Finding days, Zone Conferences, teaching lessons, doing service, all in the quaint country of Austria :)

Helloooooooooo!

Crazy week as always. Finding days, Zone Conferences, teaching lessons, doing service, all in the

quaint country of Austria :)

Miracle stories:
1.The work here is going fantastic, with new investigators jumping out of the woodworks.  Zum Beispiel, A, a recent convert, invited his friend, M to come to church. The Linz ward is huge and I'm still working on meeting them all so just on a whim I sat by this lady and it turns out.. she was the non-member brought by A!  haha it was quite the coincidence!

I translated the meeting for her (she just moved here and doesn't speak too much German yet) (In Austria, you can do University in English if you'd like - and that's what she is doing). After translating the meeting, and giving her a Book of Mormon, we went to our gospel principles class where Schwester Brandstätter proceeded to give one of the best lessons on Faith, I have ever seen! M loved it and said she wants to get baptized! WHAT! Sometimes people just really need to feel the Spirit and then then know.  

2. A, from story above, is blind. He recently received the Aaronic Priesthood (the lesser Priesthood authority from God, see here) was able to pass the Sacrament for the very first time yesterday. One might ask, how does a blind man pass the Sacrament? Walking around, with a tray of bread and water and holding it out to those worthy to partake of it, would be nearly impossible for one with an inability to see?  One of the young men in our ward, put one hand on A's shoulder and lead him around the chapel as he passed out the Sacrament to those in attendance.  Both A and the young boy were beaming the entire time and just watching the pure excitement and love for each other and for the excitement they had in serving the Lord brought many to tears. It was such an INCREDIBLE thing to watch.

Sister Pentz, Sister Miles and Sister Harman

3. Zone Conference. President and Sister Miles came to Salzburg for a final ZC and oh my gosh. It was glorious, and super heartbreaking. I love President and Sister Miles so very much! They were able to say some goodbyes and encourage us to love, respect, and carry on the great work that lays before us.  Highlight, we did a musical number - a medley of 'I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go and Gott Sei mit euch bis Aufs Wiederseh'n' it was absolutely beautiful and we all were a mess afterwards. I really am so grateful for President and Sister Miles and all the hours, blood, sweat, tears, and even more love, that they have put into this mission. They are some of the best people I have ever met!

4. Insert super amazing woman. Strong in the church, Mother of a little baby girl, and loves to help the missionaries out. Insert a loving father but, decided that he no longer believes in God. He supports his wife in her decision to come to church but, sees no need for it in his life.  What he doesn't realize, is that his decision is breaking his sweet wife's heart and will effect their sweet little girl as she grows up.  STAY TRUE TO YOUR COVENANTS. Hold true to what you know to be true and if you have doubts, take it to the Lord. Seriously. Watching this poor woman struggle and know that I can do nothing to help other than pray for her, breaks my heart. I know that it breaks God's heart WAY more than it breaks mine and ah. I just wish stories like this never happened :(

5. I read this quote and loved it! 

" To better understand prayer, I have listened to the counsel of others, pondered the scriptures, and studied the lives of prophets and others.    Yet what seems most helpful is seeing in my mind a child approaching trustingly a loving, kind, wise, understanding Father who wants us to suceed. 

Don't worry about your clumsily expressed feelings. Just talk to your Father.  He hears every prayer and answers it in His way.  

When we expain a problem and a proposed solution, sometimes He answers yes, sometimes no.  Often He withholds an answer, not for lack of concern, but because He loves us--perfectly.  He wants us to apply truths He has given us.  For us to grow, we need to trust our ability to make correct decisions.  We need to do what we feel is right.  In time, He will answer.  He will not fail us.

I have described the absolute reality of our relationship with our Father.  There is nothing about us He does not know.  He is conscious of our every need and could provide all the answers.  Yet, becasue His purpose is our eternal happiness, He encourages us to make the correct choices."

From June 2014, New Era (You can read the whole article here) 

Reading this whole article, really helped me put into perspective the answers I'm looking for in my life and feel more assurance in knowing that God really is always there to answer not only my prayers but, the answers of those people we're teaching! The work of God goes forward and I'm so grateful to be a part of it!

Transfer news! Sister Pentz is getting transferred (fastest six weeks of my life). I'll be working with Sister McEwen from Scotland. It's kindof funny, I know almost all the Sisters in the mission now, but she was one of the ONLY ones I don't know yet haha She's been out for almost as long as me and has been serving in Switzerland her whole mission. I'm going to miss working with Sister Pentz - she's an incredible missionary and a wonderful friend! I know she's going to love Tübigen and Sister Motto!

Well.. that was the longest email ever so I'll leave it at that! Know that I love you all and wish you the best of weeks!

Liebe Grüße!

Sister Harman

Editor's note:  The pictures are from the hike Sister Harman and Sister Pentz went on last week.  Gorgeous!  

Also notice Sister Harman is wearing a German national team jersey for the World Cup!   Nice win over Portugal!  :)

I did my first ausstellung this week!

Liebe Familie!

Sorry that this email is so late!  It's been a crazy week already! We went on a beautiful hike! (Don't hate me but, I may have accidently left my camera at home today...) NEXT WEEK!  We taught some really great lessons (hence we're doing a quick email today!)  

To start, what a crazy week! Sadie is a mama! I hope the puppies are adorable.. (they look like cute little aliens in the picture haha)  I did my first ausstellung this week - where we set up a sign and just talk to anyone and everyone about whatever the sign says. Sister Pentz and I went to Ried (adorable little town in a neighboring area) and helped out Elders Kastendieck and Hancey (if you remember, this Elders were in my very first district in the MTC!)  We talked to so many people and it was just a blast.  Sure, it was ridiculously hot but! It was one of those Best Two Years moments, when you really just FEEL like a missionary! 

Crazy amazing lessons with B this week. This time we had J as a translator and it was incredible. We juuust got out of a lesson with B and J, where we talked about the Doctrine of Christ. The Doctrine of Christ lays out what we are asked to do in this life, in order to return to live with our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ took upon himself the sins of the world (including your's and mine!) but, there's somethings we need to do to access the power of his sacrifice. Namely, have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, repent on the sins we have committed, be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood power of God, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost (as stated in Acts 2), and endure to the end (basically, continually living to be worthy of the blessings the Lord sees fit to give us).  It's incredible to see people exercise their faith in God. To pray and ask Him, what His plan for them is.  B prayed about Baptism and says he knows he needs to be baptized - biggest problem is: he cannot share this joy with his wife and son, who are still currently living in a country where Christianity is not allowed.  

It really hit me - I am so grateful that I was born in America, a place where we enjoy religious freedom.  I'm so grateful to be born into a wonderful family that loves and supports me in all my crazy adventures.  You all are a HUGE blessing in my life and I know I would have been lost without your influences in my life. Seriously.  Each and everyone of you are a treasure to me!  Throwing a little spotlight on Dad this week, Dad! I just want to say thank you so very much. Your love, support, and neverending faith in my ability to improve has been an unbelievable beacon to me.  I've always known where to turn when I started to feel a little uncertain or scared. Your love has been an echo of the love Heavenly Father has for me and man! I don't know what I would have done without your influences in my life. THANK YOU! 

In other words, missionary work goes forward and I'm loving my time here! Basking in the Austrian Sun (no sunburns yet!)

Know that I love you all and pray for you all! Keep on keeping on!

Love, 

Sister Harman

Editor's note:  We should have lots of pictures next week.

This week was the fastest week ever!

Servus!!

Well shoot. This week was the fastest week ever!  I started trying to write some of the things that happened and realized that I was writing about the week prior! Oops!

Fun news:

Sister Pentz and I are scarily similar.   We both have a deep love for chocolate, peanut butter, rain, talking, sleeping, missionary work, and basically our outlooks on life.  Safe to say, it's a pleasure to work with a certain tall, giggly Sister Pentz!

Lesson successes! We taught an incredible lesson to a man named H on Wednesday. It was our first lesson with him. Watching him get so excited about the blessings that can come through Baptism and following the commandments of God was a wonderful experience! Insert him asking questions like, 'What can I do to follow the example of Jesus Christ?' 'How can I receive the blessings of coventants?' Simple answer: exercising the faith we do have!  Following all his commandments, repenting, and being baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God. Sister Pentz, Sister Ajmi (a member from our congregation that came with us), and I just kept looking at each other in surprise.  People aren't usually so open and ready to make such big changes in their life and he was ASKING us from the start - just how he could make these changes! 

Wednesday after this appointment, we were on cloud nine. We had all really felt the Spirit and when you feel the Spirit, you just can't help but to be happy!  The plan for the rest of the day was packed with appointments and then BAM! Yep. Every appointment (5) and joint teach (members who would like to come with us) fell out. Bummer, right?  But, we, the Linz Sisters are troopers! We laughed it off, did our back up plans, BAM! Rejection with everyone we talked to. The day ends, still happy and chatting about how missionaries have to have days when everything falls out.  Thursday, another appointment with H. At 12:30, when we were supposed to meet and H didn't show up - I gave him a call to see why he was late.  He answered and confessed his undying love.  How he couldn't come to the appointment because he knew that I was a Sister missionary and couldn't bare to see me and know that we couldn't be together.  I calmly explained (still over the phone) that my purpose was to invite people to come onto Christ and that we could have the Elders teach him instead (if seeing me was too difficult). He then proposed to me, asking me to leave my time as a missionary and become his wife. 

We know how this story ends.  Sister Harman, explaining her purpose. H sadly accepting. The two parting as friends and his teaching will be continued by the Elders!  :) 

In other news, Sister Pentz and I sang before Sacrament meeting (scary but sounded great!).  And we had another lesson with B! Not as dramatic as the lesson with H, but, much more productive!  B is making tons of progress and is already half way through 1 Nephi! Using a translator can be tricky in lessons but, it's just amazing to see the Spirit work!   Sister Pentz and I decided to teach the Restoration of the Gospel in picture form.  So we just drew pictures as we taught so that nothing we taught would get lost in translation! 

Well, I love you all and wish you the happiest of weeks!

Love,

Sister Harman 

Editor's note:  I mentioned in Sister Harman's email "I get the sense that you, from the very beginning, have felt so lucky, blessed to have the chance to serve a mission!  It was an unexpected gift to you from Heavenly Father."  Her response was "Truth!"   Her attitude is such a blessing to me. :)

Lessons we learn from each area and each companion

Liebe Familie, Freunde, und Fremde Menschen :)

Sister Harman and Sister Clark

This week, just like every week, was a blur. I sat here for like 5 minutes just staring at the screen trying to remember what happened this week so that I could send a decent report! haha Never fear! That's one of the many reasons God gave missionaries planners.  We had our exchanges this week with the Sister training leaders.  I had the privilege to work with....

Sister Woods and Sister Harman

SISTER CLARK! That's right. Sister Clark. We were companions in Wien for two blessed transfers and it was so fun to work with her again - this time in Linz! Something that really hit us both as we went throughout our time together - is how inspired Mission Presidents, in our case President Miles, are with who and where people work.  The lessons that we learn from each area and each different companion are so unique and really do help us make all sorts of progress in our lives.  I've been able to see God's hand really guiding my mission along as I've learned to laugh (Sister Woods), to be kind (Sister Clark), to find simple joys (Sister Brinck), to love everyone (Sister Powell), and to be happy (Sister Pentz). I've learned so much more from all of the lovely sisters I've worked with but, really that is just a small example of how INCREDIBLE they are and how MARVELOUS it is to be a servant of the Lord.  

Sister Harman and Sister Powell

Sister Brink and Sister Harman

Sister Harman and Sister Pentz 

We were able to teach quite a few lessons with week. One with a new investigator, B. He's not from Austria but, has been searching for God for quite some time. He's visited lots of churches, read lots of books, prayed loads, but, still hasn't found what he feels is right for him.  Insert friend, M, M is a newly baptized member of the church and just wants to share his love and faith with everyone, especially his dear friends. M invited B to come to the church for a tour. As we showed the two of them the church, it was a little tricky! B doesn't speak German or English so M was translating the entire time. Part way through our lesson, Sister Anreither (a member who we asked to help us teach the lesson) pulled out her ipad and showed the Because of Him video.  Even though B couldn't understand the text, he could feel the Spirit as we watched this beautiful video.  It was a great time for me to see that we don't the right language to help someone come closer to God. The most important thing that we can bring to a lesson or to a conversation, is the Spirit.  When we teach, talk, testify by the Spirit, that's when anyone and everyone can understand!  

Check it out! Because of Him

Hmm. I love you all. Loads and loads and loads. And shout out to Katie and Aubree! Congratulations on graduating! (I loved both of our graduation announcements! You both look beautiful!)

Sister Harman

Challenge! Pray for an opportunity to help someone

Liebe Familie!

WHAT THE WHAT! Yep. May is already half over!  Random fact: Elder Hancey was my district leader 1 year ago.. and he's my district leader now.  I've started reading my journal entries from last year at this time and it's been so interesting to see how overwhelmed I felt then.  There's so much for a young missionary to learn and, especially, when we're learning a new language. I just want to hug the Sister Harman from last year and tell her that German isn't that hard and that she'd learn everything she would need to.  Luckily, I get to work with a 19 year old Sister who's fresh and make sure she feels ready and pumped for the task at hand.

This week included freak rain storms, (drowned rat - hair styles, soaked clothes, and lots and lots of laughter)  teaching some great lessons (we get to use an Elder from our mission via Skype as a translator!), and making our way around Linz (I think we only got lost three or four... maybe six or seven times haha).  All in all, I'm loving it and I'm just so grateful to be here serving the great people in Linz.

Cool Story!

We were getting off a straßenbahn, when I started talking to this young man who has getting off as well. He related about how he had just moved here to Linz and was looking for a Christian church to attend. We had to hop on a bus to make it to our appointment on time and so we were a little rushed. He didn't know his cell phone number because he just barely got an Austrian number the day before, and to make matters worse - his phone was dead. So he told us he'd call us and after he charged his phone and we parted ways, planning to meet on Sunday for church. I was a little disappointed but, thought we never know, maybe he'd actually call! That evening, an unknown number called and it was H! He asked again about where we would meet for church! (I love it when people REMEMBER!) He came to church and LOVED Sacrament meeting! I was getting a little nervous because I knew our Sunday School lesson was going to be about the Abrahamic Covenant (a little deeper than a first lesson!) But, surprise! He loved that too! He asked us right after Sunday school, when we could meet again to teach him more about the Book of Mormon and our church, and said he had a lot of questions from what he had learned!

And that's just one example of the crazy miracles that we see multiple times every single day. I think the greatest contributing factor to our VAST number of miracles... we pray for them.  We pray before we go outside, for the Lord to lead us to people, who need help, who are ready to accept the gospel.  After we say our prayers, we get out there and diligent work to actually find the people He has prepared for us! 

Challenge!  Pray for an opportunity to help someone and then email me with your results!

I love you all!
Sister Harman

Editor's note - No pictures this week.  If you happen to write to Sister Harman this week feel free to ask for some pictures.  ;)

Naaaa... Servus!

Liebe Familie,

Meine Gute! Thanks for the Skype call yesterday! It was wonderful to see all your beautiful faces and man. Ya'll looked great! haha

Skyping Sister Harman!  :) :)

Linz is AMAZING. It's a pretty big city (a lot bigger than Ludwigsburg) and so there's always people to talk to.  We've been having lots of fun trying to figure out where were headed and we've only gotten lost.. twice.. maybe three or four times. Nonetheless, it's been great. It's a little funny, everytime we get really lost - we end up having a really meaningful gospel discussion and so while we're lost.. we're really just exactly where we need to be.  I'm doing my best to get to know the area as quickly as possible. I know it's hard for Sister Pentz being so new and being expected to know so much but, if any pair can do it together, it's us!

Sister Pentz and Sister Harman 

Linz, Austria

Cool story!  Sister Pentz had just picked me up at the Salzburg trainstation and we were waiting on our Gleis for our train to take us to Linz.  She asked me a German question and we were Danglish it.  A young man from Ireland came up and asked us if we were the Mormon missionaries.  We replied that we were and he explained that some Elders (boy missionaries) had talked to him in Ireland on the street but, he was too busy at the time and told them so.  He felt a little guilty for being so harsh with them so when he saw us two, he knew this was in chance to really hear what we had to say.  (And he helped us lift up my ridiculously heavy bags on to our train). We ended up having a super gospel discussion on the train with him as well as a theology professor from England, who came and sat down by us.  We cleared up alot of rumors they had heard and really got into what made our church different. The Restoration. It was incredible.  We gave them Book of Mormons and it was great to see Sister Pentz get SO excited and bear her testimony of it's truthfulness.

Saying goodbye to Ludwigsburg and Sister Powell

In other news, I love being a missionary! Sister Pentz is great! And really tall! and I love you all!

Have a blessed week!

Sister Harman

I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED!‏

Liebe Familie!

So surprise, surprise! I'm getting the boot. Headed out to.... (drumroll please!) Linz, Austria!   I'll be working with Sister Pentz! She was born in Switzerland but, she's also from Colorado. She just finished up her first transfer. (5 blessed weeks out here in the field!) I'm becoming the Step-Mother! (I get to finish up training her) I've not met Sister Pentz yet, but, she's sure to be wonderful! 

Munich and Sttugart Zones

This past week was INSANE. We had mission tour, a finding day in Munich, amazing lessons, transfer calls, a baptism, and saying so many goodbyes (see you later's) to the amazing people here in Ludwigsburg. I haven't cried so much in... ever haha But, it was good!

Mission Tour with Elder Dyches was absolutely incredible. He served his mission here in Germany in what was then, the Munch Mission and ah! I loooved hearing his stories!  He taught us alot about what it means to be happy. And it just hit me again.. everyday we make a decision to be happy or sad. To smile or to frown. To give a compliment or say nothing. I want to always be the kind of person, who is a positive influence. Mom - this should sound familiar. When I was in 8th grade, I was going through a rough time. I had just dislocated my hip and was in lots of pain alll the time. Instead of dealing with it quietly, I grumbled, complained and was not a fun person to be around. My wonderful Mother, being the incredible woman she is, sat me down and gave me a loving, but stern talk on being positive.  At the end of our talk, she laughingly told me that 'It's in your blood! B+! Do you get it?!' I couldn't stop laughing and I've never forgotten the lesson (or my blood type!) haha We decide! We have control over  ourselves and have the opportunity to learn to manage ourselves a liiittle bit better everyday! 

Also, This Sunday is Mother's Day!  I want to do a shoutout to my Mom.  You are GLORIOUS. Seriously, I have absolutely no idea what I would have done without your helping influence in my life and I'm still so grateful to know that you are ALWAYS there for me! In a lesson this week with the Grimes family, we all got down on our knees and asked Schwester Grimes to say a prayer. A prayer asking God if baptism is something her children needed in their lives.  Right after she asked the Lord this question in prayer, she followed with Can you please give us a small sign to know what to do. RIGHT THEN, the phone rang and everyone looked up - shock and wonder on their faces. 'In  die Name Jesu Christi Amen!' S. Grimes said it so fast and we all just sat there looking around like.. did that just really happen?! Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes, He's very blunt and clear. haha They came to the Baptism of Nele Hoffmann on Saturday and will set baptismal dates at the Sisters' appointment on Friday! I talked to the girls after the baptism, and they both just had tears in their eyes. They said they had receive their answer from God and knew now what they needed to do! And it all started by a Mother's Prayer. 

Basically, missions are the best. The happiest, most wonderful moments in the world, and also some of the saddest. Having to say goodbye to my German family here in Ludwigsburg was really really hard but, I know that the Lord knows what is needed of me and what these people need. They need a different Sister right now. Linz needs this crazy Sister right here! So that's what we'll be doing! Going where we need to be going, doing what we need to be doing.

I love you all and am excited to Skype you on Sunday!

Sister Harman

P.S. Mom.... you're the best!