week 4

Liebe Famile,

A tiring week for sure on my part. Ha, but that is the life as a missionary. Things are going really well for us right now. This week we met with a lot of members for Elder Lindsey since this next week he will be coming home. It will be so weird having him gone.. He was my trainer and we became best friends and then for the past month I was able to work with him again. Its amazing to see what the mission can do to someone and how the Gospel affects peoples lives. He served a very good mission and was loved by many. He is a great example of someone who loves and cares about the Gospel and people. I will miss him for sure but I'm excited for him and what he has at home. He has helped me so much in so many different things and there was a reason why I was with him when I first came out and then again when I came out the second time. I love that kid.

Since he will be leaving he has been teaching Elder McGinn and I all that he knows. He has been here for almost a year in Frankfurt so he knows a lot. This past week we had so much going on and there is so much to write but I will just write an overview. This week we were able to go on 3 different splits.. We went with the Heidelberg Zone Leaders and that was a great split. We were able to teach a couple lessons there that were super good lessons with some members. We had a split as well with the Tech Elders who work in the international ward here and that was solid. And then again with the Dortmund Zone Leaders this past weekend. This week was a bit slower because we had SOO much work to do in the office because of transfers which absolutely drove me crazy. That first opportunity I got to go contacting, we did. I was able to find a 17 year old kid who has been really trying to find God in his life. We were on the Street Train here in Frankfurt and it was super loud. I was able to get his number and we hopefully will be meeting with him soon. Contacting is still the same as usual.. talk with lots of people and get denied a lot. But you learn to grow a shell and to just keep doing the Lord's work because that is what we are called to do.

We had transfer calls this past Saturday and so this coming week will be super super busy for us. The new goldens will be coming in on Wednesday and then we have to train the trainers how to train a new missionary. Then on Thursday are actual transfers and then Elder McGinn and I will be with all the people who are leaving the whole day and go to the temple and be working with President on that. I am excited. I don't want Elder Lindsey to leave but he has done a great job and I have learned a lot from him.

We were able to teach a couple investigators this week.. My German is finally coming back really quick.. At first I was a little bit rough but its coming back fast. Its cool because I feel like I am all the way back now.. it took me a couple weeks. Feels like I hadn't even left in the first place!! But it's been good to be a missionary again. I love it and would do anything for the Lord. The Lord is good! :) I love living this Gospel. It honestly brings true happiness if we just live it and keep the commandments. I can't wait to be able to share that with my family in the future and be able to live with my family for eternity. I love being on a mission because it helps you understand how important families are in this life. It teaches you the things to do and to not do. So hopefully I can learn everything I possibly can right?! 

I love you guys. I am doing great and pushing forward. There is still so much to learn for myself but I feel like I have been doing so well and pushing through those trials. Life is great! As Golden Holt always said, "Fight the fight and enjoy the ride because it only happens once."

Elder Emery

Our Savior

I am so grateful for the love that I have back home and for all the letters I have received. You guys are honestly the best. I honestly love being a missionary!! Forgetting about myself and just serving others is great! I believe this week I finally realized how powerful our callings are as missionaries and the authority that we hold. This week was a great one and I am so grateful for all the things that I learned.

First off, this next week is the last week of the transfer and so this past week we were Transfer Planning and making changes to companionships. It's amazing how much thought and prayer go into planning and how inspired President Stoddard is. I am so grateful that I was able to be apart of it. We have 250 missionaries and its cool to be able to serve every single one of them. It keeps us super busy but it's opening my eyes up a lot. This week we also had a lot of lessons and I swear I learned more from the lessons then our Members and our investigators. I was taking notes in the middle of the lesson. Again, just understanding how powerful it is to be a missionary. I almost forgot about it when I came home but it's been so cool to see missionary work from a different angle this time. As missionaries we get into habits and I am getting into those habits again but just from a different perspective now which has been cool.

We are working with a lot of members and new converts. We have 3 investigators right now and they are all progressing. We work with a lot of families who have been struggling as well which has been cool. Being a missionary just helps you understand about relationships and how they should be. It's so sad to see how many relationships break up because they forget all the positive things and only think on the negative! On Saturday night we met with Thomas and Shirley out in Köppern and it was amazing. We talked about their conversion and all the little things that went into it. Shirley started talking about when she was learning about Jesus Christ and didn't understand why he loved us so much to give his life up for us. She began to explain her experience of when Elder Smith and I went over to teach them and how she was getting Ice Cream for us and she went to give David more ice cream and she hit the bowl and it fell off the table and shattered. It was one of David's favorite bowls and David heard it and ran into the room that shirley was in.. He saw it was shattered and started screaming and crying and ran into his room. Shirley felt super sad about it and started crying as well and was heart broken. But it was that experience that helped her understand her relationship with Jesus Christ. She started talking about when you really do truly love someone that you would do absolutely anything in the world for them. When that bowl broke she knew that it would hurt David and break his heart. She felt the pain of David and related that to Jesus Christ and the pain he goes through when he loses one of his children or when one of his children makes a mistake. It was that experience that helped her understand Christ's love for his children. I have grown to love my savior. I have needed to repent in my life for many different things and I am grateful that he brought forward the atonement to help me overcome my habits and to be able to forgive me.. But our perfect example is our savior Jesus Christ. He loves us to give his life so why can't we learn from his example and love those around us just like Jesus Christ loves us. I am still weak but I am happy and continuing making steps forward and thats all that matters is that we are continuing to refine our lives every single day.

This Letter is long but I will leave you with a spiritual thought that has helped me so much. Going along about Jesus Christ and the example he is. He taught it so purely and clearly. Even though we are going through tough times in our life and how the world is getting crazier and crazier by the day. I believe this illustrates it perfectly. 

A scripture that we find in John 16:33 says: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

This is my goal. Even when I was home I felt like I was drifting away from my normal Scripture study and prayer. Getting to caught up in Social Media or other things that were holding me back. But we can overcome the world. The Gospel brings true and everlasting happiness. I love this Gospel and I am so grateful for all the trials I have gone through in my life. Coming home was tough and coming back out was even tougher. But again I am so grateful that I made this decision because I have learned so much, even in the past couple weeks. I know that everything will work out if we just trust. The Lord gives us no commandments without a way that is prepared to help us. All we have to do is serve the Lord with everything we have and put the Gospel first in our lives.

I am so happy, I don't think I have ever been this happy. Things at home are going great and I am super happy being a missionary again. Of course I miss being home and being with my friends and family but I finally feel like I understand what it means to be a missionary. I am grateful for my family and friends for supporting and helping me make this decision to come back. I would do anything for the Lord and my testimony has just sky rocketed in the past couple weeks. I love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Emery

Back in Germany!

Guten Tag!

Well I guess you could say this was my first week down.. ha honestly was a great week though! I feel like I received a ton of answers on what I need to do and things in my life.. I have finally understood why I needed to come home and why I am back here.. It was super tough being home and I have never felt that lost and desperate in my life! But I am glad that the Lord put me through that because it only helped me grow that much more.

This week was full of everything that could ever possibly happen to a missionary.. ha we stayed super busy and were all over the place and mission! I've got two of the greatest guys as companions and I love these guys. They have already helped me so much with decisions and Elder McGinn and Elder Lindsey are great! This past week I have received a lot of answers to prayers and unknown questions I have had. The Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes we are so confused why we have to go through things or what the purpose of those things are.. But the Lord has a plan for each and every one of us. We just have to have an open heart and continue to push forward.

We went on a few splits this week. We drove over to Kaiserlautern to go on a split with a couple Elders there who are working in the American Area. That was great because I got to work with Elder Rogers who is such a great Elder but just hasn't seen a whole lot on his mission.. We had a very successful day and we just went and talked with so many people. We ended up setting 5 potential investigator lessons up and both the Elders there were super happy. It was good for me to experience because I love talking to people and contacting and it was great to get to do that again and see some success out of it. The next day we then drove over to Nürmberg which is about a 3 hr drive. And we had yet another great split there and has a street display. Saw a couple really bad incidences tho.. I was driving down there in Nürmberg with Elder McGinn and Elder Ward and I wanted to turn left.. as we were turning a train hit a dude and killed him! Yet again seeing everything as missionaries.. Super shocking and nothing that no one ever wants to see.. But it showed me how delicate our lives are and how careful we need to be in this world. Just be careful and know that I will be careful here as well! But I got to see President and Sister Schwartz again!! That was awesome, Elder Lindsey is leaving in a couple weeks so we dropped by their house and had lunch and stuff with them. He is a patriarch and said some very cool things to me that I will never forget and have written down for sure. They are amazing people and they live over in Feucht down by Nürmberg. we stayed super busy this week so that was good.

I love serving the German people and now get to serve Missionaries through out the mission. I have to be honest it is very difficult re adjusting back to missionary life.. But we sometimes have to do hard things in life. I am grateful for the experiences and the rollercoaster life I have had in the past 18 months but I am super excited to serve the Lord with everything I have these next 6 months.. The Lord is Good as I always say because he is. I love this Church and this Gospel. I have so much more to learn but I am excited what these next 6 months have in store for me. I love you guys, Happy to hear you are doing well!

Elder Emery