Eureka!/Hairstylin'/Middle Eastern Eats/Forts

It was a really interesting week of disappointments, prayers answered and weird food. 

The Elders’ investigator, Marcella Kromer, has a 17 year-old daughter, Sunny. As Marcella has investigated the church and eventually accepted the invitation to be baptized (2 weeks; I have been asked to sing “Savior, Redeemer Of My Soul”), Sunny has loved having the missionaries around but has not wanted to be a part of any lessons.  BUT on Tuesday, Sister Moffet and I had an amazing discussion with her and explained the 2^nd lesson and she later expressed to her mother how much she appreciated the conversation and how Sister Moffet and I responded not as lecturers but as friends.  You never know!

Zone Conference was great!  The point that we are “creators of circumstance” has really stuck with me.  As Sister Moffet and I have been trying to rebuild our program, I’ve been trying to be even more bold, to create situations where we can serve, show kindness, share our message and rely on the Lord to guide us. We also had interviews with President Kosak – I can really feel how much he loves us. He told me that my German is coming along extremely well – SCORE!  He also said that I will definitely lose Sister Moffet next transfer – NOT score!

A few highlights: We were able to get back in contact with Frau Schlalos and she is back on for her baptismal date of March 15. Yesterday at church, Fred (an amazing African who was baptized in October) brought a friend from work to church with him.  Her name is Ulrike (sounds like Eureka) and she just moved to Bremen to “start a new life.”  I got to talk to her a lot and learned that she is incredibly spiritual and wants to follow what God’s plan is for her.  During Sacrament Meeting, she leaned over to me with tears in her eyes and whispered “I am so happy.  This feeling is too big for my heart.”  She wants to learn everything and we have an appointment on Tuesday!

I DYED SISTER MOFFET’S HAIR. It looks surprisingly great.  German hair products for the win. 

I GOT PALESTINIAN FOOD FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT! We went to visit a member of the ward and her nonmember husband and he cooked us the best meal I’ve had on my mission.  I felt right at home.  The 1 ½ hour travel each way was totally worth it.  Plus, the husband wants us to come back so he can make us fish.  Progress?  Potential investigator?  Fingers crossed.

I am savoring my last few weeks with my lovely companion.  We really are so different, but I have learned so much from her.  I feel blessed to be with someone so motivated to work and who is happy while we work. I know the Savior isn’t waiting for me at the finish line of my mission or even at the end of this life.  He is right here with me every day.  Something that has really helped me get through the hard days is writing down little blessings that I see throughout the day – anything from hearing Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them” in a sandwich shop to finding a scripture that I really liked.  I know that the Lord hears our prayers and knows what is best for us – it’s all about trusting Him.

 Liebe Grüße,

Sister Grace Hendricks

SNOW!

"The Hulk"

Well, this week has been kind of like the first part of "the Hulk" roller coaster at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando: shot up at the speed of light and then a gut and heart wrenching drop. 

We had several appointments with Irina this week and she made a lot of progress: she gained a testimony of Joseph Smith, accepted that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, was reading in the Book of Mormon, and was incredibly excited for her baptism. On January 19th, we got a text from her saying: 

" Dear Lovely Sisters, I am reading the Book of Mormon now from the beginning and I'm already feeling something really positive in my heart again. I prayed and thanked God from deep inside and I felt that special connection to God again. I'm feeling so happy right now and I feel there's still so much to find out for my mission and what God's plan is for me. I do feel that I'm at the right place here in Bremen right now and through praying and reading, I do get answers. That's so beautiful. Thank you that you are there for me. Have a good night! Lots of love, Irina." 

It was amazing to see her grow and to feel the gospel heal her. 

Then, after hanging out with one of her friends, Irina didn't contact us for 2 days. Then she sent us a text saying that she was happy where she was in her relationship with God  and that she didn't want to meet anymore. My heart broke. It makes no sense. It goes against every single experience that we've had with her. I don't understand how someone can see so much good change come into their life from the gospel, feel the spirit, build a testimony, and love the Book of Mormon and then let it all go. Perhaps this is a small glimpse into the pain that Christ feels when people don't take advantage of His Atonement. 

But I promise you that I am not discouraged. I am sad in a way that I have never felt before, but I am not discouraged. It's like President Kosak always says: Tenacity and Resilience. The ability to bounce back from hard things with even more passion, even more determination, and even more love. 

On the bright side, we have two new investigators. We taught one of them on Saturday and he seems really excited to learn about the gospel. His name is Musa and he is a university student from Senegal who is really bright and can speak 5 languages. He's a gem! 

ALSO IT SNOWED THIS WEEK!!! 

Moroni 9:6 --

"...notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in the tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God." 

Liebe Grüße, 

Sister Hendricks

P Day Milkshakes.  My wink needs improvement.

Lost en route to an appointment.

Bruder und Schwester Knabel.  She knitted us scarves!

Less active/non-member Barufe family.

That Lime Green Karmann Ghia

This past week was the first week of my 2nd transfer on my mission! That means a new planner (family - I have a "collection of Russian Nesting Dolls" *insert Nacho Libre voice* on the back of my planner! SCORE! Thank you Liahona magazine from 2 years ago!), some changes in the district (goodbye Elder Morales, Hello to Elder Fitch, Elder Bakly, Sister Stacy, and Elder Pilling), and only a few more weeks left with my trainer. It has been one of the longest yet fastest weeks I've ever had. So many appointments, miracles, disappointments, relying on the Lord, and so many sincere prayers. 

Sister Moffet and I are determined to have a good relationship with the members of our ward. We had many essentermins and lessons with members and less active members. All of them went really well! I found that if I am just myself, the members start to open up and bond with us. We were able to get them excited about sharing the gospel and the Spirit helped them remember their own conversion stories. I'm really grateful and feel like a lot of progress was made. 

One of the biggest highlights of my week was seeing an Audi R8 in Gröpelingen and a lime green Karmann Ghia in Innenstadt! Tender mercies of the Lord, let me tell ya. 

One of our invetigators, Frau Schlalos, committed to be baptized on March 15th! She has a long way to go to be ready for that date, but we are determined to help her in every way that we can. 

Irina Gottwald, our 22 year old investigator, is progressing by leaps and bounds. The only hinderances to her progress are a few emotional stresses, but the Spirit was so strong as we taught her about the Plan of Happiness.She now has a better understanding of why our Father in Heaven gives us hard things and how challenges in our life allow us to become stronger and learn. Later in the week, we taught her about commandments... I don't think that anyone could have accepted the law of chastity and Word of Wisdom with so much enthusiasm! She wants these blessings. She is progressing so surely and steadily towards her February 1st baptismal date. 

Sister Moffet and I are very different people, but we are so blessed to have each other. When we have the spirit with us, we teach really well. Our strengths balance really well and the most important thing is that we LOVE the people we teach and we know that what we teach is true. Each of us have found that out for ourselves. 

Mom, I remember you observing how missionary emails/letters are so lovey - even from people you wouldn't expect that from. I'm beginning to understand it. The love that you feel for the people you teach engulfs your whole heart. You want more than anything to know that Heavenly Father knows them, loves them, and has a plan for them. You want them to be happy and to feel the peace and structure that the gospel of Jesus Christ has brought to your own life. I think that Heavenly Father lets missionaries have a little glimpse at just how much He loves His children as we teach them. 

Liebe Grüße, 

Sister Grace Hendricks

Reunion with Elder Gallacher

Döner - love it!

Cold, Cold, Cold!

What a WEEK. 

On Wednesday, we had a mission tour in Hamburg with Elder Kopishke of the first Quorum of the Seventy. Elder Kopischke had each of us write down questions that we had and he promised us that by the end of the meeting, our questions would be answered. IT WORKED. It was awesome. I also got to see Elder Brigham Gallacher and that was just the happiest reunion. 

After the tour, I went on a companion exchange with my Sister Training Leader, Sister Jeffry, and it was so great. She came back with me to Bremen and I learned a lot of new ways to talk to people. She also helped me with German a lot! We got along so well. We were together for the rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday. We spent most of the day finding in the pouring rain. I don't think that I understood the word "soaked" until I got to Bremen. I was wet through my huge grey puffy coat, two sweaters, and shirt. Cold water was running down our backs and it was just cold cold cold. 

On Friday, I was super super sick. I had a high fever and was chained to my bed for almost the entire day. BUT later that night (after hours of sleep, Ibuprofen, lots of water, and some push ups), we went and taught Michaela a wonderful lesson. She had been having a really hard time, so Elders Morales and Hall came with us and gave her a Priesthood Blessing. It was beautiful and she found so much comfort in knowing that what they said was exactly what her Father in Heaven wanted her to know. The spirit was so strong as we testified that Heavenly Father knows her and knows exactly what she is going through. We testified that Christ's Atonement allows Him to feel every single emotion that we feel and because of that, He knows how to comfort us.

We have three investigators with baptismal dates and we hope that two more investigators will accept the invitation to be baptized this week. Please pray for our investigators - the Adversary works incredibly hard on people that are so close to making this huge step.

Dad, you've told me many times that the first thing that identified me as your daughter in the hospital were my hands. My hands look just like yours. I think that right now, as I'm serving in Germany, I'm working to make my hands like my Father in Heaven's hands. 

I love the work. I love being a missionary and I love the message that I get to share every single day. 

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Grace Hendricks