Great Week!

This was such a fast week and it’s so weird that it is already done. But it was one of the coolest weeks on my mission for sure. We got a lot done and it was so humbling. I learned a lot in this past week and I have a lot to tell.

First off, I was able to attend the baptism of Shirley and all I can say is that it was amazing! Normally missionaries aren’t able to go back to their area if there is a baptism. But I talked with President about it and he let me go back if we would go to the temple too. On Saturday it took us about 2 hours overall to travel there and we went to the temple. After that we headed over to the church. I walked in and Shirley turned around and just started bawling. It was so cool and I gave Thomas the biggest hug. What was really cool is that Elder Lindsey was also there. We both got to go back to see them. It was such a humbling experience and the spirit was so strong during the meeting. What the coolest part is seeing Thomas baptize her. The spirit was so strong and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go back and enjoy the time there. It’s so cool because you build eternal friendships with people. They were both so excited and now Shirley is a member of the church. 

This week we had a ton of appointments. One cool appointment was with a kid named Ammon. He is 18 years old and has had these really bad head aches and so he can’t do anything. But apparently he is incredible at soccer and would be playing for a professional soccer team here but his headaches have been so bad. Everyone has been forcing him to serve a mission and asking him that every day and it’s really getting to him because he wants to do it because he knows it is right. Not because everyone is saying it. It was really cool because Elder Bruneel and I both play sports and it is the exact same situation as we were in. We told him the story about before the mission. Then I began to explain my story and how coming out on a mission has saved my life spiritually. It was such a cool experience seeing how much his face lit up and how strong we could feel the spirit. I loved that lesson and it brought me back to the old days a little bit and how it is important to hang out with the right people. My mission has changed and saved me. We are meeting again with Ammon this week and he is such a cool kid. I believe he will serve just needs to figure that out for himself.

Thursday we had the opportunity to go to a gym and to work out with a less active.. And wow, am I out of shape!!!! I ran for 10 minutes and then started lifting a little bit and was just done after that. It felt good to work out again. But felt the soreness the next 2 days. That was cool because this less active apparently wouldn’t meet the missionaries before. So it was cool going to work out with him and doing something new. 

Also, something that is really cool that I found out about Darmstadt is this is the home ward of President Uchtdorf. All the members know and love him. We were down in his hometown on Saturday night. That is something really cool and some of his best friends apparently are in this ward. So we have heard lots of stories and it has been so cool to hear about. This place is so beautiful too and I love working here. Yesterday, we had a missionary fireside about Christmas traditions. That was really cool then we had the opportunity to watch the Christmas devotional. Such a spiritual and fun night to be around the members and to hang out a little bit. I am so thankful to be serving here in Darmstadt. It really is such a great ward and has been so humbling and loving during this Christmas holiday. I am changed man. I am starting to write my goals down for the next year. I challenge you all to do that. Start early. Anyways, I love you all. 1 week and I get to see you all with Skype! I am super excited about that. Have a great week.

Elder Emery