July 29, 2013

Lieber Familie,

 

Ha I am struggling slightly with this German keyboard... Oh by the way I made it to Germany!!! Ha longest day of my liiiiifffffffffffe would be an understatement. by the time I finally went to bed on Wednesday night I had been up for about 33 hours. The flight was great, no problems and it was so fun talking to all of you! By the time we got to the mission home everytime I sat down I almost, or did, fall asleep. Pres Kosak is amazing!! Wish I could explain better but you'll just have to trust me. We went out finding right by the church. Oh my goodness, at that moment I was seriously considering why on earth was I here trying to speak a language I don't know, sharing a message people don't want to hear. I was tired and stressed, trying so hard to smile and just wanting to curl up in a ball and cry. I got your letter when we went back to the church. The first thing I read was the last paragraph all I saw was YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS. That night I did a lot of praying and I finally got to sleep. Everything skyrocketed after that! I met my new companion Sis Lartey from Orem,UT. Small world huh? She went to Mtn View, but that's ok ;) We are serving in Lankwitz. Our apartment is about a 4 min walk from the mission home so send all mail and packages there. I can pick them up almost whenever. Oh and always send packages to the mission home. When I'm not so close to the mission home the ZLs bring all packages to Zone Conference and Training, so every 4ish weeks I'll get my packages.

 

Berlin is on fire!! I cannot begin to tell you how many miracles I have seen! The MTC was awesome, but I hate it in comparison to how much I LOOOOVE Germany!! I can feel how much Heavenly Father loves His children. Thursday We met with an investigator named Franciose. She is from Rwanda but lives here with her husband and daughter named Sarah. She has been meeting with the missionaries for a bit. Part way through the lesson my comp leans over and says you should give her the baptismal challenge. She accepted, but she is worried that she won't be perfect.. We still have more to teach but she loves Christ so much. I love seeing the excitement the investigators show when they feel the spirit. Friday we had a distrikt meeting and set some big goals. The leaders told Sis Lartey and I not to worry about numbers this week because I was brand new and we're just getting into the swing of things, but guess what!!!! Miracles are happening, by the end of the week we reached and surpassed goals. We are preparing two investigators for baptism, we have 3 new investigators and we reached our other goals. I know it's not about numbers, but I also know that when you pray for specific goals and then work for them, miracles will happen. Sis Lartey kept telling me: this doesn't happen Sis Turner, we haven't seen numbers like this. Last night the Zone Leader called to tell us how excited he was about the work we have been doing. I know this only possible through Christ because I still can't speak the language. Haha On Saturday we got on the Bahn and we were a little separated I sat down by and man and smiled. He was staring at my name tag, I was too scared to talk to him by myself so I was avoiding eye contact. Ha he was pretty much begging me to say something, so I said oh you noticed my name tag? I'm a missionary. He said ya, smiling looking and me to say more. I gave him a card and told him about eternal families and told him how excited I am that I can live with my family after this life. I asked him if he wanted to learn more and excitedly he said yes! In a "well duh" sorta way. I said great and went to grab my planner to take down his info. He kept smiling looking at me like keep going. I was like, ha wait right now?? My comp then came over and helped me out. We were able to set an appointment and then realized this man, Juma, kept riding the Bahn past his stop so he could keep talking with us. Oh I'm so excited!! I'll tell you more about our other investigators later. Ha I still am laughing at how awkward I was and how Juma almost had to twist my arm to get me to talk.

 

Sunday I got to meet the Lankwitz Gemeinde sp? They had me play for Relief Society because they only have three people in the whole ward who can play. They asked if I can play Hymn #80 I say absolutely and I jump up to the piano and realize it is a German Hymn that I have never heard of, haha I was praying the whole time that I was playing it the way it was supposed to sound. In my interview with Pres Kosak the first day he told he how excited he was that I can play the piano and violin and organ kinda, and that the ward would really need me. Nervously I said ok, but I'll need a heads up and I'll need to practice etc. Pres Kosak said, Sis Turner relax, it's for the Lord not for you, everything will be ok. And it is! Miracles are happening in Lankwitz!

 

Oh I need to tell you about the Ruetz family! They are in the ward, the dad is our Stake Pres. We had lunch with them on Sunday, haha hamburgers and ice water, we felt so American! They are one of the best families I have ever met! Their daughter Leah 17 and Fleur 13 are the sweetest girls and their sons Finn 9 and Goin 2. Little Goin (pronounced John) is the cutest little thing! I love hearing little chubby cheek babies speak in German. Seriously the cutest!!

 

Ok so Sis Lartey is the bomb! Ha I love her so much!! We have a problem though, we never have enough time to talk (believe it or not, ha even though we are already glued at the hip, that's not enough time) so going to bed on time is a little difficult. We're getting better though. I know that companionships are truly inspired!

 

So when I was in Germany 4 years ago it never really got too warm, I must be somewhere else because we are melting here! Hahaha I have never sweat so much in my life! The past few days have been around 35-37 degrees C. And our bedroom is 27 degrees, in the MTC our bedroom was usually 17. I don't know what that translates to in F, but trust me, it's warm. Ha I promise to never complain about AC again. Sis Covey, Bru Ott and Bru Brogden: I am so sorry for complaining about freezing in class. I have now been humbled. It's really not too bad, I'm just always sweating which is definitely new for me.

 

The apartment we live in is so nice! I'll send pictures later.

I hope this letter makes sense and the spelling/grammar ain't too bad ;)

I know that the Lord loves His children everywhere! I have so many amazing experiences I wish I had time to share. Missionary work is fantastic!! I love it! Wiz I am so excited for you!! Will you please write your testimony and send it to me?

Oh it's raining right now!! I love the rain!!

Gotta go! Love you all!

 

-Sister Turner