Week 36: The Rollercoaster of a Mission

EY EY EY everrryyyone,

I am officially over the hill as of yesterday. Starting the 7th of 12 transfers today.. pretty darn cool.

Well the week started off on Monday with a real good lesson with a cute family who has two nonmember children ages 18 and 16. I really want to work more with them. 

Then on Tuesday we had our LAST district meeting. it was so sad. It was Elder Esparza's 22nd birthday so we made him a really good german chocolate cherry cake. Unfortunately we couldn't eat half of it because his companion shoved his face into it as some sort of Equadorian:Peruvian tradition. Way fun though. We also got to go visit a non-active with the Relief Society President. She got a job and doesn't have much time now to see us and what not but that's okay. We still love her and her testimony is so strong. I wish we could get her to come to church!!

Last District Meeting Before Transfers

Wednesday we found a new investigator for the first time in two weeks... so that was refreshing. She is an African mommy of 4 and is a little skeptical of this whole Mormon guy (Joseph Smith) but she wants to follow the way of Christ. She lives like infinitely far away so that doesn't help. We taught Hayate and Sofia on Wednesday as well. Hayate wasn't getting it and she ended up dropping us yesterday... but Sofia on the other hand was totally uplifted by the member that we brought with us. She said shed start to read now and really pray to know its true. She has so much going on, but she really wants her new born to be on the right path.

Hayate and Sofia

This week was just fun. We were busy and it was good. We visited LOADS of less:nonactives. One of the members in the ward has two normal kids and two handicapped kids and she is awesome, from Oregon actually so that explains lots. She called us this week and invited us over. When we got there she was asking her kids if they knew why she invited the missionaries over... she said to prepare them to act as if Christ was at the table. She also said that during conference she felt that the prophets were speaking to her when they said to open up their homes to our friends and the missionaries... but because of her autistic children; she is embarrassed to invite people over. So she decided that every week she was going to have us over so that her kids can learn how to act when the missionaries come and eventually she is going to start inviting friends and our friends. Well also we ended up getting talking to her and she is a crazy good member missionary. She has like three families that she's working with and were sure going to help her! Ha, believe us. I thought it was so cool how she took the prophet's council to heart and STARTED ACTING, even if she couldn't do all of it at once, she starting to take steps. I am really grateful for her example and want to be like her.

a

Katia, a Less Active Member, and Her Son

Then on Friday we went to drinks with a member and her friend. It was so natural and easy as we invited her to meet with us to come to church. Ha, she just kept saying yes, yes! And then she came to church and just loved it and she texted US after and just thanked us. She is a 25 year old Russian who is so so cute and looks a lot like me. not that I am cute but she has my hair color and my huge cheeks and face shape..; that was actually the reason why the member thought of her, because I looked like her. 

Friday was also the ward "Trunk or Treat" party which was a hit. Tons of people came, less actives, non actives, and investigators. It was way fun and Sister Denning and I dressed up as missionaries from the 90's, since we aren't allowed to really dress up, with all the old missionary clothes that we found under our bed that the old missionaries left. that was fun. We also made baby cup o' dirts for everyone with chocolate pudding; crushed up Oreos, and worms. We were the hit of the party for sure.  You'd be proud to know i only ate one piece of candy at the party. ya... I'm improving ha thank you very much.

Sister Denning and I Dressed as Missionaries from the 90s

Sunday was soooo cool. it was the primary program and the chapel was PACKED! Litterally. Good thing two of the bigger families in our ward were out of town because they wouldnt have fit. The program was so cute and multi lingual. I definitely cried. Their spirits are so sweet. I cant wait to have my own family. One day right? Ha, so we had five investigators at church which was great. They all loved it. Adele, who has the baptism date just really soaked it all in

Well then life kinda crashed... well it did on a Sunday morning. Long story short, I ended up being chastened infront of all the missionaries and church leaders by the Stake President for a big misunderstanding. It wasnt fun, and it was so hard to just sit there and be humble and take it. It was a good learning experience for me. It was sad to end such an amazing week on such a low, but we live and we learn and we keep going on the ride of the mission.

So Sister Denning and I are staying here in Luxembourg for another transfer!!  We're happy. Ha we like each other. Wellllll, I think that's all folks! love you and can't wait to hear from you next week!! 

LOVE ME

Week 35: A Smoking Miracle and a Sunday Full of Laughs

This week I don't have a lot of time to write, so I am going to tell you the coolest miracles first and then work backwards...

So Anna, our Portuguese amie who is way cool, but busy. anyways we called her like everyday to make sure she was reading... AND SHE DID! but that's not the cool part. The cool thing is that we do our lesson and she was way way more attentive... but then, at the end she said "I have to tell you sisters something" we were like okay what? She said that she quit smoking!!!! She said that shes always wanted to but that she never has found the strength. Then she said that every time she goes out to smoke she just feels sick.. Okay coolest thing about this is that we haven't even taught her the wow yet!! at all! we didn't even know that she smoked and she just said that she felt like she needed to stop! pretty cool right? the BOM is super powerful n'est-ce pas?

Okay so the miracle bus lady texted us like 100 seconds after I sent you that letter last week! She said she would come to church, she didn't make it but at least she told us before that she wouldn't be able to come. I have high hopes for Valentina.

Ok, so Saturday we did something awesome!!!! Not really missionary related but I was like giddy. First of all it was sunny. I like warm. The elders go play soccer Saturday mornings with the ward and we don't normally go cause we gots other stuff we gotsta do... but we ended up going this week cause we got permission from our district leader and we RAN to the field. Then while we waited for the field I ran two miles then we ran home! I was sooo happy. I didn't think that i would get that feeling until I got home!! Ha, it was the best to not run in the freezing cold dark and for more than like 15 min! SOO AWESOME!!!

So here are some funny stories from yesterday during the investigator, gospel principles class:

1) My Muslim investigator (Hayata) thought that when we baptize the dead in the temple, that we literally dig up their corps and wash it and baptize it.... haha we were all dying laughing for a good 3 min,,, ha Hayate included, once she realized what we really do. oh also with her. I asked the bishop if we could play violins in sacrament meeting, I figured he would say yes because normally we just sing a hymn so i told all our amis to come listen to us. Well, he ended up saying no but Hayate was coming to listen to us, so we just snuck up and played the post lude music without telling the bishop we were going to ha..... oops

2) Maria, a recent convert of a couple months, got up RIGHT before the closing prayer and preached to the assembly for like 10 min. the whole entire room was trying to get her to to stop since we were already over time. She didn't listen at all and just kept rambling in Spanish forever ha it was so so so so funny

But we did have another rockin FHE with Jennifer and the stake presidents' family. i mean I didn't even have to teach a lesson.. ha he did it all and it was so so good!! she said shed promise shed read the BOM! AND SHE WANTED to to. shes cool. 

My companion made me do a facial Mask

Well today we went to a sweet castle in this little itty bitty baby city. It was so gorgeous. The castle was ok, but the drive was gorgeous. the colors were so so cool.

Vianden Castle

We have an interesting week coming up and transfers are not this wednesday but next.. so who knows if ill stay or if ill go.

SEND EVERYTHING TO THE MISSION HOME! nothing is getting to me here which is weird cause my comp gets tons... but id rather get it later than never

LOVE
SŒUR KOHLERT

Week 34: A Miracle on the Bus

Another week has come and gone... Insane right?

I bought a big huge warm coat. Um feels so good. I'm definitely a much happier person when I'm warm... anyone that knows me knows that ha. I also found another big blanket to sleep to total them to 4. I also sleep right next to the heater. I'm sleeping like a baby now.

Cool Cannon!

Well the week started off with the coolest miracle ever. So after finding some motivation last week, we really started to talk to everyone and their dog. It was pretty cool. I felt like I was in Rennes again. Ha, of course despite our efforts we still weren't finding anyone.. and it was kind a frustrating but it was fine because that's just normal now, ya know? It still isn't fun, you really do have to prepare yourself for rejection every time you talk to someone. Its hard.  Anyways we were on the bus and we sat down and this cute lady woman sat down by us. Right when I was about to start the conversation she says... hey can I ask you something? We were like uh... ya. ha. she was like... what do you do? we explained a bit and then she said she already knew that and she's read lots about our religion and is really looking for the truth and likes our religion and wants to learn more. She said she sees the elders all the time but they are boys and they are scary. she said she was so excited when she saw us and that we were getting on her bus. we talked with her for a long while and she is so ready for the gospel. everything that she said was in accordance with our teachings (ha when I write to you I think in half French and half English. I said in accordance because in French to say that someone agrees with someone or something we said that they are 'd'accord' with it) anyways she asked if she could come to church and we gave her the info. She said that she was planning on going to Paris this weekend but she isn't going to go now because she wants to go to church!!! sooooo coool right? we were so excited; never really have i had anyone come up to me like that before and be that interested. it was amazing. so did she come to church???? no; ha but its ok we stopped by her house and left her a note. we are assuming she went to Paris (I don't blame her). hopefully the story of Valentina will continue to next week. needless to say we had a good gratitude prayer.

Then we had a rockin FHE with Jennifer and the stake President's family. They were just awesome. the kids were well behaved and participated in the lesson and they really tried to get Jennifer to understand and help her. Jennifer was so impressed and said that everything that we talked about is going to really help her in her life (we talked about following the spirit and how sometimes he leads us down the harder road that will be better for us in the long run). She also said that her family never was united like that and she wants hers to be. Sooo it was awesome... were definitely going back this week again. I hope that you guys can be a family like that for the missionaries in Lindon to rely on. it was such an immense help and they were just so open and willing.

We also got to go to Belgium this week to visit a member!! Nicole and I were in the same country :) It was definitely before her transfers and so ya that's cool. The house was like waaaay old and a barn that they renovated. She married a foreign exchange student when she lived in Seattle and they promised each other that neither of them would put their religion on their kids. I am really proud of her for keeping her word... that must be so hard on her but i know that her daughters are blessed but her faithfulness and can see by the way that she lives that the gospel is true. she is so dedicated and amazing and does so incredibly much for our little ward.

Anna started reading!!!!! She read all of the way to 1 ne 13 and it was insane the difference it made. She was much more active in the lesson and we got through much more material and she understood and had a light about her. our next thing is getting her integrated. were trying so hard. she just lives so far away and there is a member that is awesome that lives near her (actually the son and daughter in law of that old lady that came to your house) but they are pretty French and they don't let people they haven't met come to their house.. so were trying to get them to meet!!!!!! I know that the Book of Mormon has so much power. we definitely saw it in Anna this week!

Oh and we spent almost 2 entire days on exchanges with our sisters in Torcy; the east part of Paris. With the travel and everything it took 2 whole days. It was fun. They live in a 4 sister apartment, so we had a little party sleepover, Except I had to sleep on this tiny pad with no blankets and I didn't sleep at all...good thing we had a two and a half train ride home to sleep on!!

Exchange in Trocy

OH, not to mention Adele set another baptism date for 17 of November. She was just like yoooo, I want to get baptized how can we do this. There are still lots of things she needs to understand so I hope we can see her for a sufficient amount of times before the 27th; We teach her during her commute on the train... That's always interesting to have a lesson on a train.. But we do what needs to be done to save souls!

We also dropped Nicole. she just wasn't progressing and ya... sad but it had to be done. First time I've every dropped an investigator.

wow so much to say and no time

I gotta go!!

ILOVE YOU ALL AND JUST LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!!! I LOVE YOU

Week 33: I once was lost but now I'm found

Family and friends,

So this week was wicked AWESOME.Hard as always, but just really cool.

Were we not so blessed by conference this weekend? I loved it and can't wait to read the last session that we didn't get to watch. 

As I have been expressing lately (maybe too much).... I've been struggling hard core to find some motivation since I got here to Lux. I was struggling to feel the spirit. I just was not really wanting to go out and talk to people who hated me and I was cold and just wanted to not do it anymore. I would do it anyways of course, but it was simply because I knew that I had to. Well for the past while I've just been praying to find some inspiration. And it didn't seem to be coming. I tried sacrificing things and fasting and studying... and it just wasn't working. I felt so lost. Why was I so motivated in Rennes? Why not now? What changed?

Well I don't really know what changed or why I was having such a hard time, But I know that this week, I changed. We had zone conference down in Paris and for the days preceding I just prayed so fervently for the answers to my struggles. And I sure did find them. It wasn't words that changed me, but for the 6 hour conference I felt the spirit the whole time. I felt it softening my heart and purifying me. I felt it confirm the goal that our mission has (for each companionship to baptize a family before Christmas). I felt him whisper to me that its so true, the gospel is so so true. I was found.

And then President told us what we needed to do. He said that we simply need to talk to everyone (he literally said exactly what elder Ballard said in general conference).... ha...probably cause Ballard was just here in our mission a few months ago. I used to be SO good at talking to everyone... but lately I've struggled. but because the spirit was so strong... I like couldn't stay in my chair. I just wanted to go out and talk to everyone. I made a chart in my planner of how many people I talk to and their responses to us. its interesting. The president said that for every 1000 people we talk to, one will be baptized. ya.... if I want some baptisms, boy oh boy do i need to start talking to people. Ha... its like the saying what I learned when I worked at Boeing "the first 1000 words that you say when you enter into the work field will be wrong... so just say them and get them out of your mouth!° Well I need to just talk to those 1000 people and just get them out of the way and then cherish that one who wants to change.

Well, the morning after conference I had never been so happy to talk to people. I was still scared out of my mind and had to jump over that inner hurdle, but God totally was watching over me and the first lady I talked to said to me... hey I think I should go to your church. Ha, I said yes you should! Come to conference! She didn't come of course but it totally let me know god was there watching and that there are people who want to come! I just need to find them!

Watching Conference With My District

We had a SUPER powerful lesson with a woman named Maggy. Shes been taking lessons on and off for 15 years and her husband is so active. She totally opened up to us and we were so incredibly bold with her. She up forward and straight. We call her everyday to remind her to pray and we are fasting for her. hopefully next week shell have gotten some answers. I feel she has real good potential.

We also visited some non-actives who just complained their heads off about n'importe quoi. Especially about the members not being missionaries. And after a while I was just like yo... stop. Everything you are saying so not true. Maybe it was when you were in the church, but its not now. I took them to the work of salvation website and just said that now more than ever the church is pushing the members to do missionary work... and they were like shocked and I could tell they felt ashamed and rebuked. But then they invited us over for dinner and drove us home... ? Maybe boldness is love sometimes? It was a neat experience.

Well, just because most of you live in UTAH doesn't mean you are exceptions to our leaders' council to pray for the missionaries by name, their investigators, and for mission experiences. I hope you all follow their council and that you can all each bring someone closer to Christ.

Thank you for your prayers. I liked something a missionary told me this week. "If you love your missionary, pray for their investigators" Its so true. How pride and joy are our investigators and they need your prayers way more than i do. Here are some names you can pray for:

Diana
Anne

Ana

Maggy

Nicole

and Adele

I love you and pray for you as welll

Lots of hugs and big kisses

Sœur Kohlert