Week 9: The Secret to Missionary Work, is Work

Woche 9: Beautiful Deutschland

 Well, I am still amazed at the beauty here in Deutschland.The rolling hills, the Black Forest, the sunsets. Everything is just so beautiful.

Montag

Well, last P-Day was very relaxing. I finished unpacking and cleaned a little. After our P-Day ended, Elder Cavin and I went to Rottweil. We went and tried to visit some potential investigators but none of them were home or they lived in an asylum, which means that they fled their country and are living in government housing seeking jobs and residence permits. So Montag was a little slow going. However, after we were finished, we went and visited our progressing investigator, JM. We stopped by to just have a small lesson with him and he ended up cooking us dinner while we were there. He is from Nepal so he cooked us some curry dish. It was very good. He is here to get a degree in Business Management and then he will return to Nepal in two years. He is such a cool person. The missionaries met him on the street and he had never heard of Jesus Christ.

Dienstag

On Dienstag, we had our personal study time and then had to travel to Singen for Zone Training. The train ride is roughly 45 minutes there., so we had to leave before lunch. We just grabbed a sandwich when we got there. The sandwiches here are really good. They are way healthier than what we get in America. Anyway, Zone Training was really good. We talked about diligence, daily planning, and goal setting.

-Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles.

-The secret to missionary work, is work. We must have diligence and keep pushing forward.

-Our purpose is invite others and to help them endure to the end. This means we have  responsibility for members, other missionaries, investigators, potentials, and everyone we come into contact with.

-Having goals should not be a simple checklist. The purpose of having goals is to push yourselves beyond your current capabilities They are there to reach something bigger (ie: eternal salvation)

It was nice being able to see Elder Samualson and Sister Cook from the MTC. They are so awesome! After Zone Training, I had an exchange. I exchanged with Elder Dooreman in Schaffhausen. So I served in Schweiz for a day. He is from Belgium and is just super cool. We had Schnitzel and fries for dinner. It was actually pretty good.

Mittwoch

On Wednesday, we exchanged back. The Elders in Schaffhausen actually live 45 minutes away from their ward. They live in Deutschland. We traveled for about 20 minutes to Singen to exchange back. After that Elder Cavin and I traveled back to Schwenningen for about an hour. Once we got back, we had a small lunch and then went over to visit a member. He lives in a nursing home so we had drive a good distance away. We went and visited and just chatted and then he asked us for a blessing. Meine Güte... It was in Deutsch so I was a little nervous. but everything went fine since I only did the anointing. We talked a little about family history and he said that he would show us next time we came over. Bruder Ulfik is his name. He is such sweet old man. We went back home and then did the 12 week program. It is a program that helps the missionary learn about the lessons and the applications. We then went over to JM's home. He fed us yet again some different curry with rice. He just kept feeding us and feeding us. It was so crazy but really good.

Rheinfalls in Shaffhausen, Schweiz

Rheinfalls in Shaffhausen, Schweiz

Donnerstag

We finished our studies and went over to S`s house. She is one of our potential investigators so we were only making an appointment. She is living alone, I think, so we need to get a member to come with us.  We then went over to the Schwings for Lunch. We had Raclette. It was really good. It is a Swiss meal and it is potatoes with a lot of cheese haha... We then went and cleaned the Baptismal for Sunday. While we were at the church we were looking a family history. I, of course, had nothing because I couldn't  remember what our login information was. Oh well. They have really cool ancestry. Scottish is really apparent for everyone else except me. Elder Ridd has so much royal blood in him it seriously crazy. One of his lines go all the way back to Adam and Eve. We then went to the Gülers for Dinner. They fed us some pasta salad that was really good. They then fed us steaks and chicken and sausages. They kept feeding us. We would finish a bowl and then  they would bring another bowl out. They then fed us a really good cheesecake. Meine Güte, it was so good.

Freitag

After our studies, we went and visited JM for his Baptism. He gave us tea and then gave us cookies and biscuits and then gave us nutella sandwiches. Meine Güte, he just kept feeding us. We then went to Präsident Ziegner`s house for lunch. They fed us Knödel and some stew. It was way good. The Schwenningen 1 Elders taught Fynn about Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a really good object lesson with chocolate. Afterwards we rushed to the train station to go to Bad Säckingen for exchanges. Nothing much happened. I went with Elder Nägli(really Naegli) and we got lost. We then went home and had some beans for dinner.

Samstag

In the morning, we had a massive breakfast. We had so many pancakes with nutella and bacon and eggs. It was so good. Afterwards we got prepared and then traveled for an hour to Schaffhausen. We had interviews with Präsident Kohler  and had District Meeting. Our interview was really good.

-Just jump into the language

-Everything isn't going to make sense at first

-Try to meet with all the members and build trust with them

-Lose yourself in the work

-Success isn't measured by numbers, only by your efforts

In our district meeting we talked about the need for daily repentance and how vital it is. We had Fajitas that night. It was really good.

Sonntag

Sonntag was super awesome. JM was baptized.  He is such a super cool guy. The baptism was so enlightening to our purpose for being on a mission. It was really cool. Next week I will be confirming him in Sacrament meeting.

JM on his baptism day.

 Unfortunately, afterwards Elder Cavin got super sick. We went home and he just passed out. He was super sick and felt absolutely horrible. We gave him a blessing and then he slept forever. Yesterday was super relaxed since we stayed inside all day. We made lasagna yesterday. It was actually really good.

Well, I love you all so much. I love receiving the letters. I will keep all of you in my prayers. Just always remember that Jesus Christ loves each and every  one of you. He is willing to help you and all you need to do is have faith and just ask.

Love,