This Week in Pictures (7-30)

 Not sure what we are doing

 Little House on the Prairie?

 Soaked head to toe because I didn't listen to Sis Alton and bring a coat

 SPAGHETTI EIS YESSSSS

 Bike ride with the ward two weeks ago

I'm so cutting my hair like this

Food babies... they feed us so much.

 SHE'S GORG (we were bringing flowers with Sis. Jähn to her family members grave)

I can't pose to save my life, its fine

 We were DYING of heat in the car so we distracted ourselves (p.s. we weren't moving that's why I had no seat belt)

 These little flower shops are everywhere and I luv em

 You told me to take selfies with random objects...

...so I did

 Fav part of Germany: wild blackberries EVERYWHERE! (its hot don't judge my hair)

I took another selfie for you. I deserve a package or more pictures of Charlee for my efforts!?!

Sharing the News!

From Auntie Sara:
Sweet Macey! I wish I was telling you this in person.....😘😘😘! We're so excited!!!! Love you so much! 

Macey's response!

SARAJEFFTRAYSONLUCYOHMYGOSHHHHHH. We went to the mall today to get wifi and check our emails and I totally burst into happy tears in the middle of the mall when I read your email!! CONGRATULATIONS! I'm so so so happy, you are getting God's greatest gift in just a few short months!! Everyone must be so thrilled. YOU HAVE TO KEEP ME UPDATED!

Love you so, so much, I am so excited for you!!

Sister Macey Ingalls

Bugs, Blackberries and Lessons Learned

Hey homies!! 

It was yet again a very eventful week! Check it out:

Top 5

1. I bring news at the battlefront: the fruit flies brought in back up. A couple of the traps that y'all suggested actually worked so thank you! However, we walked in one night and there was a grasshopper the SIZE OF MY HAND in our living room. Heck no. If I've learned two things in my time here, it's that I reeeeally love Jesus and reeeeally don't love creepy little bugs. It took me a solid 5 minutes to work up the courage to kill the bug. Enjoy my pain (might want to turn down the volume though).

2. Best thing about Germany? The wild blackberry bushes! They grow like weeds here and its the perfect season for them. I have scratches all over my arms from picking them today #noregrets.

3. We had interviews with our mission president in Leipzig last Thursday. He's the coolest guy. We all say he's a perfect mix of Gene Wilder and Robin Williams. As missionaries, we definitely get assigned to our mission president, not our area. I told him he is my dad for the next 16 months. He laughed, said yes then gave me chocolate. He's a good dad.

4. Lesson of the week: listen to your trainer. She told me one day she thought it'd be cold and rainy all day. I thought I'd be fine... 10 minutes later I was soaked head to toe. It was hilarious and I still had fun but yeah.... lesson learned :-)

5. Our investigator Martin came to church on Sunday! He's so awesome, he biked over 10K uphill (gotta love Zwickau!) to get there. While we were sitting in church he leaned over to me and said, "do you want me to translate this for you? It's really good!" HE'S THE BEST. He even told me afterward that it lifted a burden off of his shoulders by coming. This is what the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ does! Ugh I love it. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Liebe grüße, Sister Macey Ingalls

Love You a Million Wild Blackberries!! -- July 30

Mommy!!!
I'm trying to type quickly, but I only have about 45 minutes today! I really love you and want to share this amazing time of my life with you; all parts of it! I will admit sometimes I wish I  could just call you up and tell you about my day. Please forgive my scattered thoughts though, I am becoming my mother's daughter and have billions of thoughts on my mind at once. It is a blessing and a curse :-)

I was actually thinking about this bit of research I've been doing and wanted to share it with you, and I also want to hear your thoughts on it. Last Thursday I was reading in Mosiah 15. Context is basically Abinadi SLAYING King Noah for being all wicked, lazy and hypocritical (I compare King Noah to the giant slug guy that captured Princess Leia on Star Wars. I think his name is like Jumbo Fett or something hahahah). But in verse 27 it says, "For salvation cometh to none such [meaning the wicked people]; for the Lord hath redeemed none such; yea, neither can the Lord redeem such; for he cannot deny himself, for he cannot deny justice when it has its claims". 

Okay, immediately I thought of a BYU devotional given by Brad Wilcox called "His Grace is Sufficient". It is an AMAZING talk. Go listen to it right now if you haven't heard it! But I pondered for awhile why it said that Christ would not redeem them... I grew up learning that Jesus atoned for all of our sins! Now this scripture is saying that he didn't?! What?!

I want to hear your interpretation, but here is what I think: This is the key to understanding grace. He did, in fact, atone for all of our sins. He paid the price for all of them. That means that He begged for our sake to overcome the demands of justice, and as a result, we have the opportunity to be cleansed of all of our sins. However, the Atonement of Christ does not overwhelm our personal agency. I think that we completely control how much we use this gift that he gave us through His blood. People that will not repent, meaning they do not beg for mercy and ultimately change their behavior, yet still believe they are saved, do not understand how they play their part. It's the same as dad writing a check for an infinite sum of money and saying "Here. Pay off all of your debts." I do so, and then I either 1. Feel the freedom of being debt free and learn to better manage my money or 2. Expect dad to pay all of my debts, and in the end I've learned absolutely nothing about managing my money. So all in all, Christ made this sacrifice for us to have the option to choose for ourselves good vs. evil. That's what this is all about! We make mistakes along the way, hence the need for an atoning sacrifice, but we are supposed to be learning and progressing! If we learn nothing and stick to our same behaviors, it is all for naught! 

It's hard for me to explain in written words, but I think grace is so beautiful to study. Let me know your thoughts, though!

This week we started teaching a guy named Martin. Really nice cool guy. Found out about us through mormon.org and Lindsey Sterling (famous violinist. Also mormon). We went by his house on Tuesday to give him the Book of Mormon he requested. He answered and we showed him the book and his face immediately lit up! He was alone so we scheduled an appt. with him for later so we could find a joint teach to come with.

Well, after calling the entire ward, we finally got two single old men to come with us…when the missionaries ask you to do it, REALLY try to go with because I'm 100% positive they are desperate... So the lesson went okay except He brought out a beer and drank through our whole lesson. Hah yeah that was funny we were like man, we have a message to share with you in a few weeks ;-) I so badly want him to accept the message we have because I KNOW it will help turn his life around. It's obvious he isn't happy and needs to know his purpose in life. I could already see him as a member of the church, active in his calling.

We got to teach him two lessons this past week, and then we invited him to church. He kind of half heartedly said that he'd come, so we didn't expect much. But I still had hope that our investigators would come to church on Sunday, and 2 of them did, 1 being Martin! It was so awesome. He actually biked all the way there (that’s at least 10K up hill!). I sat by him and prayed the whole time that even if I couldn't understand more than 40% of what people were saying, that he would understand and feel something from it. It was so cute, in the middle of one of the talks he said, "This is really good. Would you like me to translate for you?" HE IS THE BEST. But from what I did understand, all 3 of the speakers directly answered the questions and concerns he had with life. He told me after that he felt a burden lift from his shoulders. That is totally what the truth and happiness of the gospel of Jesus Christ does!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I totally live for moments like those.

We had interviews with the President last Thursday in Leipzig! It was an all day thing, even though Sister Alton and I were first to go! The new mission rule is that we have an interview with the president every transfer, so he can get to know us a lot better. They are supposed to be about 15 minutes, but naturally mine was about 45... I went in their saying "President! You have no need to worry about me. I'm happy, healthy, I love my companion, area and family and I am overall good!" I know he deals with a lot of problems, so I just put it on the table right away that I had no intention of being that missionary. I asked a few questions to clarify rules and then said I only ask because I told my parents and God that I would always try to be the most obedient missionary I could be because the people need it! Well, I think I must have given some type of impression because he asked me a very hard question at the end. Since Sister Alton leaves after this transfer, he said I have basically 2 options: 1. Bring another person, possibly one the same age in the mission as me, to Zwickau or 2. Give me a brand spankin' new trainee. YIKES YIKES YIKESSSSS. Yeah so that terrifies me, but I felt really calm when he asked. I said that it would no doubt be difficult, but there isn't anything I can't handle when I rely on God. So yes, I would be willing to. Sooooo we will see if I get a new trainee or the President will have mercy on me haha.

Yesterday, after church is when it all fell down the waterfall... We had an eating appt. with a sister in the ward and her sister in law (they are actually best friends now because both of their husbands who were brothers died awhile ago and now they are family). We had a full-on 4 course dinner. I'm talking salad, stuffed mushroom and spring roll , then a super thick bowl of veggie soup THEN chicken, noodles and more mushrooms AND THEN ice cream and homemade apple pear cake! Oh my gosh, my stomach was in so much pain by the time we left. It's considered very rude not to eat a bunch when they cook for us. After that 3 hour eating appt (they are a lot longer here), we went to our investigators house for DRINKS AND PASTRY AND ICE CREAM. BUT WAIT THERES MORE! We had studies with Jared and Janina after, and her mom made us more cake. So, all in all, I'm pretty sure I ate a week’s worth of calories in a period of 8 hours. It's hard when I don’t have time for a hard core work out every day. So yes, pray for me. That was a lot of cake.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SARAJEFFTRAYSONLUCY!!!!! I actually read her email at the mall this morning and burst into happy tears. I can't believe the baby will be 8 months old by the time I get back. That kind of stinks actually, but it's okay because my awesome family will keep me posted :))))) I definitely already looked at cute little baby clothes this morning....... AHHH

Also, I'm pretty sure Matt's birthday is on the 6th this week. I don't have his email, so please give him a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYYYYYYY for me! :-)

Love you a million wild blackberries!!

Sister Macey Ingalls

(the coolest daughter you'll ever have)

Cherries, WWIII, and a MIRACLE

Sister Ingalls, back at it again with another pday!! (I know. These get more lame every week.)

Top 5:

1. I'm just just going to put this on the table and say that I cannot keep a plant alive to save my life. I remember as a kid my mom let me grow a strawberry plant, and if I learned anything from that, my only knowledge of gardening is to NOT water it 5x times a day or it'll probably die. Well, apparently Germans know something I don't, because their gardens are absolutely GORGEOUS! We visited a lady last week and when we got there she was working in her garden. I swear, that thing was the Garden of Eden. Right in the middle of it all was a huge cherry tree! We talked and ate cherries and it was the greatest thing ever. I will somehow learn their ways and grow a cherry tree like that.

2. My German is not so great, but I've been doing everything I can to get to know the members at church in Zwickau! So Sunday consisted of me asking all of the older elegant ladies (they have a little possy, it's the cutest thing ever) grammar and vocab questions and talking to EVERYONE. So yes, I use my ward to teach me German. It's cool, I love them with all my heart!

3. There is a thing called German windows. They are a beautiful nightmare. Yes, they open 3 ways but DO NOT INCLUDE SCREENS. Naturally, that means fruit flies are TERRIBLE during the summer time, because AC doesn't exist. My solution? The vacuum. Yes, I have no mercy against those nasty little things. The first thing I do when we get home every day, before I even put my purse down, is wage war on those little creeps. This is a war that they will not win.

4. Today, Sister Alton and I found a traditional German clothing store! We had a ton of fun trying on Dirndls. Yup, I love Germany.

5. I was able to witness an amazing miracle this week. On Friday, I went on exchanges (switching companions) in Köthen and got to be with none other than my MTC companion SIS. THORPE!!! That wasn't the miracle, but pretty dang close. So our plan that night was to give a lesson to a lady that had been meeting with missionaries for quite some time. She knew everything we could teach her, but didn't personally feel ready to be baptized. Sis. Thorpe and I both really wanted to help this lady, and both really took studying what we could teach her seriously. Since we are both brand new, and tbh don't know German very well at all, the assistants to the mission president came with. Well, they actually ended up being an HOUR late, so we got to know this lady REALLY well. I'm pretty sure I used my entire vocabulary... But the lesson went really well, but she still felt like we just wanted her to get baptized and join her church. At that moment, I stopped being able to understand anything she said at all. All I heard was 'taufe... taufe... taufe' (meaning baptism). I cut off the conversation and said, in very broken German, "Look, honestly I had no idea what you just said. But I did hear you say taufe a lot. I want you to know that the only reason that we talk about baptism is for you to progress and receive the further blessings that God willingly wants to give to His children." and went on talking about what I'd been inspired to study that morning about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It's truly a remarkable gift from God to teach us and guide us. I saw her eyes soften, and saw the spirit manifest to her that this message was true. It was silent for a moment, then one of the elder quietly asked, "Will you be baptized today?" Everyone was super startled! But the lady jumped up, looked at her calendar and said ABSOLUTELY! After that we started planning and coordinating, and we drove to the place where she'd secretly decided a long time ago that she wanted to be baptized. It was the most beautiful lake, and an even more beautiful baptism. Afterwards, she just couldn't stop smiling. She kept saying that she felt brand new, and she was exactly right! She said she woke up that morning knowing it was a special day but not knowing why. I have so much love for her!! p.s. I did this story terrible justice because I wanted to keep it short, but if you want the full story, I sent it to my mom!

Like I always say, I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Yeah sorry Fam, they are going to have to drag me out of this country when I have to go home. I love you all, thank you for your support and love! Go do good this week in your little corner of the world!

Love,

Sister Macey Ingalls

PS. If you are confident in your recipe skills, I would definitely love it if you sent your favorite recipe. For some reason I want to eat things other than raw vegetables and cereal...

The Baptism was Absolutely Beautiful -- July 24

Mommy!!!!! 

The biggest miracle I have witnessed on my mission thus far happened this past week. I got to serve with Sis. Thorpe again!! Haha just kidding, that is true but it is not the miracle. On Friday, we did a "super tausch" or a big 24 hour exchange with the Sister Training Leader of our zone and her new trainee - Sis. Thorpe! The plan was for us to get to their area around 1:30 on Friday, and I'd spend the rest of the day with Sis. Thorpe and then the morning until we left with our STL. So the day before, we were planning out what we were going to do, and the STL expressed that they actually had a lesson that Friday night with an investigator that had taken the lessons for quite some time, and would not commit to moving forward with baptism. For some reason, her and Sis. Alton thought it would be GREAT for the little trainees to teach her! We thought they were kidding and laughed, but then realized they were serious and took the offer. We were nervous because our German is um.... nicht so gut..... but the AP's were actually going to be there too if we needed help and to figure out how they could help this woman.

Sis. Thorpe and I took this VERY seriously. I was studying on Thursday night and actually got the prompting to fast. I called up Sis. Thorpe to suggest that we both fast, and she said that she was already on it! That testified to me that God was really directing us in this one. Well, that was only the beginning of the guidance! I got up the next morning to start personal study. I opened my Book of Mormon to where I'd left off and began to pray. Instantly when I said "amen", I knew I needed to study Preach My Gospel instead, and for a full hour. I opened to the first lesson and studied until my eyes stopped on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I immediately flipped to the 3rd lesson, and read about it. My very soul burned and I knew this was what I needed to teach this lady that I'd never met in my life. It was an amazing study and I learned so much!

Fast forward and Sis. Alton and I took the train to Köthen the next morning. Man, trains are so nice and fast here! The one in Provo is a joke compared to this one. Once we got there, Sis. Thorpe and I immediately started planning 2 hours before our lesson. What I had studied and what she had studied were different but fit PERFECTLY together. We were so excited to teach together again, because we really worked well together in the MTC!

We biked to Sylvia's house (man it was nice to bike again!) and planned to meet the APs there. Well, long story short they got super lost and were an entire HOUR late! So just imagine two little trainees hanging out with a woman they had never met and could not speak her language well at all! I mean it was totally fine but I'm pretty sure I used every vocab word I knew. Oh my gosh, it was absolutely hilarious. Retrospectively, this was all in God's plan. We got to know her pretty well in that hour, and we built trust with her because we tried our absolute hardest to understand her and get to know her. Once the elders showed up, we started our lesson by reading in the scriptures. I apparently asked an inspired question, because I found out she really didnt have an understanding of the Holy Ghost. The elders, not knowing our lesson plan, took that as a way to talk to her more about baptism. In our minds we were like "nooooooo! Shes really touchy on this subject stop it stop it stop it!" and we were right. She said she thinks we just want her to get baptized and join our church. After that, I, for some reason, could not understand the next part she said. The only word I understood was taufe (baptism). Taufe taufe taufe taufe taufe. I didnt want this to drive away the spirit that I was feeling so strongly. So I cut into the conversation, and said in very broken German, "look. I'm going to be honest, I barely understood what you just said. But I did hear that you said taufe a lot. I want you to understand that we don't talk about baptism to make you join our church. The reason it is so important is to open the gateway to receive more blessings that the Father has for us. Baptism is inseparable with the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which will guide you, teach you and keep you safe from danger." I saw in her eyes that her heart had softened. It was quiet for a second, then one of the Elders said. "May I ask you (Sylvia) a question?" I was like oh no please please PLEASE don't offend her. Then he said, " Will you be baptized tonight?" TONIGHT?! WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE THINKING! AHHHFIOSDFGJKEHO!!! She was, for obvious reasons, startled, but jumped up, looked at her calendar and said YES! I'm writing this email 3 days later and I am still in shock!

So everything after that was somewhat of a blur. The APs made phone calls. She got her interview. She came out of there with the biggest smile on her face saying "Alles gut!". The APs left to get clothing from the church because she wanted to get baptized in a lake! So again, Sis Thorpe and I were with her for an hour. Haha but it was all good because we had gotten really good at charades by this point! We walked her dog and had a good time, she was seriously so happy! Finally everyone met at her house, and our trainers were completely in disbelief. We all drove to the place that Sylvia has apparently had picked out since she had started meeting with the missionaries.

Sister Thorpe and I walked Sylvia's dog with her while the elders were getting her clothes! She was so happy!

The beautiful place she got baptized

Slight sidenote to prove that all of this was in God's plan. While we were having the lesson, our companions were going around visiting others. Their one appt. fell through, and everyone they tried to visit wasn't home. Sis. Alton told me that at one point, her mouth started getting really dry and she really needed water. She kept trying to ignore it but it kept getting worse and worse until she could barely speak. Finally they went over to a members house that wasn't too close to get some water. As soon as they rang their doorbell, we called to tell them that Sylvia was getting baptized that night and to come!

The baptism was absolutely beautiful. Once she changed and we started walking toward the water, I felt so much peace and joy. Everyone was pretty silent. She was baptized by one of the ward members, and she came out of the water with the biggest grin on her face. I ran over and gave her the biggest hug. p.s. I may not know how to talk to these people but I sure do love them to pieces! I rode home in the car with her afterward to get our bikes from her house. She just kept sighing and smiling and saying that she feels so good and like a brand new person. She said that she woke up today feeling that it was somehow special.

Walking down there

It was so peaceful

This instant change of heart that I witnessed testified to me of the truth and power of the Spirit. Missionaries and even members often focus too much on baptism, but that is just the gateway, it is just the beginning, into so much more. I can't even tell you enough how grateful I am to be able to bring this knowledge to God's children. I want to work hard every day because I really don't get much time at all! Part of me secretly hopes they'll change the amount of time that sisters can be out so I can stay longer haha! Kidding, but not really.

All the missionaries, Sylvia and her son

Okay so everything else I did this week was obviously not as cool as that MIRACLE, but it was still really great! Our area is unique in the way that we have lots of contacts and inactive members that we want to visit, so we actually haven't even spent time finding at all. We made a lot of visits to inactive members to share a message with them and just kind of let them talk.

Something you need to understand about Germans is that they absolutely love their gardens. It's like grandpas and garages. But their gardens are absolutely beautiful! We visited a lady last week and when we got there, she was working in her garden. Literally it was like the Garden of Eden. The best thing about it- the big cherry tree right in the middle! There were hundreds of ripe cherries hanging off of it, I just kept thinking how jealous you would be of me! I ate like 20 of those cherries, they were absolutely amazing. I'm just saying, the produce and garden fruits and veggies here are just amazing.

Now to answer your questions:

Haha the long bike ride was an activity, I wore work out clothes silly! But when we are proselyting, or like when I was with Sis Thorpe going to a lesson, we wear skirts.

Um yes.... I'm still having problems with sending pictures. I promise I have a lot, but for some reason sending them from email takes forever and sometimes doesn't work. So once I start using Facebook in a week or two, I'll actually just upload them to a private album between me and you, and that should work a lot better. That's what Sis. Alton does, and she doesn't have problems with that. I'll still try to send a few of them.

Okay best food: the spring rolls in this Chinese place! They are 2.90 euro and delicious!!! I've gotten them both pdays that we have and its still the best thing here. We actually had dinner at a members house on Sunday and we had meat and potatoes and surkraut! It actually reminded me of stew that grandma would make. They were the cutest couple, married for 60 years this year! But they shared the craziest conversion stories and how hard they worked growing up to do what was right. We had something called qvark for dessert, and that is probably my favorite dessert here. Its like a mix of cream cheese and yogurt, but more sour. You put whipped cream and tons of fresh berries on it and its pretty good! Tea is also a really big thing for German culture (don't worry, its herbal!) So I really like that before bed when I write in my journal to unwind for the day. Don't blame me, it was the relief society sisters that got me really into it.

There's so much I could tell you, but I got to save some things for dad and my group email!! I loved hearing about your week. Family is the best and I'm so glad that you got to spend time with the boys, I'm sure the miles of road tripping were worth it!

I love you a million spring rolls!! Hope you have a fun and productive week! 

Sister Macey Ingalls

My suitcase fit perfectly in the basket so I didn't have to carry it while sister Thorpe and I walked a mile to their apartment!

Favorite place at the train station: best juices/smoothies EVER!

Food and one of my fav Germans: Janina! We go over and study PMG with her and Jared, another ward member, every sunday

Janina is so cute

Yup, that's Jared

Trying on a Dirndl!

Another Dirndl

Yup lots of Dirndls

Candid?

Sister Alton ended up buying this one!

Proof that I'm not artsy, but every morning I read my scriptures, have pb/banana toast and herbal tea!

Germany Berlin Mission

July 24, 2017

Brother & Sister Ingalls,

We are pleased to announce that your daughter, Sister Ingalls, is safely with us in the Berlin Mission.  We have had the opportunity to get to know her, and she is ready and excited to be here.  Sister Fingerle and I look forward to working with her and will do all that we can to help her serve a happy and successful mission.

Sister Ingalls’ first companion will be Sister Alton, and they will work together in Zwickau, Germany for the next several weeks. If you would like to send letters to your missionary, please send them to the mission office address:

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Sister Macey Mariah Ingalls
Zerbster Strasse 42
12209 Berlin

Germany

A goal of our mission is to see that the missionaries dedicate themselves from the very beginning with all their heart, might, mind and strength to serve the Lord. We ask you for your support through encouraging letters and prayer.

Attached is a Photo of Sister Ingalls, her companion, Sister Fingerle and me.

Sincerely,

Christian H. Fingerle, President

Germany Berlin Mission

""ICH BIN EIN BERLINER!" -JFK" -Sister Ingalls

Okayyy... well my message sent on accident and my joke was ruined sooooo this is sort of awkward... BUT HEY, I'M OFFICIALLY IN GERMANY!!

This week has been absolutely outstanding, and even more busy, so I'm actually narrowing my top 5 down to top 3 this time! Sorry, I still love y'all!

TOP 3:

1. Other than 3 hours of sleep total, my first day in Germany I was up for a solid 36 hours. Sleeping that night alone should be in the top 3 of the week! But the first official day started off with a run to the Freiberg temple. Also, after like 2 day of sitting, that run also should be given its own category in the top 3. LIFE IS JUST SO GOOD! But our wonderful leader, Präsident Fingerle, gave us pass-along cards in case we wanted to talk to people during our run. Multitasking at it's finest. A couple miles in, we passed a corner where a man was outside enjoying the morning with his yappy little dog. I decided to put my 6 weeks of German to the test! I was so excited though, that all I said translated to, "Sir! Would you like this card? Today is my first day in Germany!" Obviously he said no, it was 6:45 am and this crazy smiley girl was trying to give him a random piece of paper! Ah yeah, that one still makes me laugh.

2. I am assigned to the best area: Zwickau!! I am absolutely in love with it. It's a smaller city in eastern Germany, near Dresden. I actually call it the German equivalent of my home town! As a new missionary, I'll do 12 weeks of training, and 6 of those are with my new companion, Sister Alton! She is the absolute best. I have so much love for her, and even more to learn from her! Sadly this is her last transfer (6 weeks = 1 transfer), so I don't get much time with her. She also loves taking pictures, so there will be some good ones for the next weeks.

3. I can't even begin to tell you how much the last 6 day have strengthened me. This makes me happy to know that I have a whole mission ahead of me, because I have so much to learn! My happiness in this life is founded on the knowledge of God's plan for me, and that I actually have a relationship with Him, and His Son, Jesus Christ. It brings tears to my eyes knowing that I have the chance to help others understand that it is possible for them to know that and live it as well. I may not be able to understand anyone right now (this accent is very different than what I was taught!) but I just love them with all of my heart! So if you read one sentence of this email, I hope it is this: You can be an example of Jesus Christ to someone by just simply showing that you care about them. Love spreads a lot farther and faster than words with some!

If I can do anything for any of you, or even answer a question about missionary work (or anything really!), please let me know! I'm so blessed to know you, and to have the support that I do.

Bis später!

Sister Macey Ingalls

PS. I had a problem with uploading my pictures so just enjoy this one of me being dramatic

Guess Who's in GERMANY??? -- July 16

MUTTI!!! 

That's right, I am officially emailing you from the church computer in GERMANY! So, President must like me because I got assigned to the BEST area, Zwickau! If you are trying to find that on the map, I am in south eastern Germany, sort of near Leipzig, Hof and Dresden. Oh man, it is the coolest area. The locals probably think I am crazy because I can't stop looking at everything, its just the biggest culture shock! At the same time, it still doesn't seem real that I'm on a different continent than home. This week has just been insanely good and I'm never ever ever ever coming home. Sorry. ok jk but for real no.

So I guess you heard about my first day! The plane trip really was not bad at all. I was pretty tired and sick on the flight to Chicago but I got some medicine and the flight to Frankfurt was great. I slept a little bit, but I mostly studied and talked to the missionaries and flight attendants. We were on a Lufthansa so they were all German. Food was good, pasta and salad. It was funny, they loved helping us out with grammar questions or pronouncing words, we made great friends! Our little one hour flight was good too, I talked to a man next to me the entire time about the church and it turns out his company actually works with church distribution of bibles in German. Small world. The rest of the day was HARD. I was officially awake (besides 2 hours total of napping, plus I only got 3ish hours the night before) for a total of 36 hours. I have never been so tired in my entire life. When we did baptisms at the Freiberg Temple, I was in the last row of people to go. Finally I stood up and told myself I was not allowed to sit back down until it was my turn. It was effective, and since everyone else was falling asleep too, I went very last. Wow that was real strength. But that nights sleep was the best nights sleep I've ever had in my entire life. 10 hours and I did not move one bit from start to finish. Next time that'll happen will be about a year and a half haha!

The next day, after an awesome morning run, we finally got down to business. Now I'm sure the President likes me, because I got assigned to have Sister Alton as my trainer! Man, she is just so cool. We get along really well. We took the train back to Zwickau from Freiberg, and it was a good hour and a half ride so we got to know each other a bit. She has a crazy life! She moved a total of 26 times in her life before her mission, the last one being Guam where Hannah is serving! After the train ride we were going to catch a bus to our place, but we ran into a family in our ward! I quickly realized that I had no idea what they were saying (don't worry, that will be the theme of this email), but they were there to surprise us and pick us up! Sister Alton has been here for 4 transfers now (this is actually her last transfer here! Talk about a newborn and a grandma companionship haha!) so she is really close with the members of the ward. This family especially. So we got back to our apartment and ITS SO NICE. Man, the sisters really do have it nice, let me tell you. I unpacked and we got stuff situated and went to ward choir! It was funny, we made up the entire soprano section. I'm glad sister Thorpe made me go to MTC choir so I could practice a bit.

Every day since has been awesome. There are ups and downs, and honestly a mission is really hard, but I won't let it get to me! I had my first lesson on Thursday with an awesome investigator named Phil. Before meeting with us, he read everything on mormon.org and visited SLC, and he set a baptismal date the first week of meeting with the missionaries! HE IS SO READY! I didn't really know what to expect, but we met him at the church to teach him the lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said the opening prayer, and I just felt a feeling rush through my entire body I had never felt before. I didn't understand all that he said, but the Spirit was invited so strongly to our lesson that it brought me to tears. You know me, I hardly ever cry! It was a great lesson, and he pretty much taught us to the whole time. He's funny.

The rest of the week consisted of visiting less actives, delivering letters and getting to know the ward. I'm not kidding at all when I say everyone in the ward is related. It's seriously like 3 families that all married each other and generations all live in the same houses (apartments). When we say ward family, we mean it literally around here ahah! Actually though, our area of Zwickau is really the Blaine of Germany. We live about 30 minutes by bus outside of Innenstadt (the center of Zwickau) and it just a nice little town. 

Saturday was a treat. It rained in the morning so we had to push the plans back, but our ward went on a Fahrradtour! That's basically just like a big huge bike ride. We planned on 20 km, but somehow it ended up being 36 [22 miles]. Yeah, I definitely felt the difference the next day... It was so fun and was great to get some real exercise. I was also impressed by all the little 8ish year old kids that did it too. It was really good for me to practice my German and get to know the ward. I tried SO hard to talk to these people. I already love them so much, I feel like family. The older generation tends to not know English very well, yet they even tried when I didn't know how to say things. It was great and I know that I am going to love it here.

My first Sunday was crazy. Everyone loves the sister missionaries here, so naturally everyone knew that I was coming. I had to stand up and introduce myself in every single meeting, including going to PV (primary). Sacrament meeting was good, and surprisingly basically everyone in the ward told me is was perfect German. I didn't believe them, but if they were right, it was definitely the Spirit doing his job hahahahah! As Sunday went on, and we went to the bishops house after church for lunch, I realized I don't know very much German at all. After like 4 straight hours of not understanding people and feeling kind of silly, honestly I got a bit discouraged. Looking back on yesterday, I can already laugh. How silly is it to think that I've only been here for 6 days and I expect to be fluent?! I quickly humbled myself before I was struck by lightning or something.

Also pday was cool. We ran around Innenstadt and wound up at a thrift store. Somehow I ended up in a leopard jumpsuit.... No idea how. Also, I found a Laura Ingalls Wilder type dress and took a picture. Literally everyone I meet says, "OH! Like the Ingalls people in the show!" Yeah, they all thought it was a fictional story but I have no idea how to tell them otherwise. Lol I'll work on that one. We also got some great sushi, actually, the only sushi I've ever had! I got a spring roll and something I couldn't pronounce, it was like chicken with avocado and cucumber. It was super cheap and amazing. Yeah, we will be hitting that up every pday.  Döners and berliners are a tradition to try, but they are ehh and actually the expensive chocolate is ehh too. [not really her favorite in America either]

All in all, I'm so happy. I find so much joy in waking up every morning to do something for a righteous cause. I want to be here. Not everyone figures that out so fast, but I did yesterday. I quickly realized how much I love these people and this work, and that Christ fills in all that I can't do. I know I can't say everything I want to right now, but my hope is that everyone that I talk to feels that I care about them. In a lot of ways, I feel like Moses, who was worried that he couldn't do hard things because he was scared of his own faults. But I decided last night, that I don't care if I can't speak perfect German because that isn't why I am here. I am here to bring hope to these people that they have the chance to turn their guilt and worry around through their Savior. I'm here to help them build a relationship with their Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ, because not very many people know that you actually can and it will actually make a difference in your day to day life! Ugh, I just weep at the thought that the knowledge that I have of my Savior through the scriptures and my personal prayer. I also weep at the thought that I get to bring this message to God's children!

I love you parents, and I'm sorry I only had time to write one! I will actually have a bit more time next week, so I'll make sure to get to everyone else as well.

Please relay the following:
Grandma and Grandpa Weekley: I just LOVE you! Thank you both for the wonderful emails that you sent me. It's good to hear that you're enjoying summer. Actually, you're both retired so life is a party to you... Anyway, I hope that you're doing well! Grandma, my hair is growing and stronger than ever! I can't even believe it. I guess never dancing and putting my hair in a bun pays off. You were right about tying it up! Grandpa: Get to work in the garage, 'nuff said. Haha I'm kidding, but remember you said you'd have that car thoroughly worked on by the time I got home. Follow the counsel of the prophet and "do not procrastinate the day of your repentance" ;-) I love you both!

Sara and fam: Your email was just the CUTEST! I loved the pictures, I showed off my cute little cousins to all of my MTC friends. I'm glad you had fun on the lake and up north with the fam. Hope all is going well, and give my mommy a great big squeeze for me (leg lift is also a must)!

Emily: I loved the letter you sent me!! You should be getting one soon. I wrote it at like 1 am before leaving the MTC, so I'm just praying that I wrote the right address down. If not, one of your neighbors will feel very loved. Hope all is going well, give my mom a hug for me! Love you so much!!

Boys except Tanner: yo. shoot me a one sentence email to let me know you're alive.

Tanner: Thank you for the letter and I'm sorry I didn't have time to write you back. You are just the best. Oh p.s. marry my trainer she's a babe.

                  

Love you a million (chicken) sushi rolls! Keep the questions coming, its helpful!

Love, Sister Macey Ingalls

Letter #5 of Many! (Email to Dad)

Dad dad dad dad dad!!!

Sounds like you and Mom had a rocking week! We got to watch the firework display they do for BYU's Stadium of Fire on Saturday night, so we stayed up until 11ish! It's funny, when I was little, I'd totally think it was awesome to get to stay up an extra hour. Now, I still wake up at 6:29 and that 30 minutes of sleep I lost made the biggest difference. Haha, I wouldn't mind going to bed early, but I still like getting up early. I'm so glad I got that from you because it's the biggest blessing. I may be one of the only morning people in my zone!

Don't worry Dad, I promise I'm working hard and I'm loving it all at the same time. I'm not going to lie, this week was a bit tougher. I explained the majority of it in Mom's email, so I don't necessarily want to write it twice for sake of time (do you read each others? That would make it a lot easier to not repeat myself!). But at one point, I think Thursday, Sister Thorpe and I were talking about leaving for Germany and that she was a bit anxious about going. I know that 's normal, but it hasn't even hit me yet that I go in like FIVE DAYS! But she said that she wanted a blessing. Our elders are very new to having the priesthood, and they've only given a few (I was actually Elder Buhler's first blessing for the sick a few weeks ago!) before. She said she really wanted a good blessing, and asked our teacher that has become like family to us. He wasn't sure if he could, but he talked to us more about blessings. It was cool to hear his point of view (he's a scriptorian and just a super wise guy for only 24. I really respect him.) and he said that blessings are the same across the priesthood. It's the faith of the individual to be healed or receive comfort. It was a good conversation, and kind of made me miss you a bit more. Now, I really regret not getting a blessing from you before I left. Actually for some reason, I don't remember, did I? Either way, I decided that I'm going to get a blessing from our elders before we go to Germany. I don't have anxieties now, but I know that Heavenly Father will take care of me if I call upon the power of the priesthood. I just really wish I could have it from you!

I can't even believe how much I'm learning here. I was standing on the sidewalk waiting for new missionaries to arrive today, and the Elder next to me asked me in German what mission I was going to. I didn't even register that we were speaking German, until he told me he is from Dresden! Oh, it was so cool. We talked and I loved getting to hear a real German talk. The accent is so beautiful, I am just so excited to become a part of them for awhile. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

I love you Dad, thank you for the endless support you give me. It means everything. I can't wait to talk to you on Monday! It'll be a crazy next week, and it might be awhile until I email because I'm not sure what day I will have pday! 

Next stop- Deutschland!

With love, Sister Macey Ingalls

Linguistics, 'Merica and Whining for the Win

Yooooooooooooo!! (Sorry, that was excessive but I like to keep it interesting)

Okay, it's been a real poppin' week (get it? 'Cuz fireworks?! hahaha I make myself laugh), so here's what went down!

Top 5:

1. I just have to say right off the bat, I'm dang proud of myself because I'm basically fluent in 6 languages now. Okay, well almost. Anybody that knows me knows that I will literally talk to anybody and somehow connect with them (my companion knows that too well, I probably stop and talk a bit too much whoops!). So I've been playing a new game to see how many languages I can learn the phrase "I am happy!" in. So far I have English (that was the hardest one), German, French, Bulgarian, Italian and ASL. That's like the 2nd most important phrase to learn other than 'Where's the bathroom?', so I feel pretty accomplished.

2. 'MERICA, am I right?! I'm so glad that we enjoy the freedoms that we do in this country. We had a Germans Celebrating America party last night, it . Also, Sister Thorpe and I decided that since we might not be together for Christmas, we'd make a Fourth of July card to send to our friends and family. Enjoy my killer editing skills :-)

3. You may disagree with the header to this email, but I'm going to straight up say that I found out whining is actually effective sometimes (definitely not on your older brothers though...). We've really been wanting to host the new missionaries coming in on Wednesdays, but we never get asked because it's our preparation day. So we found out who scheduled them and requested with him to host. Long story short, he said they didn't really need us and just imagine 4 sister missionaries saying, "NOOOOO IT'S OUR LAST WEEK PLEEEEASE WE WANT TO WELCOME THEMMMM!!". So yeah, hosting today was super fun and I had the chance to help sisters from all over the world get situated and instill my bias opinion of how much the MTC rocks.

4. Das dazugchörigkeitsgefuhl (to have the feeling of belonging). Yeah. Say that 3 times fast.

5. The moment we've all been waiting for - I officially head off to Germany next Monday! I feel like these 6 weeks have completely flown by! I also feel like I don't know any German (which isn't wrong, I don't know much) but I know it's going to be okay because God is always mindful of His children. Always. I ask for help on the daily and I know it's because of that I see the major blessings He freely gives me.

I love you all, thank you for all of the support! I'll be sending my next email from GERMANY!!

Love, Sister Macey Ingalls