Once upon a time I´m in a casino right now
doing e-mails and the lady working here is really nice and she gave us
free hot chocolate and salami brotchen. So that will explain the title
of my e-mail, I can´t really concentrate on anything but the salami
taste in my mouth right now. I need to brush my teeth.
Thanks for the weather report. It really is nice to
get that so I can prepare myself on how I´ll dress. This week we FRIED.
We were dressed for cold weather and it was really really warm. Now I
know that I can dress for warmer weather. I have no idea how I stayed
cool in the MTC, because I really feel like all my clothes are winter
clothes. I still don´t have a jacket, but I don´t even know if I need
one anymore.
Sometime this week I woke up because it was really
sunny outside and I thought I´d overslept. I looked at the clock and it
was 5 in the morning. It was crazy, but that shows you how north we are.
This week has been really stressful. A lot of time and energy has been put into getting things ready for Svetlana´s baptism so it´ll go smoothly. I never realized how much work it is to plan a baptism! Sheesh! But unfortunately, we have to push her baptism back at least a week. We won´t have enough time to teach her everything she needs to know before she is baptized so we have to break that news to her tonight. We are nervous that she might think it´s because she did something wrong. Will you all pray really hard for us at 7:00 our time, so 1:00 your time that she will be understanding and not discouraged? Just set an alarm on your phone and say a prayer in your heart. That would be so helpful.
We called Svetlana this morning because we haven´t
met with her since last Monday (that was stressful) and we called to see
how it´s going. She said her son is in the hospital (he´s an alcoholic)
and her boyfriend is threatening to break up with her because she
worries too much about her son. She said she has extremely bad back pain
and shoulder pain and a bladder infection and tons of health problems.
We reminded her that Satan is going to try really hard to make it so she
doesn´t make it to her baptism. She said "oh! I forgot about that!" and
it sounded like it clicked to her why things are going so hard for her
right now. I also heard a determination in her voice like "Oh, I forgot,
but now that I remember I can get through this." Thank you so much for
your prayers. They are really helpful. I think it might be a good idea
to put her name in a temple there in Utah.
If you´d do that for me that´d rock.
The work this week was hard. The silly Germans love
to make up holidays so they can stay home and not work. The legend
behind this holiday goes like this:
Männer Tag. A.K.A. Christy Himmel Fahrt-
Mother´s Day is celebrated every year in May. One year the men got
jealous so they made a holiday that all the men would go out together
and do manly things. Eventually it developed into the day where the men
could go out together and do manly things, namely, drink themselves
silly. This holiday takes place the Thursday after Mother´s day. But it
actually lasts the whole week after Mother´s day. So the women stay out
and the men drink like crazy and destroy the town. That would be this
week.
That means the work this week was incredibly hard.
We saw a lot of funny drunk men though. The people were about as
friendly this week as they are normally. Maybe friendlier, but I dunno
if that´s cuz they´re drunk or what.
We
still haven´t gotten ahold of Vivian and Cynthia. We have a really jam
packed week this week because we have to go to Berlin for Zone
Conference and then we´re doing a companion exchange. Sister Bohne is
coming to me in Rostock and will stay Tuesday night and will go back
Thursday morning. It will be fun. I need it. But we hope to get ahold of
them Friday. I´m really glad Svetlana´s baptism isn´t this week. That
would be too crazy.
Too bad you haven´t sent out the letter yet. Bummer,
but oh well. I´ll have to wait to get it then. But send it please! It´s
really hard when your companion gets letters and you don´t get
anything.
I can´t believe it´s been a year since I finished my first year at USU. That´s nuts to me.
The reason I´ve been trying to figure things out for
school is because I talked to President about it at President
interviews and he said to get more information about my options and then
see what to do from there. So that´s what I´m trying to do. I guess I´m
trying to think about it now so I can get it finished and not have to
think about it later since it´s pressing on my mind. I don´t usually
think about it during the week though, just Mondays- so don´t worry.
One thing that has helped me with my money here in
Germany (in response about D.J.) is I take out €20 per transfer that I
can use to eat out and have the cash in a special place in my wallet and
once it´s gone it´s gone and I won´t allow myself to spend any money
til the next transfer. It works well sometimes. So maybe you can figure
something out together. How much money he can have in his wallet in cash
and how often he can get more money out and you keep his card in your
hands. There are many many missionaries here that have money problems.
He needs to start practicing good money skills because on the mission
you´re only allowed so much and if you run out you´re out and you can´t
run to mommy to get food. There are many Elders that live off rice the
last week of every month because they don´t have money to buy anything
else. Maybe that´s an idea though.
I have a whole list of things I want to do when I
get home at my apartment. Maybe some of them can be ideas of what you
can do for this summer, mom. I know one of them is to talk to the Bishop
or the Relief Society President about people in the ward that may need
help or a visit or something and then go help them or visit them. I also
have a President´s of the Church institute manual somewhere in my room
and I know I wrote in it a list of acts of service that would be fun to
do. It´s written on the back cover I think. You can also look at that.
Pedro is the only other investigator that we were
able to meet with this week. We found out last week that he doesn´t
really have a strong belief in God and so we knew that even though he is
a really deep thinker, it isn´t helping his faith to throw deep
scripture at him. So we talked about God is our Heavenly Father with him
this week and asked him to just say a simple prayer and ask if God is
there. We said a really sincere prayer at the end of the appointment and
when we looked up he was crying. I think he felt Heavenly Father´s love
for him. Now he just needs to pray on his own and feel it again.
Another thing that has been very stressful this week
is Bruder Schmidt. He is the most amazing man and a very very strong
member, even though he was just baptized 4 years ago. He´s even the
Elder´s quorom president. His health is not very good. If you were just
to talk to him you would never guess he´s sick. He´s full of energy and
spunk and laughter. But his artery on the right side of his head and
neck is 95% clogged because he used to be a heavy smoker and he has
diabetes now. He was supposed to get bipass surgery and get this artery
operated on at the same time, but the doctors reconsidered and then
realized if they would have done that the blood wouldn´t have made it to
his brain when they were operating and he would have died. So they did
some investigating and now are trying to decide if they can even operate
at all. If they don´t operate then they´ll send him home and he can´t
go to church and can´t leave his apartment and will pretty much leave
him there til he dies. Then if they operate it´s a huge risk that
they´ll do something wrong. The artery that is clogged lays right on his
C nerve and if they do that, there´s a big risk he could die, or at
least lose his eyesight. He is honestly one of the best friends I´ve met
on my mission and I´ve shed many tears in his behalf this week. I would
love if you could pray for him. He has influenced so many lives and
he´s a crazy awesome member missionary. He talks to everyone in the
hospital about the church and gives them pass along cards and stuff.
He´s awesome. Like I said, I really consider him one of my best friends
from my mission and your love and prayers for him are greatly
appreciated. I want you all to meet him one day so he needs to live!
I am so happy to be here in Germany. This is the
best thing I could ever do with my life. I don´t regret this decision
for one second. I´ve met so many people that have amazing stories and I
am learning so much from these people. I am so glad that I can share the
truth about Christ´s church with these people. I know Christ has felt
our pains and He can lift our burdens. This week I did something awesome
and theraputic, but I drew a big circle on a piece of paper and wrote
everything in it that I was stressing out about (Will Svetlana make it
to baptism, will bruder schmidt live, it is super messy in this house,
etc...) and I drew a square next to the circle and wrote the things in
the square that were stressing me out that I could control. Then I knew I
needed to leave the things I couldn´t control to the Lord. It was an
amazing burden that I felt lifted. I can´t worry about everything that
needs to be done or just the unknown things of life. I can give these
things to the Lord and He will lift our burdens. He´s promised it.
Matthew 11:28. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and, learn of me; for I
am meek and lowley in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." I know it´s true. I´ve
seen it so many times here on my mission and through the rest of my
life too. I´m glad I can share this message with others.
I love you!!!!!!!
Love, Sister Niebergall
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