Pictures (Sent 9/23/13)

at the Frankfurt Bahnhof eating my first currywurts! yummy

the wreck of desks we own. Opening an area is a dangerous business

the wreck of desks we own. Opening an area is a dangerous business

the wreck of desks we own. Opening an area is a dangerous business

this is the view from the kitchen window

This is our bedroom window!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this view! i have to stop myself from staring out it for too long

This is our bedroom

This is our study room although the desks are now in the center of the room and its way messier

This is the entry way note our transparent front door. There is now a German flag in front of it but its a very thin flag. Keeps life interesting no?

Again the red roof tops. Every house we have been to has the most beautiful views. ours is in the city so its not stunning but it is oh so nice

This is what sweet sis. Prince did to my desk to celebrate my goldeness. she is so awesome

cool thing about Germany, you have castle ruins in the middle of the city with skyscrapers

This is also the fountain that we walk by like 20 times a day. so we fish faced it.

Doners!!! my first ever. Its like a gyro only way yummier

Doners!!! my first ever. Its like a gyro only way yummier

Doners!!! my first ever. Its like a gyro only way yummier

our jelly beds are so soft we have tried everything to see if we can have a nights sleep with out wanting to die in the morning.

look at me hanging up photos like a meister

my super intense planner

sis prince was in a little bit of a shock after seeing so much american food.

sis. prince and Kaitlyn Merril enjoying their pops from the commissary.

Cobblestone!!!

last p-day we hiked to a castle ruin, this is the beautiful church at the start of the hiking trail

the road.

this is like our first companionship photo together

me messing with the camera settings. so much fun

me messing with the camera settings. so much fun

me messing with the camera settings. so much fun

me at the totally awesome castle ruins. there were a lot of selfies taken so just wait till you get my memory card

me at the totally awesome castle ruins. there were a lot of selfies taken so just wait till you get my memory card

the castle

the well

us on the castle wall

us walking for the heck of it

Our Church building. Our home away from home

Sis. Prince and I when we got locked out of the church.

old pictures of the  Pacific NW. Psych! its still Germany

old pictures of the  Pacific NW. Psych! its still Germany

Elder Lymann being weird

Elder Ruff in his catatonic state

It was so late when we were returning from Frankfurt. We were all getting loopy

Elder Ruff drinking away his tired headache with Coke.

again on the train.

So we had like 150lbs of supplies with us on the train. and we didn't pull into K-town till around 11:15pm. So we unintentionally kept our elders up so that they could walk us home... slash carry our bags up the 4 flights of stairs. and look at them so happy to do it

there is this magical game that sis. Prince taught me. We were eating berliners. but you can try this  with anything that has powder sugar. there is only one rule. Do not lick your lips. It is way way hard.

this is our kitchen

Pig on a Spit (Sent 9/23/13)

So I totally failed at writing emails to ya'll two weeks in a row. but really if every photo is a thousand words. I wrote you a novel. But for those that want more here is Sis. Princes email that I am stealing. So yep life Its wonderful. also the thought at the end was a combine effort so I will give you my second witness of how great the gospel is. I have been having a hard time with the mission and knowing how i can contribute. and simply how to do anything. I was getting really home sick but what got me through was knowing that "and it came to pass" would happen again.

I can feel your prayers, and your thoughts. I can not explain it because it is a very non-physical experience. It is a very spiritual feeling that words cannot touch. I can also feel Gods hand in my life. He never lets us go to far feeling alone before he shows us that he is always there. Very strongly Have I felt that this past week. There has been such blessings in my life from the gospel. When we were watching Cale learn about the gospel and see his face light up over the clarity he was hearing, He treated it like gold! Why don't we? We have the key to happiness. lasting true happiness why do we not be consistent to the gospel the way it is consistent to us? It has been an interesting thought to hold on to and to mull over. I think more than anything else this mission is converting me unto Christ more fully than anything I could possibly accomplish on the mission through my own efforts.

 

I love you all. ( my emails are not a reflection of my love)

 

Sis. Wadsworth

Dear Family and Friends,

 

"We are an island in the sun!!! Oi! Oi!"- A Muppet's Christmas Carol

 

This week was pretty cold, after all, I am back to tights and boots. But, we had a Luau with the Ward regardless! All the young women were in the Hawaiian skirts and it was all rainy and overcast. They cooked a pig on a spit in a giant hole at the bishop's house. It was really fun and there were a lot of non-members there. I was meeting people constant left and right and probably only met a sixth of the ward.

 

This week we have been putting an emphasis on service. I love it when people let you serve them. We were at church last Sunday and were talking to Sister Bains and found out that she had just switched from military temporary housing to a real house and so I just said, "could we come over and help you set up and setting in more?" And her honestly shone through and she said, "Actually, that would be great." We got there and set up her trampoline. It was way fun too.

 

And now for the adventure stories:

Last Monday, we went exploring and found an ancient (1200) castle in ruins. We explored and had fake sword fights. There was this beautiful well with a tree growing up and around it. All the stone archways and collapsing walls were beautiful. It was raining and the enchanting forest called my name. I have always imagined running through a forest like a fairy and this was my opportunity. I got one of the other sisters to run with me through the forest like a fairy and it was way fun until she told me to check myself for ticks later... ha ha ha

 

This week we had a bunch of missionary meetings. First was Golden/Trainer Conference for all new missionaries and their trainers. Then we stayed the night in Frankfurt am Main and the next day we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) and so my companion went on a split with another sister from Frankfurt. It was really enlightening and we discussed a lot of things going on in the mission. The adventure was coming home.

 

You see, this was our only chance for the entire transfer that we could get missionary supplies from the mission, so we brought to suitcases to hall all this stuff back from white boards, to 100 copies of the Book of Mormon. And they weighed a ton! They booked our train ride back for 8 pm which meant we would arrive at 930pm at Kaiserslautern. We had the zone leaders with us because we were all on the same ticket. It had been a long day as we arrived at the main train station in Frankfurt. As we were waiting for our train, a lady who was Mormon came up to us and started speaking to us, which is crazy how small our world really can be. Then they came over the announcements and said our train was running twenty minutes late. We would for sure miss our next connection. We got on the ICE train and sped away to Mannheim. We got off only to realize that because it was getting later and later in the night, the trains didn't run as frequently. We had to wait an hour at the train station leaving us stuck until 945 pm. Luckily, the italien ice cream shop was open which never happens.  We got to the next platform only to hear that our train was also delayed... we started getting concerned how we were going to get these 2 x70 lbs suitcases home way late at night. It was on this train that Elder Lyman struck up conversation with a man who gave us a card to get a taxi once we arrived in K-town. He totally opened up and talked about how he had been searching his whole life for more information about spirituality. It was so cool! I laughed to myself thinking how many times when the trains get super messed up that it is always because there is someone that we are supposed to find. We made it home that night at 1130pm and thankfully the elders we serve with picked us up and hauled our suitcases for us. God sure works in mysterious ways!

 

Then, we (zone leaders Elder Lyman and Ruff and I) had to plan Zone Training Meeting for all the missionaries in our zone in one day's time. It was super stressful and I had the spiritual talk that was supposed to be 30 minutes long about the Grace of God and how we can change. We got home late that night from an appointment leaving me no time to prepare until the morning of. I was super nervous as I tried to pull my thoughts together in a smooth line of thought. The zone leaders were running around left and right prepping everything up and using our keys to get into the different rooms etc. I gave my companion a quick run through and outline of my talk. She just looked at me and said in my moment of stress, "You know. You are about to live your talk." I just looked at her puzzled. "You didn't have full time to prepare and now you are going to have to trust God and rely on His grace to get you through this conference. So, don't worry it will all be okay. God will back you up with the spirit. Now be confident and teach what you preach." I thought that was very profound that I was truly lacking and God was going to have to not only make up the difference but be ALL the difference. The conference went great and all was well. We were leaving the church and everyone was already gone and had caught trains or driven away. We stepped outside of the church and literally when the door shut, I turned to my companion Sister Wadsworth and asked, "you have the keys right?" The answer to that question seems to always be no when you need it to be yes the most. We were locked out of the church and our apartment as well. We called the zone leaders and they swore to us that they never used them. Luckily, our elders (Elder Jackson and Allen) came to the rescue and let us in. We searched and couldn't find them anywhere. I, in my exhaustion and defeat, turned to Sister Wadsworth and said, "We should pray." We prayed and then looked up at each other and the thought came to my mind to call Elder Lyman and see if they were in his pocket. I called the zone leaders again, and Elder Lyman reassured me again that he didn't have them. Knowing that we were all suffering from sleep deprivation, I said, "did you happen to put them in your pocket?" Silence was on the other side of the phone while he probably reached down into his pocket. I could hear jingling on the phone and he said bashfully, "Yeah, I have them." Ha ha ha I laughed at the entire fiasco of the last few days. We got our keys later that night and that was the close of the week.

 

I think the two most profound things that happened this week was with Harriet and the Burns Family. We went over to Harriet's house and her non-member cadet (well now graduated) friend (Cale) was there and we played a board game and then had a discussion. It was based around the idea of sacrifice that I wrote about last week. It was so crazy to me to watch him get so passionate and captivated. It was like this conversation meant the world to him and completely opened his world up to the world of spirituality. And then on the other hand, we went over to a less active family and taught the first lesson. They had such strong testimonies, but it was like the church was a hobby to them. It wasn't priority. The difference in these two experiences made me realize how precious the gospel is. That it should be life changing to us in every moment that we are here. And how much richer life can be when we realize how important it is to us. God takes care of us in every moment. And if we but seek to build the Kingdom of God first in our lives, everything else falls into place.

 

I love this video and invite you to watch this

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/seek-first-the-kingdom-of-god?cid=HPTH091913095&lang=eng

 

It expresses it better than I can.

I love you and pray about you everyday,

Sister Prince

 

I am running out of ideas for subject lines. (Sent 9/16/13)

So this is only a breif letter update because family comes first. But I felt bad that I told yall all about how I got to Deutchland but not anything about Germany. There will be photos to follow for each of these things. but for now this is it.

 

Things I love about Germany

-the cobblestone streets are soooo legit. they beat my feet at first but now i adore looking down.

-just about every building is beautiful.

- the fact that you can see castle ruins in the middle of a town with a skyscraper in the background

-the red roofs :D

-the super typical european staircases. We live on the fourth floor so I am reminded everyday how much i love these staircases ;)

-Evey view out of every window of the many houses that I have been in is beautiful and breath taking.

-the food, Doners-super yummy german version of a gyro, mushli- is there version of cereal, way better, their yogurt beats out all others, and their apple juice is divine

 

Things about Germany that will take time to love

-The complete lost feeling i get when i go into a grocery store not knowing anything that any of the labels say, Life is an adventure right

-The lack of smiles when walking down the street

- This isnt germany, but we have ikea beds and they are literally back breaking soft. ask sis. prince she re threw out her back. and mine every morning is not so happy with me either ...( yeah you know you have a "pansy" mission. when one of your "trials" is that your bed is TOO soft.  but i am telling you its painful)

-I dont know if i am a freak, a wadsworth, or an american. but I don't like German toilets. and i will leave you at that.

 

Now there is more to adjust to than just the area. there is also the mission life. here are fun and hard adjustments that i have had to make

 

Mission life

-like the mtc but more. the weeks are way way quick but the days are unglaublich (unbelievable) long.

-there is a lot more behind the scene work than i thought, sometimes it makes me feel like i am doing nothing even thought i know its still the work of a missionary.

-such as a ton of meetings.

-Right of the plane you become very aware of your name tag and its weird having something that just visually separates you from the world even more than your standards you live.

- and with the name tag thought and being a missionary in general you enter into the world of awkward. Everything that you do as a missionary is awkward. even normal tasks become awkward. It is unexplainable but it is a fun fact of the calling. but its good because awkward breaks down barriers so once you embrace it, it turns into this magical power.

- I dont think that I have ever spent so much time in a church building before in my life. It seems like even with the sleep time in our apartment that we spend more time here than at "home" you literally live IN the Gospel. because you practically live in the church

-Fun fact: you learn a lot of fun facts about the ward. Missionaries are always first to find out about all the scoops and all the lives of the members before anyone else. sometimes even family. Elder Jackson always testifies of this fact, he says "missionaries are the first to find out about expecting moms" And I it wouldnt surprise me if we found out before the expecting father sometimes. So dont ever think that you are a private soul in the ward, guarantee it

-two of the more awesome things. is that Sis. Prince laughs at everything that i say. it is a great moral booster and really if you ever want someone to feel great about themselves laugh at thier jokes. its magical. the jury is still out on if she really thinks i am funny, if she would laugh at anything, or if i am getting a whole ton of pity laughs. but anyway the cookie crumbles i love it.

 

-so being freshly off the plane makes me a "greenie" or as we say it in this mission it makes me a "golden" with golden powers. And I think these golden powers have more to them than what I can comprehed. There is a power in keeping a fresh view of life. I am getting a deeper understanding to the "become as a child" principle. and the principle of "the traditions of their fathers". So being fresh I am able to see how it is supose to be, or my MTC view, and what life is now. When we are in a situation or a ward or a mission for too long we complicate life. We build up walls that protect us from rejection, from disappointment in others and in ourselves. We complicate life when it is very simple because the gospel is simple. Why do we think that we can not achieve greatness? Are we not the offspring of a God. Think of Greek mythology, just by having that title of being the child of zeus or the child of posiden gave these mortals power to do great adventures. Well we to have a birth right we do not have to earn or work for but are given by the fact of being. We are God's spirit children. And before we were tainted by disapointments and by seeing the "norms" we dreamed of greatness. Well, we have been entitled to greatness, to miracles. We build up our own walls that stop us from getting those miracles. We think, "Well in my family we never go to church when on vacations, so its what ever" NO. It is not. Your families tradition does not get the blame, you do. Missionaries think all the time, "We cant ask that of the members, or there is no way that we can get the members to invite a less active or a non member over to an eating appointment on the first time we meet the missionaries." and why not? Are you trusting in the arm of flesh or the arm of God. Are you approching the world ahead of you with the faith of a child, or a golden? Do you see the goal and think it is too great, that the Lord is asking for the impossible? Have faith, because when you do you trust in God, in whom all things are possible. Miracle happen when you see what the seemingly impossible task/goal ahead is and where you are at and you say to yourself, "If thats where I am suppose to be, then I WILL BE THERE." No doubt, no questions, no lowering. Drop your walls of insequrities and walk forward with boldness. You have the power of God behind you, better you have the power of God round about you.

This is the greatest most beautiful adjustment that I have made, not as a missionary alone but as a person, as a child of God, as a Daughter of a KING.

 

"And whoso ^areceiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go ^bbefore your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my ^cSpirit shall be in your hearts, and mine ^dangels round about you, to bear you up." D&C 84:88

 

-Sis. Wadsworth

Willkommen zu Deutschland!‏ (Sent 9/9/13)

Hallo!

 

It seems like it has been an eternity since I've talked to yall. Well it has been a week and a half I suppose. So I will start at the top and work my way to right now sitting in the clarks office typing this letter.

 

My last little bit in the MTC was amazing no shocker there. We had several orientations on how to survive the real missionary world. That was on friday, it was nice... but from where i am sitting now it was "nice" I love the MTC I really do and you always walk away so uplifted from everything that you do there. You leave the cafeteria and you feel prepared to teach the people of Nineveh. So I was getting really pumped to step out into the really world. Saturday was pretty normal. Sunday was soo long we had meeting after meeting we went to but it was still so motivating. We were sitting in some kind of lecture or devotional for 7 hours that day. but i have to tell you about the miracle that happened. It was fast sunday and I was fasting to have comfort and reassurance that I could do this. That I could go adventuring off to another continent and speak a language I still didn't know, declaring the most important message that a person can hear in their lifetime. Then I had 7 hours worth of great motivational talks. about half way through the day was our last temple walk. We all basically stayed as a group. even president Petersen was there. At the back of the temple I was taking pictures of bees and flowers, aka off in lala land. some of the sisters and elders were circling and I saw Elder Uhlig again for the second time.

 

Here are my previous words to you about this elder " life got real on sunday at devotional. We just happened to sit in front of an elder going to Croatia who is from ... yeah you guessed it Frankfurt Germany. all my fello Deutscher sister were so excited and there i was about to hurl over with doubt, self frustration for not studying harder and well straight up stomach sickness. He talked to us and all i understood was he likes to run munchmal,sometimes.   I was freaking out. not like a visible or even audible freakout but i was most definitely shutting down."

 

This Elder represented all my worries. He was my tangible connection to my mission and more accurately he was the reality of my weakness. But here we are my last temple walk in the United States and the same missionary is standing talking with my fellow deutschers once more. one missionary that has symbolically meant so much to me out of the 2700+ missionaries that were at the MTC. So I talked to him. Did I know any more german, nope. did i understand him any clearer, nope. Did I act like a giant fool again, yep. Did i feel ill and locked in despair, NOPE! It was this sweet miracle that God gave me. He gave me very a specific gift that was in direct response to my fasting for comfort and reassurance. And then I stayed true to my awkward self and asked this random elder for a picture. You are welcome.

 

Monday was so sweet it was our last day of class and it was on a normal schedule which added to the sweetness. We said bye to our teachers and took pictures so you will finally get to see Sis. Pingree and Br. Luna. They are just so amazing and fantastic! I love them both so much. We found out a little bit of the real people behind our investigators. Karl is actually Carla.. yep haha we were shocked too. And Xioa Hui we saw pictures of her. She is so sweet. and seeing the real people behind our investigators was so special. God knows us all. We are all his Children. After class we hardly did any studying.. aka none. We said goodbye to all our Berliners. We signed each others books. and the such. We finally made it back to the room to finish packing. aka for me to start packing. I was so excited that i couldn't think straight/ I had so much to do I couldn't think straight/ as the time went by and continued to not think straight I wasn't getting anything done so I was stressing out and not thinking straight. You would think will all the crooked thinking I would end up thinking straight again. but no. I ended staying up till like 1:15 packing and re packing and weighing all my things about a hundred times. Another miracle that occurred because the math does not add up I should have been waaaaaaayyy overweight in my bags but instead was only like 5 pounds more than i should have been. MIRACLE are happening people wake up!! I finished just in time to go to bed to wake up at 2:45. Crazy groggy and tired I got ready and left for the bus with not a second to spare... although there was a herd of even later sisters behind me. We took the bus to the Provo train station, rode the train up to the airport, were there were about 40 missionaries with about 150 pieces of luggage and bags.

 

Everything that happened at the airport was really smooth. No problem with luggage weight, or security or finding our gate, or having time to rearrange bags around, (and miracle we had a full flight so most everyones carryone was checked. bam that was like 50 extra pounds i didn't have to carry around) we even had time to go and find breakfast. We boarded. I was sitting in between sis. Goodrich (it was her first time in a plane so that was fun to see her reactions) and Elder Weigel. The flight to Dallas was pretty short and non eventful. They all slept for most of the time. I did talk to a German who was sitting behind me. He was really nice and friendly. We couldn't hear each other very well though so I faded away while the Elders sitting next to him took over our conversation about Deutschland.

 

Once we were in Dallas, there was about 30 chiefs in our tribe of 40 and so there was a lot of splitting that wasn't suppose to happen. and then we all got settled in to our gate just to find out that we were at the wrong gate. oops. so we had to book it to the other gate so that we would still have time to call home. And then the calling card thingy didn't work so I had to drag around poor sis. lyons till I just gave up and called using my card. whateves :) I loved loved loved talking to you mama! It is amazing how much the sound of your mothers voice is able to put peace into you heart and spirit. After the hang up we boarded our next flight. we were on a 777 which is HUGE! i was spot in the middle. there are two on the window sides then a row of 5 in the middle and i was in the center. I sat by elder wiegel then on my other side was sis. teeples and then elder swallow. It was a fun 9 hours! for real! we played games and cracked a million jokes but most of the time they slept. I was able to get maybe 2 hours in. so do the math on the number of hours Ive been up and the number of hours i have slept. woke up monday 6:30 didn't go to bed till 1:15 woke up at 2:45 and have been up going all the way into german wednesday at 7pm their time with 2 hours of rough sleep on the plane. I was basically a walking zombie missionary. through all of this next part.

 

We land in Germany!!!!!!!!! We were all so excited!! like crazy elder calhone from best two years excited. all 40 of us, plus all of our tiredness, it was a beautiful sight ;) we get off the plane and we go to costumes to yet again discover that we are missing missionaries. oops I guess we skipped that lesson of sheep in the MTC. haha but we make it all through and are at baggage claim trying to find all of our stuff. it was crazy. I look BEAUTIFUL and fresh and not at all like i stuck my head outside a semi for 100 miles and have been wearing the same clothes for the past 2 months. and oh yeah i havent used the bathroom since 2am that(ish) morning. And bam we walk in to the mission president. Who is the sweetest man! with the sweetest wife! it was so nice! I can't describe what I was feeling in that moment because it was just to much of everything. I was totally in a glazed over state. We then load all of our stuff into a car and the assistants to the president take us to the subway to start contacting!! It was so intense and a not so good experence. That was probably the furthest thing that i wanted to do in that moment. but I gave it a very bad try anyways.

 

after the subway we rode a bus to the stake center in Frankfurt. Were we had a blessed break and were able to sit down and fill out some logistic paperwork. aka glaze over and basically fall asleep. It was actually both really funny and really sad/pathetic. We were filling out papers and I had to fill out my home address. I TOTALLY forgot my address. not like Hmm i am a little confused over the numbers, or hey i just moved and am not 100% sure what my address is. No... oh no. I forgot. complete blank for like 15 mins. Actually it could have been a lot longer than that because i had to go over to my backpack and find a letter with my address on in to "remember" where I lived. Yeah welcome to how tired i was. It was a good thing that we are assigned companions or else who knows where i would be right now. haha but mama don't worry I am sane now, or at least a little more sane.

 

After the legal stuff was done we went out and were going to teach some members. It was so hot people. I was in a blazer, stupid, and thick tights, stupid. and it was 30*C outside and i was dehydrated and walking around everywhere. I was dying. The first two member we went to see weren't home and so we had to go into the middle of the town up to the mall to teach a sweet lady, Joy, at her work. After we went back to the stake center and we were suppose to sit through a little " how can we help you? what are questions you have? these are our mission goals" thing for and hour and a half. We were all so dead that that was about all i even remember from the whole hour and a half. The two elders teaching us had us go outside and stand so that we wouldn't fall asleep but that was a fail because I was literally sleeping standing up. Thankfully we had dinner next at 4 german time. and then i had like a 3 minute interview with the president because i was the last one. and then we ran to make our bus that was taking us to the hotel.

 

I have never been so tired in my life. like ever. and i worked graves. I. WAS. SOOO. TIRED. there are not enough words or caps large enough to describe that to you. I crashed at the hotel at 7. and woke up about 5 times during the night. Finally it was the next day. because to me all that day was still the same day that I had woken up in Provo at 2:45.

 

We all had breakfast together. and exchanged all our funny stories about how we figured out the European bathrooms and for special Elder Weigel how he figured out or i guess didnt figure out the comforter on the bed. We then had a meeting with President Schwartz, it was really pretty cool he gave a bunch of cool numbers like, this is the largest transfer the mission has had. because of the new missionaries there were over 200 transfers, only 12 companionships stayed together out of the whole mission. and then the fateful moment happened. We found out our trainers. Mine is flippin awesome. Sister Prince. This is her 13 month out and she actually came was transferred missions. her original call was berlin but about half way they moved her to frankfurt. With out really a clear explanation. But it was most likely for the reason that they didn't have enough trainers to  train the incoming sister missionaries. So she is just awesome like that.

 

Papa you and Pat were right we are in Kaiserslautern. It is a pretty large area. and is in fact closer to France than Berlin. Weird I know. We are doing a ton of double duties. She is also the Sister Training Leader for the zone. and we are opening the area. Opening meaning we are the first sisters to be assigned here so we have to come up with the program all by ourselves. there are none of the regular mission supplies in our apartment. So we are trying to figure it all out. and our ward is HUGE. there are a ton of active families and a million little kids because it is a military ward. and there area also a ton of in-actives and part member families. Ohh small fact, I am English speaking. Ill get into that in a little bit. but yeah  So I was really excited to hear the long awaited news of who  I was with and where I was going. and I know that my assignment is the one that God has in my plans.

 

After the hotel we were put on to two bus and shuttled to the frankfurt trainstation. Now we have the 200 missionaries there with all their luggage. It was quite the sight! I was and really I have been on information overload so I am just there. It weird to describe but I just havent really been myself yet. And so K-town is actually the last group to leave. there was about 8 of us headed out that way, with 24 pieces of luggage, giant like 70lb each luggage. and we had 10 mins to get to our train and board with all of our stuff. It was so intense! I can't describe the hightened anxioity i had. we got on. and all went well but our train was late so we didn't have the planned 6 mins to get to the other train once we stopped we now had 3. and thankfully eventhough we were booking it we missed it. we then had a 30 minute breather and it was glorious. we got some italian ice and beautiful wasser. Then boarded our second train and were off. Our next stop was in K-town. Where Elder Moeller and Elder Jackson were there waiting for our party to come in. Elder Burden the senior couple picked us up and we loaded our stuff and drove to our apartment. We live on the fourth floor so 8 flight of stairs later time 3 people time 2 trips times 300lbs between the two of us. it was a long trip up those steps. We had just a few moments to ourselves before the elders came by and helped us find the church where our first family was picking us up.

 

We then had dinner with the Websters who are awesome. They live on base so we had to get checked in. but it was nice to be somewhere homey again after such a long day and then the long time at the mtc. So just to remind you I am only on thursday. I have only been in Germany for like a day. Currently I have only been in germany for 5 days! If you told me i have been here 3 weeks I wouldn't question you. It has been a long week.

 

The rest of the week we have had quiet a few very longs with the elders that are also assigned to our ward. Elder Jackson (think Buzz meets Spencer meet super typical missionary) who is also the district leader and his companion Elder Allen (think dodo from iceage meets quiet meets hard to tell) and we have quite a few Termines (apointments) with members. my first few days are not typical of a mission because we are opening the area. So i have kinda just been there who doesn't know a whole lot. I am glad i am english speaking although i already feel like all the german i learned is gone. but i am not terrible worried about it. It makes it easier to transistion i think which is good. The ward seems really cool although they have had bad experences with sisters so that will be a hurdle.

 

But I love it here so much. sorry if It doesnt seem like i communicated that too well. I look up when we walk and just fall in love with the buildings and with the views and the atmosphere. It doesnt seem real so it hard for me to write about it. Its like we are in an extended part in disney land. its so legit! I have a ton of pictures that i will unfortunately have to send later. because i am just about out of time. but I can't wait to brag about this area that I am living in. it is breath taking.

 

my new address for probably the next 12 weeks but for sure the next 6 is

 

Sister Rachel Wadsworth

Missionare der Kirche Jesu Christi HLT

Pirmasenserstrasse 10

67655 Kaiserslautern

Germany

 

If you sent any mail to the frankfurt address I wont get it for a while. so know that. Mail takes about a week to get to seattle so know that too. But i am sending a ton. I love you all so much! please keep mailing me even when you havent gotten my letters yet.

 

my p-days are on monday so any emails need to be sent out by your sunday night fyi.

 

okay i must go now. I love you all! sorry for the jumpy intense half finished letter.

 

What comfort I have here in this new everything that God has a plan for me. That He has sent me here knowing full well my personality and my capabilities. And knowing everyone here auch. It is the best reminder that I get is to know that He Lives for me. I know this. I live by this. I could never live with out this knowledge.

 

bis dann!

 

Sis. Wadsworth

Last Woche! (8/28/13)

woah! It is here. and it is soooo crazy. First off I just want to say right off the bat that I know I can't spell and that my grammar is atrocious  but remember Ether 12

 23 And I said unto him: Lord, the family and friends will ^amock at these things, because of my ^bweakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made me ^cmighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made me mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;

24 And thou hast made me that we could write but little, because of the ^aawkwardness of my hands. Behold, thou hast not made me mighty in ^bwriting like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he ^cwrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.

 25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we ^acannot write them, for we lack computer time; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the family and friends shall ^cmock at my words.

 26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying:^aFools ^bmock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^d here. themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

I know that these emails go on my blog so just remember that i have zero time and am already a bad... well everything when it comes to writing. 

There was a lot that has gone on since last time. But something amazing happened yesterday so I want to really focus on that. So if you have more specific questions or inquires just shoot an email and let me know and i will try to get back to you in the next 18 months. but no promises. 

We got our flight plans! sorry family i gave you previously incorrect info. So we leave the MTC on Sept 3 at 4:30 in the morning our first flight is to dallas on flight 1680 on american airlines at 8:40. we get to dallas at 12:20pm then take flight 70 to frankfurt at 3:55-8:30am. yeah it is a crazy long day and then we begin work as soon as we step off the plane. so hopefully working graves has prepared me well enough to know how to function on zero hours of sleep. 

When We go this info last friday i was in denial about how really my commitment to serve a mission was now getting. I am going to be in Germany an ocean away from anything that is familiar to me and speaking/trying to understand a language that i dont know. woah.

life got real on sunday at devotional. We just happened to sit in front of an elder going to croatia who is from ... yeah you guessed it Frankfurt Germany. all my fello Deutscher sister were so excited and there i was about to hurl over with doubt, self frustration for not studying harder and well straight up stomach sickness. He talked to us and all i understood was he likes to run munchmal,sometimes.   I was freaking out. not like a visible or even audible freakout but i was most definitely shutting down. 

Thankfully Heavenly Father knows me and knew me in that moment. He sent a wonderful speaker for devotional.. Stephen B. Allen. He shared a great analogy. he was in the church building taking a drink of water from the fountain when this little boy comes up to take a drink to. Bro. Allen was done so he let go and the water in the other fountain that the 4-5year old boy was drinking from shot as sprayed water all over his face. baffled as to how this happened the boy just resumed drinking. seeing a great chance at entertainment Bro. Allen continued pushing and releasing the water fountain button repeating the splash in the face 7-8times!

He than related it to us. "Satan hates you. He wants you to quit all rightousness. This little boy even after the 8th time still had no idea who was causing him this trounble. Satan knows us. He knows our buttons and is pushing them over an over and over again. And the thing is we have know idea or at least we hardly give acknowledgement to the fact that it is Satan who is doing it with the goal of getting us to quit all our righteous doing and thinking an feeling. And we after our buttons are pushed will do just that. He said that the real power is when we can see our buttons being pushed and raise above the torment.

That knowledge helped me for a while. I ended sunday strong but i fell again when we got a letter explaining how are first two days in germany were going to go. and that with in the first 2 hours of landing after a crazy flight there we will be contacting on the streets. woah. i started to sink again. and i remained sunk the whole day. that night I stopped and relized my button was being pushed and that i had to not fall for the trick yet again. I read Ether 12 that night and again in the morning during work out time and Ether 12 is a great chapter i would suggest to you all to read it. it talks a great deal more than just the famous weekness into strength verse. 1. I read my mission verse 

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith,maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

There is not a passive hope one recieves but it is filled with action. My tuesday was off to a great start. 2. I was able to write down Elder Maynes poem that is life changing to a missionary that morning during personal study. 3. We had a lesson with karl and the lesson went good but even better I was able to see very clearly what we needed to do better to teach better. that kind of clearity nevery happens to me. 4.  after lunch I got a surprise package in the mail from Wendy with pictures and letters and her talks she gave in sacrament. 5. we had class again with br. wegley. we read from the book of mormon and this is an amazing exercise for anyone. write down a question you have about ANYTHING. and read in the book of mormon ANY chapter. first begin with a prayer, have faith that you will find an answer then read. ANY chapters. and I know that if you have a sincere desire to find that answer, and you will do something with the answer after you find it. You will find exactly what you need in that chapter. even a war chapter. my question was How can I knowI've done all I can do? we read mosiah 11-12. my answer. If i am humvle and the Lord can work with and through me thats all i need to know and worry about. 6 we went to chior practice. my last one in the mtc. and we had a different dirctor than normal because it was his birthday. this sweet old man at the end of practice told as a tender story about a miracle in his life. him and his wife had always wanted to sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but due to one thing or another they could never do it. then his wife got alztimers and the dream was completely out the window. but one of his kids wrote a letter to the director and the letter stood out so at a rehersal practice they sat in the front row and since the wife couldnt climb the stairs members of the choir came down and stood around the two of them and they sang in the choir fulfilling a lifelong dream since courtship. 7. at tuesday devotional we knew that someone big was coming it was broadcast to other mtcs. we all thought it was holland because he was at the mtc on monday. but almost better in walks Elder Neil L. Andersen at our last devotional. An apostle of the Lord. 8. He spoke and reminded me why I am sacrificing so much. because of the love i have for Heavenly Father. and Jesus Christ and my family. 9. he gave this great quote to live by, "We sacrifice for the things we love, we love the things we sacrifice for." 10. all the musical numbers we sang were words i needed to hear and they were penitrated even deeper into my heart throught the music. 11. after we sang our closing song and had our closing prayer President Nally stood up and told us that there was a lightning storm and that we needed to wait before we left. The skys walking into the marriot center were blue. 12 because we had extra time Elder Andersen began walking around and shaking hands. He did half the people on the floor than came walking up the stairs of the choir. on My aisle! 13. He shook aisle after Aisle of missionaries hands. He was less than 10feet away from me. and I was overcome with his spirit and with His spirit. I couldnt control my emotions. I was silently crying at the sight of the Apostle. I knew with out doubt that that man was a man of God and that he was less than 10 feet away from me. It was probably the most powerful moment in all the mtc time i have had. 14. He turned around before he made it up to my row. but it didn't matter to me I had my witness and I didn't need a handshake to tell me otherwise. after a little while we were allowed to walk back. it was still raining well down poring really. and i was at home. this rain this surprise rain was from a Father in Heaven given as a gift to his struggling daughter. 15. walking home sis. lyons let me take my time. and i had to walk in giant parkinglot puddles but that day it didnt matter because i was wearing my shoes that didn't have fabric anywhere on them. 16. an elder standing next to me waiting to cross the street started to hum then sing " I'm singing in the rain" and that melted my heart. I knew i was being reminded that i was loved by having that piece of home with me there in the rain listining to him sing a very special song. 17.We went back to our german hall and had a ball with all our elders. 18. a great thing was everyone was dripping wet so i didnt even have to explain the tears i had shed in the love i was feeling.

In wendys talk she had mailed me she said this story:  "There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "morning boys. How's the water?" after the two young fish swim on for a bit, one of them eventually looks over at the other and says,  "what the heck is water?" the fish story points out that sometimes, the most obvious important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about. an awareness of what is so real and essential so hidden in plain sight all around us all the time that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over " this is water this is water." I believe that the tender mercies of the Lord are the water that surrounds us constantly. If we are faithful and obedient than we will be made aware of them. and we may even find ourselves saying, "this is water this is water" "

I know that God knows me and loves me. He sends me tender mercies constantly without break. i have 18 big tender mercies in a single day and those were only the ones that i could see and had time to write about. I love this gospel. I love my Heavenly father. I am willing to sacrifice all i have for what i love the most. Even when satan is pushing my buttons. I say that testimony in the name of jesus christ amen.

Idont know when my next p-day will be or when i will be able to write next but i will keep yall informed. from today on if you do send me mail send it to germany. I wont get it in time if you send it here to the mtc. dear elders are different tho. also check the blog for the updated address. I love you all 

bis next mal.

Sis. wadsworth