Word of the week: das
Dazugeliörichkeitsgefühl. It means sense of belonging. Pretty cool,
huh? Gotta love German! Well, I hope you all enjoyed a great General
Conference weekend! From what I watched, it was really good. We haven’t
been able to watch the last session on Sunday, but I'll get to it eventually.
Dad, I am really sorry to hear about your job. Really. I don’t really
understand why some things happen the way that they do, but I will pray and
fast that you will be able to find another job. The Lord knows us personally
and has our best interest in mind. I know everything will work out. Keep
searching for a job, and I will keep praying for you.
As far as school is concerned...I am just going to
start during spring. It will be good. I will just move to Provo for a couple
months, live with my friends, find a job, and then go to school on scholarship.
I think it will be the best option for me. That way I can try to kind of figure
out my life and what I want to do with it, be able to relax, but not stay at
home in Colorado. It will be good.
Well then, glad that’s done. As far as my week, it
was a solid week. Last Monday, my district decided to go "mushroom
hunting" (don’t ask me why). So we got on a bus until we saw some woods
and went exploring in them. It ended up turning into this giant baseball game,
throwing mushrooms and hitting them with sticks. Not going to lie. It was
really fun. Amazing, the ways we find to entertain ourselves.
Aiyana is doing really well. We met with her
on Tuesday, and just talked about the last weekend, and she was still just so
happy. We talked a lot about the gift of the Holy Ghost and everything that He
does for us. I think that it opened her eyes to a new perspective. I feel
like we don’t really grasp just how the gift of the Holy Ghost can help us, and
everything that it does for us. I believe that we will never be able to use
this gift to the fullness of its capacity, but we can try. I have been learning
every day a little more about what the Holy Ghost does, and how it helps, and
it is just incredible. And all of it is great, but I think that the thing I am
most grateful for is that little warm feeling that it gives me in my heart,
telling me, "Its all true. God is there. Christ loves you. That’s the
truth." This little feeling has helped me through so much. I am super
excited for Aiyana right now though. They are all on another random fall break,
so the youth in the stake went down to the temple for the week to do
baptisms. Aiyana went too! Baptized, and the next week she is
already getting to do baptisms. That’s pretty neat.
We have been in contact with Elkin a lot this week,
but we haven’t been able to actually meet with him. It’s been really sad. At
this rate though, I am thinking he will never go back to Spain. He has been
super stressed, because he is involved in this big court case with his ex-wife,
and it has taken up all of his time and energy. But he says that he is praying
every night, and we have been sending him scripture passages to read, and he
says that it is helping. Hopefully, werden wir be able to meet with him this
week.
Raphael though. He’s a golden one. We asked him
what he thought about the baptism and confirmation, and he just went off for
about 20 minutes. He told us that he was mad at himself, because on Sunday (it
was our Fast Sunday), he wasn’t true to himself. He said that the whole time
during testimony meeting, he had a feeling in his heart that he should go up
and bear his testimony, but he was too afraid. He was so frustrated with
himself for not going up there! So he just proceeded to give it to us. He
told us that what he wanted to say was how grateful he was for the missionaries
and the message and feelings we shared with him. He said that he was just so
grateful for all that he had learned, and how he wanted to keep learning more
and eventually be baptized. We just need to help him see now that he doesn’t
have to know EVERYTHING right now, just simply know in his heart that what we
say is true. Slowly but surely. I feel like we have been teaching him so much
longer and have known him so much longer than we actually have. I'm getting
impatient, ha-ha.
We also met with a really cool kid this week. His
name is Calvin. We met him at a street display about two weeks ago. He is a
study abroad student here from Minnesota, and he started talking to us because
one of his best friends in Minnesota is a Mormon. We met with him on Thursday,
and had one of the greatest first meetings I have had. He has almost no
religious background, but he is so willing to learn. He just soaks up
everything. He told us that he is here to be independent and figure out his
life, so he might as well figure out religion with it. He said that he was always
so fascinated with the Mormons and loved how they all seem to love their
religion so much, so if he was going to learn about any Christian religion, it
would be the Mormons. I love teaching Calvin, because he is just a happy,
regular teenage American boy. He is just happy and nice, and it is just easy to
talk with him, and share everything. No language barriers, no trying to get him
to open up. We share, he shares, he asks perfect questions, and we answer with
the Spirits help. Bingo, perfekt lesson. Sad part is, is that he is going on
vacation with his host family for the next 2.5 weeks (dumb random German
holidays... EVERYONE is leaving this week), and so we wont meet with him until
then. But he has a Book of Mormon now and he said he would start reading in it!
Then, we ended the week with General
Conference! Wasn’t that great! We had to go down to Dortmund to
watch it, so between the train time down there / cost, we just spent the night
with the Herne Sisters on Saturday night. Which means, I got to spend some
quality time with Sister McMurray! I LOVE that girl. It was like being in
the MTC all over again. She is just great. We get to go on a split in 2 weeks,
and I am just super excited.
But anyways, General Conference. I think my two
favorite talks were during Saturday Morning by D. Todd Christopherson and Elder
Uchtdorf. I was SUPER bummed that Uchtdorf didn’t get his talk in German. I
mean, I understand why, but that would have just been so cool. I think all the
members were disappointed too. But at least I understand English ha-ha. Yeah,
those two were my favorites. Probably because the topics that I am obsessed
with right now are Light and Justice vs. Mercy. I have been studying both of
these topics a lot recently, and so to have these talks centered on it.
Man it was just like Christmas. Full attention ahead! I can’t wait to get
a copy and just study them, along with all of the rest. I found it interesting
just how many were centered on the prophet, too, and how every member really
needs to strengthen his or her own testimony first. Makes me wonder what is
about to come, but until then, I will definitely work on strengthening myself
so that I can help those around me better. Thank goodness for 3 hours of study
a day! Ha-ha.
Well, as of now, my pictures aren’t working. I
think I sent off one, but the rest aren’t working. I will try to get it working
at the church, but if not, sorry!
I love you all! I hope that you all have a
great week. Dad, I will pray for you every night. Just keep the faith, and
things will work out! Troy, hope to hear from you soon....
ICH HAB' EUCH LIEB.
Savannah
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