The week of WHATS?

Hello Family and Friends!!

This was a very very very interesting week. I had two of the possibly weirdest days of my life. On Tuesday we had district meeting, that's always an adventure. Then. Came our very strange day. We had an appointment with a former investigator that had been ignoring sister balls and her previous companion. We were a little anxious and weren't sure how she would accept us. On our way there we would have to take an s bahn and then a Straßen bahn. Well somehow we COMPLETELY missed stop. I honestly have no idea how. (On the plus we met a really cool guy that we have a Book of Mormon to) so we get off and backtrack to get to where we can get on our Straßen bahn. We then get on our Straßen bahn and think. Oh we will be a little late but not too bad.

Then the next disaster happens. Suddenly we look and we are the only people on the bahn and it was parked in a side area! It had reached the end of the line!! (Or so we thought) and we awkwardly were still stuck on there. So then we hurry and go to catch a bahn going back and then we go and we still can't find our stop. Turns out it WAS the other way but the bahn we were on earlier just didn't go all the way down.  But now we are having the struggle of oh no. We have a Skype translation lesson in a couple hours that we don't know if we will have time to make it to and make it to this lesson, so we both pray and both feel very strongly that yes we need to go to this former investigator. So we hop on ANOTHER bahn and get to her house. Then.  She's not home. Just her son is. So we get buzzed into the apartment building after waiting for her for a while to leave her a note. Well.

She SHOWS UP but sees us and avoids us and it was so so so so uncomfortable and awkward and then we left and sat there. Just like.

WHY!? Then we go to catch a bahn to start heading to our Skype appointment. Just to find out that for some reason all the bahns heading in the direction we need to go have fallen out for almost 40 minutes!! So yup. Not gonna make our lesson. So we just start walking.

We tried some doors and suddenly came across a boy in his front yard practicing sword fighting. We needed something to take a breather so we went to him and asked him to teach us sword fighting. Well. He takes us to his friend on the side of their yard. And turns out he legit knows sword fighting and his dad is a master at it. It was HILARIOUS! Then we caught a bahn and met with a Recent convert and then ate a Chinese dinner because we needed it. Hahahaha

That was Tuesday. Now Wednesday!!! Hahahaha we had two lessons fall out and it was still only 11 in the morning. But we were getting ready to leave the apartment, I was cleaning up from lunch and suddenly I hear pounding on the bathroom door. Sister balls was trapped. Our bathroom door malfunctioned and locked her in. We tried for awhile to free her. Didn't work. So I call the mission office and they tell me to call a key service. (In german mind you) then the key service says they will be there in 20 min. 50 min pass and they still aren't here and they aren't answering their phone. So then the office calls the Köln elders and they come and attempt to get her our. Then we get some members to come. They can't get her out. So then we try about four other key companies and FINALLY someone comes and has to cut part of the door to get her out. This was all a total of 7 hours!!! So then it was about seven o clock at night. So we go and do some contacting because we had been stuck inside all day. (Meanwhile during this whole thing I had to go to the bathroom soooo bad! So I tried some neighbors desperately and then finally used the bathroom in a dementia home

nearby- desperate times call for desperate measures)

A cool experience this week was that we had an appointment with an investigator but it fell out, so we decided to go visit a 93 year old lady in the ward. We show up and show her the video by Uchtdorf about patience. She ends up saying that that is just what she needed that day and there is nothing that feels better than when you can be that tender mercy and help someone feel God's love.

This week we also had a cool experience where we got on the wrong bahn somehow and so we just thought to ourselves. There HAD to be a reason.

So we start trying to talk to everyone and we met this man from Bulgaria and he was asking us Which is the true church? Where is the truth? And we just were thinking. Oh man this is too easy. We have an appointment with him tonight! I'm very excited.

I hope everyone has an exciting week and knows that I pray and love you all!! Here is a quote I love from president Uchtdorf "Sometimes we feel discouraged because we are not “more” of something--more spiritual, respected, intelligent, healthy, rich, friendly, or capable. Naturally, there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve. God created us to grow and progress. But remember, our weaknesses can help us to be humble and turn us to Christ, who will “make weak things become strong.” Satan, on the other hand, uses our weaknesses to the point that we are discouraged from even trying. I learned in my life that we don’t need to be “more” of anything to start to become the person God intended us to become. . .God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord."

All of us aren't perfect and all have weaknesses. It's up to us whether we become discouraged with them or if we turn them over to the Lord and have him make them strong.

1. Our sword masters

2.our Currywurst dinner to celebrate my six month mark 

3. Our Chinese dinner 

4.random Karneval people that agreed to take a selfie with us.

Sad because her companion is sick!

Feeding her companion noodles in a paper towel under the door when she was locked in for 7 hours.

The week of First Lessons

Hello everyone!!!! 

I can't remember what happened this week. It was a weird but good week. We taught TONS of first lessons, which was AWESOME! The restoration is such a wonderful thing! I love to teach about Joseph smith and the first vision!! 

 Oh so cool story of the week. We were contacting at a Bahnhof and we contacted this one man. He first said: I'm Muslim. But we pressed further and asked him if he wanted to learn more about Christ. He replied. Why not? So we had a lesson and felt like we should talk about the plan of salvation instead. Even though the lesson was taught in a little cafe. The spirit was so strong and he agreed to be baptized!!! He kept telling us. "I'm so touched. I wasn't expecting this!" So yes! The plan of salvation is AMAZING!! 

What else happened this week.... oh Valentine's Day. We kept completely forgetting about it!! We were just very very confused when so many people were carrying flowers everywhere. Then that night we went on a split with the other Köln sisters because they accidentally overbooked appointments. I got to teach with sister Clifford and she is an AMAZING teacher ! She was a wonderful example of asking inspired questions. 

Oh for pday last week we just walked around Köln with a member in the ward and she told us random stories and i got to go to the Dom (cathedral) that is super famous here! We didn't go in it but we will in a couple weeks. Im super excited to. It is SO beautiful. Pictures will be included. 

Not too much else to report on. But wait. I hit my six month mark tomorrow!!!! Ahhhhh !!!! I'm already a third of the way done with my mission!!! 

Oh we had zone conference this week!! I got to see some missionaries I haven't seen in awhile and it was sooo good! It was so fun to catch up and learn how they are doing. But it took us literally all day to get there and be there and get back. 

Not sure what else to say. I'm excited to keep working and the weather has been improving!!! I really hope it stays that way!! Today we went to Wuppertal and played soccer with the elders there and in Solingen. It was fun, but man am I BAD at soccer. I accidentally tripped one of the elders and then I tripped myself. But it was fun and cool to see a different part of Germany!! Oh yeah!!! They have ubahns that hang from tracks in the air instead of on the ground!!! It was so cool! They are CALLED schweberbahn (I don't know how to spell it sorry) 

Love you all!! 

Oh yeah!!!! Shout out to my parents!!! They just had an anniversary on the 11th!!!

I still get my Africans!!!

Guten Tag from Köln everyone!!!! Adventure is out here. It's everywhere. It's fantastic. So. Turns out that my new area (Leverkusen) basically just means Köln sisters part two. We go to church in the Köln ward and we mostly work out in Köln. Which is kind of annoying because we have a long commute everyday. But it's also good because we get in some really good contacting. It takes us an hour and a half to get to the church building with 3-4 different modes of public transportation. I love it. There is seriously so much work to do here and so many people to talk to.

I think it's pretty funny that I went from big city, to biggest city in the mission. Hahahahahaha. Maybe one day I will see a small town.  But I'm actually very excited to be in the city, because life is NEVER boring there. And I still get to work with Africans!!! A ton of our investigators and people we meet are African. I honestly love Africans with all my heart. They have so much faith and are such joyful people.  I was really afraid I would get called to some small weird place where I couldn't contact by talking about FuFu.

So my week: Transfers were crazy. We still had to be at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to help, but we also had to have all our luggage with us.  Man. Were sister weeks and I a sight to see as we lugged six pieces of luggage by ourselves through public transportation.  Sister weeks almost got trapped crossing the tracks as a Straßenbahn came. But don't worry. All is well. Then I got to ride an ICE, but by myself.  That was very strange and slightly terrifying traveling by yourself struggling with your luggage on the train, but there are always people there to help you. Hahahaha. Then luckily the Köln sisters and my new companion sister balls were at the Bahnhof ready to pick me up. I was only alone on the gleis for about two minutes. Then we jumped right into teaching a Lesson at the McDonalds. McDonald's really can be a holy place.

On Wednesday I had my first german lesson. That was rough. Hahaha it's a struggle when you can't say everything you want to express. But I feel like I did okay. Also on Wednesday we met these two very high but very hilarious Africans. They asked us if we prayed in tongues (we said no of course) and then they started to show us what they thought it was. Hahaha it was hilarious. They then offered us snickers. Yeah.  We declined.  Then that night we met with a member family that recently moved here from Italy and hasn't been to church yet. It was interesting..... they were sadly living in government housing and she fed us some very interesting food. We didn't trust it. But we are still alive today. So blessings.

We also had the opportunity to all meet the bishop and discuss missionary work in the ward over dinner. (Since we had 4 new missionaries in the ward because the Köln elders were reopened) so.

Yeah. Funny story while we were there: I had to use the bathroom and I LOCKED MYSELF IN!!! It was terrifying. My only thought was: man. This bishops first impression of me will be me locked in his bathroom like an idiot. So I said a prayer and just keep trying to get out by myself. Luckily after a couple minutes I got myself out. But man. That would have been not good. Not good at all.

So German. We have had several german member appointments and visits and man. I just have to smile and nod a lot hahahahahaha.  But my German is starting to improve a lot faster. Also church in German for the first time. I left very exhausted from trying. And relief society.

Oh boy oh boy. It was about self reliance type stuff. So I didn't know most of the vocab. And they were talking so fast. So I just took a mini zone out time. It was much needed to shut my brain off for a minute. Also our ward is small and full of old people. It's so cute !

Also. I HAD MY BIRTHDAY!! Look out world I am now 20. Not 19. I feel so much cooler when people ask me how old I am and I say 20. Anywhoo my birthday was on zone training. So it was really fun to be in a new zone and see some people from the MTC again. One of the Elders had actually remembered it was my birthday. So that was cool. So zone training was good and we learned a lot about inviting the spirit into the lesson and teaching the restoration.  Then we had a lesson with a recent Convert named Akbar. He is seriously the cutest. He always gives the missionaries little gifts and cakes. And he was upset that it was my birthday and he hadn't known. So on Sunday he brought me a little cake and some other little gifts. It was very kind of him.

So a cool miracle from the week: on Monday morning I talked to this interesting Orthodox man on the Bahn. I didn't know how interested he was or anything and then we had to hurry and get off the bahn before I could ask for contact information. So I left him a pass along card. HE CALLED! That night he called us. That like NEVER happens!! (Apparently he also checked out the website that was listed on the card! ) Then we met with him last night and at first it was a little weird and he kept asking tons of weird questions, but we taught him the restoration and the farther into the lesson we got the quieter he became. Then we had him say the closing prayer. And he asked us if we had our prayers written our or if he could say his church's prayer. We told him no.

Speak from the heart. Talk to Heavenly Father. Now we don't know what he said. Because he awkwardly prayed silently. But when he was done.  He looked different. His countenance had changed. I know Heavenly Father had heard his prayer and gave him confirmation that he was there and loved him. It was awesome.

Sorry this email is extremely long. It's just so weird because it feels like FOREVER since we've had a pday and then the adventures of being in a new area and new companion.  So my new companion is sister Balls. She is very cute and energetic and ready to work. I'm very excited to learn from her. She is from south Jordan Utah and has been out for a little over a year. So her German is really good and I am learning so much from her. This will be a great transfer!!! I'm just a little scared because sister balls has already been in Leverkusen for four transfers. So she is most likely getting transferred after this.

I'm doing awesome. Missionary work is wonderful. It's hard but so much fun and so rewarding. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help any of you!!!

Love, Sister Losee

First Baptism - Finding is the Hard Part

Happy I could do my small part and know that now he is happy and part of the gospel!!! Ahhh it's so exciting!!!  So sad I had to leave Frankfurt the week before his baptism. But oh well. That's not what matters.

Wait. Wie bitte. What happened!?!?

Well. Not really sure how to write this email today. We got transfer calls Saturday night at 10:00.

What's happening??!?!?!!!?!?! I'll tell you what's happening!! They're closing our area!!!!! So we get calls. Elder Evans says "Sister Losee you are going to Leverkusen" then after a pause he said: "and Sister Weeks you are going to Wetzlar" yeah. We thought it was a joke. Nope.

Frankfurt International sisters now don't exist. I will be getting on an ICE train tomorrow afternoon and heading north towards Köln. Not gonna lie. We didn't sleep much Saturday night. Now we just have adventures of closing out the apartment and packing and figuring out where all our investigators are going to be going. It was really funny though because the whole ward was devastated by the news of the sisters leaving. They all love us. They'd rather the elders leave.

So now. On to new adventures. I am actually going to need to learn and speak German now!!! It's slightly terrifying but exciting at the same time. Mostly it's really sad because sister weeks and I only got one transfer together.

Okay, the rest of my week: Had dinner with Elder Johnson and his wife from the Area Presidency. Not gonna lie. That was a little terrifying.  We had the mission  broadcast. Yup. Our missionary daily schedule and pday schedule changed!! So that's pretty exciting. I'm actually really looking forward to it. It will be good.

Oh IMPORTANT NEWS!!! Everyone PAY ATTENTION!!! President Stoddard changed our pday to Thursday's. So please don't freak out when I don't email next week on Monday. This will be really weird to have pdays on Thursday now. (But quick reminder: you can still email me on Sundays or whatever I just won't be able to respond until Thursday)

Miracle of the week: we were looking at a map we have and a name popped out to us on the map. We had never seen the name in area Book or anywhere else. But we felt like we should stop by on it. Yup. The name of the person that we read didn't exist. But we found a potential that speaks English that we set an appointment up with instead!!!

Follow the spirit. That's when miracles happen.

Sorry this is a weird email. Hope everyone has an amazing week!

Sister Losee

pictures are all of goodbyes and then the selfie is of us being SO HAPPY to ride our first bus last week!! Hip hip Hurray for no bus strikes anymore! Also enclosed is a picture of us after transfer calls.