THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

Another week gone already?? Time is flying as usual, and I swear the weeks are getting better and better :) PLUS IT'S ALMOST FREAKIN CHRISTMASSSSS!!!!

So on Tuesday we went to meet with Sylvana (a recent convert) who lives an hour and a half away and when we got to the city.  We missed our bus and the next one didn't come for an hour,  so we decided to go finding and we found a man named Moussa. We shared the Christmas video with him on the street and he said "I love this video where can I find it!?" Haha So we told him about our website and we set up a return appointment with him! I know we missed our bus for a reason it was such a huge blessing!

Wednesday we met with an investigator named Carina. We made Spätzle which is a super German food and it was one of the best meals I've had on the  mission! So dang good.

 After that we tried to visit less actives, none were home so we klingeled some doors and a lady answered and actually invited us in... first time that's ever happened! She invited us to come back and sent us on our way with some oranges :))

Thursday we went and visited 3 less active ladies with Schwester Müller and it was so amazing. Each one of their faces when we shared the "er lebt" (He lives) video just lit up. That video is my favorite one, If you haven't watched it,  go watch it!   I can't even describe how amazing it is. We also sang them some Christmas songs and it was just so much fun. My heart was bursting with gratitude that day. Schwester müller also bought us a Christmas tree sooo best day ever.

Friday we taught Maguy and it was a hard lesson... She didn't pray about the priesthood and she said she stopped reading the Book of Mormon and didn't want to pray to know if anything was true because she doesn't really care, She just likes anything that has to do with God. I testified to her that the book is true and that she was literally holding the truth in her hands, That everything our church Is...,  relys upon that book and I promised her that if she would read it she would get an answer. I explained that her answer probably wouldn't be a huge thing, but a quiet whispering from the Holy Ghost. She asked for a chapter to end with,  and idk why but immediately after she asked that I felt prompted to give her Alma 32. Sister Hofmockel said she felt the spirit sooo strong when I was talking about the Book of Mormon so that was cool haha I left that lesson exhausted. I really hope she reads and gets her answer that this is the true church. Please pray for her!

Saturday was our Ward Christmas Party we went in the woods with some torches and sang Christmas songs around a camp fire and the Weihnachtsmann came and gave all the little kids presents it was sooo fun :)

Sister Hofmockel and Sister Barnett :)

Sunday a woman in our ward Schwester Doms invited us to a Catholic Church for a Christmas concert and I kid you not it was the most amazing performance ever. The singers were so good and their voices filled the building and it was just ahhhhmaaazzziiinnnggg. Can't really put it into words!!

Today we went to the Ritter Sport chocolate factory!! It was the bomb, we ate lots of chocolate, The End lol.


This week I've really been focusing on the TRUE meaning of Christmas and being a missionary at this time is indescribable... to be able to focus on Christ 24/7 and testify of His birth and life is so Amazing! I hope you all have such an amazing Christmas on Sunday and really try and remember our Savior. He is the light of this world and he really does live today.
Frohe Weihnachten everyone, I love you all!!

Sister Samantha Barnett
Gartenstrasse 9/1
72074 Tübingen
Deutschland

4 MONTH MARK CELEBRATING WITH CAKE OF COURSE!

OH YOU KNOW SAM - POSING WITH A RANDOM STRANGER IN A RAM HEAD COSTUME!

SPLITS

TUBINGEN SISTERS ON SPLITS

A MAN ON THE STREET PAINTED THESE- SISTER HOFMOCKEL'S MEANS "BALANCE"
SISTER BARNETT'S MEANS "HARMONY"

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

What a fun week!! It really is starting to feel like Christmas with all the decorations getting set up everywhere! It is so amazing here at Christmas time, I still cant believe I'm here!

So on Tuesday we taught Maguy the 3rd lesson and it was going really good! I led the lesson so that was cool as well haha. We went through all of the points and we got to baptism and everything was just feeling so right and she was agreeing with everything we were saying so I asked her if she would be baptized on January 7 aaaannnndddd...... she said she had already been baptized!!!! My heart just sank haha - But she said she was baptized in the 7th Day Adventist Church and so she was confused as to why she needed to be baptized again. So I explained to her that it needed to be by the priesthood authority and it was really cool to be able to explain that to her. She doesn't understand the priesthood very well so we retaught her that and she said "ooohhhhh okay that makes sense now!!" haha So it was a little bit of a let down but all in all it ended up okay, She is going to pray about the priesthood and about the restoration again and then we are going to see where it goes from there!

Wednesday was our CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE!!! It was so much fun I got to see a lot of old friends! some of my mtc group was there and so it was so fun to get to catch up with them! Also Sister Rasmussen (Katie who was my girl before the mish) was there and it was so good to see her aka have someone be taller than me lol. it was a fun time with fun people and super good german food. just a super fun day :)

RIVALS ON THE BASKETBALL COURT - SISTER ON THE MISH!  SISTER RASMUSSEN PLAYED FOR AF

PRESTON ENGLAND MTC COMPS

SISTER CHURCH ANOTHER MTC COMP

Thursday we visited a less actives house and she has about a million cats. I honestly don't think she has even 1 litter box sooo right as we opened the door it was like cat pee in your face and she had the heat CRANKED up so it was literally like walking into a pee flavored sauna... that's the best way i can describe it hahaha sorry for the details but it was nastyyy. We had a good lesson with her (and her rambunctious new kitten) about Christmas so that was good -  but to be honest I couldn't wait to get out of that house haha i was dying! again, the adventures of being a missionary lol!

Friday we went to a member's house and made ginger bread houses for refugee children! I am the worst at anything craftsy/cute soooo i hope i don't offend anyone with my terrible decorating skills... it was still fun though :)

Sunday was great - we went to church and i got to know some of the ward members a little better and then we went to Schwester Mullers house for lunch and she fed us Maultaschen which is in my top 3 favorite german foods so that was soooo amazing!. That night we went to a Christmas Conference our stake was holding and i got to sing What Child Is This with some ladies in my ward and the missionaries in our zone sang O Come O Come Emanuel and there were some other really good music pieces that people performed  -it was so fun!!

Today we went to the Weihnachtsmarkt in Esslingen and it was fantastic!  We ate some wurst and roasted almonds and bought some Christmas stuff and yeah it was a good time! Christmas is right around the corner and i am sooo excited!!!

This week my favorite quote has been "when God pushes you to the edge of difficulty, trust him fully because 2 things can happen; Either He'll catch you when you fall or He'll teach you how to fly." I honestly have never agreed with anything more in my life. My mission has taught me that God really IS always there for us, even when we don't think he is and He will NEVER let us fall. We need to trust Him! Everything will all work out the way its supposed to.

 I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas time! I love you all and am so grateful for each of you! 

Love
Sister Samantha Barnett
Gartenstrasse 9/1
72074 Tübingen
Deutschland

WITH SISTER HOFMOCKEL FEEDING PIGEONS IN THE PARK! :)

BORROWING SISTER HOFMOCKELS HAIR NET?

THESE TWO PEAS IN A POD

SAM SAYS THAT THEY WENT KLINGELING (RINGING BELLS)
AND  SAW THAT THE LAST NAME TEUFEL AUF DEUTSCH MEANS DEVIL :0

WEEK 16: TRANSFER DAY- TUBINGEN GERMANY HERE I COME!

Busy busy week! I cant believe all that has happened in just 7 days.... so many miracles, so many blessings!

So Tuesday was my last day in St Gallen Switzerland. I packed for most of the day and that night we went to Aileen's one last time for dinner. It was delish of course! Then we  met with Jennifer (from the bus - commented on my tag) and her daughter and talked more about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. She loves what we have to offer and wants to be baptized! So we got her on date for December 31! She needs to stop smoking and come to church but she said it's worth it because that's what her desire is!  Our goal since we met her has been to get her on date to be baptized and the last day I was there we did it. Such an amazing way to end my time in st. Gallen❤

AILEEN'S HOUSE AND THE AMAZING DINNER SHE COOKED FOR US

Wednesday was Transfer Daayyy. We woke up and got on a train to Zürich and then from there I met up with Sister Church (MTC comp) and Sister Jones (from my mtc group) who were also getting transferred Love those ladies!! It was about a 3 hour train ride and it was awesome! Then we met our comps at the train station! My companions name is Sister Hofmockel she is from France! She loves music and dancing and she can beat-box like no ones business!!! So yeah she is amazing and we get along super well :) We are the Sister Training Leaders of the Stuttgart zone which is pretty coooool haha. Later that night we had a lesson with a French woman named Maguy and she is incredible. She has such a strong spirit! We taught her about the 3 kingdoms and at the end of the lesson she said, "it all just makes so much sense!" I just couldn't stop thinking yes because its TRUE!!!!!!

MATCHING BEANIES JUDITH MADE US!

NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE TO SISTER STAMP!

HER DISTRICT IN ST GALLEN - SAYING GOODBYE

Thursday we did a service project on a man's cow farm and washed windows all day long... I didn't know a house could have so many windows! Then went to some meetings and taught a Young Women's lesson,.. aka taught them a dance haha it was so much fun!

TYPICAL SAM - I'M SURPRISED SHES NOT IN THE PEN WITH THEM!  ANIMAL LOVER

Another way cool thing is I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND PEOPLE ON THE STREET!! No more Swiss German Holla- freakin- leuja... it's sooooo weird to walk on the street and actually pick up on people's conversations... so cool! They do have a dialect here obviously - but I actually understand!!!

Friday was pretty boring, we did some visa stuff, super uninteresting lol. Then for lunch we bought döners aka the best things on the planet. If you dont know what they are look them up because the only word that comes to mind when I try to explain them is heaven. ( Theyre banned in the US because of the way the meat is cooked soooo yeah you know theyre good.)  We did some weekly planning and I am SO excited to be here, the work is going so well! We have a few solid investigators and a ton of recently baptized that we are teaching, so the teaching is really constant and super great.

Saturday something super interesting thing happened... we were on our way home from a lesson and 2 extremely drunk guys who didn't have tickets for the train got in trouble by the ticket guy and started screaming a word i haven't heard in a while like 100 times over again... the train made an emergency stop and the police came and escorted them off it was NUTS! Don't drink kids.

Sunday was amazing Maguy came to church! and not only that.... SHE BORE HER TESTIMONY!!! Bless her freaking heart that woman is amazing. she doesn't speak German, but she wanted to get up and express her love and gratitude to her Heavenly Father, so Sister Hofmockel went up with her and translated her testimony from French to German it was the coolest thing ever!! The Spirit was so strong and it touched every one in the congregation. I look up to her so much! Sister Hofmockel and I are meeting with her tomorrow and we have been praying about a date for her baptism and we both feel like January 7 is right so we will tell her that when we meet with her tomorrow.

You guys this church is SO true. It truly brings so much happiness into people's lives and to be able to have the opportunity to see that first hand is indescribable. I love this gospel with all my heart and I love being a missionary! Have an amazing week and don't forget to thank Heavenly Father for all the amazing blessings He has given you. This season is all about giving so let's express some gratitude to the person who has given us everything!

Love you all!!

P.S. Sister Hofmockel and I are making a Christmas dance to the remix of Angels We Have Heard On High by James the Mormon (we practiced last night it was epic) soooo be prepared for the best video of your life coming soon!!  hahaha!

TUBINGEN GERMANY - BEAUTIFUL BUT VERY DIFFERENT IN ALOT OF WAYS FROM SWITZERLAND.  NOT AS PRISTINE OR CLEAN, AND THE TRAINS DO NOT RUN ON TIME!  DRIVES ME NUTS!

TUBINGEN, GERMANY:  THE PHOTOS DONT DO IT JUSTICE!  

SISTER HOFMOCKEL AND SISTER BARNETT

COMPANIONS :)

PDAY FUN - LOOKS LIKE A GOOD COMPANIONSHIP FIT!

SHE'S ALWAYS WANTED A HORSE!  BUT THIS IS A MINI!

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OUT AND ABOUT -EATING A RANDOM HOT DOG - DELISH!

SISTER HOFMOCKEL- SHE'S SUCH A BOSS!!

TÜBINGEN 

Sister Samantha Barnett
Gartenstrasse 9/1
72074 Tübingen
Germany