Grateful and Committed

Hi there!

This happened last week, but I wanted to write about it. Last week a
really sweet 15 year old girl came to church. She isn't a member but
always went to church in Wien with her grandma when she was little.
Her life got a little complicated after that and her mom was quite
against her going to church. She doesn't live with her mom anymore
though. She kept seeing the Wels sisters at the train station and
telling them that she wanted to come to church but she doesn't have a
phone and can't find the church building very well. Finally after the
3rd time of running into her, the Wels sisters called us and put her
on the phone. I set up a meeting place with her so that we could walk
to the church together, but because of Stake conference, it wouldn't
be for another 2 weeks...

I wrote it down in my calendar but I thought for sure that she
wouldn't be there to meet us, especially since she didn't have a
phone and we couldn't call to remind her. But when we went early
Sunday morning, she was there waiting for us! Turns out she lives
really really far away and had to wake up at 4:30am and ride her bike
45 minutes and take another series of buses and trains in order to
make it there on time. She was so excited to see us and to come to
church. She really connected with the Young Women's president super
well and was so so happy to come to church again. She told us how
excited she is to be baptized when she's 18 and can decide for
herself. Isn't that so great? It's incredible. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if we were are so grateful for church and so committed to
going.

We also started teaching this wonderful family from Afghanistan this
week. They are so wonderful. They were already Christian before but
had never heard about the Book of Mormon. I wish I could
just write all about them and their incredible story but just know
that they are so wonderful to teach. We gave the 8 year old son his
own Book of Mormon this week and before we'd left he'd already read so
many pages! The mother also shared a wonderful experience with us
where something very very difficult was going on in their lives, kind
of an ongoing problem, and she was praying to God about it one night
very late. She asked God if the reason why this was happening was
because she'd allowed me and sister McAllister to come into their home
and share the Book of Mormon with them. An overwhelming feeling came
over her though that what we were sharing was indeed true and that
everything would be ok. Isn't that incredible?? I really haven't had
so many experiences on my mission so far where investigators get such
clear answers from the Spirit so that was really beautiful to hear.
When we met with them again and asked when we could come back, the
mother's answer was, "Immer!" Haha, or, "always!"

As I said last week, serving a mission is the best :) Love it here.
Also had a great zone conference in Salzburg with all the missionaries
in Austria and General Women's broadcast too!!

Have a great week!

Last pday was a mall pday with the Wels sisters

Then I had Tausch (an exchange) with Sister Church which was fun! She's actually from Lindon and is neighbors with the Leichtys! This is Wels. It's pretty, but not as cool as Linz...

I decided to take more pics of what we've been cooking.... well, I've been cooking :) I made up this cool Asian noodle and broccoli stuff which ended up being way good! I had a recipe but didn't have half the ingredients haha so kind of made it up as I went...

And this is Sister McAllister doing morning exercise hahahaha
I usually let her do her thing but this morning I kept telling her to get up and do yoga with me.  She simply refused to get out of bed until 15 minutes later, she found the willpower to come join me hahaha

The train ride back from conference with the Wien Zone missionaries. 

Sometimes Frustrating But So Rewarding

Hi!

Ah! I have like no time, I'm so sorry but really fast.

This week was insane. It was so so good. We ended up having 7 new investigators!!

Yesterday Kais and Huda received the gift of the Holy Ghost and it was so beautiful. I just was so happy and I was sitting by a few good friends I have made here and a new investigator, and I just felt so happy. I love serving a mission so much, I don't know how to describe it. I will never be able to do what I'm doing with the people I'm doing it with ever again which makes it all the more special and precious. I love giving 100% effort and energy into making sure everyone has a friend, that everyone feels loved and in helping as many people as possible come closer to Christ. It's so darn frustrating sometimes, but nothing is so rewarding.

I love serving with sister McAllister and learning from her. We have so much fun together. I love being humbled and learning and growing, not because it's easy, but because it makes me happy. I love learning new German phrases, or realizing that I've been saying somewhat offensive German things my whole mission because I didn't know better, and then laughing about it and learning from my mistakes. I love this church and gospel. It's such a blessing and privilege to be a part of such an organization. I know God leads it and that He, in His marvelous power, helps it to grow and improve, even with its very weak and imperfect members :) but he loves us anyway and sticks with us.

That's all for today. Wish I could write all the funny and amazing stories but that'll be for another time I suppose. 

Tschüss! -Sister Lehmann

Indian food last pday

Distrikt pictures

Our apartment got sprayed for bed bugs. It's a long story but anyway. That was crazy. Here's a picture of one. It's the black dot she's pointing at.

Cat

Cafe language study

Weak imitation of Mexican food. Man I miss it so much.

Taught primary again. We drew hands so they don't forget that it's through worthy priesthood holder's hands that we can receive blessings. I think they understood it...

Elder Hammarstrom getting stacked by some children.

Guess who came up with the spiritual thought to make paper cranes!

Sister Frenkel left a lot of Haribo.  The kids were so happy.
The parents not so much haha oops.

Stake Conference in Salzburg

Hi!

Wow, what a crazy week!

1. Sister Frenkel had to leave 10 days earlier than the transfer to the MTC in Provo so we had an early transfer day. On Monday Sister Frenkel and I hung out in Salzburg until my new companion, Sister McAllister showed up from St. Gallon, and then we sent Sister Frenkel on her way. 
2. Sister McAllister and I are getting along great! She's a bit younger on her mission than me. She's from California! We have fun together
3. Our first evening, we went out finding a bit and we found our first people together! I felt bad, sister McAllister was pretty tuckered out from traveling but she let me drag her around, without complaining :) We ended up meeting the girls we met in the street a little later that week and it went super well! It was so spiritual as we explained to them what we do as missionaries and the personal meaning it can have for them if they really open their hearts to the gospel. The whole time they were just smiling and nodding and listening and when we asked them if we could meet with them again, they were like, "Yes!! Of course!! We can meet whenever! I feel so good right now talking to you guys!" Haha that's like the most beautiful thing a missionary can hear.
4. This weekend was stake conference in Salzburg. Apparently stake conference is not in the normal church building... and apparently everyone knew that expect for me and Sister McAllister.... and apparently the invitations they've had all over the church building all month gave the address of the actual auditorium where we were meeting.... so apparently I'm not a very observant or organized missionary... haha oh dear. But as always Heavenly Father was looking out for us. There happened to be two tourists from Utah waiting at the church building wanting to go to church but had no idea what was going on. We called some people to tell us the address and then we were able to drive over there together. Had they not been there to rescue us, we would have never figured out the public transportation in time to find it. Plus, President Kearen, the General Authority for all of Europe was there to speak! (He's the one who spoke about refugees in the last spring general conference.) It was so so great, and I was so grateful to have made it. I also don't think it's a mistake though that sister McAllister and I went all the way to the church building in Salzburg. We met so many people along the way! We hung out with the servers in the train and gave one of them a Book of Mormon! In Salzburg we were able to help some lost tourists find their way... all these little things that made it really an ok day :)
5. We had a great week overall, meeting all kinds of people along the way and also getting a couple new investigators! Things are going great here in Linz.

Wandering Salzburg

Salzburg: Cool cafe with only old people. Truly. And us. And a nice Asian guy there for a job interview.

The Leichty's who saved us in Salzburg.

Samy. The nice guy who took a Book of Mormon. What a character. (And my new comp Sister McAllister)

Bring A Friend

Hello!

Another great week in Linz. Well... haha mostly. We started out the week with a super full schedule and every single appointment, except one, fell through. Haha oh man. On Saturday, by the time a new investigator texted us to tell us she was sick and couldn't make it to our appointment, we were quite used to it and it came as no surprise. 

Had a fun exchange with Sister Phelps though! Sister Phelps is such a great example to me of following the spirit. We were riding on the tram and talked to this nice lady for a bit. She got out a stop just before us and we were quiet as we waited for the next stop. Both of us noticed this boy eyeing us a bit, which is pretty normal with the name tags... Anyway, we got out and started walking out the street and suddenly Sister Phelps turns around and talks to the boy from the tram that happened to be walking behind us. Haha usually turning around and talking to the person behind you is kind of awkward but Sister Phelps did it anyway! Turns out the boy was from Utah! He's been inactive in the church for about 3 years but his mom kept trying to get him to find the church here. He said he googled it but couldn't really find it. Haha he also told us he had wanted to talked to us, but wasn't sure if we spoke English. I don't know, it was also just super cool 'cause Sister Phelps, him and I just all connected really well and probably would be friends at home. We exchanged numbers and we'll hopefully see him at church in the next little bit :)

We also had the baptism yesterday and that was awesome. Just so great. A little hard to get Kais, who's kind of big, under the water... it looked like he was drowning a bit and it was kind of awkward but it turned out ok haha. Asad, an Iranian member who was baptized just 6 months ago, got to baptize him! He had to say the baptism prayer a couple times though before he got it right, even though we practiced with him. :) His German is getting there... but anyways, Kais and Huda are baptized now so we're good!

It was all just so happy and great. The members were super nice and welcoming, to both Kais and Huda, and to the other investigators/friends we had invited to come. 

Asad actually is the one who first told Kais and his family about the gospel. Isn't that cool? I think that's one of the coolest experiences someone can have: introducing their friend to the gospel, being able to baptize them, and from then on being a support to one another along the gospel path. Reminds me of Zoram and the great friend he was to Nephi. 

2 Nephi 1:30 "And now, Zoram, I speak unto you...and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son, Nephi, forever."

I imagine he was a great support to Nephi along their journey to America. There's also a Mormon message in our apartment that says, "Eternity's a long time: bring a friend!" I like that :) And that's exactly what we're trying to do here! 

Have a great week!

Taufe selfie. Hahaha someone is holding my hair back here because apparently it was covering some faces.

The Linz mission team

Sneaky pic of my comp during comp study. hahaha her head looked so huge.

Sister Frenkel worked for Haribo and has like 30 boxes full of this stuff at home. Her parents were nice enough to send us a couple...

That's a lie, it wasn't a couple, it was LOT. And I had to carry it home with Sister Phelps, stopping every 50 meters to catch our breath.

We are in this building SO MUCH. It's super stinky and kind of gross but some of the sweetest people live here. Sometimes we go out on the balcony to do some phone calls just so we can get some fresh air before we go by the next person.

Taught the 4 year old primary class on Sunday. SO CUTE. They didn't look too happy here but that's because we hadn't cracked open the Haribo gummy bears yet...

Last Pday shopping with Sheila