Goot en tog! (Just kidding): Saarbrücken is on Fire!

July 20th, 2015

Soo, I received some feedback on my general email from my annoyingly good friend Justin (Mom - burst-into-flames-boy). He said, "How about some funny story emails, ditch the generic hallmark card ones and lets hear the whole story! Less ideas and concepts, more details and plot!" I will humbly try and oblige ;).

Saarbrücken is on fire! On my goodness, I don't feel like I understood the word "tired" until this week. We found FIVE new investigators. FIVE. And two of them are families! I have never been on more of a spiritual rollarcoaster than what I am on now. This week I have learned that my personal Faith, determination and obedience have SO MUCH POWER in drawing upon the powers of heaven to bring about external results. No, I can't control another person's agency. No, I can't make people accept this Message. But oh my goodness, there is wisdom in making challenging goals - and exercising the Faith to reach them.

Let's start with Desire: We met with him and a rock-solid older member - we call her Oma Shroeder. (Oma = Grandma in German). We walked into this lesson not really knowing what to expect. First lessons with Investigators are always exciting, a little nerve-racking (especially with Members) and always entertaining...because they never seem to go the way we planned! Haha. Desire has a sincere desire to find truth. He asked many questions and he talked a lot. I was so grateful for Oma Shroeder! She is a powerhouse of a woman. Every time Desire spoke up and got distracted or on some sort of tangent - Oma Shroeder would talk over him and bring him back to the lesson. He is such an energetic man, even in his old age. He also specifically requested that we bring him an English, German, and French copy of the Book of Mormon. French is his mother-language, his German is perfect, and he wants to learn English. We call him daily and give him "English word of the day" assignments.

Wasaam and Rene: They are pretty much the nicest people you will ever meet. Their first language is Arabic - but their German is very good. The only problem is that most of the Gospel Words that we use to teach are foreign to them. So, thank goodness for Ipads and Wifi access. Google translate to the rescue!

Rene is about to have their third child (Sister Bates thinks that we apartently have a skill for finding and teaching pregnant women). They are a very humble family, full of love for Jesus Christ. They moved to Germany in search for religious freedom to live a Christian lifestyle. We have another appointment with them on Tuesday - but our appointments may be paused for a time as Rene will be in the hospital expecting her new baby soon.

Jozef: This has had to have been one of the most awe-strucking moments that I have seen on my Mission. We met with Jozef and his family for the first time on Thursday of this last week. As soon as Sister Bates and I entered the home, we were bomboarded with a flood of people. Jozef has 6 children, and we just happened to stop by during a big family reuinion. Grandparents, uncles, and even neighbors were over! Annnnd, they all stopped to hear our message. There was a little bit of a language barrier - they speak Hungarian and a little German. (Yes, as I have said before, Germany is truly the melting pot of the world.) But the neighbor speaks perfect German and translated for us.

Sister Bates pulled out her Ipad and shared the video, Because He Lives - in Hungarian. I stood on the side and watched as this crowd of people huddled around Sister Bates so that everyone could pay attention to this 2 minute video about the Atonement of Christ. Wow. That was powerful. We will be meeting with Jozef again on Saturday - and luckily our Ward Mission Leader is Hungarian. Member dabei! Yes!

Nina: We met Nina on the street a few weeks ago and talked to her a little bit about the Book of Mormon and how God continues to speak to us and reach out to us, just as in times of old. Nina is looking for truth, just as Desire is. It was such a priviledge to be able to meet with her yesterday. She grew up in Germany but she is half Italian and half Indian. Her mother was Christian and her father was Hindu, but she never grew up with a solid upbringing in either Faith. She wants to learn more about Jesus Christ and how a Faith can help her each day.

The first half of our appointment was all over the place. Nina was interupted by neighbors knocking on the door, Sister Bates and I were really nervous for some reason, and the conversation was just awkward in the beginning. As Nina got up to answer the door, I turned to Sister Bates and told her that I was about to throw our lesson plan out the window. She nodded her head and we agreed to follow the Spirit. What a difference. As we taught and testified about the Message of the Restoration and about the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Spirit filled the room. She looked at us intentently, almost as if she were grasping onto every word we said. She told us that she wants this in her life. Ahhh! Someone, please pinch me.

As far as funny stories go... There are little things that happen everyday on a Mission. It is impossible to summarize a week in a General Email. But I have attached a silly picture of me and my favorite skirt. I was walking around in it last week when I caught a look of myself in the mirror and noticed the 12 inch hole in the back...needless to say, I won't be wearing that again.

Liebe Familie und Freunde, I want you to all know how happy I am. I will say it again and again - the way to find true happiness is to keep turning outwards. I love these people - I love the Germans, the Hungarians, the Africans, the Indians, the Italians. It is amazing to see what the Lord has been able to do with me. I have so many flaws and weaknesses - I still am far from a professional in the German language, and I embarrass myself - at least daily. But I have seen Him use my personality, my strengths and my weaknesses to move this work forward. It is so fulfilling.

I love each of you! Have a wonderful week.

-Sister Helmick