I'm feeling loads better!!

Liebe Familie!

Sister Harman

So sorry about my email being so short last week! As I'm sure you've heard, I was feeling really sick. But, never fear. Fever is gone, and I'm feeling loads better. Mom. I love those books. (The Divergent Series)  I didn't even know they were making a movie! I'm sure it'll be awesome! You'll have to put it on my list of books to read and movies to watch when I get home.. You're still got loads of time to start making it but, I expect a decent list when I get home haha

This week was spent with the first half really a blur. Just staying in bed and getting better but, by the end of the week - we were finding and teaching as per usual!  Speaking of teaching, we had an amazing lesson with the Grimes.  Can I just say I love this family?  Watching them make progress in the gospel has been incredible and they are just so wonderful.  Little Jonas was sick this past week, so we asked if we could bring the Elders and their home teacher with us for our lesson.  The Elders and Harold would be able to give Jonas a Priesthood blessing (like Jesus gave to the sick in the Bible).  This blessing we knew, would help Jonas recover more quickly and give the family, the assurance they needed!  Sister Grimes was very excited to have Jonas receive this blessing.  After the blessing, little Jonas was so peaceful! (A big task for this wild 3 year old)  The Elders headed out and we had a lesson about covenants.  We wanted to make sure that the family really understood what covenants are and why they are so important to us.  Without covenants (promises we make with God), we can't possible become cleansed from our sins.  We had challenged the girls to pray about baptism this past week and they said they felt like God is telling them that Baptism is something they need in their lives!  The Spirit was so strong during this appointment and I could really just feel how proud our Heavenly Father is when we begin to follow Him.  

In other news,  my lovely Gemeinde Ludwigsburg called me like crazy this week to wish me well and to offer mountains of food! All the Relief Society Sisters were determined that their Chicken Soup really could heal me haha :)  We really felt the love and support of everyone! So thankyou! We could feel the prayers :)  

This week will be transfer calls and I'm just patiently waiting for whatever comes.  I have loved my time here in Ludwigsburg and would GLADLY stay another transfer (especially so that I could be here for the Grimes Baptisms!) but, if I'm sent elsewhere, I know it'll be a great opportunity to learn from another companion and a new area! 

I love missionary work. I love being a missionary.  Heck, I even love being a missionary when I'm sick, because at least I'm still a missionary!

The Krissie we know and love!

Thank you for the love, emails, letters, packages, support, and prayers! I really feel them!

Love,

Sister Haman

P.S. We're having a massive finding day this Saturday with all of Stuttgart and Freiburg Zones coming together. It's going to be great!  This week we're having a MASSIVE combined finding day with over 80 missionaries and all the YSA members.  We'll be doing a Book of Mormon flashmob (where everyone sits down at a certain time, pulls out a blue copy of the Book of Mormon, and reads for 15 minutes) We'll be doing this in Stuttgart, on Königstraße one of the busiest streets in Germany! I'm so excited to see what kind of publicity we'll be getting and hopefully be able to spark interest in our church!  

Cool fact: In Germany, people drink lots of tea, But, mostly fruit teas (which are allowed!). The missionaries laugh about how we never drank tea until we were out on missions ;)  

What it means to be a friend?

Liebe Familie,

I'm not feel super red hot today so this is going to be a short one. Sister Powell and I had the opportunity to teach at a Jugendwochende (a stake activity for all the young men and young women). They had loads of different workshops that people could sign up for! We taught our's about communication. It was so great to see the young men and young women getting so excited about stepping out of the box when it comes to friendshipping.  We highlighted the importance of really LISTENING when someone is talking to us (that means put your phones away!) and loving our enemies.  One girl made the comment about being friends with MOFs. (Menschen ohne freunde.. literally people without friends) While at first, it shocked me, I realized that every language and culture has people they treat just like that. Who people say literally aren't WORTH being someone else's friend.  

Basically, I'm just going to be studying alot this week about friendship and what it means to be a friend.  I know I always want to be the kind of friend someone else would like to have :)  

Love you all!

Sister Harman

Sister Harman's mom here:  When Sister Harman says she doesn't feel good that means she is quite sick.  I pried it out of her that she has been running a fever, chills, sore throat etc for 3 days!  Luckily, members take care of the missionaries!  Yesterday, the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader sent her home from church to go to bed.  Thank you Bishop and Bruder Stein!  She is tough as nails but didn't feel good enough to finish her email to me, so her sweet companion Sister Powell did. 

This is Sister Powell typing now...Sister Harman is curled up on the floor. I'm going to take her home and make her go to bed. Thanks for having such an awesome hardworking daughter. 

She says to give the family a hug from her, and that she'll do her best to get better soon!

WE LOVE YOU ALL!

- Sister Powell and Sister Harman 

What a wonderful companion Sister Powell is! Thank you Sister Powell and we love you too! 

Every single person is a child of God! These people have hopes, dreams and fears and needs love too!

Liebe Familie,

Doing just super this sunny Montag morning!  This last week has been full of beautiful temperatures, (it's soo warm!) and teaching the good word of God!  To answer a few questions, nope (i asked if her allergies were bothering her.)  I just avoid cats and I've been good to go!  Annnd biggest challenge on my mission?

That's a good question... Biggest challenge on my mission. I might think about that this week and then get back to you.  I don't think I have had an experience that gave me so much pause as to say it was a challenge... let alone the greatest challenge of my mission. Hmm.. till next week on that one! 

But, the greatest suprise blessing! That I could learn German so fast, or have the strength to work 16 hours a day, that I would enjoy talking to random strangers all day every day about Jesus Christ, that wearing a skirt every day doesn't phase me (I still like pants more but, I don't mind skirts), I enjoy listening to EFY music (Surprise!), I enjoy having a being with someone 24/7, annnd that I'm beginning to understand so much more about what I thought I already understood: the gospel!  

This week I had an incredible moment.  I sat down on a bus, getting ready to contact lots of great people... at that instance, my fellow bus riders saw my badge and scooted away.  I was so sad!  There were not too many people on this bus, so getting up and finding somebody else to talk to wasn't really an option.  A couple young men, proceeded to say some really not so nice things, and I just found myself feeling really down!  It just broke my heart. These people have NO idea what they are missing out on. This gospel, God's Plan, provides the opportunity to be not just happy for now, but, to be happy ETERNALLY.  (One of those you know you're a missionary when... moments)  I got a small glimpse at what the Sons of Mosiah meant went they said, they grieved for the people who were dwindling in unbelief.  It was a pain so palpable that it physically hurt!  We stepped off the bus, and walked slowly to our apartment and I just wanted to cry!  Sounds so silly but, I was really upset. After planning, I sat down and said some mighty prayers. Recommiting my efforts here to serving the Lord. To really put my heart, might and mind into his hands, and SURPRISE! I felt whole. Happy. Ready to go to work again!  And that's just what we did! Since that night, we've found even more people, who were ready to hear about His gospel, and we enjoyed every second of it!

Also, side note for this week... have you all seen this video yet?

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/bullying-stop-it?lang=eng 

I loved it! I think it really helps us put into perspective that every single person, we see, is a child of our Heavenly Father! These people have hopes, dreams and fears and, as such, need love too! So love people! Go say hi to that quiet person, give a sincere compliment, say thank you, and remember that God and his son, Jesus Christ, love you!  

P.S. I love you too!

Sister Harman

Full of miracles, finding, teaching, and lots and lots of eating.

Liebe Familie!

So it's März! That's pretty cool ;)  This week was splendid!  Full of miracles, finding, teaching, and lots and lots of eating. We actually weren't able to go to the Art Museum this past week - but, we went with our Bishop and the Elders to the Rittersport Chocolate Factory instead! It was AWESOME! I love chocolate and I love seeing where it is made.  This really nice Turkish man came and fixed our bathroom sealent thing!  He is a kind gentleman with 3 children, just around my age, and said he'd love to come to our English class sometime!  

So our less-actives are doing well!  As I said, we've been meeting with the Grimes family every Friday night. Jessica, one of the daughters, came to our English class on Wednesday and it went really well! She understands so much English, but is a little shy to speak it.  S. Grimes, Alisa, and Jonas also came but, they stayed outside and talked to Bischof Kern and S. Kern who were both at the church as well. It was the first time S. Grimes had been in our church building in a really long time. Fast forward to Friday, as per usual, we had our appointment with the Grimes family.  To start, the girls talked about how much they enjoy their Book of Mormon readying and how excited they were to come to a normal Sacrament service! (They had come with us to Stake Conference last week) . As we taught the kids about the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement, you could just see the wheels turning in S. Grimes' mind.  She ended up closing the lesson with some of the sweetest, most heartfelt testimony I have ever heard! The kids just all quieted down and the Spirit just brought this wonderful peace into the room. It was so wonderful to see the family really come all together to make progress in coming to Christ. Families are the most clever invention (Heavenly Father gets some style points for this one!).  We're put in a unit, in which we can learn, grow, thrive, and support each other.  It made me really wonder... do I treat my family as the miracle it is?  Not bad, but, I can always do better! So I decided, I'm going to be a little better. Might be a little bit easier, thousands of miles away but, either way! I'm going to start now haha Soooo go thank your family! They do so much for you! (Cough... thanks guys! You're really great!! :D)

To sum up this week... I love Ludwigsburg. I love our investigators, less actives, members, random people that I get to talk to.  I love German. I really love this gospel.  The chance to share, what makes me who I am, is an incredible, life-changing opportunity that is literally priceless!  And, of course, I love you all!

Thanks for all the support you and the family give me. I really do love my time here and I'm doing my very best to do all that He would have me do.  It's funny, the more I study consecration - the more I want to give to him. It's a really interesting topic and helps me see that it's only by giving Him everything - that I have anything. I don't know if that makes sense but, it's a topic I'm working on :)

Thanks for your love and emails and letters and prayers! Alles!

Love you!

Sister Harman