They Came To Conference!

Time is in hyperspeed today so I will have to try to keep this short and sweet!

First things first, transfer calls came and I will be staying in Bremen! Surprise, surprise (insert Nacho Libre voice here).

We had a lot of really great appointments this week and met with a lot of people that are showing a lot of promise and desire to follow Christ.

Familie Selimovic is making so much progress. On Friday, we went over and helped them paint their kitchen and the entire time Sammy (the 3 year old darling) was singing about Jesus Christ and how powerful God is. Frau Selimovic told us she has slammed her door in the face of every Jehovah's Witness, Evangelical, and Christ's Embassy Bible salesman that has ever knocked on her door, but says she feels something special with us and she always wants us around. After we painted and she was satisfied with the number of cookies we ate, she gathered us and all of the children that were home in the living room, turned off the TV, calmed them down, and asked us to read to her from the Book of Mormon. We taught them the first lesson and the spirit in the room was as tangible as Devijan's chubby little fingers poking my arm. Their faces were priceless as we told them about the First Vision and Frau Selimovic got emotional. She connected with Joseph's feelings of confusion and uncertainty. She said that she would pray about his calling as a Prophet that night after all of the children went to bed, but that she already felt it was true since it only makes sense that God would have a prophet today. We will be picking her and all 6 of her children up to come listen to Conference tomorrow evening and she is so excited to hear from a real, modern-day Prophet. We are hoping to put them all on baptismal date this week.

THEN THEY CAME TO CONFERENCE. We picked them (Frau Selimovic, Delmira, Devijana, Devijan, Denisa, Sammy, Frau Selimovic's mother in law and two sisters) up and made the journey to the church in Findorff. Between a strassenbahn accident, two missed busses, and Frau Selimovic wearing high heels, getting to Conference was a bit of a struggle. But we made it! They absolutely loved it and the focus on families and leading a Christ-centered life was perfect for them. They are so excited to come to church next week!

We watched the Saturday morning conference session at the Elder's investigator's apartment and THAT was interesting. John is half Mexican, half German, but grew up in the States. He is a tattoo artist and collects Star Wars action figures (I took so many pictures in his collection room, but this internet lounge is being dumb and won't read my SD card... Sorry.. Next week!). His apartment was pure chaos, but it was amazing to still feel the Spirit as we listened to the words of the Apostles. 

We have also been working to use the "Because He Lives" initiative at every opportunity. Michaela called us in a panic on Tuesday morning at 4am. We went over, just listened, read a few scriptures with her, hugged her, and then we showed her the video. The Spirit brought her so much comfort during that video. She bookmarked it and has since watched it every time that she feels sad. After we watched it 3 times together, Sister Ballard and I folded her laundry and cleaned the kitchen. It was a small service that she has thanked us for every day since. She wants to share this video with everyone that she knows.

So those were some of the highlights of the week. The Lord is really blessing us.

I want to give my witness that I know that He lives. The Savior of the world, our Brother and Redeemer, suffered for our mistakes and pain. But He lives. The Atonement can take effect in our lives as we feel Him, the living Christ, walking with us, healing us, and supporting us. He is not hidden. He is not dead. He is risen. I love Him. 

Liebe Grüße,
Sister Grace Hendricks