i have been transferred... to America

real life transfer call this week:

AP: OK sister are you ready!? Sister Tolman you will be staying in Kassel

with your new companion Sister ****** ( privacy purposes)

annnnnnnnnd Sister Diederich.. Your being transferred.. to AMERICA..

And we are leaving it up to you to find your new companion

-_-

well that's as helpful as

this week was bizarre

I was sitting in awe during times of silence just taking it all in.. How much

i will miss Germany, how much i love being a missionary, how much i have

left to do, how much of an awkward RM i will be..

and then an elder snapped me out of my daze and said

'' Sister Diederich... are you sick!?''

without thought i responded

'' IM ILL..... NOT SICK''

welp-. that sure warmed my heart to say.. kinda gave me hope that I'm not a 

complete lost cause..

As my German goodbyes piled up so did my calorie intake..

As a goodbye present we had an eating appointment

every.single.day

all members made TYPICAL GERMAN GOOD

rotkohl, klöße. würst, kartoffelen, gulasche, gemüse

the whole 9 yards..

the whole 9 yards in description to the food... or the size i grew??

safe bet to say both.

Well... this was the BUSIEST week of my entire mission.. so imma

summarize it briefly.. 

1. got a very very... creepy package.. full of 60 dollars worth

of meats and breads from Germany.. money and a 26 page

love note... old person from an old city.. naja

President took care of that for me and sent it back to him..

I never did get to read the note.. or keep the money hahah but ya

that was definitely one for the books

Next..

I went on exchange to Hannover this week!! It felt like a dream!!

Speaking of.. Sister Fugal was a total gem and planned a surprise

appointment with DIRK!!!!!!!!!!!! She also surprised him.. haha i turned

the corner and both of our faces totally lit up we were so excited!!

What happened next is truly a tender mercy..

The closer I've been getting to coming home.. the more I've felt

Satan working hard on me.. and i find myself wondering..

'' did i really make that BIG of a difference on my mission for others!?''

Well i received one of my answers that day.. Dirk is doing 

a.m.a.z.i.n.g.... he is active, loving his calling ( he comes

an hour early to set up chairs.. they say he even curves them all nice ... swag)

killin it..

not only is he staying strong but he is joint teaching with the Elders and Sisters,

preparing to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood this week AND his patriarchal

blessing.... MOST PREPARED MAN IN EUROPE

After our lesson we closed with a prayer.. Dirk offered the most beautiful

PURE prayer. It was a testimony builder to see how far he has come. He

has TRULY figured out prayer, something that takes most people a lifetime

to figure out. It was a two way communication between him and his father in 

heaven.. sooooo powerful and SOOO beautiful..

Before closing he thanked God for sending me to him and putting me in his path.

He asked that all will be well with me as i travel home this week and to protect me until

i come back to visit him in April.

After that killer appointment we went to........ the most memorable

eating appointment. EVER

It was at a less active members home from GHANA AFRICA..

She sits us down and then begins to bring out the food... i couldn't

tell you what it was to be honest.. no idea..

but through her broken German i was able to understand.. fish.. spicy plantains

and other weird african things in a brown paper sack.

She left to go to the kitchen to clean up for a quick minute and well

keeping the sister d tradition ALIVE... i panicked..

pulled out my handy dandy shopping baggie from the pday prior..

and did away with it... I did try it though... and i cried.

NEXT.

I had to get 800 dollars from the church to buy my shots to take home..

YOLO

LAST:

our concert..

what can I say? solo went well...nobody walked out!

hectic.

But we pulled it together and it was an amazing night! Lots of members and

investigators came.. felt the spirit.. ate a brownie.. SUCCESS!!

The day before our concert i held a street display downtown.. 

God had other plans that day..... HE MADE IT RAIN ( non fat joe reference.. or was it)

Well it was pourrrinnnggggg.. the elders and sisters all sung huddled under an umbrella and 

yours truly was the sacrifice and stood out alone passing out fliers..

A man walked up to me and i offered him a flyer.. 

he declined..

So... i offered him a cooooool blue book..

he declined..

I noticed he was absolutely drenched, he looked exhausted and as if

he might of had even a worse day than me..

So without hesitation.

I offered him my umbrella..

He stopped with a confused look.. stared.. and then humbled himself and

said '' ja... bitte''

he accepted.

He took my umbrella ( still completely shocked ) and walked off..

about 10 minutes later i felt a tap on my shoulder and it was him again!

He asked '' who... are you?''

i explained i was a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints..

and we talked for about 10 minutes... 

His heart was completely changed.. he then took a flyer.. and eventually a book..

He couldn't make it to the fireside but the sisters have a new investigator..

BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS ARE GREAT THINGS BROUGHT TO PASS

I cannot believe this has to end.. I want to thank you all for the BEST 

18 months of my life!!!!.. Missions change lives.. and I've never been so happy.

I don't want it to end.. but that just goes to show me that I've served my best,

I love the Lord and will bis ans ende ausharren.. 

Ich möchte mein Zeugnis geben, dass ich von ganzem Herzen weiß, dass Gott lebt und dass er ein unveränderlicher Gott der Wunder ist. Ich weiß, dass Jesus der Christus ist und dass er für jeden einzelnen von uns gestorben ist, damit wir Hoffnung auf ein besseres Leben haben können, das frei von Schuld und Leid ist.

Ich bezeuge, dass Joseph Smith wirklich Gott und seinen Sohn gesehen hat, der durch ihn viele Wunder auf der Erde vollbracht hat. Er hat das Buch Mormon hervorgebracht und die wahre Kirche Jesu Christi auf der Erde wiederhergestellt. Ich weiß von ihrer Göttlichkeit. Ich habe es selbst gelesen und lade euch ein, dies auch zu tun, falls ihr es noch nicht getan habt. Und alle die es schon getan haben, lade ich ein, es noch einmal zu tun.

GOTT SEI MIT EUCH BIS........... MITTWOCH

Liebe Grüße

sister isabelle diederich

a.k.a. bella in berlin

I'm coming home...

Anybody want a blue book?

Dinner... Ghana Style

Dirk!

preachin in the rain

ohh.. Zac Efron plays German soccer?

Elders observing

Mad no one told me about this

release papers

See you all soon!