Fritag

Hallo!

ONLY LIKE TWO WEEKS UNTIL WE HEAD TO GERMANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kind of freaking out if you haven't noticed. Can't believe I've been in the MTC for 25ish days. I didn't think I'd ever really go to Germany and that I'd stay in the MTC for 18 months. But so grateful that I can leave here!

Sunday we switched up leadership and Sister Yeck and I are now STLs (Sister Training Leaders) so basically we make sure all the sisters in our branch are staying on task and are healthy. We also get a phone....Sister Yeck loves having it with her, it's a flip phone that the last STLs have dropped in the toilet and somehow it still works. The ZLs are Elder McLaws and Elder Gappmayer, which is who Sister Yeck guessed, and they are 6'2" and 6'6" so we have some pretty tall leadership now. It's a pretty fun calling to get to interview all the sisters. There are 19 of them I believe and they all are the coolest. We didn't have any problems brought up which is surprising. We lucked out with the Sisters.

Also on Sunday, there was a big music thing for Pioneer Day and we got to sing with the Nashville Tribute Band. They are so talented and it was fun to sing with them. The last song they sang was about the lead singer's mission and everyone was in tears after that. During the closing prayer all you could hear was people sniffing.

Also Breakfast was clutch Sunday because of the Cinnamon Heaven cereal my mom sent me. 6 of us sisters grabbed some bowls and milk and ate out of the box in the cafeteria and watched everyone else wait in line. Thanks mom:)

I seriously love all of you! I got some packages that made my day. Nicole sent me some cookies, The Iversons sent me a Dear Elder candy Box, my grandparents sent me beautiful pictures, and Hermana Ahlstrom sent me a letter. All were very appreciated :) 

Deutsch is interesting. Fritag I spoke Deutsch the whole day (I tried to) with my limited vocabulary. Sister Shelley and I were standing in line and I was speaking Deutsch and the Elder Behing us was in awe of my ablility...he's going to an English speaking mission so he didn't know that all I was saying was "I don't know how to speak" but hey I felt pretty cool.

I saw Sister Rasmussen and Elder James! Had a mini Sodalicious reunion. Sister Rasmussen was supposed to go to the London MTC but her Visa didn't go through and seriously we had a pause in class and I look out the door and she was just standing there. I couldn't even register what was going on! But it was great to see her:)

So Elder Wright's Birthday was Wednesday and we got him this card that had a ballerina cat on the front of it and said birthday girl and we crossed out girl and put Elder. We had almost the whole Zone sign it and he actually laughed and smiled (he says he's a rock). Thanks mom, he loved the package you sent, he couldn't believe that you actually sent it. Those mints he protects with his life.

Welp got nothing else to write so See YA

Sister Farner

My Deustch was nich gut

Hey!

This week was so long and so much happened I don't even know where to start.

Elder David A Bednar came on Sunday and wow that was amazing. He did a Q&A session with all of us and I cant even express how grateful I am for that meeting. I have been really focusing on becoming more Christ-like through turning to those in need instead of turning inwards. It's been hard especially when this don't go as planned or you feel sick from some weird meat you ate in the cafeteria. But when I taught an investigator with Sister Yeck and thought of how I had a headache and how I wasn't ready, I completely lost all German and didn't feel the Spirit. The next day we had TRC which is where we teach members a lesson and I decided to focus on the member and what they were saying and to see how I could better help them. I asked one how he has felt the Holy Ghost in his life and then he responded and asked me the same thing. I have never shared a personal experience in German before but I shared the time I prayed to know if I should go on a mission and sure my Deutsch was nich gut but I started crying because the Spirit was soooo strong and I could finally feel it coming through with the words I was speaking. I'm so lucky to have the Holy Ghost there to help the people I teach know what I am saying. 

Couple funny things

SO meine miterbeiter and I were in Choir on Tuesday and they videotape the people singing like in General Conference, and neither of us really can sing, but for some ridiculous reason they decided to focus on her and I for like 30 seconds and we can't look at the camera but I could see a glimpse of me on the big screen and was trying really hard to not mess up the words I was mouthing..hehehe.

My district has become too good of friends and my teachers have started to realize it. We can get so off track in lessons;  it's really a talent. But for how much we goof off, we make up for it at the end of the day. We do a testimony meeting every night and it's wonderful to see their testimonies be strengthened in so many different ways.

Oh ya another highlight, the GYM IS OPEN! Basketball is so gut but it stinks not being able to guard the elders or screen them or get near them. Rebounding is the funniest things because we will all jump up to get the ball and somehow avoid touching eachother. But there is also volleyball to which makes me sooooo excited because my feet aren't burning anymore from hot sand. What is the worst though is the line. I prayed for patience the other day and am really getting tested.

All the German sisters dress up the same and it was awesome! I felt like we were maids but we all have become better friends because of it hahah. 

Well I really have to go and I probably need to manage my email timing better

Love and miss you all! 

Sister  Farner

Matching Montag

One Week and counting down and I can't believe how fast it has gone!

I've never been more frustrated and happy at the same time as I am now. But praying always makes everything better.

I never know what to start with when I email.

But thank you mom for the PACKAGE!!!!! Basically everyone in my district got a letter or a package and I was feeling better sad, I thought my familie forgot about me, but on Fritag I got one and it was the best thing of my life! DANKE DANKE DANKE. It's pretty funny how missionaries want packages so bad, I mean I definitely fell into that trap too....

Montag had to be the funniest tag ever. It was the tag that all the sleep, stress, you name it caught up with my district. We do a mini testimony meeting 30 min before we go back to our residence halls and we were all pretty tired. Sister Jackson asks a question in Deutsch to Elder Hughes who turns and looks at her with a straight faces says "I don't speak German" Honestly, I don't really think it's that funny anymore, but Elder Rothwell was like "that is the easiest phrase to say in Deutsch and you said it in Englisch" and laughs so much, but it was such a real laugh, he was basically crying and that is when we all started cracking up and after like 5 min Elder Hughes (still laughing) asks me to say the prayer. I get halfway through and pray for help learning Deutsch and then the laughter starts again and I quickly end the prayer. Then we have this super Spiritual Testimony meeting and people are brought to tears and all the while I am wondering how we could change that much in 15min. So komisch.

I ran into Hermana Parker and she got a picture on her camera so hopefully you guys will be able to see it! I also saw Elder Riley Openshaw from Boston on Wednesday! It was super cool! Can't believe he is already in the MTC! 

I invite you all to read 3 Nephi 17. We read it as a class and the Spirit was there so strong. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and everything He has done for me, He is such an amazing example and I'm blessed to be able to wear His name on my tag. I know I wouldn't have gotten this far without Him and I can't wait to help others know of His Evangelium. 

Also on Montag, I started Matching Montag, which Sister Yeck kind of likes I guess, but I got her to wear a tshirt dress with me and it turns out a lot of other people in our zone wore them too!

I'm grateful for Sister Yeck and the patience she has with me. She really is the best. One night though we were praying before bed and she was thanking Gott for all the people in our District and she paused and said Elderen (thats what I thought) and she couldn't remember any of their names and we laughed again, we tried to conceal it the best we could but Sister Jackson and Shelley started laughing at us from the other side of the room. Good times. Love being here love the people love this Gospel. 

At lunch the other day, I was sitting next to Elder Wright and asked him if he ever tried to see how many grapes he could fit in his mouth, he said no so we both started putting grapes in our mouth...I got to 30 and he got 25 and started laughing....lets just say our district wasn't too happy to see grapes on our trays. I am maturing I promise. It's stress relief.

Remember that I love all of you and miss you too! But I couldn't imagine being anywhere else but here

Ich habe liebt fur sie

Sister Farner

Mein Meiterbieter

Hallo!

First 3 days have been the most fun and difficult days of meine life! But I have never felt the Spirit so strong for so long until I got here. The first day our teacher rallied off at us in Deutsch and I almost cried hahaha but God for sure helped me get through the day.

Mein Meiterbieter ist Sister Yeck! She's from Highland Utah and is 6'0" so she keeps up with my fast walking, but sometimes I have to keep up with her. We haven't argued yet which has been gut and luckily she took a few years of Deutsch in High School so we have something to build off on.

My district is AWESOME! Everyone in it is going to Frankfurt. There are 8 people total. Elder Hughes (our DL) and ELder Dutson, Elder Wright and Elder Rothwell, and Sister Jackson and Sister Shelley (They basically are fluent in German). Elder Wright and I have the same problem with speaking Spanish instead of Deutsch and it's super funny. We will say ‘porque’ or ‘adios’ and look at each other and laugh. But I'm definitely understanding the majority of the things SIster Toma is teaching, she doesn't go too fast either. It's hard to respond though. The second day though she asked what a word meant and I said what it meant and my meitbeirter was like How did you know that!?! Obviously I didn't but I had help from on high. We taught our first Investigator yesterday and all I can do is laugh. It's frustrating to want to help someone so bad but not have the words to do so. But I have already grown to love Roland and want what is best for him. I just wish I could say it in Deutsch!!! But hey it’s only been 3 days so I'm not being too hard on myself. Even though we paused for 2 minutes at a time, I left being full of the Spirit and being happy. Being positive is what I have been working on this whole time because it isn't easy learning this language but I know I will one day be able to get it down by trusting in Gott.

I don't know why I listened to people when they said the MTC food is gut because it is disgusting. I run off of chocolate milche and fruit for the most part. We have pizza nacht every fritag (friday) and the line was soooo long! Hahah but it was final gut essen. The sisters in my district sit together at every meal but the Elders are non existent, I'm pretty sure they are avoiding us. One day we will all be freunden.

In our first Zone meeting with the Branch Presidency we each had to stand up and share stuff about ourselves, there are 45 people going to Deutschland, 18 to Frankfurt. When it came time for me to introduce myself I said ‘Hi I'm Addison’....The 1st counselor’s face was the funniest thing I ever saw because he was so shocked ahah I apologized and said ‘Sister Farner’. Everyone laughed, I have the worst time with that. Today during volleyball two elders introduced themselves to me and then I said ‘Hi I’m Elder.. I mean Sister Farner’. I can’t get it right! hahaha

Every week we are supposed to write a 3-5 minuten talk in Deutsch to give in Church on Saturday, an Elder and a Sister are picked at random over the podium each Sunday so ya. Gut thing no one understands Deutsch yet besides a few Elders and Sisters.

Oh ya we aren’t referred to Schwester because the Catholic Nuns are called that.

Sister Johnson, my lovely cousin, called me a little fat grandma in Deutsch and it really hurt my feelings haha her meiterbeiter is fluent so I asked her what I could call her back and she said to call her a demon child in Deutsch ( I don’t know how to spell it). So I did. Hahaha she was stumped. Sister Johnson is in the room right next to me. So we get to see each other but not too much.

I'm happy to be here and happy to be able to learn the Celestial language. Ich danke der fur meine HImmlischer Vater and the liebe He habe fur me. Praying in Deutsch is awesome and I can do it for the most part without notes! The Gift of Tongues is real like everyone has said it is. You don't really get that until you are out here trying to lerne ein foreign language.

I could go on fur ever but the last thing that the MTC president wife said was "Little growth occurs in a comfort zone and there is little comfort in a growth zone

Liebe and miss you all!

Sister Farner