Good Week

What a great Pday!  Baldur took our district to a beautiful mountain and we hiked up, then rode on a alpine slide looking thing in the Alps. It was einfach wonderful! It is super fun because the next pdays that we have are already planned out because members are taking us places. Next Pday we are going on a hike with Heather, then the next Pday our GML Bernhard is taking us to the chocolate factory:) We are very lucky to be serving here in Graz, the members are the best:)

This week was also really good. We were able to have a lot of sucess. Tuesday was spent going by a former investigators home and on our way, we met a cute lady who let us into her apartment! We ended up teaching her, and she seemed really open and receptive. The whole time she just kept telling us how we were radiating and beaming. She also couldn't believe that she let us in her house. She told us she had never done that before, but for some reason she wanted to let us in. Way Cool!! After that appointment we were walking on the street and stopped a man. We started talking to him about the purpose of life and the book of Mormon. He loved it. He told us that all day he had been thinking about it while he had been in bed, but then he had the strongest feeling that he needed to get out and go on a walk. He then met us and he kept telling us that it was no coincidence. It was such a miracle we found him! We were able to teach him a few days later. His name is Roberto and he is from Poland and just so spiritual. He has been really searching for the truth and is just so prepared. We are meeting with him again on Wednesday.

We had an awesome lesson with Lisa on Thursday. We brought Raphy Knapp along with us and he was simply der hammer. Such a good joint teach. We taught her the 3rd lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Raphy totally bore the strongest testimony of scripture study and how that helps him have the spirit with him! It was sooo good and totally helped Lisa. She seemed to really understand and liked what Raphy had to say. It was great.

This week we start the Book of Mormon 30 day challenge with the youth! WE have prepared for the all the own special edition Book of Mormon and with a marker. It looks so good. I talked to a lot of the youth and they are very excited and looking forward to pieing people in the face;)

Well time is short today. I think my next few emails will be shorter.. but just know I love yall!!!

Sister Allman

Dank Ihm

Hello Family!

I am running out of ways to start my emails. hahah But this week was good. We saw tender mercies everywhere and when life gave us puddles - we jumped in them! Literally!  haha  It rained a ton this week. Tuesday after district meeting we were headed by a few people homes and it just poured. Our feet were already wet so we decided just to enjoy each moment and jump in the puddles on the way. Sister Smith and I were just laughing and enjoying every second. We had Gemeinde Rat (Ward Council) that night and by the time we got back to the church, we were completly drenched! It was definitely a lesson to me about how we can enjoy EVERY moment, it is just up to us and our attitude!

We had a great lesson with Lisa about the Plan of Salvation. She loved it and said she doesn't understand why everyone doesn't have the goal to make it to the Celestial kingdom. It was awesome. The members also LOVE Lisa. Everyone keeps asking us if they can come to an appointment with us. Everyone just thinks she is already a member because she looks and acts completly like a member. It is so great. I am excited to meet with her again this week.

O! Cool little thing. Friday night there was a waffle night for the JAEs. We ended up having 11 non members there!! There were 5 members, 4 missionaries, and 11 non members. We were all so excited and just couldn't believe the turn out. It was einfach der Hammer.

So ya'll have probably already seen this video called "Because of Him." Well, Sister Smith and I have really been using it with members and investigators and we have gotten an incredible response. I just have realized that I have so man blessings in my life, and I wouldn't have any of them if it weren't for Him.

 http://easter.mormon.org/

So yesterday we had ward conference with the stake president and it was awesome. They introduced the stake mission plan and this is it...  Love the Gospel enough to share it. 1. Pray for charity and opportunities to share the Gospel. 2. Pray for the missionaries and investigators by name. 3. Have the missionaries in our homes.  There is the plan and that is what they talked about in every meeting. Lets just say that all of us missionaries felt very popular. They focused on the goal setting - and having the missionaries in the members homes.  Afterwards people were rushing to the  calendar to sign up for appointments and even Sister Geschwander, an elderly woman walked around writing down the names of all the missionaries. We have so many appointments with members this week. I felt a reality of the importance of missionary work and the responsibitily that I and all members have to reach out to others. I love that the whole plan starts with Love. Sharing the Gospel out of love. Powerful.

O! Pday was awesome today. Baldur took us to the Green Lake and it was breathtaking. Great Pday.

Well I love yall a lot! Have a great week!

Sister Allman

New Transfer

Heilige Kuh,

What a week, what a week. We probably spent around 18 hours in a train, but we sure had fun. Thursday and Friday we headed to München for MLC and when we got there it was this huge mission reunion. So many missionaries together and it was crazy. All of us together had a huge finding day around the place they host Oktoberfest at because Frühlingsfest is going on right now. (It is right down the street from the church). I think there were about 110 missionaries and we went around Theresienwiese(The place where Oktoberfest and Frühlingsfest are hosted) and invited people to come get a church tour. I think it was definitely a sucess, and we had fun as well. This mission seriously has the BEST missionaries in the world in it. Man, I just love the missionaries in my mission, and I hope I will be friends with these people forever!!!

After the Finding day we started MLC. We focused a lot on the Book of Mormon and how important it is to get our investigators to start reading it from the beginning. We all read the first chapter together, and it was soo incredible to see how much of the first lesson is brought up in just the first chapter! It talks about families, prayer, prophets, revelation, God, Jesus Christ, just everything!! It is incredible and I urge everyone to try and study just the first chapter of the Book of Mormon, and see how many different things it testifies of. I also heard a quote from President Eyring. Someone asked him how long they should read the Book of Mormon each day and he said "Read the Book of Mormon until you feel the spirit, then read a little bit longer." I love that soo much!! That should be the guideline of our daily scripture study each day! It was soo good. That night Sister Smith, Sister Henry, Sister Clark, and I got to stay at a hotel because this mission home was full, so that was a little adventure. We then woke up early and had another great MLC with Elder and Sister Dyches. We talked about Agency and how we should take control of our own lives. He talked all about how it is OUR CHOICE if we are happy, or if things are good. Dad, of course I thought of you. I just kept replaying over and over in my head when Mckay and I would fight, "He's not annoying you, you are LETTING him annoy you!" I couldn't help but laugh, but of course I loved learning about it again, because I think I could always be better at that. But agency is so huge within our happiness. It is really our choice if we are happy or not. One of my favorite quotes is "If you want to be happy, BE!" Who is to decide for us if we are happy or not?? It is our choice! We learned about transfer calls at MLC and guess what?? Sister Smith and I are staying together:) Of course we already figured, but I am just so happy that I will be ending my mission with her, and Sister Freimann!! She is coming to the Wien Zone and I am so stinking happy because I will get to see her and do a tausch with her too. It will be great!! But MLC and München was great. I love that city with my whole heart, and I love being able to go back once a month.

Saturday we had the JAE Sporttagung all day, and it was just a blast!!!! O man, we were soo happy to be there with the JAEs. The best part about it was that it was a huge reunion. I saw Naemi, Oliver, Dago, Marcella, Vera, Lukas, David, Magdelena, Rebekah, Chris, and so much more. I was just besides myself because I was just soo happy and so grateful that we were allowed to go and able to be there. Lisa was there as well and just loved it. It is great to see her make friends with everyone and just have a good time. It is awesome because it is like she is already a member!!

Speaking of Lisa, she is doing great. Saturday at the JAE Tagung she was talking to these two converts from Slovenia and they were telling her their conversion story, and Elder and Sister Tew told us that she teared up during the converstaion, and then she said "Can I be baptized tomorrow?" She is just incredible. She came to Albert's (The Elders Investigator) baptism yesterday and just fits in so well. She is just the best and we will be meeting with her again this week. Sister Smith and I are both freuing ourselfs and are just so happy to be able to teach her. She is just the greatest.

GUESS WHO CAME TO ALBERT'S BAPTISM??? David and Phillip!! O man, we haven't been able to meet with them for a while, but they came to Albert's baptism and just loved it so much!! It was seriously a miracle. David (the 10 year old) was soo excited to see me and ran up and gave me the biggest hug. He had told me that he had been reading in the Book of Mormon and that his dad was going to fix the dvd player so he could was The Restoration after the baptism. How cute is that??? He also said that him and his dad were going to come next week again to church with this big smile on his face. I was sooo happy. Phillip came up to me and just told me how David loved every second of being with the ward members, and he knows they have to come back again next week. Phillip enjoyed it as well, and we are able to set another appointment with them again on Wednesday. We are so excited!!!! Goodness, the Lord is blessing us so much.

This morning during studies I was just overwhelmed.. This next transfer is going to be incredible. I feel it in my bones and I just know we are about to start witnessing miracles and we are going to feel some of the purest joy this transfer. This week we have been able to make out a lot of appointments with members, investigators, and potentials. It is going to be great, and I am ready to work as hard as I can and use EVERY moment that Heavenly Father is granting me. This time on a mission goes by so stinking fast, so now I am just trying to cherish every second and do EVERYTHING I can to accomplish the work the Lord has for me.

We get weekly emails from the mission and this was in the last email that I thought I would share:

 Ein Missionar zu sein ist einfach das Beste.  Ich habe diese Woche eine kleine Zitat gefunden von Präsident Ezra Taft Benson die ich gerne mit euch teilen möchte.  Er sagte, „I challenge you to enjoy your call and to magnify it completely.  Be happy and joyful in the service of the Lord.  Love missionary work with all your heart.  I promise you that as you magnify your call this will be the sweetest and most glorious experience you have had.”

All I can say is, AMEN to that quote.

WelI Ich hab euch ganz doll lieb!! Ihr seid der Hammer!!!

Sister Allman

Here is a picture from Sister Smith and I in Salzburg, we had a hour layover in Salzburg on the way to Munich, so we were able to take a few pictures.