September 24th

Hello Family, friends, and loved ones,

Things in Langenhorn are going great.

We are having a Finding Faith in Jesus Christ Fireside this Friday night here in Geminda Langenhorn which I am so excited for! We have some amazingly talented Elders in our Zone that play the Piano and the Violin. These two elders have put together an arrangement of Children Hymns that will have kind of an EFY up beat sound to it. They will be playing this for us at the Fireside. We also will be showing the movie Finding Faith in Christ. Hearing testimony's from some returned missionaries here in the ward. Sis Schaerr and I will be leading a question and answer session. And it will end with some cool sing-a-long with a member who is amazing at the guitar. Oh and we can't forget the wonderful German desserts prepared for us be the wonderful Relief Society sisters.

Oh I should probably mention that a few weeks ago we were followed around by a reporter and a photographer for a day. They work for the 'Zeit' the biggest newspaper here in Germany. They were wanting to do a story of two Sister Missionaries to publish in there collage magazine. President suggest Sis Schaerr and I. We had to do some cool over the phone training with the Church  public affairs officer for Germany.  That story should be coming out here in the next few weeks. When it come out I will let you know how it went. It was just really cool, to be able to bear testimony, all day through words as well as actions and know that it will be printed and read by thousands of young people in the country I have been called to proclaim the Gospel to. Talk about a great oppurtunity for missionary work!

President Monsen will be coming to Germany in three weeks!!!!!! He is doing a tour and will be stoping here in Hamburg, I am super excited!!!!

Some updates on investigates.

Regine: Doing great! We will be climbing a hill next Monday to start a '40 day fast' from all word of wisdom issues that she has. It will be a rough time for her so she will need a lot of prayers. She was telling us how she wanted to be clean for 40 days before she would be baptised. I am SO proud of her! She is giving it her all, and it diffenity is not easy. I some times just want to take some of the pain that she is feeling a way from her and place it on myself. However it is cool to watch her humble herself and turn to Jesus Christ and to then be lifted up.

Andre: We will be meeting with him tomorrow. He has just finished a big international peace conference that he has been really busy with. But he gave us a call, and we will start the lessons up again! I am excited to watch all of the knowledge he has really turn into a testimony.

Abel: We found him 3 weeks ago and have been meeting him 3-5 times a week since then. He reminds me of Eric Patrice (from Eisenhüttenstadt). He is from the Ivory Coast, which is where he first came in to contact with the church through his mom who was attending for a long time. He is one of those prepared people. We have just set a baptismal date with him in a little bit.

Laarni: Is a referral that we got through a wonderful family here in the ward. We have now been meeting with her for the last two weeks. She has a little boy Paul who is 10months old and SO cute! She is seeming to understand everything so well, and has been asking a lot of really good questions. Questions that make you go back to the apartment and have to study, I LOVE IT.

Khalil: Is doing wonderful. We are now helping him learn German which is always so much fun.

Brother Arno Gansterblum: We have lost contact, but I think it may have been a good thing. I will just teach him and uncle roger together in the next life :P 

Family Bastan-Mehr: Still super busy with school and work. We are praying a lot for them. It is just hard to help someone see the loving nature of our Heavenly Father when through out their whole lives they have seen the name of God be used to create so much contention.

Well I hope all is doing well for you guys back home in the states! Love you lots

-Sister Kimberly G. Bohne

WoW 6 Months

Hello Everyone!

Wow what a crazy last few weeks! Or I guess I could saw a last 6 months... Yep that is right OVER 6 MONTHS! WoW time has flown!

So first, I am doing good. I have an amazing companion, SIs Schaerr, who I get along so well with.<-(I am not sure of that gramme is correct anymore aber na ja)  I am serving in what I have got to say is one of the most supportive, uplifting, ready to do missionary work, wards here in Germany, Ward Langenhorn. The people that I am able to work with are doing GREAT! I heard that Eric Patrice (I was able to teach him in Eisenhüttenstadt) has a beautiful, sweet, super active in the church, girlfriend...that he meet at institute! This I have got to say is a sister missionaries dream come true, I am already seeing the white and the TEMPLE!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!

But I guess I just wanted to talk this next little bit and write some of the things I have learned the last 6months of my life.

*God Lives. Shortly before coming out on this mission I was at that point that I could say that I believe God lives, but I was unsure of what that meant in my life. Now I am able to testify of it. God lives, and not only does he live He loves us! He lives to help us. WE are His work and His Glory (Moses 1:39). That is difficult to understand. Everything he does is for us. I think that is cool. God, the greatest of all cares so much about me that I, and all of His children, are the reason he gets up in the morning!

*Jesus Christ really does understand everything that we have gone through, everything that we are going through, and everything that we will go through. I think it is interesting that Jesus Christ, who was perfect, able to save himself alone, did what he did to help us. A God went through that so that he could understand what we would go through....This for me brings a whole new meaning to the word sacrifice. A God made a sacrifice to bring himself closer to men, an interesting principle.

*Name Tag: I am learning to be more comfortable being a Representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Becoming more comfortable saying what he would say, as well as refraining for saying that which he would not say. That is something that before coming out to Germany I did not feel like I would have a problem with. But a lady in my first area put in perfectly when she said 'Sis Bohne it is always interesting to watch the missionaries that no one thought would be a missionary, trying to become a missionary'.LOL,  to be honest that lady had it right. I could only imagine how funny it would have been to watch the back woods, no structure for the last 3 years, unable to keep a job for over 6 months, life loving, young Sister Bohne, striving to follow all the rules all the time and completely become  what she thought had to be another person to become what she thought was a good missionary. Oh my goodness I can only imagine how funny that was!!!! :) But I am learning that there are 2 names on the badge I wear, however I have also learned that those two names should have 1 meaning. It differently took a little while, and lots of self reflections, and even a few love taps from God, but I am now loving the person Sister Kimberly Bohne is become as I have strived to become one with Christ. As I have strived to not lose my self in a unrealistic mold, but truly find myself in the service of me God. 

*I am learning that it does not matter what I say, the spirit of the Lord is the converter and not me. As long as I am giving my best, and desire to work, the lord will use me, and my weaknesses will never get in the way of the work of the Lord. I just kind of hang on and let him drive. :)

*I have learned EVERYONE has personally quirks, you can either love them for it, or get super annoyed. I have learned that as you accept these quirks, and truly love those you are around, the Lord is able to work miracles.

*I have learned that German Chocolate/breads/Puddings/cakes/ ect. are AMAZING! And that the natural law of eating more calories then you burn will result in weight gain. ;) But I guess I am also learning how important it is to stay in shape, and no not the shape of a circle, so that we are able to better serve the Lord.

*I have learned that it is NEVER easy to do as the spirit asks. To say what the spirit prompts you to say. But as well follow him, sometimes into some crazy doof situations, as long as you just hold on most of the times it is a pretty entertaining ride :)

I hope all is going well back at home, and that every one is doing ok. Thank you all for all the help, the support, at points the love taps, that allowed me to get on this mission. I miss you all!


-Sis Kim Bohne.

Deep trials, develop deep faith.

Wow so this has been one hard, growing week, here in Langenhorn.

This week Sis Schaerr and I walked into a domestic violence situation that was pretty intense. As we got out of there the first thing that we did was call our Mission President to find out what to do. He called someone else, and then afterwards called us back. The advice he was given was to stay out of it, and walk away putting our safety above anything else.....you all know me well enough to know that is not what I would naturally do. As I fought my inner self, and followed the council of my mission president, I felt the Holy Spirit lifting my up, and comforting me That evening as we went back to our apartment I went in to the bathroom (the one place you can be alone in the mission field) and just sat there crying not know what I could do. After about an hour I walked out and went to check on Sis Schaerr. She was in the process of writing in a book of Mormon addressed to this man, with it ending as. 'I know that you are a son of God, and as you read in this Book the power of God will come into your life and you will realize who you are, and have the power to become that person.''  I have been thinking a lot about that since then. We also got the Liahona this week and there was a talk in there titled ''Love your enemys''. I have naturally been praying a lot for the women that we saw, but as I read that talk, I felt like God was telling me  I was also suppose to learn to have love for the husband as well. I did not know where to start, not after seeing what we saw. I started a fast seeking the way that I was going to be able to develop this love, and also the strength to be able to do what I was asked. The next morning I opened my scriptures and I turned to the New Testament, not knowing what to read, but knowing that through my Saviors example I could find the answers I was looking for. I felt prompted to read about the Crucifixion in Luke 23

  34 ¶Then ^asaid Jesus, Father, ^bforgive them; for they know not what ^cthey(JST Luke 23:35 … they do (Meaning the soldiers who crucified him,) …) do. And they parted his ^draiment, and cast lots.

I could imagine Christ laying on the cross, and as he looked up into the eyes of these soldiers and was able to see the hardness and the coldness that had developed, I could only imagine the sadness that he felt. Christ understood who these men where in the pre-earth life, the potently they had, and the life they would have had to live to develop this coldness. You guys I feel like I saw a little bit of that hardness, that coldness, in the eyes of the husband. But unlike Christ I started developing a hatred for this man, at moments so deep that I wish I could have seen him in the same pain that he had caused. I did not feel pity for him, I did not want to help him, I definitely did not feel love or compassion for this man, and the last thing I wanted to do was to pray for him. I wanted to see him in pain, just as much if not more then he had caused. However as I read these verses I felt an overwhelming love come over me that I can't explain for the husband of this women. I love that could only be from our Heavenly Father. Since that time that love has continued, and I don't know how to explain in, but through this I have been learning SO much . #1 It is critical to Follow the council of your priesthood leaders, it will keep you safe, and allow you to learn the lessens we need to. #2-God loves ALL of His children no matter what we do. #3- It is possible to love your enemy's. I am not saying I am any where perfect with this, I have alot more to work ok, but I am learning it is possible.

Basically I have been learning ALOT this week, I have never felt the love of my heavenly father stronger then I have as I have strived to develop that unconditional love for another. I know God lives, I know it. I know that He loves us. He is standing by us through the good, the bad, the ugly. Christ lives, he loves us, he is able to love all of us because through the atonement he at one point was all of us. He was the beat up wife, he was the husband hitting. I love Him SOOO much. I know the atonement is real, and is deeper then any of us can understand!

I challenge you to look at those in your life that may have harmed you with that unconditional love Christ can offer.

I love you all so much! I hope all is going well back in the states. 

  Much Love,

Sis Kimberly Bohne