LANGENHORN TO BERLIN....and LOTS of PICTURES!!! :D:D LANGENHORN [ HAMBURG ] / LANKWITZ [ BERLIN ]

The following is from two short emails Heidi sent to us today. 

January 13, 2014

"God Be With You Till We Meet Again."

"I'm Singin' in the rain . . . !"

I don't have that much time to write since I sent so many pictures.

My last days in Hamburg

                                                 Gonna miss these feet standing together . . .

Love this girl.  This was new years eve.  We had a great night with our ward mission leader, his wife, and little son.  Even did some fireworks! 

                                                              In front of the opera haus.

But holy crow mother, I can't even tell you how crazy it was to leave Langenhorn.

Sister Darrington said she has never seen such a farewell.

I can't even write about all the people, explain anything let alone everything.  All I have is my journal with so many precious memories written down and I pray that I will have a good memory that I can share everything with you someday.  And I have so many photos that mean so much to me.

                                                           Saying goodbye to my first district.

                                           Hamburg Distrikt für immer! (Hamburg District forever!)

 Saying good bye to my "Langenhorn Grandparents" .Schwester Neilsen is back out of the hospital and back home again which makes me happy.  I love them both so much.

                                                                    Goodbye Mirja!!

                                                                   So much luggage!!

Bruder Wolff!  This photo makes me want to cry . . . reminds me too much of Langenhorn.

                                                              Our last day together!!

Goodbye Eric! I am so glad I was able to see Eric Tuesday morning and say goodbye before heading to Berlin.

Schwester Glen, also like a mother and grandmother.  She insisted on going to the train station with us so that we didn't have to go alone.  She treated us to lunch and we just love her. 

 I was so sad to leave Langenhorn, but I was so happy at the same time.  New adventures, new people, new experiences.

                                                                       Love this girl!!

                   Goodbye to Elder and Sister Nuttall and my dear companion, Sister Darrington.

                                         Elder Gibson and me. He has been a great district leader.

                                            All Aboard!! Off to new adventures in Berlin!!

 Saying my last goodbyes in Hamburg last Tuesday . .  . I can't believe that was just a week ago.  Feels like a dream.  

Saying good bye to Ab** was really like saying goodbye to a brother.  A brother I'm not sure I'll ever see again.  I listened to/watched a video on my camera just last night.  "God Be With You Till we meet again."  We are singing together for the last time, and the camera is turned to the scriptures and my precious golden star.  Till we meet again.  Everybody said it is not goodbye, just see you later.  It's not "tschüß" but "Aufwiedersehen."  Lump in my throat.

 He gave me his last words.  I was going where God wanted me to be.  He never thought the day would come that I would leave.  I left him with an envelope of photos and I wrote a few last words.  I wrote out the words to Doctrine &Covenants  78:18. " And ye cannot bear all things; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours."   

I gave him something special to remember me by….something that was given to me by someone dear to me. . He cradled it like a treasure in his hands. He held it up to his heart. “I will keep this forever. I will keep it safe for you.”Shaking his black, coarse hands. Giving him a big hug.  Good bye?  Or just “see you later?”

                                                                           Abel . . . :(

                                                      "I love you my brother Abel."  Alma 17:2-3

 "Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had  searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and  fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with  power and authority of God." (Alma 17: 2-3)

Good bye J**  Read with him in Alma 32.  Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge, therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen which are true.  Please let us see each other again, still united in faith.  Great big hug.  

                                                         J**! So hard to say goodbye!

 H** came and met up with us at the train station.  He wanted one more chance to say good bye.  There he was at the Gleis holding a wrapped flower and a farewell note.  

I am SO INCREDIBLY happy here in Berlin though :)))

 I am loving Berlin!  Cobble stone roads, beautiful sunsets, a multicultural people.  

I am in Lankwitz now.  I AM SO HAPPY HERE. May be more multicultural than Langenhorn. 

 We met with people from Thailand, Egypt, Congo, Australia, and China . .

I have a lot of energy and excitement for the work. 

 Every day we have been out I have seriously talked to EVERYBODY. 

 It is so interesting and exciting, and I seriously don't know why I ever had problems with fear.  

I have to go, but I will share more next week.

I bore my testimony in my new ward yesterday and I was so grateful to stand before my new ward family.  I know that God lives and that is why I am here.

I am ready to go.  I am ready to do whatever it takes. 

Ich liebe euch! 

Sister Heidi Elaine

PICTURES FROM CHRISTMAS DAY LANGENHORN [ HAMBURG ]

                   Elder and Sister Nuttall, the missionary couple in Langenhorn, sent these pictures from Christmas Day.

GOD BE WITH YOU TIL WE MEET AGAIN - LANGENHORN [ HAMBURG ]

January 6, 2014

Liebe Familie.

We got transfer calls on Saturday, and guess who is heading to Berlin!  ME!  I will be serving in the Lankwitz gebiet (area).  I guess "Blondie in Berlin" will actually be a blondie in Berlin for the next few months . . .

There are some times in your life where you find yourself saying, "I am never going to forget this," and this week for me has been one of these times.

 I knew that we would be receiving transfer calls and I knew that there would be a high chance I would be leaving, but I never really thought about how it would be or what that meant. 

 I talked to you on Skype on Christmas and you saw me in tears crying of sadness but also of joy.  There was a time where I just wanted to leave this area, because it is true that I have struggled A LOT here.  I thought it would be easier to just leave because I didn't feel like I had done that much, easier to just start over and do it right somewhere else. But this week I really had my eyes opened to the difference that I have made here.  Langenhorn has changed me, and I know now that I have changed Langenhorn. 

What a wonderful week it has been...

Remember H***?  We met with him this past week and we also met with him this morning. He has come back again.  He had read the chapter we gave him in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 27, and we discussed repentance.  He was determined that the reason for Alma's change of heart and repentance was because an angel appeared unto him.  "We can't all see angels.  If Alma wouldn't have seen an angel he wouldn't have changed like he did."  But I must disagree.  It is not how the Lord makes himself manifest unto us, but that he does make himself manifest unto us. 

 We read verse 14 in the chapter and I compared Alma's father unto Sister Darrington and I.  Here we are, just two sister missionaries, but we pray in his behalf as well as all the other people here.  We pray with faith, not asking that angels will appear to these people, but that they will be able to feel of the Spirit in their hearts and recognize the Lord's role in their life.  My testimony meant a lot as I bore it this morning. 

Repentance means a lot to me.  I consider my own life as saved as I have personally come to understand and feel of the joy of turning my heart and my will to my God.  My heart was feeling very full as we sat there together.  I told H*** at the end that I would be leaving to Berlin on Tuesday.  Of everything that I could have imagined I never would have imagined what actually happened. 

 He slowly lost his composure after  my simple statement that I  was leaving.  We took a photo and you can see the tears in his eyes.  He has always called us his angels, but as he sat across the table from me and told me that again, with tears in his eyes, my heart was truly touched.

 He has rekindled his faith in God and in Jesus Christ, and is now trying to repent and come unto Christ again and find forgiveness.  He told me about how Sister Nilson and I had had such an impact on him, how we had helped him to really remember what was so important about life, about remembering God even when the way may seem easy.  He had felt the spirit as he met with us.  I will never Forget the day that he prayed in the Name of Jesus Christ.  The day that he started crying as we testified that God lives and loves him.  After taking our photo today he just looked at me again, and just thanked me so sincerely from the bottom of his heart.  I had made a difference in his life.  I just leaned in to give him a hug and he just pulled me in so tight and just started bawling and then he kissed my shoulder. "H**, ich weiß dass diese Kirche wahr ist.  Sie ist die Kirche Jesu Christi." ( "H **, I know that this Church is true. It is the church of Jesus Christ.")  I see how much my testimony means to me personally, because in the last goodbye, I feel like it is all I have left to offer.  This is what I know.  Please, just remember it.  

I had many goodbyes just like this one.  People I didn't even realize that I had affected, but really I had.  

Ab** met with us and we heard him speak with such dedication and humility, how this year would be different.  A new year, following Christ with new strength.  He talked about the promise that he wanted to make with God, to commit to follow him again from now on.  What an amazing reminder we could give him, that he has already covenanted and committed himself to God.  He did that when he was baptized last October.  The wonderful thing is, is that we can always repent, always come back, even when we feel like we have wandered far away.  Ab**will always have a Special place in my heart as well.

So many of our appointments fell out this week, so I don't really know how E** is doing, how Eve** and the kids are, how so many people are on a Level of Progression.  But I really feel like things have happened in these ways for a reason. 

The first several days of this week I remember speaking with Sister Darrington  .... telling her that I was sure I had never been happier ever before on my Mission.  I was studying hard, going to work, and I was just so grateful to be here. 

Then there was Saturdays memory of eating chocolate chip banana pancakes on the kitchen floor, pulling out mattresses into the living room and sleeping next to her on the floor.  Her holding me in her arms like a baby last night as I bawled about leaving my first area.  I got to bear my testimony in church one last time.  And with that I am grateful, that I was able to share MY testimony again.  What I know.  It has been a week of many experiences, many moments of reflection, many goodbyes that were very difficult. 

Did I Change Langenhorn one smile at a time?  I sure hope so. I just know that more than anything, Langenhorn has changed me.  I will never be the same again.  The people, the land, the culture, everything.  I have experienced a Change of my own heart, learned to love more fully with that heart, and learned to accept love from others. 

The members here have really been like a Family to me.  I am so impressed by their levels of conversion.  They have helped me in my own conversion. 

I am ready to go on to Lankwitz and serve the people there.  I have learned so much here, and I am ready to go on and apply everything that I have learned. 

Love you,

Sister Heidi Elaine :)

                                                      SAYING GOODBYES...

Sister and I yesterday at the R**'s. Just sitting  on the couch enjoying a wonderful day. My new area is Lankwitz in Berlin!! That is Prsident Kosak's ward. And I'll be in a district with the AP's.

                                         Making Asian food with S**, one of our investigators. .