Christmas Contacting!

Dear friends and family...

We have had a week of contacting! But we have kept it fun. We do surveys at the Christmas markets and ask people what christmas means to them. Almost always we get the answer stress, or presents or family or celebration of peace.. but so far- there was only one little old lady who put it so simply and perfectly. I asked her what christmas meant to her. And this cute little german lady looked at me and in a matter of fact way said- well obviously the birth of Jesus Christ the hope of the world. I just wanted to give her a hug right there! Because for her it was soo clear, We celebrate christmas to celebrate the gift of hope. The gift of Jesus Christ, and the light that he brought into the world. I know that he was more than just a prophet and more than just a righteous man- he was the savior of the world and the redeemer of mankind!

The other day Sister Williams and I were taking the train home and there were two old drunk men singing some serendades to us in french... needless to say we got off at the next stop- bless their hearts. Even though we meet lots of wierd people- there are the awesome golden ones in between haha- As we were contacting people in the the city earlier this week a man came up to us and asked us what we were holding in our hands (the christmas #He is the Gift cards) He told us he has been in Germany for one year now with his family. He was so excited to talk to us- then all of a sudden he saw our name tags and laughed and threw his hands up and said, "WHAT!! there are women in your church too??" We were so confused then, he went on and said that in Brazil he lives next to this big church building thing, where there are a ton of men in suits and name bagdes... but they all have the same name- sister williams and I smiled at each other and I said, 'Elder?' He clapped his hands and shouted "Yeah! thats the one!" ... we are pretty sure he lives next to the Brazil MTC.... I have no idea how he doesn't know anything about mormons yet! But... that means we get to teach him!!!! YEESSSS!!! I was thinking a lot about that experience and about how the spirit prompted us to go contacting that day- in the FREEZING COLD! we could have contacted on warm busses or trains, but we decided to go into the city- and that is where we met Cecir. We got his information and have already met with him once! :D  Tender Mercies of the Lord

Anyways this week has been great- I am excited to see what the next week brings
all my love
Sister Shurts

from the scribbled notes of a sister missionary

Here's a cute excerpt from Michaela's journal (she sends us her journal separately from her letters):

December 1st 2014 - Montag
DORTMUND!!! zone p-day! woot-woot! We did emails and then some shopping and then caught a train to Dortmund where we ate some delicious bratwurst, I bought some christmas presents... aaaand we walked around forever to enjoy the atmosphere. My cheeks hurt so bad, i was smiling so much! I mean like I AM IN GERMANY!! aaahhhh There was a stage in dortmund, with this old bayrish dude singing old german folk songs and a bunch of germans dancing polka around! and little lebkuchen shops and lots of beer! :D I LOVE it! I also liked all the little fairy tale displays, they had Tischlin deck dich, and Die sieben Ziegelein and Hansel und Gretel. We walked around with the Herne Elders for a while and then met up with Gelsen Kirchen. I didn't spend that much- I just hate spending money! That evening we did FHE for the ward at the church. We showed them the cool new Christmas Video that the church put out!  

Me and Sister Williams

The biggest Christmas tree in Germany

Setting up for the ward Christmas party

a knitted sleeve for a post outside.. in case it gets cold

Kakao!