Week #33 - Lovely Lüneburg

Hallo from Hamburg!

I am so so SO happy!!  I love Lüneburg!  I love my mission!  I love being a missionary!!  I love this work and I know that God is with us every single day!  I am so grateful to be here!

So Lüneburg!!  IT IS BEAUTIFUL HERE!!!!

Lüneburg is one of the only cities in this country not bombed in the war, so all of the buildings are ancient and SO beautiful!  I am surrounded by so much history!  It is a little city, right by the Elbe River.  The people walk slowly and talk to you on the street, which is different.  And!  They are all religious!  Woah!! They have five churchs right here in the city, and everyone loves Jesus which is so different and so wonderful!!  I am so happy!  

We don't actually have a ward here in Lüneburg (not yet at least) so we travel by train for an hour to Lauenburg to go to the ward there.  This week we had stake conference in Hamburg, so I haven't met very many people from my ward yet, but everyone I have met has been SO friendly and sweet and I am so excited and grateful to be here!!

And Stake Conference was AMAZING!!  The Hamburg stake is a little small (which means it is very much like a family) and there was a broadcast from Salt Lake to all the stakes in Germany and other German speaking areas.  It was so wonderful and the Spirit was so strong and I learned so much.  And!!  Ahhh!  Best thing ever!!!!  Elder Bednar spoke to us IN GERMAN!  It was so neat!  Everything else was translated, but when he got up to speak, he just said that he was so grateful for the opportunity to speak to the people he loved so dearly, and that he could use his mission language again after 41 years, and he gave his whole talk in German!!  It was so cool, and you could just see and hear his love for his mission and for the people here.  That is how I want to be 40 years from now!  And he did a great job!  I could actually understand everything that was said because he talked a little slower and had a bit of an american accent.  It was great and I was SOO impressed by him and the way he could do that 40 years later.  Such an amazing experience!  I am so so grateful for my mission!  I love my mission!  I love Germany and I love the people here! 

My new companion, Sister Knecht

And I love this new city!  The work has been dead here in Lüneburg for a while, but this week we decided to throw away the past and work towards the future.  We decided to have faith, not fear, to put our trust in God and His work, and go forward, and you know what?  We saw SO many miracles this week!  We found so many people and truly felt the Lord with us.  This is HIS work.  I know it!  And I know that when we put our trust in Him, that He helps us to see miracles.  I know that through faith, everything is possible!  I am so grateful to be  a missionary, and to be learning that for myself.  I am so grateful to be here helping others develop faith, and to be strengthening my own.  I love this church, I love my God, I love my mission!!

And I love you all!!  Thank you for all of the support and the prayers.  I am praying for you too! Shoutouts:

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE MARRIAGE SHELBEY #bestfriendmarried #awkwardsinglesister #sohappyforthenewcouple

My dear Lappara family, you an inspiration for all of us!  We are praying and fasting for you here in Germany.  I love you all so dearly, and will keep sending prayers your way!

Saying good-bye to family

I love you all.  Keep trusting in God and shining your light!!

Love, Sister Stringham

Week #32 - A New Adventure

After almost 8 months here in Spandau, the call came on Staurday and it is finally time for me to leave this city and the people I have loved so dearly, and start out on a new adventure! 

This little Bilbo is headed to Lüneburg, a small city just outside of Hamburg to preach and teach, and I leave this Tuesday!  The apartment is just about packed, and after last minute goodbyes tonight, I will be all set to leave.

I am so sad to leave this city where I have spent everyday of the last 8 months loving and working for the people, but I will go where the Lord wants me to go, and I am so grateful and SO EXCITED to start a new adventure, a new mission with the people of Lüneburg!

No matter how far away I go, even all the way across the mission, my heart will always be in Spandau with the families I love!!  Yesterday at church was so sad but so beautiful as I said goodbye to all the people that I have grown so close to!  I love the Spandau Ward, and between the tears and the hugs, I got some great pictures!

Familie Dessin - Love these ladies!!

Familie Wunderbar (Silva)

Familie Stanculovi - Definitely came on my mission for this beautiful family!!!

 Familie Lindenau by the river on a lovely sunday stroll!

District in Spandau before transfers 

I have loved my time in Spandau but I look forward to new adventures, there and back again.   

Love, Sister Dal

Week #31 - The Sun Again?

Heellloo dear ones!!

We have seen the sun again!!  It is warm, the snow is melting, I'm back to just 2 layers of tights instead of 3 or 4, and this Arizona girl is feeling warm and happy!!  We have had yet another fab week here in Spandau too!!  And transfer calls are this Saturday, so this could be my last week here!  Bishop gave me a talk for the end of March and is quite set on me staying though haha, so we will see!!

So this past week...

We went and visited Sabine, a convert of about 2 years in our ward, who has been SUPER sick.  We felt like we should go by again and see if there was anything we could do to help her that day, and we were an answer to her prayers and she had us walk her dogs!  I love serving and I love dogs, so we were more than happy to help!!

We had Zone Training Meeting and learned SO much!  I love the missionaries I serve with here in Berlin!!  They are incredible!!  They are strong and faithful and such powerful teachers, and I felt the Spirit of the Lord testifying yet again that this is His work and I am just so grateful to be a part of it!!  I love my mission and I love my calling.  I am a testifier of my Lord, a saver of souls, and I disciple of Christ.  I have been called and I am the Savior's hands in this part of His vineyard.  I am so grateful I get to be a part of this work!  Even when the week is hard, when we face disappointments, when we are mocked or yelled at or whatever it may be, even when Satan tries to discourage us, I KNOW in whom I have trusted and I KNOW that this is the work of God.  It is an honor to serve a mission.  We are those that the Savior has to bring His children back, and He wants His kids back.  I am so grateful I get to be part of this work, and that God can work through me to perform miracles.  I am so imperfect and have so much to learn, but I know that it doesn't matter what we are, that God can take us and make us into something so much greater to accomplish His will.  I am so grateful to be a desciple of Jesus Christ, and so grateful to be doing His work!!

We also walked through a park yesterday and talked to everyone we saw and you know what?  So many people were nice and were willing to hear us out!  It was such a miracle!! 

 And the sun was shining and the ice was melting (probably warming the hearts of the Germans) and it was just so beautiful and happy. 

 Even here in East Berlin, where less than 26% of people believe in God, there can be miracles and hearts can change, because this is HIS work and HIS glory and HIS gospel. 

I am so grateful to be here and to be His servant in Berlin.  I love my mission!!

I love you all and I am praying for you!!  Keep shining and sharing your light!

Love, Sister Dally

In other news,
I am more than a little obsessed with these videos.  Check them out!

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos?lang=eng

I love my Savior!!

Okay, here I am as Sista Stringham!

Schwester Antwi in our ward is from Ghana and taught us how to tie our hair african style!  Surprisingly comfortable and now a common style in our apartment!

Week #30 - Another Zone Conference in Berlin

So this week we had zone conference......

.....and guess who I saw there.....

SISTER TOLMAN!!!!!!!  SISTER TOLMAN!!!!!!!!  SISTER TOLMAN!!!!  

After 7 long months, we were reunited at last!!!!  Best moment of my life.  We worked together at the MTC, had German class together and back to the MTC when we both got called to the same mission!  

I also saw these kids!

It was great to have our little MTC gang back together again (minus Sister Henry somewhere in southern Germany), and to see how much we all still love being missionaries!!

I learned so much from President and Sister Kosak, and all the other speakers.  I love being a missionary and I love this work!!!  2014 is the year this mission will change Germany, and we are going forward in faith with that promise! I love my Savior, and it is because of that love that I do what I do! 

And I love you all too!  I am thinking of and praying for you!!  Keep shining and smiling!!

Love, Sister Stringham