Date: Tuesday, June 23
Hallo Familie!
Es ist ein sehr shön Tag heute hier in Düsseldorf Deutschland! It is a very beautiful day here in Düsseldorf Germany! I hope you are all doing beautifully there in den USA. I will assume dad´s motto that you love me and will always love me unless I here otherwise. The fact that I haven´t heard from you this week doesn´t mean you don´t love me. :) sorry just kidding. I´m sure you got really busy, or you did send the email but then the internet shut down or something. I did get to hear from Candace and Tara and that was good. But how are you all doing?
This week was good. We had interviews with our Mission President and he gave us some good ideas about how to find more investigators. We have been struggling with that this cycle, but his ideas really helped us to broaden our horizons. One of the suggestions was to talk about strengthening the fmaily through Family Home Evening. So yesterday Sister Niebergall and I spent time coming up with a klingle approach to get let in so we could talk about the family and how Family Home Evening can strengthen family relationships. It took a while but we figured it out. Well on Sunday during planning we picked out these two streets to go do doors on that we both felt good about for Monday. When we got to the streets yesterday, we started and didn´t have a whole lot of success. It was almost time to go home, but we had the impression to go to one last door across the street. We klingled, and the lady let us in, then as we walked up the stairs and told her who we were, she said "Kommen Sie rein!" She let us is in! She was an older lady so we just told her about the Book of Mormon instead and she was really excited to read it. We talked for about a half hour and made an appointment to come back and talk to her about what she had read. It was really neat. It strengthened my testimony to know that the Spirit does guide us, and the Lord really is in this work.
So, we haven´t been able to meet with Baffour for a while, we are not sure what is going on with him. But, we have another baptismal date with a lady named Ulrike. She has been investigating for quite some time and now she is ready and wants to be baptized. There were just a few things standing in the way before. She had a lot of opposition coming from some close friends, but she withstood and bore them her testimony and gave them the articles of faith so they could see what she believed. It was really cool as she told us. She also shared an experience about how one day we had just come to vorbei (visit?) on her to see how she was doing talked for a while. Then later on that night she faced some more opposition from a friend, but she thought about how we had come over just that day and she told her friend that she was with us, then her friend left. She said when that happened she knew God was watching over her and had his hand in her life. It was so neat. God really is there, even when we don´t realize it. He is always there. I am so grateful to know that. As I look back on my life I can see his guiding in hand. It is very humbling to think about.
Thank you family for everything! I love you all! Truly truly truly, I do.
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
P.S.
What is Ruth Flakes mission address?
What are all Ritchie, Chris, Jason, and Croziers email addresses?
Monday, June 29, 2009
Happy Father's Day From Germany
Date: Tuesday, June 16
Hallo Familie!
Wie getes euch? Ich bin wunderbar und sehr dankbar fur das Evangelium Jesu Christi und fur die Gelegenheit ich habe ein Mission zu dienen! Ich liebe Deutchland und die Menschen hier. Sie sind gute Menschen. Mission Arbeit ist schwer, aber so gut. Ich bin so biegeistert fur Ritchie ein Mission zu dienen. Ich danke er wird es lieben. Auch ich bin so dankbar fur meiner Vater! Meine Himmischen Vater und auch meine Irdischen Vater. Vatern sind so wichtig. So wichtig. Heute ich habe in Mosia 22 gelesen, und es spricht uber die widows (ich weiss nicht das Wort auf Deutch) und fatherless :) und wie wir sollen ihnen helfen. Als ich habe das gelesen ich habe gedaucht, "Meine gute! Vatern sind so wichtig!" So ich bin so dankbar fur du Vater. Du bist ein wunderbares Vater indeed. :) Du bist ein schwerer Arbeiter, und einen geistigen Mann.
I don't have a lot of time, so now I will go back to English. :) I probably didn't get all the grammar and the articles right, but there you go. What I said was: Hi Family! How are you all? I am wonderful and so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. I love Germany and the people here. They are good people. Missionary work is hard, but so good. I am so excited for Ritchie to serve a mission. I think he will love it. Also, I am so grateful for my father! My heavenly Father and also my earthly father. Fathers are so important. So important. Today I read in Mosiah 22 and it talked about the widows and the fatherless and how we should help them. When I read it I thought "My goodness, fathers are so important." So Iam so grateful for you father. You are a wonderful father indeed. You are a hard worker and a spiritual man.
Now I will continue. . . . Earlier this week I was thinking about how helpful it is to have good parents. Then I thought about what made a good parent. One thing I came up with was sharing personal spiritual experiences. I am not sure why but I remember dad telling us the story of when he was going to run for student body president his senior year but as he was heading to the office to turn in his signatures he had the distinct impression that he shouldn't turn in the paper. So I think you threw it away or something and you didn't know why, but then a few days later you got a call to be the Seminary president and if you had run for a student body office you couldn't of been the seminary president. I am not sure if I got the story exactly right, but the point was that you followed the spirit. You recognized the spirit, and obeyed. I also remember mom telling us some of her experiences too. So I just wanted to thank you mom and dad for sharing those stories. I think I thought about it because so many investigators ask us what the spirit feels like, how they can realize something comes from God. Anyway, and I thought about you two teaching us how we should always follow the spirit, and you shared personal examples. Those stories helped me so much in my life. I know I didn't tell you all the times they helped me, I probably can't remember all the times they did help me, but I do know they did help me in many instances in my life. Dad thanks for everything you do for our family. The more I live the more I realize how amazing my parents really are. You do so much for us and most importantly without a doubt is that you taught us the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are a lot of things that are important to learn, but I think teaching the gospel by living it by being an example, by sharing spiritual experiences, by reading the scriptures and praying together, that is where we learn the most important things.
So this week in Dusseldorf Germany was pretty good. We lost Baffour for a while, he is the one that was supposed to get baptized this Saturday, but we couldn't get a hold of him all last week and he didn't come to any of our appointments. We thought he disappeared and were so sad. But we heard from him yesterday saying that he was in the hospital. We were so glad to hear from him and that he is OK and hope to be able to meet with him this week. We also have been teaching Patience for a while. She is a great lady, but she stopped progressing. We committed her to come to church and she didn't and she has stopped reading in the Book of Mormon everyday. So yesterday we met with her and taught her about the restoration again, what it means for us now and all the blessings we receive from it, how it blesses the family, that is really what it is all about. We told her why we were on missions, we were here to help people change their lives so they can get closer to God and their families and live with God and their family forever. We tried to emphasize the change part and how God was there to help her, and how we were there to help her. How important it is to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and come to church and to pray (she already prays everyday which is really good). She said she would start reading everyday and come to church. We hope she does!
I came up with a quote it's pretty profound. :) It is this: "You can! And it's worth it!" So many people say they could never do what we do, keep the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, going to church every week, talking clean, etc. And finally I just decided to say, "You can, and it is worth it." I have such a strong testimony that when we turn our will to the Lord when we do what he wants, and finally when we learn to want what he wants we will be so much happier. It is worth everything to do the Lords will. Anything hard we are called upon to do by the Lord, we can do, and it will be worth it. (1 Nephi 3:7, also count how many times the Book of Mormon says, "if ye keep the commandments ye shall prosper in the land.") I am a lot of talk, and I want to be better at following my own advice. There are lots of hard times on a mission I've decided. It really does test every part of you. This past week was kinda hard. We are struggling to find new people to teach and then Baffour disappeared. So on Sunday when Patience wasn't there and Baffour wasn't there I was pretty sad and prayed to heavenly father to send me a ray of hope. After church we were talking to our ward mission leader about Baffour and he was just very nice and understanding, and told us not to loose hope. That he would probably come back. I took that as my ray of hope and low and behold on Monday Baffour contacted us to let us know he had been in the hospital. I know heavenly father hears adn answers prayers. He shows us tender mercies and we can see them when we look. Which leads me to what I want for my birthday. I know it is kind of early :) but I have been thinking about my birthday a lot I don't know why. Anyway, I got a really great letter from a friend and she shared an experience how God had specifically answered her prayer and then she bore her testimony. I loved it and it strengthened my testimony and filled me with hope and strength to know God is there for all of us and does bless us. So I thought it would be pretty much the best birthday present ever if everyone in the family shared an experience like that with me. Obviously I know some things are really personal, but if you can just look for opportunities to pray to God about something and watch for the answer he gives (it has to be specific) then share your testimony with me. I would love that. So you have a couple months:) And I will try to remind you along the way. But I think that would be really cool.
It was great to hear the update on everyone. Candace and Evan I am so happy for you to have found a job and wow, you'll be in Arizona. Maybe now I will finally get to go down there. :)
Tara, thanks for the email. I really appreciated it! I am so glad you had an answer to your prayer. I am still looking forward to that letter.
Sean and Kim, how is parenting going? I hear Miriam is getting tall. That is great.
Ritchie, that is so cool Jake came to visit you. That is great he got you even more excited to go on your mission. And you get to go through the temple soon. Please write me and tell me about your experience. I would love to go with with you.
Chris and Jason, how was football camp? You both sound like excellent players. You're both starting? Wow! What awesome little brothers I have!
Crozier! How is your summer? Are you reading, playing soccer? The Germans love soccer and I decided that when I get home I am going to play it with you mroe often.
Mom, I am glad you got to go to Blanding. I will pray for the people there. That sounds like it was really rough there. Thanks for updating me on life in general. If you see Alyssa, tell her congratulations for me.
Dad, thanks for being a great dad! I wish I could call on Fathers day and tell you how much I love you too, especially since I didn't get to talk to you on Mothers day, but know that I love you and wish you a happy Fathers day!
Well I better go, but I love you all very much. It was a pleasure thinking of you once again. Till next week!
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
Hallo Familie!
Wie getes euch? Ich bin wunderbar und sehr dankbar fur das Evangelium Jesu Christi und fur die Gelegenheit ich habe ein Mission zu dienen! Ich liebe Deutchland und die Menschen hier. Sie sind gute Menschen. Mission Arbeit ist schwer, aber so gut. Ich bin so biegeistert fur Ritchie ein Mission zu dienen. Ich danke er wird es lieben. Auch ich bin so dankbar fur meiner Vater! Meine Himmischen Vater und auch meine Irdischen Vater. Vatern sind so wichtig. So wichtig. Heute ich habe in Mosia 22 gelesen, und es spricht uber die widows (ich weiss nicht das Wort auf Deutch) und fatherless :) und wie wir sollen ihnen helfen. Als ich habe das gelesen ich habe gedaucht, "Meine gute! Vatern sind so wichtig!" So ich bin so dankbar fur du Vater. Du bist ein wunderbares Vater indeed. :) Du bist ein schwerer Arbeiter, und einen geistigen Mann.
I don't have a lot of time, so now I will go back to English. :) I probably didn't get all the grammar and the articles right, but there you go. What I said was: Hi Family! How are you all? I am wonderful and so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. I love Germany and the people here. They are good people. Missionary work is hard, but so good. I am so excited for Ritchie to serve a mission. I think he will love it. Also, I am so grateful for my father! My heavenly Father and also my earthly father. Fathers are so important. So important. Today I read in Mosiah 22 and it talked about the widows and the fatherless and how we should help them. When I read it I thought "My goodness, fathers are so important." So Iam so grateful for you father. You are a wonderful father indeed. You are a hard worker and a spiritual man.
Now I will continue. . . . Earlier this week I was thinking about how helpful it is to have good parents. Then I thought about what made a good parent. One thing I came up with was sharing personal spiritual experiences. I am not sure why but I remember dad telling us the story of when he was going to run for student body president his senior year but as he was heading to the office to turn in his signatures he had the distinct impression that he shouldn't turn in the paper. So I think you threw it away or something and you didn't know why, but then a few days later you got a call to be the Seminary president and if you had run for a student body office you couldn't of been the seminary president. I am not sure if I got the story exactly right, but the point was that you followed the spirit. You recognized the spirit, and obeyed. I also remember mom telling us some of her experiences too. So I just wanted to thank you mom and dad for sharing those stories. I think I thought about it because so many investigators ask us what the spirit feels like, how they can realize something comes from God. Anyway, and I thought about you two teaching us how we should always follow the spirit, and you shared personal examples. Those stories helped me so much in my life. I know I didn't tell you all the times they helped me, I probably can't remember all the times they did help me, but I do know they did help me in many instances in my life. Dad thanks for everything you do for our family. The more I live the more I realize how amazing my parents really are. You do so much for us and most importantly without a doubt is that you taught us the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are a lot of things that are important to learn, but I think teaching the gospel by living it by being an example, by sharing spiritual experiences, by reading the scriptures and praying together, that is where we learn the most important things.
So this week in Dusseldorf Germany was pretty good. We lost Baffour for a while, he is the one that was supposed to get baptized this Saturday, but we couldn't get a hold of him all last week and he didn't come to any of our appointments. We thought he disappeared and were so sad. But we heard from him yesterday saying that he was in the hospital. We were so glad to hear from him and that he is OK and hope to be able to meet with him this week. We also have been teaching Patience for a while. She is a great lady, but she stopped progressing. We committed her to come to church and she didn't and she has stopped reading in the Book of Mormon everyday. So yesterday we met with her and taught her about the restoration again, what it means for us now and all the blessings we receive from it, how it blesses the family, that is really what it is all about. We told her why we were on missions, we were here to help people change their lives so they can get closer to God and their families and live with God and their family forever. We tried to emphasize the change part and how God was there to help her, and how we were there to help her. How important it is to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and come to church and to pray (she already prays everyday which is really good). She said she would start reading everyday and come to church. We hope she does!
I came up with a quote it's pretty profound. :) It is this: "You can! And it's worth it!" So many people say they could never do what we do, keep the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, going to church every week, talking clean, etc. And finally I just decided to say, "You can, and it is worth it." I have such a strong testimony that when we turn our will to the Lord when we do what he wants, and finally when we learn to want what he wants we will be so much happier. It is worth everything to do the Lords will. Anything hard we are called upon to do by the Lord, we can do, and it will be worth it. (1 Nephi 3:7, also count how many times the Book of Mormon says, "if ye keep the commandments ye shall prosper in the land.") I am a lot of talk, and I want to be better at following my own advice. There are lots of hard times on a mission I've decided. It really does test every part of you. This past week was kinda hard. We are struggling to find new people to teach and then Baffour disappeared. So on Sunday when Patience wasn't there and Baffour wasn't there I was pretty sad and prayed to heavenly father to send me a ray of hope. After church we were talking to our ward mission leader about Baffour and he was just very nice and understanding, and told us not to loose hope. That he would probably come back. I took that as my ray of hope and low and behold on Monday Baffour contacted us to let us know he had been in the hospital. I know heavenly father hears adn answers prayers. He shows us tender mercies and we can see them when we look. Which leads me to what I want for my birthday. I know it is kind of early :) but I have been thinking about my birthday a lot I don't know why. Anyway, I got a really great letter from a friend and she shared an experience how God had specifically answered her prayer and then she bore her testimony. I loved it and it strengthened my testimony and filled me with hope and strength to know God is there for all of us and does bless us. So I thought it would be pretty much the best birthday present ever if everyone in the family shared an experience like that with me. Obviously I know some things are really personal, but if you can just look for opportunities to pray to God about something and watch for the answer he gives (it has to be specific) then share your testimony with me. I would love that. So you have a couple months:) And I will try to remind you along the way. But I think that would be really cool.
It was great to hear the update on everyone. Candace and Evan I am so happy for you to have found a job and wow, you'll be in Arizona. Maybe now I will finally get to go down there. :)
Tara, thanks for the email. I really appreciated it! I am so glad you had an answer to your prayer. I am still looking forward to that letter.
Sean and Kim, how is parenting going? I hear Miriam is getting tall. That is great.
Ritchie, that is so cool Jake came to visit you. That is great he got you even more excited to go on your mission. And you get to go through the temple soon. Please write me and tell me about your experience. I would love to go with with you.
Chris and Jason, how was football camp? You both sound like excellent players. You're both starting? Wow! What awesome little brothers I have!
Crozier! How is your summer? Are you reading, playing soccer? The Germans love soccer and I decided that when I get home I am going to play it with you mroe often.
Mom, I am glad you got to go to Blanding. I will pray for the people there. That sounds like it was really rough there. Thanks for updating me on life in general. If you see Alyssa, tell her congratulations for me.
Dad, thanks for being a great dad! I wish I could call on Fathers day and tell you how much I love you too, especially since I didn't get to talk to you on Mothers day, but know that I love you and wish you a happy Fathers day!
Well I better go, but I love you all very much. It was a pleasure thinking of you once again. Till next week!
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
Life Perspectives
Date: Tuesday, June 9
Hallo Familie!
Ich bin so dankbar für euch! I am so thankful for y'all! Thank you so much mom and little brothers for your emails. You don´t realize how much it means to hear from you. Ritchie will soon understand. :) It is always great to hear from you. I loved hearing how Chris is so excited to be in high school with Jason, and that Ritchie loves working at Broulims with Chris. Family really is where it's at. Chris that is so cool that you like working more than sitting around. I have found that to be an eternal principle. Work is much better than being idle. It makes you feel good, that is for sure. Um, as for the clock forest, I don´t know why they have it either. :) But I thought it was cool. They have some other random things here, but it´s cool. I hope you all had fun at the Fitzgerald reunion at Lagoon. Did it rain? It sure rained hear on Sunday evening. We were walking to an appointment and it just started pouring really hard. I just started laughing, I thought it was so funny, until I got soaked. Then it wasn´t funny any more. :) When we got to our appointment she asked us if we wanted a brush for our hair. :) I love being a missionary. It is so funny. Also, yesterday we were street contacting and we ran into this lady and started talking to her. And she stopped and started talking to us about her mother. I caught a lot of things, but couldn't connect everything together. So at the end we gave her a pass along card and I decided to give her the one that talked about families because I knew she had said something about her mother and how she might die in a few years how she had just gotten out of the hospital. After she was gone my companion just started laughing and I asked why. She said, "She just went off for 10 minutes telling us how much she didn't like her mom and you gave her the Family Home Evening pass along card." I manage to do that a lot. My German is coming, but it also has room for improvement. :)
So I have been thinking about mission life. I do it a lot. And I think I touched on it before but it amazes me what an amazing perspective it gives you. I feel like mission life is a life within a life. It just shows you what life really is all about. You prepare (home & MTC), your born (golden\greenie), you live, you might train, then you die (you go home). I feel like mission life is a preview of what life is. Anyway I am just so grateful for the perspective that it gives me. I just thank the Lord everyday for this amazing opportunity he has given to me, to be a missionary.
I have also thought about the 13th article of faith a lot. So many people talk about trials, why does God let that happen, why are good people hurt by bad people? I think about it a lot, and although we don't know the mind of God, I think 2 Nephi 2 provides some good answers. Everyone has agency and in order to grow there has to be opposition. There has to be. Sometimes when I have wondered why some things are so hard though, I have thought of the 13th article of faith. "We hope to be able to endure all things." Our goal is to overcome all things, in Christ. With faith in Christ we can endure all things, we can overcome all things. We can't do it on our own, but we can with faith in Christ. Faith is powerful. And we show our faith by our works. Those works are as simple and as powerful as studying the scriptures, praying (to God our Father who knows all things, and loves us and wants to share with us everything he has), attending church, keeping the commandments, and serving. By small things, great things are brought to pass. I love the song by the Goodman Family, "Start where you are make the best of whatever. Start where you are make the best of forever." We make a lot of mistakes, but we repent and move on, make the best of whatever forever.
Well I better go, but I love you all. And I hope you don't mind all my thoughts. I just thought today that you probably would like to hear more about Germany, or investigators, but I feel like these thoughts have a lot to do with missionary work as well. I will try to share more German mission stuff in general though.
Love
Sister Fitzgerald
P.S.
I thought of some other German things. They have milk here that is so pasterized that it doesn´t need to be refrigerated. It is milk from a cow that instead of putting in the fridge you can put in the cupboard for a couple years. It´s pretty interesting.
I have Arthella´s address, but could you get Ruth´s mission address for me? And yea we do have all the standard works in German. I think most languages do. That's a lie, we don't have the Bible in German, but everything owned by the church we do. The footnotes just aren't as extensive.
Also, a favorite quote of the week:
"Attitude determines altitude"
Hallo Familie!
Ich bin so dankbar für euch! I am so thankful for y'all! Thank you so much mom and little brothers for your emails. You don´t realize how much it means to hear from you. Ritchie will soon understand. :) It is always great to hear from you. I loved hearing how Chris is so excited to be in high school with Jason, and that Ritchie loves working at Broulims with Chris. Family really is where it's at. Chris that is so cool that you like working more than sitting around. I have found that to be an eternal principle. Work is much better than being idle. It makes you feel good, that is for sure. Um, as for the clock forest, I don´t know why they have it either. :) But I thought it was cool. They have some other random things here, but it´s cool. I hope you all had fun at the Fitzgerald reunion at Lagoon. Did it rain? It sure rained hear on Sunday evening. We were walking to an appointment and it just started pouring really hard. I just started laughing, I thought it was so funny, until I got soaked. Then it wasn´t funny any more. :) When we got to our appointment she asked us if we wanted a brush for our hair. :) I love being a missionary. It is so funny. Also, yesterday we were street contacting and we ran into this lady and started talking to her. And she stopped and started talking to us about her mother. I caught a lot of things, but couldn't connect everything together. So at the end we gave her a pass along card and I decided to give her the one that talked about families because I knew she had said something about her mother and how she might die in a few years how she had just gotten out of the hospital. After she was gone my companion just started laughing and I asked why. She said, "She just went off for 10 minutes telling us how much she didn't like her mom and you gave her the Family Home Evening pass along card." I manage to do that a lot. My German is coming, but it also has room for improvement. :)
So I have been thinking about mission life. I do it a lot. And I think I touched on it before but it amazes me what an amazing perspective it gives you. I feel like mission life is a life within a life. It just shows you what life really is all about. You prepare (home & MTC), your born (golden\greenie), you live, you might train, then you die (you go home). I feel like mission life is a preview of what life is. Anyway I am just so grateful for the perspective that it gives me. I just thank the Lord everyday for this amazing opportunity he has given to me, to be a missionary.
I have also thought about the 13th article of faith a lot. So many people talk about trials, why does God let that happen, why are good people hurt by bad people? I think about it a lot, and although we don't know the mind of God, I think 2 Nephi 2 provides some good answers. Everyone has agency and in order to grow there has to be opposition. There has to be. Sometimes when I have wondered why some things are so hard though, I have thought of the 13th article of faith. "We hope to be able to endure all things." Our goal is to overcome all things, in Christ. With faith in Christ we can endure all things, we can overcome all things. We can't do it on our own, but we can with faith in Christ. Faith is powerful. And we show our faith by our works. Those works are as simple and as powerful as studying the scriptures, praying (to God our Father who knows all things, and loves us and wants to share with us everything he has), attending church, keeping the commandments, and serving. By small things, great things are brought to pass. I love the song by the Goodman Family, "Start where you are make the best of whatever. Start where you are make the best of forever." We make a lot of mistakes, but we repent and move on, make the best of whatever forever.
Well I better go, but I love you all. And I hope you don't mind all my thoughts. I just thought today that you probably would like to hear more about Germany, or investigators, but I feel like these thoughts have a lot to do with missionary work as well. I will try to share more German mission stuff in general though.
Love
Sister Fitzgerald
P.S.
I thought of some other German things. They have milk here that is so pasterized that it doesn´t need to be refrigerated. It is milk from a cow that instead of putting in the fridge you can put in the cupboard for a couple years. It´s pretty interesting.
I have Arthella´s address, but could you get Ruth´s mission address for me? And yea we do have all the standard works in German. I think most languages do. That's a lie, we don't have the Bible in German, but everything owned by the church we do. The footnotes just aren't as extensive.
Also, a favorite quote of the week:
"Attitude determines altitude"
Things Looking Up
Date: Tuesday, June 2
Guten Tag Familie (oder Morgen, oder Abend) !!!!
It is so good to hear from you again. I am glad the boys passed the test of reading my email. :) Thanks for the email about the reunion mom. That sounds like it will be so much fun. I can´t believe that James will be home and that he will be giving his report live. That is so crazy. I need to be better about writing Ric and James, I would love to hear how they are doing. Tell everyone hi for me! at the Stubbs reunion and the Fitzgerald reunion. And if you see Jodi at the Van Wagoner reunion tell her hi and congratulations for me. And yes I am safe. :) Germany is about the safest place I have felt. The crime rate is way low here. Dad wants to know about the food I eat? Well, it is pretty good. I like pretty much everything. I like Currywurst (chopped up bratwurst with curry), Rotkohl (red cabbage, but it tastes better here), Döners, Turkisch Pizza, Eis (ice cream), Schokolade (chocolate), Apfel Shorle (apple juice with carbonated water), there are lots of things and I just don´t remember. They have meat in lots of things though. One member gave us this meat pickle jelly stuff. I don´t know what it is called, but it wasn´t my favorite thing. :)
Ritchie that is so neat you are preparing to go the temple. When are you going through? Are you going through in Rexburg or somewhere else? Are you taking classes right now or just working?
That is pretty cool that Chris and Jason went to choir. I am guessing that is ward choir? Cool. Way to make mom happy! How is it being out of school? Crozier and Jason will be switching schools. Are you excited?
Um, yes, Baffour (the one from Ghana) is back and we set a baptismal date with him, and he is keeping all the commitments and it is so wonderful! We had a Gemeinde Essen (ward lunch\meal) after church on Sunday and while there we were just talking with him, and he has an amazing story about coming to Germany. It is pretty incredible. People amaze me. We are also teaching another lady from Ghana. Her name is Patience and she is wonderful. We like her a lot. She has a lot of questions, but she is reading in the Book of Mormon every day and praying to know if it´s true. We have started to visit with her besides teaching her lessons just to read in the Book of Mormon, and it really brings the Spirit in. It is so neat. The lady we contacted the other day, is doing pretty well. We´ve only met with her once, we´ll meet with her again this week. We also are starting and English class today and she said she would come to that. I am super excited about teaching English. We are hoping the students will stay after the English lesson for a gospel lesson too. Also, we didn´t get lost this week!!! I was so proud. It was funny I think yesterday my companion and I were on the bus and she said, "Sister Fitzgerald, do you realize we haven´t gotten lost this week?" and I thought about it and rejoiced, for I knew it was true:) It was kinda funny, but I know my way around so much more now. The map is still my best friend, but we haven´t missed any connections anywhere and it has been such a blessing. The Lord really has been helping us. This week has been a lot better than last week. The trials then the blessings? I think so. :) Mission life is the life. I love being a missionary. I love it.
Well I don´t know what America is like, but Germany sure is hot now days and pretty humid. I am enjoying it though. Nauvoo prepared me more than I realized. :) Also, Germany has a lot more holidays they celebrate than in America. This last weekend we celebrated the Holy Ghost coming to the earth after Christ was resurrected. I can´t think of what its called right now, but yeah. We celebrated by preaching the gospel. :) They have a lot of holidays in the spring. It is pretty great. I like it because the church bells always ring. It is so cool.
Well I better go. I hope you enjoy the pictures. One is a clock forest in Düsseldorf. Another is the palace I went to a few weeks ago. Another is of walk we went on today, and another is from my first day with my new companion.
I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
Guten Tag Familie (oder Morgen, oder Abend) !!!!
It is so good to hear from you again. I am glad the boys passed the test of reading my email. :) Thanks for the email about the reunion mom. That sounds like it will be so much fun. I can´t believe that James will be home and that he will be giving his report live. That is so crazy. I need to be better about writing Ric and James, I would love to hear how they are doing. Tell everyone hi for me! at the Stubbs reunion and the Fitzgerald reunion. And if you see Jodi at the Van Wagoner reunion tell her hi and congratulations for me. And yes I am safe. :) Germany is about the safest place I have felt. The crime rate is way low here. Dad wants to know about the food I eat? Well, it is pretty good. I like pretty much everything. I like Currywurst (chopped up bratwurst with curry), Rotkohl (red cabbage, but it tastes better here), Döners, Turkisch Pizza, Eis (ice cream), Schokolade (chocolate), Apfel Shorle (apple juice with carbonated water), there are lots of things and I just don´t remember. They have meat in lots of things though. One member gave us this meat pickle jelly stuff. I don´t know what it is called, but it wasn´t my favorite thing. :)
Ritchie that is so neat you are preparing to go the temple. When are you going through? Are you going through in Rexburg or somewhere else? Are you taking classes right now or just working?
That is pretty cool that Chris and Jason went to choir. I am guessing that is ward choir? Cool. Way to make mom happy! How is it being out of school? Crozier and Jason will be switching schools. Are you excited?
Um, yes, Baffour (the one from Ghana) is back and we set a baptismal date with him, and he is keeping all the commitments and it is so wonderful! We had a Gemeinde Essen (ward lunch\meal) after church on Sunday and while there we were just talking with him, and he has an amazing story about coming to Germany. It is pretty incredible. People amaze me. We are also teaching another lady from Ghana. Her name is Patience and she is wonderful. We like her a lot. She has a lot of questions, but she is reading in the Book of Mormon every day and praying to know if it´s true. We have started to visit with her besides teaching her lessons just to read in the Book of Mormon, and it really brings the Spirit in. It is so neat. The lady we contacted the other day, is doing pretty well. We´ve only met with her once, we´ll meet with her again this week. We also are starting and English class today and she said she would come to that. I am super excited about teaching English. We are hoping the students will stay after the English lesson for a gospel lesson too. Also, we didn´t get lost this week!!! I was so proud. It was funny I think yesterday my companion and I were on the bus and she said, "Sister Fitzgerald, do you realize we haven´t gotten lost this week?" and I thought about it and rejoiced, for I knew it was true:) It was kinda funny, but I know my way around so much more now. The map is still my best friend, but we haven´t missed any connections anywhere and it has been such a blessing. The Lord really has been helping us. This week has been a lot better than last week. The trials then the blessings? I think so. :) Mission life is the life. I love being a missionary. I love it.
Well I don´t know what America is like, but Germany sure is hot now days and pretty humid. I am enjoying it though. Nauvoo prepared me more than I realized. :) Also, Germany has a lot more holidays they celebrate than in America. This last weekend we celebrated the Holy Ghost coming to the earth after Christ was resurrected. I can´t think of what its called right now, but yeah. We celebrated by preaching the gospel. :) They have a lot of holidays in the spring. It is pretty great. I like it because the church bells always ring. It is so cool.
Well I better go. I hope you enjoy the pictures. One is a clock forest in Düsseldorf. Another is the palace I went to a few weeks ago. Another is of walk we went on today, and another is from my first day with my new companion.
I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
Hello From Dusseldorf again!
Date: Tuesday, May 26
Hallo Familie!
I am still in Düsseldorf, but I do have a new companion. Her name is Sister Niebergall from Murray, Utah. She is in her 5th cycle and I am in my 3rd. Yes, we are both very young on our missions, and we think our German will improve dramatically this cycle since we can´t really rely on our companions this time. :) She is good though. She understands a lot of what is being said and responds very well. :) I feel like my faith in the Lord will increase as well, because he really will be the only one I can rely on. We get a long really well though. She is very nice and patient with me. I am now in charge of the area and it has been a little stressful. You know how bad I am with directions and Düsseldorf is huge. My goal this week is to not get lost for at least one whole day. :) I know a lot more than I thought I did though. When I was with my trainer and I would be in charge of the day and I would always feel so lost but she was always there to correct me before we really went the wrong way. Now, I feel like I don´t feel as lost, and I know where to go, but it´s a matter of just getting there. :) Actually I have been pretty proud of myself for how well I have done. Whenever we do get lost we are pretty good about finding our way back. ITs funny when we get lost I say lets just ask someone for directions (thinking to myself I think I know enough German to ask that question) then my companion says yeah but then we have to understand what they are telling us. I agree, and so then we don´t ask. :) It is pretty funny. WE have had some neat experiences together so far though. We met a really cool contact the other day and we have a lesson with her on Wednesday. WE are pretty excited for that. And Baffour is back from Ghana so we are hoping to get in touch with him today. He is the one that wants to get baptized. Hurray!
I do miss my trainer though. She was such a great missionary. She was very organized, very excited about the work, knew the area, knew how to teach, knew how to speak German, always happy, very obedient. Now that she´s gone and I am in charge of the area I just feel a little overwhelmed. I feel missionary life is a representation of real life. The MTC is Pre-Earth life to prepare. Then you go to your mission meet your trainer and she starts to train you. Like when you are a baby and and little child in your parents home. Then the day comes when you´re on your own, you´re trainer is gone and you are trying to do what your trainer taught, trying to figure things out for yourself, like when you´re at college. Then when you become a trainer, you are training this new missionary that has been prepared and has a personality of their own, like when you become a parent. Missionary life is a view of real life, but intensified because it is all squished together. It provides a really good perspective. I am grateful for it.
One last thing I wanted to share was that yesterday we were helping this lady clean her house. Well it is kind of a crazy story, but anyway we agreed to go help her. When we got there we didn´t feel very good about it and it just felt filthy physically, spiritually, everything. Anyway, we were outside on her balcony helping out there and looked at this lady we were helping and the way she was living her life, then I looked up at the sky and saw the sun and I realized how close God is. He is right there for us, he wants to help us so much, but he will not force himself and his happiness on us. This lady was really struggling, and I felt bad for her, but true happiness and healing comes from God, keeping his commandments, and applying the Atonement in our lives. We need to be humble and ask for his help, for he will not force it on us. It reminded me of chores at home. Mom would never force us to do our chores she would just always invite us to do our chores, but she always left if up to us to decide. I remember having such inner struggles with the natural man and my spirit trying to decide if I wanted to do my chores or not. I have decided that it is harder (at least for me) to decide to make the right choice, than it is to just be told what to do. That is where true strength comes in for me, is making that choice. Dad was good about just telling us what to do and expecting it from us which I always appreciated because it was easier for me that way. (I finally figured it out Mom!) :) Thank you both for the way you taught me. Mom, for teaching the strength that comes from making the right decision. Dad, for teaching me what was just expected of me. That is why fathers and mothers are both needed in this world! I will save that speech for another time though. :)
The gospel is true. All that it entails. It is true. True meaning absolute, never changing, no matter what. God loves us so he teaches us the truth as fast as we are able to understand and apply it in our lives. There are so many times when I want to share something with someone an insight or a principle in the gospel I have discovered, but unless they know the basics they won´t really understand or appreciate this new thing I want to tell them. I feel like that is how Heavenly Father is with us, he has so much he wants to share with us, but we have to reach certain points of knowledge and faith before he shares more with us because he knows we won´t really understand or appreciate it otherwise. This Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth and is the way to all truth, and a fullness of joy.
I love you family! No matter what! That is true!
Love
Siter Fitzgerald
Hallo Familie!
I am still in Düsseldorf, but I do have a new companion. Her name is Sister Niebergall from Murray, Utah. She is in her 5th cycle and I am in my 3rd. Yes, we are both very young on our missions, and we think our German will improve dramatically this cycle since we can´t really rely on our companions this time. :) She is good though. She understands a lot of what is being said and responds very well. :) I feel like my faith in the Lord will increase as well, because he really will be the only one I can rely on. We get a long really well though. She is very nice and patient with me. I am now in charge of the area and it has been a little stressful. You know how bad I am with directions and Düsseldorf is huge. My goal this week is to not get lost for at least one whole day. :) I know a lot more than I thought I did though. When I was with my trainer and I would be in charge of the day and I would always feel so lost but she was always there to correct me before we really went the wrong way. Now, I feel like I don´t feel as lost, and I know where to go, but it´s a matter of just getting there. :) Actually I have been pretty proud of myself for how well I have done. Whenever we do get lost we are pretty good about finding our way back. ITs funny when we get lost I say lets just ask someone for directions (thinking to myself I think I know enough German to ask that question) then my companion says yeah but then we have to understand what they are telling us. I agree, and so then we don´t ask. :) It is pretty funny. WE have had some neat experiences together so far though. We met a really cool contact the other day and we have a lesson with her on Wednesday. WE are pretty excited for that. And Baffour is back from Ghana so we are hoping to get in touch with him today. He is the one that wants to get baptized. Hurray!
I do miss my trainer though. She was such a great missionary. She was very organized, very excited about the work, knew the area, knew how to teach, knew how to speak German, always happy, very obedient. Now that she´s gone and I am in charge of the area I just feel a little overwhelmed. I feel missionary life is a representation of real life. The MTC is Pre-Earth life to prepare. Then you go to your mission meet your trainer and she starts to train you. Like when you are a baby and and little child in your parents home. Then the day comes when you´re on your own, you´re trainer is gone and you are trying to do what your trainer taught, trying to figure things out for yourself, like when you´re at college. Then when you become a trainer, you are training this new missionary that has been prepared and has a personality of their own, like when you become a parent. Missionary life is a view of real life, but intensified because it is all squished together. It provides a really good perspective. I am grateful for it.
One last thing I wanted to share was that yesterday we were helping this lady clean her house. Well it is kind of a crazy story, but anyway we agreed to go help her. When we got there we didn´t feel very good about it and it just felt filthy physically, spiritually, everything. Anyway, we were outside on her balcony helping out there and looked at this lady we were helping and the way she was living her life, then I looked up at the sky and saw the sun and I realized how close God is. He is right there for us, he wants to help us so much, but he will not force himself and his happiness on us. This lady was really struggling, and I felt bad for her, but true happiness and healing comes from God, keeping his commandments, and applying the Atonement in our lives. We need to be humble and ask for his help, for he will not force it on us. It reminded me of chores at home. Mom would never force us to do our chores she would just always invite us to do our chores, but she always left if up to us to decide. I remember having such inner struggles with the natural man and my spirit trying to decide if I wanted to do my chores or not. I have decided that it is harder (at least for me) to decide to make the right choice, than it is to just be told what to do. That is where true strength comes in for me, is making that choice. Dad was good about just telling us what to do and expecting it from us which I always appreciated because it was easier for me that way. (I finally figured it out Mom!) :) Thank you both for the way you taught me. Mom, for teaching the strength that comes from making the right decision. Dad, for teaching me what was just expected of me. That is why fathers and mothers are both needed in this world! I will save that speech for another time though. :)
The gospel is true. All that it entails. It is true. True meaning absolute, never changing, no matter what. God loves us so he teaches us the truth as fast as we are able to understand and apply it in our lives. There are so many times when I want to share something with someone an insight or a principle in the gospel I have discovered, but unless they know the basics they won´t really understand or appreciate this new thing I want to tell them. I feel like that is how Heavenly Father is with us, he has so much he wants to share with us, but we have to reach certain points of knowledge and faith before he shares more with us because he knows we won´t really understand or appreciate it otherwise. This Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth and is the way to all truth, and a fullness of joy.
I love you family! No matter what! That is true!
Love
Siter Fitzgerald
My Prayers Are With You
Date: Tuesday, May 19
Familie!
At last we meet again over email. :) Mom, Dad, Ritchie, Chris, Jason, Crozier, thank you for the letters you wrote to me! I got them the day after I emailed you last week. They were so fun to read! And I loved reading the 10 things you all want to do before you die. I read them to my companion because I loved them so much. Speaking of my companion she is going home tomorrow. Sister van den Berg was\is a great trainer. I am going to miss her so much. For German study this morning we interviewed each other in German and recorded ourselves on tapes and sang our favorite German hymns. It was a lot of fun. Speaking of language study, Ritchie way to be on diving into learning Spanish! That is so cool. I think it is so awesome that dad is reading to you his mission journal. That would have been really neat. Treasure that! Jason asked how many converts I have had. Well, since I have been here none of our investigators have gotten baptized. And we don`t convert people. The Spirit does that. Our investigator Baffour from Ghana who wants to be baptized, we just told him that the church of Jesus Christ had been restored and he could come to church. He did, and liked it, and wanted to learn more, we taught him, and he wants to be baptized. IT had nothing to do with us. It is amazing how the spirit works. There are just prepared people that are ready to hear the gospel and those are the people we are looking for. It was funny though, I was talking to an elder who has a sister in South America somewhere and he said she has only been there for 3 weeks and they have had 3 baptisms so far. He said he wrote her a letter and said, Well we got a new investigator this week. I thought it was funny. I was thinking how that is how it will be for Ritchie and I. :)
I wanted to say too that we are teaching two boys in our ward. They are about to be baptized in July and therir moms want them to be taught by the missionaries. Anyway, one of the little boys named Felix reminds me so much of Crozier. It is so fun to teach him because I feel like I am talking to Crozier.
I also wanted to just say that last week for Preparation day we went to a palace. I went to my first palace and it was pretty neat. Very rich looking and a lot of ornamentation. It was very pretty. Along with the tour though we were told about the family that owned it and they were so miserable. It was just a testimony to me that money does not bring happiness. I just think back to Nauvoo and all the humble pioneer homes and what they went through (definitely not the life of luxury) and I realized again how happiness really does come from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. People can seek happiness wherever they want, but they will not find it until the live the gospel. Then you can have happiness no matter where you are and what you're going through.
One funny story. Yesturday we were walking down the street adn my companion was on the phone and we passed this old man and I smiled at him and we both kept walking. He called out to us and started talking to me. First of all he looked exactly like a mountain man from the Swiss Alps. He had this old swiss hat on with a feather in it. He had on a really old looking suit, and a long white beard kinda curly\frizzy and he was holding a boquet of flowers with some of the flowers were also stuck in his beard. Anyway he started to talkign to me. He asked about my name tag, and I read it to him. He asked where I was from and I said the USA he said which state, I said Idaho, he said which city, I said Rexburg, he said, Is it a nice place? I said yes, he said are there beautiful rivers in teh city? I said no, he said are there high mountains? I said no, he said Well are there woods? I said no, he said, Well then what is so nice about it, besides you? I said, Well the people are nice. He just smiled then said you are very modest. I said thank you, he said we weren`t trying to brag, we didn`t have fancy cars, we just were walking down the street smiling. We said yeah. It was really funny.
Candace thanks for the pictures., They are so cute!
Anyway, I have to go, but I love you all very much!
Sincerely,
Sister Fitzgerald
P.S.
Mom I would like to see Annika´s pictures. I am glad you went to Coles funeral. I did graduate with him, and my prayers will be with his family. He was a very nice guy. I respected him a lot.
Familie!
At last we meet again over email. :) Mom, Dad, Ritchie, Chris, Jason, Crozier, thank you for the letters you wrote to me! I got them the day after I emailed you last week. They were so fun to read! And I loved reading the 10 things you all want to do before you die. I read them to my companion because I loved them so much. Speaking of my companion she is going home tomorrow. Sister van den Berg was\is a great trainer. I am going to miss her so much. For German study this morning we interviewed each other in German and recorded ourselves on tapes and sang our favorite German hymns. It was a lot of fun. Speaking of language study, Ritchie way to be on diving into learning Spanish! That is so cool. I think it is so awesome that dad is reading to you his mission journal. That would have been really neat. Treasure that! Jason asked how many converts I have had. Well, since I have been here none of our investigators have gotten baptized. And we don`t convert people. The Spirit does that. Our investigator Baffour from Ghana who wants to be baptized, we just told him that the church of Jesus Christ had been restored and he could come to church. He did, and liked it, and wanted to learn more, we taught him, and he wants to be baptized. IT had nothing to do with us. It is amazing how the spirit works. There are just prepared people that are ready to hear the gospel and those are the people we are looking for. It was funny though, I was talking to an elder who has a sister in South America somewhere and he said she has only been there for 3 weeks and they have had 3 baptisms so far. He said he wrote her a letter and said, Well we got a new investigator this week. I thought it was funny. I was thinking how that is how it will be for Ritchie and I. :)
I wanted to say too that we are teaching two boys in our ward. They are about to be baptized in July and therir moms want them to be taught by the missionaries. Anyway, one of the little boys named Felix reminds me so much of Crozier. It is so fun to teach him because I feel like I am talking to Crozier.
I also wanted to just say that last week for Preparation day we went to a palace. I went to my first palace and it was pretty neat. Very rich looking and a lot of ornamentation. It was very pretty. Along with the tour though we were told about the family that owned it and they were so miserable. It was just a testimony to me that money does not bring happiness. I just think back to Nauvoo and all the humble pioneer homes and what they went through (definitely not the life of luxury) and I realized again how happiness really does come from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. People can seek happiness wherever they want, but they will not find it until the live the gospel. Then you can have happiness no matter where you are and what you're going through.
One funny story. Yesturday we were walking down the street adn my companion was on the phone and we passed this old man and I smiled at him and we both kept walking. He called out to us and started talking to me. First of all he looked exactly like a mountain man from the Swiss Alps. He had this old swiss hat on with a feather in it. He had on a really old looking suit, and a long white beard kinda curly\frizzy and he was holding a boquet of flowers with some of the flowers were also stuck in his beard. Anyway he started to talkign to me. He asked about my name tag, and I read it to him. He asked where I was from and I said the USA he said which state, I said Idaho, he said which city, I said Rexburg, he said, Is it a nice place? I said yes, he said are there beautiful rivers in teh city? I said no, he said are there high mountains? I said no, he said Well are there woods? I said no, he said, Well then what is so nice about it, besides you? I said, Well the people are nice. He just smiled then said you are very modest. I said thank you, he said we weren`t trying to brag, we didn`t have fancy cars, we just were walking down the street smiling. We said yeah. It was really funny.
Candace thanks for the pictures., They are so cute!
Anyway, I have to go, but I love you all very much!
Sincerely,
Sister Fitzgerald
P.S.
Mom I would like to see Annika´s pictures. I am glad you went to Coles funeral. I did graduate with him, and my prayers will be with his family. He was a very nice guy. I respected him a lot.
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