On Tuesday we had a cool experience with a lady named Diane who was previously taught. We were on a street knocking doors and ended up on her street, then she let us in. She is so sweet and was recently in a really bad accident and injured her knee which is why she lost contact with the missionaries. The doctors told her she needed surgery but she really did not want surgery and prayed to God for help. The next day the doctor said she can wait for surgery. Then a few days later she had to reschedule the surgery but the day of it was cancelled again. And now she only has to have physical therapy and can already walk even though the doctor told her it could be a few months before she could walk again. Truly a miracle and it was so cool for her to tell us that and not once complain about her pain and her situation but just thank God for all that he has done for her. I'm so lucky I get to meet the coolest people on my mission!
We taught Ali again and he described his awful experiences fleeing from Afghanistan to Iran and then to Germany, mostly traveling by foot and the tension there because of religion and how badly people are treated. It's so shocking but he just kept saying "ich hab es schon erlebt" (I have already experienced it) and yet he is so positive and kind through it all.
We got to help a family clean an apartment before they moved in, which was even more exciting because we got to serve someone, wear jeans, and play music as we cleaned because we were the only ones there.
We took a road trip to Bremen and visited the first half of their zone conference as 'special guests' and it was a blast. We had to travel there to get Tiwi/tracking device installed in our car- it's a device to track speeds and where we are and "aggressive driving" according to elder Brady. But we got in the car to head back when it was all finished and the Tiwi machine is nowhere to be found.. we don't know where they installed it but it started making noises like "24 automatic" and we think its somewhere under the driver seat... if anything else I might have aggressive driving due to being scared by the unexpected tiwi voice telling me to slow down!
But Elder Brady gave us a giant twix bar for keeping our car so clean, and Bremen is so pretty, the church building there looks American and we got to see the Leimers!
We had our Zone conference in Bielefeld the next day and got to stay after for a baptism of two guys from Africa! Zone conference was so good we talked a lot about using the Book of Mormon in our finding and marking up copies before giving them out so people can read them with a guide. I'm so excited it's going to be so good to get the members involved and using it as the tool for the gathering of Israel. Sister Leimer spoke about self-compassion and treating ourselves as nice as we treat others. And President Leimer was so proud of the work we did as a mission in 2019, we brought back almost exactly as many members into activity as people were baptized, it's a testimony to me that God doesn't forget the lost sheep. And he guides us to them to simply reach out and love members and it has been so rewarding as I got to be a part of it in 2019. Also that there are ready people out there even though I thought I wouldn't witness many baptisms in Germany, that is not true at all!
Lastly, sorry this is so long but Sunday was probably the most fun Sunday I have had in my mission.
First we get to church and 5 mins before it starts they realize they don't have bread for the sacrament. And since we live across the street we tell them we will grab ours. So we sprint all 8 flights up and grab a loaf we had luckily unopened and run back in time.
And our friend Amelia came, she us from Liberia and has the cutest son Henry. A member picked her up and even drove her home because she lives far away and there's no transportation available. Then it's testimony meeting so I tell her anyone can go up and give a testimony and she says yes I want to do that. She goes up and Henry follows and then when it was her turn she pauses... Then starts singing a song about Jesus (hence the title of this email). It was very beautiful and very unexpected, and so brave of her too in front of all these Germans. It was like no testimony I have heard before but very sincere and sweet. At the end she was crying and said how grateful she was to be at church again and she has no family in Germany and sometimes feels very alone but found a family in Jesus.😄 Afterwards so many people were saying how much they liked it! And that night Amelia told us how much she liked church and to be in God's presence again. She is so precious I'm so excited for her.
After church we went finding and avoided stepping in some dog poo, but then Sister Lyda accidentally stepped right in it on the way back when it got dark haha it was so gross and funny. Don't worry she got it off by stepping in every puddle she found 😂👍
We also klingeled 2 men wearing just robes and ended the night giving a lady a Book of Mormon, so it was a good Sunday.
Tell someone Jesus loves them this week! And I would love for you to send me your testimonies of the Book of Mormon or what it means to you and I will translate them and put them in Books of Mormon to give out!!