WEEK 27 8-2-11 - 8-8-11

Hello Everyone,

WOW what a week here in the Bad Bentheim area we are tearing it up and it feels AWESOME! We really see the blessings from the Lord every day and we are seeing people get closer and closer! I said last week that it was the best numbers I had had my whole mission well they just got better! We got 20 lessons this week!! That is the standard for our mission here so that was cool to be able to do that. We actually got 22 lessons but thats not important haha we had two days this week where we had 6 lessons each that was so cool! We also found 5 new investigators this week and they are all pretty cool. A couple are way solid so that is nice one of them actually came to church on sunday. We had 3 investigators to church and it was awesome. I want to start though by talking about Peter he is the one who just showed up at church a couple of weeks ago and so we have been meeting with him regularly. We met with him on Thursday and we usually meet him in a cafe just by our house cause his office is here in rheine and he doesnt like to meet at his office. So he gets to the cafe about 5 minutes late and he says have you guys eaten lunch? and it was about 4 o clock and we said ya we ate about noon and he said well I didnt so lets go haha. He took us to a Mexican resturant here in Rheine it was way nice its definately not real Mexican food but it was pretty good he bought us both like 13 euro meals and also dessert! We had a great lesson with him as well in the Resturant. We wanted to talk to him about the restoration of the priesthood and it was good cause he had a question about the Sabbath and since he studied theology he knows lots about religion and he said why is the Sabbath not on saturday and we explained it to him that it was revealed to the prophet and that could only happen through the restoration of the priesthood and it was so great he is still reading in the Book of Mormon and he says he really enjoys it. He really studies it because he has so many books from his studies. In the middle of our conversation he looked at us and said I prayed last week! And we both dropped our jaws like WHAT! So what I told him the week before must have got him to think a little bit! It was so great! He is the coolest guy! He took a few pictures of us missionaries cause he wanted to send them to a friend of his in Peru who is a member of our church. He than came to church on sunday and enjoyed it alot. After the meetings we took him upstairs in the church to watch the restoration movie. That went really well after the spirit was so strong we talked about it. I asked what he thought and he said I must be honest and we were thinking oh no he is gonna find something wrong with it. Than he said you can notice that people who diligently seek always get answers and Joseph Smith really did that. He said we can see it in the bible all the time with the people who get the answers like that are really trying to figure it out. Than I gave him the big baptism question!! He didnt give me an answer I think he may not of fully understood what I was asking cause we teach him in English because he is Dutch so its a language barrier for sure but I said when you know this is true will you be baptized? and he said I believe it is true already I just want to study it a little bit more! He told us you can really tell a tree by its fruits and that the fruits of our tree have been good so he really believes it is true! We are going to keep working with him but he is progressing so much!! Its amazing! Oh I almost forgot so when we were eating on Thursday we told him about fast and testimony meeting cause we didnt want him to be freaked out on Sunday at church so than he said should I fast too? and we said well you could if you want and he said ok I will!! So he is definately going to get his answer soon!! He also told us he had been smoking 90 to 100 cigarettes per day and just this last week cut down to 5!! He is planning on being completely finished by next Sunday which is awesome cause we never talked to him about the Word of Wisdom he is just doing it cause he knows its right and he says he has never drank alchohal so thats not a problem at all he is being prepared!! Anyways we also had a couple walk in appointments doing doors this week and we met with Shaney Luckys roommate and he has met with the missionaries before and has been so close to baptism but his family who lives in India they are muslim and dont want him to join the church so thats been hard and he has always had a hard time with smoking so we met with him and asked him if he wanted to quit and he said ya and that he needs our help and I also asked him if he would talk to his family again and have them look into what the church teaches so they know its not some crazy church and he said he would so he is getting on the right track again!! Its so crazy how busy we are and how many awesome people we are finding! Its like we had hit a wall and finally broke through its so great! 3 more weeks of the transfer that means we need to get a baptism fast cause I will prob be transferred since this is my 3rd transfer here but maybe President will leave me here cause the work is EXPLOADING! We have had such a great week and I know we can continue to keep the work going forwards here. It seems like recently people have just been so much nicer to us even the ones that dont have interest! We were walking to our car on Saturday and we walk pass this bar on the way everyday cause its by our house and this guy in the bar stopped me and said what are you guys doing I see you walking around all the time and so I told him we are from our church and we teach people about our church and there were crazy drunk people in this bar coming up to us and saying have a drink and stuff it was kinda funny this one guy asked if we were the Anti Christ and we said no and he said where are you from and we said America and they all started freakin out saying we have some real americans here and all this stuff than this one drunk guy was like you have that black man as president and we said yup and he said he is screwing up the world with all the debt and the other guy was like well these boys cant do anything about that it was really funny and than he somehow found out we were mormon and he said we have mormons from america here haha it was funny. But the guy who we were talking to in the first place kept talking to us he wasnt drunk and he said he would love to meet with us his parents were Jehovas witness he is a little bit older his parents are prob dead but he said he wants to learn about what we are teaching and we made out an appointment to meet him at the bar haha crazy things are happening and its awesome the Lord is blessing us with miracles!! We are working hard and its been great! This next week we will be going to Hannover for zone conference that will be fun I will be able to tell Elder Hardman that we are tearing it up here! Haha. Oh also I was asked to teach priesthood this next week! SO pray for me that I will be able to speak good enough German to teach a good lesson!! Oh I think I forgot to tell you last week we taught Primary and that was really good we taught them about the Plan of Happiness and had them draw there own worlds and told them Gods plan it went really well!! So everything is good here with me! Thanks for all you do!! Love you all!!

WEEK 26 7-26-11 - 8-1-11

Hello Everyone,

Wow this week has been awesome! The best week number wise that I have had since I have been here! We finally got 15 lessons and 7 of them were with non members!! We also got 2 new investigators this week its been way good! Its good to see your hard work pay off finally! And I know it will get better and better as the time goes! We will see the prepared people come out of the wood work! We also were able to meet with the man who came to church last week his name is Peter and that was way cool. It was a little unfunctional because he didnt want us meeting in his office so he took us to a cafe and bought us some drinks and we talked there! I think he is really progressing he has a really hard time with prayer and doesnt want to do it. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and since he studied theology he has a couple other books he is reading with it to see if its valid haha like dates and stuff and he hasnt found any problems thus far! And we all know that he wont find any problems with it! So he was talking about prayer and how he doesnt think he should cause he knows that his prayers would be answered and he is scared of that or something? But near the end of the time we had together I bore my testimony on prayer and said thats my challenge for you to try it again and to feel the spirit and he said you know your right I need to do it but I dont know if I am ready! So he is getting there we are meeting with him again this week so I will let you know how that goes. We also got a refferal from Lucky and we went by on him and we said so we heard that you would be interested in talking more about Jesus Christ and he said of course! I am a child of God why wouldnt I  want to talk about Jesus Christ so he let us in and we talked a little on where he stood as far as religion it was pretty funny we walked in and sat down and the bible was open on his table so he is a religious guy. He said the Elders had met with him before but it had been quite a while and the Elders didnt really explain much about our religion or the Book of Mormon he said he hadnt read the Book of Mormon but he thought he had one but wasnt quite sure. So we got to talking and he is kinda against religion because he believes he can get answers to his prayers at home and what not and every church he has gone to just doesnt seem right! So we started talking about the Book of Mormon and I started talking about 3rd Nephi 11 and how Jesus Christ visits the people and he got all excited and said really?? Jesus came to those people? And I said yes and he taught his gospel to them and he asked why it doesnt say anything about Jesus coming to these people in the Bible and we showed him the scripture that says other sheep I have which are not of this fold! And it all clicked for him and he said next time you come we will read this together and so he is pretty excited to meet with us again! We also met with a lady from Africa this week and she really seemed to enjoy our first lesson we are planning on showing her the Restoration DvD things are really starting to fall into place here. So my new companion his name is Elder Ririe he is from Ogden Utah and he has been here about as long as Elder Hardman like 3 weeks less or so. He is a nice guy but like I said before definately different than me I dont think he has watched a sports game in his life! I have been 0 for 3 on comps that like sports haha but I am sure one day I will get one! I will have to send a picture of him and you will be able to tell the kind of person he is. He is really goofy but he knows he is goofy so that makes it all the better haha he is just this little short guy and its seriously like a 24-7 comedy show for me so its been good so far haha. He is a terrible driver though so I had to take over with that I thought I was about to die about 3 or 4 times yesterday when I let him drive for the first time! He is a good missionary though and likes to work so him and I have had a lot of success this first week and success really brings happiness and nothing to complain about! I really cant believe the first week of the transfer is done and that it is alread AUGUST time goes by way fast when you dont want it too but way slow when you do haha I have learned that when you really forget yourself and get to work the time goes by and you end up wanting more time cause you dont feel like you have accomplished everything! The only thing that is a problem with this comp is he is not German and I have found that the Americans even if they do know German are not the best with teaching it because they dont know why it is the way it is and they screw up sometimes too so its hard but I guess I just need to keep working on it! I don't have a whole lot to say this week so sorry my e mail is a little bit boring! But we have been working hard and seeing success and baptisms will come soon! We met some crazy russian people last night and gave them a Book of Mormon so that was interesting the guy was a little bit drunk and was amazed that we were Americans he said I am really talking to real Americans right now!! We came accross them trying to find a refferal from Lucky haha and we taught them a first lesson and gave them a Book of Mormon they said they would read it. They are Orthadox catholic there is quite a bit of Auslanders here so people from other countries and its cool to meet them and hear about their backgrounds. Anyways thats all for this week!! Thanks for all you do and all the prayers!! I Love you all!!

WEEK 25 7-19-11 - 7-25-11

Hello Everyone!!

So this week was pretty good we had a lot going on with transfers and everything!! I guess I will start off with the news on transfers.. So we decided to do transfer calls with Lucky because he wanted to see how it works so we were walking from our apartment to the car at about 9 30 the transfer call started at 10. So we were at the cross walk and the phone rings I look at Elder Hardman who has the phone and say oh great its Lucky bailing on us huh? He than gave me a face of shock and said its President!! So he answered and President told him he likes to call all the new zone leaders before transfer calls so they arent so surprised and said that he had seen the INCREASE in work the last transfer and would like to ask Elder Hardman to be ZL in Hannover so he's a gonner! I will stay for at least another 5 weeks cause this transfer is a week shorter due to timing with the elders coming from the mtc! My new comp is coming from Meißen which is on the other side of the country kinda by where I was before in Annaberg. He has been District Leader there for a while so I think he is a good missionary! I have met him once my first transfer at president interviews he seems nice but I can tell you we are different! haha but those seem to be the people I get along with best! I am excited his name is Elder Ririe he comes in tommorrow at 2 o clock and Elder Hardman leaves at 9 so I will be hanging out with the Thom couple I am pretty excited cause they are such awesome people! And they have an eating appointment with my favorite members! The Weels! So that will be way cool. I chuckled a little bit when Elder Hardman told me that Pres said he had seen the numbers increase and that he had been workin harder the last couple weeks! Ever since my exchange with the Zone Leader we have gotten an appointment everyday and achieved what is called 21 ballards every week so thats been pretty cool! I am excited to stay another I know there is alot of work here to do! Thats the news for transfers!!

So other news. Seriously a miracle happened to us yesterday it was the coolest thing ever! The coolest thing that has happened to me on my mission thus far! So we were at the church and this guy walks in and Elder Hardman talks to him for a bit cause I was playing with the kids before church! Haha but anyways nobody knew who this guy was it was way crazy so we asked why he was there and he said he didn't know why he was there! And we were like hmm that doesnt make a lot of sense! So he stayed for both hours of church and after we got his information and stuff and said ya we will give you a call this week! He said ok thats great. So he left and about 10 minutes later his car pulls back into the church parking lot. Elder Hardman looks at me and says well he must have forgot something! So he walks in and we were like hey your back and he said ya I was on my way back and I realized I still didn't know why I was here today and I want to figure that out can we go talk!! It was so cool so we went upstairs and he really opened up to us and told him he hadn't been to any church for 5 years. When he was younger he went with his parents to the Salvation army than something happened with his family so he had to go to foster parents and his foster father was a protestant preacher so he went to church all the time. He said he had done some bad things and chose not to believe in God and Jesus Christ. He also studied Theology in the University. He has been married before and has 4 kids he is now divorced and I think that may have something to do with it! Than he told us how he ended up at our church which is even a cooler story! He said he was on his way to Dusseldorf for a fashion show because some of his clients were there and he needed to meet with them. But before he could go he had to go to his office which is in Rheine where we live he had to go to his office to get his invitation and also directions off the internet he said he got this feeling that he needed to go to church and he said he hadnt felt that in many years and he didnt like it so he called some friends and asked them to pray for him that this feeling or the spirit! Would go away but it never did so he was just planning on going down to dusseldorf he left his office and got to the train station and realized he forgot the invitation! So he had to run back to his office and when he was there he noticed he had an e mail from a friend in Peru who is a member of OUR church so he is like thats where I need to be and googled the church and ended up at ours cause it was closest to Rheine. Man it was so crazy and he than continued to tell us the last 6 to 7 months crazy things had happened that he couldnt explain. He said he was on a train with a colleague of his and the train was full and a random guy walked up to him and said I got a strong feeling I need to tell you God Loves You. And the same thing happened when he was sitting on a bench in Amsterdam a lady came up to him and said the same thing! So crazy we tried to explain the spirit and he said ya I know thats what the feeling was I am just scared cause I dont think I am worthy to go to church cause I have done bad things and we explained a little about that. He said he knows God has a plan for him but he scared to go back and fallow that plan cause he has chosen a different direction in his life! We than gave him a Book of Mormon and commited him to read it and he said he had tried to buy one before but couldnt find out where to buy it we said well thats cause its FREE! SO he will read it and we asked if we could pray and he said he doesnt pray cause he doesnt want to ask for forgiveness if he cant forgive himself! The talks in sacrament were about forgiveness that day! So we both bore testimony about how he was supposed to be there and how God lead him back to where he is supposed to be! We set another appointment oh man it was the coolest thing ever! That was the highlight of my week!! Nothing really else went on we found some other cool people. We got a few refferals from Lucky he is like the only one who gives us referals and they are all black guys his friends haha so its interesting the think of us more as friends but love talking about Jesus Christ its fun!! Anyways the week was good! I hope you all had a great week and have a great week this week! Happy Birthday HUNTER Du Bist Der Chef! Thats all for this week. Happy Birthday Mom! Have a great week! Love you all

WEEK 24 7-12-11 - 7-18-11

Hello Everyone!

Man this week has flown by! I can hardly keep up with everything thats going on!! I have been out for 6 months thats so crazy tomorrow I will be burning a tie of mine as tradition! I will record it and send it with my next sd card! July is almost over thats so crazy! SO to clear everything up transfers are this coming week so this Saturday we have our transfer call so next e mail I will let you all know what happened! I am sure I will stay but I guess you never really know! As far as the week goes. On Monday we had a pretty good P Day we got to play american football with Lucky and Sanga and 2 other younger kids it was probably the most ridiculous game of 2 touch football I have ever played because nobody knew what they were doing! Of course my team won haha! We were also able to make some food for them that was fun too. On Tuesday we had a pretty long day we did a lot of finding and didnt find much of anything haha but it was ok. We were on our way to our eating appointment but my comp had to go to the bathroom so we stopped by the church and I hopped out of the car and this older guy on his bike came up and started talking to me and asked if we had anything to do with the church haha and I was thinking of saying no we have nothing to do with this church we just dress up like this and have a key to the church! But we said yes we are missionaries and started talking to him taught him a first lesson. He was pretty crazy though and believes in reincarnation and that the animals on the bottom of the sea that we dont know about will reign when the humans die off so that was interesting. And he kept asking us what was so important about the last 3 days we had no idea what he was saying but than he said the name of your church says of the last days and he just figured it was the last 3 days! We have had quite a few people ask us about that! He also told us that Jesus didnt do that many special things. He told us that he took upon himself like 2000 souls or something cause he was the last member of is soul family?? He was nuts! But we gave him a book of mormon and challenged him to read it. We also invited him to church so that was good. On Wednesday we had a pretty good day. We went by on Lucky and gave him a lesson and his roommate shaney was there as well and we were able to read second nephi 31 its a great chapter about the gospel of Jesus Christ! Than after he gave us a referral and we went and contacted him that same day and got a first lesson set another appointment and a new investigator! So that was way cool! Than on Thursday we got another new investigator! So the work is picking up it just takes a lot of work! The lady who is our other new investigator meets with the Zeugen Jehovas as well So in english the Jehovas witness. But I think she has a different view on life than the Jehovas witnesses she is a way cool lady so that was good I think when she reads the book of mormon she will be able to become converted! Thats basically the weekly run down of the new people we found and what not. I gave a talk yesterday in church about Faith. I think it went pretty well. I got a couple compliments but I dont know if thats cause it was good or if thats cause I am a missionary! I usually hate talking in front of a group of people but it went really well and I think my German was pretty good as well! A couple of crazy things have happened this week as well! We were going by on a contact to see if we could make out an appointment with him but he wasnt home so we started walking the other way and there was three younger kids sitting on this bench 2 black kids and one Turk and they were probably 12 14 age group and they looked at us and we said high to them and kept walking than we hear this can of some liquid hit the top of the bus stop we were right next to! And some of it got in my mouth! I dont exactly know what the liquid was but could have been beer if so I have now tried beer! But I wasnt very happy about it and we went back and my comp was like what was that and the Turk was like it was a can! And we were like ya no crap and than my comp said did you throw it and he said ya and oh man he was the stupidest little kid! But whatever we just kept walking haha its funny how stupid people can be and its sad at the same time! We just said hi to them but because we are walkin around wearing white shirts and ties we get crap thrown at us haha classic! Its going to be interesting to see how transfers turn out cause if I stay here I may have to drive the car that will be interesting! My comp suggested that I suggest to pres that I would like a german comp to help with my German cause he says thats the best way to learn! I will probably after next transfer if I dont get a German comp! To prepare me to train and what not! But I know Pres knows what he is doing so ya! So thats about it for my week! Thanks for all you guys do for me! Thanks for the prayers they really help me everyday! I love you all! Have a great week!!

Pictures

Week 23 7-5-11 - 7-11-11

This week was pretty good and its had its down times too haha to be honest. But the coolest thing about this week was that on thursday we were up in Hamburg for the mission tour from Elder Cuacee or however you spell it from the first qourum of the seventy it was way good! He is an awesome man and he definately taught us with the spirit! It just made you feel like you need to do better! He was awesome and he asked us what are we here for and said when it comes down to it we are here to baptize the people so why are we so afraid to invite people to be baptized and than he challenged us to invite all of our investigators to be baptized and make sure the people we teach know that that is why we are teaching them so they can be expecting the question and prepare for it. So we came back and had an appointment with Gisbert and at the end of our lesson Elder Hardman challenged him to be baptized and he said something like, I dont dare. Because his family is all catholic he is afraid they wouldnt accept him so that was pretty dumb and he also said that he knows he would be happy if he joined the church and he  knows what we have said is true but the fact that he would lose his family and he said there is nobody smart enough in our branch that he can talk to! That was kinda a dumb excuse but whatever haha. And so we said ok well than we should probably start meeting less like every other week instead of every week and he said ya I think it would be stupid to just stop all contact and than he said he would really think about our invitation and talk to his family that was cool. He also told me that he think I memorize what I say that made me not so happy but whatev haha its just because I cant speak tons of German so what I can say is really simple! So we were a little dissapointed after that! Than yesterday he called us and we saw his name on our phone I was like no way he wants to get baptized I was so stoked! Than he talked to Elder Hardman and said I want to stop all visits and Elder Hardman said well can I ask why and he said well its hard to explain over the phone than said see ya. So that was a shock but I guess he just isnt prepared! I wonder what happened taht he completely changed! We worked pretty hard this week and didnt see a lot out of it and thats kinda hard. But I just figure thats Satan not wanting us to work as hard like it says you have to have a trial of your faith! All of our appointments fell through this week! But we taught a couple people on the street so that was pretty cool. We have to appointments tommorrow so I think they will both go through! Germany is a great place! I just wish the people could be a little more humble so they can be more accepting of the gospel! It is really hard to explain to people how happy it will make them when they dont WANT to believe in God or anything. Another cool story, On Friday we had to go up to Oldenburg cause the Zone Leaders wanted my comp up there for some district leader meeting so I had to go as well of course. So the other district leader was there as well and his companion Elder Cartwright (he was in the mtc with me the group younger). SO while they had this meeting me and Elder Cartwright went out and did some street contacting in Oldenburg which was hard cause I have never been there and we had no idea where we were going but it was fun haha we talked to a lot of people we introduced the Book Of Mormon to a guy that told us he was a practicing athiest haha I don't understand how that works but I was talking to him and he was telling us all the bad experiences he has had with church and so I explained to him what the Book Of Mormon was than I said I really know this book can help you and that you can really find out if God is there if you read this and pray about it. And he looked at me and said ok I will take it. So we placed a BOM that was way cool. He also told me my German was good haha so I was pretty happy about that! We really have been working hard and I know we will see the benifets from that. I dont know how soon they will come but I know they will come! I think I finally got my comp on the same page and he has been doing his best as well and its crazy to see that when he started working and doing his best we have gotten a long a lot better and so thats way cool too. Transfers are almost here again not this saturday but next we will know who goes and who stays. My comp says he can see him staying for another and me getting transfered? Haha maybe so. I really like this city and I like the work here and I know it can really turn around! We will see.... Its way cool to see how awesome the gospel is and how much happier we can be if we do what our Heavenly Father asks of us. There has been trials I have faced on the mission or before or whenever and the answer has always been the gospel! The gospel is really a medicine its a cure to all of our problems. When we understand that we really our children of our Heavenly Father we understand our full potential and other worldly things do not matter! I have really noticed that in my life and I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is really the only way we can reach that potential. Nobody is perfect but the only way we can be perfect is through Jesus Christ! I love the gospel and I love the oppurtunity I have to serve a mission it hasnt always been easy but it has always been worth it! I have learned so much and I love it! I love you all and thanks for all you do for me and the prayers!! Have a great week!!

Week 22 6-28-11 - 7-4-11

Hello Everyone,
So I have had a pretty good week to say the least! We made out an appointment everyday this week that was the first time I have done that on my mission so that has been way cool! We have worked really hard and this week we need to turn that into Investigators and we will also be finding more people. President Interviews on thursday were good. President gave a good lesson and so did the Aps and the ZLs. My interview with president was not very long he brought me in asked how I was doing and said I can see your numbers increase and I know your working hard I am really proud of what your doing and don't have anything to complain about! So that was good he said he can see that I am helping Elder Hardman because sometimes after the year mark you can get a little unmotivated and he knows that I am picking up that motivation so that is good. I told him about Elder Sullivan coming in and said something about training he laughed and said well you may be able to spend some time together so that would be way cool if after he is trained maybe we could serve together. We will see what happens. So transfers are half way over thats so crazy! So today for the 4th of July the Thom couple are having us over for some American food I am pretty excited about that. I know she is making sloppy joes and I am not completely sure what else she will be making I guess it will be a surprise! I am so sore on Saturday we helped out a member he is re doing his whole backyard and he had tons of stons and bricks like on the ground that he wanted to take out so we were doing that for like 3 hours straight probably the most manual labor I have done since I have been here than we would just load it all up in a wheel barrow and take it to the big dumpster thing my arms and back are killing me haha but it was good work and than after his wife who is from Hungary made us some dang good home made pizza with this special hungarian flat bread it was way good so there was nothing to complain about! We have had a couple appointments fall through this week so that was kinda crappy but we have a lot of appointments this week and I am sure a few of them will go through. Also this week on thursday we are going up to Hamburg for the Mission Tour which means a member of the Area Presidency will be touring the mission so goes to three different spots and talks to the elders. Elder Causee I dont know if thats is how you spell his name but he is from france and he is in the area presidency he is also in the first quorum of the seventy so that will be cool to hear from him I also get to see some of my friends from the MTC so I am pretty excited about that! So something cool that also happened at president interviews... President has been pretty big with the driving people to the website fishing with the internet and creating our own media refferals so since every person on the street or wherever we are always stares at our nametags he had the idea to get the website engraved on our nametags so more people would drive to the website but the mission office said no to that because the nametags have been the same forever but I guess they may be still thinking it over? Option number 2 was to have something hanging from our nametags with the website on it kinda like at the temple square in Salt Lake the missionaries have something hanging from their name tags. Well the mission office said they are thinking about that one too and that could go global! SO while all this is in the process of going through the mission offices and what not. President said he isnt going to wait around so he went and got patches made that stick to your backpacks and shoulder bags that have the website on them so people will see that. Pres is such a smart guy haha he said so if you see the church website hanging from missionaries badges in latter years you know that started in the Germany Berlin Mission. These patches are way cool they are just the website and you dont have to sew them on or anything they stick and you can take them off and stick them on again so that is way cool! We have been trying to get out more cards I have started a new policy if someone doesnt take the card I just leave it where that person was because who knows someone else could pick it up. I have also been sticking them in the light poles like the cross walk buttons where you press for the signal to come. I asked pres if that was Legal and he said he didnt know but he would find out! But he wanted me to keep doing it untill he found out haha. It was kinda cool so on Friday we got to cook dinner for Shaney and Lucky. Lucky is a member from Nigeria who is about 22 and we meet with him regularly he is way close with the missionaries and Shaney is his roommate who has been an investigator forever but cant quit smoking and his family in India is way against him joining the church. But they asked us to cook something american for them so we made some Hamburgers and a Salad it was pretty dang good! I was proud of my cooking ability! haha. I got a few letters this week one from Gpa Norm one from Gma Sondra and one from Boots but I didn't get yours mom. Or anyone elses and that was pretty dissapointing haha pick it up people! Hahah just kidding but it would be nice if you found some time to drop me a little letter once in a while! Well not much to really say this week we got really close with Gisbert he started breaking down kind of and than he said well I will have to think about this and wait till next week so we know he was feeling the spirit after I tried to lay it down to him in my broken German! Hahah German is hard but I can see that I get better everyday I can hold a pretty good conversation I just need to improve my vocab than I will be a lot better! Well It was a good week but this week will be better! Thanks for all your support and all you do! Love ya tons!! Have a great week!
P.S I am expecting more letters this week!! Hahah

WEEK 21 6-21-11 - 6-27-11

Hello Everyone.
My week has been good for the most part! So first I want to start off with what happened on wednesday so you all know how I had been kinda worried with what to do because we werent seeing a lot of success cause we werent talking to a lot of people cause my comp had been only doing the minimums for quite a while. Well on Wednesday I had an exchange with the zone leader Elder Wagley and we worked really hard we made out two appointments and talked to EVERYONE! I felt really good after and throughout the day we had been talking and he said you remind me a lot of myself when I was young on the mission. You just want to do the right thing. I said yes but I don't want to tell my comp ok this is what we are going to do and create problems cause I am just the Junior companion. And he told me Its your area too tell him you want to have success and this is how you are going to do it. And I made him a promise that I would do my best to make out an appointment everyday for the rest of the transfer and he said if you do that I will give you a tie! SO my comp came back and I had a really hard time getting enough courage to lay it down to him! But I just finally said it I said ok man this is what we are going to do we are going to turn this area around even if it takes staying out a little bit later walkin a little more and talking to more people! I dont think he was the biggest fan at first but than when we would go outside I would just talk with everyone so he had no other choice! Than he finally got involved and we made out an appointment everyday this week! The other night we were walking and he said this is the hardest I have worked since I have been here! So I felt pretty good about that that I was setting a good example even if I am just the Junior Companion. So we have found a few new people and soon when we keep finding people we will have more people to teach so I am trying to get this area going and that takes hard work! But I am glad I learned the lesson from Elder Wagley that if I really want to do it I can do it. We didnt get a chance to meet with the Italian guy this week sadly he works so much he is hard to set a firm appointment with! But we saw him at home one night it was kinda late and we ran the Proclomation to the Family over cause in our first meeting he talked soo much about what his family means to him and how that is most important so we thought that would be good for him to read. As far as Gisbert goes he came to church this week so that was good but he doesnt totally understand the Priesthood and why it is so important and we dont really know how to just say ok well this is how it is! So we will see I guess! This coming week on thursday we have President Interviews I am pretty excited for that to sit down with Pres and talk to him about what is going on! He is such a cool guy! Than the week after we have mission tour from Elder Causee I dont know if that is how you spell his name but he is in the first quorum of the seventy and also in the area presidency so that will be cool to hear from him. I still get frustrated with my comp sometimes but I think I have grown immune to it! Hahah he sometimes doesnt understand the question rules I have laid down so I have to continue to remind him! And that is frustrating sometimes but it is what it is and I guess thats what happens when you pray for patience!! As far as the 4th of July goes it is a P day so maybe we will be able to do something exciting! I dont really know what but maybe Sister Thom can make us some American Sloppy joes or some hamburgers! She is the lady in the senior missionary couple in our ward so she knows how to cook and she is super nice so maybe we can talk her into it! I got my package like thursday or friday Fedex is really fast here Idk why but it was way cool and thank you I really enjoyed it! I needed a new jump rope and the Ensign was way good too because I didnt have one yet so it was good to get it! I am just working hard doing my missionary things! haha I have really stepped my game up and turned it up a notch which is way good cause I know now the Lord will bless us with more people to teach and will be able to trust us with the prepared people he has! Also Sanga has his trial today so that is going to be interesting to see this trial decides if he can stay in Germany or if he has to go back to Africa! We are all praying for him because he has had such a hard life! We went over to his place last night and we read the end of 2nd Nephi 4 with him and that is where Nephi is talking about how he just needs to trust in the Lord and what not. So we read that and the Spirit was way strong than we left with prayer but this time we prayed on our knees he was really grateful for that and I know he really felt the spirit! He is a good guy we will find out today if he can stay or has to go! It will be hard for him because he doesnt have any documents! Because he is a refugee but there are some things in his favor that might enable him to stay here! So keep your fingers crossed for him! Hmm what else went on this week! Oh so I really liked darlenes Idea about sending the food packages that makes things a lot easier! I havent used one yet but I am plannin on using the Alfredo here soon! Thanks for all you guys do for me! Sorry this e mail is so short and boring I guess I dont have that much to say this week! But I promise it will be better and more eventful next week! We meet the craziest people but I dont know how to describe the conversations we have! I guess I can only do that via Letters! So if I get some more letters from people I can tell more stories!! I love you guys and thanks for your prayers I can really feel them helping me out here! I know this Church is true and through the atonement we can really be made clean! The gospel changes lives you see crazy experiences every single day on how someones life is changed through Jesus Christ and his Gospel!! I am grateful I can be here and serve a mission sometimes it gets frustrating and hard but I have learned keep your head up and keep going!! Thanks again and have a great week!!

WEEK 21 6-14-11 - 6-20-11

Hello!

So this week has been pretty slow to be completely honest but that seems to always be the case with the first and last weeks of the transfer so it should start going by a little faster again! First to answer your question President Interviews are next thursday so the 30th of June than we have a mission tour with one of the seventy from the area seventy in Hamburg on the 7th of July so that will be really cool I am excited for President Interviews and to sit down and talk with President. Maybe I will suggest that I am ready to train?? haha we will see! Secondly I just want to wish all the Dads a happy late fathers day! It was not Fathers day here in Germany yesterday but it was Fathers day in Holland and of course our eating appointment fell through because the people are dutch and were going to Holland for fathers day! So we had to fend for ourselves and since my comp doesnt really cook much (I cook everyday!!) But he does the dishes so that is ok. Well he sometimes does the dishes. But I made a nice meal Gma and Gpa would be proud! I made some chicken (cause thats all we had haha) and I just put a little different spices on it Salt, Pepper, Cyann pepper, a little lemon juice, and some garlic salt. And it turned out really good than I made REAL mashed potatoes and I will have to admit they were pretty close to Sunday dinner at grandmas! I am not quite there yet though haha! And this is the shocker I even made homemade gravy for the first time in my life it was pretty good for a first try! So thats what we had for sunday dinner wasnt bad if I do say so myself! Anyways ya so happy fathers day! This week we got a new investigator she is from Ghana and has lived in Germany for like nine years now or something and we taught her a first lesson and made out another appointment I think she really liked it she seemed to be grasping what we were sayin it was also nice because English is her native tounge so we got to talk to her in English!! We had a couple appointments this week fall through but thats the life of a missionary I guess! This Italian guy I mentioned last week we tried to go by yesterday but he was walking out of his door when we got there but he told us to come back next sunday so we will do that. We want to give him the Proclomation about the Family cause he told us his family is really everything to him so I think he will like that and that would be way cool! We are still in the finding stages we just need to find the prepared people like I said before my comp and his previous comp had gotten into a pattern of just doing the minimum and that doesnt set well with me because there is no way we will find more people if we only talk to 10 people a day. It seems to me that everytime we talk to as many people as we can we always seem to make out an appointment! So we are gonna keep trying and using the Pass along cards to chum some streets and to do some more doors! We have only done one street of doors since I have been here and thats cause I said hey we need to do that street and that is where we found the Italian guy. So I think doors will be a lot more effective for us and finding! A funny story so on Friday we had it planned to go visit Lucky who is one of the guys from africa that is a member I think Lucky is 21 and Sanga is 20 so those are the 2 way cool african guys in our ward anyways so we go to Luckys place and we were planning on leaving him a spiritual thought but right after we prayed Sanga called and said him and some of his friends needed our help haha so we went over to see what was going on and one of their friends Samuel he has a car and he had to work but he let lucky barrow the car well lucky let Jeremiah barrow the car and Jeramiah went to school that morning and left the lights on for 6 hours haha so the battery had died and I guess they had been trying all day to get the car started and its manual so we tried to push start it for like 2 hours and it didnt work haha so we didnt get home till about 10 that night cause we were helping our brothas out with their car haha it was pretty funny! Thats way cool Hunter got a new bike early cause he has been riding so much! Ya I dont think I ever got a present early that kinda sucks too though because than when it comes his birthday he doesnt get anything? are you guys doing a party for him or what? Another funny story so I guess you could say I finally just snapped with the question game this week! But I didnt do it in a rude way. we were doing some street contacting and he said now where and I said lets go this way than when we came to another turn he said now where and I was like ok I am laying it down right now! than I said I hate questions so much and especially repetative questions my sister and mom asked me so many questions it drove me crazy and I said some questions are of course needed but some like what is the plan when he has the same plan I have are not needed! And I said when we are doing street contacting just go where we see people not having to worry about which directiong every single turn just free and easy and than this is where I proved that what I was saying is really legit. I said the less decisions you have to make the faster the time goes by! And he said you know what I have noticed that! Haha so now we are all clear on the questions! SO something else really quick I am going to need a new jump rope because mine already broke twice because I have been using it so much! So thanks for that. I can not believe hunter gets baptized so soon I am excited for him I will be expecting pictures from that! I love getting your guys letters and everything and I would love to hear more from the other family who recieves this e mail through letters. Such as Gma Gpa taysom Kipp and Linda and the boys. Sarah Scotty Holly Jeff Rene the boys and whoever else I am forgetting send me letters folks! It really is so awesome to hear from everyone! The Kansas Family too! Gma Lois has been super steady take her example. (Gma Lois dont worry I will send you a letter back today sorry its been so long!!). Anyways missionary work is fun. Sometimes well a lot of the times it gets frustrating but I know the Lord will send the prepared people my way if I am doing what I am supposed to and talking to EVERYONE like I am supposed to. Man I miss the little kids Easton and Iyrlend but they will be even cuter when I get home! Easton will be so old that will be crazy!! haha But ya so I will wrap it up! We are still finding people thanks for your prayers please continue to pray for me so I can find those golden investigators! I will continue to pray for all of you and I am grateful for all you guys do for me. Love you tons!!

 

Ps. Gpa Chuck Happy B day this last week!!!

WEEK 20 6-7-11 - 6-13-11

Hello Everyone!

My week has been pretty good/crazy and everything that a missionary goes through every week of transfers! So first and foremost I was so positive that my comp would get transfered that he ended up staying haha we were both really shocked so we have 6 more weeks together. We get along really well but after a certain amount of time anyone can get on your nerves sometimes haha I figured out though that he is a cool guy but not someone I would choose to hang out with he is just different with certain things so sometimes we clash but we make it work. Another cool thing Elder Carlson my first comp got transfered to Dellingsdorf which is in the west and got made district leader and will be serving with Elder Lloyd from my district in the mtc! He is way excited about that I am excited for him he is a stud! Something else that is pretty cool. Elder Wilson who was serving in Osnabruck which is in my district also went to highschool with me he got transfered to Lankwitz Berlin to serve with Elder Jake Walter who is the one from our highschool that came the same day as me! So he was excited I think they are actually related somehow 2nd cousins or something! So that was the info on transfers.

 

As far as mission work goes. It has actually still been pretty slow this last week which isnt cool. I swear yesterday we were going by on some potential investigators and we had the worst luck we went by on 5 and none were home! Of course today is some stupid German holliday (excuse to get drunk) so they may be doing that. The highlight for the week also happened last night. So we were at the apartment and we were wondering what we should do because we had already gone by on 5 people and nobody was outside and I got this feeling we should go do this one street of doors that we had chummed before which means we had gone by and put our cards in the mailbox so when we knock on the door they know who we are. So we didnt have a lot of time like 1 hour to do doors cause after 8 o clock the germans dont like people knocking on their doors! So we went and we started doing some doors and there were a lot of old people which is never good cause they are always too set in their ways and dont like talkin about religion so about the first 45 minutes of doors was very unseccesfull. Than we came to this one door this middle aged guy answered and we started talkin to him and he let us in and so we got a walk in appointment taught him a first lesson he is from Italy and is baptized catholic but has had many bad experiences with churches because his wife is Protestant so the catholics didnt want him to marry her and all this crazy stuff so he is pretty skeptical when it comes to churches so he said he believes in God and just wants to leave it at that. But we introduced the Book of Mormon to him and he liked it he kinda seemed like he understood what we were saying and when we told him we were giving him the Book of Mormon he is like wait what your giving this to me he said that doesnt happen very often there is usually something behind it. We said well we want to share the truth with people so he took the book said he would read in it and also said he would like to come to our church in the near future! That was way cool! So thats the lesson for the week if you fallow the Holy Ghost cool things like that will happen! haha. As far as everyone else hmm Gisbert is still Gisbert I kinda feel bad I kinda laid it down to him this week but my comp said it was good so thats good I just told him like man if you know the book of mormon is true that means Joseph smith was a prophet and the Church is true and he didnt have much to say back so hopefully we can get him to budge!

 

Soo my watch did come its pretty cool I will have to send you a picture of it. It doesnt look like a watch just looks like a metal armband than you press a button and the numbers light up so its cool especially for 1 euro! haha. The branch here is way cool there are a couple weird people but you can find that anywhere but they are all really nice! There is about 40 members on paper I would say but 25 to 30 are active so ya a couple less active members. So church goes like this. The first hour is priesthood/relief society and the second hour is Sacrament meeting. This week Elder Hardman taught priesthood and I gave a talk in sacrament about how you receieve a testimony that was a really hard subject to talk about because a testimony can come through so many different ways!! So we are really involved in the ward just because there isnt tons of people! I am sending my Sd card home tommorrow too so no worries with that you will get pictures soon. We found this cool old windmill that was right on the Holland Boarder that we went and took some pictures by so that was cool.

 

Thats about all for this week! I am grateful for all of your support and your prayers I can feel them with me! I am workin hard trying to get this language down so I can be a more effective missionary! But I know that it will come before I know it! Thanks for everything!! Love ya!!

WEEK 19 5-31-11 - 6-6-11

Hallo Von Deutschland!
So first and foremost I havent heard of anyone from the mission getting sick with this e coli outbreak or whatever. Secondly I probably figured that that is the case because not a lot of missionarys eat vegetables! I really like vegetables but they are a little more expensive and hard to prepare fresh ones! We eat a lot of easy to make food actually this last week we made some African stew it was sooo SPICY I about died of course that is because an African made it for us or showed us how to make it!! President actually sent us a text the other day telling us that they found that the cause of the outbreak was from bean sprouts so really we should all be fine and its easy to defeat when you just wash your vegetables and cook your meats all the way through!! So just to let you know my comp and I are both healthy actually just kidding he got a cold about a week ago and has been coughing and sometimes he doesnt cover his mouth and I tell him everytime if I get sick I will punch you square in the face and I kinda started getting a sore throught but it went away no problem! As far as the week goes it has actually been somewhat slow and dissapointing. We had some pretty solid appointments with some people that we had met on the street and they all fell through which was rough on us cause we were really excited about it! We are still teaching Gisbert I just wish he would understand the whole authority thing which I dont think he does. Its kinda like he is just content with where he is and doesnt need to join the church even though he has read the whole book of mormon and started over again!! He told us he knows without a doubt that the book is true but I dont understand why he wont get baptized sometimes I think we are just not straight forward enough! He really likes my companion so we will see what happens If my comp gets transfered at the end of this week! I cant believe its the last week of the transfer I am about 100 percent positive I will stay but I am also  pretty sure he will be going! There is 6 zone leaders that are finishing their missions and one of the APs so thats 7 leadership positions that need to be filled and he has been district leader for 6 transfers now and I guess president had basically told him he will be a ZL this summer I guess we will see haha. Anyways we have a pretty solid appointment tonight with a guy we met a couple weeks ago that will be cool to see how he has progressed he has been on vacation for a week so I am not sure if he has gotten the chance to read out of the Book of mormon this week hopefully so! I am actually in Osnabruck with the elders here for P day we decided to do a district P day and I think we are planning on going to the Zoo. Its way cool because Elder Wilson is in Osnabruck and he went to Snow Canyon so its like I am back at home cause we can talk about things back there haha its cool he is a sweet kid! And we are going on exchanges Elder Wilson is coming to Rheine with me and Elder Hardman is staying with Elder Stoe is Osnabruck. Ya my comp had to go to a training meeting a couple weeks ago but I just went with the elders in Osnabruck for the day and ya he tells me stuff but a lot of it is just stuff I already knew or had heard at zone conference or what not! I can't believe Easton is already 1yrs old thats freaking nuts! Happy Birthday to Dad and Easton! I will be sending a package home soon for Fathers day. For Dad and maybe he can share! Its hard for me to find candy he likes here because they have so much chocolate but I found these things that are delicious that I think he will like so we will see! Thats cool about the Thomas S. Monson book I want to read it as well I guess I have 19 months and I can haha. So nothing really new for me still trying to find some new investigators and its hard cause a lot of contacts have fallen through. Oh I got a new watch! A member in the ward collects watches well her brother does that lives with her he is and older guy he is deaf and what not so that is why he lives with her but he is way way cool. Anyways he found some watches on e bay from hong kong and he showed us one he had purchased and I though it was way cool and it was only a dollar and shipping is like 7 so an 8 euro watch so they ordered one for me!! I am super stoked to get it haha!

Now for the more spiritual part! I have been reading the war chapters in Alma well actually I am just reading through the Book of Mormon and that happens to be where I am at. And I love the war chapters just cause there is so much action going on! I always wonder what can I learn from this cause I don't plan on ever being in a battle with swords and what not! But hey I am in a battle right now! I fight everyday to spread the gospel to people who sometimes dont want anything to do with it thats a battle in itself! I learned something really valuable from Alma chapter 47 the story of Lehonti and Almickiah or however you spell his name! Almickiah wants to become king but first he has to take over the armies so he can become king. Lehonti and his army are on the top of a mountain and Almickiah has this great plan to get them so he sends up a messanger and says Lehonti come down I want to talk to you. Lehonti says no! So he tries that 3 more times and Lehonti wont come down so than Almickiah thinks if I can only get him halfway down. So he sends up his servents again and says hey Lehonti come halfway down and so he says ok! So than Almickiah makes this deal with him that sounds so great as long as Lehonti puts Almickiah second in command! So than Lehonti agrees and what happens Almickiah slowly poisens Lehonti and when Lehonti dies the armies are now all controlled by Almickiah because he is second in command. That is such a crazy story and how many comparisons you really can make with it! With Satan the whole goal was Satan wanted glory! And that is what Almickiah wanted people to follow him. And than that just shows us we have to keep our standards high and not even come down at all! We need to stay on our mountains and not let Satan bring us halfway cause than we are done for! I thought you guys might like my message for the week! I love you all and am so Grateful I have such a great family and friends I pray for you guys and I feel the prayers for me! Thanks for Everything!!

WEEK 18 5-24-11 - 5-30-11

Hello!

So this week hs been pretty good kinda just another week in Germany! Sometimes missionary work gets quite repetative! But we found some cool people! On Monday we decided to do some door to door. Our first house we got let in by this younger guy and he said well you cant come in my house cause my wife is sleeping but you can teach me outside! So we taught him outside on the stairs! Super cool guy he works for General Electric so he knows really really good english! He said he has always been interested in religion cause he has a lot of friends who are from a lot of different religions so we taught him a first lesson about the book of mormon and gave him a book of mormon so that was way cool and we made out another appointment with him next week so we will see how that goes! On saturday we did some service for a member family they just moved in to this new house not to long ago and the person who had lived there before was an old guy who didnt do anything with the backyard so there was trees and plants everywhere it looked like a jungle! So we cut down some trees and stuff we worked for a good 4 hours so that was good! Than we came home and got ready and went and did some more doors and we werent having a whole lot of success actually a few people like told us to leave the whole appartment building that was really frustrating. Than we were just like ok lets come back another day haha so we started walking and saw this younger guy so we started talking to him and asked him what he thought the purpose of life is and why we are here! And he said that is a good question! And we explained what we believe and he really liked that! And we said so are you a member of another church and he said no I am on the search for a church!!! So that was super money! So we have an appointment with him on Wednesday we will see how that goes! So this week I think on friday we went to visit Sanga one  of our african friends and after he is like are you guys hungry and we are like ok ya sure so he brings this stuff out. To be honest I was a little skeptical about it haha but its like this chicken in red sauce that you put over rice and it was dang good but super spicey! I really enjoyed it so he is going to show us how to make it today that will be fun! On saturday night we had an eating appointment with Estephania she is a new member and she is from ECUADOR! hahah I thought zach might enjoy that! She is married to a German guy and he is super cool he said that church is just not really his thing right now though but he would make a sweet member! But they made some dang good food! Prob the best eating appointment I have had! They made ribs and potatoes and some rice with this special sauce! It was dang good! She is a super cool lady and like every missionary who has served here thinks she is hot. But I dont know she is not my taste! Plus she is married! Anyways so than yesterday we talked to a few people and we talked to this younger kid prob about 17 and he is catholic but he is really a smart kid like knows there is something more and we made an appointment with him so that will be cool to see where that goes! As far as my comp he is still my comp. I wont know if he goes zone leader untill transfer calls which is not this saturday but next so when I find out I will let you know! I am glad I made robbins day haha thats funny I though it might be nice to send her a little something! I havent heard from taylor lately but mike e mails me every week he comes home the end of July I dont know the exact date! Thats so crazy he is coming home so soon! Thats so crazy abóut brother southwick thats super sad! He was a really nice guy! As far as studying I havent been the best either I need to step my game up. I am kinda just all over the place when it comes to studying. I just finished our heritage kinda about our church and every prophet and what they have all done so that was cool than I read in the BOM sometimes I am in like the middle of Alma so thats good too I just need to stick on one topic each day haha. Thats good you guys are going to go to the temple and stuff that is really a good oppurtunity the closest temple to us here is Frankfurt but we cant go there cause it is out of our mission boundries. You can only go to the temple when you are in the Leipzig zone of the Dresden zone so the far eastern ones that are close to the Freiburg temple! Anyways this week was good I hope to get some new Investigators this coming week I am sure we will we just need to step it up. I guess my comp and his last comp kinda got into the pattern of just talkin to some people but I am trying to change that where we talk to everyone we can so we can make out more appointments which leads to baptism! I am glad to hear all is well there Love you all and hope all is good!!

WEEK 17 5-17-11 - 5-23-11

Hello!
This last week has been pretty fun I always forget what happened when it comes time for e mails because I am just so excited to hear from everyone else!! I am glad you finally got the package and the chocolate! I was about to go have a chat with the German post but obviously they are stepping their game up! I also got your package on like Thursday or Friday it came way fast!! Thanks so much I loved it! And there is nothing like getting new underwear!! Ok so I was in Hannover on Wednesday for zone conference that was way awesome hearing from president and everything I love that guy! I dont know if I have added this in an e mail before but pres changed the German lds website or got it changed to were it is now investigator friendly he also made new pass along cards that he said he received revelation to do all this from his past experiences with business and what not. Anyways he now claims instead of fishing 1 by 1 we are fishing with nets! The INTERNET! Ha pretty funny but I really think it will work its like creating our own media referrals! So an update on Gisberd I told you about him last week anyways we went by on him Thursday and just started chatting with him he was saying something he noticed at the baptism was that everyone was so happy and he told us he has doubts and stuff but all of us (MORMONS) seem like we dont have doubts so we explained to him that everyone has doubts but when you really understand what the final goal is (exaltation) then you can be happy when your doing the right things and what not. He said he was really envious of that so we will see I think he is getting closer it may take some time though! He really likes elder Hardman so thats also good! Hopefully he keeps progressing! Thats so sad about Rock! I will be praying for their family! We haven't taught a whole lot of people this week. We went by on a members wife last Monday she is not a member but goes to church more than her husband does which I have never seen him there so thats kinda the problem she doesnt want to get baptized cause hes not exactly setting the best example! But we are going to continue to work with her and we will see! We made a few appointments out yesterday a guy from Ghana his name is martin and he speaks english seems like a super solid new contact I guess they had made out an appointment before but he had something going on so it fell through but he tried to find our cell phone number on the lds website and what not and tell us but he couldnt find it! We ran into him yesterday which was really lucky cause he was leaving his house! And he said ya I am really excited to meet with you guys and stuff so that will be cool. We also made out a few other appointments with old investigators or people the missionaries have met with before so we should have a busy week this week! Oh Zone conference was also really awesome because I got to see a few kids that were in the MTC with me! Elder Robinson who was in my district in the mtc it was way cool to see him then Elder Maughn who was in the group younger than me but we were way good friends in the mtc so that was cool to see him! I had an exchange with my grandpa (IN the mission) so Elder Tjaden is his name and he trained elder carlson he is a zone leader here in my zone so we went on exchange and he was super excited to finally be able to talk sports with someone he goes home in 3 weeks and he said he has only met 2 other missionaries on his mission that even know anything about sports so that was fun he is a cool guy its funny cause carlson told me that elder Tjaden and him didnt get along weird. Anyways thats pretty much it for this week. Oh I tried to make clam dip it wasn't the same cause they don't have the same ingredients but it was ok.! Thanks for everything and all the support!! Love ya!

WEEK 16 5-10-11 - 5-16-11

Hello from Germany,
So I have quite a bit to go over this week and I have no idea where to start! I guess I will start with yesterday there was a baptism in Osnabruck which is the other 2 elders in our district its about 45 minutes away so we were able to go there and see it it was really  cool you forget the spirit there is at baptisms until you actually go. So also this last week was my first time driving in Germany it was pretty sweet driving on the autobahn I think I got to about 110 mph or so its crazy but the Germans are good drivers and they follow the rules of right lane is the slow lane and left lane pass so that is good! The branch here is the bomb! quite a few of them about half are dutch from holland and speak awesome english so they really help me with my german cause they speak german as well so we speak in German and if I mess up they can explain in English so thats really good. I am getting more and more comfortable with the language everyday sometimes I am scared to speak it cause I am afraid to mess up I know a lot of words but what gets me is the Grammer which is tough. I actually gave my first talk in church yesterday, A bit nerve racking but good none the less I talked about the Atonement I got quite a few compliments on my german as well haha. The family we ate dinner with last night said I speak better German than the branch president. Who is also a missionary he is an elder couple so he has forgotten a lot of his german that he learned. So we had this pretty solid investigator he had been meeting with the missionarys for about 6 months the only problem with him was that he could basically trace his catholic roots back to the pre earth life! But he reads the book of mormon and I am pretty sure he knows its true. So we met with him on Thursday and the whole goal was set a baptismal date and just throw it down. So our lesson was about baptism and what not. Near the end he said so I have been meeting with the missionaries for about 6 months now and I think you guys are expecting something from me.... My comp said well ya kinda in a way haha. And so he said and I am going to give you an answer right now. SO we were all on the edge of our seat just like come on!! Then he said I am going to stay catholic!! It was like getting kicked between the legs. He just doesnt want to do a 2nd baptism basically but he doesnt understand that when he got baptized the first time his catholic priest didnt have the authority. But we still have faith because he agreed to coming to the baptism yesterday and he was there and he was chatting with some members the whole time so we are going to meet with him again on thursday and see if he felt anything different about this baptism. As far as teaching other people there are a couple people slash contacts that we have that I don't know that we need to go by on and there are a few others that we are teaching so that is cool. Funny thing before I forget so last p day we played ping pong with one of the African kids who is in our ward that we take to church his name is Lucky he is about our age and he is from Nigeria sweetest guy but he totally destroyed us!! I thought I was pretty good at ping pong from my last area when I destroyed everyone but he sure humbled both me and my companion it was sad haha. Ok back to my stories.... So on wednesday we had exchanges and I stayed in Rheine with elder Stoe who is only 2 transfers older than me so that was fun and I made out an appointment with a super cool guy we found on the street he was younger and we asked what he thought the purpose of life was and he said well the family and to have a family and we are like exactly and we have a book that can help you better understand can we make an appointment where we can better introduce it and he said ya of course I have a lot of interest so we went by saturday is when we had our appointment and I guess he lives with his parents so I knock on the door and his mom answers the look on her face was PRICELESS and I said Ist Jens zu Hause and she said nein and I said oh wir haben ein Termin mit Ihm ausgemacht which means oh we made out an appointment with him and her face was astonished it was so funny. But we will call another day to see if we can get a hold of him. I still love it here in Rheine its an awesome city I figured out the population is about 70 thousand plus all the little cities around us... So we have plenty of people to talk to and to find its great. There are actually a few cute girls here as well which is nice haha well yes and no. This week I have a lot going on. Tommorrow we are doing exchanges with the Zone leaders and I am going with Elder Jaden who is my grandfather in the mission which simply means he trained my trainer. So that will be interesting to go with him cause we both served with carlson. Then on wednesday we have Zone Conference in Hannover that will be cool to hear from president man I love that guy. My comp is way sweet we get along really well and he is a really good missionary. You dont have to put Kirche hlt but you still can. I cant believe that at the end of this week the transfer is halfway over!! So nuts I hope I stay another Im sure I will cause I think my comp will go Zone Leader which will be cool! Thats sad about logan man a month or two before I left he messaged me on facebook wondering how I was doing and what was going on in my life and said he was proud of me for going on a mission thats way sad! I can't believe It has been 2 yrs (he is talking about since his accident) sometimes I look back and realize man I really have something to do here and the mission I know is a really important part of that! That experience really changed my life in a way it made me realize how life really is short and we have to do our best everyday cause we never know what is going to happen! And we need to be worthy when the time does come so we can make it back and I know that we can only do that through Jesus Christ! I know before my accident I took lots of things for granted and I wish I wouldnt have but thats what it is its life you live and you learn!! I love you guys and I am so thankful for all the support!!

WEEK 15 5-3-11 - 5-9-11

Hello From Germany!
So I talked to you guys yesterday that was really cool to hear your voices and what not I hope you guys had a great mothers day! Anyways not really anything new except for I am really enjoying this area actually teaching people is cool and I am definitely expecting a baptism so we shall see. There are some pretty cool people here there are only 20 or so members in the branch but we have an eating appointment like every single day haha they like the missionary's I guess and back in Annaberg the ward was quite big but we only had 1 eating appointment a week! I took a few pictures yesterday that I will send so you can see kinda what the city is like. The weather here is perfect right now nice breeze and everything! Ya I am sure Kaleb was really excited to get out of there I am pretty sure he had a hard time as did most of the people I know but it is what it is and it really helps but then again the mtc doesn't really tell you how hard the mission is going to be! There is something President Hinckley said to some elders in Scotland he said. Its not as easy as they say it is, but its not as hard as you think it is. I thought that was kinda a cool little thing I got that in Presidents e mail this week. Its so true if you think its gonna be hard then its gonna be harder than it really is. Its definitely not easy but its not as hard as we sometimes think. Also Kurt probably loved it because I am pretty sure he was only in the mtc for 2 weeks then went to the mtc in the Dominic republic so ha he didn't quite have the full mtc nine week experience!  Also I can not believe I have been out here for basically 4 months and next transfer I'll hit my six month mark thats nuts. So I am pretty sure my comp will go zone leader next transfer he has been district leader for 5 transfers and there are quite a few zone leaders dying at the end of this transfer and dying means they will be done with their missions....Its crazy how different the world is than just little St. George Utah haha sometimes I think we just need to get out of our little bubbles cause after I met the kid from Africa I told you about I was just like wow you dont really think about how bad it is until you know someone who has been through it! I feel really bad for him but I guess its life I am just glad I dont have to be in that situation. The whole train by myself was interesting but it will be easier after I know the language a bit better. I am glad everyone is doing well. I guess I will get to call again in December!! Haha thats so weird that next time I call I will be basically a year out and the last time I call I will be coming home in 2 weeks so I'll be expecting the Christmas tree to still be up and also for my I phone to be under it haha just warning you now!! The mission goes by pretty quickly... I feel bad I didnt have a lot of time to talk to Hunter  but he didnt have too much to say either he sounds a lot older thats weird. I wish Iyrlend would have talked a bit more but she has probably already forgotten me! It was good to hear from you all! You all sound really great and I am glad I got to talk to you. So I guess I really could have done skype cause the older couple has their own computer and what not and they skype their families like every night I guess thats the perks of going on a mission when your older you can communicate with your family every day haha. But it was just a little bit hectic with transfers and all so thats why I guess it didnt work out... But I am sure I will be able to figure it out come Christmas time. Also on the 18th I get to go to Hannover for zone conference I will be able to see a couple of kids from my golden group so that will be cool. I will see Elder Robinson so that will be fun... Ok. So I thought of some other things I may need... If you would be so kind to send me some easy recipes and stuff so I can have different things to cook. Also I want the recipe for your clam dip as well!! And.... Some stain remover would be nice the German stuff SUCKS.... Also hmmm ya I guess you could send that calling card as well if I need it for some reason.... I am pretty ticked that the package didnt get to you guys because It was a pretty good one. But I will just send individual chocolate bars and what not cause they are pretty dang good.... The reason I need some new garments is becuase... In my last are I literally walked holes through a lot of them its pretty sad! But thanks so much I will be expecting it soon! Love you guys tons! Cheer for my Lakers for me while I am here they need it right now!! Love ya

CURRENT ADDRESS AS OF 5-2-11

Elder Christian Voran
Herren Schreiber Str #20
48431 Rheine
Germany

WEEK 14 4-26-11 - 5-2-11

Hello Everyone from Germany.
I'm doing good this week! The mission has just kinda finally become my life and so its fun you have to find ways to make it fun! So first I'll give you the bad news then I'll give you the crazy weekly news ya. So first of all the bad news I wont be able to skype because you can only skype for 30 minutes and I think that is kinda worthless... And ok here is the crazy news Saturday was my first transfer call and transfer calls are super cool its a big conference call and Pres gets on and one of the APs starts with a prayer then he just goes through every city and says who is going where and before he just says how he and his wife and the APs have prayed about every city every companionship and he has received revelation so he makes sure you know that transfers are from the Lord not from him and what he thinks so that's really cool. So now details from transfer calls the other 2 elders in my district came to our apartment cause we were on exchange with them I went to Schwarzenberg for Friday so we came back Saturday morning and had transfer calls. Elder Nethercott the district leader made a dang good breakfast for us so that was cool too. We plugged the phone into our speakers so we could here it and freak out if someone got transferred! So my comp has been here in Annaberg for 3 transfers which is 18 weeks that's pretty long but usually you stay in an area for 2 to 3 transfers. Elder Nethercott has been in Schwarzenberg the same amount of time i've been here in Annaberg so it was basically 100 % that we would both stay and Elder Perry the other elder in Schwarzenberg has been there for 2 now so we thought it would be Elder Carlson my comp for sure to get transferred and maybe Elder Perry. So President was going through every zone and all of a sudden I heard my name!! I got transferred!! I am going to the complete opposite side of Germany haha I went from the Chzeck border to the Netherlands border! I will be in a city called Bad Bentheim well actually the city we live in is called Rheine! I will be serving with Elder Hardman and i've only heard awesome things about him so I am super excited! That's another reason I cant skype becuase Elder Hardman had gotten things set up for us to call there already since it will be my first week there! I leave tomorrow at 9 in the morning on a train and I'll be alone on a train for 7 and a half hours im a little nervous about finding my way and what not but I'll be fine! The whole rest of the district stayed where they were i'm the only one getting transferred so my comp will be here for a total of 6 months!! I felt a little bad for him and he looked like he was going to puke! He is really sad to see me go cause we worked really hard but we had a lot of fun together! Everyone was definitely shocked!
Anyways as for missionary work this week we made out 4 appointments in 2 days which is like unheard of here in Annaberg and only one went through but that is ok because she is now a new investigator she says she wont change from her church but she took the book of mormon and said she would read what we asked her to read and pray about it and then she made out another appointment so that is why she is considered a new investigator it was cool that we finally found someone! That couple the phillipino lady and her husband came to church again and the ward was really accepting and the couple ladies who can speak broken English were talking with her so that is really good hopefully they can get her husband baptized!! Anyways we did a lot of walking and finding this week and we worked our butts off! Its pretty crazy to think I wont be here anymore but I'm excited to go! I am a pretty firm believer in change and I think that change always can help the area and the missionary work!
So a funny story there are these less active member Mike and Katja and we had met with them several times and they would just say ya we are coming to church this week and they wouldn't be there on Sunday so we would call and ask and they always had some sickness or injury or something it was quite ridiculous! So we had made out an appointment to go meet with them and we went over and knocked on the door and they didn't answer so we called and Mike said they were at the hospital so they couldn't meet with us but he never gave the reason why they were at the hospital so we were like ok thats kinda weird. So we were walking down the main street and we see them shopping!! We see them walk into this store and I was like Elder we need to go in there and Elder Carlson was like you have got to be joking they just told us they were at the hospital!! So we walk in this store and Mike sees us and like he didn't know we saw him but he hid as fast as possible and they like literally ran out of the store trying to get away from us haha it was classic then Elder Carlson was just like i'm done with them haha he was pretty ticked about it!!
Anyways that's basically everything for this week! I cant believe that you haven't gotten the package yet that's not good!!! But I did receive your package it came on Thursday though not Tuesday but thanks for the package and the pictures!! I love the pictures of the gates family Easton looks so old!! I hope all is good there and everything is going well!! I am glad you had fun in Disneyland even though everyone was puking that's kinda disgusting haha you Bret and Zach all kinda touched on the puking part! But by the time I get home Bret will forget how much she doesnt like family vacations and she will come with me!! haha Anyways. Love you all thanks for everything Talk to you next week and mom I'll send you the number and time in the personal e mail to you!! Thanks

WEEK 13 4-19-11 - 4-25-11

Halo!

Well Happy late Easter to all of you!! Easter was good here in Germany I was a little nervous thinking that the Easter Bunny would not find us but he found us!! A couple members in the ward gave us some chocolate of course considering we are in Germany and also the eating appointment we had they made us little Easter candy plate things kinda like an Easter basket! So that was good!! Here Easter is a pretty big deal! For most people! The Saturday before is a holiday so everything is closed and also today the Monday after is a holiday and everything is closed then as well!! So it’s pretty crazy but I think that a lot of people here just celebrate it to celebrate it but don’t really understand the whole reason for Easter.

 On Friday the 22nd we went to the Freiberg Temple we are about an hour or so away from the temple it was good it was pretty interesting because the session was in Hungarian but they give us little radio things but ya it was cool to see that there is members all over the world and the distance they have to travel just to go to the temple its really cool! After we came back we had an eating appointment with Brother Löhrmon he’s an older dude he served in ww2 and everything and he loves the missionaries him and his wife are super nice people and they made a dang good meal for us! Also after he asked for a blessing because his back has been really hurting him! So my comp gave him a blessing then we saw him yesterday at church he came and talked to us and told us he had had 2 painless nights cause of our blessing that was really awesome he had like tears in his eyes and so that was cool!

Yesterday at church we were sitting there and not expecting any random people to show up then in the middle of Sunday school the elders quorum pres came in and got my companion and said we have some visitors and so he went out and talked to these people. The lady is a Phillipino and her husband is GermanI guess they met on the internet or something she is already a member and was like a relief society pres in the phillipines and her dad is the patriarch or something so that was kinda cool and she speaks no german but she speaks english and her husband was in some accident I guess and so he's kinda handicapped but more like physically not mentally and he speaks no english only german I still haven't figured out how that marriage works ha they can’t talk to each other I guess its kinda fishy to me but that was cool they found our church on the internet and drove out!

 

As for Transfer Calls they are every six weeks. And so this Saturday will be transfer calls and the next transfer starts on next Tuesday...

 A Dorf is a small little town I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s not big enough to be a city but ya it’s a town... There are a lot of dorfs in my area but we have a hard time getting to them cause the bus system here is pretty bad and we don’t have a car! But this dorf was way cool that we had found last week. It was like in these cliffs I am sending some pictures. And also there was this cool train motel thing haha it was really interesting but really cool. We have a super small district the other 2 elders are in Schwarzenberg which is just about 30 minutes south of us we hang out with them every p day and on Wednesday we have district meetings.

 I am excited to get the package I have been waiting for mail!! I did get a letter from G ma Lois man she is beating everyone with the letter writing maybe you should take lessons from her!! Disneyland sounds fun!! I wish I was there to go but maybe in a few years ya! haha anyways. Ya president has been pretty concerned with our area for quite some time I think because the work is just like stopped and we are working our butts off so we will see if he makes any changes on Saturday when transfer calls are!! We have stake conference in a couple weeks on mother’s day actually it’s kinda hard because transfers are the week before so we don’t know who will be here!! I’m glad you enjoyed Easter it was pretty cool here as well besides the bells at the church by our apartment that usually go off for ten minutes at 6 in the morning went off for an hour because it was Easter other than that it was a great day!! The language is coming I feel like I am starting to understand a little better it’s still hard but I almost feel like I can speak better than I can understand so hmm idk it’s a little weird!! But Ya that’s about it nothing really new just working my butt off still. Oh and you should read 2nd Nephi chapter 9.  I read it the other day in personal study and the week before president gave a lesson at interviews on how Jesus Christ is the way he is not the destination our Heavenly Father is the destination and a lot of times people overlook that because we talk so much about Jesus Christ not always about our Heavenly Father but that is our destination and only through Jesus Christ can we get there! And verse 41 in 2nd Nephi 9 is really good!! That’s my scripture for the week!! Well Love you all hope is well!!

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