Happy to be Here

I think this is week 4...no we just finished week 4. Haha I can't remember.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well! Just another average week at the MTC!

Maman asked me what my daily schedule is, so I guess I'll just explain in this letter. We wake up at 6:30, breakfast at 7, do chores, personal study at 8 and then at 9 it's slightly different everyday. The basic schedule is a whole lot of German instruction and then general teaching/missionary instruction until lunch. After lunch, we tend to read in the Book of Mormon as a district in German (with English scriptures open too, of course, haha). Then comes 2 hours of personal language study. Then we have time to exercise. Then we study some missionary things. Then we have dinner. Then in the evening, we have companionship study/teach investigators. And then some more language or general missionary instruction. And then we plan and have 15 minutes for snack, and it's off to get ready for bed!

The schedule was really demanding at first, because you really have no free time except for 15 minutes after you finish eating. But I personally like it. It keeps me busy. And we still have lots of fun with my district and all the teachers throughout the day.  Sorry if that was boring.

This week everyone at the MTC except my district got to go to Manchester to go street contacting. We aren't allowed to share the gospel outside of our mission, plus everything we do has to be in German. It was so sad and depressing, haha. Just us 6 at the MTC most of the day. 

It was fun to hear all the stories when they got back though!

All the missionaries that got here three weeks ago leave today and tomorrow, and it's just funny because it makes us all feel like the permanent residence people here haha.

That's all for this week. Just want to say how happy I am to be here. I learn so much everyday and I just absolutely love feeling the spirit so much. It's incredible. I really do have a testimony of this gospel. I know that it's true. I feel it so strongly.

Thank you so much for all the love and support.

-Sister Lehmann

There was a crazy snow storm today (Tuesday)!

This is Sister Tavarez. She's so great. She's from Portugal. We laugh far too much together. :)

Hahahahahaha oh man. Book of Mormon cartoons are the best. Check out the ceramic bowl on his head.

Some Local Church History

Hey! 

Just another normal week at the MTC! Today was really great though! We got to go on a church history tour around here this morning! We passed by the River Ripple where the first saints were baptized in England and also President Hinckley's first house where he was staying when he served his mission here. And a couple other places where missionary work started here. Really cool! It's also really nice to actually SEE England haha. 

Other than that, more studying and learning and growing up! We teach investigators every week. It's been difficult but definitely getting better! It's kind of funny though because the investigators are our teachers, and they just throw on hoodies or put their hair up in a funny way. But they definitely take their roles very seriously. Thankfully though they speak quite slowly for us so we understand. Haha. There is one part-time teacher who's actually from Berlin and I think on top of that he has a lisp and slurs his words like crazy so we always let out the biggest sigh when we knock on the door and he's the investigator waiting for us hahaha. 

That's all for today! We don't have very much time for emailing. 

Thank you for all the emails and support. It's funny, you go a whole week sort of feeling alone in the world (not in a sad way, just an independent sort of way?), and then you open up your email on Tuesday and are reminded that so many people are thinking about and praying for you! Thank you thank you. Have a great week!

-Sister Lehmann

Serving a Mission is a Privilege

Hi there!!

Just another basic week at the MTC! It's been pretty fun! Sister Pugh and I were called as Sister Training Leaders last week and at first I was like, ehhhhhh whaaaaat, I'm not cut out for a job like this!!. But now I'm so grateful that we were called because it's allowed us to get to know all these simply incredible Sisters. Seriously just hearing about their conversion stories and why they're on their missions is just so humbling and incredible to hear.

 One sister from Fiji was telling us about how she used to always run away from the missionaries and hide in a tree because she didn't want to talk to them. But then she was going through some terrible things in her life and she decided to just read a bit of this book that the missionaries gave her and she said that she just started crying and crying, and she was so confused as to why. She started reading her school textbook and she was just normal but then she opened the Book of Mormon again and she just couldn't stop crying. It was difficult for her to leave on her mission in the first place because her and her younger brother are the bread winners for her parents, but they decided to have her leave first and then when she gets back, she can take care of her family while her brother goes on his mission. And she told us all this and bore her testimony and her face radiated, and she looked so beautiful and full of light and it was a marvelous experience. She told us that she has seen the most terrible things in this world, but that she also has seen the most beautiful light and joy. There's someone who sees serving a mission as a privilege, not a burden.

And that is just one story of so many other incredible ones.

So yeah, really not that much more to say except that I'm so grateful for all that I'm learning about the gospel, about German, about how to teach, about other missionaries... it's all so incredible and I cannot stop thanking God for all my blessings.

We're all so blessed. God loves us all so much. Isn't that just amazing? 

Have a wonderful week.

-Sister Lehmann

District Selfieee

​Missionary pictionary (I'm sorry it is quite graphic)

Look at my cute companion and the spring flowers and the temple... 

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This is the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Hi!

Oh my goodness I'm so excited that I get to write you! Not that I've been doting on that all week, don't you worry. We're seriously sooo busy there is absolutely no time to mope or think about family or home which I'm super grateful for. But yeah, learning a language is crazy busy work but it's been really great. I've learned so much this week and felt a lot too. Sort of an emotional roller coaster of what-did-I-just-sign-myself-up-for/this-is-amazing-and-I-never-want-to-go-home. Haha

Preston is great. They made comparisons from this MTC with Provo. We're quality and they're quantity. Or this one was great: we're like the cute cared for country chicken farm and Provo are like those really unethical chicken warehouse farms. Hahaha no offense. But yeah there have only been 14 of us here this week! One district learning English and the other German. So many cool international people here I love it. 

A couple other cool things about the MTC... our mission president, President Preston (haha I was pretty confuse why everyone was calling him that at first) is so funny and nice. Just the funniest old English gent with one tooth that juts quite a ways out infront of all his other teeth, smack dab in the middle. I'll try to take a picture of it.

My companion is super great too! She's from a small town in Washington. As in 2,000 people in her town small. She's super spunky and loves to talk, and as a result, hates the German language cause it won't let her talk as much as she'd like haha. We get along super well together! I also love the other girls in my district. We laugh a lot. But don't worry, we work hard too :)

Well that's all! Hope you are doing wonderfully. I just wanted to say how much I just know this church is true. I mean, I knew it before, but now I know it more than ever. It just kind of hit me the other day and I felt like jumping up the other day and saying, Hold up, Hold up. Guys!! Everyone! This is ACTUALLY the RESTORED GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!! Do you know that this means?! Oh my goodness! Haha I'm not capturing the way I feel inside very well, but just know that I KNOW it's true and that is just so amazing to me.

Love, 

Sister Lehmann

We went on a P-day field trip to the store and post office which was very exciting. Look how quaint England is ❤

My district and our classroom. We're here pretty much all day. We're all American on the end except for Elder Sinclair on the end who's from Chester. I think he's really sick of Americans. Already. Haha 5 more weeks to go!

 My roommates and the Preston Temple.

 Me and Sister Pugh right after the temple session we did today

 Our field trip from today. Isn't this just the greatest?

Max left me this gem. Ty.