Week 3!!!

Hallo!

So everyone always says that the weeks feel like days and the days feel like weeks here. So true. I can't believe we are almost halfway. It kindof freaks me out because Deutsch is so hard. I can speak (brokenly) better than I can understand, which is SOOOO frustrating. I'll be in our discussion, trying to ask our investigator (our teacher) what he thinks about what we've been saying, or trying to discuss, or asking what he's struggling with, and I do not understand and can't help him. Ugh. I hope it gets better. Some days are better than others. Also, I am so EXCITED to go to deutschland. It is like 50 degrees there right now! It's pretty cold here. And it snows all the time. I love it. I'm going to buy lederhosen (and then I will wear them every halloween until I die.. problem solved. Ich hasse Halloween).

I've been thinking about faith, and how Enos prayed and it says a few times "because of thy faith" to him. As he exercised his faith, it grew. It's like a muscle. Sometimes we need to stretch it, and sometimes we are forced to because of life. I know the Lord answers our desperate cries for help. He has answered mine. I have a few quotes that I love. The first is from the movie Amish Grace.. He says "The Lord does not ask us to walk an easy path. But this I know - faith, when everything is as you want it to be is not true faith. It is only when our lives are falling apart that we have the chance to make our faith real." Also, Bishop Steele (will you check and see if he's on the email list?) shared this quote with me when I was meeting with him pre-mission. It is from "But if Not" by Lance B Wickman. "How do we properly exercise our faith? The Prophet Joseph Smith defined that first principle of the gospel as “faith in the Lord Jesus Christ”. It is that defining phrase--“in the Lord Jesus Christ”--that we sometimes forget. Too often we offer our prayer or perform our administration and then wait nervously to see whether our request will be granted, as though approval would provide needed evidence of His existence. That is not faith! Faith is, quite simply, a confidence in the Lord. In Mormon’s words, it is “a firm mind in every form of godliness”. The three Hebrew magistrates expressed trust that the Lord would deliver them from the fiery furnace, “but if not,” they said to the king, “we [still] will not serve thy gods” (Dan. 3:18). Significantly, not three but four men were seen in the midst of the flames, and “the form of the fourth [was] like the Son of God” (Dan. 3:25). So with us. It is common in our secular world to say that “seeing is believing.” Whatever value this little maxim may have in the mundane affairs of life, it is an alien presence when we turn to the Lord in the dark hour of our extremity. The way of the Lord is best defined by a different maxim: “Believing is seeing.” Faith in the Lord is the premise, not the conclusion. We know He lives; therefore, we trust Him to bless us according to His divine will and wisdom." Anyway, those are my thoughts on that. They say it better than I can. I love the Book of Mormon. There are answers to all of our questions, not because it has it all, but when we read, ponder, and pray, God can teach us through revelation.

Last saturday night, we played bean-boozled. I was AWFUL/so fun. I got throw-up, jalepeno snot, and lawn clippings (the only one I actually ate). Sister voigtlaender is a champ and ate one of each at the same time and all of them were bad except lime. Haha it was SO funny. We were all crying.

Sunday, we went on a temple walk. I love it so much. I have lots of pics from that. For choir, we practice "Precious Savior, dear Redeemer," but it is a different arrangement for the MTC (by Brett Stewart). It is INCREDIBLE. I will remember it forever. I was in the 1 soprano section, and there was a jump to a high f.. It was nicht gut. I don't think I hit it. The song goes with Mark 4 when Christ calms the storm. It says, "Carest thou not that we perish?" I know he cares, because he suffered for our sins, for my sins, and our pains and sorrows and EVERYTHING> He knows it all, and He cares more than we can ever imagine. Jesus Christ is the cure for everything. Brother Eggett said we were supposed to sound desperate when it says, "curb the winds and calm the billows" (which was when we had to hit that note). It is probably me favorite song. I love it.  Look it up (on google). We sang it on tuesday at the devotional with W. Craig Zwick. You can probably see me, because I was on row f, like 4 seats from the edge in the middle. We're not supposed to look at the screen. At the sunday devotional, Matthew O Richardson spoke with his wife. I don't know why, but I loved them. He talked about being the best missionaries we can be, and not selling ourselves short. It was probably my favorite so far. It is a GREAT one to read.. I don't think MTC devotionals are on LDS.org. (I googled and found "Character of Christ" before I left.) We watched Legacy afterward and you can't imagine a room full of 18-21 year old young adults with 4 kisses in that film. It was very rowdy. I love the early saints of the church. I cried the whole movie. 

Sister Darton and I got in a "food fight" this week. I accidentally put pepper in her jello when I was peppering her soup, so it escalated, and she dumped her jello in my water, and then her hot cocoa on my sandwich. Haha. I hope we are companions in Berlin. 

Elder Passey has successfully tipped cows. We are so going when I get back. It was the funniest thing. I was trying to tease Elder Hughes because he was getting glasses, but I called him "two eyes" instead of "four eyes". Oops. 

I gave the elders my peppermint oil mints and told them they have to suck on them until they explode. It was the best. I cried because I laughed so hard. They were so scared, and then the little bubbles popped and they freaked out. Elder Passey said that he felt like he was breathing fire. Haha. Then everyone had one and the whole room was very minty. 

I was thinking about how great life is without a cell phone (at 11:30 when I couldn't sleep.. its a problem. And no, Dad, it is not because of my sleeping habits/patterns before my mission). I was then telling them (my district) the next day, and Elder Hughes said, "You are my cellphone," and Elder Passey and I started singing that to "You are my sunshine." Hehe. We are the same person.

Those are my funny stories. 

I love my district. I am going to cry when we part ways in the Frankfurt airport. I try not to think about it. 

Okay. I love you all. Have a great week!

P-Day clothes.. Classic Sister Missionary

Snow!

I ran this road almost every day at BYU

Snow!

So many temple pics!

My district...awe.

We love the temple!

Sister (Amanda) Balls

Funny Story. We were practicing teaching each other (i taught elder passey and he taught me) and we were supposed to be ourselves and not investigators. Bruder Nielson asked us after how we felt as investigators, and Elder Passey said something along the lines of "I thought we were supposed to be us/real people, not investigators" and Bruder Nielson freaked out and wrote that on the board and was like "untersuchers ARE PEOPLE!" and we were dying laughing and we all knew that just in case you were worried.. it was just poorly worded. it was just funny to see Bruder nielson do that.