Father's Day

The quorum of the twelve apostles said, "of all the titles of respect
and honor and admiration that are given to deity, He has asked us to
address Him as Father."
With Father's Day yesterday I was able to think a lot about my dad.
And how grateful I am for him and for the man he is. I received the
news this week that grandma Shurts passed away- which was quite a
shock. Actually it was devastating. But I've spent a lot of time
thinking about what grandma has done for me. And I have come to the
conclusion that she gave me one of the greatest gifts possible. She
raised my dad. If there is one thing in this world that I treasure the
most it is my family-and dad has always been the quiet leader. what I
love and cherish in my father I owe to a wonderful and dedicated
grandmother. It is going to be hard to be out here in Germany through
all of this-in fact a large part of me wishes that I could be home
right now.

But there is something keeping me here. And that is the knowledge that
I have a father in heaven who I owe everything to, my family, my home,
my faith... Truly everything. On this Father's Day I wish I could be
home to support my family, but I am doing all that I can for them here
in Germany, serving my Hather in Heaven.

This week we had transfers and Sister Wahlquist and

 I are staying together for another 6 weeks
here in Heidelberg. I am really grateful for that because I still
don't feel that comfortable with the area yet (too many different
trains and busses and streetcars to memorize!!!!) We had several
miracles this week which helped me to realize that I am here for a
specific reason. We met a woman on a streetcar and found out she had
visited Utah before and looooved it-we asked if we could come by but
only got a street name and last name before we had to jump off.
However the lack of information did not dissuade us- we proceeded to
knock that whole street a couple days later and found her!! She was so
happy to see us and proceeded to tell about her adventures in Salt
Lake City- and how complete strangers invited her over and welcomed
her. (Quick note to all you guys, never hesitate to invite someone
over, you never know what kind of a lasting impact it will have on
that individual, or on some sister missionary serving in Germany in
the future) anyways long story short this woman was so touched that we
came by she invited us over again :)

I sure love and miss you all, I wish I could be there with you right
now, and give you all hugs and feel your love. But I guess it will
just have to wait eight more months.

All my love
Sister Shurts