New Week

Another great week here in Germany! Missionary work is really hard but it is so worth it. I love being out here being able to serve The Lord 24/7. The way the gospel changes people lives around is amazing. Germany is an amazing place and the work is starting to move forward. I am lucky, I came at the exact right time.

This week was a little bit slower. We had 4 fallen out appointments which was super frustrating because we don’t get the opportunity to meet with a whole lot of people. One fallen out appointment was actually really funny. We were contacting people on the streets and we got a call. The lady told us that it was too hot so we can’t meet with her. Then we asked her if we could meet over at our Ward house and she said "No, we are afraid if we walk there we are going to get headaches and heat exhaustion.".... Ha that’s just how some Germans are it seems like. But that’s missionary work for you right there. It is super frustrating sometimes because it has been sooo hot here and it’s humid too. So we walk around all day and then no one lets us in. But it has humbled me so much and I am grateful for that.

Kind of a funny story, this older lady in our ward loves to have the missionaries over. And in our area we have 2 sisters then us 2 Elders. She asked the elders to come over for lunch on Tuesday and so we agreed and we were planning on that. What we didn’t know is that she contacted the sisters too.. And told them the same time but us Elders didn’t know. Ha so right before lunch time on Tuesday we called the sisters and told them we had a lunch appointment over at Sister Fischers. They kind of laughed and told us they had a lunch appointment at Sister Fischers.. So we showed up at Sister Fischers apartment and realized there were only 4 places set up at the table in the kitchen.. Ha we sat down and she dished us the food then just got up, closed the door, and left us 4 sitting there. Ha, we were so confused because that usually can’t happen on missions. Haha it was really funny. We began to eat and called it the "Mission date" ha because we didn’t want to be mean. It was super funny and our sisters are awesome. Then during dessert Sister Fischer came back in. It was super weird and it’s even better because I can’t understand German at all. So I was soo lost.

I don’t have any special stories this week really. Here in Friedricksdorf we can’t contact because when the temple was built they told them that missionaries couldn’t proselyte in all of Friedricksdorf.. So some days we just walk around the town hoping someone will stop us and talk to us. That’s why we have tried to focus a lot on the member work. This area was just barely opened so the members are really comfortable and won’t do a whole lot of missionary work. We are trying our best to help all of them.

We have this investigator, Helena, she is from Russia but has had a really hard past. She wants to get baptized soo bad but she just doesn’t understand the Priesthood. She thinks she has been forgiven because she has been baptized in the Baptist church. But she doesn’t understand and doesn’t want to say her baptism was not by the right authority.. This lady is kind of crazy too.. She is in love with Elder Lindsey and I and gives us things.. So we had to give her over to the Sisters because she loved us too much. She comes to church but she tells all the members the missionaries won’t let her get baptized so it’s kind of a bad situation because we want the trust of the members. But it will all work out.

I am loving this place! Germany is absolutely incredible.. The food is amazing. We eat at the members’ homes about 3 to 4 times a week so we eat nonstop. I am doing my best to exercise and stay fit but it’s hard. Haha I don’t think I have gained any weight but I have no clue. The transportation system in Germany is amazing!! They are right on time with everything. The trains are also really cool here. We ride them every day to our areas. Our apartment is in Bad Hamburg and is actually a really nice apartment. It is perfect size. Bad Hamburg is actually where all the rich Germans live.. Down by Kuhr Park there are really nice stores and shops, Casino, Nice big park. It’s actually a really cool place. One problem is no one has air conditioning here because it is so expensive. So nights get brutal sometimes but we are surviving.

Anyways, I hope that everyone is doing well. This is an amazing time to be a missionary. My companion is one of the coolest kids I know. We are the exact same in every way. We get along so well. He works super hard and is super humble. We are pretty much already best friends. We work so well together and we both love this area. Hope everything is going well. Thanks for all the emails. This work is super hard but is totally worth it.

I love you all.

Elder Emery