I love the work!! - Mon, Feb 20, 2012

Hello family!

Things are still going well. My companion is still sick. Her sinus infection is gone and has turned back into endometriosis problems. We didn´t get as much done this week as we did last week, but we were in Berlin one day for President´s interviews, as you´ve already seen on the blog. We sadly didn´t get to Bad Doberan this week. Andrea called us and cancelled and said she´d call us. It was really sad, but we have hope that she will actually call us. If not, we´ll stop by again in a couple weeks. It´s funny that you mention the church and the train in the middle of the street. I saw both of them in the day I was there. It is a really small town. We actually don´t split up the area with the Elders. We sometimes even go do doors together in big apartment buildings and stick pass along cards in mailboxes. I think we might even have investigators living in the same buildings. It´s kind of like a finders keepers kind of thing and sometimes we have to call the Elders and ask if they´ve done doors at certain buildings so we don´t re-do the places and get them mad at us. But yeah, we´re both all over the city, we live somewhat close to each other and yet we never really run into each other in the town.


I love that random cd you sent. Unfortunately with music on a mission, if one companion has to listen to it the other does too, and my companion wasn´t as appreciative of it as I was. We´ve spent the past week listening to Enya.

Dear Mother,

The sucking of snot that my companion does is far different than the sucking of snot you do. I´ll have to demonstrate when I get home.
 
Normally we don´t have a Book of Mormon to carry around because in Rostock we don´t really give out that many. In Celle we always had one with us to give away because we´d give one away at least once every 2 days. Here we´re lucky if we give one once a week. When I do doors I carry around my German Book of Mormon, a little pocket size Book of Mormon in English, and pens and planners. Nothing really special. Sometimes chocolate or candy. I eat way too much chocolate here because our church is right above a grocery store so if we´re a couple minutes early to an appointment at the church, we run into the grocery store and buy something we can eat real quick. And Germany doesn´t really have anything yummy and fast to eat except chocolate and candy. So I eat quite a bit of it. Somehow I haven´t gained weight yet.

When we leave our apartment in the morning at 11 normally we come back for an hour break lunch at 1 or 2. Then we go back out and don´t come back again until 9. That´s the normal schedule, but it´s sometimes different when my companion doesn´t feel good.

The Elders do crazy things in the MTC, mom. I´m sure that´s just the beginning of the many many crazy things he´s doing :) It´s hard to stay sane there, being cooped up in a little room for hours upon end, but I loved it so much. It was so chill.

Thank you so much for sending me Jeff´s setting apart blessing. That sounds like a pretty neat blessings. I´m glad he took notes. That´s something that we don´t want to forget! It is really helpful to think about throughout the mission.

Sister Toni is so awesome! I´m glad that she is such a great support to our family. I have a letter written up for her that I need to send her. She´s sent me a couple things (turtle things). She´s so sweet. Hug her for me.

Oh, mom, there´s this website that a Senior Sister missionary recommended because she used it when her son was on his mission and it´s ldsmissionarymoms.com. I guess if you join an e-mail group you can talk with moms who have missionaries in the same mission as us. She said she loved it and talked to her son´s companion´s moms all the time and she said you would LOVE IT and I agreed you probably would love something like that.

And I will wrap this up with my favorite story of the week. Fadi. I don´t think I´ve talked about him yet, but I have always meant to. He is an awesome investigator we have from Jordan. He met with the missionaries a long long time ago and then kind of lost his faith. We had an investigator named FadiL that we met with regularly and we tried to call him but we accidently selected Fadi´s name in the phone. He let us know he wasn´t who we were trying to call, but he told us he wanted to meet with us. So we´ve been meeting with him pretty regularly. I love meeting with Fadi because I leave the appointments feeling enlightened and the spirit teaches me new things when we teach him. His English is very good and he listens to what we say, thinks about what we say, and puts his imput into lessons. This week we taught about Joseph Smith and we decided to invite him to baptism. He said he would have to think about it, but he has been thinking about it (even though we haven´t mentioned anything about baptism to him). He has 2 concerns. 1) He doesn´t want to get baptized in the Baltic Sea (that´s where most people here decide to get baptized) and 2) He´s concerned about his safety. If he ever went back to Jordan they could kill him. It breaks my heart that there is a culture that kills people when they change religions. We´ve been praying so hard for him that he can feel the truth and know that it is something he needs to do. But it´s such a hard situation because we don´t want to put him in danger. Can you please pray for him too that he can get an answer to his prayer and that he can have the courage to go through with something that could potentially be dangerous?

I love this gospel! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he restored Christ´s church on the earth today. We´re so blessed, I can never say it enough! Share it with the people around you! It will bless them! Don´t be afraid of blessing people´s lives! I love you all, family. Thanks for your support!

Love, Sister Niebergall

Here's a District Picture:

Mon, Feb 13, 2012

Hello the best family on earth!!

 

This week was SO much better than the past several. We still were inside quite a bit, but not nearly as much. Sister Kläy has developed a sinus infection and has needed extra rest for that. She enjoys giving me a play by play of what´s going on with her. "Oh it´s squelching in my head!" After she blows her nose "Oww that one hurt. Oh it´s green. That means its infected" "Do you hear the weird noise my face makes after I blow my nose?"  She also snorts snot into the back of her head. Bleeeeh. It grosses me out and I always tell her that mom would be gagging right about now. Haha. I told her I´d tell you that though so it´s not like I´m being mean and talking about her behind her back.

 

Last week we set goals of "visit one member a week" "visit one less active a week" "go to Bad Doberan (a little town 30 minutes away) once a week" "go by on one old investigator once a week" and "do doors at the neighborhood we chose once a week" We saw miracles as we tried to reach these goals. We went by an old investigator. He wasn´t there so we went by contacts in the area. We made an appointment with one and will go by this week. We´re so excited.

 

We went to Bad Doberan all day on Friday. We went there in the attitude of "we are going to start a Branch here at Bad Doberan!" We talked to people and were full of the spirit as we talked. The second person we talked to we asked "What does God mean to you?" and he said "Everything!" and went on about how much God means to him. It was awesome. That doesn´t happen often. We tried to make an appointment but he´s in the process of moving. We asked if we could help and he said yes! (That never happens, people accepting our help offerings) but he was in a little bit of a rush and said he had to go so we didn´t get an address or number. But he said if we´re in Bad Doberan often we´ll see each other again and I totally believe that because it´s really small there. So we´re excited to find him again. I believe he´s one of those prepared and we´ll find him again if we stick to our goal of going to Bad Doberan once a week.

 

We also did doors in Bad Doberan and we had a walk in appointment! That never happens either! We were so excited. This lady was so nice and sweet and is Catholic. She loves Jesus Christ and you can tell because she actually let us in. We explained the Book of Mormon and told her we wanted to give one to her but we didn´t have one with us (Dumb) so we´d have to come back (that part is good). She said she´d love to have us back and that she loves reading and the Book of Mormon sounds really interesting and she wants to read it. I had my own personal German scriptures with me and felt like I should read Alma 7:11-12 to her so I did and I think she was able to feel the spirit of the Book of Mormon. She also started giving us little things of hers that she loved like little necklaces with Mary on them, an old book from a church in Düsseldorf, and and old New Testament with fancy German writing. It was super awesome and nice of her. Her name is Andrea. I hope you hear more about her in coming e-mails. She would make such a good Relief Society president.

 

I did get my package on Friday. I was surprised and excited to see a claim slip in the mail. It was waiting at my neighbor´s so Sister Kläy and I went to pick it up. We figured we´d run there grab it and come back. Well, our door shut behind us and it locked and we didn´t have keys or a cell phone or shoes or coats. We wondered what to do so we ran (literally) to our Senior Sisters house. (I was covering my name tag so people don´t think we Mormons are crazy. Is that allowed? ;) The Sisters live 3 houses up the street from us. They have spare keys for us there so we got it from them. They made us sit on their heater and put our feet on the warm dryer. It was funny. It´s really nice to have Senior Sisters. We had a senior sister before, she just barely went home, but these two feel like our mommies. I like it. Anyway, now we triple check to make sure we have our keys before going anywhere.

 

Anyway! Thanks so much for the package! I was so excited to see warm clothes, some fun music, Valentine´s stuff, memory card, journal, Jeff´s farewell talk, and a card from my lovely sisters. It made me smile really big, thanks so much! Jeff´s setting apart blessing wasn´t in there, so if you could send it to me that´d be awesome. But that was so fun to see you were thinking about me. Thanks so much.

 

I still haven´t met all the investigators yet. Hopefully we´ll get to that some time soon. Sheesh. The food isn´t different from Celle really. Í´ve had seafood once when a member took us to the beach for P-Day and gave us a tour and bought us lunch. I had pasta and it had salmon in it. Your salmon is still better, dad. I don´t know if anyone can beat it. Anyway, that´s the only time I´ve eaten sea food.

 

Funny that YOU should mention Gilligan because yesterday we did Street Contacting by the harbor and I was saying in my mind "A ship! In the harbor! I see a ship!!" :) (Is taht Gilligan quote from Sam pretty sam episode?) Also, as we were by the harbor i was looking at the water and it was completely frozen except where the ferry goes through from one side to the other. Being a Niebergall, I instinctively looked around for a big rock that I could throw into the ice to see how thick it was. It wasn´t until after I was looking for a few seconds that I realized how truly Niebergall I was being. And that there are no rocks by a harbor. Bummer. I thought it was funny though. We Niebergalls are Nieanderthals.

 

I read Megan´s e-mail and loved it! Can you please get me her address so I can write her a letter? Please?

 

I love the pictures of Pepper (how is that comfortable?) and Rachel´s crazy hair. I always really enjoy getting pictures! Thanks so much for sending them. I´m glad you found the camera. I prayed you´d find it and you did! Yay prayer!!

 

That´s so cool that Emily Larsen is going to serve in Berlin! She is coming to the best place EVER!!! She should be excited! Shout out to Emily! You´re going to love it! There are TONS of Weber grads here. It´s so cool that Weber is having an impact on the Deutschers! I only know one of the grads (Nate Elmer), but one of them is my new Zone Leader so I´ll meet him on Friday at President Interviews (Elder Shepherd? Maybe?) and one just became assistant to President (Elder McCann). Do you know either of them, Jeff? I guess I´ll meet him Friday too. Weber power in Germany! Woo!

 

That story of Freckles tattling on Pepper was awesome. I wish we weren´t writing e-mails in public sometimes because I really wanted to laugh loud! But I can´t. But I love the story. Silly Freckles. I´m glad to hear she´s still alive.

 

About school mom, read D&C 6:15-16, 23, 36. I know things will work out, and I know you know that too. Also 3 Nephi 13:31-34. You will be awesome and where you´re supposed to be wherever you end up. Heavenly Father is directing your life. He´s not unaware of your situation. 

 

I love this gospel! I know that Heavenly Father loves us and is guiding everything that goes around us so that we can be the most successful and we can become what He knows we can become. I know the Book of Mormon is such an amazing compass in our lives (Alma 37:45). When we are obedient and follow God´s teachings, we will be led exactly where we need to go. I know this is true! I´m so glad to share it!

I love you all!!

 

Love, Sister Niebergall

Mon, Feb 06, 2012 - Another Transfer Beginning....

Hey Family!

I am pleased to say that I am staying in Rostock again another transfer with my companion. Don´t worry, at the moment it is a happy thing. We made so so many new transfer goals that are motivating and should keep us busy. We´re really excited to get to work. I feel like I haven´t been working and its been really hard for me, but now I think we will get something done here. My companion was born and raised in Utah, but her father is Swiss and she spent the last 2 years before her mission in Switzerland (I have no idea how to spell that in English anymore). So she tells people she´s from Switzerland. I think she´s from Utah though :)

It has been WAY cold here in Rostock. My face and ears have been freezing off. Luckily a couple weeks ago I bought a hat because it was my favorite color, not really any other reason, but now I wear it ALL THE TIME. There is quite a bit of snow here, I´d say up to my shin. They keep the walkways shoveled really well, luckily. I realized that winters in Utah were never really bad, I was just badly equipped. I need scarves, boots, and gloves to stay warm! I´m glad that I learned that so I can return to Logan and face the winter there one day. Also, I don´t think Rostock is rough, really. Just a lot of Atheist. Some creepy looking people, but there are those everywhere so it´s nothing too out of the ordinary I´d say.

The picture of my companion and I in front of everyone is when we had to give a thema to our Zone. That´s our zone in the picture. Tiny, huh. I used to be in Hannover so it´s a big change for me. Half of our Zone is our district.

I wish I could say there were more interesting stories about our investigators. I hope there will be something more exciting to report next week after all our goals. The German is going surprisingly well and I do understand mostly and people do understand me, when I can figure out what I´m trying to say. People are patient with my German so it´s nice.

 I love those pictures you sent me. I didn´t know that Tammy was pregnant. Congrats to them! And I LOVE the picture of Hannah. She needs to be a dancer. I´m glad she got the chance to do that.

I love that you have been watching Gilligan. I´ve been thinking about Gilligan lately for some reason so it makes me happy that our brain waves are the same. Also mom- I love your sleep talking episodes. That makes me so happy. Thanks for filling me in on those. This last transfer I woke my self up A LOT with me laughing one big laugh. It was really weird. I don´t know why it happened. And does DJ have a job?? Tell him to WRITE ME!

Christian is Brother Peeck. He comes to joint teaches with us and he loves to be with the missionaries because he misses his mission. He spends a lot of time with the Elders too. And unlike the Utah missionaries, we get to know all of our members. He´s very helpful and is a convert so he has a great testimony that helps our investigators.

Of course the MTC food gives gas! Why else would we have a tooting corner? And yes, that´s why it´d stink when we would leave and come back. I think the Elders did it on purpose. 

I am pleased to say that I don´t use a book to help me speak and if they don´t understand I don´t ignore what they said and shrug my shoulders and move on. I look at my companion to see if she understood. Ü and if she didn´t then we try to figure it out.

I haven´t written Jeff yet because I didn´t have his address, but I´ll definitely write him now. Jeff- that was the greatest that you didn´t know about your investigator being your teacher. We sisters caught on that it was probably our teacher for some reason, but our Elders were shocked. It was really cool to teach him and then have him end up being our teacher. I still love that teacher so much because I gained so much charity for him as I taught him as an investigator. It was wonderful. You´ll still accidently call him Marco sometimes I´m sure. I called my teacher "Bruder Heinz" sometimes. Oh MTC. I miss it.

That´s so unfair that Jeff and Megan see each other every meal. I´m jealous of each of them. ALSO ELDER HOLLAND AND ELDER NELSON?!?! Double Jealous. That´s so cool! I want to read those notes you took. You did take notes, didn´t you?

I would still love to get Jeff´s setting apart notes.

I finished the Book of Mormon this week. It´s still just as true as the last time I read it. I love a quote from last General Conference by Tad R. Callister, "We must make a simple choice with the Book of Mormon: it is either of God or the devil. There is no other option. Determine the true nature of this book. Could the statements 'Feast upon the words of Christ', 'It is the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, that you must build your foundation', or 'Come unto Christ and be perfected in him.' possibly have been authored by the evil one?" 

I testify that Satan is NOT the author of this Book. The Book of Mormon has brought peace, answers to questions, and pure joy to my life. It has brought loving chastising words that help me see where I need to improve. But most of all it has built my relationship with my Savior. He is there! I know that with all of my heart. I am so blessed to share this with others! I love being a missionary. I hope to retain all these many things I´ve learned in this short time that I´ve been on my mission and the things I´ll continue to learn. I want to be a missionary forever, whether set apart for it or not! This gospel is true. Joseph Smith did in fact see God and Jesus Christ and restored HIS church with HIS authority. It´s such a beautiful thing we take for granted sometimes. I love you all. Keep being amazing.

Love, Sister Niebergall

Was not prepared for the SNOW! - Mon, Jan 30, 2012

Hello Liebe Familie!

I am so happy to hear from you all. Many many tears were shed when I read your and Jeff´s e-mails and all throughout this week. Tuesday we had Zone Conference and the last song was God Be With You Til We Meet Again. I thought of Jeff and how he´d be dropped off the next day and I sang the song for him. I know he´s going to be a great missionary. It made me very happy to read his e-mail and reminisce on the MTC days.

I did not see the northern lights this week... I didn´t know to look for them otherwise I may have seen them. Bummer! That´s funny that you remember taking Jeff and I to see the lights. I slightly remember something like that. Kind of sounds like when mom took me outside to meet Brother Flora to help put in our lawn. Haha.

We haven´t met all our investigators yet. Sister Kläy has still been not feeling the best. Hopefully we can get the work going here in Rostock. I´m pretty familiar with the area. We are mostly traveling by Straßen Bahns so I just need to know which person lives at which stop and I can find it from there. I don´t really know if the city is rough.... I have no idea exactly what that means.

I don´t know if you´ve already sent the package, but if you haven´t it´d be great if you could put all of the pictures back on the memory card because I will write these Tschüss Book entries for multiple missionaries, so I need pictures of other missionaries too, not just sister Martinz. If not, could you send a CD of my pictures? Sorry for the trouble. It´s a fad thing that is happening in this mission. 

That e-mail from Christian is HILARIOUS. He makes it sound like either 1) I died or 2) he´s confessing his love for me. Haha. He´s a funny guy. It´s fun to have YSA in the branch. His English is perfect, he´s just self conscious sometimes for some reason. He doesn´t sound German at all when he speaks. Anyway, the reason I asked for you to send it was because he said it was probably the most awkward e-mail he´s ever written so I wanted to see what it was like. Oh dear. Thanks for sending that to me. I had a good laugh.

Speaking of good laugh I laughed super hard when I read what Rachel said " I'm going to miss him, I didn't get a good look at him, I wonder if he has a tooting corner yet?" Too too funny. I wonder if he does have a tooting corner yet. Speaking of which:

JEFF BEWARE THE MTC FOOD!! EAT WISELY OR YOU WILL HAVE THE WORST GAS EVER!!!! I had a dream that I went on another mission and went back to the MTC and said "I´ve been here. I know I need to stick to the salads." Haha Be so careful cuz people get faa-aat in the MTC. Also, eat a yummy chocolate chip cookie for me. I miss those.

Rostock P-Days are busy because we do things with the Elders and Christian (he just got back from his mission and he hangs out with the missionaries to feel like he is still a missionary.) So it´s hard to write letters because we´re always unterwegs. I can´t remember the translation to that word. Look it up. 

I did get to host when I was at the MTC. We only host the Sisters though. The Elders bring the new Sisters to the Host sisters and we help them out from there, so that´s why you didn´t see the sisters. Funny thing actually, I hosted my friend from USU and I didn´t even know she was going on a mission. I forgot about that until now.

That´s so fun that you had the missionaries over for dinner. I can´t believe you have 2 missionaries out. It´s crazy. Reading Jeff´s e-mail was awesome. It reminded me of my first few days at the MTC. They told us we would be teaching a native German IN German. I about peed. I love that investigator so much still. It´s crazy. Mine and Sister McCappin´s first lesson with him was we had our TALL books and we read directly out of them. We tried to ask a question, then we wouldn´t understand what he said back so we´d look at each other, look at him with a blank face, shrug our shoulders, and keep reading from the TALL book. Don´t worry! Before you leave the MTC you WILL be able to give lessons in Spanish with just a lesson plan. It´s a miracle. It´s amazing. Work so hard and the Lord will bless you so much!

Anyway. Sorry about my passionate missionary work rant. Koffi- he´s doing so good. He really doesn´t want to get baptized because he was just baptized awhile ago and he doesn´t want to change religions again. We´re still working with him and hopefully he will feel the truth and change his mind. We have another appointment with him tonight. I knew you´d love that story mom! I love that story too.

I wish we would´ve had testimony meeting after my setting apart blessing. I thought about it, but I didn´t say it. I had a lot on my mind. Keep on that tradition. That´s awesome. I´m also way bummed that I missed getting a blessing from Jeff. But I can get one from him one day.

I asked about the Schülls and the person I asked had no idea who I was talking about. I wonder if Sarah remembered the name right...

Thanks for all of your love and support. This gospel is true! I love the Book of Mormon and I´m almost done reading it! I´m so excited to finish reading it so I can start reading it in German. It´s going to be intense, but I`m so excited. I know that this is the work of the Lord. I´m so happy to bring others to this 100% WAHRHEIT! (Truth) I love you all and think about you all the time. You´re always in my prayers. Be good and keep being Jesus Champions.

Love, Sister Niebergall

Rostoooock - Mon, Jan 23, 2012

Hey Family!!
I sure thought about you all day yesterday! I hope all went well and you had a great time together. "I´ll go where you want me to go" was sung in Relief Society and I just know how Heavenly Father knows me and let me experience a mini-Elder Niebergall Farewell through just a song.

That should be fun to meet up with little Elder Stevie before you ship Jeff off. That feels like it was me yesterday- I can´t believe it´s Jeff´s turn. I´m so excited for 

I´m glad you got my TP. I´m not mad at all that you hung it up. I think that´s hilarious. Things are getting better in that department, I´ve just learned most of the time she´s joking and not being a bossy rude person. Most of the time. And I´ve learned how to respond when she´s being serious so things are going a little better. How did everyone react to your story? Were they surprised by it? Did Rob and Michelle correct my German? Haha.

I did get the letters you sent. That made me really really happy. It was so nice to hear from the Fellows side of the family. I loved the motivating words from everyone. Thanks so much!

Things still have been kind of slow in Rostock, Sister Kläy is still not feeling well. I hope she starts feeling better because there´s so much to do here in Rostock and so many people to take care of.

That is a super cute picture of Megan. I love it.

We´re not really sure what to do with the mannequin head. We´re thinking about maybe cutting off the hair and sticking it in the Elder´s coat pockets while they´re hanging up. We´ll see

That´s okay that you haven´t sent the box. I just realized that I also need that memory card with the pictures on it. Hopefully that isn´t a problem. But since I remembered the Tschüss Books (Christian Peeck told you about them. ps will you send that e-mail to me, what he wrote? He said it was the most awkward e-mail he ever wrote and I want to see it.) But anyway, I need my memory card so I can print out pictures for these Tschüss books. I hope that there´s a way to put pictures back on the card, if you´ve taken them off already. If there is no way, maybe you could make a CD? And if you haven´t taken the pictures off then there is no problem.

That´s so cool that Emily sang the same song that was sung at dad´s farewell. That was probably so special! So sad that I couldn´t hear it.

 

We did have one cool experience and that is we taught a 23 year old from Africa. We asked him to pray specifically and ask if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He told us he didn´t like to pray for specific things. He then asked us if he had ever told us about his mom. We hadn´t so he explained that in 2009 his mom died. In the Catholic church they have a book of prayers that they say for certain situations. He took out the book and read it to his mom and picked it because he thought it was a prayer for someone sick. As he read it he realized it was a prayer for someone who was about to die and his mom died after he read it. I told him that mom had a somewhat similar experience and that she was singing songs with her family and sang Families Can be Together Forever and then grandpa passed away. I explained to him when that happened they were filled with peace because they knew they would be together as a family forever. I testified to him that we really can be together as families forever and that he will see his mom again. By the end of the lesson Koffi, Sister Kläy, and I were all crying because the spirit was so strong and we all could tell that we would be together with our families forever. It was wonderful to be able to testify of a simple principle that gives hope to us as Latter Day Saints. Sometimes we take for granted these simple truths that are completely foreign to others. I´m so glad we were able to share this bit of truth with Koffi and bring a bit of light into his life.

 

I love you all!! I´ll be with you there in spirit Wednesday! All the best!

 

Love, Sister Niebergall

For lack of better title... I like turtles? - Mon, Jan 16, 2012

Hello Family!

I can´t believe Megan is joining Alex and I in the field here in a couple days! I´m so excited for her. She´ll love it! And then Jeff next week, that´s really the mind boggler for me! Being a missionary is the best ever!

As for here in Rostock, things have been a little bit on the slow side. Sister Kläy has endomeitriosis (I should know how to spell that because of anatomy but I SO DON`T!!!) and she´s been having a lot of pain this week so we´ve spent a lot of time inside. It isn´t that cold here at all actually. It´s pretty awesome. It feels like spring weather and we are hoping that winter will kind of pass over us. It is cold sometimes, but when it´s cold it feels like late November, not really winter. It´s wonderful. I´m enjoying it. Yesterday was totally sunny and everyone was a little happier to talk to us. I think the Rostockians need more vitamin D.

We do have Elders in our city, too. It´s a lot of fun and can sometimes be crazy, like when the Elders decide they want to get members to pull pranks on you. This week we received a package in the mail. We were so excited to get mail and we opened it. It had a creepy mannequin doll head thing, from the Elders and a member who is 24 named Tobias. It´s a treasure that has been sitting around the Elders apartment for quite some time and they decided to surprise us. I thought it was hilarious and super clever, but my other half didn´t have mutual feelings.Oh, by the way, we have about 200 missionaries in the Germany Berlin mission.

I believe the mission pays for rent. We pay for food, but when we use the trains we send in our tickets to them and they reemburse it for us. We have about 175 Euro a month to use for food and travel so it´s a pretty good amount of money.

I love the pictures of the kinder toys. They´re hilarious. You guys are the best.

That´s totally crazy that Kelley Hill is Amy´s trainer. That is so funny! Wow. How exciting is that? I can´t even imagine. And also TUCKER IS GOING TO BERLIN?!?!?!?! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!! He is going to the best mission ever. I´m so excited for him. I could go on and on about that but I won´t.

That´s so great that Rachel bore her testimony. I wish I could´ve heard it, but I guess I can wait to hear it.

I´m glad Rob and Michelle got their package. I was worried that maybe they had moved and the address wasn´t right anymore. I knew those were Michelle´s favorite. So glad she enjoyed them. 

As for the less active member- we had a lesson scheduled for this week, but he didn´t answer the door. We were pretty bummed about it. I still haven´t met a lot of the investigators yet. I don´t know what the deal is. We´re hoping to find some of our own investigators soon.

Well, sadly we don´t have much time today because we´re going to the beach. Hopefully we don´t freeze.

I´m so glad that Megan and Jeff will soon be serving the Lord. There´s nothing else that I´d rather be doing. I keep having dreams that I´m home from my mission and wishing I could be back. I love Germany. It´s the best place ever. I love sharing the gospel in Germany. It´s like I´m doing the coolest thing in the coolest place. I´m so blessed. The Book of Mormon is amazing. I´m in 3rd Nephi now. It´s so full of the spirit. I want everyone to be able to read this! Oh... I can give it to them to read! I hope that you all will love for opportunities to share this amazing message we have. I love you all!

Love, Sister Niebergall

Toto, we´re not in West Germany anymore - Mon, Jan 09, 2012

Liebe Familie!

 

I love you! I always look forward to hearing from you. We still have absolutely no snow here and I sure am not complaining. I´m hoping that it will kind of just skip over the winter this year. That would make me very happy. Poor Deej spending so much money on the ski pass and not having a way to get there. He should´ve thought about that one. :)

Things have picked up a little bit here since last week- thank goodness! I still haven´t met all the investigators, I don´t know if they´re ignoring us or what. There are 3 people with baptismal dates here in Rostock and I´ve only met 1 of them. We can´t get ahold of the other 2. We hope that we will be able to come in contact with them soon. The people on the streets are much different than in Celle. When we talk to them they´re slightly rude and the majority of the people we talk to are atheist. But somehow we still managed to make 7 new appointments this week. Yay! We have 9 investigators that are progressing, but I´ve only met 4 or so of them.

 

People actually did volunteer to help me with my bags, when they noticed how much I struggled. It went really well and I´ve heard the day after transfers usually you´re super sore, but I wasn´t sore at all.

 

I´m glad you were able to go out with the missionaries this week, dad! That´s great. I can imagine after not using Spanish for so long it wouldn´t come out as easy as before. I´m sure they were super grateful that you were able to come though. It´s always great to have members with us. Which is something special about Rostock, we have a couple recently returned YSA´s and it´s like a missionaries dream. They always text us and ask "Do you have any appointments I could come to today?" Usually we have to pull teeth to get members to come. Its great to have volunteers.

 

I´m so glad you enjoyed the package. I just sent a bit of Germany to you, the things I enjoy the most, except the lebkuchen. Not a big fan of that. Has anyone had some tea to drink? It´s so yummy! Or is everyone too afraid to drink it because of Word of Wizzum? If I as a missionary am allowed to drink it, ya´ll zu hause are allowed too. Also, I see those chocolate cookies around in stores all the time. I could send more if you´d like. And mom can be forbidden to eat them. Haha, just kidding- "all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden." (Whoever can tell me where that scripture is will get a whole box of cookies to themselves- no using lds.org you gotta find it in your own scriptures.)

 

We play ping pong every Saturday. Luckily I didn´t have to go through the boot camp again. I used the paddle, sometimes my shoulder like on the cruise (remember? remember?) It´s crazy to me that I´ve been out for 6 months too! I thought of something that really freaked me out and that is: 3 months until my half way mark and 3 months after that is my year mark. I really do need to enjoy every second of this and work as hard as possible. It´ll be gone before I know it.

 

Please do send the color tests and love language tests. Also, I would love to one day look in my mailbox and see the promised letters. I feel so pathetic getting so excited to check the mail and then seeing nothing. I will try to wait patiently, but that´s one of the most exciting things that happens out here! Also, I spelled the address wrong. I don´t think it´ll effect getting the letter to me, but it just made me look totally American. It´s spelled Friederich strasse, not Friederick. Just so you know.

 

That picture of the old days with the flamingos is super embarrassing. Oh dear. How did I even put that on facebook in the first place? But everyone is so cute and little. Except me. I look the same, except I´m less crazy now.

 

I didn´t realize the musical is Once Upon a Mattress! That´s so cool that Jeff was able to give his first blessing. I was thinking about that yesterday when one of our investigators got a blessing, I thought to myself "I wonder if Jeff has given a blessing yet." That would be cool if they were given at the same time, but not likely.

 

When Sarah said she got mostly scarves for Christmas I was like "Uhhhhh......and that´s what I´m sending too. Uh oh." I hope she liked it. And did Rachel like her pokéball and lion? I knew you´d love that chocolate. When I saw it I thought "MOM!!!" so I bought it.

 

One thing of very very important business: I NEED MY NEXT JOURNAL SENT TO ME! It´s green and has Christ on it. I don´t want to buy a new one here because I want my journals to match and be the same size. My next one is almost full so that needs to be sent AQAP, if you´d be so kind. Also, I have some clothes that if you´re sending a package, you might as well send those too. A black long sleeve impel shirt and any of my winter clothes that could be used as missionary clothes. I have no warm clothes really.

 

I´m so glad choir is going well. Hymnplicity has some good arrangements if I remember right. How neat that you´re singing my favorite hymn. I bet that wasn´t on purpose at all, was it ;)

 

I will try to figure out who the mystery mini mission woman is. That information doesn´t help me, but I´m sure if I ask around I could figure out who it is.

 

So something that happened was way cool this week: We were encouraged by our district leader to have contact with one member a week whether it be a phone call or stop by and visit them. Sister Kläy has only been here one transfer so she doesn´t know the members that well and I obviously don´t either. We were trying to decide who to visit and Sister Kläy just handed me the list, feeling overwhelmed at not knowing the people and said to me "Just look at this and pay attention to how you feel." So I looked at the paper and immediately a name stood out to me. I looked through the rest of the list just in case another name were to stand out but the whole time I knew we needed to visit this man. So we stopped by without making an appointment and the first miracle was that he was home. The second miracle was that he let us come in! At first he seemed like he was afraid of what our intentions were, but we just started to get to know him and ask him questions about himself and he eventually opened up and told us his conversion story. After telling us his story, he said "I think it was good that you stopped by here today. I really just need a little push and what you´ve given me today was just what I needed." He hadn´t been to church or read the Book of Mormon for 2 years because problems with the ward and we invited him to read in the Book of Mormon again. I felt that it was really good for him personally to reflect on his feelings about the Book of Mormon and that was enough to get him going again. He invited us and the Elders to come back tomorrow to eat with him. I feel like he might be on his way back to re-activation. I have no idea why missionaries haven´t visited him at all. But we´re excited to help him on his way back to  coming unto Christ. I´m so glad Heavenly Father prompts us so we can help his children. We just have to pay attention and listen so we can be an instrument in his hands. I invite you all to stay still for a few minutes and pay attention to how you feel and see if promptings come to you for you to help someone in need. Youtube the song "Not to Far from Here." By Hilary Weeks.

 

I love you all I´m so grateful to be here. I hope I can use my time to the best of my ability and find those people that are searching for the truth. I know there are people out them: I just have to be patient enough to find them. Stay good and be Jesus champions too!!! I love you!!

 

Sister Niebergall