Christmas Week

Wow, it was so good to hear from you guys. That made my whole Christmas! It’s a lot more different here in Germany but I had a lot of fun, even though I missed you all dearly. But I am so glad to hear that you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. I know it did get emotional but that’s just because I love and miss you guys. I am doing awesome though. This week was a little bit slower week because we weren’t as busy but it still was a great and a little bit more relaxing week.

I will just start from Christmas Eve and talk about the week. Christmas Eve here in Germany is their Christmas. So we went over to the Warncke Family. Such a cool family and they fed us Roclette. It was so good and I ate so much. Another cool thing is President was okay that Elder Bruneel and I slept over at the other Elders home. So Christmas Eve we watched some Christmas Church shows. Then on Christmas morning we were able to open our packages from home together. It was such a fun morning. The Elders we have here in Darmstadt are all so cool. I have been blessed to work with some cool people. That was a good morning. Christmas day we went over to the Wiese's house and ate even more food. We enjoyed the day and played some board games and hung out. Then that night I was able to Skype with you guys. I absolutely loved it. I am so happy that you guys are doing so well. That makes me happy and I am able to not worry as much. I am so happy to hear that you are all healthy and enjoying life.

After Christmas and talking with you guys we went over to another member’s house on Thursday and ate sooo much again. I think I gained like 5 pounds this Christmas. Germans have 3 holy days which are the 24th, 25th, and 26th. So we got plenty of food and we enjoyed Thursday night and played a game called "Big Booty" that was a lot of fun. I loved the Christmas here in Darmstadt. This area is such a great area. The people here in Darmstadt are such strong members. It’s weird because we have like 12 Deacons in this ward.. Which it feels like our home ward a little bit. Just everything is awesome here in Darmstadt. Elder Bruneel and I are still working hard on the University. We try new ideas every day and getting creative. So that is something good.

So Saturday and Friday we spent pretty much both days finding. We had this box that we had set out and talked to people about what they were grateful for and if they could give something back to Jesus Christ what would it be. We had them write it down and put it in the box. It was a lot of fun. Those days are always a bit longer though because you are outside in the cold talking to people. I have noticed it has been a lot easier contacting and talking with people here in Darmstadt than it was in Bad Homburg. People seem so much nicer here. I don’t know if that was because of Christmas or what but it’s been so much fun. By just talking to people is where I learn the language the most.

I hope you all enjoy your New Year's. Remember to not forget to write down your New Year Goals down. I love you all so very much. I loved talking to you on the phone. I know that I am supposed to be out here on a mission for a reason. I love this work. If you all have any questions just ask them. Have a great week.

Elder Emery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Busy Week!

Family and friends, this week’s letters made me really happy. I am glad Grandma Carol was able to move into somewhere that makes her happy. I know there are so many memories in that house and it’s sometimes hard to leave a house that you have lived in for so long but I am happy for her and know that she is doing well. It sounds like the whole family is doing well and I am super happy about that.

This week consisted of a lot of planning and a lot of meetings for us; which was really hard because I absolutely don’t like just sitting and doing nothing. We were in Heidelberg for a Zone Training so that was really cool. I know this will take time being called as the University Elders. It has been hard but super worth it because I have learned so much. You get a new companion because there is always something Heavenly Father wants you to learn. This area is such a great area and I am really enjoying it. The ward here is incredible. It consists of about 200 members and they are all very strong members as well. They are all so kind and nice so it’s been a fun week for us to get to know new people. It is always hard because there are so many names and you try to get to know people and you can’t remember their names. One thing that I have seen that has been really cool is my German has become a ton better. I don’t know what it is about the first area you are in but sometimes it is harder to speak because you think the members don’t think you can speak. Ever since I have come here it has been a lot more relaxed and I have really been enjoying it and so much happier.

One really cool thing that happened this week was on Saturday we had this big street display right in the middle of Louisen Platz here in Darmstadt. I will send some pictures but it was really cool. We tried to make it as professional as we could. We had a big T.V. with Joy to The World playing. (The Christmas film). It was really cool because we also had about 70 different language Book of Mormons on the table with every different language. And so people would be watching the video and we would go up and talk to them. It was really such a great experience and gave us an extra boost of Hope. At the end of the day we ended up passing out 60 Book of Mormons and about 30 DVD’s. It was such a cool experience and I am so grateful for Christmas. It is different here in Germany but it still has that feeling. It has been snowing a little bit but not enough to stick. And I love the Old German look when it snows. It is sooo pretty. So that was such a fun day!

For something that Elder Bruneel and I started this week.. We read this talk, "The Verge of Success". It talks about how we can purify ourselves and how we can turn our hearts over to the Lord. It was really cool because it talks about a 40 day fast from something that you know you need to change to become better. Maybe its attitude, learn to love people, learn to serve out of love, etc.. It was really cool because we started that and you start to realize everything you need to take a step back and really think about. I have loved it and I know the Lord will purify me as I take the things out of my life that I don’t need in there. 

This week was a good one. I received both my Christmas packages and in there was a bunch of pictures with music on there and had a bunch of pictures of my family. I just sat there and thought about how much I love my family. My family means everything to me in my life. I know it will be hard during this Christmas time but I have these pictures to realize how thankful I am for my family. That is one thing I am SO grateful for.

Anyways, I am just rambling on and on. Thanks for all the support. Thanks for all the love. I really appreciate it. Remember during this Christmas time to remember our Lord and Savior. Find out what’s important to you in your life and make sure to put that number 1 on your priority list. I love you all.

Elder Emery

Darmstadt

Hey everyone! This week was quite hectic but everything is finally settled in and I am in my new area now. Darmstadt is such a pretty area and what makes it super cool is there is a Christmas Market here. Darmstadt is a massive city too it feels like. We live right next to TU University and so that is our job as the new elders here in the area.

But first, last week was my last week in Friedrichsdorf and it was super sad to leave. Tuesday we were super busy with everything and also Wednesday. We had one last big Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night where a lot of families that I had to say goodbye to were there. It was really cool. Sister Kutchke in the ward set up a little party at the ward house and we were able to eat together and just enjoy the time there. It was a lot more different than the normal Thanksgiving dinner at home. I missed my mom’s home dinner. But it was good enough. At the end of the night it was time to go. I said goodbye to a couple families and then Thomas, Shirley and David were the last. It was soo hard to say goodbye to them. It was hard saying goodbye to them. But I know they will do great and Elder Smith will continue to keep that area going.

Thursday morning is where we all met at the train station in Frankfurt and we met together and met all of our companions. An elder came up to Elder Bruneel and I and gave us a paper and it was a map on Google maps and said, "Well, here’s how to get to your apartment. Good luck." So that made the adventure of finding our apartment fun. Long story short it took a while but we finally found it. It’s a pretty nice apartment too so that’s good. Darmstadt is super pretty. Elder Bruneel and I are called as University elders so we will specifically be working with the Young Single Adults and spend most our time up on the University. We are still coming up with ideas of how we can best work that. But it’s something new. We are brand new elders in the area so it’s a little tough to get around. We get lost a lot of times but that’s part of the fun. People are so friendly here too. The ward has about 200 people and some of the nicest people I have ever met. They were so cool and coming up to ask us when we need appointments and telling us about who they have been teaching. It was a really cool Sunday. Also, what’s really cool is there are 9 missionaries here in Darmstadt. There is a set of "City" Elders here. And then there are 3 sisters and then we have a senior couple. So that makes it a lot of fun. We all work together and it is fun. I really like the other elders too.

My companion is Elder Bruneel. He is full of energy and is super excited about the work. He and I have a lot of similarities. He actually played basketball for some Jr. College up in Washington. It’s been super cool to be working with him. And yes Dad, his brother is the one that plays for Utah Valley University. He is really a cool kid and I know I will learn a lot from him. The Lord sent us here for a reason and I am super excited to find that reason out. But I know we will help each other and stay really busy. This is going to be such a fun time.

Anyways, I think that’s all that happened this week. I hope that everyone is doing well. Thanks for all the emails. I love you all. If you have any questions just let me know.

Elder Emery