Life is beautiful. Das Leben ist schön.

Liebe Familie,

We worked SO hard this week. We met with 6 less actives and ALL of them came to church! We have been meeting with Ingrid regularly and I wanted to share a little about her. She is from Paraguay and was baptized as a child, then lost contact with the church. That was all we knew until last week (we have been meeting with her for two and a half months). Laura, from Colombia, but has lived here for 12 years and in USA for 4 years, is Ingrid's best friend and they live together. Laura was reactivated in the Church when she went to live with family in Utah and chose to continue being active once she came back to Germany. We learned that just before we arrived in the ward (maybe a month before), an Elder contacted Ingrid on the bus and found out she was a member. She came to church and has been active ever since (she is 21 and the last time she was at church was when she was 10). She was embraced immediately by the Young Single Adults in the ward and started dating one of them. :) She is basically an investigator and we never new her story! Remember, no matter how long someone has been inactive in the church, sometimes all they need is an invitation. I was surprised to hear how long it had been and how little time she had had at church. Her testimony grows deeper and deeper each week and she has the greatest desire to hear the gospel. I love this ward!!

So we had an eating appointment with Herr Yari (from Iran) on Saturday and 10 minutes before, our Joint Teach texted us to tell us she was sick. We had already asked two others who were busy and we couldn't just cancel since he was making us food. We called everyone we could think of and mostly no one answered. We told him what was going on (remember we must have at least 3:1 gender ratio adults and it is just Herr Yari and his two daughters 8 and 6). We prayed and called, went and dropped by a couple potential investigators in the area while he called and I even asked a random woman on the street if she wanted to join us (she not so politely declined). Two and a half hours later, Schwester Geiger came and we ate. The lesson was really good and they were excited to read more consistently in the Book of Mormon.

We also met with Jimmy who was baptized 6 months ago. He is from Peru and goes to school full time (on a student Visa) and works part time. His work was only on the weekends as a part of his Visa and with the new time (9 am) for church, he could never make it. We all prayed really hard throughout the week and his schedule was changed! He came to church and he is preparing to receive the Priesthood! Awesome!!

We worked really really hard this week to find a new investigator. As Preach My Gospel clarifies, a new investigator is one who has been taught a principle, has prayed with the missionaries (it has to be a lesson) and has agreed to a next appointment. We have four appointments set for next week but all of them for the first time. We are working really hard I promise! The Lord will provide in His timetable. That I know.

The gospel is true. Never forget it. I am so grateful to be serving in this bitterly cold beautiful land. The work will go forth, that I know. Every land is different, but the gospel is the same. I love being a missionary.

--
Sister Carla June Carroll