Lots and lots of good things this week. The life as a missionary. Just enjoying every moment and learning how to just endure. I love this work and the person God is making me become. I have learned. These experiences are ones I will never forget. I love you all. Have a great week.
Monday April 21st, 2014
Wow what a day. We have been planning this day for a couple months now and it was a fantastic day. To start off the day we met over at the other Elders apartment and were able to meet up with our Ward Mission Leader and his family. We were able to meet with them and then pack up the cars and head down to a park called Felsenmeer. Felsenmeer is a bunch of rocks on this mountain pretty much that go about a mile high. It’s really interesting looking. Everywhere you look there are trees and then there is about a stretch of about a mile long and about ¼ of a mile wide up this mountain. We got there about 11:00 and we started the mountain at about 11:45. It is actually a tough hike. We really were having a lot of fun taking pictures and taking action shots. The views from the Rocks looking down into the valley were really pretty and it was a super cool view.
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014
I received a beautiful blessing from Elder Nilson this morning. He said pretty much everything that was on my mind. It just reassured me that priesthood blessings are real and that is what we need here on the earth to perform in God's name. It was really comforting because it gave me a new direction and I just need to do the things necessary to go down that path. I want to help others and serve the Lord. Just sometimes hard as a missionary but it's all a learning experience and that's how it is. This morning we had District meeting and I chose two topics that I think the whole District needed. What was cool was Sister Clement's sister was still here so I gave her a topic. I gave her the topic, constructing and building up each other. She gave a great lesson on how we shouldn’t be envious of others. How we are all on the same team no matter the position. But she gave an awesome lesson about that. What was then cool was I asked Sister Lyons to pray about something she could give a lesson on. And she came up with pretty much the same thing: Envy. That is such a powerful topic and I think that is something we can all learn from. That is something big that if we do we will be able to forget ourselves more. Overall District meeting was really powerful today and that was good.
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014
We were down in Bensheim Gronau and this is a tiny town in the middle of 2 mountains really. It reminded me of a Utah village up in the huge mountains. Anyways, we were going by to see a member and we got there and realized it was a super long driveway. So we parked the car at the bottom and then started walking up this driveway of dirt. There was this house on the left and then you walk about 1/4t of a mile and then there is this members house we were visiting. We were walking and met this guy at the first house on the left and asked him how he was doing. He was cutting some wood or something. We asked him if the member in our ward lived further on and he said ya. So we told him thanks and walked on. We walked about 1/4t of a mile and it turns out there is a house. This house was super nice as well. It was cool. But no one was home. So we headed back down this driveway. Once again we met up with this guy. This guy has got a straight Hessish German Accent and sounded so cool. Elder Nilson and I we both had a feeling that we should talk to him. So we went up to him and started talking. He was super closed off at first and didn't want to have anything to do with us. We just kept asking him questions and he finally opened up. We talked about the Restored Gospel and he said he would take the Book of Mormon. It was actually a really cool thing for us. We haven't given out one in a while because we have been a in a car for most the days. It was a cool experience and we just bore strong testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and that when he reads it he will feel something and he told us to come back on a later date. Super sweet. Then we met with a member family. They are such a sweet family. We talked about Mormon.org with them and how we can do missionary work at home using social media. The church is pushing that we all use social media to preach the Gospel. So that is what we did. Told them to make a Mormon.org profile and to write down why they are Mormon. It would be good if every one had one of those. We ate Käse Späetzle there and that was super good.
Thursday, April 24th, 2014
There is a great talk that talks about the dangers of being prideful. It’s called “Beware of Pride” by Ezra Taft Benson. That is a must that everyone should read. It is such a good talk. We as members need to remember that feeling of the Holy Ghost when we were baptized. We all can't deny that feeling. God's plan is more mighty then any plan we can ever imagine. His way is the right way and we all need to realize how important that plan is. That is one thing I learned today.
Friday, April 25th, 2014
What a day, this day was full of good and different things. I don't even know where to begin. To start things off we had planned 4 appt today. So things were looking really good for us and we were super busy. Our first appt was down in Eberstadt. To get there we need to take a street train and it takes about 30 min. So we left here and headed down there. Our next appt we had planned was down in Seeheim. We missed the street train that went at 2:40 to head down there so we planned on catching the next one that came at 2:55. But it turned out that one wasn't going to come because it wasn't a school day. So the next one didn't come for another 30 min. So we called our appointment and asked if he still wanted us to come and it turned out that he didn't have time. So what we did was just went and caught the next train back to Darmstadt. We ran and this guy was nice enough to hold the door open for us. We hop in and we start talking to this guy and he was from Pakistan and a student here in Darmstadt. We start heading back into Darmstadt and it takes about 30 min to get back. About 10 minutes through the train ride, we are just talking and then the train driver just slams on the brakes and I was sitting sideways so I just fly forward. We had no clue what happened and we stopped really fast! We were all so confused and everyone started worrying. Apparently a car turned right into another car and the train broadsided it. We were in the train waiting for five minutes then the train driver let us out and we walked up to the front. And this car that got hit was just mangled. It honestly looked so bad and we were all surprised that no one was really hurt. Luckily it hit the passenger side. If someone had been in the passenger side they would have been dead. But luckily the lady was fine and no one else was in the car. The ambulance came in about 2 minutes after it happened and they went straight to the lady. It was a scary experience and we can now say that we have been in a train crash.
Saturday April 26th, 2014
As we were walking to the church this morning we got out of the bus and we were walking and there was this old man who stopped us. The first thing he said was “are you guys twins?” and we replied “No” and then he said “Brothers”? And again we said “No” and then he was super confused because apparently we looked exactly like each other. It was cool though because he said when he left that “Jesus is Resurrected” and he smiled then walked off. That started the morning off right. We went to the Church because we talked with Brother S. on the phone. I was going through the contacts list 2 weeks ago and I saw his number under member. I had no idea who he was. We talked on the phone on Thursday and he told us to come to the Church on Saturday morning to help clean the Church and then he would take us out to eat. So that’s what we did. We headed to the Church and met him. I have seen him but never met him. We helped clean the Church and did a bunch of different things. Super successful guy in every thing he did. He taught us some of the most key principles that I will never forget and so I will write them down. We asked him what was his secret to being successful and he turns and says, “You know what's funny. No one has ever asked me that question. But it's very simple. Live the Gospel Principles and be OBEDIENT”. A successful man like that explaining how in life relating every thing of the Gospel back to his success because that's where he learned the foundations was a really cool thing. And he says living the Gospel Principles is the thing. How much can we learn from that? The Gospel blesses us in many different ways. Actually, the Lord blesses us in many different ways when we are ready to submit to his will. He related to his younger years and being on his mission telling us some sweet stories and stuff. He then explained to us “Being a tool in the Lord's Hands” and related that to his life experiences. He talked about how learning the principles that we do on a mission and applying them after your mission is very important. He talked about how his mission sharpened his tool for after his mission and that the things on his mission sharpened that tool. We talk a lot about how missions change a person. But the things that go on in a mission are sometimes some of the hardest times of your life. And how he related it to life, that it doesn't get easier. But he said he is forever grateful to have been a missionary. He talked about how “performance” was the thing he learned and that he taught his kids. He explained how that is what he told his kids in every thing they did. That performance is how you are going to be successful. You have been given a task to do. Perform. How valuable is that lesson there?! He talked about the 5 Priorities of President Hinckley and he said when we do what the Prophets say and prioritize the things in our lives, that’s when we will be blessed. Putting God above everything else we do. Because in the end, our goal is to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. That is the goal of each of us. So priorities are so important because of those lessons right there. God blesses us when we do what's right and SERVE OTHERS. Overall that lesson with him was just one of the greatest things I possibly have ever been through.
No comments:
Post a Comment