Week 8: The Field is White and Ready to Harvest

Our Missionary Planner

Woche 8: Schwenningen 1

Well, my companion is still awesome. We switch off buying food and stuff if we have to eat out. All of the missionaries out here really love Elder Cavin and respect him. Everyone says I am really lucky to be with him. I really do feel lucky.

Here is a small shout out to Becca: That is so amazing that you are going to Spain. Congratulations! I am so excited for you.

So we have a lot of missionaries right?

-Brigham Parker in Brazil

-Laney Blau in Chile

-Adrienne Fowers in Russia

-Myself in the Alps

-Cedara Stribling going to Scotland\Ireland

-Becca Buechter going to Spain

Am I missing anybody?

That is so amazing. Looks like we are rocking South America and Europe with the Gospel. This makes me so happy.

And congrats to Adley and Nick!

I am so excited to hear how seminary will be going. I absolutely love it and have a very firm testimony about. I know so much of the gospel because of seminary and it has strengthened and prepared me for everyday trials and for my mission. I am so excited that this year is the Doctrine and Covenants. I loved that year so very much. When you pay attention, you will learn so much about the history of our church and many promises the Lord offers us that many people skip over. D&C is full of revelation and inspiration. I would like to encourage everyone to really focus on how we can apply everything there and how God really does continue to live and blesses us in these modern days.

I truly can testify that this gospel can bless everyone. Especially hearing about the baptisms back home. Those are so amazing! I can see the work here as well. I have been fortunate enough to see up close how this gospel blesses everyone. I can see the change in people everyday.

I had my first exchange this past week in Mittwoch. I was companions with Elder Ridd for the entire day. We went to Rottweil and had an amazing time. In Rottweil, there is an asylum for people who have fled their countries and are seeking work or visas for Europe. Many of those people are so humble and have been prepared to receive the Gospel because of the trials in there life. We met with someone for the first time, and he wanted to learn everything about Jesus Christus and everything about die Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzen Tage. It was amazing. He has a baptism date now for the 21st of September. We met many people who seem ready and willing to accept the true Gospel of Jesus Christus into their lives. I really tried to get out of my comfort zone and speak to everyone, especially in Deutsch.

One funny moment: We were about to pass a Lady and her kids,so I went to greet her. I said: "Hallo, guten tag! Es geht mir gut!" I meant to say: "Es geht ihnen gut?" But I totally messed up. She chuckled and then said nein danke. Ahhh, it was frustrating but we justed laughed it off and then I tried better next time. I know my Deutsch isn't great and that I will make many many mistakes, so I just brushed that off instead.

In Samstag, I was able to see two of the missionaries from the MTC. Elder Samuelson and Sister Cook. We are in the same zone. The Freiburg Zone. It was really cool to see them and to hear how they have been.

So, since Elder Cavin is District Leader, I will get to have six more exchanges. Two of which will be in Switzerland. That will be way cool. I am not sure if I told you this yet so I will again. Präsident Kohler doesn't like that the European missionaries and American missionaries are divided. So he will be putting Americans into Switzerland and Italy. So some of the missionaries I came out with might be able to go there. How cool would that be! And our mission will start getting iPad minis starting at the beginning of next year. I am not sure how that is going to work out so we will have to wait and see.

So, I absolutely love being here. I am really trying to just jump right into the language and speak to everyone. At church I can't always understand everything, but I am trying to hold full conversations with members and the youth. They are super patient. And I am already friends with a couple of the youth here. Way cool. And on Donnerstags, I helped teach the lesson. I taught about Baptism, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost to a 7 year old getting baptized soon. Meine Gute... I was slightly nervous, but apparently it went really well. My point was given and he understood what I was saying.

This week, we had District meeting and the zone training meeting for all of the new missionaries and the trainers. And the week before. we had the District leader training meeting. We talked about how the field is white and ready to harvest. We aren't here to plant seeds. While we are gathering His harvest, a couple seeds might fall out of our pocket. And during our zone training meeting, we talked about some of our experiences. They told us that we were doing awesome by jumping right into the work.

Well, my companion and I have been asked to start everyone off with our purpose and then to give our thoughts on it afterwards, so I have been thinking about that a lot today. I will let you know next week how it goes.

Ich weiß, dass Gott und Jesus Christus leben. Ich weiß, dass sie uns lieben. Ich weiß, dass das Buch Mormon wahr ist. Ich liebe diese Kirche. Ich weiß, dass das Evangelium wahr ist. Ich weiß, dass das Sühnopfer für uns ist. Ich liebe euch!