We got to play basketball!!!!

Monday: We got to play basketball!!! We got all of our stuff done really fast and then we headed to Frankfurt and played some ball and let me tell you what, I had such a great time. Laughing, dancing, shooting, and sweating!! I was on cloud 9 and never wanted it to end. I am so out of shape but it makes me excited to get back home and start getting back into shape. I have been so sore this whole week but I loved it :) There is a huge guy from Australia, Elder Rechter, and he is the funniest thing in the world. He always blocks me but then like winks at me or says, "Sorry Sister Tuschling. I can't let you do that" in his cute Aussie accent haha. It was so much fun and Sister Heindel is legit and loves to play basketball and volleyball, so she was in heaven as well. But after play, we had plans to go to this old lady that always needs a visit and some smiles, Schwester Kneißel. We went there and right before we klingeled on her door, Sister Kreth and I had the thought of, hmmmm I bet Heiko is here. Heiko is someone who has been visiting the church for about 2 years almost and he always visits her as well. And guess who opens the door! Heiko man!! We had an awesome lesson, and actually talked about baptism. He says that he doesn't trust himself enough to get baptized because he is afraid to mess up afterwards. Poor guy just needs to trust himself that's all and just follow his heart. But it was such a miracle that we were able to be there while he was!! And Schwester Kneißel was very happy to see us as well :) Tuesday: We went to Heidelberg!! It was just as beautiful as I remembered it way back when! The last time I was there I was just 3 weeks in Germany and we ran up the mountain to see the castle and arrived at Zone Conference all sweaty and hot! It was really good to see all the missionaries, espcially Sister Garlick, Sister Marshall, and Sister Heindel!! It was just too much fun riding down there and back on the trains as well. The train that we took down there was like the ones with little cabins, like off of Harry Potter! I couldn't help but talk in a british accent when we were in them :) Zone Conference was all in German and the last time I was there I couldn't understand a word, and it was really amazing to see how much I have changed and how much I have learned over the past year. I not only understand 90% of what was being said, but I also still am amazed at how much I am learning everyday when it comes to trusting the Lord and trust in Him with everything that we do. Thursday!: So there is a girl from Wetterau and she is waiting on her mission call as we speak and so she wanted to come and hang out with us for the whole day!! It works perfectly since we are a drit and so she went out with Sister Kreth and Sister Mosher and I went out trying to find new people to teach! Power splits!! Got to love them!! Sister Mosher and I did a lot of finding, as in trying to find the houses we wrote down to go by on to see if the people had interest in what we have to teach, and we could not find one house. I am grateful to good paperwork that have the correct addresses haha but the false ones make it fun too. We were out in the freezing cold for about 3 hours before we started to head to the train station to go to our appointment, and then on our way there I saw a little dog that was playing in the snow. And from its movements, I could tell right away that it was a little Bridger dog :) Oh and it was. He was playing with a stick in the snow and his face was full of snowballs along with his body. And I couldn't help myself so I started playing with him and the woman just smiled. I explained that my mom has a dog just like him only black and white and that I miss and love him so much. And the conversation got on the topic of religion and where we were from and before we knew it, we left with her information to come back and teach her the restored gospel of Jesus Christ :) I love how Heavenly Father works. Who knew that a little dog like my little Bridger back home would help us little missionaries with His huge work. I love it! I love how much He loves me enough to send little tender mercies like that. And He sends them everyday. All we have to do is open our eyes and recognize them :) Liebe, Sister Tuschling

It was Awesome!!

It doesn't matter how tired you are, if the Lord wants something done, let it be done!!  We had to be in Frankfurt by 7 in the morning to drop off Sister Mosher so she could go to Düsseldorf because she is the "head"/coordinating sister with splits and sisters.  So we had to wake up at 5:15 am.  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal because I could take a nap afterwards but there is no sleeping or taking naps in missionary work!!  So we just kept on moving!!  We received a referral from a member in church on Sunday and so we went by and even though he didn't have interest, we saw a miracle come out of it!  Its almost like that referral led us to where we were actually needed.  We were on our way back from the guy we tried to talk to, and we were on the bus for like 40 minutes because it takes forever to travel to places here.  And in the middle of it, Sister Kreth had a feeling like we shouldn't go to the woman we wanted to go see, but she ignored it.  We stayed on the bus and then that was when a man rushed his babystroller into the bus really fast and then ran out and put another stroller on the bus.  We watched him struggle keeping the stroller in order on the bumpy cobblestoned roads.  The entire time I had the thought to talk to him.  And so finally I made eye contact and talked about families and countries, and by the time we were done talking it was time to get off our stop and he had to get off too.  But, instead of having him struggle the entire time, we helped him of course!!  And we walked the babystrollers all the way to his home.  He then invited us in to meet his other baby, and his wife.  We ended up sitting on their couch and talking about the church and we got their numbers and we are going to meet again this week.  Heavenly Father literally places His children right in front of us and all we have to do is open our mouths :)  And the amazing thing is that Sister Kreth had the same exact feeling of, "Ya we need to talk to this guy."  :)  It was awesome!!  I love the Spirit and I really love it when we actually follow and walk away amazed  :)  And then we went on a couple splits this week!! After getting together we got to the apartment pretty late, planned for the next day, and then it was time to just get to know each other. Sister Heindel and I hit it off right off the bat!!  She is from Idaho and is a volleyball player that had so many offers to play after high school but didn't.  She is so sweet and loves basketball too so that is why I am rushing to write this email so that we can go play basketball and volleyball at the church!!!!  Heavenly Father places us with people so that we can feel love and enjoy life more!!!  He really does love us, just look around :)  Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Miracles!!!!

Miracles!!  There are miracles everywhere!!  Heavenly Father loves us so much that He always shows His hand to us.  All we have to do is open our little eyes, and look up :)  We had an appointment with a man named Peter, and he has been coming to church for about 2 years and never has had enough faith to take the leap to baptism.  We met with him and we walked in his house and he made us Pretzels!!!  YUM!!!  They were delicious and the whole time he was just very anxious and couldn't really sit still.  This was my first appointment with this guy and so I really didn't notice anything too out of the ordinary, but one of my companions, Sister Kreth, leans over to me and whispers as Peter left the room and says, "Guys, Peter is acting really strange today..."  And then he came in and we resumed to enjoying our homemade Pretzels..  We started talking about what has helped him keep coming back to the church after 2 years of visiting.  And he said that is what the light of Christ.  Everyone is so happy and everyone is so willing to do something for someone else.  He loves the members here, and he really notices that this is the church Jesus Christ would have if He was on the earth.  And I hopped right on the topic of agreeing with him 100%.  I told him that without the members of Sheridan, Casper, and Laramie in Wyoming I would not be here either.  They did everything for me.  They helped me say prayers in front of people in church, they helped me get over the fear of public speaking when they assigned me talks to give in Sacrament before I was even baptized, they answered every question that I had, and they supported me in any decision that I made.  I saw and still see that light that Peter was talking about and I am so grateful that I was able to bear my testimony and reflect on the memories of those days before I was baptized.  And then we asked if he read the chapter that the sisters asked him to read before I arrived, and he said yes.  He read Alma 32 and said it really hit him when it talked about having faith, and how we must hope for things with faith that we can receive answers to our prayers.  He then looked into our eyes and said, "I think I am ready."  Not really knowing what he meant, Sister Kreth asked him, "What? Ready to get an answer?"  And he said no really softly, paused, and then said, "To be baptized." AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!  We were so shocked and really didn't know what to say so we just sat there in aww.  And then when we realized we hadn't said anything Peter was waving his hand in front of our faces and was still expecting a reaction.  And then we just started laughing and smiling and congratulating.  Heavenly Father truly does work in His own time.  A lot of people at church forgot about Peter because he never wanted to be baptized, and a lot of missionaries dropped him because he wasn't ready, but this experience shows me that we can't give up and we can't quit.  People need their time.   Conversion is a long process.  It takes a long time to change one's heart to something completely new.  I am so blessed to be here and to experience his leap of faith.  I don't know how I am so lucky to experience this again.  My first appointment with Dani in Dortmund went the same exact way.  We went over and I said, "My name is Sister Tuschling and its nice to meet you."  Then she said, "I want to be baptized as soon as possible."  Well thank you Dani :)  The same went for Peter.  I love this work and I love Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ!  God lives, and He hears our prayers.  He is there.  I know it.  I feel it.  And I testify of it.  And He shows Himself to us everyday, so don't forget to look up :) Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Friedrichsdorf!!!

Wow!  Friedrichsdorf!  What to say about Friedrichsdorf!  Well for one, it is a "Dorf" which would translate into a tiny town, like in Wyoming a "Dorf" would be Meteetsee, or Big Horn, or Torrington even!  Here in Germany Friedrichsdorf is a "Dorf" because it has less than 100,000 people haha.  It still has about 25,000 people in it!  But I tell you what, after serving in Dortmund for so long I feel like I am in the middle of nowhere since Dortmund had 700,000 people.  I am excited to get to know the locals!  Right now we are in Bad Hamburg which has about 50,000 people so its like being right at home in Casper!!  Except it is so European!!  To the right you would see teeny tiny streets that are barely big enough to fit one car and to the left you would see MOUNTAINS!!! and a castle :)  Man I am one blessed Sister :)  And not to mention that we live about 10 minutes walking distance from the temple :)  Since the temple is here as well, the ward yesterday was HUGE!! I have never been in such a huge ward, even at home!!  We have about 200 active members that come every Sunday and they are rock solid as well.  It was hard to know who to talk to because they all are running around greeting another.  But I tell you what, these members really love the Sister Missionaries :)  They announced us in every meeting, especially Relief Society and in Sacrament.  I felt the love :)
Since Friedrichsdorf is a tiny town, we don't really have that many people looking into the church.  But we are about to change that!  The citizens said that if the temply was going to be built here then we were not able to go "proselyting" which means, talking to people on the street or knocking on doors.  So it makes us put on our thinking caps on how to contact people!  I love the mystery :)  But since I am in a drit, it should be easy to find solutions!  Another blessing about serving as a temple sister is that we get to do temple tours!!  We already had one and I love it!  A woman and her friend came to see and feel the Spirit here at the temple.  We showed a movie about it and since it was taken before it was dedicated there were pictures of it inside.  The woman bore testimony about how she found the Gospel and therefore I was able to bear my testimony and tell my journey and conversion story :)  And then the friend looked into my eyes and said, "Yes, I am so grateful for my friend too.  Its changed my life."  I love this work!! I love the Spirit!!!  I love Heavenly Father!!  He knows exactly why we need to be where we are now.  He knows what our worries are and when things don't go our own way He knows that it will stretch and strengthen us.  I miss Dortmund with my whole heart and soul.  I didn't know that it was possible to miss a place as bad as missing home, but it is!  I am a witness of it!  But He knows my pain and He knows my heart :)  And that brings me comfort and that is what brings me to my knees at night; to tell Him thank you for everything, but also to say, "Please help me. I need you."  He hears our prayers and He answers them.  Happy New Year to you all!!  I love you all!!  Bis nächste Woche!! Liebe, Sister Tuschling