Switzerland Temple!

Hallo Familie!

Ich habe gedacht das diese Woche ich auf Deutsch schreiben kann. Wunderschone Idee gel?

Nur Spass

This week! I dont really even know what to write. It was so much fun talking to the family. Ahh so good seeing all yall. Also, to all who wrote it the "Things I love about Elysse!" book, thank you so stinking much. It was the best present ever!! I cried. Goodness. I have the best friends and family.

But since talking to yall last, the week was great! The day after Christmas we headed to Familie Zimmerman and spent the whole day there. It was such a blast.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we went back to work! I honestly was so ready to get back to work. I was sick of being lazy and eating tons of food. hahah Within those three short days we were able to find a new investigar! His name is Abraham and he is soo open. He loves the Bible and was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. He says in his free time he listens to preachers so we are going to send him conference talks. I feel really good about him.

I am just so grateful for how much I have learned opening and training in this area. Man, it was so hard, but I am such a better missionary now. I am so grateful for this time. Saturday is transfer calls. I am so curious to will see what will happen. Sister Freimann and I have both been here 6 months, so either of us could go. The weirdest thing is that if I do get transfered it will most likely be my last area... man.. time goes by so fast. I cant believe I have been out on my mission longer than a year.

The Elders here is Singen are so great. It is so much fun working with them. Since we were fed so much unhealthy food the past few weeks, we are doing a vegetable and fruit only detox until wednesday the 8th. Elder Chapman is going home the 10th, so we are helping him look good for when he gets off the plane hahah. We are all doing it, even the Gurneys said they were going to do it, so it is great to be able to help each other stay strong. hahah

Well for new years our ward is having a party! Supposely New Years in Germany with the fireworks are crazy, so I am excited to see them. But of course I will miss yall:  and the best of all, I am going to the temple in Switzerland on Saturday!! I am so excited. Everything will be in German, but it was be so good!

Well i love you guys. Have a great new year. Gute Rutsch!

Sister Allman

Here are some pictures from today during pday:) We played basketball with the Zimmerman Family.

O du Fröhliche

What a week it was!! When 1 door closes Heavenly Father opens 3 more doors!

So this week was a little crazy because we were in Freiburg for 2 days, but we were still able to get so much done!! The Lord blessed us with 4 new solid investigators. O man. I would just like to tell about one of them. His name is Brittel and he is from Sierra Leon. We met him and his friend on the street a week ago. I heard them speaking English so obviously I had to stop them! So we talked and they both love Jesus so much and wanted to meet with us to learn more. Well we had a lesson with them on Tuesday and it was so good. Brittel is so open and ready to hear about the Gospel. His story is so incredible. Sierra Leon used to be a part of a great war and he has been through so much! Man. But the cool thing is is that he used to be Muslim. He said that he used to be the guy that would argue with all the Christians and tell them that they were wrong. Then he started comparing the muslim and christian religions and said if anyone will tell me which faith direction is really right, it will be God. Well he started researching both and praying and then he got a answer that Christian is the right direction! So now he believes so strong on Jesus Christ. Well he came to church yesterday and really loved it. Our GML (Ward Mission Leader) told him that he was always welcome here and Brittel responded "I won't miss a Sunday!" He loved church and wants to learn so much. He also said there was a mormon church building right by his house in Sierra Leon and so many people used to invite him to come. The other wonderful thing is is that we have this awesome member in our ward named Samuel who is the Elders Quorum President and is also from Sierra Leon! So he is helping a ton as well. We are meeting with him again tonight and he is also cooking us an african dish! We are hoping to be able to set a baptismal date with him tonight-he is so ready! Miracles I tell you. The Lord never ceases to amaze me.

It made me soo happy to see the pictures of yall with the wonderul members from Munich! Ahhh Do yall just love Munich??? O man, as cheesy as this sounds, Munich has such a special place in my heart!!

Freiburg was great. It was so much fun being able to spend the night with the 4 other sisters. I think my favorite thing about it was that after Zone Training meeting on Wednesday all 30 something of us missionaries went Christmas Caroling in downtown Freiburg next to the Christmas market. It was my favorite thing ever! We had a big crowd around us! People were talking pictures, singing along and it was the best because we really made some people's days! It was the best. I must say this is already one of the most unforgettable Christmas's that I have ever had. Christmas as a misisonary is the best. Goodness. I love being a missionary.

We had our ward Christmas party Saturday night. It was a great turn out. There were 12 non members there and 4 less actives. 3 our our investigators were there and they really enjoyed it. Ward activities are the perfect way to invite non members to come see the church! It was so successful and one of the men that came is coming to church next sunday now! So next ward activity, invite a non member friend:)

Well I hope yall are having so much fun traveling europe! I am so happy yall got to see Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, and Slovakia!! ahh all those places are heavenly!!!

Ich habe euch so doll lieb!

Sister Allman

Happiness

This week! Wow, all I can say is that everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Basically in short, we are starting fresh again from scratch. Achmed last minutely moved, and Zorro can't really meet anymore, so our two baptismal canidates are no longer, and now we are out FINDING new solid investigators! But good thing about Achmed, he will continue meeting with the missionaries in Karlsruhe and get baptized there! So it is all good.

I should be really upset that everything went wrong and that basically we have to start over, but I am not at all!! This week was still so wonderful and I am just as happy as a peach. It is so crazy!! Man, this was probably my happiest week in a long time-and everything went wrong, but I can't complain! I am serving the Lord and his children and I couldn't be happier. Also, I find it such a blessing that we have to refocus on  finding. I have had this goal that I have been working on to become a "Master Finder" and now Heavenly Father is helping me really focus on it! Tender Mercies everywhere!

Man, something I loved this week was train and bus contacting. I met so many incredible people and I truely felt Christ's love for them! It is so much fun. It is the best meeting God's children from all different types of the world and learning from their culture. Goodness, I am just in the best mission ever. I'm sorry if you disagree, but this mission is the best in the world haha and this is the best descision I have ever made-to come on a mission!! Every doubt or fear I had before the mission was so dumb. Seriously, every blessing outweighs the sacrifice of going on a mission by a million fold. Ahhh!! sorry I am just soo happy.

Well this week should be so wonderful. Tuesday we have 5 lessons lined up with potential investigators, Wednedsay and Thursday we will be in Freiburg for Zone Training meeting and our Zone Christmas Conference (We'll be staying the night with the sisters there), then Friday we a few lessons with potentials and we get to teach seminary (I am so excited), and then Saturday in the ward Christmas party! Christmas season is the best!

So Yesterday one of our potential investigators had a christmas concert in an old catholic church and we got permission to go!! It was so incredible. It was a beautiful classical concert in this old church and the sounds from the echoing high ceiling was incredible! The whole time I was just in awe and couldn't help but be so grateful for this opportunity to serve in Europe. After the concert our potential Helen was soo excited to see us. She also went up to someone and said "Look!! The mormons came!!!" hahah She was so excited. We have an appointment with her on Tuesdayand I am excited to see how it goes.

O my goodness. Guess what!!!! Sister Freimann and I get to go to the Temple in Switzerland on 4 of January. I am so excited! Normally missionaries who serve in Germany are not allowed to go, only the misisonaries in Switzerland, but Sister Freimann got asked to speak at the Stake Sisters Conference there in Zolikofen and so we were able to get permission to go. So basically, we are soo lucky!! And I am so excited to be able to go to the temple again and see the first temple that was ever built in Europe. It is going to be amazing.

Woah, can you believe that one year ago yesterday I gave my farewell talk?? It is freaking me out to think that I only have 6 months left. The time is going by so fast, so I am just going to enjoy every minute I have doing the best work in the world!

Also, guess what?!! Malcom Felt's wives, little brother, is serving in the same ward as me here in Singen! It is so awesome. He was also super close with spencer and jacob so  I feel like I am with Spencer and Jacob when I see him. It is great!! Is spencer home from his mission yet? and when is jacob getting married?

Well I love this work, I love this gospel, I love being a missionary, I love the people, and I love you all!!!

Have a great week!!!!

Here is a picture from when we made ginger bread cookies with sister gurney this week!! Kind of scary, but o well!

o and ps-the branch here is so wonderful. One of the members called us this morning and asked us to come by tongiht because she found gluten free bread for me... isnt that the sweetest????

CHRISTMAS!!

Happy Holidays!!

Christmas is here and it is the happiest time ever. Christmas in Germany is seriously so magical! I am so excited for you to experience the Christmas markets on Friday! Ahh I am just so excited for yall to go to Munich and meet all the wonderful people that have changed my life!!!

This week was wonderful! We definitely had a Miracle with Achmed!! Lately he has been struggling again to know that if Jesus Christ was really the Son of God. So we've been refocusing on strengthening his faith on the Savior. Well on Friday we saw him and he said he had a dream. He said Jesus Christ came to him and told him that he wanted him to be baptized. When he told me that my mouth just dropped to the ground. I told him that was his answer and he agreed!! I asked him if he believed that Jesus Christ was more than a prophet now and he said yes. I was just so amazed. What a miracle!!!! 

Speaking of miracles I studied Ether 12 this morning and then all about Miracles. Something that I have learned on my mission is that God is a God of Miracles. We read of so many miracles from the Bible and from the Book of Mormon, and have they ceased?? NO!! There are constantly miracles all around us, and we just need to look!! I am so incredibly for all the amazing miracles that I have been able to witness on my mission. I have no doubt in my mind that our God is a God of Miracles and also a God of Love, and that he is constantly blessing us with miracles no matter how big or small they are!

Remember Simplice??? Well on Thursday we were in this little town going by a potential. As we were walking back to the bus stop which was far a way, we hear  this bus come and stop right where we are at and the doors open. We looked up and their was Simplice yelling "Sisters!!!!!!" He had seen us earlier and after he dropped off all his passengers he came a different route to pick us up to go back to singen to pick up his next passengers. It was so awesome and he was just so happy to see us. He introduced us into passengers on his bus as his sisters in Jesus. hahha So great. During his 20 minute work break he asked us if we could pray with him so we prayed all together. It was so great. haha

So Basically the Gurney's are the best missionary couple in the world. I have been so excited for Christmas so on Saturday night they invited us over for  dinner and to help decorate the Christmas tree that we wanted to surprise the elders with. We listen to Christmas music together and all had a great time decorating the Christmas tree. It was a great way to get into the christmas spirit. Well we took the tree to the elders and surprised them and it was so much fun!! Doing stuff for other people reallly brings you so much happiness. They then dropped us off back at our aparment, and when we walked in we saw this beautiful tree that was decorated with advent calendar ornaments all over and presents!! I could have cried I was so happy. The Gurney's had snuck into our apartment when we were gone all day and had surprised us with our own christmas tree!! It was the best ever and this is already one of the greatest Christmas's I have ever had!!!!

Well I am so excited for yall to be in munich. I cant wait to hear about it. Well i lvoe you guys!!!!

Sister Allman

Here is a picture at me at one of the Christmas markets

and the other is the tree that we decorated for the elders

11 months

Hi Family! I can't believe about that crazy storm in Phillipines. I am glad to hear that Mckay is safe. I just found out about that yesterday at stake conference because someone prayed for the people in the Phillipines so I started asking around and found out. I am so glad he is okay.

This week was really great. I ended up being in Switzerland for about 4 days because I had the austausch there and then we had stake conference Saturday and Sunday. I really love Switzerland. So it was fun. This week is going to be even crazier because tomorrow we have interviews with President from 9-12 and the zone training meeting from 12-3, then the Sisters serving in Freiburg and Offenburg are coming and we are doing a mini tausch, and then on Wednedsay we have Zone Conference from 10-5. Then Saturday there is a stake youth activity here in Singen and we are helping with it. So I think this week is going to be a little crazy.

The Austausch with Sister Lohmann went so well. I loved working with her! We were unstoppable together and made a great team. It was really great to learn from her. It is crazy because I am one of the oldest (longest out on mission) sisters on the mission, so seldom do I have the opportunity to work with someone who has been out on the mission longer than me. Gosh isn't that weird? Tomorrow will be exactly 11 months for me on my mission. I'm not going to lie it is freaking me out! Time is going so fast.

We were only able to meet with Achmed once this week because he was out of town. He read some anti mormon literature so the lessons haven't been going as well, so we are a little worried, but we will see what happens. I am just praying my little heart out because I know this Gospel will change his life. But I feel like it will be good. If he is reading daily in the Book of Mormon and praying I have no doubt that he will be baptized. Because the Book of Mormon is the evidence!!  If anyone reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it they are going to get an answer. (I have no doubt:)

Zorro on the other hand is sooo awesome. O my goodness. We met with him a few times this week and he just loved everything. We taught him the plan of salvation and just keep nodding his head and agreeing. We were able to set a baptismal date with him!! So that is awesome. He just keeps saying "Ich lass mich taufe! Ich lass mich taufe!" (I am going to get baptized!) hahah So great. I wish I had a picture of him. He used to be a truck driver and always wears this leather jacket and this big black mustache. hahah I hope you can imagine him in your head. He is so ready.

I really love being a missionary. Last night we were talking to the Ehepaar The Gurney's and we got on the topic of the beginning of my mission. Satan was really on me the first two transfers of my mission. I honestly hated being a missionary and I wanted to come home every single day. I just remember feeling like there was this dark cloud constantly surrounding me. I look back on that time and I am just soo grateful. That time I probably hit my lowest of all lows that I had ever experienced, but I am so strong because of it. And it is so great to see how far I have come. I can truely say that I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! I love it. It is so hard, but you experience things that you would never be able to experience without a mission. goodness. I just love being a missionary:)

Well Christmas is coming and I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone is getting excited to listen to Christmas music. hahah

Okay well i love you alll!!!

Have a wonderful week:)

Sister Allman

yodelehiowhoo

This week was a great week for us. We were able to see a lot of sucess and teach a lot of lessons. We have 3 new investigators!! Wahoo!! so that has been really great.

I want to tell yall about one of our new investigators. He is this Italian man with a large black mustache and we call him "Zorro" because that is his nickname. haha He is so hilarious and just your typical Italian man who works at an Italian restaurant and he loves spaghetti. He was found at an austellung about 2 months ago and we had called him then, but because his Italian accent was so strong we could never understand him when we talked to him on the phone. Well we decided to try again last week and with the help of the Lord we understood him enough to make an appointment out with him. The appointment was Tuesday after district meeting and it went so great. He kept telling us that he was looking for the Truth. We told him that he had found it!! We told him all about Joseph Smith and he loved it. Zorro's real name is Guiseppe and supposely that is Joseph in English. Well he was saying "his name is joseph and he was looking for the truth???? my name is joseph and I am looking for the truth!!" We set another appoinment up with him for the next day and we showed him "The Restoration" film. He cried-he loved it so much. Luckily the elders had a baptism this weekend so we invited him to come. He was so excited to go. He LOVED the baptism. the whole time he kept saying "Ja Wohl!" (o YEAHH!) and he came up to me after the baptism and said "The next baptism that will be here is going to be mine!" It was so cute. We are planning to meet with him again this week and hopefully set a baptismal date. He is so prepared and loves the church. He said he has been to so many different churches, but never has he felt the way he has felt as he does when he comes to ours. He said that he feels "füll" and at home in our church. He is so wonderful and prepared!!! You guys would just love him. 

Achmed is still doing great. We were able to teach him the Word of Wisdom and it went a lot better than we expected. He hasn"t been smoking. He came to church and the baptism and is making great progress for his baptism in December. We have an appointment tonight with him so that should be good!!!

We have an exchange tomorow and I get to go to Winterthur Switzerland so I am super excited. The swiss people talk so funny, so I am curious to see how much I will understand.

Mom, i uploaded a ton of picture on dropbox under the "newwwww" folder. Most of the pictures are from our district halloween party on pday. It was so much fun! We bobbed for apple and carved pumpkins and laughed a ton. I hope you like them!!

okay well i love you guys!! have a great week!

These Boots are made for Walking

Happy Halloween in 3 days! Today for Pday our district is having a Halloween Party at the Gurney's. We are carving pumpkins and doing all the typical american things for Halloween so I am excited. I will make sure to send pictures next week. 

This past week was super good. Sister Freimann and I have been working so hard! It has been so rewarding because every night we come home we are completely exhausted and we know we did our bests. It is such a great feeling. Also, I actually am growing to love contacting. I can't believe I am saying that, but you meet some of the coolest and craziest people on the street. It is so fun.

We were able to meet with Achmed 4 times this week. Each time went so well and he is so excited to be baptized. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he loved it. He is just soaking everything up like a sponge. He is hilarious as well. He calls me the president and sister Freimann the secretary because she always writes down his reading assignments for him. hahah The awesome thing is that Sister Freimann has a turkish man in her home ward who was muslim and converted. We gave Achmed his number and he called him and that really helped Achmed as well. He was excited to know he is not alone and that if he goes back to Turkey, there will be other members. I am a little bit nervous though because tonight we are teaching him the Word of Wisdom. He smokes like a chimney and I learned he loves his coffee. Yesterday at church he found out more about the Word of Wisdom and he kind of freaked out a little bit. But, good sign, during sacremant he was looking around for a "Old, wise man" that could baptize him. haha So hopefully it goes well tonight. If it goes well I think he could change his baptism to in a few weeks. So we'll se what happens.

This week looks really great. We have so many lessons with promising potentials and I think we will be able to have new investigators this week. We ran into Simplice yesterday!! He was working. He is just the best. He said that he wants so badly to be at church, but his work schedule is just so crazy. We are hoping we will be able to meet with him this week, so we will see what happens.

We met a cool guy named Bernie last week. When I first stop and contacted him he was so mean and scary. I was telling him about the book of Mormon and he kept making sarcastic remarks so I just bore my testimony. Then he looked a me and said in a snooty tone, "You want me to buy this book don't you?" I told him no, and that we give this book to people that have a desire to read it and learn about it. His countenance then completely changed. He looked at me and said "You mean, you would really give me this book?? For Free?!?!" I told him yes. O my goodness. He then got so happy and was just like "I have so many questions about God and the purpose of life and yes I want this book!" It was hilarious. We exchanged information and he was just so excited to read it and meet with us. That was a lesson learner to me that you should not give up so quickly with the people you talk to on the street. hahah We are meeting with him on Wednesday and I am excited to see what happens.

O my goodness. Mom! My boots are such a wreck but I love them!! It was so funny because yesterday the Relief Society president came up to me and said "Do you need help buying new boots? I talked to President Frank and when you need help, the branch can help you out." haha It was so cute and nice and also hilarious because I had no idea how she knew my boots were falling apart. Maybe she saw them?? I'll send a picture. haha

Well I love you guys. Thanks for all the prayers. This church is true!!

Here is something in German. Excuse mistakes.

Ich liebe eine Missionarin zu sein. Es ist ein wunderbare Erfahrung Gottes Kinder zu dienen. Diese Kirche ist wahr!! Wir konnen immer zu Gott beten und Er wird uns immer antworten. Wir sind nie Allein. Wir haben ein Vater wer ist immer da. Wir haben so viel Glück!!!!!! Ich habe alle euch so viel Lieb!

Here is the one picture I took this week. haha That is a german house for ya!

and here is one of my boots. It doesnt look so bad in the picture, but they are hahaha The whole goes all the ways to the inside of the boot. But I want to keep wearing them because I think they are awesome. haha 

Naturlich!

Can I just say something??? I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! Ahh I love it so much. Don't get me wrong, it is so stinking hard. You experience more disappointed and hardships that you could ever imagine, but the opportunity to be able to serve God's children and testify of our Savior is so rewarding!! The other day I was just so overwhelmed with gratitude. I was brought to tears over how grateful I am for this opportunity to be a missionary. It is changed me and strectched me in ways that I never thought possible. I really think my mission is becoming sacred to me.

My personal study this morning was der hammer. (That means awesome in German! haha) O man. The Spirit was so strong and I was totally engulfed in the Book of Mormon. I have been studying the chapters about the best missionary examples and that is, of course, Alma, and the sons of Mosiah. O how I hope that one day I will be able to be missionaries like them. I especially loved reading Alma 7 this morning. It is such an amazing chapter in the Book of Mormon for everyone. It testifies of the Savior and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mom, Dad-you two should re read it. It is so good. Also 2 Corinthians 6:4-10 and Romans 5:3-6 are a perfect desciption of missions.Gosh I love this work.

We saw a miracle with Achmed this week.  On Tuesday night we had an appointment with him and we wanted to watch "The Restoration." Before we put in the film he said "Today is my birthday!" We were all suprised and then he said " Well not really, but is has been one year since my first brain operation". (He has had 4). He said it was a miracle that he was alive. We asked him why he thought God spared his life. His response was "For the experience! So I could learn and grow!" We then looked at him and asked "Achmed, what if God spared your life so you could hear this message that we have?" It went silent. The Spirit came right into the lesson and Achmed began to weep. He said " I feel it when I read this book. I feel it everytime I meet with you guys." The spirit was so stong!!!!! We changed our complete lesson plan and felt like we should all bear our testimonies about the Savior. We did and Achmed weeped again. We invited him to be baptized and he was so excited and said yes and felt like he would be ready the14th of December. That lesson was the most spiritual lesson I have ever had on my mission. I really feel like I was able to feel just a glimpse of how much love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for one of their sons. O man, and it is just so incredible to watch his testimony develop of this gospel and Jesus Christ. Miracles happen and THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!!!!The rest of the night I just felt so much love for Achmed. I knew it was the love that Christ has for him and I was just so overwhelmed and grateful. That is the best and greatest part about being a missionary, being able to feel the love that the Savior has for his children. It is so incredible.

So I am struggling with German. Really struggling and it is a great trial for me. I have been out on my mission almost 11 months now and my German is not where is should be. I am working so hard and Sister Freimann is helping me so much as well. Sister Freimann and I only speak German together and I do my best to think in German. During any time I have I am studying German or trying to learn more. I do my studies in German and I am doing every little thing I possibley can, to learn it, but it is just not really sticking. People don't understand me that well, and it is wearing on me. I have been praying my little heart out and fasting, so now I am just trying to be patience. I am trying not to compare myself with other missionaries, because so many people have a gift and talent with languages, but that is not for me. But I am working my little heart out and hopefully by the end of my mission I will be able to speak German. But just know Sister Allman is doing everything she can!! And I know the Lord will provide a way. Just like my favorite scripture Alma 26:12 "But in his strength I can do All things!" which means I can learn German!!!

Okay well I love you all so much!!

Sister Allman:)

We were in this little village in the middle of nowhere and while we were waiting for our train we took these pictures. hahah Hope you like them.

Conference-mein Kopf ist geplazt!

O meine gute. Was conference just about the best conference you have ever seen?? It was sooo amazing. I had so many questions that I had written down, and literally all of them were answered, and I haven't even see the last session yet! Wow. I can't even choose a favorite talk either, just all of them were so good. Mind Blown. haha I couldn't help but think of so many of our family members and friends the whole time. I was just overwhelmed with a gratitude for all my many blessings and the blessing of the Atonement. How wonderful is it that everyday we have the opportunity and change so we can become more like our Savior?? We are soo lucky!!

Can I just say something?? I am so incredibly grateful that I have the opportunity to be a missionary. Let me tell ya, it has been harder than I ever imagined, but it has also brought more joy to my life than I ever thought. It is such an exciting time to be a missionary and I get to be apart of it! I love that I have 18 months to completely focus on others and become more like the Savior. It is the best. Time is starting to go by so fast. I heard at half way it starts to fly by and I have already notice that. Now I am just trying to cherish every moment I have to be a missionary and declare glad tidings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel is true and we should be sharing it with everyone!!!

So remeber Akmed?? Well he is just so awesome and prepared. We were only able to have one appointment with him this past week, but it went so well. Our appointment with him was on Tuesday night. We had given him the Book of Mormon on Saturday, and by tuesday he had already read to Helaman!! Cool huh??? O meine gute. The lesson went so well. He said " I have always wondered if it was the Bible that was true, or the Koran. I guess I will just have to continue reading in the Book of Mormon and pray about it to find out." Ahhh So wonderful.

I am just so incredibly happy. We are so blessed to have this gospel in our lives. We are so lucky to have the knowledge that Heavenly Father always loves us, no matter what. This gospel is something I hope each one of us treasures.

Also, I uploaded a video on drop box of me at the church! I dont know why but I was speaking in German. Sorry! But enjoy the video. heheh

I love you guys!!! Thanks for all the prayers!!!

Sister Allman:)

Here is a picture of me last pday at Sigmaringen! A caste here in southern germany.

The other picture is me at a members house with the two cutest girls. They are excited to be missionaries one day:)

Kurbis Soupe o so lecker!

September 30, 2013

So to start off my email I would like to say that I keep having these reoccuring nightmares!! I have had it 3 times on my mission so far. It is my wedding day, and I am dressed up and ready for everything to happen. It is about an hour before we seal the deal, and I freak out and I find you mom, and I tell you I don't want to marry this person. And you tell me it is okay and then I call off the whole wedding. hahahah What the heck? Why am I having this dream on my mission?? hahah Maybe there is a reason that I was suppose to come on a mission, because if I didn't, I might of found someone and gotten engaged but then called it off? hahahaha o dear. Thank goodness I don't have to worry about dating and boys for another 9 months!!!

This week was great. We were able to find a lot of potentials, the leaves are changing colors, and I have been able to eat pumpkin soup!! Fall is here and I am so happy. Yesterday I was sitting in sacrament meeting and a huge love came over me. I love the branch here is Singen so much! Since we opened this area, we have been able to work a lot with the members and it has been such a blessing. I love the branch here so much. It is soo diverse! We have Russians, Asians, Americans, Englanders, Crazies, propers, and all of the above! It is such a rag-tag group of people and I love it so much. One of my most favorite things about the mission are the people we are able to meet. That is the best part of being a misisonary is being able to feel just a glimpse of the Love that Heavenly Father has for his children. He LOVES each and every one of his children so much, that we can't even comprehend. As I was overwhelmed with this love, I realized my time here in Singen has been so hard, but it has also been so worth it, and I am so incredibly grateful!!!!

MIRACLE ALERT!!! so saturday we were going by on some potentials and we met this man named Akhmed on the street. We told him all about the Book of Mormon and we were able to give him one, but not get his information. He told us he was going to come to church on Sunday. (so many people tell us that but never come). Well, Sunday rolls around and sacrament begins. As I looked into the foyer, I saw this man, Akhmed walk into the church with his Book of Mormon. I went and grabbed him and he came and sat by the GML and I. I asked him if he had read in the Book of Mormon and he showed me where he had read too, and he had read the first 99 pages!!! We talked after church and set up an appoint for 6:00. We met with him and it was great. He is Muslim, but I think he has so much potential. He is really open and excited to learn. We have another appointment with him tomorrow, so we are excited.

This weekend is conference and I am so stinking excited!! Conference is like Christmas for missioniares. We have been counting down the days to be able to hear the counsel of the prophet and his apostles!! O man, I can't wait. The Relief Society broadcast will be broadcasted at 4:00 on Saturday, then 6:00 will start the saturday morning session. Sunday we will watch Saturday afternoon at 2:00, then sunday morning at 6:00. They will broadcast the last sunday conference at church the next sunday.

Well Love you guys, thanks for all the prayers. They mean soo much!! Enjoy conference!!!

Sister Allman:)

Here is a picture of sister Freimann and I. A while ago we went to a second hand store and bought dirndls for super super cheap. It was awesome. That is us today! We are going to a castle with our district and wanted to wear our dirdnls.

and here is a picture of me with to YW. We were invited to the yw activity and did makeovers on each other. I curled michelles hear, and joyce with the mask curled mine!

Mein Hut, Mein Hut der hat drei ecke

September 23, 2013

Today Schwester Voigt, a lady from our branch took us on a bike ride to Raldofzell a beautiful lake town and then took us out to lunch. It was so much fun and it made me think of our times in Hilton Head. But it also made me fall in love with Germany even more. Seriously I feel so lucky that I get to serve here. Southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are seriously magical!! Sometimes you just feel like you are in a fairytale. I love it so much! Schwester Voigt is this cute 72 year old lady who is super fit. She told us that she doesn't want us calling her Schwester Voigt, only Oma. hahaha So cute.

This week was such a fun one. We had lots of oppurtunites to work with the members and it was great! I really love the branch here. Everyone is so strong!! On saturday we headed to Zurich, Switzerland for a sisters conference for the relief society and that was so fun to be able to see the other sister missionaries in our mission and spend time with the wonderful ladies in our ward! After the conference Schwester Stemmer (who was driving us) stopped at Rhein Falls because she wanted to show us it. We had such a great time!

We had a wonderful lesson with a potential investigator last week. Her name is Frau Moridian and she is from Iran, but she has always been Christian. She was met by Sister Freimann and Sister Lohmann while I was in Switzerland for an austauch. She was saying that there has been so many times where people have tried to stop her on the street and she always tells them she has no time. Well this time when Sister Lohmann stopped and talked to her, she said that her heart was pulling her and telling her to stay. Sister Lohmann told her all about the book of mormon and she said she felt this strong feeling in her heart and she knew she needed this book. Then she told us that after her conversation with Sister Lohmann she went home and cried. She knew she needed to meet with us and learn more. HOW COOL IS THAT???? So we gave her a book of mormon and she wanted another one so she cool share it with her friend. Miracles I tell ya, miracles! Hopefully we will meet with her this week.

We haven't been able to meet with Simplice this week sadly, he was sick and has been super busy with work, but hopefully this week.

Fall is finally here and I love it so much!!! O my goodness. The next 4 months are going to be amazing because it is fall, thanksgiving, then Christmas!! I am so excited. Sister and Freimann are sooo excited for Christmas. Every dinner break or lunch break we watch the lds "Joy to the World" video in German just so we can hear christmas music. hahahha Fall and Christmas are so magical here and I am so excited to be here for it!!!!!!!

I can't believe yall are all moved out of the house, but I am happy yall are staying in Georgia and that dad got a full time job as a professor!! That is so awesome. I am also happy I get to go back to my home ward.

Well Sister Freimann and I are working our little tails off but making sure to have fun too. After contacting all day we make sure to play on a playground for a few minutes, or grab icecream or something. We are really do our best at finding joy in the journey.

LOVE YOU GUYS!! I put some more pictures on drop box and here are some more!

You guys speak to people about Jesus, don't you?

September 9, 2013

Mom, o my goodness. I got the package today and it was the best ever!! Thank you sooo much!! I  loved it soo much!!!!! 

This week was probably the best we have had in Singen. I am not going to lie, I was really struggling. I was feeling like the worst missionary ever because our numbers were so low. I kept asking myself, why am I needed here in Singen??? Well finally I had a reality check-and it was so awesome!! I finally realized that maybe I am not neccesarily needed in Singen, but in all reality, I am the one that needs Singen. Seriously, being here in Singen, opening and training has been the hardest thing I have done on my mission. I have really had to get out of my comfort zone and push myself beyond my limits. But, because of it, I have been becoming the missionary that I want to be. I have learned how to contact, work with the ward, and I am still learning things. I decided I needed to stop worrying about how low are numbers are, and focus on living up to my potential as a missionary and focus on being the very best I can, and that is when the rest will fall into place. So that is what I have been focusing on, just trying to be the most obedient and best missionary I can be. 

One thing I have seen on the mission is that their are some missionaries that have this natural ability to be amazing missionaries right from the start. From the get go they have no fear and it doesn't scare them to be bold or to talk to people on the street. They just really know what they are doing. Then you have those other missionaries, who want so badly to be great, but they have a few more obstacles to overcome, or it takes them a little while to figure out their place as a missionary. I am one of those second missionaries. It has really taken me a while to become the missionary I have wanted to be. I have really, really, had to go out of my comfort zone and do things I have never thought I had too. And now after 9 months, I am finally getting there. I still have so much to learn, but I am grateful for Singen and how it has help mold me into the missionary I am today.

So we found this awesome potential investigator named Simplice. He is one of our bus drivers here in Singen and one Wednesday night when I was getting on the bus I dropped a ton of the pass along cards. He saw one with Jesus' face on it and looked at me and asked: "You girls talk to people about Jesus, don't you?" I said yes and we talked a little bit then I went to sit down because there were people behind me waiting to get on. He called me back up and I started telling him about the book of mormon as he was driving. He was so excited to meet with us and gave us his information. Then that night we got a text from him that said: "Hello Sisters in Christ, the time of good is the best...i'm happy to meet you sisters in Jesus name...Jesus is my savior, my redeemmer, my life...and my Lord... I love him, I adore him, I please you tonight to pray, may the holy ghost open my heart and my soul to his word...Amen in Jesus name." hahah Isn't that so great??? We had a lesson with him last night and it was so great!! He is so prepared. We weren't able to set up another appointment with him because he didn"t know his work schedule, but he is so excited to read more in the book of mormon. We feel so lucky that we were able to meet him!! We have high hopes for him as an investigator:)

So my branch here is so great. We need about 5 more people to be baptized in order for it to become a branch so everyone is really gung ho about missionary work. It is so great. The hole branch is just so loving and I have loved getting close with the members. Yesterday we had an eating appointment with Familie Zimmerman it was so great. Brother Zimmerman said something to me and it made me so happy. He said: "Sister Allman, you are so cool. Ya, you really just are so cool and everyone here in the branch just really loves you." That made me happy. It was really great to hear-especially when it has been soo hard.

but really. This week has been so much better. This transfer is going to be so much better as well. I am excited for the miracles sitting ahead of us. 

I love y'all so much!!

Sister Allman

You guys speak to people about Jesus, don't you?

September 2, 2013

O man. It sounds like both of you are having some much fun with your adventures in the British Isles. I am jealous! But like mckay said, after the mission, you can take both of us:) 

This week was good/really hard! We are having no sucess finding people to teach. We are talking with everyone, but we just can't seem to find those people being prepared to accept the gospel. I am not going to lie, it is SUPER frustrating. But it is okay, because like Ether 12:6 says, "you recieve not witness until AFTER the trial of your faith." O man, are we having trials of our faith right now, but it is okay. Seriously, the mission is the pure refiners fire. but o boy- I am learning so much. I am really struggling with the language as well. I just cant seem to get it down. Sister Freimann and the members are really trying to help me-and I am working way hard to do all I can. I am really nervous that my German is not going to be very good when I get home, but hopefully with diligence, hard work, and prayer/fasting, I will get it down. German is so stinking hard. 

One thing that has been really great about singen is that we have really been able to get to know the branch. President told us that he doesnt want us filling out time in our planner to contact or find, but that we should contact and find on the way to visit members, potentials, and less actives. So we have been going by so many people in the ward every week. Everyone has the coolest stories, and it is amazing to hear what they have been through and how they found the church. The members here are soo strong and just the greatest examples ever.

Tonight Eva, one of the ward missionaries is having a birthday party in the church for all the less actives. She is super close with a lot of the less actives, and is doing this just so the missionaries can come in contact with them. She as called all the less actives and have made sure they are coming, so today we are working with the gurney's to get prepared for that. How awesome is eva? She is constantly trying to figure out how to reach out to the less actives because she was once a less active herself. When members help the missionaries, it is the best!!

Well have so much fun in england, or ireland! Wherever you two are. Find One Direction for me and tell Harry Styles to wait for me:) heheheh

LOVE YOU GUYS

You guys speak to people about Jesus, don't you?

August 26, 2013

Hallo meine Familie! O ich vermisse sie!

Last week and this week, Sister Freiman and I have really been studying about faith. We have really struggled being here in Singen and not having anyone to teach. It has really taken a toll on us. We are both really terrified with street contacting and it has been a trial for us to find people. So we figured our faith wasn't strong enough, or something wasn't really clicking because everything we were doing kept failing. Well we finally realized that our faith was strong, but we weren't doing enough. For instance-2 Nephi 25:23-For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace  that we are saved, after all we can do. We both realized that Ya our faith was strong, but if we were really putting our faith to use we woud stop thinking about how scary it is to talk to everyone, and forget about ourselves- and do the Lord's work. Yes, we have been working hard these past few weeks, but we haven't been doing enough, and we weren't talking to enough people. Had we really done all that we could? No. So this week we really worked hard to put our faith into action. We prayed to have all the strength we could to talk to everyone and then put our faith to work. At the beginning it was so hard. We were rejected, rejected a little bit more, and again rejected, but we kept going. Sometimes we faltered and we would chicken out to talk with someone, but we were trying out best. Well then Thursday when I got back from an austausch I was determined to talk to EVERYONE and not let one person pass me by. After lunch we went out and I forgot about myself. I talked with everyone. It was crazy. The fear was gone. It was truely a miracle. The Lord was helping me. Then Sister Freiman wasn't scared, and she started talking to people too! The greater miracle about it was that we started finding potentials! One person after another wanted to hear about the gospel. We were able to find 12 potentials within 3 hours. That was such a huge miracle! We found 12 potentials all in one day, and that is more that I have ever found in one week! It was such a miracle, and I know it was because we did out very best and talked to everyone. The Lord blessed us and he led us to people. All we did was work and do our best-and then the Lord made up for the rest of our weaknesses.

I have learned so much since I have been on a mission. It is probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I am constantly being reminded of my weakness's and my shortcomings, but I have also experienced things that are going to help me into the eternities. A mission is really the refiner's fire, but I am becoming who the Lord wants and needs be to be and it is such a blessing.

Have yall read Elder Uchtdorf's priesthood talked "Four Titles?" Well Seriously, this talked has changed my whole mission. I read it a few times a week. There is a quote in it that has just affected me so much, and it has kind of been my motto lately.

"Perhaps it is true that we are weak. Perhaps we are not wise or mighty. But when God works through us, no one and nothing can stand against us."
Man, isn't that powerful?? I just try and remember that each day. I am soo incredibly weak. I can't do this mission alone. But seriously, I have learned and I have testimony, that when we let God work through us, we can be a powerful tool in his hand.

Guess What??? I got to be a missionary in Switzerland!!!! We did an austauch with the Sisters that serve in Winterthur, Switzerland and I got to go there and work with Sister Robben who is from the Netherlands for Wednesday and Thursday. I loved every second of it. They speak the craziest form of German down there so it was hard to understand, but I loved it. The people there were so open and nice and with their crazy Swizadeutsch accents they just all seemed so jolly to me. haha Not to mention, it was absolutely beautiful. It was such a great opportunity for me to work there. Sister Robben and I talked with everyone we saw, and the last person we contacted is going to be baptized. She is one of those people that you hear about that is prepared to hear the gospel. Her name is Bruda and she is probably 17 or 18. We stopped her and told her were were talking to people about Jesus. She stopped and said "O I have time for this!" We started telling her about the Book of Mormon and she was so excited. She told us that she had lived in Brazil for a while and always saw Elders and wanted to talk to them and get a Book of Mormon. She took the Book of Mormon and was so excited to read and meet with us again to learn more. It was seriously such a testimony to me that the Lord is truely preparing people to hear our message. 

Well thank you for all the prayers. They means so much.

LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Allman

Das ist mein Freund!

Hello Family!
I am sorry I am the absolute worst because I haven't taken any pictures, but I will take some soon!

Well, opening an area is dang hard. Man. One thing that I am really going to learn this transfer is patience. We are outside most of the day and talking with tons of people and getting rejected over and over. The rejection usually isn't mean, but when it happens so often and you are not having any sucess finding potentials, you start to get a little frustruated. That is why patience is GOLDEN when you open an area. I know as the weeks go by, everything will get better, but sometimes that is hard to remember. Finding people is just something that is not one of my strengths. I mean we talk with everyone but I can just never seem to get their information-BUT I know it will come with time. I have been studying a lot about weaknesses lately, and I KNOW that the Lord will help my weakness of contacting turn into one of my strengths. I just can't give up.

Good thing is- this week is going to be so much better!! Sister Freimann and I have really been trying to figure out what we need to focus on right now. We both had a strong feeling that we need to focus on the part member families and other families in our branch- so this week we have a lot of appointments set up with familes and one potential family so that is going to be way good.

Saturday our district had a Finding Day in Schwemmingen and we straight street contacted for 5 hours straight. It was so hot and we found no potentials. It was a long day. Sister Freimann has been having a lot of trouble with her feet because we walk so much, so she was in a lot of pain and she was really struggling. I suggested that she get a blessing from Elder Gurney. She was hesitant so I told her I was going to get one too. After I said that I thought " I really don't need a blessing, I am fine," but it seemed to me that she didn't want to get one on her own. So I decided to get one. I was thinking in my head if it was still okay if I got a blessing even  if I didn't feel like I needed one... I didn't really know what to do because I didn't want one either. Well when we got back to Singen, Elder and Sister Gurney picked us up and took us to their house. They are seriously such a great ehepaar (Senior Missionary Couple). They have done so much for us!! But When we got to their house they talked to us for about 30 minutes and told us some stories. It was in that moment when I really felt like I needed a blessing. It was so weird. It was like the Lord was telling me that I really needed to recieve this blessing from Elder Gurney. It was crazy because I didn't even really want one at first. Well the blessing was awesome! O man, one of the best I ever gotten. I know the Lord was really speaking through Elder Gurney. One thing he said was "You are so young on the mission, and you are definitely not ready to be a trainer." That sentance was very BAM hahah I completely agreed with it and I thought about it a lot. I am so young on the mission, I still have no idea what I am doing, and I am not adequate enough to train alone. But, I am not alone. The Lord is helping me every step of the way. If I was training without the Lord's help, I wouldn't be able to do it. But I can do it, because the Lord is guiding me. He went on a said so many other things. Two other things that stuck out to me were "Use your personality to find people," that was really cool because sometimes I feel like to be a certain way in order to be a good missionary, but this blessing reminded me that I need to be myself and use my own personality! The other thing was "People at home are relying on you right now." That was cool because it reminded me that I have not only the Lord with me everystep of the way, but I have my amazing family and friends back home who are my cheer squad also helping me every step of the way. Man, I am so lucky.

How awesome is the Lord? Seriously, I have experienced so much as I have been here in Singen showing me that the Lord really knows each of his children. We are never forgotten!!

Well my branch is just so great. There is the cutest girl and her name is Kim Joy. She is 21 and is down syndrome.  We have become best buds. She is constantly following me around in church. It was seriously the cutest thing ever because in sacrament meeting yesterday the Branch president was talking about how he was so grateful to have 6 missionaries in the branch and he was naming off all of our names. When he said my name, Kim Joy yelled "DAS IST MEIN FREUND!!!!" (That is my friend!!!) It was seriously the cutest thing in the world.

Well thank you for all the prayers. I love yall so much. Next week I will make sure to send pictures!! Well love you!!

Sister Allman