Monday, March 30, 2015
"Just Be Ourselves"
I can't believe that its already P-Day again!
This week we visited for the first time with Frau Selimovic (from former Yugoslavia) and her husband (from Albania). They have 6 children ages 3-14 and when we walked through the door, we were immediately smothered in love and kindness. Sammy, the three year old girl, ran up to me and gave me a huge hug around the neck and wouldn't let go. Frau Selimovic said that she had missed the Sisters reading her the Book of Mormon (she's illiterate) and that it was so beautiful and she wanted that in her life and in the lives of her children again. At the end of the lesson, they kept saying over and over again how grateful they were that we came over. They pray together as a family each night and talk about God and the Savior. These people are so ready for the gospel.
Later in the week, we were sitting at a bus stop when a lady approached us. I offered her my seat and she smiled and said in English: "No thank you, Sister. But that's very kind of you!" Apparently, she had been to our ward's open house when the new building was dedicated and then did a lot of genealogy work a few years ago with a member in our ward. She told us that when he explained to her that her ancestors would be baptized and married, she felt so happy and close to them. We talked to her on the bus and she committed herself to come to Sacrament meeting the next morning. We exchanged phone numbers and lo and behold, SHE CAME! We are so excited to work with her.
Finally, as we were walking upstairs to our apartment after church, we said hi to a guy in his late 20s who was just walking out of his apartment. He asked us if we were from the "American Church." It turned into an almost 2 hour conversation in the stairwell. We explained to him why we are here, what we do, and a few things that we believe (he was one seriously chatty guy.) We gave him a Book of Mormon and read Moroni 10:3 and he seems really open-minded, respectful, and curious. We exchanged numbers and he wants to meet with us in the coming week.
The thing that became really clear to me with all of these experiences is how important it is to just be NORMAL and ourselves. People will feel if you're being genuine or if you are playing a role. We chose to come on a mission and share the light that we have found. Everyone we come in contact with needs to feel the conviction that we have in our hearts.
I did find comfort this week in a scripture found in 2 Corinthians 4:5-9:
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed
Paul crushes it every time. We will keep on working and letting this light shine through us. That is what it is to be an instrument of the spirit.
I love you all so much and am so grateful for your faith, examples, and prayers. This week we visited for the first time with Frau Selimovic (from former Yugoslavia) and her husband (from Albania). They have 6 children ages 3-14 and when we walked through the door, we were immediately smothered in love and kindness. Sammy, the three year old girl, ran up to me and gave me a huge hug around the neck and wouldn't let go. Frau Selimovic said that she had missed the Sisters reading her the Book of Mormon (she's illiterate) and that it was so beautiful and she wanted that in her life and in the lives of her children again. At the end of the lesson, they kept saying over and over again how grateful they were that we came over. They pray together as a family each night and talk about God and the Savior. These people are so ready for the gospel.
Later in the week, we were sitting at a bus stop when a lady approached us. I offered her my seat and she smiled and said in English: "No thank you, Sister. But that's very kind of you!" Apparently, she had been to our ward's open house when the new building was dedicated and then did a lot of genealogy work a few years ago with a member in our ward. She told us that when he explained to her that her ancestors would be baptized and married, she felt so happy and close to them. We talked to her on the bus and she committed herself to come to Sacrament meeting the next morning. We exchanged phone numbers and lo and behold, SHE CAME! We are so excited to work with her.
Finally, as we were walking upstairs to our apartment after church, we said hi to a guy in his late 20s who was just walking out of his apartment. He asked us if we were from the "American Church." It turned into an almost 2 hour conversation in the stairwell. We explained to him why we are here, what we do, and a few things that we believe (he was one seriously chatty guy.) We gave him a Book of Mormon and read Moroni 10:3 and he seems really open-minded, respectful, and curious. We exchanged numbers and he wants to meet with us in the coming week.
The thing that became really clear to me with all of these experiences is how important it is to just be NORMAL and ourselves. People will feel if you're being genuine or if you are playing a role. We chose to come on a mission and share the light that we have found. Everyone we come in contact with needs to feel the conviction that we have in our hearts.
I did find comfort this week in a scripture found in 2 Corinthians 4:5-9:
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed
Paul crushes it every time. We will keep on working and letting this light shine through us. That is what it is to be an instrument of the spirit.
Liebe Grüße,
Sister Grace Hendricks
Sister Grace Hendricks
Monday, March 23, 2015
Das Freude Projekt
Well, this week we got to go to Hamburg for a conference with all of the Sisters serving in the West! I learned a lot and felt spiritually recharged. It was so nice to see Sister Walker for the first time in over a year! It was 6 hours of instruction, discussion, and learning from the spirit. We talked about getting over fears and understanding (and helping the members and Elders understand that we aren´t just girls with name tags, we are missionaries called, set apart, and given authority from God). We also talked a lot about finding people to teach. Interestingly, the day before, Sister Ballard and I came up with a finding idea that we´re really excited about: Das Freude Projekt. We bought 6 large, thick, matte boards (sturdy cardboard) and two bottles of chalkboard paint and turned these boards into a portable, giant chalkboard. This week we are going to start using it! We will put all the boards together on the ground in certain areas in the city and walk around and ask people to participate in a project. We´ll ask them to write what brings them joy on the chalkboard and then talk to them about what brings us joy (the GOSPEL!). The boards will be covered in things that bring people joy. The point is that approaching people about participating in a project and then engaging them in a meaningful conversation is a lot more natural than walking up to people and asking "haben sie hoffnung?" We´re trying to get the youth in our ward involved and I think it will be a really fun and effective way to talk to people and find people to teach. I might even whip out my guitar one time! SO, it was great to have this conference on boldness and focusing on finding people to teach - it was exactly what we needed.
Things with our investigator Magdi are... dynamic... He is such a great person and he wants to learn, he´s just stubborn and we have to make sure that we are keeping the spirit in the lesson. Our investigator, Enoch, is progressing now! He is reading in the Book of Mormon every day and is starting to realize that this is the path that he NEEDS to take. We will meet with him more this week.
Things with our investigator Magdi are... dynamic... He is such a great person and he wants to learn, he´s just stubborn and we have to make sure that we are keeping the spirit in the lesson. Our investigator, Enoch, is progressing now! He is reading in the Book of Mormon every day and is starting to realize that this is the path that he NEEDS to take. We will meet with him more this week.
Liebe grüße,
Sister Grace Hendricks
Sister Grace Hendricks
Monday, March 16, 2015
Twists and Turns
Well, this week was full of all sorts of twists and turns. But like all things when we are in the service of our Lord, everything works out.
We started out the week with a lesson with Irina. The spirit was strong and she actually asked to be put back on baptismal date. We knelt in prayer together and she asked Heavenly Father if this was what He wanted her to do - she had tears in her eyes as she told us that she knew it was right and what she and God wanted her to do. That night, Sister Ballard and I made her a calendar to help her understand exactly what needed to happen for her to be baptized and how we were going to help her reach that goal (Sister Ballard and I have been talking a lot about Elder Kopiscke's visit and how we can apply what he taught about helping people keep commitments in our work - Revelation doesn't expire!). We went over the plan with Irina the next day and she was so excited. Then, at 10:30 that night, we got a text from her saying that she didn't want to meet anymore and that she wanted to find God on her own. We asked if we could meet and talk about it and she said no. I don't know what else we could have done to help her. I wouldn't change how we taught her - we taught her with loving boldness and with the Spirit, fostering her own spiritual growth. But people have their agency, and as Preach My Gospel explains, some people won't accept the gospel even after they've had a spiritual witness that it is true. This principle proved to be important to keep in mind the next day as well.
We went to visit Ulrike (our other investigator with a baptismal date) because we hadn't heard back from her in a few days. We rang the bell and she didn't answer. Right as we were about to leave, she walked out and seemed surprised to see us. It was clear that she didn't really want to talk to us and as she walked away, she told us that she would send us a text. About 30 minutes later, we got a text saying that she decided to attend the African church instead, so we didn't need to come by anymore. I racked my brain, trying to figure out if there was anything that we should have done differently ... if there was any way that we weren't being exactly obedient. I came up with nothing. Obviously, we are not perfect teachers and sometimes we make mistakes, but we worked so hard to do everything we could to help these people.
Friday to Saturday, we had tausch with Sister Stacey and Sister Demolder. It was so wonderful. Sister Stacey came here to Bremen and I am so grateful for the time that we had together. We talked about each of our programs and different ideas for building/rebuilding our teaching pools. We have a very similar mindset about the mission - that it is work, but that it isn't something to suffer through. This message is one of joy and meaning for each individual. And so we, as missionaries, should be full of joy and be ourselves (granted our best, most obedient and diligent selves).
I was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting on my decision to serve a mission. It was really amazing for me to reflect on the years of preparation, prayers and seeking confirmation.Thinking about WHY I wanted to come on a mission in the first place and what I did to get here allowed me to really think about how grateful I am to be here. Even though our program might be going through a rough patch, I knew then and I know now that the Lord will always help us. He promised us that and He will alway fulfill His promises. And speaking of promises, I forgot the last pages of my talk on my seat when I got up to speak! But the gift of tongues came in full swing as I winged the last part of my talk. I think that my German was actually better in the unplanned part!
Liebe Grüße,
Sister Grace Hendricks
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