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