Liebe Familie,
My heart is so full of joy and love, I just don't know how to write it down into text! I love being a missionary and I love being in this Branch in Pforzheim. I find a lot of comfort that there is plenty of missionary work to be done on the other side of the world. I was doing great and not thinking at all about going until Sunday came and this beloved Branch of mine made me a book that everyone wrote in (a page for each active member, basically) and presented it in Sacrament Meeting just before I gave my testimony. They all sang Gott sei mit euch bis aufs Wiedersehen und I nearly cried. I love this Branch so much. I am excited to see my family at home, but I admit I feel like I am leaving a big chunk of my family. We are all so excited for Christmas here! The Weinachtenmarkt is being set up on the main street of Pforzheim and I am sure in all of the other towns. It is SO beautiful. Christmas is the most important four weeks in this land. I will miss it. I have been privieleged to see much, much growth in this area since I arrived in July. I saw much growth in myself, in Sister Anderson, in Sister Taysom and in all the Members I met and especially with several investigators. We really tried hard to focus on working with the members and because of that, the investigators that are making progress and have baptismal date will stick. This Branch has become completely missionary-oriented since I have been here. I just feel so privileged to have been able to see their growth. The Lord works miracles and he certainly did in this area at this time. Transfers come and well, I am being transfered again. (Surprise?)
Oh, I also went to Basel in Switzerland this week. I talked with a woman named Frau T. who had just been through a really rough time and had just experienced betrayel and unfairness. She cried and I cried with her and testified of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the joy of the restored ordinances of the Gospel. We introduced her to the missionaries in Basel (we did and exchange with them) and gave them her info. After our talk she said she thinks she needs this. I know the Lord puts others in our path when just ask that he will lead us.
Sister Taysom also gave maybe one of the most motivating and moving talks I have ever heard in Sacrament Meeting. It was on the Atonement and Jesus Christ. Maybe I will just steal it and use it for my homecoming talk. :) I might not want to translate it back to Englisch, so I am sure everyone will just feel the Spirit. Oh ... and Sister Taysom got to be dressed as if she were dead this week. This week was pretty memorable.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
November 7: Wundern!
Liebe Familie,
Diese Woche war wunderbar! Oh, yeah, I have to write this in English. We've been praying hard to really help our investigators progress and we now have 4 progressing investigators. I just love Pforzheim. I know that the Lord is preparing people here to hear the Gospel and accept it. One example is Michael, the husband of a member who came to church on Sunday. He accepted to be baptized on a specific date this week. At church, we held a class for all investigators and had a couple members attend (during Sunday School) and he recited what will become the start of his conversion story. He had meet missionaries before and had absolutely no interest for many many years (he's almost 50 now) and three days after his wife packed up and left, we dropped by looking for her. He thought that was a weird coincidence, but could not yet believe that there was a God let alone that He would coordinate something for him. We made out an appointment with him and testified of the Atonement the first time. I also remember him telling us that it was a strange coincidence and I asked him "do you really think it is just a coincidence?" (he shared that in his explanation :) Four weeks later, he decided to pray for the first time on his own and that day his wife called for the first time. Another strange coincidence? We continued to meet and he is seeing how the Gospel is blessing his life. His wife now wants to the missionaries to come to her where she is so she can become active again. Miracles!!
Also! We met with another wonderful Part Member family this week (we've met a few times). Jenni and Tobias. They have two little girls (one's a baby) and are just a perfect example of an ideal family. The Spirit was just so strong. I have found that I love being asked questions and instead of answering them myself, to give them a chapter in the Book of Mormon to read that will answer it for homework. :) I love the magical land of Pforzheim and Calw and Mönsheim and surrounding areas. The Lord is working miracles here and I simply don't have enough time to write about all of them. I know this Gospel is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ himself. I bare witness as a representative of Jesus Christ that this work is the work of God.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
BUSY!
Liebe Familie,
We are SO busy!!! In short we had a TON of lessons this week with some fabulous people and I am studying like crazy to understand their concerns. We also went to München for three days to have a conference with all of the Sister Missionaries of the mission. It was AMAZING and very rejuvinating. Excited for the work! I love being a missionary!
We are SO busy!!! In short we had a TON of lessons this week with some fabulous people and I am studying like crazy to understand their concerns. We also went to München for three days to have a conference with all of the Sister Missionaries of the mission. It was AMAZING and very rejuvinating. Excited for the work! I love being a missionary!
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
Monday, October 24, 2011
2 Nephi 27 Ich kann mein Werk selbst tun
Liebe Familie,
This week was WONDERFUL and full of the Spirit guiding us where to go, what to say, etc. Unfortunately, we have SO much to do today that I have to rush off, but I wrote it all in my journal, so just ask me another time and I will share it with you. I know the Lord can do His Work and this is His Work. Remember to keep up your own Missionary Work--it is very worth it.
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
This week was WONDERFUL and full of the Spirit guiding us where to go, what to say, etc. Unfortunately, we have SO much to do today that I have to rush off, but I wrote it all in my journal, so just ask me another time and I will share it with you. I know the Lord can do His Work and this is His Work. Remember to keep up your own Missionary Work--it is very worth it.
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
köstlich Schokolade
Liebe Familie,
This week was wonderful! We dropped by to tell Susy happy birthday on Monday and talked about the baptismal date. She was feeling pretty overwhelmed and wanted to not have a date, so it has been postponed. We are still teaching her and she is still making great progress. We had Stake Conference this week as well in Stuttgart. I love these meetings, but I am excited to stop going to Stuttgart every Sunday! Stake Conference was so powerful and the Stake President, Präsident Thomas Schneider talked about sharing the Gospel. He described what it would be like to take a piece of Chocolate in your mouth, close your eyes and just savour the taste. Of course you would want to offer chocolate to others around you and if they say no it is probably not because they don't like you, but for many other reasons. He asked us if we live the Gospel in such a way that people see us enjoying it as one would a delicious piece of Chocolate. I was definitely more excited for Missionary work after that.
Pforzheim is beautiful and getting pretty cold! I am excited for Winter to come and to see all the changes. The people here are truly wonderful. I love being a missionary! I truly learned this week that all that we have truly comes from Heavenly Father. I have never really felt this urgent need to give Heavenly Father all that I have, so I really studied charity and gratitude this week and I am finally starting to get the understanding that I am not giving anything up when I give service because everything, absolutely everything I have truly comes from Him. I am so grateful for a Saviour who made it possible for me to change and be made clean through His Atonement. All the blessings from that Atonement are now available through the fullness of the Gospel in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Don't you want to share that with everyone you see? I do!
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
This week was wonderful! We dropped by to tell Susy happy birthday on Monday and talked about the baptismal date. She was feeling pretty overwhelmed and wanted to not have a date, so it has been postponed. We are still teaching her and she is still making great progress. We had Stake Conference this week as well in Stuttgart. I love these meetings, but I am excited to stop going to Stuttgart every Sunday! Stake Conference was so powerful and the Stake President, Präsident Thomas Schneider talked about sharing the Gospel. He described what it would be like to take a piece of Chocolate in your mouth, close your eyes and just savour the taste. Of course you would want to offer chocolate to others around you and if they say no it is probably not because they don't like you, but for many other reasons. He asked us if we live the Gospel in such a way that people see us enjoying it as one would a delicious piece of Chocolate. I was definitely more excited for Missionary work after that.
Pforzheim is beautiful and getting pretty cold! I am excited for Winter to come and to see all the changes. The people here are truly wonderful. I love being a missionary! I truly learned this week that all that we have truly comes from Heavenly Father. I have never really felt this urgent need to give Heavenly Father all that I have, so I really studied charity and gratitude this week and I am finally starting to get the understanding that I am not giving anything up when I give service because everything, absolutely everything I have truly comes from Him. I am so grateful for a Saviour who made it possible for me to change and be made clean through His Atonement. All the blessings from that Atonement are now available through the fullness of the Gospel in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Don't you want to share that with everyone you see? I do!
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
Deutschland Feiertag!
October 3, 2011
Liebe Familie,
Sorry, I do not remember the name of the holiday today, but everything is basically closed so we are really short on time. It is a miracle we can email at all. God really answered many of our prays this week and several less active members whom we have been praying and begging to come to church for the past several weeks went not just to church but all the way to Stuttgart to see General Conference. General Conference itself was just inspiring. We are truly seeing miracles daily.
We also learned this Tuesday of a new program for new missionaries. This week is the start of a new transfer and Sister Taysom and I are staying together to work through this program, although she has already had 6 weeks without it. It is AMAZING. It is basically Preach My Gospel for dummies and very very inspired. Our studies are 8x more filled with the Spirit and we are much better prepared and already better teachers. I wish I had this at the beginning of my mission. It also helps me to really know exactly how to fulfill my role as a Trainer. I LOVE this work!
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
Sorry, I do not remember the name of the holiday today, but everything is basically closed so we are really short on time. It is a miracle we can email at all. God really answered many of our prays this week and several less active members whom we have been praying and begging to come to church for the past several weeks went not just to church but all the way to Stuttgart to see General Conference. General Conference itself was just inspiring. We are truly seeing miracles daily.
We also learned this Tuesday of a new program for new missionaries. This week is the start of a new transfer and Sister Taysom and I are staying together to work through this program, although she has already had 6 weeks without it. It is AMAZING. It is basically Preach My Gospel for dummies and very very inspired. Our studies are 8x more filled with the Spirit and we are much better prepared and already better teachers. I wish I had this at the beginning of my mission. It also helps me to really know exactly how to fulfill my role as a Trainer. I LOVE this work!
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
Monday, October 10, 2011
Woche des Erlösungsplans
Liebe Familie,
There ist just such a power in hearing Fast and Testimony Meeting. There are usually about 20-25 members at church and I think everyone shares his or her Testimony so we sometimes go over the time. Br. Wolfgang Jungheim shared his conversion story, which I had not heard yet. In 1968, he was 20 or so and had a strong relationship with Father in Heaven, but never went to church. One day, he felt the Spirit tell him to go into the city, so he did and just wandered around and saw of the corner of his eye a table with information from the Church of Jesus Christ. He felt a strong Impression to go back and look at it, he did, a missionary approached him and he was baptized a month later. Sister Taysom also bore her testimony of the Priesthood power. Many others shared powerful testimony, but just before it was all over, Br. O'Sullivan jumped out of his chair and bore his testimony. He shared his story and how he had been going to the Catholic church for the past year and a half, but felt the Spirit remind him strongly (he said "Der Geist musste mich schlagen") that he knew this is the true Church and that his time to come back is now. We met with Suzy, his wife on Thursday and he was caught up at work. We talked a little able the Restoration and read in Joseph Smith History about his experience. She had not known a lot about it. The Spirit was strong and Sister Taysom invited Suzy to be baptized. I invited her to set a goal for the baptism and was really surprised when I said 05. November 2011 since that is a little soon. At the end of the lesson, Suzy prayed for the first time ever in her life. We were amazed at how strong the Spirit was.
We also met with Frau Termer. We have been trying so hard to help Frau Termer to accept a Book of Mormon. She loves the Bible and really studies it. Every translation she can get. She knows the Bible really well. We talked more about the Plan of Salvation and shared 2 Nephi 2:19-25. Once we read verses 22-25, she asked to see it herself and read it outloud 3 or 4 times. She could not believe that the Fall of Adam and Eve could have been a part of God's plan. She gave an analogy: Imagine you are born into the family of a king and are given everything you could ever want. You could even work--in the garden, etc. if you wanted. Only one condition: you may not look in one room or you will be thrown out on the street. Sooner or later your curiosity gets to you and you look and are thrown out on the street. But she stopped there! It was just so beautiful to see how she accepted it when we used her analogy to help her understand. In this analogy, the King is also the Father of the prince or princess and loves them. We read John 3:16 with her and helped her to realize that we could never become the Kings and Queens our Father wants us to become if we just stayed in the Palace. There could not have been progression, but we are developing characteristics and growing while we are out on the street. We even have a communication device that always works--prayer. We invited her to accept a Book of Mormon, read 3 Nephi 11 and pray about it. SHE ACCEPTED!! That may be a small step for someone else, but for Frau Termer that was amazing.
We also talked about the Fall with Hr. Wörner. He feels God just enjoys hurting him and only gives him hardships. We related how the Fall brought about opportunities to have challenges and how challenges helped us. He started to get it and even accepted to truly search for himself to know if it is true and then to be baptized. This week was pretty amazing. Oh, and last week was a holiday so we went to the American Base to do our grocery shopping with Lauren Tree (who lives in Mönsheim). It was like stepping into America for a few hours and then leaving. I love Germany. :D I am so grateful to be here now with this wonderful people. I love being a Missionary and I truly know the Lord can do his work and knows what we need.
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
There ist just such a power in hearing Fast and Testimony Meeting. There are usually about 20-25 members at church and I think everyone shares his or her Testimony so we sometimes go over the time. Br. Wolfgang Jungheim shared his conversion story, which I had not heard yet. In 1968, he was 20 or so and had a strong relationship with Father in Heaven, but never went to church. One day, he felt the Spirit tell him to go into the city, so he did and just wandered around and saw of the corner of his eye a table with information from the Church of Jesus Christ. He felt a strong Impression to go back and look at it, he did, a missionary approached him and he was baptized a month later. Sister Taysom also bore her testimony of the Priesthood power. Many others shared powerful testimony, but just before it was all over, Br. O'Sullivan jumped out of his chair and bore his testimony. He shared his story and how he had been going to the Catholic church for the past year and a half, but felt the Spirit remind him strongly (he said "Der Geist musste mich schlagen") that he knew this is the true Church and that his time to come back is now. We met with Suzy, his wife on Thursday and he was caught up at work. We talked a little able the Restoration and read in Joseph Smith History about his experience. She had not known a lot about it. The Spirit was strong and Sister Taysom invited Suzy to be baptized. I invited her to set a goal for the baptism and was really surprised when I said 05. November 2011 since that is a little soon. At the end of the lesson, Suzy prayed for the first time ever in her life. We were amazed at how strong the Spirit was.
We also met with Frau Termer. We have been trying so hard to help Frau Termer to accept a Book of Mormon. She loves the Bible and really studies it. Every translation she can get. She knows the Bible really well. We talked more about the Plan of Salvation and shared 2 Nephi 2:19-25. Once we read verses 22-25, she asked to see it herself and read it outloud 3 or 4 times. She could not believe that the Fall of Adam and Eve could have been a part of God's plan. She gave an analogy: Imagine you are born into the family of a king and are given everything you could ever want. You could even work--in the garden, etc. if you wanted. Only one condition: you may not look in one room or you will be thrown out on the street. Sooner or later your curiosity gets to you and you look and are thrown out on the street. But she stopped there! It was just so beautiful to see how she accepted it when we used her analogy to help her understand. In this analogy, the King is also the Father of the prince or princess and loves them. We read John 3:16 with her and helped her to realize that we could never become the Kings and Queens our Father wants us to become if we just stayed in the Palace. There could not have been progression, but we are developing characteristics and growing while we are out on the street. We even have a communication device that always works--prayer. We invited her to accept a Book of Mormon, read 3 Nephi 11 and pray about it. SHE ACCEPTED!! That may be a small step for someone else, but for Frau Termer that was amazing.
We also talked about the Fall with Hr. Wörner. He feels God just enjoys hurting him and only gives him hardships. We related how the Fall brought about opportunities to have challenges and how challenges helped us. He started to get it and even accepted to truly search for himself to know if it is true and then to be baptized. This week was pretty amazing. Oh, and last week was a holiday so we went to the American Base to do our grocery shopping with Lauren Tree (who lives in Mönsheim). It was like stepping into America for a few hours and then leaving. I love Germany. :D I am so grateful to be here now with this wonderful people. I love being a Missionary and I truly know the Lord can do his work and knows what we need.
--
Sister Carla June Carroll
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