Advent: Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love

 


Sisters Stephens, Wardle, Wimmer, and Christensen
We hosted a Christmas Eve luncheon at the 
Mission Offices.  
We had 28 attend and we had a blast!


Elders Jones, Koshar, and Longmore


Sister Spaulding


Elder Wimmer, Sister Zwick, Sister Spaulding


Elder Wimmer


Sister Christensen
This is our buffet of deserts and Hawaiian Haystacks


Yummy deserts made by Sister Wimmer


Elder Stephens


Sister Stephens with Sister Kunkle and Sister McKenzie


Sister Spaulding, Sister Rodriguez, Sister Zwick, 
Elder Johnson, Elder Longmore
This is the Cover Your Assets game room


Elder Holland, Sister Hokanson, Sister Christensen,
Sister McKenzie, Paul, and Elder Koshar


Sister Wimmer pulled kitchen duty-she is amazing.


Sister Pearson, Elder Lucas, Elder Turman, Sister Kunkle,
Elder Jones, Elder Bryant, and Sister Hokanson

These missionaries played a competitive game of Scum!


Elder Johnson, Elder Holland, Sister Christensen, and Sister Spaulding.

This was the game of spoons - not for the faint of heart.  


The final round of spoons was between Elder Holland and Elder Johnson.
They put the spoon in the other room so they had to run for it.



This is a group shot with most of the missionaries pictured.

Advent, in Germany, is observed as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus’s birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the second coming.  It is celebrated as follows:

1st Advent: Hope

2nd Advent: Joy

3rd Advent: Peace

4th Advent: Love


We cannot end this year without sending you warm greetings from the Germany Berlin Mission. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement. We truly appreciate the opportunity to serve full-time once again.

This mission is the complete opposite, weather-wise, of what we were accustomed to in Southeast Asia. Instead of warm, sun-filled tropical islands, we experience colder weather with much less sunshine (it starts getting dark around 3:30 in the afternoon—yikes!) along with high humidity. Even so, the work of salvation remains the same—a marvelous work and a wonder. And after we served 3 weeks, we definitely wanted to double our time here. 

It is common for us to tear up during teaching occasions, as the Spirit is so strong while investigators are being taught. Although we are very busy in the office, we gladly drop everything to teach with the missionaries whenever those opportunities arise. We have taught elect individuals who are humble and sincerely searching for the truth—such wonderful people. We are grateful to be part of their lives as they become lifelong friends following their baptisms.

We will serve here for at least a year and will most likely return in late September.

Thank you again for your friendship and guidance. May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas in every moment of our lives.  

Love Elder and Sister Stephens


























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