World Cup

Another week down here in Germany. The weeks are always one it feels like! It is absolutely crazy to think how fast things go! But I am loving every moment! This week was good but also had some really long days. This week was transfers and we had 22 new missionaries and 17 leaver missionaries. And being here in Frankfurt we have to deal with all of that! So on Wednesday and Thursday we were helping out with all of that and we had some nights till 1:00am. Then we got right back up at 6:30 so that was pretty tiring. But it was a good week and I felt like I got a lot done.

 

Really, really crazy story this week but it just strengthened my testimony about the Priesthood so much. So on Wednesday we went out with the New missionaries and we took them contacting and everything. I went out contacting with a Golden and we talked with about 20 people and then at the end there was this lady standing at a bus stop and she was wearing a cross on her necklace. I was together with this Golden and I told him we should talk to her. As I approached her I really had a bad feeling in me and I don’t know why but I contacted her anyways. We started talking and after about 3 minutes you could really tell something was just different about this lady. She was starting to talk about devil worshiping and all these strange different things. She told us how she has seen Jesus Christ and talked about the devil and all sorts of weird things. We bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and I have NO idea what happened after that but she started just freaking out and started saying these weird things and she cast a demon upon me. She was still going absolutely crazy and so I took the Golden and we just left. As we left she was still screaming just profane things. So we went back to the Church. I remember just feeling super, super weird and all my thoughts were just really bad. Right when she said she cast something upon me, it was seriously like a power was on me that I couldn’t describe. It was actually really, really scary. So I went back and I talked to Elder McGinn and Elder Chicky about it and I asked them for a blessing because I was feeling super, super weird! We went into a room and they gave me a blessing casting the demon out. It was really such a crazy feeling.. As soon as he said "Amen" I was completely free and I was back to normal. That was an experience that I have never had before. You always hear about stories like that and everything but to actually be a part of it was absolutely crazy. But it was just a really strong testimony to me about the Priesthood and how important it is to have the Priesthood. There are powers here on earth that sometimes we don't understand but they are absolutely real. Through the Priesthood we can be freed. I have used the Priesthood a lot in these past couple weeks just in my life. And I know the effects it can have. And I am glad that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints holds that priesthood. Our church is amazing and I am so very grateful for it.

 

Germans love the World Cup! It is absolutely nuts here as well. Most games are at night and so there is absolutely no one on the streets! It has been fun because that is all everyone talks about. President is allowing our mission to watch the Germany vs USA game on Thursday! Super sick :) The world cup here in Germany is sooo legit! People go crazy for it!

 

 

Elder Baker has had shoulder problems for a while. He was doing like a pushup and it just gave out. Nothing he could do. It was crazy because we were in the middle of the city and the streets were closed of because of this massive marathon was going on. So I was driving all over the place with him screaming in the back trying to find a hospital. I finally just went and talked to a police officer and he let us through and about 45 minutes later we got to the hospital. It was just a hectic night and we didn’t get back till about 1:00 am. 

 

We get a new mission President this week so that is also something that will happen! I will miss President Schwartz for sure! He helped me out so much in my life.

 

Hope you all have a great week! I love you guys. Have fun on your trips and everything! You are the best.

Elder Emery

This Week

Hey I am so glad to hear everyone’s week went well. That Annie had a good birthday and that mom and dad got to go up and eat lunch with her. That is really good. This coming week we have Dad's and Jackson's birthdays so I hope you guys have a great week! Also, Happy Fathers Day Dad! Thanks for everything that you have done. I have been so blessed with such an incredible family! And he is the Patriarch of our house and I am grateful for that. I hope you guys have a wonderful week!

Just some things that happened this week.

My companion Elder Baker dislocated his shoulder this week and so on Thursday night we were in the Hospital till 1:00am.. That next morning was rough. Then this weekend we were figuring out if he was staying here on the mission or going home to get it fixed. He is staying one more transfer and so that is it. Transfers were this weekend and we are staying together.

We did a lot of finding this week and didn’t see too much success. Other than that nothing was too special. The work here is really really slow and we are doing everything we can to change that! The coolest thing was that Clement came to church. He will get baptized in a week and a half!

I am doing well! I am healthy and learning lots! I love you and miss you all. Have a great week! 

Elder Emery

Contacts

Hey hey, Another great week here in Germany. This week was full of a lot of good things and a lot of doubt at the same time! It is amazing how much you learn in so many different experiences and how you know God is always there and then some weeks things don’t happen as you may have expected and hoped. But I am doing the best I can and I know that this is part of God's plan and I need to keep pushing.

 

I will share a few excerpts from my journal. But first I want to tell you a funny story. So we have been teaching this family from Ghana and we taught them on Friday. The lesson went really well and the husband actually came to church yesterday. He came for sacrament meeting and so we were super pumped. Everything was going really, really good. We said the first prayer of the sacrament and then during the prayer for the water about half way through,  our investigators phone started buzzing and then it started playing a really loud annoying tune. He was wearing jeans and so he couldn’t get to it in time and he kept trying to get it but just couldn’t.  And then he just yells "Oh sh**" in English... and the whole place was completely silent... I laughed so hard!!!  So that was pretty funny.

 

Another contacting story...

 

We talked with a couple people who didn't really have too much interest. So we go down and hop on a U bahn. As we were sitting there and after several stops, this girl gets on the U bahn and sees me and just smiles. She sits down in front of me with her back towards me. So me and Elder Baker were sitting and facing one direction, and this girl was facing the other direction. I kept telling Elder Baker that I needed to talk to this girl. This girl was wearing big headphones as she got on. But as I was telling Elder Baker I had this feeling to talk to this girl, she took her headphones off.  She looked back to me one more time and smiled and then turned back!  It was a feeling now that I was fighting whether or not to talk to her.  But I don't know if she was just prepared or it was the Elder Emery instinct that this girl is 20 years old and looks like a model. So I kept fighting the feeling to talk with her and it just kept pounding my heart. So I finally asked her “Entshuldigung, Was Hoerst du Gern?”, asking what her favorite music was. And she turned around and was just super, super friendly and just smiling. It was a really good conversation we had. I told her that we were here as missionaries sharing a very special message that we had. And that it has changed my life. She couldn't speak  any English but she kept complimenting us about how good our German was. I think it was just the Gift of Tongues during that moment. We just bore strong testimony. I asked if she believe in God and she said no. I told her about my conversion story and how it helped me. She asked, where is this book and how can I read it? And I told her we would love to meet with her and talk more about the book and how it can change her life. We talked for a little bit and she gave us her information. It was probably one of the most powerful contacts I have had on my mission. We got her information and I hope we can get an appt with her. It was super cool and I am glad I listened to the prompting to talk with her. She gave us her work address, her email and her phone number. So that was pretty cool. We got off at the next station and I literally felt so good about that contact and we just walked home and that is all I could think about. That is one reason I love contacting because once you get a feeling like that and you act upon it you just see how the Holy Ghost works. I love it and it strengthened my testimony.

 

I also went on 2 splits this week. They were both really good and I learned a whole lot. That is one thing about being a Zone Leader is that we get to work with all the missionaries. I loved it and it was super cool.

 

My testimony is growing every day and I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. I love being a missionary and being so close to the Spirit because it really is true! It testifies to us when we do something wrong or before we even do something, the Spirit testifies and gives us warning.  Let us all be worthy enough to have the spirit in our lives and be able to be guided by its power. I love it and I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love working by the spirit and being able to do the things we do as missionaries. There are a lot of doubts that get brought up as missionaries but it’s been such a growing experience and I wouldn't change it for anything. I love this gospel. I hope you all have a pleasant week and enjoy the summer weather.

 

Elder Emery

Frankfurt

Well I am glad to hear that everyone's week went by really fast and it was a good week. I really enjoyed this week as well and we got a lot of things done. Things are changing here in Frankfurt and so it is cool to be part of. This week was a blur. Then I look back on my journal and then see everything we did is pretty crazy. This week was full of different things. I had my first Zone Training this week and was able to lead it. Everything went really good. Another interesting thing is that we as a mission are only speaking German in the mission to everyone. It is a new rule from 9:00am to 9:00pm to only speak German because not enough missionaries are speaking well enough. So that has been super cool. It was a great week :)

We just hopped train to train talking with people. I absolutely love talking to people and I really, really enjoyed it. I talked to a lot of people. I can remember one specific one really well. I was sitting there and we were headed back towards our apartment. This guy came and sat down right next to me. The very first question out of my mouth was, “Is there an Antique store anywhere”? I have no idea why I asked that but I did. I was able to have a full on conversation with this guy. He wasn't very faithful he said and that he had his own religion. I knew there was something deeper down, though I just didn't know what. As we were talking, I was bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon and then he started to explain what his situation was. He is 60 years old and grew up in a catholic church but he did not like the way the Priest or teacher treated everyone. He didn't believe that God would treat his people like that. So he left the church. Another reason he said is that he has HIV. That is another reason why he is too scared to go out. He got it with his 2^nd girlfriend and so that is why he lives alone. Just these 2 things were holding him back. I love being a missionary because the questions I was asking were straight from the Lord working through me. I could see that so clearly. I bore strong testimony. He didn't take a Book of Mormon but I remember something he said that is important for all of us to learn. He said, “I would love to take the book, but if I take the book, that means I would have to promise you I would read it. But Elder Emery, I don't promise anything I am not going to do”. He knew he needed the book. But I like the honesty he had with me. He said that he already threw his life away. I bore strong testimony, trying everything I could do to get this book in his hands. I ended up giving him a card and told him to call me when he had questions. That was super cool.

As we got off, we realized we had passed the stop we were supposed to get off at. We hopped back on and I sat next to this Filipino girl. She was from Manila and so I contacted her as well. She is here working as a programmer and she will be here for 6 months. I told her that we have 2 sister missionaries that would love to talk to her. She agreed and we gave out the numbers to each other. I love working. I love being a missionary and being able to work in Jesus Christ's name. Being a representative and being able to see things from a different angle. Seeing the world from a totally different view. It is so humbling and I love it. I love being a missionary. This work is true and there are people out there waiting to hear it. I have never loved contacting this much on my mission and it is one of my favorite things now. I love this work.

                

What was one of the coolest things on my mission so far was tonight. I wrote about Wednesday how we went contacting and got a few potentials. Well one of those potentials is a Filipino named Lyca. I got on the Street Train and I was deciding where to sit when I sat right across from Lyca on the train. I didn't know what to say so I asked her if she was a student. She couldn't speak German but English. She explained to me how she has been working here for 6 months and she only has one more left until she goes back to the Philippines. We talked and I got her contact information and we set up an appt for tonight at 6:00 pm. We were waiting at the church and we had the International sisters there and everything. And she shows up. But what was extra cool was to see how ready she is. She said she has been praying and praying for something to change in her life. That she wanted to really find answers to her questions. But she said about 5 times,  “I am so happy and thankful that Emery found me”. It was such a sweet feeling.             

                                                                    

This week was awesome. I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who has read my blog and has sent me letters. I love learning and hearing everyone's testimony that send letters! Sorry I can't write back but I really keep you all in my prayers and thank you for sending those.  Missionary work is honestly awesome and I love it so much. It is really hard but it is totally worth it. Just seeing people change and also me change as well is super cool. It is different being in Frankfurt because there are a lot of busy things to do in the office but we are getting this area back up. I love you guys. Have a great week.