Week #20 Christmas Transfer

Hi Everyone!

Well, another transfer is come and gone!!  How did that happen??  One day we were suffering without ac, and now we're suffering in the cold and its Christmas time!  My mission is flying by!  I'm just about to my one-year-left mark, and I can't believe its already here.  I love being a busy missionary, and even though I miss you all like crazy, I am loving my time as a sister missionary in Germany!!

So, we had yet another week of running from appointment to appointment, running for buses and trains.  There are too many people to teach here!!  And by 'too many' I mean it is the best problem in all the world to have, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  We just need more missionaries, because we are not enough!!  Serve missions!  If you are worthy, we need you!!  This work is too big for us and it is just taking off!  We need you, come join us in the vineyard!!  Serve a mission!!

Okay, so this week, we had Tausch where, yet again, I had my life changed by Sister Kriser who is the biggest babe on the planet.  What a powerhouse missionary!!  I'm so grateful to be serving in Berlin with so many rockstars!  Gosh I am a lucky duck!!  Here she is, the southern peach and a powerful missionary! 

This week we also went to a baptism with Wichian, which was such an amazing experience!  The Spirit was SO strong, and I just can't wait to see him be baptized too.  He has so much desire to know, and really searches for the truth, and I can't wait until he sees that he has found all of it here.  He wants to be a member, earnestly and powerfully prays, and is just one of the coolest people on the planet.  I am so grateful to know him, and loved walking through the quiet German neighborhoods for 2 hours to get to the baptism, talking bout the Spirit and how we can truly recognize it, his experiences in the Buddhist temples for 7 years, and how the gospel is about serving!  I love Wichian and I can't wait to see him in white this Christmas!!

Also speaking of Christmas...it's coming.  Get excited folks, cause I'm in the Christmas capital of the world!!

Last distrikt meeting this transfer!  Hübsch, oder?

Oh also, this is a big week for Artur.  We couldn't get ahold of him for several days, and he missed our appointment which NEVER happens, so we went down to the refugee camp and were told he was in the hospital.  We were pretty scared and did a lot of praying.  Finally, we found him again and had the most powerful lesson we've ever had with him in his little hospital room that he shares with three others.  He just cried and said he wants so badly to have a new life.  He is such an inspiration to me, and has truly strengthend my testmony with his faith.  I will never think of the Atonement again without thinking of Artur.  We love this man so much, and we are just so grateful for him in our lives.  He has got his big trial on Friday, so some extra prayers would be really really really appreciated. He is the best man I know, and I know that someday he will have his new life!  It is never too late to change folks, whether you are a 51 year old criminal or a 20 year old byu student.  We are all children of God and all in His debt.  We are all so loved!!  I know it!

Thank you so much for your love and your support!  Thank you for your prayers!  I love you all and I am praying for you!  I love my mission and I love the people I teach!  I love testifying of Jesus Christ every day!  I love being a missionary!!

Love, Sister Dal

Week #19 Busy--Beschftig!!

Hallo Meine Liebschens!

What a great week in Spandau!!  So many miracles, so many sweet people, so much German!  I love my mission!! 

This week was so BUSY!!!  We were running from appointment to appointment the whole week! #SpandauisthenewBrazil!  I am so grateful to be here at a time when the work in Germany is taking off!!  I love my mission so much and I love being a missionary!

This week we ran for a lot of buses, got lost in the woods in the rain, ate knudels, found people prepared for the gospel, blessed homes, and change lives through the Spirit of the Lord!  I love my mission and being a missionary in Germany!

So, that's it folks!  I am so sorry I don't have time to write this week.  But I love you all and I am praying for you!  Thank you for all of you support and love.  Your example and your love make me want to be a better missionary, so thank you!  I love you all and I love to hear from you!  Know I am happy and working hard and loving being a missionary!!

Love, Sister Dal

Quote of the week:

"Well we would love to see you at church, will you be able to come?"
"I can't come to church this week because I am filming a transvestite festival Sunday morning."

".......all right, kein problem!" (no problem!)
#missionaryinberlinproblems

A Knodel--German potato dumpling.  Yum!!

Week #18 I Love My Mission!

Here is my district with a One Meter Pizza!  Can we do it??  

Hallo!!

So this week we had some amazing lessons with our investigators, we went out to a new area where no one yelled at us, we ate the best goulash ever, we helped the Silva Familie move (still sore btw #outofshapesistermissionary), we saw President, and we saw miracles every single day!

I don't have a ton of time to write this week because I am going to go spend the day with my Uncle Greg and Family, but just real quick:

Christina is the light of my life!  She is so beautiful and faithful and filled with love.  We are so blessed to know her and to be a part of her life right now as she is making so many big changes.  She gave us jackets and told us she wants us to be the godmothers of her new baby on the way!  #meltedmyheart.  We talked a lot about what kind of mother she wants to be, and the kind of life she wants for her family.  We testified of how important Christ is for our families, and the blessings that come from raising your family in the gospel.  I am just so grateful to be a part of her life at this time, and I pray that she will take the steps she needs to to give her family the kind of life that she wants them to have.  She is amazing and such an example of light to us!
  

Also, Artur is the coolest person on the planet.  He is so faithful and looks like a completely different person than when we first met him.  He shines with the light of Christ.  He eats at a soup kitchen everyday, but this week he gave us a cantalope and an apple because he said God told him to.  Apparently we are eating too much chocolate or something...He makes me smile  and has definitely changed my life.  He also came to help the Silvas move.  He is a beast and I have suspicions that he may have been a boxer in Russia.  We did find out he was a bus driver at one point and that his favorite team is Hertha BSC (wootwoot).  He really is an incredible man and I am SO grateful to know him!!

Also, Familie Silva is THE BEST!  We helped them move on Saturday, and they have a room that they call 'The Sister's Room' for when we come back and visit.  They are so sweet and do so much for us!  They call me Sister Wundebar and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life knowing and speaking with them.  They are such an inspiration to us, and they have changed my life by their example and their love!  I love them so much!!

Also, guess what.......you'll never guess.......okay, here it is.  We had interviews with President this week (which was WONDERFUL by the way, and we really got to know him a lot better) and he told us, that Sister Jardine and I....are...............STAYING IN SPANDAU FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!  WOOHOOO!!!!  Immer noch in Spandau and immer noch together!!  I love SIster Jardine and she loves me and we are SO EXCITED to have another 6 weeks, and escpecially to have CHRISTMAS together!!!

Okay, that's it folks, I gotta go, but I love you all!  I love being a missionary and I love Germany and Spandau and I love the other missionaries I serve with and I love those I teach and I just love my mission!  Thank you for all of your support and prayers, I am working hard and prying for you too!!  Bis Montag!!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Stringham

Oh yes we can!!  Please notice Sister Jardine is finishing off the last piece and all the Sisters are smiling while all the guys look like they're going to be sick!  The Elder taking the photo couldn't even get the photo in focus.  Love the missionaries!



German Gangsters!

More German Gangsters!

Week #17 Brand New Dal!

I love Familie Silva!!  They are so WUNDEBAR and do so much for us!  they are definitely my second family and will always be my home away from home!

Hallo from Germany!

Well, my life was changed this week.  No jokes.  It was probable the most wonderful week of my life.  I am so happy and I am so grateful to be a missionary!

So break-down of this week:

First, we had Mission Tour this week.  WOOH what a whirlwind.  Seriously, it was life changing.  Two members of the seventy, Elder Kearon and Elder Finglele, came and spoke to us about the mission and about how to be better disciples of Christ.  We had a big conference with President and his wife, and half of all the other missionaries in the mission.  It was AMAZING.  So inspired, and I left a better and stronger person for sure.  The after the conference, I was able to have a personal interview with Elder Kearon where he looked into my soul, answered my prayers, and changed my life.  I KNOW that God knows me and that He has a great plan for me and that I will change lives on my mission.  I know that this is the work of the Lord, and that He is in it!  I am so grateful and humbled ot be a missionary!

Second, we found this ELECT family.  We had been praying to find an elect family ready for the gospel.  We had planned to drop off a Russian Book of Mormon to a contact, and when she wasn't home, we said a prayer and started walking.  Not five minutes later, we met Alekses on the street, an incredibly faithful RUSSIAN man with his family.  He was elect.  He testified to us of God's plan and love for his family, and gladly accepted the Book of Mormon.  A few day later, and with the prayers of our faithful Zone Leaders with us, we went to teach him. As soon as he opened the door, the Spirit hit us like a wall.  It was so strong in that home and throughout the entire lesson.  God was glorified, and we all learned and came closer to Christ.  He is SO faithful and so ready to have any truth he can find.  He KNOWS God.  You can see it.  We prayed and taught and he prayed and taught and cried.  It was incredible, definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  I am so humbled to be a missionary.  Really, God just lets us see miracle after miracle as He calls and gathers His children.  I am so grateful to be here!

Third, we had a ward Talent Show this week.  Despite the public humiliation of singing in front of a ton of people, it was a great success!  There were so many people there and it was so much fun!  We all came closer to each other, and it was wonderful to feel like a family, and to fall in love with the Germans all over again.  We have a wonderful ward and we work with wonderful people.  I am so blessed to be here, and I will always think of Spandau as my second home!

Fourth, Wichian had his big Thai festival this weekend which we went to, and it was pretty much the best thing of my life.  I love our investigators and I love being a missionary in Berlin.  Berlin is so fun because you don't work with just Germans, but with people from all over the world.  We teach Thais and Russians and Afrikans and Serbians and Romanians and French and Americans and so many more.  I love being a missionary!!

Fifth, Church yesterday was SO great!  Jeff came for the first time and he loved it so much that he bore his testimony, and stood up and clapped after another member bore hers.  Honestly, it was wonderful.  It is wonderful to see the gospel touch and change people.  The spirit is new for so many that we teach, and it strengthens my own testimony to see theirs growing.  I am so grateful to be here!

So to sum up, it was pretty much the best week of my life.  I have been inspired and uplifted and strengthened and so blessed.  I am so blessed and so happy!  I love being a missionary.  I love working hard and serving and giving all of my heart to the Lord.  I love this gospel.  I know that it is true and I KNOW that God knows and loves His children.  I know it, and I hope you know it too!  He loves us and He knows us and He has a plan for us!  I love you all and I love hearing from you (thank you for the letters, they mean the world to me) and I miss you and I am praying for you!  Stay happy and faithful and remember that you are loved!

Love, Sister Stringham

Some inspiring words from Elder Kearon: http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-08-004-the-sting-of-the-scorpion?lang=eng

As close as you get to family auf mission...I love these kids!!