Making a difference...
News from Heidi and her mission president:
I have been asked to be careful what I post on Heidi's blog so from now on I will post excerpts from Heidi's emails and letters.
Heidi's mission president emailed me early Saturday morning and we also received a phone cal from him. He is such a great leader and is a very spiritual, caring, and compassionate man. I know Heidi is in good hands as she serves under him. He made us aware of a situation that concerned Heidi and her safety. I am so glad for inspired church leaders. I know she will be watched over and protected as she serves faithfully and obediently. Please remember her as well as other missionaries in your prayers.
As her mission president was talking to me on the phone and the situation with Heidi he spoke of how blunt and bold the German people are. He then said, "Your daughter isn't a drama queen". She is hard working and dedicated and doesn't let things affect her...( I almost chuckled when he used the word "drama queen". Her German mission president has a great command of the English language and all its idioms. ) That is so true. Kevin, Heidi's dad, apologized for all the added stress that sisters bring to a mission and her mission president said, "I don't consider it stress but adventures". It's wonderful he has such a positive attitude..because he has A LOT of sisters under his care. There are unique situations that can occur with sisters that you don't have with Elders. In his email he said, " We're happy to have your daughter in the Germany Berlin mission. She is such a lighthouse and strength. Wonderful!" So glad that despite all that is happening she is a great asset to her mission and the German people.
Here's her letter:
Montag 5 August 2013
Moin moin familie! J
Moin moin is something that only Hamburgers can say…so you
should feel pretty lucky! How’s life at home. I miss you all so much. I still
haven’t received any letters here so it’s been kinda sad. But last night my
District Leader told us on the phone that he has 4 letters for me that came to
the mission office! So I’m pretty excited! J
....We pretty much rely on
public transportation for everything, so
we are constantly on “der Bus” or “der Bahn” (like a subway) I do NOT understand
how we get from one place to another , but Sister Nilson magically does. Haha
I’m trying really hard to learn the area....
It’s really polluted and everybody smokes, which is a
little bit gross. Like I mentioned in my last letter, Sister Nilson and I really STICK OUT! We just look clean,
well dressed, well groomed, of course our name tags , and I fell like
missionaries just have a glow to them! It’s kind of hard to explain, but we’re
always smiling, laughing, and being friendly. Most people keep to themselves ,
don’t talk to strangers, and always look solemn or angry.
This week we had six sonstige
lektionen (progressive investigator lessons) and four of them fell through.
It was so hard. Most of the time we travel 30-45 minutes one way for a lesson
so when they fall through it is super discouraging. A few days this week I just
felt like crying because every time we tried to do anything we just failed. My companion never lets it get to her
though. As long as we’re doing what we’re
supposed to be doing we are being successful. That mindset really helps me.
When our original plans fell through this week it always seemed we had even
better opportunities finding and talking to other people.
One day we went to contact a woman who lives near us, but we
ended up finding a woman sitting along the path. When we were heading towards
the original woman’s house , Sister Nilson said, “ We are talking to that
woman on our way back. We are giving her a Book of Mormon.” I kind of just
laughed thinking that there is no way she will still be sitting there after we
meet with the other lady. But our attempt of contacting the other woman failed
and so we ended up talking to the other woman who was still there!! You should
know that 98.9% of the time people really don’t want to talk to us. So I was a
little scared to start talking to her. She turned out to be the nicest woman
I’ve ever met!!! She thought it was so toll
(awesome)that we were her doing what we were doing. Her husband died six months
ago and she’s been so lonely and had such a hard time. She didn’t even know if
God exists or anything . When we first started talking to her she looked so sad
and depressed, but as we bore our testimony of God and Jesus Christ I literally
saw light enter into her eyes. Her frown turned from a frown to a smile. Who
knows maybe that was the first time she’s smiled since her husband passed away.
This is why I’m here. To bring light to people, to give them a reason to smile.
To offer them hope. This woman was so wonderful . I bore my testimony of the
Bible and Book of Mormon . She accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon with such
gratitude. We asked her if she would meet with us again sometime but she said
she wanted to read more of the Book of Mormon first. And since we had already
given her our card with our number on it , there wasn’t anything else we could
do. But before walking away this woman thanked us
so sincerely. She said, “Maybe we will
see each other again.” UMM YES!! After leaving her , Sister Nilson and I
stopped in the middle of the sidewalk when we were alone on the street and I
said, “ We need to pray for her right now.” So we just stopped and prayed .
We’ve actually done this a few times now. Haha That’s one of the best things
about being a missionary is you can do things that would normally be considered
weird.
The other night we had an Essen Termin mit die Familie
R and we had another similar experience after we left. We were super late leaving
and in trouble with our DL. But we found a boy name "C" . He was sitting there
at the BAhn station all alone, smoking , looking like a miserable soul. He was
only 15 years old… having a schlechten tag. (Bad day) I just started
talking to him. Pretty much his first impression of me must have been that I was some goof ball American that
didn’t know how to speak German. But after a couple minutes he threw his
cigarette on the ground, smashed it with his foot and listened to us. Sister
Nlson and I smiled, testified of Christ and were quite the contrast against the
black, polluted and deserted Bahn station. My heart just opened up to this boy
and I just needed to help him realize that God was there and does love him. He laughed at
so much of what Sister Nilson and I said, but every second he more eagerly
listened to what we said. He said he
didn’t believe in God . But as we talked
and testified I saw the same light come into his countenance. I saw hope
reflected back at me. When the Bahn came we all got on together and Sister
Nilson said, “We are sitting with this kid!” So we continued talking to him and
getting to know him a little bit. So I don’t even know how this happened but
Sister NIlson and I ended up talking about music with him and before I knew it we
were singing hymns right then and there ON THE BAHN. There were only two other
people on the BAhn , men in their
twenties . We started singing the first verse of “Nearer MY God To
Thee” and immediately there was such a
good feeling in the car. "C" was super embarrassed but he had a SMILE on his face. J
We finished the first verse and I asked, “ein
mehr?’ (one more?) “Warum nicht”, he
replied. (Why not?) So my companion and I continued singing. The coolest
thing happened though! One of the other men on the Bahn took out his
headphones and the other man
lowered his book. I saw these two men soften their expressions , close
their eyes and just listen. My companion and I continued singing other songs
and the spirit as so strong , "C" was smiling so big! This was the kid who
moments earlier had been sitting alone smoking in the dark having a horrible
day. Yes. The gospel blesses lives. The spirit touches
lives. Faith brings hope. God brings love. Suddenly "C"realized we were at
his stop and he knew he needed to leave. We all jumped up and Sister Nilson was
like, “Wait, do you want to meet with us again sometime?” He as a little
hesitant , but I could tell he wanted to , so I said, “I know you do!” Very
quickly Sister Nilson threw him her planning book and a pen and he began
furiously writing down his name. Sister
Nilson quickly opened the door but he didn’t have much time. Suddenly the train
started to leave , but "C" tried to open the door and keep it open with his
body. He was trying so hard to finish writing but he was getting smashed
between the doors so he had to throw Sister Nilson her book and get out while
the train was moving. When we looked out
the window it was so SAD! L
He had only had time to write down his name, but no number. He looked at us
with the saddest expression as we faded away into the darkness. It was quite
the dramatic scene. On the train the man went back to reading and the other man
put his headphones back in. But I know this boy will always remember this experience
. He will remember the crazy American sisters who shared their testimonies ,
made him smile , and sang to him on the train. We remembered that we had given
him a pass-along –card upon meeting him
and we prayed that he would remember it and take it out. I don’t understand
when people can experience the joy the gospel brings or even just feel the
spirit and do nothing about it.
More often than not the differences we make in life, as
people or as people with mission callings, are not reflected as grandeur events
or numbers. It’s like in Alms 37:6 “by small and simple things are great things
brought to pass.” Who we are as people, how we treat other people, truly makes a difference. Our personal influence is
greater than we would think.
This past week I was able to invite one of our investigators
to be baptized. ("M" , a 21 year old German man. ) He doesn’t have a super
solid faith in Christ or God at the moment , but I know that as he continues
acting on the faith he does have he will begin to have a stronger testimony of
his own. Sister Nilson and I have really emphasized the importance of the Holy
Ghost. It is through the Holy Ghost that we are converted to the gospel. It is through the Holy Ghost that we receive
a testimony of God, of Jesus Christ, of
the Book of Mormon, of Joseph Smith, and also of our prophet today, Thomas S.
Monson. One question that we asked "M" (and our other investigators , and ourselves) is: What is the difference between having a
knowledge of God and having a relationship with God? We are always talking with people about how we can all have a relationship
with God. But what does that really mean? I think it all comes down to
faith. If we truly have faith we realize
our dependency on God. Our faith causes
us to ACT. And our actions help us feel
of the influence of the spirit, know
Gods will and feel of His love. "M" is still working on the first part of the question: Having knowledge of God. But he really is a star investigator. He is reading his scriptures, he is praying.
He is coming to know his Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone can become converted,
it’s just a matter of will- subjecting one’s will to the Father.
I LOVE BEING A MISIONARY!! I have the opportunity to meet
with such a variety of people . But no
matter what difference I see I have to
remember that each person I see and meet is a child of God. It doesn’t matter if they are homeless,
Muslim, Christian, wealthy, African, German, American, disable
or not. We are all brothers and sisters . God loves all of us. He desires for
all of us to come unto Him. But we will always have our agency. As a missionary
I can teach, invite , and serve others, but I can’t control what other people
do in response to my actions. The thing that I know for certain is that people
who do come unto Christ are HAPPY. Yes we experiences trials and challenges
just like everybody else , but we are supported and comforted as we suffer . We
grow from experiences and make the best
of them. When you come unto Christ you come into the light. It is the best
feeling you can imagine. J
I really love my companion Sister Nilson. She is so
awesome!! I’m praying that President Kosak won’t make me a trainer after six
weeks..If he did I would probably cry…..But it’s definitely happened! Sister
Nilson and I are a big support to each other and we’ve developed a great
friendship. Haha, our quirky personalities
go so perfect together. And guess
what?? She says, “Holy Crow” sometimes!!
Haha she’s really dramatic when she tells stories and talks and she always so happy. We are always laughing together and always
talking. Ich liebe sie J We both love fruits
and vegetables ….Today we went shopping and came home with bags full of
produce---so good. She also loves to sing and she sings like an angel! When we
sing together she always harmonizes really well so that we sound pretty good
together. All in all things are great here. J
She’s starting to keep track of all the people who “fall in love with me” when
we’re walking the streets. Haha…I think I’ve
picked up a few secret admirers. …But I haven’t given out our cards to any of them
and they don’t know where we live so we’re safe. Haha Anyway, have a wonderful week.
Ich Liebe Euch! Love,
Sister Heidi Shelley
****Heidi put a BIG smiley face sticker on her letter
that had a huge teethy grin and had shiny spots on its face. She wrote beside it
with an arrow pointing to it: “ Pretty much I always look shiny like this guy.
Always so HOT!!! But always so HAPPY!!!
ICH LIEBE DEUTSCHLAND!!!!
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