Gearing up for Christmas

Tuesday really set the week up to be a good one with a solid zone
training all about Christmas and the new Christmas initiative. It got
us all very excited and motivated to get out there and work and find
some people. I got a fun post card from the Nowaks as well, so if
you’re reading this, Vielen dank, ich vermisse euch!

That night we did a lot of finding near the Christmas market here in
Offenbach, and we had a lot of really positive and uplifting contacts
that got us all excited for the Christmas season. Something cool was
that we contacted one of the people in a stand at the market and she
wanted a Romanian book of mormon, so we took it by the next day for
her and she was super happy.

Something really different happened this week. One of our
investigators grandmas died, and we had the funeral at the church. We
sang nearer my god to thee, and it was really nice. During the
service, it was just so obvious to me that there was a life before
this one as well as one after this one. This life is too short and too
meaningful to go to waste and have no point once we die. It was just a
nice realization.

I had a split this week in Frankfurt and we did some dooring, which is
my least favorite method of finding, BUT it went great. We ended up
talking to two people on the doorstep for about 20 minutes a piece.
Both of them knew us, and both said that we could meet another time. I
can’t tell you how refreshing that is to hear.

Because of the Christmas markets here in the area, there have been a
lot more Americans in the area, which has been a lot of fun. Its always
fun to just get a little taste from home. Americans are pretty cool
people I guess :)

Well, things have been really working up to Christmas, which has been
really fun. Im excited to see what comes from it. I hope to be able to
report to you all some awesome miracles soon! I wish you all a great
week, and to stay warm!

Winter is coming!

I can’t believe how fast this week rolled by! I guess it was since this
week was a lot fuller. On Tuesday we met with a guy that wants to meet
with us and work together in the community and do service, as well as
help his friends learn more about our church when they want to meet
and ask questions. He’s on a trip right now, so it should be fun when
he gets back! We have a transfer coming up soon, and everyone seems to
think I’m leaving, so we will see if I even get to be a part of this
cool teaching experience.

Later that day we got to hear and see President Ballard from the
twelve apostles! He was holding a conference here for all of the ward
councils on how they can help more people come into the church, and
all of us were invited. It was really neat to see him, and he had a
lot of cool insights and I really hope he inspired the wards here to
work more with us.

Later on in the week we got to work with Andy and his family, so we
are going to begin the lessons this week and work towards baptism. I’m
really excited to see what happens with them, because Andy is a really
strong member and loves sharing his testimony while we are there. He’s
a great example for his family.

Sundays are always the busiest days at church! Everyone always wants
something from us or needs to talk to us at the very moment that
everyone else is trying to do the very same thing. It’s kind of funny.
Everybody says that Sunday is the most relaxing day of the week for
them, but I can’t even imagine that anymore. It was nice though,
because yesterday we were busy from the moment church ended, until the
time we had to go in for the night. It was nice being busy and needed,
and it felt good to serve the people that couldn’t come to church.

We had our fist snow last night, so winter really is coming! Hard to
believe that 2015 is almost over!! Its nuts, but that’s life for you I
suppose. Have a good week and stay safe everyone!

Drunk wants to date companion!

Hey everyone, Im going to make this quick because I dont have a lot of time.

Something funny that happened while we were finding, was that a drunk
polish guy contacted us and wouldnt let me talk. He would only talk to
Elder Sommer...and then asked him out to dinner and told him he would
pick him up. When both of us tried to explain that we cant separate,
nor want to, he was livid and I was just laughing because I couldnt
believe what was happening. When he finally drove off on his moped, he
was still driving on the sidewalk and almost swerved into a parked
car.

Something cool that happened really helped cheer me up, was that we
had a day almost free from rejection! I was having a really rough day,
and pretty much the only thing planned for 8 hours was finding. I just
wasnt having a good day, but as we began contacting, the first 2
people we contacted gave us their numbers, and we even had a small
lesson with one of them. At the end of the day, after a long trip that
at the time seemed for nothing, a 21 year old got on the bus and we
talked with him for 30 minutes! He gave us his number and invited us
to a religious group he goes to. Lastly, after he got off the train
(He got on our train after we got off the bus) I went to the bathroom
and as I was walking back I was contacted by a worker on the train and
asked me to translate for a guy. Turns out he was a refugee, and one
of the nicest guys ever. Anyways, that day was so full of miracles
that it was a sign for me that the Lord was watching out for me on one
of my worst days, and that he loved me.

Things have been really busy since I have become the district leader,
but I love it so much. Cant believe that it has already gone by so
fast!! Anyways, take care, and stay safe!

A week of firsts

I got to do a lot of "Firsts" last week with the new call and opportunity to be a district leader. It was a lot of fun, and I went on a zone leader split and got to kind of feel like I was seeing how the mission functioned. There was also a meeting for the leaders where we discussed the vision of our mission and the things that we want to see in our areas and districts. Normally I am not one to like meetings, but that one was pretty good.

Also got to hold my first district meeting, which was a fun new experience. It was neat getting to lead it all and to welcome the three new people into the district.

On our way home one night, we came across a super big leaf pile in the middle of a park, so I took off my coat and jumped in! I couldn’t pass that up! So the next morning we went back for morning exercise and got all dirty, but it was so much fun!

Another night on our way home we were trying to use our time rather than just go in. Well, I’m sure glad we didn’t go in because I had one of the funniest experiences with a drunk Bulgarian guy. He started holding our hands after he would shake them, and was yelling that he loved God. So, we gave him a card with Christ on it so he could call us later, but he just started kissing it. We realized that he was beyond reaching at the moment, so we told him we had to go. Funniest part is, is that he grabbed Elder Sommer and cupped his hand and patted his face, and did the same with me after I took a good number of steps back.

The work is still going a little slow, but the work is going better for the other elders. Fortunately, we did meet with a woman that we contacted last week and she wants to meet this week, so we were excited for that particular lesson.

We love a couple that we have been working with but they have been super busy lately.  We haven’t had any opportunities to teach them for a while now.  They each got 2 jobs and don’t have much extra time.  A member actually ran into them the other day and asked them where they had been and she said they have been so busy, which I know is true because we saw it, and she said they were still interested.  Nobody is giving up on them, so that makes me happy.  I love them as friends and hope I can help them.

Not a whole lot to report this week, but hopefully things will pick up. Thanks for everything everyone!

Another week gone by!

Hey Everyone - it's been another great week.

On Tuesday we had our Book of Mormon Circle again and that went really
well although nobody new showed up. Earlier that day though we met a
really special lady while we were out contacting. We asked her a few
questions and she was very bubbly, but it changed when we asked her
what faith she was from. She said catholic, but that she didn’t go
anymore. She told us she felt like God was trying to reach out to her
since we were the third people to talk to her about God. We got her
number, but as we were saying goodbye I felt like I needed to testify
to her, so I promised her that God was reaching out to her, and that
she was loved by Him and He was watching out for her. All at once she
burst into tears and just kept thanking us. She ended up calling us
and worked out an appointment, but she was sick and explained how she
wasn’t able to go to work, so she asked if this week would be ok. So,
hopefully things work out!

On Thursday we had the opportunity to go to that religious group
again! It is super fun but I think we are going to skip this week, we
don’t want to come off like we are trying to crash or dominate their
group. But, there were some people there and they asked us some
questions concerning our faith, which was pretty neat. I mean, that’s
why we go!

On Friday we met with a less active and she made us dinner and we got
to sit down and talk with her boys. We shared a spiritual thought as
usual, but then we ended and tried to take down the barriers between
us and the kids, because lets be honest, missionaries are strange! We
are just different! So we broke things down real simple and got
talking about God and if he really exists. We ended up having a super
cool discussion and we left the boys with a commitment to experiment
and see if God is there by praying, just like you can experiment with
science and find out truth.

Not a real fast week but not really slow either. Its gotten pretty
cool here, and that has been nice going out with a jacket on.

Hope you all have a good week!

Kevin