What. A. Week.

Liebe Familie,

What. A. Week.  We had transfers, and Stake Conference this week. As you know, nothing changed here in Ludwigsburg but, in my district, we have two new additions! Elder Rozan from Spain (straight from the MTC) and Elder Herzog from Wien Zone! It's really fun to have some golden power back in our district (Elder Smith here in Ludwigsburg is now done with his training) and an Elder I know from my time in Wien! Woo! 

haha so last P-day... That's a good story. Sister Powell has been having so issues with her feet, so we called up the mission nurse, got the necessary supplies and I had the blessed opportunity to care for her feet. Don't worry! I volunteered.. I didn't think we would find someone else willing haha  But, this Pday we have some workers coming to fix something in our bathroom so the only P-day like thing we're doing today is emailing ya'll!  We got permission to have the rest of our Pday on Thursday so we'll be heading to an Art Museum in Stuttgart! :)  

Also, questions about health and overall wellness.  I'm doing great! I'm fairly certain my asthma is gone, and my hip never bothers me annnd I am just happy to be here.  Sounds cliche but, God is really making everything work out so that I can just work hard here and not worry about other things! It's great! Sister P has been a little sick but, nothing too bad. She's been a trooper about the whole thing.  

Funny story from this last week, I was almost kissed by a Macedonian man.  (don't worry. I'm an expert dodger!)  

Random.  I met a lady from the Stuttgart International Ward - her aunt and uncle used to own a ranch in Meeker.  And she has a friend that used to live there too.  I don't know if you'll have heard of them, but, it was strange to meet someone who actually knew about Meeker haha.

Our investigators are doing as well as ever! I told ya'll a while about about this part member family, we've been teaching. We have an appointment with this family every Friday and we always bring a joint teach. Last minute, our joint teach fell out.  We called everyone imaginable, but, they were all busy.  We were still excited for the lesson we had planned.  We wanted to play a game with the youngest boy so that he wouldn't get bored and rowdy but, still keep the older teenagers involved. We had him be Samuel the Lamanite and everyone else were told to throw little pieces of paper at him.  It went over so well and then, the rest of the lesson, he was just ready to sit still and we were able to talk about the importance of the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Why would so many prophets risk and, many, sacrifice their lives for a book?  If the message it contains is really worth someone's life, shouldn't we be treasuring the message they contain?  The Spirit did all the work and before we knew it, they were all agreeing to study daily in the scriptures.  Because the following day was Stake Conference, we made plans with the daughters to get ice cream together and then go to Stake Conference.  

The Saturday part of Stake Conference was so simple but, so powerful. Several new members of the church were asked to share their conversion stories.  About how they came to the knowledge that Jesus Christ is their Savior and that God has a plan for them. Then, the youth (12-18) and all the missionaries got up and sang The EFY Medley, A really really really beautiful song.  (If you don't know it, you should look it up and if you do know it, you should listen to it in German :))  Everyone was crying and the Spirit was palpable! 

Sunday Conference was also amazing. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake City, in which Sister Stephens, Elder Bednar and Elder Hales spoke.  This broadcast was specialized just for the people here in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It was incredible! All the speakers, really spoke to the needs of the people here and about the importance of family.  Making and keeping the covenants of Baptism and of marriage, a priority in our lives!  I loved it!  And, Elder Bednar, gave his talk in GERMAN! No translation needed.  He served his mission here 40 years ago or so and it was so cool to hear him speak the language of the people.  They loved it!  I think as English speakers sometimes we take for granted the blessing we have to hear from prophets and apostles first in our own tongue.  That blessing is often overlooked, but, man. It really does make a difference. 

Stake Conference was really incredible.  I felt really blessed to come away, not only with ideas on how I could help our investigators, but, also for me.  When we come to meetings with a question, whether it's a stake meeting or simply sacrament meeting. We open ourselves up to inspiration from God. I am really excited someday to go back to school, meet someone great, get married, have some adventures, kids, life!  But, there are so many things that I really need to learn before I'm ready to do any of that. It's silly, but, I had this big moment that told me why I needed to go on a mission!  So that I would be ready to weather the future.  This is really my preparation for the rest of my life.  Without my time here, I would be literally ill prepared for life after.  Not too mention there are people here I need to teach about the gospel!  So many people!  

Basically, I just love my mission. I love serving people. I love teaching people. I love depending on the Spirit. My Companions, the Lord.  And heck! I love German too! 

All in all, this week was incredible. I love serving people, making people laugh, cry and come to realize there is more to this life than what the world tells us.  I'm just really grateful to be here!

Thanks guys for all your do for me! I really appreciate it!!

Love you!

Sister Harman