Frohe Weihnachten

Our Christmas tree and presents

Frohe Weihnachten  (Merry Christmas)

Merry Christmas!! And a Happy New Year for this coming week!

It was so great to see and talk with you on Wednesday, so glad that all worked out great and we had that time to talk. I have grown to love you guys more than I can say over the months I have been out and it sure is neat to see you and then keep going on and the love just keeps on growing. I love my family!

It was  great week of Christmas and its pretty neat that here in Germany they celebrate 3 days of Christmas. America has got to catch on because it is so cool that they just have these 3 days where stores are closed down and everyone can just spend time with the family! Monday we started out first actually meeting with Marius and then again on Saturday and he is progressing very well, we are hoping (cross your fingers) to start the Stop Smoking Program with him this week he might be leaving for a couple days with family for the new year but we are hoping to get that started. He is so diligent at coming to church and I love it, he gets himself there by walking a good 25 minutes and even though its all in German is loves it! Its neat to see his progress in German as well, I have been translating for him at church and he actually was understanding quite a bit which is a great blessing! When we go over he shows us how he has been studying on the computer and it has really paid off! 

Tuesday Heilige Abend (Christmas Eve) was a great day as we were invited over to a families house for that evening but before we went we had a little time and so us 4 in Rosenheim went into city center, picked a good street with a good amount of people walking by, pulled out our little German hymn books and started singing Christmas hymns. It was a little intense at first but we got into it and loved it, I believe most people did too! We had people stopping in cars and listening for a bit, people taking photos and so on! I absolutely loved it! I love how we have many ways to testify of Christ and it was a perfect day to sing praises to Jesus Christ. A good night with the member family and we actually had the opportunity to go to a Catholic mass because their daughter was playing in the orchestra. It was a neat experience especially here in Germany on Christmas but I am so glad we have the truth and ours is his church. 

Wednesday (Weihnachten)we spent the day at a less actives house. We played games and with the kids and it was a great day as we were also able to talk! The neatest thing though was they came to church on Sunday! Oh man, I loved seeing them there and they fit right in, I hope they stay for good! 

Thursday (Zweite Weihnachten) we went to the Bishops house and spend some time with his family and had a good time there. He has a neat family and I just loved spending time with them and the rest of the members this rest and strengthening our relationship which is so key! The rest of the week was great as we also met with another less active family that is so close in coming to church, they have a car but its an hour drive and they seem to always have something but we were keep working with them and get them there. Its so great that we have a new year right around the corner to look back on what we learned and go forward in faith and confidence for success.

One last neat thing that actually just happened today, we were in the bus going to get groceries and I noticed an older couple that we had talked to about 2 months ago. We had made out an appointment but when we went they werent there and we tried going back and they were never there. So neat to see them again and hear that he had actually had been in the hospital but would love to still meet. Everything has a right time and right place but the closest thing was when I was talking to him, his wife was talking with someone behind her and I didnt catch it all but the women was asking questions about our church and the wife was sticking up for the church and giving correct info and being very positive about the church. Oh man I loved it! They are such a neat couple and I hope we make some progress!

Love you with all my heart, hope you have a wonderful week and a happy new year!!

Much love,

Elder Jerman

2013 Elder Smith and I standing right before going into our kitchen with the few snowflakes we made, (we had just a little time to fit in making some) :)

from Sister Seamons

Just had to tell you how sweet your son is.  I received a thank you card about a week ago from him thanking us for having such a great son that he could be companions with.  Wow, what a great missionary-----so thoughtful!  We are so thankful for missionary's like him that are such great companions with OUR son!  I know Joseph was very blessed to have had him for his second companion!  
I didn't get to hear from Joseph on Christmas and I'm ready to call Pres. Miles and complain!!!!!!!   I think I got ripped off.  Anyway, Merry Christmas, a little late!
So.....I decided to quit feeling sorry for myself and emailed the missionary president and he called Joseph and we will talk to him at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning the 30th of December!  Can't wait!!!!!!!!  Yey!!!!!!!

The Prince of Peace

Family! 

Its been great hearing from you today and it gets me excited for Wednesday. I cant believe we will be able to Skype and how fun it will be. It has just been a great time to be a missoinary and we have had a great week. To start things off on Tuesday we had a zone Christmas Devotional and President and Sister Miles came as well. At the beginning we played chimes to different Christmas songs, we then discussed tradtions and the many different ones we have. It was a great time to looked back on memories of family traditions and I am so grateful for all the wonderful ones we have! We had an white elephant exchanged and then ate lunch. Afterwards President and Sister Miles spoke with us about having Christ image in our countenance by developing Christlike Attributes. How neat it is that we can share the light of Christ to others even through our example and who we are and the way we live and serve others. It was a great meeting. We had German class that night with Marius and we actually translated passages out of the Book of Mormon, it was perfect. We met with him the next morning and had a good lesson and it was neat to have him share and open up about his life and how he has developed faith. It helped strengthen my faith and I love how our faith can be strengthend through others and hearing the words of Christ. We committed him to come to our Stop Smoking program on Friday but he had family and coudnt make it. This week we will committ him for the beginnig of the year so he can be ready for baptism. It was pretty neat because we still did this program with an investigator from the other two Elders. Its an awesome program and it has things you have to follow exactly or you cant go on. Its neat we can be there and help these people stop this bad habit but they have got to want it and its their descission we are there for support and helping them when they want it. It gives one step where they have to bring their cigarettes and crush them and this investigator couldnt do it. We had to end and will just love and try it again once he is ready. Its a great progam. 

We got in contact with Samra this week! She has been working everyday for the last while and she has the Christmas break off and so we met with her just yesterday and had a great lesson. We had to move her baptismal date because it was going to be for this weekend but since we havent met lately we had to move it but its so neat she still has the desire to get baptized. We called Rita this week and no answer but got a text the next day that she will be out of town at her parents for the weekend and on to Budapest for Christmas. Saturday night we wanted to just drop off a Christmas card and so her light on so we rang and she got to talk with her just at the door step quick and wished her a Merry Christmas. After the new year we will see how she really is doing and if we can reset a new date with her. 

We had a neat experience with a potential we found last week. We called him up this week and he said he wanted to meet and he said, name a place and time and I am there. So this next weekend after Christmas we will be meeting with him. Its great that there is always people out there ready to hear the gospel. Also this week we had the chance a couple times to sing Christmas songs. I love it and especially Bayerisch Christmas songs! We sang with the other Elders in our district and some members at a old folkes home just like in the atumn. We also sang in Sacrement meeting with the choir, we had a great meeting with some muscial numbers as well. Such a neat time to ponder and think about Christ during beautiful Christmas music. 

I wünsche euch eine frohe Weihnacthen! I know Christ is the Redeemer and Savior of the World. He is the Prince of Peace and through him we can feel that peace especially in this wonerful time. 

Hope you have a great week and I will see you on Wednesday!! 

Love you so much,

Elder Jerman

 Elder Smith and I doing service in clothes that were given to us to do service                      - we are looking good!

Book of Mormon Miracle

 Hey Family!

Oh my oh my, this is just the most special time right now and I hope it will live on. I hope you just take every moment of it and love it. We are so blessed and its a wonderful to give thanks and serve others. We have had a great week and have seen some great miracles this week. To start off with I would like to talked about the importance of goal setting. It really does make a difference and I just lived a week of just that. Elder Smith and I made the goal at the beginning of the week that we would give out one Book of Mormon everyday. We hadnt done so well in the past and really wanted to reach this goal. It was so neat as days went on with every experience we had each day in giving out our Book of Mormon. They were all miracles in them self. Thursday it was neat as Elder Smith has grown the confidence and stopped a younger guy and we started a conversation and he ended up accepting the Book of Mormon. Friday was really neat as we didnt have much time that day to do much contacting as we were in Neuötting with the other Elders as we practiced with the members there for our singing performance we will be doing this week. We had a good practice and Im pretty darn excited to sing some carols and these Bayerisch carols are something else Ive got to say, it should be great though. Anyway so we come back to Rosenheim and come out of the train station and usually go straight into the city. We both knew we had still our Book of Mormon to give out for the day and as we came out I had the feeling to take a right. I knew that not many people walk on that street and we would have a better chance with more people if we went right into the city but it came again to go right. So we went and didnt see anyone on the street, then came up on the other side of the street someone and we decided to go across and talked to him. He too accepted a Book of Mormon and it was just the neatest thing ever! I love how we can make achievable goals that we want to achieve and so we are concentrated on them throughout the week and then the neat thing is that only with the Lords help our they achievable. Saturdays unfortunately we didnt give one out as we had our Ward Christmas Party and a couple other appointments where we didnt have the time but we still did our best in doing so with the time given. But the week wasnt up yet we still had Sunday to give out the book for that day and then also forSaturday. In our time of contacting the first person we talked to accepted the Book of Mormon and then lets just say we had a lot of turned down invitations and wasnt looking like it was going to happen. With 15 minutes left we decided to prayer and asked for the help we needed to give out this last Book of Mormon in our goal we had set for the week. As walking home and our last person we talked to we had the opportunity to share our testimony of how this special book has helped out in our life and promised the same blessing for them. They accepted and we had done it! As we set righteous goal and trust that the Lord will help as we asked for it, miracles will happen!

The Christmas Party was great as we had some non members and less actives there. It was a neat time with them and the members. We actually got a surpise sack of gifts from the ward! It was so nice, I will have to send you a pic of our tree and many presents. The 4 Elders were called up and on the spot they asked us to sing some American Christmas songs so off we went with we wish you a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bells, and Rudolph. It was a great time and ward activities are so great for non members. Unfortunately Rita and Samra wasnt there but Marius did make it. Marius is making great progress as he has come to church the last 4 weeks in a row and we have been meeting with him through out the week. This week we will be starting a Stop Smoking program with him and we hope that goes well! Updates on Rita, we went by Tuesday night to see if we could make out an appointment and she said that she would like to take a break. She said we could call in a week so we will be giving her a call this week. Her son came up for the weekend and this week we left it up to the Lord and everyone prayers. Thanks for all your prayers for her! Samra has gotten a job and is working everyday and it has been hard to meet with her. We will probably changed her date as we wont be able to teach everything we need to but the desire is still there! We received a referral this week from Headquarters and went by and we have an appointment this next week! We hope we see success from that as its neat that they show the beginning interest to meet. Its an exciting time and there is always those ready to hear the gospel. What a great gift it is especially at this time of year to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know its true and I know it helps everyone in every situation.

Love you all so very much and hope you have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Jerman

Hope on

My wonderful Family!

What a wonderful time of year, oh man I just love everyday of it! There is so many great things going on at this time and what a special time of year. Its especially special I think because of Christ and how we can remember him and give service to others. That service spirit is that Christmas spirit and we all are involved! I love it and I love that we can be members of his church and take his name upon as we serve and do our best everyday in becoming Christlike. I love how its a life long process and we can always be improving our Christlike qualities, our service to others and the knowledge we receive. I love CHRISTmas! 

Well it has been quite the week, lots of highs but with that (just like life) there comes the lows. We will start on Tuesday

 we visited Rita and actually had an exchange with our District Leader so we could do the Baptismal Interview, that went great and we also shared a great lesson with her. That night we had Ward Council and it was an exciting time to be planning for the upcoming things as we also have less actives progressing and actually a family we are working with called the Ojo family from Nigeria, the father just got the Priesthood last week and they are making progress to get to the temple. So it was a great night with the Leaders in the ward talking about the progress of the ward at this time. I enjoyed it very much so. Wednesday rolls around and we meet with Rita and our Ward Missionary Leader and make out the schedule for the Baptism which was way awesome and it was a great exciting time. We go by on Thursday with Bischop and asked her how she is doing and feeling and she wasnt doing so well. She has decided to not get baptizedon Sunday. We are very saddened for her and its even tougher because we know she knows its right and that she is ready at this time. She explained to us further that she knows it is right as well and that baptism is needed but the church part of it is her concern. Especially with her family she feels she cant do without their support and love. It sure is tough and we hope she will come around, I know she will! Its been neat to learn about how the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning, and he prepares a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men. ( 1 Nephi 9:6) Even when we dont know why we can trust in the Lord he does and everything will work out in his time. We are still praying for a miracle and still have the hope. We will not give up and we will press on in faith. 

Our other investigators are doing pretty good, we have met with Samra again this week and its so neat to see her progressing as she reads in the Book of Mormon and what was really cool is she said how she has realized when she is at church as well just being around the members she has realized that there really is more of a purpose in life than just working, eating and sleeping. So neat the example we can all give without even knowing about it, just how we live. Marius are other investigator has been coming to church the last 3 weeks in a row and we have made a baptismal date with him for the 12th of January! He is a very humbled man and we have a great relationship as he is one that comes to our German class. That is going well and we usually have Marius and then the Vantic family (Samras family) coming to that. Who knew I would be teaching German in Germany instead of English but its great to help those learning German as well from around Europe. 

Enjoy this great time of year where we can give back to Christ for all he has given us. I love that we can serve and give that joy, hope and light we have experienced in our lives and give it on to others. Even when times get hard we hope on and trust that after all we can do we will receive his grace and help! (2 Nephi 25:23) 

I love you all very much and hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love, 

Elder Jerman

Elder Smith and I up in the mountains

Up in the mountains over looking the lake of Chiemsee and the city of Bernau

Its December

 Hey Family! 

Sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving down in sunny St. George. Great to hear from you and also see some pictures. You guys are sure growing up and great you could spend some good time together with the family. It was a great week here in Rosenheim. We are seeing miracles happen and I am so grateful for God and his wonderful work. Elder Seamons had his last couple days here in Rosenheim and Wednesday we met one last time with Samra and Rita. It went good but they were sad to see him go. We actually stayed a little too long and had to run to the train station to catch a train to Munich but we missed it. It was actually just me that missed it! We got the approval that Elder Seamons would stay the night in Rosenheim with the other two Elders and I would ride by myself to Munich. It was a little weird but just kept myself busy speaking with people on the train and it worked out perfect because I took another train a little later but it was meant to be. I spoke with a lady actually from Canada that was on a trip her and it was her last day before coming back, we had a good conversation and at the end I gave her a card and asked if she actually knew any Mormons and she said she used to be one. Neat to be able to talk with her and hopefully sparked something from within. Also on that train ride, talked to a women who met with the Missionaries 5 years ago in another city. There are people out there who have received the message and have not expected it but there is always a way the Lord is preparing them for the right time!

Wednesday night getting into Munich was great as I saw my companion from the MTC that I hadnt seen since that first day, so fun to catch up with him and other missionaries. We went to the mission home and met the Goldens and had dinner and then all sat in a circle and us trainers got to introduce our area and then a Golder was assigned to us. Elder Jordan Smith from Delta Utah is here in Rosenheim with me!! He is real great and its pretty crazy as he is just 18 years old just out of high school. We will have a great time together though and learn lots together, I am excited to learn, serve and love. Its kind of neat looking back to my first days here in Germany and seen the progress both from German and my knowledge of the Gospel. I am so thankful that we are here on this earth to learn and grow everyday!

So to the miracle part now, the good part! Its been neat how its all played out how its all played out and also what I have been studying. The enabling power of the Atonement is a real power and we can and do receive both persistence and strength not to get out of a trial but instead what we need to make it through it. As we pray and fast with faith, I am here to stay that miracles do happen. We have both in our mission as a whole and also in our ward prayed and fasted together for missionary work in this last little bit. I have seen the power of unity in it. With Samra and her family that were having problems staying in the country and money problems, everything worked into place how it needed to and they are able to stay here. With Rita as we just met with her yesterday night she told us how her doubts and worries are gone and she feels confident and ready for this in her life. She said, "I want that" as we talked about baptism and the promised blessings from it. Its so neat how the Atonement has the power to changed a persons heart and desires. We are so excited for Rita and cant wait for her to be baptized, what a special time for her especially in this Christmas season. This message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings joy and hope to all who listen, believe and act. Let us all strengthen our belief in this wonderful time of year. I love you all and hope you have a great week. 

Liebe Grüße,  (It means literally, "dear greetings."  Very similar to "warmest regards." Or something like that.)

Elder Jerman

November 2013,  Mission Home to pick up new "Golden" Elder Smith

Trainer/1st companion, Elder Merkley, Elder Jerman, new "Golden" Elder Smith

Elder Jerman and Elder Miller (from AF and just out of Preston, England MTC)            So fun to have transfer day and see other elders also getting transfered that haven't seen each other for a while and meet back together. Munich train station is also ready for Christmas!!

from Sister Seamons

 "I think they have been a great match, because they seem to have gotten so much done!  I kind of almost feel sad that Joseph is leaving the area when so many great things are happening, but that's the way it's supposed to be.  I have loved getting to know your son.  He always writes so positively and seems so very, very grateful for everything.  Who could resist that? "

Sister Seamons  (Preston, Idaho) - mother to Elder Seamons, Jason's companion in Rosenheim

Dankbarkeit

A couple notes from responses to our email of questions:    Its been fun to tell a couple members already about thanksgiving and christmast tradtions about getting a real christmas tree and cutting it down. they love it and I am so grateful for having a family that would do such tradtions!  Unfortantly we didnt make it to our Thanksgiving dinner. the other two elders did and also the elders in Neuötting (where actually the family lives) but we missed our train as we were in another city helping a less active. They brought some home for us so no worries! :)  We really are so blessed and I have learned alot being here in Europe, we meet people all around from Europe and the middle east. They come to germany because its one of the safest places and where they can really have a life, family and job. We are so blessed to be Americans.

Happy Thanksgiving my wonderful family!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving and remember to be grateful for all the many many blessings we have as a family and as people. Being on a mission has taught me a lot and I have learned and appreciate more the blessings we do have. We meet many people all around Europe and the Middle East here in Germany that come here to find safety, a job and not having to worry about big problems like that. We sure are grateful to be American and have freedom and to be raised in such a good place. We actually met a 20 yr. old boy from Mali that has been here only about 3 months. Its kind of a cool story, we went by a former investigator that we had before but didnt have anytime and we go by again and see that someone is there with her, we didnt want to disturb but decided to ring anyway. She let us in and this guy from Mali opened up about his life in Mali and Libya and all the hard things he has gone through including war, prison and coming here by boat. We dont know how blessed we really are in our living conditions. Afterwards she thanked us for coming and bringing our Spirit so that he was able to feel comfortable and open up to us so he could let it all out. I hope we all take the time this week to be grateful for what we have and not just this week but every week.

Some fun and exciting news for this week. We got transfer calls this last Thursday morning and President Miles called and asked Elder Seamons to pack his bags as he will be gonig to Vienna and then I got the news that I will be receiving a brand new Missionary! A Greenie, a Golden! We will be going Wednesday night to Munich and then coming back Thursday, it will be an exciting time and it will be great because we will go right to work. Its been neat to be here the last few months and see the progress as time goes on. As we find new people to teach and see them progress and being able to meet with them more and more. It has been a great time with Elder Seamons and I am grateful for his great example of diligent work and true love for these people. Ill miss that guy and his willingness to always be working. We were able to accomplish with the Lords help quite a bit and I hope I can keep it moving.

Some updates on Samra and Rita. Samra has been progressing very well as she has read everyday in the Book of Mormon and so cool to see her take notes and highlight things she likes. She told us her desire for baptism has grown and she really does want to be baptized, it was a humbling and exciting time to be able to see desire in her grow in just this last month, it really has been quite a miracle and it tells you the importance of reading in the Book of Mormon and prayer every day! Rita is also doing well, we met with her Wednesday with our Bishop and it went good, she brought up again her doubts and worries. It has been a big change in both her life and the life of her family as she has been meeting with us and trying to figure out if it is the right thing for her. It has been tough as there are so many ideas, decisions and what she really believes. She hasnt felt at peace with herself, when we are there it is great and she feels it is right, it becomes tough as she is alone and tries to receive an answer. The last few days though have been better. We met again on Saturday and talked about faith and also showed Elder Hollands talk last April in Conference and that seemed to helped as we focus on what we do believe rather than what we dont. We fasted with her on Sunday and she said that church was just for her! It was great and last night we called her and she said the fast really helped and even felt the support from us. As we fast and pray together in unity, miracles really do happen as we hope on and believe. We are still planning for the 15th of December for her keep her in your prayers and we know the Lord will do the rest! I love you all so very much and am so grateful for my family! 

Liebe Grüße, 

Elder Jerman

At night at the Christkindlmarkt in down town where they have set up many shops and things for Christmas.

a note from cousin Courtney

 I appreciate Jason's example of hope and love. I know he is also in a difficult area, but I picture him still being his happy, outgoing self and lifting where he stands.

Sister Courtney King - Japan Sendai mission (August 2013 - February 2013)

Harvesting the field

My birthday - wearing same tie as other 3 "Kerr"ent (cousins) missionaries

Family Family!

We had another great week and I know God is a God of miracles. We have a goal in our mission to get 290 children God baptized by the end of the year. We still have a long way to go but its been the coolest thing to refocus on that and work diligently and faithfully towards that worthy goal and then see the miracles come from it. We have for sure seen the miracles come from it. We set another baptismal date this week!!! Her name is Samra and she is from Bosnia, we met her and her family on the street about a month ago and she and her husband has been coming to German class that we are teaching. We have been meeting with her now for the last two weeks and she accepted a baptismal date for the 29th a December. God knows we can reach our goal and he is showing us as we believe and hope we really can work miracles through his power. This is his work and his glory and he needs us to fulfill his goal of helping his children receive immortality and eternal life. Its been so neat to meet with her as well as Rita and learn so much from them. I learn and my testimony is strengthen as we meet and discuss the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are so ready and it is humbling God is giving those who are prepared. One thing Samra said was she explained how she has always read in the Bible but now with the Book of Mormon she is understanding Gods plan and she said, "This book fills in the gaps of the Bible." So cool as we see how the Bible and Book of Mormon work hand in hand to give the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rita is also doing well and every time we go over it is reconfirmed on how prepared she is! We met twice this week with her and had members present and its great that they are making relationships with her and beginning a friendship. Members are so important to be there and support her as she is welcomed in this church and ward here in Rosenheim. She needs that love and support more than ever right now as she is preparing for this change in her life. She visited her parents this last week and her brother was also there and she told them about it and her brother not being at all religious told her some things that made her doubt if this really was for her. It was a trialing time but as we met after she came back we told her how she knows she has received an answer and that she knows this is the right decision. We all need to stay strong to our faith in what we know to be true. We should doubt our doubts before doubting our faith. (mentioned in general conference) Its made me think about life and how its a journey of progression. There are times in life we were do fall, its apart of life, God is perfectly aware of it and he knows are weaknesses and concerns. He has us fall because he knows we need to grow and learn something in that time in our life. He knows we CAN get back up with his help and the through the help of the Atonement of Christ. We receive strength and are faith grows as we decide to get back up and keep going. God is a loving God and will help us through it all if we let him and if trust in him.

My birthday was great! Thanks for all the birthday wishes. We were actually on an exchanged with the Zone Leaders from Munich and I was here in Rosenheim with an Elder who actually served here. We went to a less active to do service, we cut and trimmed a tree and I loved it! I got to use a cutting saw and oh it was fun. That night we had a lesson with Rita and I shared a personal experience about attendance of church and the Spirit was so strong. Personal experiences are key as we show are personal feelings and experience the Spirit can teach well through us. It was a great birthday present to feel the love God has for me and for those we are teaching and for every single person and this whole earth!

One last thing this week is we got our bikes fixed!! Yep who knew we had bikes but we had them and have been broken ever since I have been here and we finally go them fixed and I absolutely love it! We have used them a couple times and they are so useful to go from here to there and the bike roads are very nice here in Germany so makes it even more fun. Just yesterday we took a bike trip to a city about 10 miles out and found a new investigator and went by an a less active that lives in the middle of no where!! I love bikes! Too bad the snow season is just around the corner, but no problem we will keep pressing forward. Love you all so very much and have a great week!

Love,

Elder Jerman

Day before my birthday at zone training.  I got a Döner and then they put candles in it! Great Elders I have to be around. 

One other thing, this one is for dad. DAD! I met a missionary that was in your 6th grade class! We were at zone training this last tuesday and we met each other and after the meeting he came up to me and ask if I knew a Roger Jerman! It was so fun to make that connection! He is a year younger than me but his name is Alec Deleuwe. Fun times!

My birthday in the mountains in Kiefersfelden. 

Praise the Lord!

Family!!!

I just dont know where to start but have we ever had a great and memorable week here in Rosenheim! Rita is getting BAPTIZED!! Yep you heard it, this is it and what an exciting time for her. It has just been a very humbling and neat experience these last couple days, weeks, and months working with her. I am just going to explain this all out because she is just so ready and so neat that we can be apart of it and help her through this great time. So a little background on Rita is that she was found from dooring back in July (before I got here) and they met with her once or twice but then she went on a long vacation and was gone for a while so when I got here in September she was getting back and we started visiting her weekly. Every time we had a visit the Spirit was really strong and she was taking it very well. I have mentioned before on how she would have these questions of the soul like our relationship with God and how we can recognize the Spirit. Its been neat to be able to teach from the scriptures and to have her better understand the gospel and she has been making progress these last few weeks. Especially as she reads in the Book of Mormon daily she said she loves to read because it helps her calm down and gives her peace in the morning and then that stays with her throughout the day. She has been keep all her commitments and we had tried before to commit her to baptism but she was a little unsure since she already was as a child. Its been so neat to see the Lord prepare and soften her heart in just a few weeks and let her see, feel and know the truth.

On Tuesday we met with her and invited her to be baptized on December 15th and she accepted!! Oh what an joyous time for her and as we have met a couple more times this week we have really seen how the Lord has prepared her in this time of her life. We sometimes wonder how and why things happen in the time they do but God know exactly our needs and when the time is right and now is the time for Rita. She is so so ready oh man I cant believe it. She understands and has a strong belief on what we believe. Its a lot of new things and it wont come all at once. Even for us we are still learning and progressing, and thats how it is for everyone as we keep growing our faith and love for the Lord. But she has planted that seed and that will grow and bloom with in and will bring so much happiness, it already has. A great miracle is that her two sons are supportive in her decision. She was a little worried to tell them but as she did they responded well and are happy for her. This is the time for Rita and we are seeing the in every way. Ah I am so thankful for the Lord and his work to his children to give them the happiness. And Rita is just beginning this great journey to everlasting life and happiness. Its a humbling time to be apart of it and grateful for Rita and the example she shows us. Especially her willingness to believe and act on that believe. As we all have faith and act upon the promptings of the Spirit I know the he will lead us to a knowledge of the truthfulness of this gospel. Its true, this church really is true!!

A mission is quite the experience as you work and work and then work some more even when you dont see a lot of success as you keep going and keep hoping the Lord will bless you and others and you will receive the happiness from it. Its worth it, every moment is and its a great time to keep hoping and believing. This work isnt finished yet, there a whole world out there, let us all do our part because alone we cant but together we can work miracles in the Lords hands. This is his work and his glory. Praise the Lord!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week, especially you mom. Hope you have a great birthday and thanks for being the woman you are. Love you all!

Elder Jason Jerman

p.s.  Elder seamons and I thought it would be neat if both of our familes wrote their testimonies and then sent them and we could give it to Rita for her baptism. We are going to give her a triple combinations and then with that the testimonies of our family. She understands english very well so that will be no problem. I thought it would be a great fhe activity tonight and then send them off as soon as possible. That would be wonderful and I love my family!!

Elder Jerman

~Mom here is my birthday present to you. We got pictures by the Holy Ghost street. Hope you enjoy them and the others I send.

Elder Jerman lives on Holy Ghost Street!

Elder Jerman and Elder Seamons at Holy Ghost Street sign in Rosenheim.

4 Missionaries in Rosenheim, Germany live on "Heilig Geist Strasse" -                    "Holy Ghost Street !"  

Short but sweet

My lovly Family!

How are all doing this week? Fun to hear about a great week with friends and family. Its so great to spend time together with those we love and I thank everyone of you for the love you show me, I feel it and am supported by it. And sorry but this week is going to be cut a little short too as today we were at Frau Sherer s house and was helping her in her yard and house. We were actually at Frau Sherer s house on Halloween helping her out as she is trying to move soon. It was great though and I loved when one group of kids came to the door. They were the only ones but glad they can have some fun over here too. The day after Halloween was a holdiday here in Germany and our plans got kind of change around. We were going to take a bus to a city but found out the hard way that buses dont go AT ALL on holidays. But it turned out well we got to talked to many people that day and had some good conversations. Its great when someone does take the time and speak with you. Its so neat to rely on the Spirit to try and discern peoples needs just if you are speaking with them for a couple minutes. Something they say will can always relate back to the gospel as we listen with love and not think about what to say next. That sometimes can be hard especially when youve got to say it in German but its takes time and practice and just like conversion its a process. Our whole life is a big process of many different things, of learning and growing. We are so lucky we can get up everyday and make that decision to do good. I know that as we do that, we will bring good about others and ourselves as we serve. Its not easy and can take a sacrifice but as we serve the Lord, He will draw close to us as well as those we serve.

Rita our investigator is making some great progress as we met with her on Saturday with a couple in our ward who are both converts and when we are there, there is always a special feeling and I know she feels the Spirit. As we have the faith and ask our Father in Heaven we must also know that when we do recieve a answer we will act upon it with faith. I know we will be blessed as we follow what the Lord wants because he does know what is best for us. I love you all and things are going well here. Hope you have a wonderful week and love life!

I love my family!
Elder Jerman

Elder Young, Elder Hoggan and his apple Jack-O-Lantern and Elder Jerman

Here is us on Halloween night. Elder Hoggan carved an apple. We got home a little later but we celebrated with some ice cream. We were at an serving at an investigators house that night and one group of kids came by for candy. luckly she had some candy she using gives to the mailman but either than that she didnt but it was enough and fun to see one group but either than that nothing else. oh but we all wore orange ties, I gave one to elder Hoggan for the day it was great!

Elder Jerman

Elder Seamons and Elder Jerman in the inner city of Munich

email excerpt from Dallin Day in our stake

Sent by DeAnn Day in our stake.  
This is an excerpt from Dallin Day's letter today from Hungary.  Sorry no names, my boys aren't good with details.  Funny how our boys keep finding each other in pictures.

Other fun stuff: one of the other Elders in Pest is emailing right next to me, and he was showing me this picture of his friend on his mission with a couple of other missionaries, one of whom just happened to be Jason Jerman. Small world right?

Back on July 29th, Jason wrote:

 "Elder Lappalainens brother is serving a mission too in Sweden and he is actually working with Derek Day! Small world!" 

I asked "Jason, tell us how you guys figured out that you were  both serving with Elders from American Fork. "(even from the same stake)

He replied, "Well we were just emailing last week and Elder L turned to me and asked if I knew Derek Day and then he said his brother and Elder Day are companions as zone leaders. Elder L just told his brother through a email that I was companion and so then his brother told Elder Day and then they just figured it out! pretty cool!"

I called Sister DeAnn Day (Emily's mom) in our stake to ask her if she knew this fun information.  She asked her son about it in her next email and sent his response.

 

Here's Derek's email in response to your phone call.

"So here´s the full story of the Jerman incident.  Here we are on the computers 2 or 3 weeks ago.  My companion is going off and basically reading me his brothers letter home.  So I listen and then he says here is a picture so I slide over to see my comps brothers picture and there is Jason Jerman.  So I said, "Hey!  Your brother is a kid I know from home! (joke)  His name is Jason Jerman and is in my stake."  I said, his name is Elder jerman right?  He said, " I don´t know"  

So he writes to his brother and asks.  The next week it is all confirmed.  So mine and Jasons companions are brothers.  They are from Finland and their last names are Lappaleinen.  There you go, full story." 

So, both missionaries from the Day family, Derek in Sweden and Dallin in Hungary, have been emailing home when the missionary next to them shows them a picture and they recognize Jason Jerman from home!  

Gotta love it!

Der Herbst

Family!

Dont you just love this time of year? It just makes me so happy and maybe just because we have had some really great weather this last week but its a great time of year. We have had sunny days pretty much every day this last week which has been nice and the sunshine goes right to my heart and warms me! Love it! The colors are also way pretty as we take a train to different parts of our area and see the mountains and colors of the trees. But on that note we did really have a good week and more than just having good weather we also had some great appointments and lessons. We start off Tuesday with an unexpected exchange that we did with the other two Elders here. It wasnt planned but that morning we decided to do it and it turned out very well. We were coming back after visiting a referral that wasnt home and had a little time in a city to door and on our 2nd door we come up the path and two younger people are on lawn chairs enjoying the sun and we asked if they had any interest listening to our message and they look at each other and then said yes! So we gave them a small message and shared a Book of Mormon with them! That never happens that someone wants to listen especially young people!! We had our German class that night and since we were on our exchange both us didnt have keys to the church it was the other two so we had our first 10 minutes of class in front of the church. Good thing we had good weather this week! We had a appointment this week with an investigator we lost contact with for the last month and so it was good to meet with him again and we had a member with us so that was good to start a relationship there. He said he enjoyed the feeling in the church and it felt like home (had the lesson there) but not planning on changing his ways anytime soon. So important for these people to realize these feelings and know where its coming from because many do have these great feeling but either dont know what it is or just shrug it off. We all feel the Spirit differently and he teaches us in many ways and we must realize that for ourselves as we do those 3 things where the Spirit can be with us most. Study, prayer, and church! We sometimes underestimate the importance of these fundamental but key to conversion these 3 things are!  We had another lesson with our investigator Rita who is one we are working hard with to help her understand and have those spiritual experiences for herself. She came to church yesterday as long as a less active family that we are helping to reactivate! So it was a great time at church yesterday. We are seeing the blessings of the Lord as we keep on going and never give up. Those promises are there and we learn lots from the Book of Mormon of the promises the Lord made for those people. We too have made promises with the Lord and as we keep our side he is ready and willing to keep his side! The blessings are in store!

Two neat experiences this week, both on the train and both coming back from the same city (just different days) We go to Traunstein quite a bit and so it gives us a good opportunity to speak with people there. Now we cant contact on trains but only start up a conversation and hope it turns to the gospel. One night coming back we were sitting crossed from a lady that had also got on where we did and I had the feeling we needed to talk to her. I kind of ignored it for a little while and thought it was nothing new because that seems to always be my thoughts. Then I thought again that she needs something that we have. So I finally humbled myself and asked her where she was going. We started talking and found out that she was just coming from her brothers house that had passed away this last week. It was so neat to tell her about what we know to be true about life after death and to share scriptures with her that gave her comfort. Its so neat to always be learning in how the Spirit speaks with us and how its usually through those small but good thoughts. All good things come from God so we shouldnt worry when it comes to doing something good! There are many of Gods children in time of need and so neat to know he can put them in our path in the time they need it most and to have the gospel which can heal any wound. The other experience happened last night coming back on the train and this time we made a stop and a group of people came in the train and a woman passed by and said, "hey its the missionaries!" oh man I knew this train ride was going to be a good one. It was a mom and her son from the states but so fun to talk with members from American which rarely happens and to get hear about missionary work being done around the world. This work is moving forward and we are all apart of it!

Love you all so very much and have a Happy Halloween.

Liebe Grüße,

Elder Jerman

Exhibit of Alexander the Great with Elder Jerman the Small (look closely)

In response to some of our questions, he also wrote: 

What did you do today for P-day?  Its been a fun pday as this morning Elder Hoggan and I went to a museum type thing. Well it was a specity for a couple of months and so we went today! It was on Alexander the Great. Always fun to do something like that which I enjoy! Here is a photo from it! Its a little hard to see me as we had to get the whole thing but Im there if you can zoom in or something. and then another photo of elder Seamons and I in munich in the inner city, . and then the beautiful colors on a train ride as we were going to a city.

Fall colors out the train window

What about Halloween in Germany?  yes they do have it here in Germany but it is not as big as in American and its more on the scary side and not the fun dress up as princess and go get candy which is too bad but they have it just not so big and not near the many decarations and such.   I always loved dressing up even if I was older but still having fun.  so glad america knows how to make it fun!   oktober has gone way quick just like every month so crazy how time goes but you keep living and going with a smile on your face.