Sister Shelley Bushman: Durch kleines und einfaches

(Title translation: "By Small and Simple")

Guten Morgen!

We're mixing up the time that we're emailing today, because we're going on an adventure today - we're hoping to go visit some good ol' castle ruins. We pass them on the Ostbayern bus we take every week to teach someone...so we finally figured out how to get there and we are hoping that it'll work out!

This was another really good week work-wise. We were able to teach a lot of cool people - and a lot of those people we've been meeting with have been starting to read in the Book of Mormon and pray more regularly! Hooray! That's one of those really exciting moments - when you go to an appointment and it turns out that whoever you're meeting with did what you challenged them to do. Yay!

But, through all of this, my testimony is getting strengthened almost every stinking day that how through "small and simple things", great things happen. (Alma 37:6.) I'm sure I've talked about this in my emails before, but I seriously can't get over how true that is - especially in regards to spiritual matters and missionary work. We actually sent the Gemeinde an email about it this week (We email them every week.) Passau Bahnhof is currently under construction - and it's far from being completed, but we love the days when we have to roadtrip out to some dorf, because by the time we come back that night, there has always been some kind of progress made! And by these small and simple things we get a new Bahnhof. It's way fun.

It's a lot like that with the Gospel. Like, the best way to show people that the Gospel is wonderful is not shoving it in people's faces through something outlandish and crazy - it's just living it. And then people can see it. Or, the way we read the Book of Mormon is one verse at a time. We meet with one lovely lady who has issues concentrating - so we send her a verse every day to read and think about, because that's a lot easier for her. Yet, slowly, she's reading the Book of Mormon! Alma 37:6 is so true!

On Tuesday we had interviews and training with Präsident Kohler. It was my last interview before my exit interview, which was weird. It was nice, though. We just had a good chat. He challenged me to think about who I wanted to become when I first came out on my mission, and to think about where I'm still falling short of that, and to work on those things this last transfer before I go home. He also challenged me to start making a list of "things I've learned on my mission", because he'll ask me about that in my exit interview.

It's a 2 1/2 hour train ride between Passau and München, so that makes for some pretty great roadtrips with the Elders. A pretty funny thing happened on the way back...there's one stop about 45 minutes away from Passau where the train typically stops for like, 15 minutes instead of the usual minute-or-so. Elder Faux was dying of thirst and really wanted a soda, and so he told Elder Gantner to hold the door, and when we made it to the stop he bolted from the train. (We were watching their stuff.) After a minute or two, we hear the conductor's voice on the intercom asking everyone to stand free of the door...uh oh. And another minute later we hear Elder Ganter call, "Sisters!" We ran over and he said, a little flustered, "Uh, can you get our bags? He's gone!" So we ran back and grabbed their bags, but by the time we got there Elder Gantner had to get clear of the door, and the door wouldn't open again...meaning that we were left with all the Elders' stuff, (including Elder Faux's suitcoat, and it was so cold that night) and went back to Passau without them. The trains only come every hour! We met them at the train station when they eventually got back to Passau so that they wouldn't have to walk in the cold without coats...but it turns out that one of their investigators was on that other train, so they got to teach a lesson. So everything works out somehow! It was pretty funny.

I've been really inspired and humbled this week by how God uses the meek and simple to do incredible things through His Spirit. I strongly believe that half the time when we're really inspired...we don't realize it like, at all. I've seen so many examples of that in the past year, as well as in this past week especially. Sister Bishop and I had the feeling to shoot someone a text of love - just a passing thought, so we did. And it ended up being significant for them. We didn't think we were doing anything that out of the ordinary, but it ended up being that for someone else. I've tried writing about these types of moments in my journal, so I'll never forget how important it is to act on those passing thoughts. I truly believe that having a casual thought to write an old friend on Facebook or bring cookies to someone you know isn't casual at all - that could be just the day when they need a message of love from Heavenly Father. But he needs us down here to be messengers of that love. :) It's so incredibly humbling that He, in all of His greatness and majesty, can work through beings as awkward and as clumsy as humans.

I found a new favorite scripture passage this week. I knew it was there because it's the favorite passage of some people that I love, but I really love 2 Nephi 4:16-35. It just brought me a lot of comfort.

Ich habe euch Lieb. :) Ich würde euch so gerne umarmen, wenn ich dass machen könnte. :) (I love you, and I would like to hug each one of you, if I could.)

Alles Liebe,

Sister Bushman