Adrienne's Last Letter Home:

FALL!

Well we had Pfahlkonferenz (Stake Conference) this Week and then another Conference in Offenbach. Lots of traveling, lots of sitting, and lots of awesome talks. 

We got to teach the Vu Family twice and Linh is ready to be baptized this coming Saturday! She’s so cute and knows so much. We asked her if she had any questions or if she was afraid and she just asked if she could invite all her friends in her class! She’s 9 and already a missionary. We even have a tiny name tag for her older brother Ton that says „Missionary in Training.“ He loves the gospel and helps us teach their family by giving testimony and translating into Vietnamese for is mom. They’re an amazing family and if all goes well, the dad will be able to baptize his daughter! 

We had a funny miracle on Sunday between the German and English session of Stake Conference. We had a 2 hour break in between so we ran to the Vu‘s and taught them and when we were walking back to the church for the English session we saw these men. Sister Swain and I looked at each other and - because we can read each other's mind- ran across the street. We talked to them and they were all from India so they only spoke Tamil and English. Perfect! We invited them to go to conference with us and they said yes! So we walk in a little late and everyone is just smiling at us when they see the sister missionaries walk in with 3 Junges (young men) in tow. Unfortunately the one talk they heard was not very good and we could tell they were confused. So Sister Swain and I just turned to them and started teaching them quietly. We taught about the restoration and the Book of Mormon (and thanks to technology I had the pamphlet and the BoM downloaded for them in Tamil from LDS.org). It was so cool! One of the most epic impromptu lessons! We got their contact info and set up an appointment. So that means we simultaneously got 3 new investigators and they came to church! 

Yesterday we got to hear from Elder Sabin from the Europe Area Presidency. He was HILARIOUS! If there was such thing as spiritual stand up comedy, this was it. He talked about how wonderful it was to know that we are God‘s children and His plan and our purpose is to become like Him. He shared a scripture that explains this perfectly. Psalms 82:6 „I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.“ 

Just another train ride.

If there was one thing that I have learned while on my mission it would be that God loves His children SO much. He loves us so much that he has provided a way, through His Son Jesus Christ, to return to Him. He loves us so much that he lets us fall, have trials, weaknesses, or illness so that we can learn for ourselves how to rely on Christ’s Atonement, get back up, and keep going. My favorite scripture (it’s on my plaque in the chapel at home) is Ether 12:27 „And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.“ I realize this isn’t a huge missionary scripture, but I believe it illustrates the heart of missionary work. We are all being invited to come unto Christ, to learn about His restored gospel, to repent, to be baptized, and to endure with FAITH and HOPE. 

I have loved every moment of being a full time representative of Jesus Christ. 

Ich weiß dass die Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage der Reich des Herrn auf die Erde ist. Ich weiß dass Gott lebt. Er spricht zu uns durch seinen lebendigen Prophet Thomas S. Monson. Seine Evangelium ist den einzigen Weg, der wir Frieden finden können. Ich bin dankbar dass ich die Möglichkeit habe, um umzukehren. Ich weiß dass das Buch Mormon wahr ist. Ich habe es endlich auf Deutsch fertig gelesen! 

(I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of the Lord on earth. I know that God lives. He speaks to us through his living prophet Thomas S. Monson. His gospel is the only way we can find peace. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to return. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I finally finished reading in German!)

Vielen Dank für euere Unterstützung und Gebeten! Ich freue mich euch wiederzusehen!

(Thank you for your support and prayers! I'll be glad to see you again!)

Bis Gleich!

Sister Luymes 

Nuremberg Zoo -- who does it best, me or the gorilla?

They look so cute but they have mischief written all over their faces.

My Lederhosen Man! 

Well we got hit by the humble stick this week. This morning I said something about seeing my dog in and I tripped over nothing, twisting my ankle which did indeed touch the ground. It‘s as if God was asking me if I wanted to see my dog sooner. 

We had an ABUNDANCE of creepy men hit on us. One particular time we were so fed up that we just got off the bus at a random bus stop, got on another bus where we encountered 2 more creepers, so we got off the bus AGAIN at a random stop. Then the heavens opened and it poured freezing cold rain. 

We had a split in Heidelberg so we‘ve been living off of trains and Hauptbahnhof food for the past 3 days. Our split was rough too. I love Sister Jenkins (she’s in my group) and Sister Weiler (a former companion of Mine) it was so good to catch up with them. The sucky part of the split was just everything fell out. But hey! We got to drive through this beautiful Dorf and I got a cool video.

I was talking to Sister Jenkins about our last transfer. We realized that because we were 'experienced‘ missionaries we feel as though everything needs to be perfect because we think know what we‘re doing and we know the language. However, this is still the Lord‘s work and if we‘re prideful we’re not being very helpful, so we experienced missionaries still need to learn a lesson on humility. 

I‘m trying to finish the Book of Mormon auf Deutsch before going home (I‘m in Ether I think I can schaff it!). I love Moroni, he starts writing at the end of Mormon and I love everything he says. What really stuck out to me was that he said that he doesn’t have very much room left on the plates so he can’t write very much. So he made every paragraph, every sentence, and every word count. I don’t have much time left, but I want to make the next two weeks count. Moroni didn‘t say much, but what he did say is profound. 

So those are my goals! Be humble and make it count. 

Today we went to the most magical place called Rothenburg ob der Taube. It‘s the Christmas capital of Germany. It’s also a medieval town that’s older than Germany itself. Throwin it back to Germania! Pictures are to come, but my IPad is dying. 

Ich habe euch lieb. Ihr seid wunderbar. Bleibt toll! Schöne Feiertags! 

- Sister Luymes

Noshing on a pretzel in Gasthof Marketplatz, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Hotel Gasthof, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Marktplatz pic -- really I'm trying to get a pic of that dog.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - medieval town popular with tourists