Happy P Day!

Hello Family! 

One Sunshine Moment from this week happened at our English Class on Thursday night. We were both a little sad we had English Class becasue that meant we could not go to the Bauman's for Thanksgiving dinner, but we prepared and went and were rewarded! Two new people came to our English Class! One of our students brought his girlfriend and a less active member came as well. That makes 4 non-members and 2 members who come. Another part of this Sunshine Moment is that everyone stayed for the Spiritual Lesson after the English lesson! We talked about the Book of Mormon and while none of the non-members took one home with them, they all listened and participated. I think that one of the students (Rita) wanted to take one but didn't want to be the only one who did. Maybe next week :] She really seems interested and has taken the first pamphlet and the Family Proclomation to the World home. 

Something that was another Sunshine Moment this week was in our Chumming Follow-Up. We left our little chumming paper on Tuesday with a message about the Book of Mormon and went back on Saturday to klingle. Next time I think we will have the days a little closer together. Between our leaving the paper and our return visit the Jehova's Witnesses came to the same street. From what we saw we think that they did some Anti-Mormon work. One lady after we klingled opened her window and started yelling at us. When she wouldn't listen so me saying we won't klingle by her anymore, only would scream threats to call the police, Sister Neukomm told her "Bitte, rufen Sie die Polizei an. Wir werden weiter klingle." Then she went and finished all the doors. 

It's things like that that I really can see the desire of Sister Neukomm to work. She is doing so much better, I am really proud of her and how hard she is trying. There are areas to improve on but we are working on those. 

Sometimes I feel stress trying to help Sister Neukomm and to find new investigators and to help the Ward. Something that has really hurt my feelings is in the past few weeks Bishop keeps saying that he is praying for Elders to come here and then alluding to the fact that when Elders come the work will go better. We really are trying our hardest, chumming, doing regular doors, following up on old contacts, trying creative finding ideas, and strengthening the less actives. I really don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I don't want to complain, but sometimes I don't know what more we can do and we still have no new investigators. Do you have any suggestions on something I can do better? Sometimes I don't think I'm doing a very good job and I don't understand why President has so much confidence in me. 

A scripture that has really helped me this week is John 4:36. It says something like "both reaper and sower will rejoice together." We may not be reaping a whole ton but we are sowing like crazy. Maybe someday we'll find out if any of our seeds grows. When I shared this scripture with Sister Neukomm, she related a story to it that helped me. Her grandma met the missionaries and receiced a Book of Mormon but then decided the Church wasn't for her so she said good bye to the Missionaries. Then years later her son (Sister Neukomm's Dad) read the Book of Mormon his mom had had for so long and gained a testimony of it. He was baptized, married in the Temple and his daughter is now on a mission. The first missionaries have no idea that their seed has grown and has planted others. Maybe something like that will happen to me. Though I would like to see the seeds I plant grow, it's not in my timing. 

Last Monday we went to the Zoo with some of the Elders in our District. The pictures are from that. Sister Neukomm and I sitting on a statue of her favorite animal (a Tapier)

 and the one of our Elders (Elder Huber from Austria) on the most fun playground thing ever. it is a circle that spins itself using the weight of what ever is on it. We played surfing on it and competitions who could stya on the longest and I decided I want one in my house when I grow up.

Then we also fed the ducks there and Sister Neukomm was hungry and wanted to eat the duck food. We were pretty much the only people in the Zoo so it was like our own private tour!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderfull week! On Wednesday is our Christmas party so Merry Christmas this week as well! :] 

Love, Sister Walker 

First P Day As Middle Aged Missionary

Hello Family! 

One Sunhine moment this week was on Friday night (which was also my 6 month mark. Pretty good day to have a Sunshine moment). Sister Neukomm and I have been trying something new for doors, we have a paper with a specific theme on it (this week we focused on the Plan of Salvation) and also our names and number and the time and date we will be coming back. We made these little papers out and placed them in the Postboxes on Wednesday and then on Friday we went back and klingeled. This has been effective in that the people are forewarned and more people talked to us and we've been able to make out more appointments than with regular doors. When we went back on Friday, a man answered a certain klingle and said no but then his 15 year old daughter came down the stairs and said she had some questions for us. We spent more than 30 minutes with her on the stairs answering all of her questions about the Plan. It is great to see that 1- our idea of doing doors with a specific theme is effective and 2- that people really do want to know the answers to the questions of the soul. This week we are going to focus on the Book of Mormon! Wish us luck! 

The Standards of Excellence in my Mission have changed. These are the Standards the President sets as what the goals should be and what areas we should focus on so that the whole mission is on the same page. Before they were focused on making out new appointments but now the focus is on finding new investigator. This has been our focus here and we are grateful for President giving tips and a measuring stick on how to effectively do that. Chi-Yu is doing alright, he just really needs to decide whether or not this is what he wants. He's had all the discussions many times but is not motivated himself. But we'll keep trying to help him. Michael will go back to school next week and then be home for Christmas a few weeks later. He is coming with us on Saturday to do some doors. Yay for missionary work! 

Transfer calls were on Saturday and both Sister Neukomm and I are staying in Cottbus for another transfer together. President Kosak actually told us we were both staying on Tuesday at Zone Training. He said that I am his most patient Sister so he wants me to help Sister Neukomm a little longer. I wanted to laugh when he said that. I'm not patient. Well, I have learned it from Sister Faerber and now have to exercise it with Sister Neukomm. I think you would be proud of me how much I've improved, but there is still a long way to go. Dad, your analogy about sprinting will never win in the shot put no matter how fast you run has helped me this past week a lot. I've been wanting to sprint but have had to slow down and use different muscles for this shot put. Sometimes I think it is the long jump though. Pick up speed, jump, then stop, and repeat. Trying to stay on my feet the whole time. Naja, I'm learning. 

I don't know if you thought I was joking or not, but last week we really did get manicures on P-Day. Sister Bauman (the wife in our Senior Couple) came up from Görlitz to Cottbus for a girl's day! We ate lunch at this yummy pasta place, then got our nails done, then came to our apartment for games and face masks! It was really fun :] 

The Baumans are wonderful! They are even throwing a Thanksgiving party on Thursday. Sadly we can't go because we are teaching an English class, but I told the Elders to each some mashed potatoes for me. We do have an eating appointment on Thursday with a member so I'll have some kind of feast on Thanksgiving. No Candy corn though. My 3 thankfuls would be though 1-I'm thankful for an amazing family that supports me on my mission 2- I'm thankful for prayer, the chance for a conversation with my Heavenly Father. He really does listen to every prayer, and when I feel alone or broken or frustrated or sad He is just a prayer away. I feel His love everyday through prayer. 3- I'm thankful I can speak German and am able to communicate the Gospel to the people in this Mission. 

I love you all and hope that you enjoy Thanksgiving! Tell everyone hello and I love them for me :] 

Love, Sister Walker 

Another P Day

Hello Family, 

I'm running out of ideas for subject lines. Maybe this one should have been "Why didn't you tell me that Jermey and his wife are expecing?! I had to figure it out from an email from Trey!" Or something like that. Anyway, if what I got from Trey's email is true, congrats to them! They will be great parents! And welcome little baby Eli to the family from me too please! The picture of Holland and Ryder with him is just so cute! I am excited to be a mom too someday in the future. 

To answer your email Dad, I'm sorry Ive been taking money out a lot. I can cut down on some spendings. Most of it though goes to buying warm clothes. I'm cold. But I think I am good with clothes now. I also had to get my boots fixed. Walking all day and with it being so wet my boots kind of fell apart.

Some of my money also goes to writing letters. Maybe I will stop that though, I haven't gotten any mail for 3 weeks since getting Mom's decorations. Hehe :] It's OK though. I have the poster thing from the family reunion hanging up over my study desk so I read that when I want a letter. Sister Neukomm and I also put little pieces of chocolate in our mailbox so when we don't get mail we can get chocolate. It's to the point that it's normal to get a piece of chocolate so when mail does come it may be a little sad we don't get chocolate. :] . I will do better with money, only for emergencies. Got it. I'll remember that right after getting a manicure today... tehehe. 

So few had quite a few Sunshine moments this week. One was we finally visited the butcher shop on the corner of our street and bought delicious meat. I love German butchers. They deserve a medal or something for supplying the country the wonderful food. I love the meat and potatoes diet. My waist not so much, but thanks to walking it's mostly happy. This portion size is what we made at home for ourselves. When we eat with members it is multiplied by at least 3. Sometimes they forget Sisters don't eat as much as Elders. But it's so yummy I want to eat it all.  The potato thing here is called klöse (spelling?) and it's a cross between mashed potatoes and stuffing. Delicious. And the German way of making gravey is so yummy. I'll have to teach you when I come home. Maybe I'll extend my mission (did you know Sisters can do that? I didn't till I got here.) and just stay with more German food and come home with Trey.

Another Sunshine moment was District meeting. It's really a highlight of my week. My District is like a family and we help each other, support each other and love each other. Each week a different companionship brings a treat and we meet at the Senior Couple's apartment. Sister Neukomm and I brought homemade peach cobbler one week, and in this picture we are eating a Pazookie some Elders made.

We also went to the Temple this week and that is about as Sunshiney a moment as you can get. The Freiberg Temple is the only Temple in the world where you need to make appointments to go because it is always so busy. Each week is a different language to accomidate all the countries that come to it. When we went, it was the Hungarian week. That was funny. I had to wear translators to hear German and then spoke in English (next time I'll speak German too) so it was a three language session! What a miracle! I was the first one dressed so I was in the room alone for a few minutes which was wonderful just to sit there and feel God's love so strongly. Then a  lady walked in and sat next to me. She was from Hungary and had been there all week doing her Family Names. I had my name on my lap to read it and when she saw it she got so excited! In a conversation of German and English and Hungarian, she told me that I was doing one of her hunsband's ansestors. When I got into the Celestial Room, she and her husband were waiting for me to say thank you. That was a wonderful feeling. I can't even put it into words. I just pictured the lady who I was a proxy for in the room as well also saying thank you. I've had few experiences that have been as special as this one. Temples are a wonderful place, I am so blessed to be able to visit one here regularly. 

Another Sunshine Moment was we were walking home and trying to talk to people on the street. No one wanted to stop and the rain was not helping but then as we were about to cross the street I saw a lady a little bit ahead on our same side and she seemed to have a light on her, spotlighting her. I knew we needed to talk to her and not cross the street so we went over and had a wonderful lesson and she asked for the Book of Mormon! That was a wonder right there. 

We also started an English Class here where for 2 hours we teach. The first is stricktly English. but the second hour is Gospel and English together. We had passed out around 500 or more invitations and two new people came. I was a little bit expecting more but take what I get. Both new people stayed for the Gospel part too where we talked about prayer. The SPirit was so strong it was amazing! 

SO in all, this week was pretty good. A few bumps but we're working them out. I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

I love you :] 

Love, 
Sister Walker 

Happy P Day

Hello Family! 

OK, first to explain the pictures- 

Mom, I did get your package thank you very much! It made me smile and now our window looks very cute. Sister Neukomm and I are excited to put up the Santa Claus one! 

 The smilie face sign was at the end of a road construction section of the Autobahn and says "You did it! Thank you." I thought it was so cute! We drove with a member family to Dresden for Stake Conference on Sunday and there was a 10km stretch of road construction where we had to all drive in single file. Now the Autobahn is the road with no speed limit and telling people they had to drive single file at 60km per hour was just about too much for the good people of Germany. There were signs at 6km to go with a red frowny face saying "Another 6km" then a yellow nutral face saying "Only 2km more!" and then this green one. It was cute and I think it did help. at lease the green sign meant they could go fast again, it was like a race! I haven't been in a car going so fast since I drove :] It was great. I want to take the Prius on the Autobahn hehe... 

The funky looking squiggly lines is the Book of Mormon written in a language I didn't know existed. It is the language Sihala. I think the symbols look like fruit. The one on the end of the first rwo looks like a chili pepper, then the second row has an apple and an orange... I have a new goal to learn this language. With that goal I need to figureout first where they speak it. My guess is somewhere in Asia. 

I saw a California license plate! Made me feel a little at home :] 

 Halloween here in Germany is nothing like in America. Trick or treating is just starting to catch on, not every house does it. The ones that did do it, had a Jack o lantern showing they participated. This was my favorite one we saw. I wondered how trackting on Halloween is for the Missionaries in the US. Must be a little weird.

 The missionary couple threw a Halloween party for District Meeting! Here are the Elders and thier decorated cookies! Sister Neukomm and I wore matching outfits and switched name tags :] that was fun

We had Exchanges this week and our exchange groups changed. We now exchange with the Sisters in Tiergarten-Berlin and Frankfurt(oder)-Eisenhüttenstadt. I went to Frankfurt(oder)-Eisenhüttenstadt, with the smallest Branch in our Mission, only 10 members!  It was so fun though. My exchange comapnion was Sister Nielson and we taught a few lessons together and found such a sweet lady on the street that we could see the light in her eyes getting brighter and brighter the more we talked. It was amazing! 
Sister Neukomm used to serve here and loved it so I had heard lots about it. Our point of meeting was in FoE and we, the Cottbus Sisters, only had 4 minutes to board our train. Well... we missed it :] we were talking too much with the other sisters that it started pulling away as we walked up to it. That meant we had another hour in the city. We went with the Sisters there to a member lesson who happened to be some of Sister Neukomm's favorite people. She surprized the woman so much that she started crying! It was really cute. Sister Neukomm really is trying her best and is touching lives even if she can't keep the same schedual as other missionaries. The man is a less-active member and at the lesson he was asking the questions that had brought him to inactivity. I had just met him so I kind of sat back and let the other 3 Sisters teach but then at one of his questions I felt like I needed to jump in, so I did. He go really quiet after I talked and then said "Sister Walker, that was the answer I needed to hear. Thank you." That was a big humbler right there! Even though I was a little irked that we missed our train I pushed the thought from my head to go to this lesson with a good spirit. At the beginning of my mission I would not have done that. I would have been grumpy and sulky for missing the train and therefore would not have heard the prompting to say what I did. How many other promptings have I missed because of frustration or anger or negative thoughts? What President Monson said about blinding ourselves really was meant for me. 

In my personal study this week I have also receivd a few hits to the head saying I need to be better than I am. I have been a little disgruntled this week and have been letting low numbers make me upset. When looking for a way to feel better a lot of times I would blame Sister Neukomm's slow pace or short schedule. A few slaps in the face from the scriptures this week have been-  
John 13:17 "If ye know these things [serving others as Christ would], happy are ye if ye do them." 
and Moroni 7:8 "For behold, if a man being  evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly ; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God."
I need to serve my companion more, and think of new ways to do so (if you have ideas I would be open to them!), and do so with an happy attitude. If I just serve her out of frustration and trying to get things to go faster (such as cooking so she doesn't spend too long in the kitchen) then it really is helping no one. If I serve her more willingly, I will have a happier attitude and will be more receptive to the Spirit so I will not miss promptings that come. Every missionary has a limited ammount of time to work. Just because ours is shorter doesn't mean I should try to cram everything others do into our day. I need to remember this when I get stressed. Numbers don't equal success, helping others come nearer to God equals success. 
Any tips on how I can remember this when I am stressed? I found a quote in an Ensign from Mother Teresa that I put on my wall that is helping a little "I was not called to be successful, I was called to be faithful." While success is expected of me, this puts things in a good perspective I think. Faithful and true to the Lord comes first, then success. 

Want to hear (read) a weird thing? Next week is my 6 month mark. I will be one third of the way done with my mission. How does that work? The days seem so long but the weeks so short? I don't get it. This time next year I will be coming home. OK. Time to not think about that. But this week has had me thinking about it. Dad, you said that everyday this week has been something to do with missionary work for you [(by the way please tell Rachel congrats for me! That is so exciting, Nauvoo!! I'm jealous a little. and Also to Chandler! Good job Dad for getting that right! My guess for Nathan is the Germany Berlin Mission or Maine. And when he comes here you can tell Darcy I will take good care of him.) ((by the way, what is the Italy Rome Mission address? I have something to send to Anziano Walker there but I need an address and can't find one))] this week has been all about coming home and families for me. Everyday this week I have heard something or read something that made me start thinking of my future family. The entire Stake Conference, for example, was on building strong families. So I have been setting goals and making plans for my future family. I'm trying not to think about it but it keeps on coming! Guess I need to start planning already. Not that bad though becuase I alwasy felt coming on a mission will help me be a better mom someday. Learning patience definately was needed... as well as other things that I am very grateful for. 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful day and a marvelous week! I'm praying for you all.

Love, 
Sister Walker