This is Carla Merrill and her husband visiting in Germany. They live up the street from us and were able to visit Nick this past week. They said he is doing awesome and is so happy!

 

 

Hallo Wieder

Hey everyone, I’m so glad to hear everything is going good as always. This week was such a good week for us and it was so humbling for me. Sounds like the house was pretty busy with the two little boys there.. That is so cool. I am so excited to see them and meet McKade, but for now I got some work to do.

This week was absolutely a blur... We were so busy and always were doing something. Which is really good. One of the coolest things that happened of course was Akuas Baptism.. I told you the story last week about her and it just finished off well. She was so happy. While saying the baptismal prayer I had never been so humbled in my life. It was such a special feeling that I will never forget. The Lord is there and he loves his children and is very happy for them when they make this covenant. It’s amazing how baptism changes people’s lives. That really was such a cool experience for me and so cool to be a part of. The Lord is hastening his work and we have seen a couple experiences this week about that.

On Wednesday, Elder Smith and I were sitting on Bahnhof waiting for our train to head to Friedrichsdorf. We were sitting there and we saw this lady just sitting there so we decided to go talk to her. We learned that she is from Poland and that she is here working. She was actually super nice and asked what we were doing and we explained. We asked her about her family and she said that her husband had passed away. We continued to explain that we could live with our families for eternity. And we quickly set up an appointment for the next day. We met with her on Thursday with a senior couple that was here for their temple week. They both spoke really good German and it was such a cool feeling teaching her. We gave her a Polish Book of Mormon and so she has been reading in that. We are meeting with her Wednesday again so I will keep you guys updated on her.

That was the week in a nutshell. The work here is amazing. We are staying super busy and the German is finally coming along. I am so grateful for all the support and all the letters. Have an awesome week. Bis nächste Woche!

Elder Emery

Busy Schedule

I am so sorry I didn’t write a letter last week. We have been super busy and it’s been hard to write. Thanks for all the emails I have received this week. It has been such a humbling and great two weeks out here in the field. I am so grateful to be serving as a missionary and being able to carry our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s name on my chest. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

First off, last week during the week President called me and was super excited to talk about something new I will be doing. He was talking about how our focus is on the Young Single Adults and how we can come up with ideas to find new young people. One thing he asked me to do is to start up a little basketball clinic which will be held 1 time per week for the next few weeks. He has been talking to me about new ideas with that. So it’s kind of cool how we are working with that. So far it is going really well. We have been playing basketball here in Bad Homburg and have received a good amount of contacts doing that. The people here love playing with us because we are not Germans. It is so funny but it has been a fun way to receive and to talk to new people. Even though I can’t speak "Basketball German" it’s been pretty fun.

Another cool thing that is happening this week is Akua is getting baptized! The story is really cool about her so I will do my best to explain it in detail.

So it was about my fourth week here in Germany and I couldn’t speak the language at all and really been struggling with understanding. I thought I would never be able to learn this language. We were coming home from the night and I was really down. We were seriously just right outside our apartment when this lady just smiled at me.. Elder Lindsey was on the phone and so I decided to say hi to her. We had a little conversation and she told me she was from Ghana and I told her that my best friend was in Ghana.. She got super excited and we exchanged contact information. She lives right behind us all by herself. We went and visited her one day and she was super happy. We told her that we couldn’t teach her because it would be easier if the sisters would teach her. There is a rule where we can’t teach a lady in her house alone. So we passed her along to the sisters. She has come to church ever since and was really excited. The sisters have been teaching her since July and have been doing such an awesome job. She doesn’t speak much German and it was hard for her. But our ward has brought her in so well and been teaching her German. The sisters set a baptism date with her for this next Saturday the 19th and she has been really excited about that. The coolest part about the story is that she came up to me last Sunday and asks to speak with me. So she pulled me over to the side and just smiled and said, "You are the one who found me.. Will you baptize me?" ... I never felt the spirit so strong and just said yes! So this Saturday I will be baptizing her and I am very excited. It’s been really cool to see the success here in Friedrichsdorf. I have been so blessed to work here and work with such great elders.

Thomas, Shirley and David are greater than ever. They seriously are the best. This past Saturday we met with them and the spirit was sooo strong. We talked about baptism a lot and how it takes time to receive your answer. Patience is the key to everything I feel like. Shirley is doing such a great job and it has been so cool how much she has changed. She is so much happier. She is such a loving lady and always is looking after Thomas and David. Thomas is such a cool guy. He is like a brother to me. He reminds me a lot about my brother Alex.. Exactly the same! I always tell him he reminds me of Alex and it makes me miss him a lot. But Thomas has seriously changed so much. David is such a happy little kid. He is so smart and willing to learn about anything new. This family is such an awesome family and they have changed me so much. I love them as family and it has been so awesome to teach them.

This past week we have been preparing for a British Night to have as an activity here. Where people could learn more about a different country and learn the culture and everything. It was a lot of fun and a lot of people ended up coming. I will send some pictures for sure. We have a couple members from England here and also the International ward helped us out a ton. It was so cool to see how all the members were interacting and it was a lot of fun.

The work here is still going forward. I absolutely love being a missionary. I have changed so much and never been this happy before. I am so grateful to all the letters I have received and it has been awesome to read that everyone is doing good. You all are in my prayers. Thanks again for the support.

Elder Emery

Germany

This week seemed a lot of fun for all of you. It always makes my week so much better knowing that everyone is doing well. Shoot time flies... ha But, I know you guys are just enjoying life.

So Saturday we had the opportunity to play some basketball. There is a small park here in Bad Homburg and so we got the Elders from Usingen and a couple members and then we all played. It was really cool because we got 3 new contacts from it. I am soooo out of shape.. WOW! Haha and also the next morning I have never been so sore in my life. It was a lot of fun playing and I was really excited to at least play basketball for once.

This week we also did a lot of walking so I am very tired and sore.. We dropped by some less actives and they weren’t there or they tell us to leave. Elder Smith and I walked and talked to a lot of different people and not much success came about that. So that was okay. I don’t have a whole lot to write this week. I just want to leave you with one thing though.

While teaching Thomas and Shirley this week I have done a lot of studying about families, and how important they are in God’s plan. Shirley has had the question about eternal life and Heavenly Father’s plan for us. Studying this week strengthened my testimony on families and how they are important to me. I love my family so very much and I would do anything for them. I know Heavenly Father put us in these families so that we can learn how to love and become like our Savior Jesus Christ. I miss you guys dearly. Teaching Thomas, Shirley and David are incredible. I wouldn’t change this opportunity for anything. I know that they will continue to build their faith. They are some of the most incredible people I have ever met.

It’s not as long today. We are headed up to Königstein with Thomas, Shirley and David. Thomas got work off so that they could spend the day with us. I will definitely send pictures next week. Everything is going good here.

Love you all

Elder Emery

Liebe Familie

Alles Gute Hier in Duetschland. Another week has passed. Another great week to mark in the books. I am glad to hear that everyone is safe and that mom is home safely. That would be such a neat experience painting in the temple. The temple is an amazing place no matter what. I am blessed to still be serving here in Friedrichsdorf where the temple is. Its such a beautiful place and the Germans are so humble and love the temple.

This week was more of a struggle week for us. This week we had 5 appointments fall out and it just seemed this week the German wasn't there. Some days speaking German is really easy and then other days nothing seems to come out and make sense. This week was definitely one of those struggle weeks for us but we made the best out of it.

There are some days on the mission that are the best days of your lives and then some days where nothing seems to go right.. The Lord definitely tests your patience and is a task sometimes. But you really learn how to just take everything how it is and laugh about it. There is a mormon message actually about that. I believe its called, "Come What May and Accept It." Sometimes in our lives we wonder why things come up. But if we take it as something to learn, then things become a lot better. The mission teaches you a lot about yourself. Dont look forward. Take it 1 day at a time.

Thomas and Shirley are yet still incredible.. I don't even know what to write about them anymore because they are so awesome. They just love hearing from us and are seriously the nicest people I have ever met. They have become family to us and they accept us as one of them. Shirley is making a ton of progress and is almost there. She just says she needs to find it for herself now. But she is searching and praying and receiving answers to those prayers. Everything is going well with them. We teach them again 2 more times this week.

Apart from the 5 appointments that fell out this week everything is going good. Its definitely been a challenge but it's been good. Elder Smith and I get a long really well. He is such a funny guy and I am grateful for him to be my companion. Our German is about the same and so sometimes when we are talking with people it gets really funny. Because its not perfect but we understand almost everything. Haha so there have been some funny moments. But the mission is something you must enjoy but yet get the work done.  OHH... And I have gained 6kg.... which is 12 pounds.. yeah thats been a little rough :) haha

If you get the chance. Watch the Mormon message, "The Will Of God." It is such a powerful Mormon message and there are a lot of things to learn from it. It is one of my favorite Mormon messages. I am a changed person now. I figured out the things I needed to. I am more friendly and love talking to people. The mission humbles you so much. I have been humbled. I know our Father in Heaven has a plan for all of us.

Machts Gut!

Love you all



Elder Emery