Life is great in Germany

Hello Family and Friends, 

 

So first the story of Jenny,  

 

Baptism of Jenny Herlitz
We first met Jenny when she walked into the Marzahn ward building one Sunday for sacrament. Her mother had been baptised a little more then a year ago and from that time on Jenny had been interested in the Church. She had met with a few missionaries as they were teaching her mother but had not yet decided to meet by herself. It just so happened to be that this Sunday was Ward Conference. The Stake President had come to talk about missionary work. He told a story about when he was on a mission he felt spiritually prompted to invite a man who was attending a Baptismal service to be baptised later that night after a few hours of meeting with the missionaries. The man accepted and later that evening entered the waters of baptism. Well being missionaries we know we were not at a baptismal service but we thought that ward conference could be a good substitute. Right after the closing prayer we walked over to Jenny. With no knowledge of her past history we followed what could have been a spiritual impression and and gave her the same offer the Stake President had done on his mission. To every ones surprise (besides ours;)  she accepted the invitation to baptism. Bishop Bredlow came up and Jenny then tried for the next 30 minutes to get the approval to be baptised. Stating that she felt that she was ready. In accordance with the wishes of the Bishop the baptism was pushed back for a few weeks so that she could first get to know the ward. The next 5 weeks Jenny spent in the Scriptures, at every church activity, and many nights of sharing her testimony with friends and us, the missionaries blessed to be able to grow beside her. Yesterday the 2nd of June 2013 Jenny Herlitz entered the waters of baptism after waiting for over month from the day that she decided she wanted to follow the example of Jesus Christ.   

 

On a more funny note; I continue to have experiences I never thought I would here in Germany, some of which are pretty funny.  One was saying a prayer over the phone with one of our investigators (in German) for her pet rat which was old and about to die. I made me think of Radish. It was a big deal to her, so we did it, and I didn't know all the words for a prayer about a rat dying, but it worked out, and she felt a lot better!  Another funny experience this week sitting in a cemetery and having lunch (we were waiting for our investigator and decided to have lunch their). we had brought a salad and some bread with cheese and meat. We realized we didn't have any forks and just kinda looked at each other.  Ha my comp thought we'd just use our fingers, but me being  real hippy sometimes was like "no we can use chop-sticks." of course we didn't have any on us, Sorry mom I left them back home on my desk. So I decided to show my little daughter a thing or two about living in the backwoods. I went and found some little sticks which we brushed off and used as chop sticks!  It worked really well to the surprise of my comp. I don't think she will ever worry about not having a fork again :) 

 

Also Sister Kriser and I are always trying to figure out what we can cut out to open up more time for us to have to teach lessons and do missionary work. We were talking about having late lunches and cutting out dinner breaks, but then we looked at our schedule and realized we only had one dinner break scheduled in because the rest of the evenings we are eating as we go, or at ward activities or investigators or member homes. We both sat for a minute trying to figure out what else we could do to open up more time and then I said "huh.. I guess we could cut out breathing :)"  ha we both laughed, because we really are going all the time, but we never seem to be able to fit everything in.  I love it, and we had a good laugh about that :)

So this week was great!  We taught some great lessons, and on Sunday our investigator Jenny was baptised along with a young girl that the other sisters have been teaching!  Jenny was so ready and excited for baptism, and it was a wonderful baptism.  She is an only child, never knew her dad, and has a pretty bad relationship with her mom.  Her mom said she would come to the baptism, but wasn't there when it started.. Jenny was pretty sad about that.  As we started singing the opening song Jenny's mom walked in.  I had a perfect view of the whole thing and it was wonderful!  She walked right up to the front, sat down by Jenny, and then Jenny turned with a look of surprise on her face, and then they both just hugged each other while Jenny Cried..  I couldn't stop smiling and tearing up myself.  I know this doesn't change everything for their relationship, but it was a good start, and made Jenny so happy.  The spirit was strong through the baptism, and overall it was just awesome!  We have really seen Jenny come a long way.  It is amazing what bringing Christ into your life will do to a person.  Jenny prays and reads her scriptures every day, and has just grown so much in the last couple of months.  Christ can and will change anyone who comes to Him and wants to be changed.  We become new, and so much better then we could be alone.  There is a quote/poem my comp loves and it goes. "A Cathedral without windows, a face without eyes, a field without flowers, an alphabet without vowels, a continent without rivers, a night without stars, and a sky without a sun--- these would not be so sad as a soul without Christ.                                                       -James L. Gordon
 
How true.  We will never come close to our full potential without Christ.  So this week lets do all we can to build our relationship with Him.  Without him, we really are nothing.  There is nothing more important that we could give our time and energy too.  I love you all, and hope it is a great week! 

 

-Sister Kimberly Bohne with help from my amazing comp Sister Kriser (Sometimes it is easier to take what your comp all ready wrote :)

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Baptism of Jenny Herlitz

Baptism of Jenny Herlitz

We first met Jenny when she walked into the Marzahn ward building one Sunday for sacrament. Her mother had been baptised a little more then a year ago and from that time on Jenny had been interested in the Church. She had met with a few missionaries as they were teaching her mother but had not yet decided to meet by herself. It just so happened to be that this Sunday was Ward Conference. The Stake President, President (__________) had come to talk about missionary work. He told a story about when he was on a mission he felt spiritually prompted to invite a man who was attending a Baptismal service to be baptised later that night after a few hours of meeting with the missionaries. The man accepted and later that evening entered the waters of baptism. Well being missionaries we know we were not at a baptismal service but we thought that ward conference could be a good substitute. Right after the closing prayer we walked over to Jenny. With no knowledge of her past history we followed what could have been a spiritual impression and and gave her the same offer the Stake President had done on his mission. To every ones surprise (besides ours;)  she accepted the invitation to baptism. Bishop Bredlow came up and Jenny then tried for the next 30 minutes to get the approval to be baptised. Stating that she felt that she was ready. In accordance with the wishes of the Bishop the baptism was pushed back for a few weeks so that she could first get to know the ward. The next 5 weeks Jenny spent in the Scriptures, at every church activity, and many nights of sharing her testimony with friends and us, the missionaries blessed to be able to grow beside her. Yesterday the 2nd of June 2013 Jenny Herlitz entered the waters of baptism after waiting for over month from the day that she decided she wanted to follow the example of Jesus Christ.    

 

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Aroo Familie,

Ashley CONGRATS on graduating Seminary, when is your High School graduation?

No I was not able to contact with Anna yet, I am sure it will happen soon.

That is so cool that there are so many good young men leaving for missions from our ward. Those 12 apostles are going to change every mission they are in.

Do you by chance have a picture of Emily's mouth? Also where is she and Ben with Book of Mormon reading?

It sounds like the heavens are at work on the Brown family! They have been on my mind my whole entire mission. It makes me so happy to see they are making progress.

Mom you for sure have it right with missionary work. It is simply our job to invite. We can not create the action in others but we can invite and inspire to act.

I am dong well here in Germany. With the new calling that Sister Kriser and I have it seems like time has just hit hyper speed, it feels unreal that I am now writing again. I feel like I just wrote you yesterday.

This week I had the great opportunity to do splits with Sister Thorton, we were in the MTC together. SHE IS AWESOME! We did a lot of mission review together and set goals for the last few months of the mission (108 days until being home).We had lots of fun!

I was also able to do splits with my granddaughter Sister Knoll. She replaced me in Langenhorn when I moved down here to Berlin in February. She is AWESOME! She is native and a powerhouse of a teacher. We talked A LOT of German and she helped me more with pronunciation while reading out of the book of Mormon. It was cool to be able work with her.

However, no matter how great splits are, coming back home to Marzahn Otto-Nagel 13 with Sister Kriser is the best! It is so much fun working with her. She daily teaches me about endurance, diligence, and fun. Do you know that saying; ''Stop and smell the roses.'' Sister Kriser takes that latterly. Everywhere we go she is stopping on the side of the road and smelling all the flowers that are now blooming. Just the other day as we were doing some door to door around our church we both bent down to smell this beautiful yellow flower. As we continued walking I look over and see this bright yellow spot on the tip of her nose.I started laughing and before I could say anything she just started laughing and pointing at my nose...morel of the story I don't think I am a Brown nosier anymore rather a yellow nosier.

Well I hope all you guys are doing well this week. I will let you know when I get in touch with Anna.

Love you lots.

Sister Kimberly Grace Bohne  

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Pictures 1

 This is Sister Kriser and I teaching a man in the Castel Park just how cool the Book of Mormon is!

 

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Ohla....I mean Morgen

Morgen Familie,

  

First I just saw the pictures that Sister Krisers Mom sent to her from when Mom and Ashely went to meet the Krisers. It looks like you guys had a good time sitting in the parking lot. I am glade that you could meet them. From what Sister Kriser says they are an awesome family. 

 

So time for a super cool story. The hand of the Lord is truly at work here in Berlin. Just this week we have had 5 new people handed to us to teach. One of the girls is Named Jenny. Jenny came to Marzahn yesterday for the first time. Jenny's mom was baptised down in Spandou (south Berlin) a little more then a year ago. Jenny has been going down in the Spandou ward for the last little bit but because of the drive has decided that she needed to come to Marzahn. Yesterday was Ward Conference and the stake president focused a lot on missionary work, and on the importance of finding those in our own circle that are ready to be baptised and then get us ,the missionaries, involved. Right after we said the closing prayer we had a women in the ward give us a name and number of a man that she has been talking to for the last few years. She feels he is now ready to take the lessons! Sitting there it showed me the power that the Local leaders have on missionary work! 

 

After I talked with this women I then went and talked with Jenny. I asked her what she thought about following the example of Jesus Christ and her mother and being baptised. She got super excited, told me that she wanted to be baptised that night and then ran out of the room to call her long time boyfriend to get his permission.Thankfully they are not living together. When she came back in she said that she had a great talk with her boyfriend and he thinks that it is a good idea and was ready to jump in the water. Well I, and all those involved, felt like it would be better for her to wait just a few weeks so that we can go through the lessons with her. Make sure that she truly understands the convents that she is making, As well as organize the service. I felt like I was in South America...people wanting to be baptised....us having to fight them back for just a few weeks....... oh and I then walked outside and it was warm....but then the people on the bus were speaking German. Nope I guess I was not transfered to Panama. :P  

 

God does prepare people who will listen to the message we have, I know that. Yesterday was a testimony builder for me that when the members and missionaries work together miracles will occur! After working so hard last transfer and praying in faith that God would allow us to help teach someone that is ready for baptism, we meet her the LAST day of the transfer. He not only gave us some one, but someone who is already been to church, had many of the lessons, and who we had to litterly talk in to waiting just a little bit till we could organize the baptism. I am excited to see the person God has prepared to also be baptised this upcoming transfer! A mission goal is One baptism per companionship per transfer. I am excited to see the miracles happen.

 

Also Mr. Bohne came to a ward activity we had this last Saturday. Dad I don't think we are related at all. But it was cool he seemed to really enjoy it. Also at our last appointment he brought a friend named Thomas that we are now meeting with.

 

Oh also super cool story. This last week as Sister Kriser and I were waiting for an appointment with Hr. Bohne a man walked up to us. This mans name is David. David was being taught be the missionaries about three years ago and for what ever reason they just stopped coming. He asked us to come and help him learn more about  ''the boy Joseph Smith, the Church that he started, and how he can once again feel good like he use to when he meet with the missionaries''. David also was at the ward activity.

 

Also this week while running in the morning, we took a different path then we have ever taken. We ended up running into this super cool park, and in the middle of the park was....can you guess it...a castle! Only in Europe do you go for a morning run and end up by a castle. I will make sure to take pictures of it and send them next week. Sometimes I forget that most of the streets I walk on are older the country that I was born in....

 

This week was also the first, Sister Traning Learders meeting that I was able to go to. It was awesome sitting among the leaders of the mission and feeling the faith that was in that room. We talked a lot about helping other see success. I don't think I will ever get over how cool it is that the best way to grow personally is to focus outward. Is that not a cool gospel principle; ''To fix yourself, make others your first priority. God will have to step in and help you so that you can continue helping others.''  God will make sure that you have the power and ability to do the callings you have been given, and in so doing you will personally improve. It could be cheating but I love it.

 

I am sending some things in the mail today. DONT OPEN THEM UNTIL MOTHERS DAY.

 

I love you all. Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you.

 

-Sister Kimberly Bohne

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The winds of change

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I have lots of thoughts on my mind. Lots of changes are happening here in the mission field. Lots of growth in numbers as well as personally in every missionary. It depends not if you are a Sister, Elder, Senior Missionary, wife of a Mission President, or the Mission President called to preside over, worry, and care for the others; missions are about growth. It is about accepting the atonement in you life and BECOMING that who God expects you to be. About understanding the atonement and allowing others to become what the Lord expects them to be.
 
President Monson said. "Missionary service is demanding and requires long hours of study and preparation that the missionary himself might match the divine message he proclaims. It is a labor of love but also of sacrifice and devotion to duty."

I testify to that which President Monson said, Missionary work is demanding. Missionary work requires humbling yourself. Missionary work requires the ability to see yourself the way God the Father sees you. Missionary work requires men to turn outward when they only thing they want to do is turn inward. To love others even after the have turned you down. It is about sacrificing the current self inorder to become that which the lord requires to work miracles. It is about devotion, to God, to authorits, to rules, to personal testimony in order to accomplish the growth which the Lord has promised. 

I am thankful for the chance I have to be here in The Germany Berlin Mission. To be lead and guided by an inspired Mission President, Henry Kosak. I am thankful for his example of always striving to personal grow and improve The vision he has not only for the area he has been called to tend, but the missionaries that he has been called of God to preside over in love and honesty. I am thankful for his blunt German ability to help missionaries become what the Lord expects us as missionaries to be.  I am thankful for the atonement of Jesus Christ that has allowed me, Sister Kimberly Bohne,  to grow free from worry about past mistakes. The atonement that allows me to fallow my mission President, as he follows the spirit of God, in changing Germany. I feel blessed to serve here. I feel blessed to have the chance to work with so many wonderful dedicated Elders and Sisters. For the chance I have of being here in Germany as the lord hastens His work. For the incress of Sisters and Elders in our mission. It is just crazy cool to see the hand of the Lord work here in Germany.  

President Brigham Young said he knew the gospel was true when he "saw a man without eloquence, or talents for public speaking, who could only say, 'I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true, thatJospeh Smith is a Prophet of the Lord.'"

^{I, much like this man have no talent for public speaking, and even less so for writting. I want to add my simple testimony to all those who have come before me. I pray that the spirit will testify to you that the words I speak are true. I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He know us by name. He wants what is best for us. I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, because Daddy in Heaven loves us He sent his son Jesus Christ so that we can make it back to Him. I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, The atonement has a really power to change. To make us into the people we dream of being but don't have the ability to become by our selves. This life is about staying on the straight and narrow as often as possible and always striving to move forward. Repenting when we take a detour and having faith that Christ will make up what we lack. I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. That they in reality spoke with him. That through Joseph Smith the priesthood power of God was restored back upon this earth. I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, That God continues to call men as Prophets, Apostles, Area authority, Mission presidents, Stake Presidents, and bishops to bring to pass His work. I testify that EVERY person when in the service of God will be stretched, that they will be expected to grow. I give my testimony that every person in the service of God, when serving with all their Heart, might, mind, and strength will be positively different in the end. I am thankful for the atonement of Jesus Christ that helps erase the stupid mistakes, short comings, personality flaws, that we ALL have at the beginning of this change. I know, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that this which I have written is true.}

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The Sisters I am Living With

 

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