Napoleon Dynamites Daughter

I remember when I was in the MTC and I would spend so much time just finding a way to start these emails. Now, I just don't have enough time to write these out as well as I used to, which I am sorry for everyone! Thank you for reading these when I do send them out and for staying in touch with me when I am not the best at sending these. The funniest part about writing these emails so well in the MTC is that so many more things actually happen when you are out on your mission. Yes, there were so many miracles that I saw at the MTC, but so much more happens out here that I haven't written a ton about. I figure I should start writing more about these experiences in these emails, so get ready for some colorful stories as well as some miracle stories in this email. 

NEW YEARS DAY 

(maybe skip this first paragraph, this is one of those colorful experiences that I was talking about)

We had decided the day before that we were going to celebrate our New Years by heading out to Heidelberg, which is a beautiful city that is about an hour and a half away by train from Frankfurt. My mom had been telling me forever that Heidelberg was the place to be with its beautiful architecture and sights, including the gigantic castle that the city is kind of all pointed towards. We got up on New Years morning, pumped and excited to spend a whole day in this beautiful German city! We dove through the labyrinth of trains and stops as we started our journey, finally making it to the second to last train that we would be on the longest. We had a group of 4 sisters (including me) and 2 elders, and had a hard time finding seats that were close to each other. We finally spotted a bunch of seats at the end of the train and started talking to each other, writing emails, and minding our own business. The first fifteen minutes of the train ride was pretty uneventful, we saw some pretty sights as we zoomed by on the train but that was it. It wasn't until a drunk man sauntered down to the back of the train where we were sitting when our train ride changed dramatically. He went to the back, muttering to himself in a nonsensical way, and tried to open the bathroom door. Unfortunately for him, it was locked. He started to walk back our way, stopped, and yelled a ton of profanity for about 3 minutes until he made a decision that would greatly impact the rest of the train ride to Heidelberg. He went to the back of the train after his angry rant and was quiet for a second, so the missionaries started talking to each other again until we heard a very distinctive sound of liquid pouring on the ground. The man had decided that the locked bathroom door was not going to stop him and started peeing on the bathroom door. After he finished, he went back towards the front of the train smiling like he hadn't just committed a disgusting crime and left us back at his little crime scene. The rest of the hour on the train, we were trying to contemplate what had just happened and then had another experience with two more drunk men being weird who eventually left.

After our very eventful train ride, we wandered the streets of Heidelberg before heading the castle, which was so stunning and beautiful. It stood at the top of the city in all its grandeur, looking proudly at the world below. We walked up this giant hill before heading inside the castle and seeing the city sparkle and a little river that ran perfectly through it. It was quite a sight, and one that I will pray I won't forget. After that, we headed to this old bridge that was also very beautiful. It was so fun just to look over the side and see the water twist and turn as it slid under the bridge. There were little locks with peoples names on them all over the bridge and it was just super cool to see. At this point, our entire group had arrived and we had about 15 missionaries all together. It was one of the Elders birthdays so we decided to head down to get some burgers at Five Guys. It was so weird to sit and wait for food while hearing songs like "8 mile" by Eminem and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran play in the background. After that, we sort of just wandered around and found a church to sit in. I had brought my Book of Mormon, so I sat in this random church reading my Book of Mormon as everyone just took a minute to sit and rest. Overall, it was such a fun trip and I was so glad that we were able to spend time with a lot of the missionaries!

THE MAN WHO CAN'T WALK

Ok, this is a miracle story that I wanted to share with all of you that happened this Sunday. We have been teaching a guy who has been super interested in learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ, but who can't walk and has no way to get to church. Because Ankara Church is also broadcasted over zoom, we invited him to join that way only to discover that his phone is too old to support zoom. So basically, he had no way to listen to or go to church. We hadn't been teaching him all that long but thought that one thing we could do was ask a member if he could call this friend during church and let the translator speak into the phone so that he could at least hear church. The member we called was super supportive of the idea and it was so cool to see him pull his phone out this past Sunday and see this friend finally be able to join church. We thought that was a miracle, but it didn't end there. A lot of the new Turkish members were curious about the whole situation, and upon learning about our friend had a feeling that they needed to visit him. They called him, unbeknownst to us, and headed over to his home, where he, his mom, and niece were. When his mom saw the group of New Turkish Members walk into their home, she told her son that these were the people that she had seen in her dream. She told our New Members that she wanted her son and niece to be like them, she wanted them to learn about Jesus Christ. They talked for a couple hours about the gospel and the Book of Mormon before one of the new members mentioned that he had just been baptized. The mom then told him that she wanted her niece and son to be baptized as well. At the end of the visit they planned a way to get our friend and his family to church and we later got a number for his niece because she wanted to learn. The whole thing was a miracle and just an example to me of how active God is in this work. I know that those members feeling that they needed to visit our friend was a prompting from the Holy Ghost and was just what that family  needed. We have been able to teach them all together and it has been such a blessing in our missionary work.

THE TESTIMONY

This was also a miracle that started on Sunday. We found someone last week who we started teaching. He had a lot of questions in the first lesson and then told us that he would like to come to church and learn more about our church. We gave him the address and he showed up last week, which was a fast and testimony meeting. It was the end of the meeting and no one had gotten up when we see our friend come to the podium and bear a powerful testimony that he knew Jesus Christ was our Savior and that he suffered for our sins. Sister Clinch and I sat back in awe as we saw him sit back down and then sent him a text thanking him for his testimony. He responded back and said that he loved church and that he knew that all the people there were good. We met with him again this week and asked him how his Book of Mormon reading was going, to which he responded that he knew that this book came from God and that He knew that it was true. I felt the spirit testifying of the truth of his words! I knew that he was being sincere and all I could think to say back was "yeah, I know its true too. It definitely changed my life and that it can change yours." We invited him to read a pamphlet about the Doctrine of Christ, which he read that night and then told us the next morning how beautiful it was. It has been an honor to teach him and a lot times I feel like I am learning just as much from him. 

NAPOLEON DYNAMITES DAUGHTER

I got a haircut this last Saturday, which in my opinion was pretty dramatic because I cut it to my shoulders. The problem about having the hair I do is that since it curls and is thinner, it looks pretty similar and you wouldn't notice it was cut unless you paid really close attention. My little sister Hadley also got a hair cut which was also pretty dramatic. Now we both have cute hair cuts! That was just something I thought was fun this week. I also started learn how to crochet, which has been so frustrating but also addicting at the same. I also was given a yoyo this week and I learned how to yoyo. This week, I have earned the new nickname as Napoleon Dynamites daughter because apparently I have the same hair color and the glasses. It might also be because I quote that movie all the time. 

END

It has been such a good week and I have been so lucky to be a part of so many miracles. I am so thankful for missionary work and the knowledge of Loving Heavenly Parents and our Savior Jesus Christ. I learn so much about them everyday! I am also so thankful for the Holy Ghost and I know that only through the Holy Ghost I can accomplish the work that I need to. I love each of you and I hope you have a good rest of your weeks! 

Here is quote from Gordon B. Hinkley

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for everything."