talked about the need to be known and who we are and sharing the gospel...So many more people can be found if the members of the church just bring their friends and other people to the gospel... We as missionaries can only do so much, only talk to so many people a day..but as members we can share our light and fullfill a life long mission on the earth. I was always one growing up sharing the gospel...I remember in high school I would sneak pass along cards in peoples' back packs during lunch...We need to find a love and enthusiasm for the Gospel of Jesus Christ...I am so thankful for Mom and Dad because you raised me to love my Father in Heaven and to serve him... I am so grateful for my older siblings who were also raised that way and all served missions... y'all were always my inspiration to serve one myself. I know we will all be together for eternity. Families are and will be blessed through this message of the restored Gospel. The story of the first vision changes lives. I recall a guy on the street that Sister Bush and I once talked to ... I asked him what God meant for him. He did not really know and we continued to tell him that God speaks to man today and if he would be interested to receive the Book of Mormon. He did not want to make  an appointment at all and we told him that we would like to meet with him again and share our message of a boy who saw and spoke with Jesus and God. He said, "well, i have two minutes right now ....so just tell it to me now." At the moment we recited and told him the story of the first vision, the power behind the story touched him and I once more asked if he would have time to met us on Thursday. He agreed with no hesitation...the power of the restoration is just that...it has power. We need to all believe that. If we do, there is no need to fear and not tell others. I could go on with stories, but I will just leave it at that and let y'all take the challenge this week to tell someone not of our faith the first vision and the restoration. It has power and can change the lives of others. I hope to hear back from y'all of some amazing experiences that y'all have with this challenge...

I will be back in Kiel now and so same address. I love y'all and hope y'all have an awesome week!!!!

love Sister Britt!!!!!

Hamburg, Sick, and a Drit

 

Meine Familie,

Sisters Kitterman and Neukom in Langenhorn

Well, I think the subject kind of says it all for this week.  So to give kind of a brief of what has happened ... at the beginning of this transfer Sister Bush went to the hospital and got an x-ray done of her foot. I guess last summer she had surgery and a metal plate was put into her foot.  Her foot has been bothering her since she arrived in Germany in March. She was finally able to see a doctor in Kiel and it turned out she had a broken screw which was causing her pain. Ever since then we have been awaiting word from President and the mission doctors to see what needed to be done.  As a result, we found out last Monday that Sister Bush will be going home for surgery and when she is fully recovered she will return. So, we had Monday and Tuesday in Kiel and then on Wednesday I got sent to Langenhorn and she traveled to Berlin so she can fly out Thursday morning. So, I am in Langenhorn which is like the ouskirts of Hamburg. I am here in a drit with Sister Neukom, who is a golden and from Switzerland, and Sister Kitterman who is from Utah. I am with them until next Tuesday and then I will be going back to Kiel with a new companion because President said that there will be some new sisters coming in so I will be able to go back.  So, letters can still be sent and my stuff is still there except for what I needed for two weeks.



 So Langenhorn. It is a fun city and it is fun to serve with Sisters Neukom and Kitterman. We have all had a fun time. Though, I will say it is weird sometimes because I feel like I am just a tag-along because I am only here for a couple weeks. But it has been fun. The sisters have this 12 year old boy, Justin, that they have taught the lessons to and he was baptized on Sunday. His grandparents are members and his mom is not and his dad is a less active. It was a wonderful day and the spirit was felt so strong from the love and support this boy received.



So yeah, Monday and Tuesday was more of getting ready to leave Kiel and make sure that our investigators were being taken care of for a couple weeks and then Wednesday the sisters picked me up at the train station.  Later that day, we met with this guy Ray, who is actually from Texas...he has lived in Germany though forever. Sister Kitterman had promised to bring him Koolaid and he cried...he is like this 50 year old man and he cried when he saw the koolaid.  He says it is because he has not seen it in about 30 years since he has been in Germany...it reminded me...hey do you want to send me koolaid???? lol.  Thursday all of our appointments fell out so we just did finding.  It was fun though because with three of us, one of us goes off by ourself and the other two stay together and then we come back together and when it gets too dark we all stay together. Friday we had President Interviews...I have had a cold since Thursday and so I was not feeling the best, but interviews when really well and our zone leaders gave a lesson and their topic was marriage...lol.  It was scary to see how closly related marriage and a mission are. Ahh. Marriage scares me all together...YAY for missions!!!!!!!!!!. Saturday all of our appointments fell out once again, but that is ok because this one guy we talked to on the street said he would come to church and then on Sunday he showed up and made another appointment with us...that was so cool. Like I mentioned, on Sunday there was a baptism. It was awesome. And not to mention, there was also one in Leipzig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Burcan got baptized!!!



Bürcan got baptized in Leipzig!
Irakli (he baptized Burcan), Burcan, Sister Rasmussen, and Sister Faerber



So yeah that was pretty much my week...crazy.  I have one more here in Langenhorn..not to mention I am way excited for conference. And to answer Mom....no, I did not get to see the RS broadcast. But yeah...I am ready for another awesome week of doing what I have dreamed to do my whole life....MISSIONARY WORK!!!! yay!

I love y'all and talk to you next week!!!!

love Sister Britt

p.s. Eric....you are welcome to call me Sister Britt..that is just what mom writes and so yeah...lol. thanks for the email!!!