Fresh MTC Companions...

This week went by so crazy fast and I didn't want it to because Sister Heindel and I knew it was the end of our love, our fun, and our experience together. I had a blast with her. She helped me live again, she helped me feel like me again, and she helped me work again with my entire heart, might, mind, and soul. I am forever grateful for that. It was so sad watching the people say goodbye to her this week. I felt the pain, because I kept on getting flashbacks of when I was leaving Dortmund. Thursday was the day. The day that all of us oldies received our new fresh MTC companions!!! Sister Heindel and I were so nervous and excited at the same time. There were so many Goldens!! (11 sisters, and 25 elders!! Broke Frankfurt Mission history with 36 new Goldens, and Germany received 104 also breaking records!!) and we didn't know which one was going to be ours. Were we going to get a Golden that was scared to talk to people on the street? Were we going to get a talker or a silenter? Are they going to like music? Are they going to like music?? Can you imagine what kind of stuff was going through our minds?? And also, are they going to want to go running in the morning?!? Please say yes!!!! We get to the meeting, after hauling Heindel's 1 and a half years worth of belongings through the city of Frankfurt, which was stress enough haha, one by one, they named up the names. As the names were being said I was looking around to see which one would be mine. And then they said, "Sister Tuschling from the International Ward in Frankfurt, you will be working with Sister Miller from American Fork, Utah." I looked over, and my prayers were answered! She loves to exercise, she is the best with speaking with people on the street, and loves to work hard, and is 100% obedient!! How am I so blessed?!?? I don't know!! But Heavenly Father knows us and knows our worries. We have been working like dogs ever since we got together and she is so good at speaking with people. And the German that she is missing to keep up the conversation I fill in. The team work works perfectly :) We went to Friedrichsdorf on Saturday because we got a call from Bruder Kube from Dortmund asking me if I could give him and some people coming down a temple tour!! Heck yes I would!! I was able to see him, Bruder Fritz and his wife, Dani (who was baptized last May on Mother's Day) and her husband and son, her friend Britta who I was able to teach a couple times but she never really had true interest. But when we taught about the temple and gave them the tour Britta really opened up and started saying, "IF I were baptized then coffee would be the only problem." Wow I love seeing people's faith grow and it was such a blessing to see their beautiful faces from Dortmund :) Not only that but we were able to go to Peter's baptism!! It was so spiritual and his entire family was there to support him. It was absolutely amazing. The sister missionaries (Sister Kreth, Mosher, Shipton, Miller, Leavitt, and Chard) were able to sing "Beautiful Savior" in front of him and we think he liked it :) I love baptisms! Sister Römer who taught him for the first time was able to come down and spoke at his baptism and she did an amazing job. That was another tender mercy because she was my first split back in Mainz and she really helped me open my eyes to a different world of what missionary life could be like, and for that I am so grateful. This week I have learned that we have truly grown so much and we never really notice it as we go along. We don't notice the progress we make. I am noticed that about myself lately and I can't believe I have lived in a foreign country, speaking another language, and still seeing people come closer to Christ no matter how bad we speak the language. I have grown, but yet I still have so much more. I am grateful for the knowledge I've received from the scriptures and personal experiences I have had since I have been here in Germany. I love this work and I know that it is the work of the Lord. I know that Jesus Christ is there, and that He is real. He lives. He is the Son of Heavenly Father who loves us so much and takes care of us. Let us all say thanks to Him :) Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Miracles!!!

Got transfer calls! I will be training a new 19 year old missionary fresh from the MTC (maybe.. they seem to just send them straight here since there are so many nowadays!) and I will stay here in the Frankfurt International Ward. I am very sad to see Sister Heindel go and not to mention it kind of puts on the pressure of taking over the Frankfurt Queen. She has been here her whole mission (8 months) and knows the city like the back of her hand and she has the members wrapped around her fingers. No pressure! No it will be completely fine because ever since we got the call, I had a sense of peace come over me. I know that Heavenly Father calls people to do His work, and He calls them because they are qualified, and so for that I am grateful that He has chosen me to train a new dedicated servant of the Lord and to help her learn how the missionary work rolls forward here in Germany!! We saw so many miracles this week!! Miracle 1: We are teaching a Muslim. For all those who don't know how much of a miracle this really is, Muslims kill their own people if they find out someone is learning about Christ and leaving another religion.  It was amazing to see how much he wants to be happy. And he is very nervous to be in the church and to be taught. We can tell because he kept figgiting and looking out at the door and out the window.. Poor guy.. Religions should not make anybody fear for their lives. It felt so right to teach him about Jesus Christ and about eternal families, and he wants that!! He wants a happier life. He is the right place :) And I admire his courage. Miracle 2: We were able to go the temple with some of our recent converts for their first time: Alejandra (Peru) and Li (China)! It is one thing to see people walk into the waters of baptism, but it is also another sight to see when they are all in white sitting in the temple. This is what it is all about. The gospel of Jesus Christ helps us have better lives, but it also blesses others lives as well. The feeling that comes from within the temple is not known anywhere else, besides heaven :) I testify of that. It was a beautiful sight to see. And also speaking of the temple, we recieved a call from a member from Dortmund asking me if I could give them a temple tour on Saturday because the new converts there and the members are coming for their Temple weekend!! I hope to see them, what joy it will bring to my heart! Miracle 3: We were able to get a hold of a man that was basically unreachable. His name is Daniel. We had his number, we called it, and the man who answered hung up right away. We had the address of the place where he was staying, went there not knowing his last name. Oh how wonderful it is to have trust in the Lord and to see how His hand is in our lives. We go up to the main desk and asked the man that we were looking for a man named Daniel and that he arrived last week and asked us to visit him. He looked on the computer and said that we needed his last name. Not having it I looked to Sister Heindel with worried eyes, and then right when I was about to give up, a name came to my mind and said it out loud. The man looked it up and found him, gave us the number of the house, and told us how to get there. Where did that name come from? How is that even possible? I guess I've got friends in high places! We went to the place and found Daniel. He is recovering from drug and alcohol addiction in this center. We were able to bear our simple but yet powerful testimonies about the amazing power Jesus Christ has to help us with overcoming addictions. We shared with him a story explaning how Jesus Christ can help us. We asked him if he has the faith in that Jesus Christ could help him, and he unwaveringly said yes. We shared the Book of Mormon with him and asked him to read from it and we are going back next week :) He has so much faith and he truly wants to change and it is possible! I am so excited for him to experience that. I love what Christ teaches us about forgiveness and healing. He is our Healer, and He is always there to help us with anything that we need. All we need to do is ask Him, and He will come. I promise you that. Love you all!! Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Quite an adventure this week!!

This week was absolutely gorgeous! It was like 50's and even low 60's!! I even whipped out the shoes instead of the boots and the spring jacket instead of the heavy coat! But today and last night it changed back to winter... Its freezing and windy but the spirits are still high. We are just too much fun everyone says. So many people in church yesterday have said, "I just wanted to say that I notice your relationship and it helps us to know that you are happy and that you work hard together." We had to many people come up and say that and we just looked at each other and smiled and made silly faces at each other. We had quite an adventure this week as well. We were still able to teach about 20 lessons a week which is really hard to do, and we did it because yesterday was the perfect missionary day, the day every missionary wants!! We woke up, I studied for my talk that I had to give in church about Agency, the ability to choose, and we got ready to leave for church. The sun was shining and we took the bus, got there and started helping out Bishop put Hymn books out so everyone could have one during the service, and then started greeting everybody that came into the door. Everyone had smiles on their faces, I think it was because it was so beautiful outside. They came in, we started Sacrament meeting, renewed our promises to Heavenly Father and then I was up to speak. Not really knowing what to say, or what to use, I just pored out my heart about how much Heavenly Father loves us so much that He gave us the chance to choose for ourselves. Think about every decision you have made today. Imagine if you didn't have that choice. How wound up and miserable would we be? I know I would not handle it well that is for sure, so I spoke and then sat down to Alejandra (from Peru and was baptized in November) and my wonderful companion :) Life couldn't get any better, but then when we walked into our Sunday School class there were two faces we didn't recognize. We met with them afterwards and they just came off the street and wanted to come to church and saw ours! We got their information and we are meeting with them tonight to teach them something that will forever change their lives!! After church we had a wonderful member eating appointment that was delicious and we were able to share a spiritual uplifting message with them. They are from Utah and are missionaries for the church right now, and they are related to Sister Murray from my singles branch back home!!! It was so amazing to talk with them about home and to talk about her and how she is doing. We then headed to the train station to meet with with Li (also was baptized recently in February and from CHINA). We took him to Königstein to meet with Justine (TingTing) from China who we are teaching. It was an amazing appointment!! We talked about prayer and the scriptures the entire time. I love teaching to people's needs!! Li did so good and they were just talking to each other in Chinese and even though I could not understand one word that was being spoken, I was able to really feel the spirit and see how Li was explaining how prayer has changed his life, and Justine believed everything he said. We were able to have her say the closing prayer and she did so fantastic :) I love hearing the prayers of those who have never really prayed before because they are so pure in heart and they have so much faith. We left that appointment wanting to yell from the tip top of the mountains with joy and just wanted to burst from happiness. I love this work so much and just even talking about prayer helps people come closer to Christ and to our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for it. Thank you all for your support and prayers, they are heard and are helping this missionary here in Germany. Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Talked with 5 different nationalities!!

As you know we went shopping last week and it was so fun! There is a store here, and I am not sure if America has it, I can't remember but it is called Primark. It is from England and basically it is like 3 stories high of just clothes for people of all ages. Mostly it is for dressing up, but its a fun store and its cheap! I wasn't on planning on finding too much but when I got there, I just saw a wall of scarves and I was a goner!! And to go along with that, as I was looking for a white sweater an elderly man came about 8 inches away from my name tag approximately and just stared at it and then finally talked to me about the same distance away from my face. He started talking about our church, America, and France. It was the randomest thing I have ever encountered while trying to shop. The best part about it was that he was in a hip hop store with tons of young people, why was he in that store haha?? He was like 80 years old! And not to mention that he was a "spitter" when he talked so I no longer needed a shower for the rest of the day as well. He gave us advice on that we need to have more bells at our church. "The Germans need bells! Huge bells!! If you guys had bells, the Germans would come to your church. You should really talk to your Apostles to do that." Thanks for the tip mister :) We'll get right on that! I love random moments that don't really matter, but yet they do at the same time. I will always remember this old man staring at me and my name tag in a crazy teenager shopping store. It was fun :) From 10am to 6pm on Tuesday we were in a meeting with tons of missionaries learning about how to be trainers, and what we need to do in order to prepare for it. Since every sister in the next couple weeks will be training, EVERY sister was there!!! So you know what that means!! Sister Sprouse was in Frankfurt!! Sister Heindel and I were at the church early to do some paperwork before the meeting started and so we were by the computers. I looked out in the hallway and I saw Elder Penfold from Dortmund and my heart rejoiced!! It was so good to see him, I hadn't seem him since I left in January. And then the next thing I knew I saw a blonde pop her head into the room and she came running to me, which was only about 5 feet away and just laid a huge hug on me. It was so good to see her and to see that she was well. I was also able to bear my testimony at the end of the Trainer/Golden Meeting and it was special for me to express my love for the gospel and I hope that someone needed to hear it. I couldn't help but doing it without any tears, they were definitely rolling down the cheeks, but the difference now is that they are tears of gratitude and joy rather than frustration or sadness. After District Meeting on Thursday we all went out for just ONE hour to try and talk and find people to need to hear the word of the Lord. Usually I do not like finding days, but since it was just one hour and the fact that we were all doing it together, I was game. We walk up to a lady on a bench because she was reading a book and she wouldn't even saw two words to her and she shewed us off. I look to Sister Heindel and say, "Welp this is going to be a fun hour" and we laughed walking away. I am so grateful that we get to laugh little things like that off, because I have had companions in the past where we don't laugh it off and the "no" hurts more than you would imagine. So Sister Heindel is amazing in that aspect as well. She helps me keep going :) Then we get on campus, and we talk to a sweet couple from India, and they took a Book of Mormon and they were very curious on what is was and wanted to read it. Sadly for us they were flying back to Paris that night, but now they have a book that will change their lives forever. And a lot of missionary work is just planted seeds. We never really know what we do until way later in life, or even at all. Then right after that awesome couple, we met a man from Turkey. I can't promise you that he understood us, and I can't promise that we understood him, but all I know is that we pointed to the sky multiple times and motioned on smiling with our fingers :) And as we walked away I did it again to always smiled and he shook his head smiling to himself. Again like I said, planting seeds and making people's days :) We then moved on, we ended up forcing a college student agreeing to letting us help him carry his white board, projector, and roller cart. He just kept on looking back at us and we just smiled and he probably thought we were ridiculous and we probably were but it felt good to help him. Again, making someone smile and laugh is good enough for me. We then talked with an African who was a member of Jehovah's Witness and got lectured about how we are not Christian. Usually I would have gotten flustered but for some reason every time I would look over to Sister Heindel she was be intently listening and then she would just bear testimony about the Savior and I would then back her up and express to this man that He is my Savior and I couldn't my life without Him now. After he listened to that, he had nothing to say so he randomly just walked away. And Sister Heindel and I looked at each other and smiled and laughed again. Then we met a man from China. He was very interesting to talk to because he had no idea who God is or who Jesus Christ is. We ended up bearing testimony about Them again and he left with a puzzled face and a card in his hand to call us. I have faith he will, but then again planting seeds is always an act of hope and faith. You never know if it is going to come out of the ground, you never know if they will call, but that faith and hope will always be there. In just an hour, we talked with 5 different nationalities, but we talked about one God. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, because we are all children of our One Father in Heaven. It really opened my eyes to truly that we all are God's children and they all need the love, trust, and comfort that He provides, and how wonderful it is in this time in our lives to share that :) I love this work and the Gospel!!! Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Still having a great time!!!

Sister Heindel and I are still having a great time. We still are laughing like crazy but still working hard. We reached 20 lessons together!! We visited people when we could and kept going when we were very hungry and thirsty. One day was truy so crazy. On Saturday we didn't have any appointments so those days are called "white days" because there is nothing but white on your planner. Usually again this would worry me, but from experience and our two level heads, we were able to fill it up with ideas on what we should do. And we were excited about it too!! We had 6 families to go by on and we hoped and prayed that they would be home so we could teach them and have them feel the spirit. The morning came and we looked outside and it was a winter/white wonderland. I opened the balcony door to see if it was as cold as it appeared and yup, "da stimmt" it was freezing!! So we bundled up and did our normal studies next to our warm heater and every once and awhile we would look at each other and laugh and shake our heads because we knew we were going go out there and spend the enitre day out there. We finish up, and bundle up a little bit more and then we headed out into the blizzard like storm. I have been through worse in Wyoming but the humidity here makes it so much more colder! But we kept on walking forward because we knew that Heavenly Father would guide and protect us to what He wanted us to do. We ended up visiting with a member in the Offenbach Ward and her friend. And it was perfect timing when we saw Monika because she was on her way to go have "coffee" with her friend and she invited us to join her. We were able to teach about prayer and the Book of Mormon and it was awesome!! She was not a German native speaker, so it was hard to communicate but I was grateful that I was able to use simple vocabulary so that she could understand perfectly how much Heavenly Father loves her. And we have an appointment set up for next week :) Miracles! They happen even if the weather is -9 degrees Celcius with a wind chill!! And then we went by on some people who have been sick for a little bit now and gave them the warmth from which the gospel brings. I am so grateful that we were able to bring that to them. They all had smiles on their faces when we left, and so did we :) I love the gospel and I love the church. I love my companion and I love Frankfurt. I love this work!! It changes and saves lives :) Thank you for all that you do, keep going. Even if you think its too hard, its not. Just look to Heavenly Father and ask for His help. He is there. And He watches over us every second. He knows our concerns and He wants to help, we are the ones that need to go to Him first :) I have a testimony of that. Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Touched a Young Peruvian Heart!!

On Monday we went for another beautiful run in the forest. It was my go away present that I requested, and man o man, it is still February!!! It was so stinking cold, but no worries after about an hour and a half of running I was finally sweaty. It felt so good! I am grateful that my companions were able to put up with my exercise habits :) On Tuesday, we were able to go to a woman's house to clean her children's room and it was awesome to just clean. It felt good just to help take some weight off somebody's shoulders, even if its separating Barbies from Polly Pockets, and Hello Kitty from Legos. The next day, we visited an olderly lady, Schwester Knießel. It was wonderful to visit her, she is happy just to see a face because she is very old and has really no visitors ever. Its always sad to see them look out the window as we leave as well, but it warms my heart because people really do need love, and during this time on my mission I have been able to be that love for people, and I am so grateful for it. We then met up with Peter at a Chinese Restaurant in Friedrichsdorf. He came up to us and was hiding his left arm the entire time. I tried to peek of what he was holding and he didn't let me see. So he whipped around 3 beautiful yellow flowers and said, "Frohe Valentin's Tag." It melted my heart haha. So we went in and had dinner with him and it was cute. We just chatted about his baptism coming up and the things that he has learned along the way. His whole family will be there to support him :) And we called Präsident Schwarz to tell him, and he asked me personally where I would be on the 23rd of March, and I told him, "I don't know, I'll be in Frankfurt" and he said, "Oh I tink in Friedrichsdorf for da baptism." (In a German accent = its so cute!). Guissella is a 29 year old convert from Peru but hasn't been coming to church for quite some time. So we went over thinking we were going to practice English with her like we usually do, but as I was started to explain what a testimony was and out of now where she asked me in broken cute English, "what is your testimony?" I was caught a little off guard because she looked at me with her very intent eyes and really truly wanted to know. I told her that it took time, but I knew that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that the Book of Mormon is true and I know that from the feelings in my heart that comes through the Holy Ghost from Heavenly Father to tell me "Ya Sister Tuschling its true!!" And for the next 30-45 minutes it was just her pouring out her heart telling me that she wants one, and she wants to know for herself. During this time her English went back to German and so I switched back to German and it was amazing because that whole time I didn't have to think about what I was saying. I love how Heavenly Father helps us do things that are usually hard for us to do. It was Him in that room that night, not me, and I am grateful that I was able to be there so He could help and touch that young Peruvian heart. It was an excellent end to my life in Friedrichsdorf :) I eventually joined Frankfurt the next morning and let me tell you, we haven't stopped laughing!!! Sister Heindel is such a rock! I love her already. We just have a ball together. She just get to chatting, and bearing our testimonies and theories to each other and it brings us together. She has so much knowledge, life lessons, and love for the people here. She is an awesome teacher. I love teaching the gospel with her. She gets me. She listens. She basically is perfect and I can't believe Heavenly Father loves me so much to place me in such paradise :) It has been the fastest 4 days in my life and I am thinking these next 4 weeks are going to be so much fun and are going to fly by, so we are just enjoying the time while we have it. It is amazing how much work you can get done when you don't have to worry about anything, but the work. I see a ton of Hermana Avery in her and maybe that is why I love her so much already. She has a light and look in her eye that helps me keep going. She needs me and I need her and its awesome. So I am now working in the International Ward which is 100% in English. I haven't conversed with people at church in English in a very long time and let me tell you did it feel wonderful and I felt right at home. The ward took me in. I was asked to come up to bear my testimony and to introduce myself and I did which felt again amazing in my mother tongue!! But then so many people came up to me after the church meetings and thanked me for it. I feel so loved sometimes and I can't handle it :) But then I found out that 2 of the missionary couples here are from Wyoming!! And one set knows the Donely's back home (Branch President in my single's branch) and know the Murray's (1st councilor in the branch Presidency)! AND there is a girl from Sheridan, Wyoming who is over here for a year!! I love life!! Bis nächste Woche!! Liebe, Sister Tuschling

Happy Valentine's Day-Transfer!!

On Thursday we did some planning before I went on a split with the Mainz sisters. I went back to Mainz!!! And it was really awesome because the day I got there, it was actually the day I got to Mainz a year ago. Man was I was having flashbacks like no other!! We took the same train from Frankfurt to Mainz and floods of memories were filling my mind. I worked with Sister Marshall (she's from England!!!) for 2 days there. She picked apart my brain for people that I taught and what I did when I was there. I did my best and I hope I helped her!! And of course that wrote down the quotes that came out of her cute little mouth. A couple: "What the figgy wigget?" To every thing she liked she said, "Oh wicked!" And "Oh picketts!" How could you not love her?? Again, it was again Karnival there! I don't know if you remember but that is the holiday where everyone wears costumes!! It was so cool. I saw a lot of "cowboys," smurfs, and chickens haha. I love cultures!! I found out as well that I am again being transferred!! I will be working with Sister Heindel from Idaho!! I have a feeling we will only be together for a little bit but its going to be crazy!! Heiny and Tusch = the Bumm Sisters are going to work their bumms off!!! I am so excited!!! And we will be together on Valentine's Day. Cute nuh :) My last Sunday in Friedrichsdorf was perfect. They assigned me to talk in Sacrament about 2 or 3 weeks ago so it was perfect timing. I talked about Faith and how faith without doing something about our faith is worthless. There is a scripture James 2:17 in the bible that says, "Faith without works is dead." And I agree. So I talked about all the men in the Book of Mormon that have unwavering faith. I mentioned Nephi, Ammon, Alma, and the Brother of Jared. The thing about these men is that they had such great faith, but they also did something about it. Nephi was ordered to build a ship when there were no tools to do it, so he prayed and then went to work. He eventually built a ship that carried him, his friends, and family over to the Amerikas. Ammon was commanded to go out to preach and teach the worst of the worst people on earth and he did it. He asked the Lord for help, but he did it anyways. Alma, who was touched by the words of a dying prophet but then was commanded to teach and build up God's church, and he did it. And the Brother of Jared was also commanded to sail over the seas after building a ship, and after much time on his knees he did it. Faith without works is dead. When we have faith it moves us to do something about it. I am grateful that I was able to talk about it and to help others think about their faith and what they are doing about it. Even though I was not in the ward very long, the ward was sad to see me go. They truly think about their missionaries and love missionary work. I am grateful for my short but sweet time in Friedrichsdorf. I am so blessed that I was able to serve as a temple sister missionary, and was able to see the temple almost every day for a month and a half. Until next time!! I am sure I'll have new exciting adventures to report on in my new area and new companion. Take care. Liebe, Sister Tuschling