Dear Family
Well this new area is good. Elder G. and I are getting along fine. I made a goal this week that I am going to be his favorite companion ever, that this will be his favorite transfer ever. So, this should be fun I think that's a good goal to set.
Well it finally hit me this week that I'm going home soon. It was a really strange feeling. I was on a bus talking to someone and they got off. Then it hit me I don't have much time left. It was the strangest feeling. Since then I have been really giving it my all. Before I was working hard and don't have any regrets. But now it feels like the last stretch. It's crazy how much I've learned about missionary work since I started my mission. Just how important it is to love people. There are some semi active members named the M. I think lots of their problem is they don't feel super welcomed in the ward. They all have testimonies and know it's true. But don't feel the love. That's really sad. That is the point of the church. To feel Christ's love every week. So this is a cool story. Last Tuesday or Wednesday (I don't remember) we were going by on lots of people in a city called Friedrichshaffen and we had planned to go by on them. But first we were going by on another family. And so we get on the bus and I sit down next to a mother and daughter and say hey. Then they said oh hello Elders. And it was the M. family. It was so cool to randomly run into them. A city of 50,000 people and to run into members there. It was cool. So we went home with them and talked for a while about their conversion story. And of course played with their dog. That's the best way to get someone to like you. Get their dog to like you. But ya we were talking about coming to church and institute. And the daughter is 27. She came to institute on Wednesday (so it was Tuesday when we went over) and it was just really cool to see her there. We just had had a meeting with the ward mission leader and she was at the church. So that was super exciting. And then the dad and T. came to church. We had an appointment on Saturday but they cancelled. So we'll try to meet with them again soon. It's just rough because they live a ways away. That's always a problem. But we'll try tomorrow. We have interviews. and the train goes through Friedrichshaffen (by the way that's where the zepplins first came from).
Oh and just to let you know one of our members Sister S. owns a high end chocolate store. So, for your birthday you'll get the cookie cutters and a bar of this chocolate. It's super expensive so don't share it. And don't eat it in one day. I know how fast Kevin eats chocolate. Like when I sent home the Austrian chocolate that was 2.50 euro a bar. So like 3.50 usd. I'll have to get the chocolate soon though.
In our mission there are 7 stakes. Vienna, Salzburg, Munich stuttgart, St. Gallen, Zurich and Bern. 3 in Switzerland, 2 in Germany 2 in Austria. Right now I'm in St Gallen, The only german ward in the stake. And Dornbirn, in Austria, is also in the stake.
Well that's good about the new antibiotic. It's cool how effective medicine is becoming. Ya, we shouldn't just depend on it,bBut it is a blessing. All of the amazing medical advances have been very recent, since the restoration of the gospel. God is truly shedding light on all of us now, helping us in every way possible, even if we don't realize it. Think of people 1000 years ago. They would have thought you were a sinner and shunned you from society. Now they say here is the medicine. Go get better. We are lucky to live now. But we also have a bigger responsibility. 1000 years ago genealogy was impossible. Now it's everywhere.
Oh I sent some pics. So the first is at Friedrichshaffen. We were waiting 10 minutes for the next train to get to Breggenz for a finding day. Then the other is an outdoor theater in Breggenz. Elder A. wanted to show it to us. They do shows in the summer there. Something with dragons this year I guess.
We haven't had contact with J. We tried to call a few times. But President Buchanan told us to give him a little break. Not to be too pushy with him. But the Buchanans did randomly run into him on Saturday and talked for a while. So thinks will turn out good. It might just take a bit. God is running things. We aren't just running around unorganized. God knows what's up. Like in luke 15. Talking about the lost sheep. I think it's Luke 15. But how to go for the 1 lost sheep. I'm kind of twisting this. But the shepherds are the ones doing the work and Christ organizes everything. It sometimes seems like what we are doing isn't the best. But as long as Christ wants us to do it then we should be doing it. It's just an amazing work. Sometimes it takes lots of missionaries to baptize someone. And that's ok. Like B. So if you remember in June or something, Ulm wasn't doing much. So we wanted to help get the ward excited for missionary work and in all of our efforts we got 2 referrals. One of them was G. from Sudan, Kenya, and Australia. And he loves God but he went back to Australia. I think so hopefully we have a lasting effect on him. But B. was a friend of E. And we met with her twice. Right before I left and well she was baptized recently. I just barely found out today. That is an awesome feeling to know that my efforts helped someone get baptized. Then we have been meeting with V. from Kazakstan. He is a cool guy. He said he wants to get baptized but isn't quite ready, which is true. He isn't ready yet. But he is slowly getting there. We taught him the word of wisdom last week and about fasting. He loved both of the lessons. He is just a humble guy. He wasn't able to come to church because he hurt his back and went to the hospital so we are going to visit him today if he's still there. If not we'll go to his house. We just need to get him to church more often. He was planning to come. Oh injury. Ugh.
Another miracle happened on Sunday. So first of all there is a girl named R. who lives not far from here and she was on an exchange program in the states and lived with members. So every now and then she comes to church but no one has information for her. So the Buchanans said the missionaries have tried but never works and trying wouldn't work too well. So first we had sunday school and we taught the investigator class and R. has some real questions. I think she feels really good in the church but has some questions about it. She doesn't want to get baptized without knowing everything. But I was talking to her after church about institute and told her I can send you a text about it. And then got her number. The Buchanans were surprised. But we'll just keep her informed about stuff that's coming up. And then when it's time she'll come. We don't want to scare her away. That's the worst thing ever. I think good things will happen with her in the future. Maybe soon. Maybe later. I don't know. We'll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment