Week #51 - Lovin Cousin Time!

Hallo!!!

What a wonderful, blessed week here in Berlin!!!  I love this ward, I love my companion, I love the other missionaries I work with, I love this work, and I love my Savior and His gospel!  I am so happy and I am SO blessed!!

So, exciting things this week:

1) We had a lesson with a new convert family from Cambodia this week, and they told us all about the traditions of their homeland and made us traditional Cambodian food: Spring Rolls, rice, spinach, and cow inestines...it was so yummy!!  I love living in Berlin where there are a billion different cultures and foods and people!!

2) I LOVE being in the same ward as my family!!  We have so much fun, and just makes me want to be even better and work even harder as a missionary!!  I just feel so blessed!!  Last pday, we went to a Swedish candy shop, and then went to an AMERICAN diner  and ate biscuits and gravy and fried chicken....mmmmm, can't wait to eat American food again!!!  Here are the lovin cousins:

3)We have this older couple that we are teaching, who are so sweet it's insane.  The husband is from Indonesia, has had 3 strokes but is really doing well, and is probably the sweetest man on the planet.  The wife isGerman, and used to be a Jehova's Witness, and that is how she met her husband, because she tried to convert him.  They were feeling so lonely, especially the husband, and prayed a few weeks ago that they would be able to find some friends for him, and then right after that prayer, they met the sisters on the street!  MIRACLES, and they know we are from God!  This week we went over and Frank Sinatra was on when we came in, and he just started crying he was so happy to have someone over.  We then taught them about the plan of salvation and the happiness it brings, and it was just such an amazing lesson!!  We are hoping to find them a ride to church next week!!

4) Because our mission president is the COOLEST and he is German, he gave us permission to watch the Germany vs. USA soccer game. Ah it was so fun!!!  We went over to my uncle's house and watched it there with bratwurst and chips and dip and lots of candy, and it was just such a blast!!  And so INTENSE!!!!!!!!!!  There was so much American pride, even from the Canadian Elder Wipf, it was insane!!  ...too bad we lost....but at least Elder Rückauer was happy!!  #TOOOOR #letsgogermany! #weltmeisterschaft(worldcup)

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5) Michael, our investigator from Nigeria, came to church and stayed for all three hours and then for the lunch we had afterwards, and made friends with lots of members, including all the Afrikan ladies in the ward!!  WOOHOOO!!!

 I love the faithful good members here who live the gospel of Jesus Christ!  And I am excited for the day I can do the same! #hasteningthework

Well, that's all I have time for this week, but know I am SO HAPPY and that we are seeing miracles everyday!  We are changing Germany!!  I love my God and I love my mission!

 I love you all and am praying for you!!

Love, Sister Dilly Dal

Week #50 - TIERGARTEN

Hallo from Berlin!!!

I am back in Berlin, my favorite place in all the world, and I am SO happy!

Like, shout from the rooftops happy!  
#samuelthelamanite #ammonjoy

I love it here.  The work just has a different feel here and we see so many miracles, and we see this country changing.  If you want to change Germany, you start Berlin, and I am so blessed to be in the middle of it!! In the words of Elder Santiago, "In Berlin Nord Zone we hussle harder!" And so thats it!  I am working hard and calling down the blessings of Heaven!

I am so happy and so excited to work here and ready to see miracles!!

My new companion is Sister Bronson, and she is a sweetheart.  My new district is made up of the TEN missionaries in my ward (4 Elders, the Zone Leaders, and a Senior Couple).  

My new Sister Training Leader is SISTER TOLMAN (looottttsss of ammon-joy at the train station when I got here).  

My bishop is my uncle (AHHHHH, talk about an in with the ward).  

AND I AM IN BERLIN!  

 The Tiergarten Ward Building

Close up of the sign

I am the happiest :)  

I have been so blessed by my Father in Heaven, its insane, and I am just so humbled and grateful to be here.  I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be here, in this mission.  I know this is where I am supposed to be.  I am excited to see miracles, to work with the ward, and to change Germany!

 I love you all and I am praying for you!!  Stay faithful and happy!!

Love, Sister Dal

Week #49 - Berlin and Back again

Hallo!!

So, I dont have much time to write, but we had interviews this past week.  President said that we have to close down Lüneburg, which is so sad because we JUST got the work KICKIN!  He has to close down 8 sisters programs because he does not have enough sisters.  Sisters!!  Serve missions!!!  We need our girls out there just as much as we need as our young men! As soon as he gets more sisters in October though, he will open it back up.  Until then, these people we love are in the hands of the Lord and they are so loved by Him, they will be well taken care of!

Usually, transfer calls come on Saturday mornings, but Friday night we get a call from President:

Me: Hi President!  How are you doing?

President:  I am doing good Sister Stringham.  My Sister Stringham, you are being transferred.

Me:  Oh.

President:  You will be going back to Berlin.

Me: Oh.

President:  You will be serving in Tiergarten...

Me:  ...........oooohhhhh.........

President: .....and you will be serving under Bischof Onkel.

Me:  OOOHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

President:  I love you and trust you completely, let me talk to Sister Knecht......

.....und so weiter...............

Needless to say, there was lots of screaming and excitement after the phone call was over!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!  And so ready to serve my uncle and his ward and the other 8 missionaries there and TO BE BACK IN BERLIN!!!!!

I love you all, and I will talk to you next time from my favorite city in the world!!!  Again, thank you to everyone who has written me.

Love, Sister Stringham

It has been such an honor serving with these amazing missionaries in the AMAZING Lauenburg ward!!  #luckiestsisterinalltheworld

​Last day in Lüneburg, with Spaghetti Eis to celebrate!! #lovethissister!

Week #48 Mission Tour

Hello Lovelies!!

The sun is shining (for right now) and my heart is so full!!  I love this work!!  I love being a missionary!!  I am so grateful to be here and to be part of this great work!!!

This morning, we have already seen so many miralces!  The biggest one was a young man we just found named Adrian!  We talked for about an hour on the street and he was so friendly and smiled and was so cool!  Guess where he was from...MEXICO!  He is here in Germany studying and nannying and trying to find work as a doctor!  He was so cool and had heard of mormons and wanted to learn more!  AND DID I SAY THAT HE SMILED!  THAT NEVER HAPPENS!  It was so great!! Miracles!  He told us that when he has time, that he will make us mexican food!  WOOHOO!  It was so wonderful thought to talk to someone who was so happy and so ready to learn more and we are so excited to see him again this week!

Onto the miracles of this past week!  We had MISSION TOUR!!  Elder Dyches of the 70 came and spoke to us in Hamburg and it was so wonderful!!  It was the day after my 6 months left mark, and it was the PERFECT WAY to start out the last third of my mission.  It wasnt anything specific that was said, but I was just so happy and so grateful to be here and so excited for this work.  Also, I got to see so many of the missionaries that I love so much.  I am SO grateful for the amazing missionaries I serve with and for the mission I have been called to.  I know it is where I am supposed to be!!  I know I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing!! I am so excited to give my very best, all that I am, to the Lord for the rest of my mission, and then to keep going and keep serving Him the rest of my life.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY AND I LOVE THIS WORK AND I LOVE MY GOD!  And I love all of you!  I am always thinkign of you and praying for you all!  See the hand of the Lord in your life and count the miracles that He has given you.  Keep smiling and shining that Light of Christ, and trusting in Him!  I love you!!

Love, Sister Stringham

P.S. I got post finally, and just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to those who write me!  I cant even express how much it means to me, so thank you for your love and support!!  And thank you to Lakeside Ward Primary for the package and all the cards!  You are all so wonderful and keep me so happy and motivated!  You are helping me in this work and I am so grateful for all you missionaries back at home who make me want to be even better here in Germany!!

P.P.S. We went to the beach as sisters in the zone a couple weeks ago and the computer is finally letting me upload the photos.  It was BEYOND wonderful to be by the water and to just have fun with the missionaries I love so dearly!

​Sisters at the beach at Altona.  Fun!!

 Me and Sister Jardine!

Beach (strand) at Altona!

We all go home in December!

Me and Sister Keller

Altona is a beach on the bank of the Elbe River and the town dates back to the 1500s.  It was incorporated into Hamburg in 1937 and sits on a cliff.  Awesome.

Week #47 - 6 MONTHS NOCH!

Tomorrow, I will have only 6 months left of my mission....

So sad and happy and CRAZY!  My time is flying by and I am working and praying very hard to give my very best to the Lord these last 6 months!

So storytime:

1) I love serving in a farm ward.  Last week, one of the dear members of my ward who rides to church on his bicycle every week with his wife and 5 of his 10 kids, came running in before church started.  He was so excited and so enthusiastic!  He had found something very special!!  He found a rare kind of.....beetle.  So excited, he passed it around to everybody, who also rejoiced and went on and on and on about this beetle and how wonderful it was...it was so great and made be just so happy.  I LOVE THIS WARD!

2) Missions are just one adventure after another.  We went to visit a brand new member family in our area (THE SECOND FAMILY HERE!  WHOOO!) on a Saturday everning.  We didnt realize...but the busses stopped at 6 in this little part of town......soooo.....we spent the rest of the evening walking the 9 kilometers back to our home.  I felt like a little hobbit on a grand adventure, walking and walking and walking all the way :)  I LOVE MY MISSION!

3) Yesterday, we fasted as a district for help and miracles for those we are teaching.  AND THEY CAME!  Our God is a God of miracles!!  Sigrid finally came back to church and she had such an amazing, spiritual experience and just cried and sobbed the whole time.  The Spirit was so strong and so amazing!  We talked about covenants in Sunday School and it was wonderful and we went over the baptismal covenant.  We have talked to her about baptism several times, and she is praying about the date we gave her, and she said she has had her spiritual confirmation and answers to her prayers that our church truly is the restored church of Jesus Christ, but she just wants to be sure.  So it was so inspired when the sunday school teacher and our stake president presented the lesson, addressing so many of her fears.  She was so happy and just cried, and then cried all through fast and testimony meeting.  After church, as we were talking in the hallway, she saw the bishop and went up and talked to him.  They went into his office for about 20 minutes, and we were just waiting and waiting to know what was happening.  As she came out, she had tear stains on her face, she gave us a hug and left.  The bishop talked to us later and said that she asked him for a blessing!!!  All on her own!!  He said it was so powerful, and that she knew why she was there, and that he talked to her about being sealed in the temple to her husband who just passed away.  It was a miracle, and I am so grateful for this gospel.  I am so grateful and I testify in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ that this gospel is true.  I know it with all that I am.  I know that death has no sting because families are eternal, and through the ordinances of the temple, that our families can be together forever.  I know that we will live again because Christ lives.  I know it.  I am so grateful to be in His church and to be doing His work.  I know that He is with us in this work!  I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

I love you all so much!  I love the people with whom I serve, I love my mission, and I love being a missionary of God.  I love this gospel with all my heart, and I am always praying for you!  "Trust in God and believe in good things to come." - Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Love, Sister Dilly Dal

Godbless my sweet puppy who passed away this week.  She was my gardian angel and best friend for the past 11 years, and I am so grateful that God sent her, and I am so grateful for the plan of God, because I know I will see her again.  Because of Him, death has no sting.  All dogs go to Heaven :)