December 2: Happy December!

Well, yesterday was the first Advent! There are 4 before Christmas and they are all celebrated differently all over Germany. As for me here in Saxony-Erzgebirge area, all the windows are decorated with beautiful wooden Schwibbogens and Pyramids. I think I will be buying one and sending it home. Linus would like that! Maybe. I don't know if this is an all-over tradition. 

But you know what IS an all over tradition? 

WEIHNACHTSMARKTS!!!!!

And guess who got to go to the opening day of Dresden's? Oh man, I was seriously freuing myself. (quick Danglish tip: say it like "I was froying myself". It means that it made me overly joyous, but I made myself joyous... Yeah. German is awesome)

We had an austausch this week and I was with Sister Fugal in Dresden. All I can say is that it was SO great to serve a day with her. She is a star. There were a bunch of small miracles that day, we gave out several different Book of Mormons, and even met a girl from Boston who will come to institute and FHE, but we were one of thousands of onlookers for the opening hour of the christmas market. It was beautiful. I may or may not have shed a tear or two. 

The rest of the week was also great. We gave Herr Baer to the Elders because the ward is frightened for us. Just because he may be a little harsher around the edges, doesn't mean we can't handle ourselves. Besides. There are rules set up for missionaries specifically for safety purposes. He is still going strong, but we think it will be better if the Elders teach him. Especially because they can go over and meet with him even if their joint teach falls out. 

We did have a wonderful day on Saturday though. And I need to tell you about Deysi. Sister Wallin and I finally had a full day to just... tract and teach. No administration stuff or anything. We just... FOUND all day long. And it was wonderful. We decided we were going to go visit some investigators that we needed to make contact with for a while and find along the way. The first thing that happened is that our train fell out. And it only comes every 30 minutes. So we started talking with this lady that was waiting with us, turns our her name is Diane and that she has always been interested in learning more about us but didn't want to ask the Elders because they looked scary. We looked less intimidating apparantly. Haha. Then we were warmly welcomed into Hildegard and Clarissa's home and were then asked to celebrate Clarissa's birthday with them. We didn't stay very long, but it was nice to know that our relationship is not solely "teacher-student" like our lessons usually go. Then we caught the train back to Deysi. Deysi is from Cuba. She has a beautiful daughter (seriously, the most beautiful 3 year old I have ever seen in my life) and has SO many questions about God, about religion, about everything. She had been having a hard time because her husband is away with work a lot and the last two weeks were especially rough because she was sick, then her daughter was sick, and she didn't know what to do because she was alone and noone could take her to the hospital... (the whole time we are thinking "this woman needs visiting and home teachers") but then she prayed for help and was relieved a little, that's when we came. We read with her in the Book of Mormon and just listened. She had all these questions about how someone knew they wanted to be a member of the church and then she would throw in "I'm just curious. I just want to know what I need to feel. I mean, I'm just curious." She thinks she's being sneaky, but she really wants to join, even though she doesn't know what it means. Please pray for Deysi? Her husband is not too happy about religions and stuff, but she said that if she wanted it, her husband would be okay with it. She just wants to make sure she wants it before she is baptized. She'll get there. Probably after the beginning of the year, but she's amazing, adorable, and she invited me to her house in Stuttgart when she moves in the middle of next year. :) 

Something that I have been thinking a lot about is prayer. There is a specific way you MUST pray in order to gain a testimony. You can pray, yes, every prayer is heard and answered according to your understanding, but there are a few things that need to happen in order to get specific answers to help your testimony grow.

1. Prayers need to be offered to God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

- In German, Christ is called a "Mittler" which means, in essence, middle man. He tells us that whatever we ask in His name, the Father will give it to us. But there is no cheating with God. God is omnipitotent and knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. If you ask for something in the name of Christ, it has to be what Christ would want, too. You can't ask for a new Audi or something because that isn't the purpose of prayer. (And if you don't get what you ask for, normally it's because your will isn't aligned with God's) Also, you can't cheat Christ out of his role as "Mittler". He performed the Atonement SO THAT he could be our Mittler. We can't pray directly to God bypassing Christ. We would be cheating Him of His role as Savior. 

2. We are commanded to ask for the things we need.

- There is a JST for Matt. 7: 12-17. It says, "Say unto them, Ask of God; Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you."

Asking for things you need from God is a COMMANDMENT. Don't be afraid, shy, or even prideful to ask. (Remember, pride goes two ways: "I'm too good for..." and "I'm not good enough for...")

3. We MUST be willing and sincere to act upon the answers to our prayers. 

- I can promise, because I have experienced it so many times, and have seen it work in others so many times, that when you REALLY pray with a sincere heart, and REAL intent, you will get answers to your prayers. If you don't get answers, or even a peace, then I would invite you to look at how sincere your heart is, or how real your intent is. God knows, and so do you. Be honest. With god AND with yourself.

Well, now that this is longer than the Ragnar, I just want to let you know how much I love you! 
I hope the week is great!!

Love, 

Sister Babbitt