Missionary work really is a battle!

It's been another wonderful week in Leverkusen and Köln!

Last week we had a really fun district pday and traveled out to Aachen. We saw some old tanks and got to do a little adventuring before going to a delicious hamburger place with unlimited lemonade..

and... wait for it...... ICE!!! I got to have an ice cold drink. It was wonderful.

Then we had the wonderfully awesome adventure that was Saturday!! So Friday night we get a call from an investigator sister Clifford and I used to teach but he moved to another city. He called to let us know his baptism was Saturday and he wanted us there!!! He was very insistent we come. So we call around for permission and President Stoddard let us go! So Saturday we traveled out to Solingen and got to witness the baptism of John. I am so happy for him! 

We also had a cool miracle after the baptism. We were trying to catch a bus to get back to Leverkusen for an appointment but we got a little lost and the bus only came once every hour. Well we were running late and the bus time was upon us. But I prayed and asked for the bus to be late. What do you know? We turn the corner and the bus was exactly three minutes late! Late enough for us to run across the street and catch it just in time. :) The Lord really does answer prayers. Just three minutes. That's all we needed. :) 

This week I also had the opportunity to go on splits with Sister Farner!! And it just happened to be her birthday!!! We celebrated with fancy burgers. (We attempted to be European and eat with fork and knife....... yeah that didn't work...... hahahahahha) we also were able to find a potential in a building even though one of the residents told us: "everyone here is Muslim and doesn't want to talk to you. Go away!" Miracles always happen if you just keep having faith and working hard.  

This email has become long so I will try and end. Just wanted to comment on our wonderful investigator Ebenezer! He came to church this week and when we met with him on Wednesday he had read all of the pamphlets and continues to make such great progress ! I love all of the people we work with so much!! We have another investigator and we hadn't even taught word of wisdom yet but she learned about it on her own and  when we came by to teach her she said she had already stopped drinking tea and coffee and is in the process of quitting smoking. Ahhh! So cool! 

On Sunday I had the "opportunity" to translate again. It actually went a ton better this week! Our bishop spoke a little and he talked about the book You are Special. We truly all are children of God. We each have our own talents and our own way that makes us different and we should all be embracing those differences and take all of our struggles and thoughts to the Lord. When we truly know our potential and the love God has for us, none of the "stickers" others give us will have any affect. We should simply have joy. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy" 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!!! 

Sister Losee 

(When it's 9:52 and you're still 35 minutes away from home because you missed a Bahn and your house is so far away from everything.....)

Ummm.........I think he said this...... ???????

We have come to another pday. And today I don't have very much motivation to email. So it will be a short one.

On Monday this week we had a very rare occasion in Leverkusen, we had an almost white day. With only one appointment we had plenty of finding time. I was talking to a family at a bus stop but then our bus came so we said goodbye and got onto our bus, I then realized that I hadn't given them a card or anything, but we knew what bus they said they would be getting on. So we get off our bus and get on their bus.  They weren't on it. So then we travel to the bus stop they were headed to and just waited for the next couple buses. They didn't get off.....

but we knew they said they would be coming off at that bus stop(because they asked us how to get there) so we thought okay. Maybe we are here for a reason, so even though we had prayed and decided on a different place earlier in the day, we decided to stay in this neighborhood.It was great! We were able to find two really cool potentials!! I know the lord puts us where he needs us to be. Even if I never did get to give that one family more information.

This week I also had the joy of translating for the first time in sacrament meeting. It was terrifying. One member got up and was telling the strangest stories and it was not good.... then a member of the stake spoke and started telling about hymn Book lyrics.

Translating certain hymns is so hard for some reason.... let's just say my brain was completely broken by the end of church.

We also set a baptismal date this week with our new investigator Ebenezer!!! He is so cool! He said he understands everything we teach him and he agrees with it all! He also has read in the a Book of Mormon, which is a really hard commitment for lots of people. But he's rocking it.

Hope you all have a fantastic week!!

Sister Losee

A very strange  lady gave this magazine to me after I gave her a a Book of Mormon..... she also kissed my head.... twice....

"Can you write your boss and ask him to make it easier?"

Hahahahaha the title this week just makes me laugh sooo hard! This week we met with one of our Persian investigators named Katayoun and when we asked about her Book of Mormon reading she said it was really hard to understand. She then asked us to ask our "boss" if he could make it more modern and easier to understand. It was really funny. She also asked us to come and read to the children in her neighborhood because they apparently don't have enough supervision and she doesn't want them to start smoking and getting into bad stuff. Of all the requests we get from investigators, it's actually a very noble request. Sadly we can't help with that.  But some other good news is that her nephew who we have also taught-he wasn't there- but we called him on the phone and he has been reading a page in the Book of Mormon every day since we last saw them two weeks ago!!! Which is amazing!

Well. I am settling in to training now. It's definitely a weird adjustment going from having all companions that have been out longer than me to one that is brand new, but it is actually really fun. It's fun to see her progress and watch her learn and grow.

A cool miracle this week was simply the fact that the Lord truly blesses us for our efforts. Sister Hannig and I have been trying REALLY hard to always be contacting. We set a goal to talk to someone before even getting on any train or Bahn. After doing that all day on Tuesday we still weren't having any takers. But finally that night right before our last train we talked to a really cool lady from Portugal and we were able to exchange phone numbers. The Lord really does bless us.

This week was also pretty sad though. This week we had our very last zone conference with President Stoddard and I had my very last interview with him as well. I am truly going to miss that man. The pure love I have felt from him and his genuine care and desire to help me be a better missionary has helped me so much on my mission. I am so grateful I was able to serve with him and get to know him during these past 9 months.

Sister Losee

It's a Heat Wave!!!

This has literally been a very crazy very hectic week!!! I don't even know where to begin. Holy Moly. So I'll start with the not as important stuff that is important to me hahahahahha so first. The weather. Holy Cow it was sooooooooo hot and sooooooo humid this week.  I've never really experienced heat and humidity before. I thought I was going to die. I have also never been more sweaty in my whole life.

Okay the important stuff.

This week Leverkusen received a new addition! In the form of a brand new missionary! That's right. I got called as a trainer. That's right I was terrified.

This week I sent the beloved Sister Clifford home.  I found it pretty funny that I'm halfway through my mission and I just sent someone home and am bringing someone in.

On Tuesday I took a train down to Frankfurt to pick up my new missionary. Normally they come in Tuesday mornings and do orientation stuff and have interviews then we get Paired at a meeting that night.  We then stay at a hotel with them and have a quick meeting in the morning and go to our areas. But nothing is ever that easy. Our poor trainees (4 sisters) had problems and their flight got delayed 24 hours. So we didn't meet them until Wednesday morning and all the orientation stuff was shoved into only a few hours and we didn't get back to our Area until 7:30. She was exhausted hahahahahha. Her name is Sister Hannig and she is super ready to learn and I'm excited to work with her. :)

Another crazy thing that happened this week: we met with old investigators on Thursday night and they wanted really bad to come to church. So we call them Friday night to confirm church. Turns out the husband got in a bad accident at work and is in the hospital. We were able to visit them and have the Elders come and give him a blessing.  Man I feel soooo bad for our investigators sometimes!!! The saddest stuff literally always happens. Satan.

Saturday we had a white day because of a canceled street display, so Sister Clifford and I prayed about what to do and felt inspired to go to a new convert that moved into our ward but no one has been able to get in contact with. He just happened to be there and we were able to get to know him and invite him to church! I love the Lords timing. :)

We also contacted a really cool man Monday night and we were showing him the Book of Mormon. When he saw the picture of Christ in the front he got so excited. I love my Savior so much and all that he does for me and for all of us. He truly does love us and the Holy Ghost truly does testify of him.

Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Sister Losee

It says it's a Mormon Butterfly

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 ...