We are Family

So this week we had mission tour in Hamburg.  

We ended up leaving the night before and sleeping over with the Sisters in Langenhorn  because there were so many trains falling out because of the storm.  We didn't want to risk not being able to get to the meeting.  

So we traveled with the Elders the night before. 

Our second train was super late getting in so we ended up with some time to kill in Bremen.  We walked out of Bahnhof and stumbled into a magical carnival land waiting for us.  We walked through and saw roller coasters and games and food stands.  It was so fun.  

We did finally make it to Hamburg and the meeting was great.  It was fun to be with so many other missionaries too.

This week was Halloween!  It is pretty much nonexistent here in Deutschalnd but Sister Hayden and I kept the spirit alive.  We made little mummy hot dogs and eyeball Oreo truffles.  It was a lot of fun!  Who needs pumpkins or costumes?!?  :)

Oktober 31 is also Reformation Day.  That is celebrated here.  I didn't even know what it was. It is to celebrate the reformation of the church.  I was able to learn more about Martin Luther and what he did here in Germany.  He realized that there was corruption in the church and wanted to change it.  He translated the bible into German.  It is cool to see how God prepared men like the reformers to help set the stage for Joseph Smith.  I am blessed to have this experience to share the message of the Restoration in the language and land of the Reformation.

We saw miracles this week.  

One of them is named B******.  She was a referral we got from our GML.  He just called us up one  afternoon and said "Sisters, I have an appointment for you tomorrow at 10."  He gave us a name, number and address.  That was all we had.  We were both pretty nervous going into this appointment.  We knew nothing about this woman. 
It was a great lesson to me on teaching by the Spirit.  We explained what we do here on missions and then we read a little with her in the Book of Mormon.  We bore testimony and shared experiences.  The Spirit was definitely there.  Something caught her interest too because when we invited her to church she said she'd come.  

And she did.

It is cool to see how God puts his prepared children in the paths of His prepared missionaries.  We try  to find them on our own.  We talk to as many people as we can.  Sometimes we find them and other times they find us. 

So yeah, believe in miracles.

We do!

I love you all and wish you a happy week!
Love,
Sister Brown

Reunion with Sister Odenwalder!

 Mission Tour: Sister Brown and Sister Hayden

Waiting for our bus after visiting IKEA to buy hangers.  

It was pouring rain...

Interviews District Bad Benthein

So my wurst kick continues.  Wurst of the week were these little guys wrapped in bacon and filled with cheese. Delicious!

We made banana bread and took it around to some investigators and less active members.  Baking here in Germany is always kind of a gamble but one of the elders gave us a solid recipe.  It turned out great.  The Germans really liked it but we ran into a problem calling it Banane Brot.  On more than one occasion they argued the fact that it was bread with us.  Who argues with a treat giver over the name of the brought treat?!?!?  After a few  drop offs, we learned our lesson and started calling it Banane Kuchen.  All was well!

We got an extra hour of sleep last night because it was German daylight savings time.  I'm not really sure how it 'saves' any daylight.  It is pretty much dark when we wake up and dark by dinner time but I was pretty happy for the extra sleep anyway.

We walk around and talk to people a lot.  Sometimes all day long.  So we say Hallo to a lot of people.  We have started ranking people on a scale from 1-10 based on their responses.  It is quite a fun game to play. Believe me!

0 is no response.  1 is when we get grunts or other caveman noises.  5s are when we get an audible greeting back but it is late or quiet.  10s are a greeting with a smile.  It is a bonus if they throw in a wave or a wink! 

My favorite ones are when we get hallos from people on bikes, in cars, or talking on the phone.  This week I got a man in a bulldozer to say hallo with a wave. Pretty proud of that one!  There was also another man who sang Guten Tag to us.  He had a sing songy snow white voice and he most definitely changed pitches between words.  It was a full out song.  

We had interviews with President Kosak this week.  He is such an inspired man.  It was really good to get to talk with him.  He emphasized the 150 baptisms we are working towards and helped me make a plan for how I can play a role in that.
FAITH!

President Kosak also brought Zoko post.  Thanks for all of your fun letters and packages!  You guys never disappoint.  Best Family Ever!!!

Love you all!
Love,
Sister Brown

We got this from an investigator.  It is a mysterious brown color and has a foul odor. 
The label says "drink with a kick!"

We haven't been brave enough to try it yet...

Briefkasten: So we have a community mail box.  There was a post emergency this week.  The key was gone. There is always just a key in the key hole so we can check our mail.  This week it mysteriously disappeared.  We went a few days just waiting for it to return.  Then the curiosity got the best of us.  When we looked in from the outside we could see the mail inside.  We were forced to use creative measures to retrieve our post.  Luckily the key has now been returned!

 The Penny is finally opened! This is where we did our grocery shopping this week!!

Distrikt Bad Bentheim

So family, transfer calls came and went.  

I am still in Osnabrück.  

I am thrilled!!!!  I am so grateful for a little more time to work here.  I feel like we are seeing a lot of progress and are right on the edge with a lot of our investigators.  We have really worked hard to build up relationships and trust and are now seeing the results.

Miracles for days!

That is all!

Have a great week.
Love,
Sister Brown

Keep on Rolling :)

Mormon 8:218:22

Fam

This week I found a new favorite word:

Ausflippen

It means to freak out.  

I'm going to use that a lot!

I also got going 120 mph in a super sweet car on the autobahn.

I have been on a wurst kick.  I eat it multiple times a day.  That is quite something considering how I didn't eat anything closely resembling sausage before this mish adventure.
Look at me go, Germany!

We talked to so many people this week.  We found and found and found.  We got quite a few new contacts so we are praying something will come of that.

We just went to work.  

We would load our pockets full of cards in the morning and then talk to people and give them out all day long.

We also got to watch the last session of General Conference.  President Monson rockin' the purple tie!  It was quite the sesh.

Fall is under way here in Germany.  The leaves are all changing and we crunch them as we walk around all day.  We have made some fun plans for Halloween.  We are hoping to find pumpkins big enough to carve.  Germans aren't so big on the pumpkin thing.  We can only find baby ones.  And there is not a can of pumpkin in sight :)

There is already Christmas stuff in the stores. It seems pretty early, but when you don't have Halloween or Thanksgiving getting in the way then there is really nothing stopping you!   I am getting so excited.  I hope I get to stay here in Osnabrück.  I have heard they have one of the best weinachtsmarkts in northern Germany.

Well that is all for this week.

I am wishing you happy autumn wishes from Osnabrück!
Love you all

Love,
Sister Brown

Spreading Sunshine!

GeneralKonferenz

So this weekend was conference.  It was absolutely amazing.  I am so thankful for the crazy technology that makes it all possible.  We were able to watch a few of the sessions live.   We  haven't seen Sunday Afternoon yet but hopefully we will soon.  Sometimes the translations are a little funny.  Especially when someone makes a pun or when President Monson quotes a poem but overall it is pretty impressive.

We witnessed a few General Conference miracles this weekend as well.

We started the Stop Smoking workshop with Schwester M*****.  We found a new investigator named N*****.  We had an appointment fall out with G**** but then through a miraculous case of being at the right place at the right time we made contact again.  It turns out she missed our appointment because she had a crazy day of things out of her control and not simply because she blew us off. 

But I saved the best for last. 

Frau K******* and Bruder J***** came to conference!! 

 

I repeat Frau K******* came to conference!  

We were sitting and talking with some members when our sweet elders poked thier heads in and said "Sisters you need to get out here.  Frau K******* is here!"  My heart seriously jumped.  I flew out of my chair and down the hallway.  And yes.  There she was.  Just standing there all dressed up with Bruder J*****.  It was a conference miracle! 

 

We watched the Saturday morning session with them (which was really our Saturday night).  President Uchtdorf's talk at the end about joining the church or coming back was seriously an answer to our prayers.  

After we had a chance to talk with them and it went really well.  They both said how good they felt and that they had really enjoyed it.  Then we continued to talk with Frau K******* and I watched Bruder J***** walk over to the wall and grab a tithing slip and envelope and put them in his pocket.  Later I also found out that he talked to the Elders Quorum president and would like to get a home teaching assignment.

 

It is such an amazing feeling to watch people change their lives to follow Christ. 

I love it.

That is all

Love,

Sister Brown

We had another district Pday at the Bad Bentheim castle.

It was awesome.

Maybe more pics next week?

Skills

Familie!

So we got a new GML (ward mission leader) last week and so this week we met on Thursday to talk about our investigators and goals and missionary stuff like that.  We left the meeting and were heading home when we got a text from out GML informing us that he found a joint teach for one of our appointments for the next day.  We hadn't even made it to the bus stop yet!  He is so on top of things.  GML Skills!

We met with a lot of our new investigators this week.  

It is always fun to be able to meet with new people and refreshing to add some new names to the teaching pool.

  

We met with A** again and after a crazy long intense discussion about God he committed to pray.  That is a huge step!  We also met with Frau R*****.  Her uncle is a member and lives in Utah.  She knew so much about the church and had a lot of questions about the Restoration.  She said she would read in the Book of Mormon so progress there too. 

My favorite (If I am allowed to have favorites) was probably our appointment with G****.  She is so cool.  We just found her walking down the street with her stroller.  She is a single mom and her son is 3. She has a really strong Christian background and has had some hard trials recently.  I am so excited for the chance we have to help show her how the Gospel can help her and her son.

One thing I have learned on my mission is that sometimes it takes hard times or trials for people to be ready for the gospel.  A lot of the conversion stories I hear happened after the person lost everything.  It takes that humbling experience sometimes to realize that we do need something else.  When everything is all good we hear "I have no time" or "I don't need that."  But when the people need help they are much more likely to listen to us.

 

This week was just a good one.  

We had a bus adventure to Hagen and everything actually went well.  We took the right bus to the right stop and found the house we needed.  Bus Skills!  

I also dreamed my first dream in German.  I was on a train talking to people.  It sounds boring but it wasn't because WE WERE SPEAKING GERMAN!!

I also cut my own hair.  Never thought I'd be brave enough for that one.  Look what this mish thing is doing for me!  :)  Sister Hayden and I both needed trims so bad but I was way too scared because all of the other sisters have told us so many horror stories.  So we just sat on the kitchen floor and did it ourselves.  Hair Skills! 

I am so excited for General Conference.  It was so fun to hear everyone's letters about the Relief Society session.  They are rebroadcasting it here on Saturday.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to hear the words of our prophets!  A member in our ward made us pretty awesome invitations that we have been giving out to pretty much everyone we see.  You all better watch it too!!

Talk to you all next week!

Love,

Sister Brown

(I can't find the little flag to go at the end of my email today...Apologies for the lack of computer skills :)

We were standing at a bus stop after a crazy long day and I pulled out a ritter sport from my bag and offered Sister Hayden a square.

Sister Hayden: "Danke"

Sister Brown: "Bitte"

Sister Hayden: "Bitter!"

Both of Us: dying of laughter at the clever chocolate pun.

I think we were both super tired....

Familie,

We had a great week this week.   It is almost Oktoberfest time so all week we have been seeing plenty of people walking around in their lederhosen and dirndls.  What more could we ask for?!?!

This week was Zone Konferenz in Hannover.  It was great and I learned a lot.  President Kosak set a goal for our mission to help 150 people come unto Christ through baptism before the end of hte year.  It is a pretty hefty goal.  I know he set it in faith though and I believe we can make it. We will most definitely be having a white Christmas!  

We also focused on a different way to find.  Often when we go door to door or do street contacting we get in the mode of simply handing out cards.  We call it OYMs.  (Open your mouth)  We just try to talk to people.  That is great but we don't always see success from that. The people aren't super likely to even call us.  Sister Kosak asked us to switch our focus from that of simply handing our cards out, to inviting these people to learn more.  Now they are called ITLs (invitation to learn)  I like that and it works.  

We got a new GML (ward mission leader) this week.  He is super excited for missionary work and already does so much.  I am looking forward to the chance to work with him.  I think with us, him, and the elders all working together we can really start to see some miracles here in Osnabrück.

I am gaining a strong testimony of obedience.  When we obey we are blessed.  Simple as that.  We have seen so much success in the past week and I really think it is because we have been striving for obedience.  Some times I don't want to and it is almost always easier to break rules than to follow them but i know that when we obey we see blessings.

We have seen a lot this week.  

We got lots of teaching in this week.  People we went by on were home.  People picked up the phone when we called.  People we stopped on the street actually had interest in talking with us.  We got a few new investigators and also a growing list of contacts.  We have a busy week of appointments ahead of us.  

One of our biggest miracles came after our termin with D***** fell out.  We were kind of bummed because she has been pretty fest lately.  We decided we could spend the time finding.  So we hit the streets for awhile.  Then we were just standing at a bus stop and a woman comes up and asks "Since when have there been sisters here in Osnabrück?"  After recovering from a temporary shock we responded "How do you know the Sisters?" 

It turns out that she was an investigator like 7 years ago and was almost baptized and then her husband died.  It was really hard for her and she took some time to figure things out.  In the process, she loss contact with the  missionaries.  Then today she found us at the bus stop. She told us that she would always meet with the missionaries with her daughter and just the other day they were talking and her daughter mentioned how fun that was. 

We have an appointment with them both for this week!

We also met with Frau K******* this week.  We really got some stuff cleared up.  I was a little nervous going into the lesson because we didn't have as solid of a plan as I would have liked.  But it went well.  We asked a lot of questions and then just really listened.  I felt like by listening to her and the Holy Ghost both me and my companion were able to know what to say. 

She has told us she wants to be baptized but there are still a lot of obstacles in the way.

  

Sometimes it is easy to see those and get a little frustrated or overwhelmed.  In this appointment she told us she still wants to be baptized and in that moment, looking into her eyes I totally felt it.  It was like a little confirmation that it is possible.  It was such a cool experience.  

We just had good week!

Thanks for all the ZOKO post that I found waiting for me. 

I really do have the best family ever!

I love you all so much.

Make it a great week!

Love,

Sister Brown

 Zone Konferenz September 2013

 The Benavidez Family pillowcase arrived!!!

This is the bakery next door. She thinks they mean baking with friends and not actually

 Hansel and Gretel-style baking friends ;)

 "We made cookies. It was an adventure in conversions.  

We also made our own brown sugar so just call us little German Betty Crockers!"

When it rains, it pours

Meine Leibe Familie,

I realized how lame last week's email was so I will try to do better this week...

First of all Happy Birthday shout out to Kai Man.  Sister Hayden and I totally sang to him.  I sure hope he heard it :)

We also experienced probably my biggest mission mess up so far.  

We were on our lunch break and were just in the kitchen getting some food made.  Then the power went out.  Sometimes it happens when we have too much going on so we went to the little box and pushed the normal buttons.  Nothing happened.  We called our hausmeister who happened to be on vacation.  So he sent his son over to help us.  His son is 19 and loves to practice his English with us.  He came and got it working again.  So we went back to cooking.  Then seriously like 30 seconds later the power was off again.  We dashed out the door to catch him.  We ran out to the street but he was gone.  

We thought it was a bummer that we had missed him but decided we could just call him.  It was then that we turned around and realized that, in our flustered dash out the door, we had locked ourselves out.  Our keys, phones, bus passes, wallets, and even our shoes were still inside.  We klingled the whole building hoping someone could let us in but no one was home.
We knew the spare key was at the church so after waiting for awhile we decided just to walk there.  So we did.  We walked ourselves all the way to the church in the pouring rain without shoes on.  We looked like crazies!!!   It was the first time in my mission that we have looked for streets WITHOUT people on them.  

We finally got to the church but needed a key to get in to get the spare.  We ended up just stopping people and asking to use their phones.  We found one lady who let us use hers.  The mission numbers are all the same and then the last 4 digits change.  Luckily I knew the elders number and luckily they picked up.  

They were pretty surprised that it was us calling from the unknown number and even more surprised to hear about our predicament.  They came and unlocked the building for us and we got the key.  

I was grateful for their help but I am positive I will never live this one down!

We also did some missionary work this week :)

We did a lot of finding.  A LOT of finding.  

We had an appointment with D******.  Earlier we had tried to make contact but it was hard and then our appointments always fell out.  Last week we had one scheduled and she called to cancel on us.  It was bad news that it was canceled but good news that she was actually letting us know and scheduling another one.  

We went this week and gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read in it.  She is such a loving lady and serves so many people.  I think she is really ready to hear the Gospel.

We also had a member call us and ask if we would go by on a less active member.   The crazy thing was that earlier in the day we had rearranged our plans to go by the very same member.  I think she really needed us to go by.  Sometimes we just feel like we need to do something different and it is always cool to have it confirmed that it was a prompting.  It is nice to know that our thoughts are inspired and not always just crazy last minute ideas.  

We ended our week with a missionary farewell.  Jonas G****** is headed to the Provo, MTC today.  He is called to serve in France.  It was a great meeting.  I loved hearing his testimony.  I think he will be an excellent missionary.  The other speakers were his seminary teacher, young mens leader, and the branch president, and then his parents.  

So many sweet testimonies were shared and good advice was given.  This is a really tight ward and you could tell that everyone really loves Jonas.  

It is a really interesting experience to go to a missionary farewell on your mission.  After the meeting the member sitting next to me asked if I could remember my farewell.  I turned to tell him "Ja!" and got all watery eyed.  (the mish has turned me into such a cry baby.  The day isn't complete without Sister Brown just losing it)

It is fun to think about my farewell.  There were so many fun people there who I love.  SO much has happened since then. I have learned so much about myself, about the Gospel, the Spirit, and just life.  I have met so many amazing people and now can even pretend I speak German.  I feel like a totally different person than when I got up and gave that little talk.  

Enough self reflection time :)

There was my week.  I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Love,
Sister Brown

Oh and we have gotten SO much rain!

Meine Familie,

We have new elders here in Osnabrück, Elder Mitchell and Elder Rasband.
I have a new companion and her name is Sister Hayden.

We laugh a lot, we do missionary work, and we take lots of wrong busses!

Bis nächste woche!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Brown


Oh and I also forgot my msd card reader thingie so pictures next week for sure!
Sorry.

Transfer calls, stolen bikes, and a jam sesh

Familie,

So first thing is first.  We got transfer calls.  One of President Kosak's favorite quotes is "Expect the unexpected!"  That is definitely accurate.  

So I will be staying here in Osnabrück.  

Sister O is getting transferred to Celle and my new companion is coming from Celle.  

So basically there we are just making a big switch.  The Elders are both leaving Osnabrück and two new ones will come tomorrow to white wash the place.

I know I will miss Sister Odenwalder.  We have spent our entire summer together here in Osnabrück having adventures.  We have had so many good times. I am also a little nervous to be the only one staying.  I need to show three other missionaries around the city and I'm not even sure I can make it to Bahnhof...

Just another adventure I guess.  

We have spent our weekend saying goodbyes and going through the maps and area book.  Hopefully I can get it all down by tomorrow.  

We saw lots of miracles this week with setting up appointments. As we were going through the area book we found some contact sheets from the old elders.  We felt like we should check some of them out.  We picked a few streets and then went out.  Most of the addresses were still good and we got a few return appointments from that.  

One night we had some time after planning and we decided to make a few calls.  We started with A****** and Frau C*****.  We were able to get solid appointments with both.  This never happens.  We were pretty excited so we decided to keep calling.  We continued calling less actives and contacts and some investigators and made appointments out with every single one.   

Every.Single.One.  It was crazy.  

Some of these people have never picked up their phone when we have called in the past and some of these less actives neither of us have ever met. It was a crazy magical appointment making week!

Our Relief Society president, Scwester W****, was in the hospital this week.  She was the one who asked us to put together the uke/violin musical number for Relief Society this week but then she had to go in for stomach surgery so she wasn't going to be able to see it.  So we brought it to her.  It was good to have a practice run through.  We weren't quite sure how it would go, just busting out the hymns in a German hospital, but no one seemed to mind.  It was fun to visit her and we had a good chat.  As we were leaving Lady Gaga came over the speakers in the hallway.  We both just turned and looked at each other and then burst out into a dance party. What else can you do when you hear Bad Romance?!?

Our GML (ward mission leader) and his wife moved this week.  We went over to help them get everything out and do some cleaning.  They were in the "everything just needs to go" mood so we inherited so much awesome stuff.  We got make up and lotions, a huge craft box of stickers and scrapbook paper, half the food in their fridge, a rug, a sandwich maker, and microwave popcorn.  We left with an enormous box of wonders!  I will miss them both so much.  They were super helpful and did so much for us.  The good news is that they are headed to Lehi so we will definitely see each other after the mish!

We played the long awaited musical number in Relief Society yesterday.  It actually went pretty well.  It was better than anything I imagined when we first got the assignment.  Who knows, maybe uke and violin will be the next big thing?!?

And then my bike got stolen.  We rode them home from English class Tuesday night and then in the morning went to get them and mine was gone.  They were locked behind the gate in a shed type thing behind our building.  The little thief left the helmet though.  Maybe karma will catch up with him and he will fall and crack his unhelmeted little head.  I should probably repent...

That is all for this week.

Love you all!
Love,
Sister Brown

PS: Oh and I forgot one of the coolest stories I have from this week.  We were at Bruder A******'s last night eating dinner.  Then he pulled out some old photo albums of him growing up.  Some of the pictures at the end were of him playing the violin.  I asked him about it and told him that I also played.  Then he went back into the closet and came out with a violin.  It was the one he learned to play on.  It was so cool!  It looked a little beat up becuase it was so old and he got it second hand because his family didn't have a lot of money after the war.  We took turns playing it.  I was amazed at how good it sounded.  It had such a great tone.  It was such a fun thing and probably one of my favorite mission memories yet!

This is where the bike was supposed to be:

**Bike Update: Oh and don't worry about the stolen bike.  The GML's (ward mission leader's) wife left us hers so we have had one to use and the office was really cool about it when we called them.  It should be totally fine.  

She loves her unicorn cat!