What about the keys!?

Well missionary work is back to normal again (well, as normal as it gets in Köln). By Saturday Sister Clifford was healthy enough for us to resume chasing down bahns and eating normal food.

This past week we had the opportunity to go on splits. I went with Sister Perkins to Duisburg. Sometimes it's fun going on splits just to see a new city and area, sometimes splits are hives for miracles, and other times literally all of your appointments fall out. But you still always see the hand of the Lord.

The weather has been warming up and that means we get to meet with people outside instead of paying to sit in a cafe!!! On Tuesday and Wednesday we taught so many lessons on the Rhein, I just know summer in Germany is going to be really fun! (Minus the whole no AC thing...)

This week we made progress with one of our more frustrating investigators! His name is Tijani. He is very analytical and really struggles to know if God is real. This week he finally committed to pray! For him prayer is just such a strange and new concept. So for him to agree to do it is a huge step.

We also met with two new investigators this week. One is a German man who believes in aliens. He also smoked tobacco in my face during the first part of the lesson..... BUT he was way interested in everything we said and was really excited to start reading in the Book of Mormon.

The other person we met with is Nana. We found him when Sister Clifford was sick. Because we were stuck inside we took the time to call literally everybody in our Area Book. That's how we found Nana!  He is really cool and really prepared. He had already previously met with missionaries several years ago in Homburg and he had the coolest answers to questions about what a prophet is and the role of the Holy Ghost. He agreed to be baptized at the end of next month!

Now. You must be thinking, that sounds like a pretty normal missionary week. But wait! We can't go a week without some crazy adventure. Ours happened Sunday night. We had been out teaching a lesson at a members home and didn't get home to our apartment until 9:30 at night. We go to get in our apartment..... and we had forgotten our keys!!!! A member in our ward has spare keys, but she is on vacation. So we attempted to get in other ways but nothing worked. So we ended up traveling at 10 o clock at night to get to Düsseldorf at midnight to overnight with the sisters there. We then got spare keys from the zone leaders in Düsseldorf and headed home again Monday morning.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sister Losee

Wait this isn't a craft activity!?

Not too much to report on this week. Last pday we went to a really cool castle called Schlossburg. That was really fun and I sometimes just really can't imagine people running around in chain mail and armor. It seems so funny and unpractical. 

Something that DID happen this week was the weather changed and is now very warm. I already miss air conditioning. Hahahahahha 

On Saturday we got to go and help with some service at a less actives home. I don't get too many opportunities for service. So when they do come around I love to snatch them! 

On Saturday there was also a relief society activity! We helped set up for it and we had invited our investigator Nada. And she came!! But here comes the awkward part. I thought it was a craft activity!! Turns out it's a be prepared activity and the first half was about the things you do to prepare to die. And about the laws and rules in Germany about burials and stuff. That was definitely a shock. Hahahahahahha 

Sunday was Mother's Day and skyping! A nice couple in our ward let us come over and use their wifi, then they fed us homemade tomato soup and cookies. It was really good to see my family and hear their voices again! It's funny because i was already done with church and had done a ton of stuff but my family had just been getting up for the day. Time differences are pretty weird. 

 Then on Tuesday and Wednesday sister Clifford got sick so we had to stay inside. I think I am cursed and if you become my companion recently you are signing up to also be sick. But we called tons of people and I started cleaning up our balcony and alphabetized and inventoried all of our Books of Mormon. Time not wasted. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!! 

Sister Losee

Es geht mir gut

Another week in Germany has now gone by. A couple weeks ago one of our investigators moved. But he came by for a visit and we ate sundaes at McDonald's and had one final goodbye lesson. 

This week I feel was definitely a week of sugar. The people and members just gave us soooo much! We visit this one old couple who the wife is in bed rest. Well he ALWAYS buys us some sort of cake or pastry. So this week he went a little overboard and gave us giant pieces of cake, pastries, and ice cream. I literally felt like I had gained twenty pounds in that one appt.....

I had a really cool experience both with prayer and music this week. We were teaching a member who has 4 kids ages 5 months, 2, 5, and 7 who is living in government housing and her husband is living someone else. She is really stressed and loves to be strengthened and nourished by the word of God. We had finished teaching and wanted to say a prayer before we left but the kids were going crazy! Everything was so hectic and two of the older kids were crying and the mom was exasperated. I quickly said a silent prayer asking Heavenly Father to help us have peace so we could say a prayer together. Right after I finished the prayer Sister Clifford leans over and says maybe we should sing a song? So we sing the family Love one another. Everything  went so still and we were able to all feel the spirit so strongly and say the prayer. 

Oh boy. Sunday. I just remembered the day that was Sunday. A Russian member in our ward randomly invited us over after church. We accepted. We go and she makes us Pfannkuchen with tons of meat and onions. She then proceeds to make us eat more and more and more. There was one left and she said we needed to eat it. Sister Clifford kindly volunteered me for it. Oh man. I. Was. So. Full. I felt awful. Not to mention how much oil was in that food. Soooo much oil. It was disgusting. Then of course we get fed ice cream. Meine Güte. Then we left and taught a less active in the ward who only last year became a widow. Then we taught a new investigator and took him for the lesson at the Bishops house. Well. Turns out the bishop and his wife were expecting to feed us. I was still not even close to recovering from lunch. But I ate my giant plate of potato salad and wursts. Oh man. My stomach literally wanted to kill me. It was awful. But the good thing is that the lessons all went REALLY well. 

We also had Zone conference this week. It was a REALLY good zone conference. The spirit was really cool there. But it was also really sad because it was the last time I would be seeing a bunch of missionaries that were my good friends from Frankfurt and that were in my very first district. They will all be flying home June 1 with  Sister Clifford. 

This upcoming week is Mother's Day and my halfway mark! Crazy how time flys. Everyone make sure to especially love your moms and give my Mom a hug for me if you see her! Also shout out because my Mom just had her birthday on Tuesday!! Happy Birthday Mom!!! 

Love, 

Sister Losee 

1) Morning Jog!! 

2)That sun though.... 

3) Please excuse photo bombers ... 

The Power of the Gospel. I love it!

Hello Family and Friends!! First of all. I would like to apologize about last week!! Our pday was crazy and we didn't get wifi for our emails to send off our iPads until 9:30. But we had them all done and written way before that. Don't worry mom. I wasn't dead.

Oh yeah. So pday. Pday was a TON of fun! Sister Nowak took all the Köln missionaries and the Aachen elders to go to a monkey park. It was really fun!!! Monkeys literally climb on you! Although I will say.  Some of the monkeys were a little grumpy. Then after pday we had a lesson with Martin and a recent convert at a members home. It was amazing! The spirit and testimonies shared and felt were amazing!

Today I learned a new way to make you feel really bad about your German abilities! Go to a hair cutting salon for the first time and try to get your hair cut..... it was an adventure..

On Friday we had the opportunity to help a ward member clean the church. Finally my college job of custodian payed off. We cleaned those bathrooms quickly and  beautifully. It felt good to simply do service. I liked it.

We are teaching a young couple from the Middle East right now with a 1 1/2 year old boy. They LOVE this church and they left to investigate other churches but come back because they KNOW this is the true church. I respect them so much. But right now they are struggling with so much about refugee and work and just life. It is so sad and I hate it so much!! But we were able to bring the Elders over and give the whole family a blessing. It was AMAZING!! Positively amazing!!! I love the power of God and the opportunity we all have to access the priesthood. God really does love us.

So an amazing thing happened this week! Martin finally entered the waters of baptism!!! It was really cool and I love how happy he was after!! But the favorite part for me was the next day at church when he received the Holy Ghost. The spirit felt was amazing. And he had the BIGGEST smile on his face!! It was positively beautiful. I am so happy for him :)

Also. We have our new investigator Mikayel and we set him on baptismal date!!! He came to Martins baptism and also church. After church the ward did a ward lunch thingy and at the end a whole bunch of us were in cleaning the million dishes and all the food. All the elders just stood around talking and stuff. But instead of going home Mikayel came in and helped dry and put away dishes. That is what I call a prepared person. :)

So basically soooo much stuff has happened and I could literally write a novel right now but I won't. But I kind of want to hahahaha. But I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Sister Losee

Just call me Jane Austin

Just another crazy and busy week in the grand ol' city of Köln! But PLOT TWIST this week!! We FINALLY did a street display! I haven't done a street display since Frankfurt and I've really missed them. We journeyed all the way out to Aachen for this display and we rocked it!

Aachen really appreciated the help to build up potentials and investigators and we all worked so hard. It's when everyone is working hard that you really see the miracles.

On Sunday I literally felt like I belonged in a Jane Austin Novel. We got a ride to a members home who literally lives in the middle of nowhere. We saw a castle on the way and took a quick pit stop on a hillside. Partially because I had never really been to a part of Germany like that since I've been in big cities. Then we ate a lovely meal. Then while the kitchen was being cleaned up for dessert we went on a tour of the house. We were shown paintings and told stories. Then we were played a couple songs on the organ by our host while eating grapes. We then proceeded to drink herbal tea and eat cake. Then we made our merry way back into Köln. All of this was done while wearing a skirt. So I felt even more like Jane Austin. Not to mention that the neighbors horses got loose and we could see some horses running by outside the window. I also got to hold a cat. But don't worry. There was a fantastic spiritual thought included in this arrangement. We would never go anywhere without a precious gift as a Thank You.

Funny thing from this week. A really nice old Persian lady let us come over and she had bought us cake and made us tea and set a table full of snacks and foods and was so happy to talk about God and his plan for us. Hahahaha but turns out originally she thought we were Jehovas Witnesses. That's literally the first time anyone's been nice to us or been happy thinking we are JWs. Yeah. People really don't like JWs here. But there are Sooooo many.

  

I just want to include an investigator appreciation segment:

Nada: Her husband is an inactive new convert. She is learning German and is a diligent learner and seeker. She comes from a war torn country and struggles with her family and other normal day to day struggles as well as with trying her hardest to adapt to a new culture. Through all of this she takes time to come and meet with us.  All while struggling with the language barrier because we can NOT find a translator. She is wonderful.

Michael: He came to Germany alone at age 17 and has been struggling and working hard to learn the language and get work. He found Christianity in Germany and was just recently baptized in another church. But he brought up baptism to us in our first lesson because he wants to be baptized just like Jesus Christ by being fully immersed in the water. He is awesome!

Melanie: Someone just learning WHO God is and wants to feel and find his love so bad. And yes. She watched all of General Conference without us even inviting her to!

Finally Martin: Even with the awful language barrier (he's from the boonies of Africa. So he speaks English but not really) he has such a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ and one Saturday he called us 4 times to confirm about church on Sunday. I love this man. He also had his baptismal interview and passed! I am so excited for him to take this wonderful step to come closer to God and make his way to the priesthood and the temple.

I could go on and on. I just love the people here so much. I love being able to have that feeling at the beginning of the day when we plan our lessons and say. Yes! So and so. I love them and teaching them brings me joy.

Sister Losee