We were given a 'welcome drink' as we showed up to our appointment with Ruth Stein (who is the same lady we talked to 3 months ago who is finially back from her vacation!!) She was so excited to see us and has been reading in the Book of Mormon and showed up to CHURCH YESTERDAY WOOT! but going on with the drink story there were beautiful glasses on the table she had so lovingly prepared with cut up peaches swimming in some sort of red/purple liquid. She was so excited to give them to us and as I asked what it was she replied 'Ill let you find out' (should have been the first red flag) either way after the little sip of burning grossness we asked, does this have alcohol? and well she apologized then for the red wine and made us some fruit tea...much better. I must say it was a little funny but also sad, its sometimes weird to think that some sort of drink can take the spirit away from us but it is true. Its definitely a way to show faith and obediance by keeping the word of wisdom, especially for these people who have had wine and coffee their entire lives, but its just a way to prove their love for the Lord and respect for his commandments. I am so grateful to even be aware of the commandments of God, it gives me a way to orient my life to do what is right and what is best for me. There are so many people in this world who want to do right but dont have the right direction or orientation, if you make your health decisions on the latest discoveries the best solutions in 10 years will actully end up being exactly wrong and the knowledge of men is just constantly changing its a blessing to know the laws of God and to know how to recieve the most blessings...Love it. The other welcome drink is the new drink we give people who first are transferred to Leipzig, I actually forgot their real name but its a japanese place with fruit juices with really thick straws because there are also little balls about the size of marbles also filled with a different juice that then pop in your mouth its AWESOME. So. Welcome drink can be good, but watch out for the ones that burn down the throat from loving investigators...
We had an awesome Thanksgiving with the missionaries and an american couple and an icelandic couple. Theyre awesome and we felt like a family. We had mashed potatoes, thanks to Sister Faerber and I, and all the turkey and homemade stuffing we could want. I felt so blessed to have so much food and a warm home and loving people to be with. Its an incredible opprotunity to help those who dont have so much to realize they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and will bless them as they do what is right...and we get to be the people to tell them the good news and help them feel loved. One little moment of that joy was last week at family home evening...did I already write home about this? We bought Bürcan new tennis shoes which he couldnt afford and his eyes were filled with such gratitude and love, not just for the shoes but for the loving new family he has found. It was a neat expereince that Ill never forget, Christiane is feelign just as loved and blessed, she is now assigned as a visiting teacher of course and has an interview for a temple reccommend next week (the one she used for the temple was only for that day) and she is feeling loved. She sent us a text yesterday saying how grateful she was to know us and wrote us a note saying how she is grateful we are teaching her the gospel and helping her find out she has a new ward family. That fact in itself just shows me that the church is true and that we have a Heavenly Father who loves and guides us, anyone ANYONE can come into church and feel loved and welcome, and its all over the world!! Today we went with Olga to her russian orthodox church, just to see it, its a beautiful building but as we stood inside it was old and hollow feeling, I felt cold (not not literally) and just felt sad yet blessed and excited to be able to now clearly show Olga the difference of a church being lead by the living Savior of the World, through a living prophet, its really true that people still live by the weird old traditions of their fathers just like in the Book of Mormon and it draws them away from the love of the Lord, not because they are horrible wicked...they just arent correct and are missing the truth! Im so excited to share the gospel these next couple weeks with our two older German investigators, Thea Ritcher and Ruth Stein, Thea was at temple square and gave her address to the sisters there, and we invited her to be baptized and we have an appt this next Thursday so pray for Thea!!
I get to see another baptism this Saturday from our lovely Rober Schuster...he is such a cool guy, around 45 years old, is LOADED and is a huge deal in the volleyball reffing world of Germany, on like the main board for Northern Germany or something, haha anyway he was talked to by Elder McCann about 4 months ago on his bike and is now getting baptized this Saturday, he was going to get baptized later but moved it up, first of all because he is ready now and so I could be there :) He had to sacrifice a lot...lot of wine as he has been learning to live by the gospel standards, he knows its worth it, definintely not in the money he lost in giving away his wine collection but in the blessings he will receive in doing it. Hes so cool...He watches a general conference talk on his ipad before he goes to bed every night and stayed up til 5 in the morning one night last week reading on line about chastity and families and the prophets words on the topic, He loves the gospel and has such a strong testimony, how cool would it be if we all had a new love and desire to listen to general conference talks more often and refesh ourselves on the standards we live by. Robert has definitely given me a new motivation to have a bigger love for the gospel and desire to learn...
Im feeling a lot of mixed emotions with the changes going on but im so grateful to be here and know these people and help them feel the spirit and have a stronger desire to choose the right, to know who Christ is and what he did and continues to do for them. Its such a blessing to be here in Leipzig with such an awesome ward and even cooler CHRISTMAS MARKET....youve never celebrated Christmas til you have been to a Weihnachtsmarkt in Germany....ill take a video and show you in the real world...its a dream. So we are enjoying the holiday season and asking people why we celebrate Christmas is always a good time.
Hope you have a successful week and know how much I love and appreciate you and this gospel and this mission.
Vielen dank und Alles Gute.
Sister Rasmussen
Thanks for the package mom!! I'll send all these out to everyone I've met!!
Us in the old part of the Christmas market, its like old medieval Germany with Handbrot...delicious.
Thanks for the golden bikes mom, Sister Faerber and I love them
Yep, mashed potatoes, we made a lot.
That was Thanksgiving.
Tschüssssssy
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