Sister Adrienne Luymes

This pizza thing (I forgot the name) was
yummy but gave me garlic and onion
breath to last a lifetime

First off thanks for the birthday wishes and emails they made my day. :)

Between Tuesday and Sunday we prayed and even fasted for Manuela that she would have a good experience on Sunday. We both knew how important her first impression of the Gemeinde would be. It was fast and testimony meeting (basically open-mic night Mormon style). I just sat there as almost half the ward and even visitors bore the sweetest testimonies. All of them bore testimony about the Plan of Salvation, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the truthfulness of the church. Sascha told his conversion story about how he came to Germany not knowing any German. His first apartment he got was completely empty, but somebody had left a Croatian Book of Mormon. He read it 3 times and found the address to the church. He was baptized soon after. It was hands down the best testimony meeting I've ever been to. By the time it was Relief Society Manuela was participating and commenting and had made some friends even! GOD IS GOOD! He is SO good!

I got to serve all day on Wednesday. My only birthday wish was to give back. So we visited a bunch of people in the Pflegeheim (nursing home) and we helped the ward make decorations for our Weihnachtsfest (Christmas fest). Elder Ashton (he's been out 4 weeks) even made a cheese cake (sort of). It was more like a smoothie on graham crackers.

Thursday was insanely awesome! I won't go into all of it because it would take too much time. However, after a miraculous day Sister Weiler and I were walking home and she said she wished that it didn't have to end. So I said it didn't and talked to a woman looking out on
the bridge. She ended up inviting us into her apartment where we had tea and muffins and taught the first lesson. Go Raja!

WINNER OF THE CHALLENGE: Sister Weiler's dad and my cousin Aaron Toone. The noodle letter language is Tamil. Of course the Book of Mormon is translated in Tamil. And yes there are missionaries that speak Tamil. We're trying to get in contact with them!

Speaking of translations, our Skype lesson with the Bulgarian missionaries went way better than I imagined! Diminitrova even said he'd get baptized when he got an answer! Even though we weren't the ones teaching him and don't speak Bulgarian, it was cool to feel the Spirit and see other missionaries teach. We have another appointment this week so things are looking good.

Skype with the Bulgarian Missionaries - Don't know their names.

I can't describe how cool it is to be serving in Germany right now. There's so many people from all over the world here. It's pretty sad to here about WHY they had to come to Germany, but it's pretty inspiring to see what people sacrifice for their family and beliefs. When I got my call I thought I'd be learning German so I could communicate with the German people. However, I've learned German so that I could speak to people from Germany AND all over the world.

Ich weiß dass Gott unser Himmlischer Vater ist. Er hat ein Plan für uns, selbst wenn unser Laben schwierig ist. Wir können zu ihm beten. Er liebt uns so sehr dass er sein Geliebter Sohn gegeben hat. Durch Jesus Christus und sein Sühnopfer, wir Friede und Freude in unser Leben haben können. Ich bin dankbar für mein Seit im Mannheim zu dienen. Ich bin dankbar für euch.

Translated:

I know that God is our Heavenly Father. He has a plan for us, even if our burden is difficult. We can pray to him. He loves us so much that he gave his beloved son. Through Jesus Christ and His Atonement, we will make peace and joy in our own lives. I am grateful to serve my time in Mannheim. I am grateful to you.

Liebe Grüße
- Sister Luymes